“Kallen…?”
Bido asked softly.
Miryeong gave a slight nod.
“Well, he always looked cheerful enough.”
“But he lost his parents to the Empire too.”
“He might have seen something of himself in you.”
Bido slowly lowered his head.
“I didn’t know… Why does the Empire do things like that…”
Miryeong let out a short breath.
“Hoo… That’s the Empire’s way. They take what they need, and if you resist, they erase you.”
Raen, who had been listening beside them, blinked.
“So Kallen almost became a priest because he was a Mirkin?”
Miryeong nodded.
“To be precise, he was a candidate. They forcibly awakened his Mirkin.”
Miryeong paused for a moment, then glanced at Bido.
“Anyway… Kallen probably had no regrets.”
“And if we don’t stop, he’ll be a little more at peace too.”
Bido was silent for a while,
then gave a small nod.
“…Yes. I won’t stop here.”
Miryeong smiled faintly and ruffled Bido’s hair once.
“Hey. It’s not just you. It’s us.”
Raen quickly cut in.
“Right, right! Lady Miryeong, pat me too!”
Just then, someone approached.
It was Ed.
“Lady Miryeong. Lord Rangnan is calling for you.”
Miryeong raised an eyebrow.
“Hm? Just me?”
Ed glanced once toward Bido, then added,
“No. Bido as well.”
Raen immediately said,
“I’m coming too!”
Ed looked troubled for a moment, then hunched his shoulders slightly.
“…For now, please come with me. Lord Rangnan will tell you himself.”
When they followed Ed to a tent on one side of the protected area,
Yun and Rangnan were already there, along with Wolryeon and Jincheong.
Raen stood close by Bido’s side.
Miryeong crossed her arms and looked them over as she spoke.
“All right. What’s this about?”
Rangnan opened his mouth at once.
“It’s an official mission that has come down to us.”
Miryeong lifted her brows slightly.
“I know. I heard the gist of what that councilor was saying back at the cemetery grounds.”
Then she turned her gaze toward Bido.
“But putting me aside, why did you call Bido?”
Yun spoke calmly.
“Bido will be included among the escort personnel.”
“What?”
Miryeong’s expression immediately hardened.
Bido instinctively clenched his necklace.
The cold sensation against his fingertips felt strangely clearer than before.
Miryeong stepped forward.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Rangnan? You know. Right now, Bido is—”
Her words stopped for a moment.
Miryeong’s gaze turned to Bido.
Bido knew as well.
He was no longer merely the owner of the sword the Empire was after,
but the target they had to eliminate itself.
Bido carefully opened his mouth.
“There’s… a reason, right?”
Rangnan gave a short nod.
“The Empire won’t come at us head-on anymore.”
“This city’s walls may be able to stop an army, but they won’t stop a surprise attack.”
A brief silence passed.
Breaking that silence, Wolryeon spoke in a low voice.
“So you’re saying we should escort the delegation and Bido together.”
“No.”
Rangnan’s answer was firm.
“Bido is not an escort target. He is escort strength.”
At those words, Raen drew in a small breath.
Miryeong’s expression did not soften easily either.
Wolryeon narrowed her eyes and looked at Bido.
After a brief silence, as though weighing the matter, she murmured lowly,
“…A countermeasure against the Mirkin.”
Miryeong opened her mouth as if reluctantly admitting it.
“Well, if Bido is there, the variables on the Mirkin side would certainly decrease.”
But she immediately raised her gaze and glared at Rangnan.
“But once the mission ends, he’ll end up returning to the city anyway, won’t he?”
This time, Yun answered.
“We will request personal protection from the Duchy of Carmen.”
“What?”
Miryeong asked back immediately.
“Is that even possible? Even if they agree—”
“They will agree.”
Rangnan cut her off.
His gaze moved to the sword Bido was carrying.
“There is someone there who knows that sword.”
“It may be better to place him under that person’s protection.”
“And the Duchy of Carmen is not a place the Empire can easily reach into as it pleases.”
Only then did Jincheong speak for the first time.
“The road will be dangerous, but once he arrives, it will be better than now. Is that it?”
“Yes.”
Rangnan answered shortly.
“Arku is too close. It’s too easy a place for them to reach.”
Wolryeon fell silent for a moment, as if lost in thought.
Then she spoke in a low, composed voice.
“At least the logic holds.”
“A moving target we can control would be better than a fixed one.”
Raen could no longer hold back and cut in.
“Wait a minute. Then Bido really has to go?”
No one answered right away.
That brief silence felt like an answer in itself.
Bido gripped the necklace in his hand a little harder.
It felt as though something inside his chest was quietly sinking.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t afraid.
But the words he had already vaguely understood
had merely taken a clear shape and been placed before his eyes.
That simply remaining in this city had made him a danger.
And that this journey was not merely a departure, but a choice in order to survive.
Rangnan looked at Bido.
“I don’t intend to end this as coercion. But it’s not a problem you can avoid either.”
Yun picked up after him.
“The delegation to Carmen is an important mission for the Republic as well.”
“And in the current situation, it is also the safest way to move you.”
Bido raised his head.
Yun, Rangnan, and the faces of those standing around him came into view one by one.
Wolryeon was calmly observing the situation,
and Jincheong already had the eyes of someone calculating the dangers of the road.
Miryeong still looked displeased,
but beneath that displeasure was clearly concern for Bido.
Raen was biting her lip as though she might say something at any moment.
After meeting each of their gazes once,
Bido opened his mouth very softly.
“…If I have to go.”
The end of his sentence wavered for a moment.
But Bido soon steadied his breath and spoke again.
“I won’t run away.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t leave you alone.”
Miryeong said with a faint smile.
Rangnan followed up on her words.
“We’ll depart the morning after tomorrow at the earliest. The Republic will handle the basic preparations.”
