Chapter 111: Luna

Edric has had an awful lot of troublesome problems lately.

From the Eastern Union’s blatant movements in Bernhardt, to the Twilight Troupe that had recently shown itself even in the Demonic Realm.

It was to the point where he even worried if he should move up the meeting with her, which he had postponed and postponed.

‘Even so, that’s not it, though.’

As Edric, who was thinking about her, was shivering, someone knocked on his office door.

Knock knock knock─

“Come in.”

The person who appeared in Edric’s office was none other than a guard.

“Sir Edric, there is a guest at the East gate looking for Sir Edric, is it perhaps someone you know? She said her name is Luna.”

“Luna? Hmm, I don’t know.”

If it had been anywhere else, the guard wouldn’t have come to ask directly, but Winter Castle Kreutz, due to its nature as the backwoods of the North, rarely gets outsiders.

That’s why Edric also thought for a moment, then rose from his seat.

Because if she was really a guest, he couldn’t just turn her away absurdly.

“I’ll go and see for myself.”

“Will you be alright?”

“I don’t have anything else to do at the moment anyway.”

Of course, there was no need to mention that it was all thanks to entrusting the training schedule to the newly appointed Squad Leader.

Arriving at the East gate with the guard, Edric could see a familiar face.

“Ah, you’re here.”

“You are……”

“It’s a relief you remember. Can I go in now?”

At Luna’s overly confident attitude, the guard looked back at Edric with a reluctant expression, and Edric reluctantly nodded his head slightly.

“Should’ve done that from the start.”

Edric’s gaze, watching Luna confidently pass through Winter Castle, trembled roughly.

It was to the point where he wondered if he had been this agitated recently.

“……What business do you have in Winter Castle?”

“Huh? You told me to come, didn’t you?”

“That’s true, but……”

He had said to stop by Winter Castle sometime, but it was just a courtesy, not a real invitation.

It couldn’t be helped, even if she was his savior, who would want to let such a suspicious and dangerous woman into their home?

At that time, Edric thought he was somewhat possessed, and that thought was even stronger now.

“Don’t feel too burdened, I just stopped by on my way. It seems what I’m looking for isn’t in the Demonic Realm.”

There was no need to ask what exactly wasn’t there.

That strange woman had been desperately searching for someone since the first time they met.

“Can I go in and look around now?”

“……Aren’t you going to do as you please even if I stop you?”

“That’s right. You’re pretty quick-witted.”

Luna smiled faintly.

“In that case, I will guide you, since it’s probably your first time in Winter Castle.”

“It’s not my first time. I’ve been here a few times before. Anyway, Winter Castle is still the same.”

“……You’ve been here?”

“Yep. It has its own charm, don’t you think?”

He never thought there would be someone who would mention charm in Winter Castle, where battles of life and death took place every day, but Edric knew the woman in front of him fully had the right to say such things.

Because, that woman looked like she would elegantly sip tea even in the middle of a war where blood and flesh splattered.

“Anyway, I’ll be going now?”

Half of war is justification.

But now Edric had lost his justification, so there was no way he could win this war.

“……Understood. If you ever need help, come find the 4th Special Task Force.”

“Got it.”

“And I doubt it will happen, but please refrain from causing a disturbance as much as possible.”

“What do you take me for? I told you I’ve been here often before. I hate troublesome things too.”

“……I’ll trust you.”

As Edric stood blankly watching Luna’s back as she leisurely entered Winter Castle, the guard stealthily approached and asked.

“Is this alright? Is it okay to let in a woman whose identity is unclear?”

“If she wanted to enter anyway, she wouldn’t have needed to pass through the gate. It must mean she doesn’t want to make things troublesome.”

“What does that……”

“Just understand it as that.”

Edric briefly considered tailing Luna, but soon shook his head.

Even if he did tail her, he wasn’t confident he wouldn’t be discovered by Luna, and if he was discovered, it was possible he would greatly get on Luna’s nerves.

There was no need to needlessly stir up trouble.

‘For now, it’s right to just watch.’

This is Winter Castle Kreutz, called the shield of the Empire.

Although he didn’t know the extent of Luna’s skill, there were powerhouses in Winter Castle stronger than Edric.

Therefore, even if the worst-case scenario occurred, it wouldn’t be impossible to handle it.

It’s just that a considerable sacrifice would follow.

Of course, the best thing was for nothing to happen at all, so he needed to exercise extreme caution in dealing with Luna.

“I’ll be going now too.”

“Ah, yes. Take care.”

“You too, take care.”

Edric moved his steps.

It seemed he would have to meet Margrave.

***

Ah…….

I’m sick of it.

Sometimes, I, Luna, would think about wanting to end this boring, endless game of tag.

Even while knowing I could never do that, thinking about the reality I faced.

I sometimes think.

Perhaps, as many say, Cain isn’t in this world?

Is what I’m chasing just a shadow Cain left behind long ago?

When such thoughts slowly creep up, I try hard to shake my head.

“……No. He must be here. I’m sure I can meet him. It has to be that way.”

I repeated it to myself pathologically.

Because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to bear it and would end up collapsing.

Meanwhile, there was no special reason for visiting Winter Castle.

I just needed a place to rest for a moment during this long, long journey.

