His master had nagged his ears raw, droning on and on, and only when the sun was setting did he finally offer his closing remarks.
Xenon gazed quietly at the communication device that had fallen silent in an instant, then smacked his lips and looked around without any particular purpose.
The place he stood was the cliff behind Belladia Castle. What was once a desolate spot had taken on a rather dreamlike quality thanks to the flower beds Xenon had skillfully created.
Perhaps because this was where Anelli had disappeared, Xenon was tending to this place with special care.
'She might return to this place...'
While looking after the castle, he often imagined it. Reuniting with Anelli, who might one day suddenly appear standing on the flower beds he had arranged.
Her returning calmly as if nothing had happened, evaluating the items he had placed there, and naturally instructing him to hurry and prepare a meal.
It was something that hadn't happened yet.
But because it could happen, he had sought out all the precious flowers in the world and planted them on this cliff.
"I wish she would come by the time the flowers bloom."
「It won't take long.」
He should have asked exactly how many days that meant.
If he knew how many nights he had to sleep before he could meet her, he could have welcomed the silently fading day with joy.
The only certainty was that today, too, had passed without any news.
* * *
"Is this truly your intention?"
To Moriko, who asked with a gloomy voice, Samuel nodded with a calm expression.
"I can no longer do the work I've been responsible for until now. So I intend to do what I can do now."
"Please stay at the Grand Temple and train the next generation instead. I will speak directly to the High Priest."
"No. I..."
Samuel's face darkened slightly. After trailing off and falling silent for a moment, he regained his usual composed demeanor and spoke.
"I will leave on a pilgrimage as I have decided."
He had arbitrarily given it the name of pilgrimage, but in truth, that was somewhat insufficient to describe it.
Samuel had decided to collect records about the prophets abandoned by the gods, and to visit closed temples and monasteries to clear their disgrace.
He had found records once at Febryn Monastery, but they were never fully published. Rather, some in the temple argued that they should be completely concealed.
In such an atmosphere, when Samuel stepped forward to correct the false records, naturally, it was difficult to gain support.
"It will be a difficult journey."
"It is what I must do."
"But Sir Samuel, you are now..."
Moriko, with a devastated face, couldn't bring himself to finish. But Samuel understood what he was trying to say.
He was probably trying to tell Samuel that he had 'no' divine power whatsoever. Added to that, his body was now one-armed.
"Priest Moriko, this is... the last mission given to me."
A holy knight who had left on an unofficial pilgrimage with the Resurrected One had not only lost all his divine power but also returned with only one arm.
The temple was in an uproar, and Samuel was summoned to the High Priest immediately after receiving treatment.
Divine power gone—how could such a terrible thing happen!
Ironically, Samuel's tattered condition perfectly lent credibility to the oracle they had received.
《Evil runs rampant, so I grant you the Resurrected One. Stand firm against it.》
Ah, Sir Samuel lost his arm and was stripped of his divine power while fighting against evil!
The tragedy of the young holy knight must be properly honored!
To the priests who excitedly chattered on like that, Samuel quietly conveyed his intentions. His intention to track and record the proper history regarding the prophets.
The priests who had been admiring Samuel as if he were a hero returning from a crusade instantly changed their attitudes.
And so now, Samuel was leaving the temple in a shabby state, receiving only Moriko's send-off.
「You were wrong about who to ask for forgiveness from the start.」
He recalled Anelli's voice, filled with contempt. He also thought of her attack that had targeted his arm without a moment's hesitation.
Even going so far as to injure his sword arm yet not taking his life—that was probably her revenge against him.
Just as she had declared she wouldn't recognize any merit of Samuel's in Anelli's rest, so too did she take all his divine power for the same reason.
「Regret the opportunity you turned away from and apologize for the rest of your life.」
He didn't know if such a pilgrimage would amount to an apology, but he decided to at least restore the honor that the Captain and the knights who followed her had lost.
He intended to devote his remaining life solely to that work. After all, with a body like this, he could no longer be the High Priest's proud holy knight or anything of the sort.
"If you need anything, contact me at any time. I support your will."
"Thank you, Priest Moriko."
"By the way, Sir Samuel."
Moriko, who had been hesitating, asked in a low voice.
"Do you truly not know the whereabouts of the Resurrected One?"
Samuel had provided no information whatsoever about the Resurrected One.
This was probably one reason why he, once called the temple's pride, was being treated so poorly.
The pilgrimage with the Resurrected One that everyone was curious about. Because he revealed nothing about what that journey was.
"Nothing can compel her. She will be where she wishes, in the form she wishes."
"I see."