“We only need to check our personal arms.”
After sweeping his gaze around for a moment, he added,
“Until then, get enough rest and prepare.”
Raen carefully opened her mouth, her tail drooping.
“Um… Can’t I go too…?”
Raen herself knew it was an unreasonable thing to ask.
Perhaps because of that, her voice grew smaller toward the end.
It was then.
“Uh…”
Miryeong reacted.
Bido lifted his head toward her.
“Lady Miryeong? What is it?”
Instead of answering, Miryeong cast her gaze far toward the city wall.
Her eyes sharpened at once.
“It’s him… Maho…”
Tap.
Someone landed in front of them.
As if it were nothing, far too naturally.
“What the hell. Why are you inside the city?”
It was Maho.
Miryeong’s expression held both bewilderment and irritation at the same time.
This was Arku.
And Maho was someone who should not be in this city.
Maho looked at Raen first.
It lasted only a brief moment, but unmistakable relief flashed at the end of that gaze.
“Maho…?”
Raen called cautiously.
“Did you come back?”
Maho still did not answer.
Instead, he turned his gaze and looked at Rangnan.
“Rangnan. We need to talk.”
The military police not far away tilted their heads when they saw Maho appear so suddenly.
A strange man was standing inside the protected area far too casually,
so it was only natural they would find it odd.
Noticing their stares, Rangnan said in a low voice,
“Come inside first.”
And a beat later, he added,
“You are not welcome here.”
As soon as Rangnan’s words fell, Maho strode off without answering.
As if he did not care whose city this was.
Miryeong clicked her tongue softly.
“Ha, seriously, that guy…”
Two military policemen observing the situation from a distance glanced this way.
Sensing their gazes linger a little longer, Yun turned his body halfway and naturally blocked their view.
The group said nothing more and entered the inner tent.
Once the curtain closed, the sounds outside grew a little distant.
As soon as they entered the tent, Miryeong spoke first.
“Are you insane? Do you even know where this is, showing your face like that?”
Maho showed no particular reaction to those words.
He merely looked Raen over from head to toe once more,
then exhaled very softly, as if confirming she was unhurt.
Raen spoke carefully.
“…Did you just get here?”
Only then did Maho answer shortly.
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
Miryeong snorted in disbelief.
“You really can’t say a single thing nicely.”
But Maho was already looking not at Miryeong, but at Rangnan.
“I said we need to talk.”
Those words were closer to a notice than a request.
Rangnan unfolded his arms and asked in a low voice,
“What is it?”
Maho did not answer right away.
Instead, his gaze slowly moved to the side.
And stopped on Bido.
That was the moment.
Bido felt an indescribable chill run down his back.
Maho’s eyes still were not simply looking at him.
It felt as though they were not seeing the surface, but piercing deeper inside.
Bido unconsciously held his breath.
Maho’s eyes narrowed.
The dragon’s eyes.
That gaze that pierced through the soul
was fixed on Bido this time without wavering for even an instant.
Miryeong was the first to notice the change.
“…What are you doing?”
Maho did not answer.
But that silence alone made it clear he had seen something.
Maho spoke very low.
“It’s become distinct.”
Rangnan’s eyes sank.
“What did you see in Bido?”
Maho said quietly,
“The key to stopping Roan.”
The inside of the tent went silent.
“He’s already begun handling divine power as he pleases.”
“Even my blue fire didn’t work on him.”
He looked at Bido again.
“Wolhyeol. It’s awakened, hasn’t it?”
Bido’s breath stopped for the briefest moment.
Miryeong reflexively stepped half a pace in front of Bido as if to shield him.
But Maho did not withdraw his gaze.
“It still looks faint. But it’s certain.”
Raen quietly grabbed Bido’s sleeve.
Unable to say anything, Bido only clenched his necklace tightly.
A short stillness settled inside the tent.
Yun quietly looked at Maho.
His expression did not waver, but his eyes had grown a little sharper.
Maho glanced once outside the tent.
The noise beyond the protected area could be heard faintly.
“So you’re staying in the city now?”
When no one answered,
Maho immediately continued.
“You can’t stay here.”
Then he spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Get ready at once, Raen.”
Raen’s tail twitched.
“And Bido. You too.”
Maho’s gaze touched Bido again.
“Rangnan, attach a decent fighting force too.”
His tone was almost an order.
Miryeong let out a hollow laugh.
“Hey. What the hell are you doing right now?”
But Rangnan was calm instead.
“We had already come to the same conclusion.”
Maho’s eyes shifted very slightly.
Yun calmly continued.
“We intend to include Bido in the delegation heading for the Duchy of Carmen.”
Maho thought for a moment.
Then said shortly,
“Yeah? Well, that works out.”
He went on without hesitation.
“Raen and I are going too.”
This time, Miryeong immediately shot back.
“Have you lost your mind?”
Maho furrowed his brow slightly, looking annoyed.
Miryeong did not stop there.
“You seem to have no idea what you are, Maho.”
“You’re a criminal whose face is known across this continent.”
“The moment you attach yourself to the delegation, that’s not an escort. That’s an incident.”
Raen flinched, but she could not argue.
Yun, too, silently agreed with Miryeong’s words.
Maho let out something like a sigh.
“Honestly, all this over something I didn’t even do…”
“Ah, whatever. Then that’s actually better.”
Maho waved a hand once.
“We’ll follow from a distance.”
Miryeong muttered with her arms crossed,
“He really does whatever he wants…”
Yun lowered his eyes as if lost in thought for a moment.
Wolryeon and Jincheong were each calculating this new variable in their own way.
And Rangnan, in the end, looked at Maho without revealing any emotion.
The air inside the tent quietly settled once more.
What remained now
was deciding whether or not to accept this dangerous proposal.