I, Luna, planned to stay in Winter Castle for a suitable time, replenish my food and water, and then, when my fatigue was relieved, leave this place again.

In the first place, to Players, Winter Castle was just an outpost for traveling to the Demonic Realm; I had no interest in whether it was the shield of the Empire or whatever.

“……Huh?”

But why?

From the moment I entered Winter Castle, I, Luna, felt my heart pounding without even realizing it.

A feeling that was somehow familiar, yet strange.

‘What is this?’

In that feeling, I, Luna, moved my steps as if possessed by something.

The pounding of my heart didn’t stop.

No, the more I moved my steps, the stronger it became.

As if it was calling me, Luna, myself.

“……Don’t tell me.”

Luna’s steps, having received some strange feeling from that, gradually quickened.

“Don’t tell me, don’t tell me, don’t tell me……”

I, Luna, know that my intuition is not just a simple intuition.

This feeling that had led me, Luna, so far was developed to an abnormal degree, to the point where it could be called a kind of foresight beyond simple intuition, and that’s why I, Luna, was feeling a strong conviction now.

That here, there was something I, Luna, had to find.

“Finally, finally……”

Hope gradually colored my, Luna’s, voice as I moved my steps.

“I can live.”

***

“Kkeueuk……! How long do we have to keep doing this? He’s worse than the captain.”

“You still haven’t given up? That Vell bastard is much more vicious than the captain.”

“Kkeung.”

An anomaly always comes suddenly in the midst of peaceful days.

No, in the first place, that’s why it’s called an anomaly.

‘What is it?’

Just as I was conducting the 4th Special Task Force’s training in place of Edric as usual, something touched my senses.

Familiar, and at the same time, strange.

At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but as time passed, that sensation continued to grow.

As if something was approaching.

I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was certain that something was continuously touching my senses.

‘It’s not my imagination. Something is coming.’

Haima’s Pendant, hanging on my neck, trembled brrr and cried.

Originally, Haima’s Pendant was not an item that conveyed warnings in this way, so what was reacting now must have been the Destruction Dragon’s Demonic energy dwelling in it.

I couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing, but I couldn’t give it a very good evaluation, at least in the sense that it was an element that would shatter the peaceful daily life.

Because, it seemed to have already reached the vicinity of the training ground where we were training.

Clack, clack─

The sound of heels that shouldn’t be heard in the training ground made of dirt floor is heard.

I already knew what this phenomenon meant.

‘Imaginary Number-ification.’

High-level spatial magic that makes the body exist simultaneously in reality and the imaginary dimension.

The Players who can use this are few enough to be counted on one hand, even from what I know.

Even more so, one who has extremely lowered and tuned the magic’s price to the point of constantly being wrapped in this Imaginary Number-ification.

‘Who on earth is it?’

Amidst the questions, the person who appeared on one side of the training ground was a woman exuding a somehow strange atmosphere.

Seeing that appearance, I somehow felt like I had seen her somewhere before, but the fact that I had a feeling of familiarity was highly likely not good news.

This was because it was true that among the figures involved with Cain in the past, there were overwhelmingly more who did not have a good relationship than those who did.

“Wait, someone’s here?”

“A woman I’m seeing for the first time.”

“……”

Conlan’s, Albino’s, and Alicia’s gazes turned in unison toward the side of the training ground.

“What is your business? This area is off-limits to civilians.”

I approached to try and talk with the woman first, but the woman’s condition was somewhat strange.

“Th-that can’t be……. It, it should be here…… Why, why, why……!”

The woman muttered strange words to herself, then soon shifted her gaze to me.

Trembling pupils look at me.

I don’t know what on earth is making a powerhouse of that level so agitated, but it was certain that it was not good news for me.

“It clearly, should be here, but why on earth, why……”

I felt it instinctively.

This woman, is dangerous.

“You, what are you?”

I urgently tried to pull my body back, but a formless energy had already grabbed me first.

It’s not mental interference.

An energy of pure power seized my physical body.

“Wh-what? Suddenly, what……”

“Vell!”

It seemed the task force members’ movements were also bound, as flustered voices burst out from here and there.

The woman’s gaze sees me.

I also met her gaze.

“Why do you have that?”

“What are you talking about?”

“That, it’s not yours.”

The moment the woman’s hand reached out, as if to grab my neck at any second.

“Stop! Stop right there.”

With a welcome voice heard from somewhere, the force that was suppressing me loosened a little.

I didn’t miss that gap and quickly threw my body back, and with that, countless silhouettes cut in between me and her.

Edric and the knights of Winter Castle.

They were all skilled individuals exuding extraordinary auras, but it was doubtful whether they could block the woman in front of them.

“Didn’t we agree not to cause a disturbance? Why are you suddenly doing this?”

“Don’t interfere.”

“I don’t know what’s going on, but do you have any intention of resolving this through conversation? If you cause any more disturbance, I can’t just stand by and watch.”

Edric quietly added.

“Luna.”

……Luna?

The moment I heard that name, I felt the blood in my body turn cold before I even knew it.

At the same time, I remembered.

Why I had felt an unexplainable feeling of familiarity upon seeing that woman.

It couldn’t be helped, because that appearance was remarkably similar to someone I knew.

「Today too, the 18-year-old high school girl appears!」

Yes, remarkably so.

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