Moriko, who had asked one last question with a faint hope, nodded without showing disappointment.
Samuel lowered his gaze.
He could no longer sense where Anelli was. He didn't even know if she existed on this land.
Perhaps she would never appear before him again in his lifetime.
If he were to forcibly seek out Belladia Castle, well, that might be different...
Samuel decided he wouldn't do that anymore.
"She was someone who should have been that way from the beginning."
Muttering in a bitter voice, he bid farewell to Moriko and turned around.
The cloak that completely covered his one arm fluttered emptily.
* * *
The forest with its thick greenery was originally a place few people frequented.
However, after it was revealed that the Resurrected One had passed through here, pilgrims occasionally popped in and out, claiming to trace her footsteps.
They trampled through the entire forest without even knowing what lay deep within.
"Right here, the Resurrected One saved us from the evil Durahan."
"Wow!"
The one at the front wore shabby armor.
He was once a man who had lived prosperously as a private soldier of a renowned family.
But when the family fell, the soldiers naturally scattered, and he too lost his job and drifted all the way here.
Fortunately, he was skilled at calculating practical gains, so he quickly picked out a few money-making opportunities from his experience.
The connection with the Resurrected One was the best among them for making money.
"As you know, I served the Resurrected One. How moved I was when I met her again here!"
Shouldering exaggeratedly, the man looked back at the pilgrims. Among the gathered pilgrims, someone with a hood pulled low suddenly caught his eye.
'Hmm? Was someone like that here?'
Just as the man, feeling puzzled, tried to get a better look, one of the pilgrims loudly exclaimed in admiration.
"How impressive!"
"Haha, it's an embarrassing but proud memory."
The man tucked away his momentary interest and quickly answered.
Though the Resurrected One had not revealed herself, the fantastical tales of her extraordinary deeds spread through people's words and grew strangely inflated.
Thanks to that, the imperial citizens greatly admired and held sacred the existence of the Resurrected One.
The man who had seen her up close secretly scoffed at such imperial citizens while steadily emptying their pockets.
"Right here! This is where the Resurrected One was kidnapped by the Durahan! I still remember it!"
He didn't remember exactly, but the man roughly pointed at any spot and attached plausible words.
He had been a soldier of Roam and had once been part of the pursuit team searching for Anelli.
And this place was the very regrettable location where they had caught Anelli only to lose her.
Since it was in the past, who would know however he dressed it up? The man freely embellished and distorted the memory of that time.
Claiming to be someone who had served the Resurrected One, he volunteered as a guide, and when he recited appropriately pleasing novels, the pilgrims paid up on their own.
What a convenient way to make money!
"Now then, let's move..."
The man turned to lead the pilgrims onward.
In that moment, he saw something pitch black among the bushes. The man faltered and fixed his gaze.
"Huh? What is that?"
The pilgrims too seemed to have seen what he discovered, for they craned their heads forward, murmuring.
Someone accidentally bumped the man's back as he squinted to stare at it. As a result, the man stumbled forward.
A few steps closer, and its form became clearly visible.
"Th-that's..."
The man's face gradually drained of color.
Just as a few brave pilgrims, still unaware of the situation, tried to approach, the man stepped backward hesitantly.
"...Run."
"What?"
"R-run away."
"What do you mean, all of a sudden?"
The man, who had been glaring savagely at the bewildered pilgrim, whirled around.
"I said run, you fools!"
The moment his eyes met the pitch-black horse, he recalled the monster he had seen only once. Black armor. An abnormally massive build.
The terrifying monster that had trapped him in nightmares for some time.
"It's a Durahan! A Durahan has appeared!"
Seeing the man take the lead in fleeing while shouting, the other pilgrims were terrified and belatedly turned to run.
"Aaah!"
"Aaaah! Someone help!"
Though the black figure didn't budge, the people ran, trembling with fear.
Screams echoed through the silent forest, and the sounds of chaotically running footsteps tangled together.
The sounds grew distant, eventually becoming faintly small, and finally disappeared completely.
Once everyone had vanished, the figure hidden from view was revealed.
It was the one with the hood pulled low.
He stepped forward through the trampled grass. Walking steadily toward the black figure that everyone had fled from in terror, he came to a halt before it.
He extended his hand from beneath his cloak. Then the shadow hidden in the darkness took one step forward.
The figure the fleeing man had called a Durahan was simply a slightly large black horse.
The horse, which had lightly pawed the ground, gently lowered its head beneath that hand. White fingers softly stroked the black mane.
"Hello, Nadab."
A gentle voice flowed from beneath the hood.
"We meet again."