* * *

After Cadel left, Derek was lost in thought for a long time. With his neatly combed grayish-white hair, authoritative bearing, and dark, deep eyes, he was the Emperor of an ancient empire. And yet.

“A Demon Realm’s summoning circle that encompasses the human world……. Will war begin again?”

His expression was a mixture of deep concern and pain. It pained him deeply that his generation would have to endure the same hell over and over again.

But Cadel was the only reason he was able to think this early. Without his information, without the source of that information being the Scarlet Dragon, the future would have been disastrous without either of them.

“Your blood still bleeds for the defense of the Empire, and the world. Jenga…….”

A wistful glint in his dark eyes, but before he could sift through the hazy memories. Someone knocked on the door. Without asking who it was, Derek beckoned the visitor in.

It was Insel Totrak. The captain of the Imperial Guard, he bowed politely to Derek, and then assumed a stoic posture.

“I have come to ask if you will proceed as planned, Your Majesty.”

“……About Cadel Lytos? Is there any movement?”

“No. He’s having a meal with his subordinates.”

“In that case, take him as soon as the meal is over.”

“We’ll send Sorin Salamo over.”

Nodding, Derek added in a low, warning voice.

“Don’t let anyone find out. Sorin Salamo and Cadel Lytos. Be careful so that only those two can move secretly. If their existence is discovered, I have no way of protecting them anymore.”

* * *

Rattle. Rattle.

Cadel gazed out the window, swaying with the rocking of the carriage. He tried to soothe his rumbling stomach by looking at the distant landscape, or up at the vast sky.

‘I think I have motion sickness…….’

It looked like he’d throw up at any moment. Cadel chewed on the inside of his mouth as if to stifle his nausea, his brow narrowed. His gaze shifted across from him, having given up on the scenery.

‘As soon as I finished eating, he dragged me away, saying we had to go somewhere, but he never told me where. What is he up to?’

In front of him was Sorin Salamo. Neither of them had brought any escort, including their own subordinates, so the carriage was completely silent with no conversation. It was something like an order from above. Because of this, he had a hard time getting rid of Lydon, who was trying to follow him.

At first, Cadel thought the knight orders were having a meeting. As they rode through the city in the carriage, he thought they were on their way to some secret underground meeting. But as time went on, the scenery grew sparse and the people became fewer and farther between.

Now he had the absurd suspicion that Sorin was on his way to bury himself somewhere sunny.

Cadel turned to Sorin, who stared silently out the window, arms folded.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me where we’re going?”

“I can’t tell you until we get there.”

“When will we arrive?”

“……In the next 3 hours or so.”

“3 hours? We’ve been going for over an hour now? Where on earth are we going―”

“I can’t tell you.”

There were no windows or separate walls. What was the point of telling people what they’d find out when they got there? The only one with ears to hear was the coachman, and even he couldn’t hear the whispers in the carriage.

Cadel glanced irritably away from the earnest fellow as if he were on some great mission alone. The thought of being trapped in a carriage with this awkward, reticent human for the next 3 hours was distracting.

‘Yeah, forget it. In any case, if I have to, I’ll kill him. I’m stronger anyway.’

Cadel leaned his head against the creaking wall and closed his eyes with a sigh.

* * *

By the time the carriage stopped, it was early evening. Cadel staggered to his feet while Sorin paid the coachman and asked for something.

‘Maybe it’s because I’ve been lying down all week, but I feel like I have less stamina than usual.’

All he wanted to do was run to his bed and curl up in a ball, and of course, Sorin, who couldn’t possibly know how Cadel was feeling, brought out yet another shocking piece of news.

“A half hour’s walk in and we’re at the destination. Don’t rush.”

“What……? Isn’t this the destination? Why did you send the carriage back when we haven’t even arrived?”

“We don’t want any information to leak out. Come on, follow me.”

With a body as strong as his, he should be able to walk for another 30 minutes after riding in a carriage for over 4 hours. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Cadel dragged his shaky body and followed Sorin.

They traversed a dense forest of trees and bushes. The forest was completely uninhabited, and the only beasts in sight were gentle animals like squirrels, rabbits, and deer. Cadel didn’t see any towns or villages nearby, so wherever he was going, it wasn’t likely to be inhabited.

―Or so he expected.

“Here it is.”

They arrived at a hut at the edge of a large meadow. It seemed to be inhabited, for fires burned in torches that flanked the path.

Who the hell was in there that Sorin brought him here? Cadel called out to the man, but he remained silent. Eventually giving up hope of extracting anything from him, Cadel continued on in silence.

Up close, the hut was small and unassuming. It showed signs of being well maintained. Neatly organized stacks of firewood and farming tools, drying racks for meat and fruit. It showed the diligence of someone living a hard life.

Sorin knocked on the door of the hut. However, even though the lights were brightly on in the hut, no sign was heard at all.

“Maybe they are away for a moment?”

“Maybe.”

“So what should we do?”

“Wait until he returns.”

Cadel gave him a scolding look, asking why he had no solution, but Sorin just remained calm.

About five minutes passed. Just as Cadel’s patience was reaching its limit, the door to the hut finally opened.

A sliver. A sliver, just a sliver, and a pair of green eyes peeked through. Wary, alert eyes quickly swept over the Sorin before him.

“Who are you?”

“I am Sorin Salamo, Battalion Captain of the Guardian Knight Order.”

“Guardian Knight Order……? Why is the Battalion Captain of the Knight Order here…….”

A gaze that was not friendly at all looked sharply behind him. It was because Cadel, who had been obscured by Sorin, stuck his head over his shoulder. And the moment when Cadel’s face was caught at the end of that gaze.

“……You, you’re here! You’re really here!”

The door burst open, its green-eyed owner roughly shoving Sorin out of the way. The man who took Sorin’s place faced Cadel, his face twisted into a distorted grimace. He looked like he was about to burst into tears.

And as Cadel stared at Sorin in confusion, looking for an explanation, the man’s emotions overwhelmed him, and he pulled Cadel into a hug.

“All, all of a sudden, what…….”

“You’re really back. You’re really back……. You were the real Cadel, yes, you were alive.”

A shaky voice mumbled something unintelligible, followed by the other people in the house. All of their faces were younger than the man holding Cadel now.

“Brother, can we leave now?”

The man didn’t seem to be in a position to answer, so Sorin took over and addressed their concerns.

“I’ve brought Cadel Lytos, as His Majesty has informed you, so let’s go inside first.”

At his words, the girl in the doorway clamped her mouth shut. Quickly wiping away the tears that had formed in her eyes, she let him in behind her. A few moments later, the man who had recovered his composure also entered the house, bringing a frozen Cadel with him.