CHAPTER 176

The man walked, and the boy followed behind.

Behind the man's footsteps walking through the darkness, the boy's footsteps were newly overlapping.

Only the starlight following behind them quietly illuminated the overlapping footprints.

"That sword, I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."

[Oh, really?]

The unfamiliar path seemed endless, and the figure ahead never seemed to draw closer, no matter how far they walked.

When even the surrounding darkness felt faint, suddenly, a shining sword entered Vlad's sight.

A silver sword adorned with various jewels.

However, behind its splendor lurked a familiar shape that stirred something in Vlad's memory.

"It looks expensive at a glance. Is that yours?"

[Yours? That's quite an unusual title to use.]

"Well, then, what should I call you? There isn't really a name."

The voice stopped laughing as it looked at Vlad shrugging his shoulders.

Come to think of it, they hadn't even exchanged names yet.

"You still don't remember your name?"

[Well…]

"It seems like you really took a hard hit. It's pointless to wander around like this."

[Then tell me once. Who am I that you have been looking for all this time?]

The voice ahead stopped abruptly and turned to look at Vlad.

His figure seemed close, yet somehow distant.

Seeing his appearance flickering like a candle, Vlad hurriedly began to open his mouth.

"...Well, first off, you are related to spirits. It seems like you've been moving lost spirits around here and there."

[Go on.]

Following the voice prompting for a response, Vlad began to follow, lost in thought.

He didn't know if it was his mood, but it felt like his distant back seemed to have gotten a little closer.

"You are also related to other races. Like elves and dwarves. Your traces were connected to them as well."

[And?]

"The white snake of Deomar recognized you, suggesting a connection to the first head of the Hainal family."

The more he answered, the more Vlad's steps slowly caught up with the voice.

However, he was so focused on answering that he didn't notice the gradually diminishing distance between him and the voice.

"And..."

Vlad had always wondered.

Who was this voice?

Who was this person who came to me through black lightning?

"The swordsmanship I use."

[Yeah.]

"They say this is the swordsmanship used by the imperial family?"

[Oh, really? Has it come to that?]

The swordsmanship that the unknown voice taught him was a rare swordsmanship that was said to be taught only to knights of the imperial family.

Seeing the voice not paying much attention to the mention of the sword as an imperial sword, Vlad just pursed his lips.

"Um, excuse me... No, it can't be?"

[What?]

A word too great to utter was stuck in Vlad's throat.

The clues gathered throughout the journey all pointed in the same direction, leading to only one person at the end.

If I hadn't made a mistake.

"Tsk!"

[We're here.]

Vlad, who had been deep in thought, suddenly bumped his forehead against the man's back, who had come to a halt.

The distance between Vlad and the man, which had been considerable, was now barely a step away.

[I almost got lost too. Whoever it was, they put up quite a fight.]

Vlad peeked his head out from behind the voice in front of him and was able to make out a large tree floating in the air in the distance.

It was a peculiar tree, its branches reaching fiercely towards the sky while its roots spread fiercely into the ground.

".....It wasn't visible until just now."

[That's the nature of the presence of alter egos. They can be right next to you and still not be seen, or they can be far away and yet clear.]

Vlad, who had reached the border of his own world, was only then able to see the other world he was in contact with.

In reality, they were lying right next to each other, but the world of the young deacon who followed fate was so far away.

[My name is Quijano.]

"Huh?"

[Just call me Quijano. I don't like any other names.]

Vlad looked at the voice extending a handshake towards him.

The man who had finally found his name was introducing himself as Quijano.

".....Vlad."

[Yeah. Vlad. Nice to meet you.]

In front of the twisted tree, the man and the boy exchanged names.

Though they could never overlap in time and space, in the touched world, they could face each other.

※※※※

[You'll know the moment we enter Jean's world. You felt it too.]

"I found out because you told me."

[It's Quijano. It's not you.]

The two knights standing before Jean's world took a deep breath and stepped towards the boundary of the world.

Quijano spoke.

Entering someone else's world is a dangerous endeavor.

"Let's go."

[Yeah.]

But they had no choice but to proceed.

Even now, the strange tree hovering in Jean's world was slowly descending, drawing closer.

"....What is this place?"

[Don't be deceived.]

With firm resolve, they stepped forward.

What had just been a space filled with darkness had now transformed into a hallway lined with pale white bricks.

"It looks like Varna's church. I've been there once."

[Are you familiar with the building?]

".....Just the basement."

[Unknown territory, then.]

Varna's church was the foundation of Jean's world.

For Jean, who had lived his whole life as a deacon, it was only natural that the most vivid place would be Varna's church.

[If it's a church, the chapel should be there.]

"Do you think Jean is there?"

[We won't know until we go.]

For them right now, the top priority would be Jean's safety.

In three days, the world of the young deacon would collapse, and even now, it was tilting with the sound of creaking somewhere.

[Let's go in.]

"The chapel is on the first floor."

The two realized that they were in the basement through the structure and quickly began running down the hallway.

"I'll lead the way!"

[Sure.]

Varna's church held significance for Vlad as well. It was where he received the name Vlad of Shoara from Andrea.

Recalling the memory of moving the cursed woman's coffin, Vlad quickly located the position of the stairs.

"Excuse me!"

[Okay.]

Vlad reached the end of the hallway, much longer than he remembered, and confidently pushed open the familiar door.

Bang!

There was no need for caution since they had likely already been noticed. What mattered was swift action.

With the door swinging open, revealing a spiral stone staircase, Vlad realized it looked entirely different from what he remembered.

"Why is this so high?"

[It seems that the child named Jean was afraid of the basement.]

The seemingly endless stone staircase was much higher than when Vlad descended with the coffin.

Vlad was taken aback by the sight of the stairs that seemed to completely separate the first floor from the basement.

[Let's just go up for now.]

The two knights began ascending the seemingly endless staircase, as long as the fear was held by the young deacon.

As they climbed, the sound of someone singing began to echo from the end of the staircase.

-Let's turn, let's turn, let's go around.

-Until all the matches burn out.

[It doesn't seem like a hymn, does it?]

"It sounds like a song I've heard in dreams."

The long and winding staircase finally led the two to the end, where they cautiously grasped their swords upon hearing the singing from behind the door.

[Do you want to do it, or should I?]

"I've done it so far."

[Young man, lacking in courage.]

Pushing through the door handle yielded no results. The closed door was akin to a prison, so Quijano quickly closed his left eye.

"Quijano."

[What?]

"I'm not rushing you, but I'd appreciate it if you could hurry."

[Why?]

"The situation downstairs doesn't look good."

As Quijano prepared, Vlad, looking down the stairs, bit his tongue.

A dark fog slowly begins to rise along the spiral staircase, like rising water. Along with the fog, Vlad and Quijano could see the familiar figure of a woman.

"I'm sure I nailed the coffin shut, didn't I?"

[It seems the memory of that time was particularly vivid for the deacon!]

There was a woman coming up from below, shedding black tears.

A woman who clung to Josef while looking for her child.

For young Jean, the memory of that day must have been an unbearable terror.

"Hurry!"

[Just a moment, it's been a while since I've done this, so it's a bit difficult.]

With a wry smile, Quijano finally seemed to grasp the situation.

Pzzzzz, Zzzzz!

From his left eye, lightning began to emerge. From the drawn silver sword, a matching color began to flow.

A brilliant white world.

Even the crawling woman, shedding tears, had no choice but to turn her head in the face of such brightness.

[Hmph!]

With Quijano's deep breath, the large door was cut open.

Vlad's eyes widened as he looked at the sharply cut cross section without a single speck of dust rising.

"You never taught me this swordsmanship, did you?"

[This isn't swordsmanship, just skill.]

Vlad, who was surprised to see Quijano's sword for the first time, looked back in case the woman with black tears followed him.

"...!"

However, there was now a new door blocking the basement, as if the recent strike hadn't happened at all. It was then that Vlad truly realized he was in a dream world.

[The chapel, the chapel. Where's the chapel?]

"Follow me!"

Though he had only entered the building once, Vlad had mapped out the routes like an alleyway, and the corridor leading to the chapel was still fresh in his mind.

"Here!"

[Alright. If there's a deacon here, it would be the cherry on top.]

Inside the chapel, the strange singing they heard earlier echoed, but they had no choice but to press on. They could only hope to find Jean here.

"Ugh..."

However, beyond the opened door, they didn't see Jean waiting for them. Instead, there were countless children, their gazes fixed on Vlad and Quijano.

"Why are they all here?"

[It seems like the curse has already spread. Of course, these are children who do not exist in the world of the deacon.]

The chapel was filled with numerous children, neatly dressed and groomed, but their eyes held only emptiness when they looked at Vlad and Quijano.

[....Why are they so fixated on the children?]

Looking into the children's black eyes, Quijano raised his gaze to the highest point in the chapel.

The stained glass-adorned highest point of the chapel.

Where the children had been looking all along, there hung a church emblem, now twisted into a sinister form, reminiscent of the patterns seen in the fog-filled village.

※※※※

In front of the fog-filled gates of Mosiam, there was a procession approaching. 

A carriage escorted by dozens of people. 

It looked like a procession fit for nobility, but what was strange was that none of the guards here had ever heard the sound of their arrival.

"Halt! The procession ahead, halt!"

The fog was thickening, as if the procession itself was emitting it. 

Now even the soldiers nearby were difficult to recognize in the dense fog. The captain of the guards decided to step forward himself and halt the unidentified procession.

"Where do you come from?"

"... "

As he got closer, the carriage came into view, entirely painted in a deep black color, almost resembling a coffin. 

Yet, despite its ominous color, each and every joint appeared unusually well-crafted.

"If you don't disclose your affiliation, we cannot let you pass."

Although anyone could have answered, the procession remained eerily quiet. 

Sensing the suspicious atmosphere, some of the guards began to apply more force to the spears they held.

"... Everyone seems happy to return home."

The faint voice from inside the carriage caught the attention of the captain of the guards. 

It wasn't the answer he expected, but the voice of the woman coming through the fog was clear and delicate, enough to make anyone listen.

"Very well. Shall we disembark now? This is Mosiam, after all."

"Just a moment..."

As the sound of someone attempting to disembark from the carriage reached him, the captain of the guards hurriedly tried to intervene, but a momentary, eerie sense of unease silenced him.

Creak...

The sound of a latch echoed through the fog. 

However, the captain wasn't focused on the slowly opening door of the carriage but rather on what lay beneath it.

"This is..."

Lowering his gaze to the ground, the captain finally understood how they had reached the gate without making a sound.

The wheels of the carriage, which should have been in contact with the ground, were now hovering in the air beyond the dense fog.

Even the tips of the woman's feet, as she descended, seemed to float in mid-air.

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