Chapter 73
Cadet Ekinesia Roaz was enrolled. Yuriene stamped the order of appointment at the same time as her admission. After even posting the announcement, he couldn't focus on his work. He paced anxiously all day.
[What's making you so uneasy?]
"I don't know how she'll react."
[Hmm. Well, I'm not even sure if the owner of that Demon Sword remembers you.]
"...What?"
Yuriene stopped pacing abruptly. Rangiosa asked, sounding slightly flustered.
[Um? Didn't you know?]
"I... I just assumed she would know... She awakened Bardelgiosa, didn't she? The Demon Sword must have told her about you..."
[Bardelgiosa doesn't know that I'm always awake. I've never even had a conversation with him. Giosas surprisingly don't know each other very well. How often do you think Giosas meet each other in an awakened state?]
"......"
[At least I'm always awake, so I know quite a few other Giosas... But this is probably only the second time Bardelgiosa has awakened. There's no way he would know about me.]
Yuriene paled and touched his forehead. He hadn't realized. He had just assumed that she knew he had his memories.
"So she doesn't know whether or not I remember her?"
[Probably not. Think about it, if she knew about you, would she appear so willingly before you? Someone she killed?]
That was right. He had thought that he might be a trigger for Ekinesia's nightmares. But she came to where he was. She could have avoided it if she wanted to, but she appeared before him on her own.
So he thought it would be okay, and judged positively. That's why he decided to appoint her as a Squire.
[That's a past you worked so hard to erase. If she finds out that you remember that erased time, she might disappear and never appear before you again.]
He was quite shocked by what the Holy Sword said so casually. As the Holy Sword said, it would be normal for her to avoid him if she knew he had his memories.
She didn't come to Ajenka because she was okay, but because she didn't know.
For Yuriene, who had True Sight, it was only natural to recognize Ekinesia. So, even though Nicole Sizten couldn't recognize Ekinesia Roaz, who had become a demon, he didn't even imagine that she would come to Ajenka thinking that he wouldn't recognize her even if she remembered him. If he didn't have True Sight, he wouldn't have recognized her so easily.
'Was appointing her as a Squire a mistake?'
Yuriene stared blankly at the desk. The Squire appointment had already been issued. It was hard to take it back now. She must have already heard.
He had assumed that she knew everything and came to Ajenka, so he had never considered the possibility that she might run away. He had hoped that she would realize that he had no intention of antagonizing her through the Squire appointment, and that she would feel relieved, that her relationship with him would change, that they might get closer.
But what if she had no intention of appearing before him at all, and only came to Ajenka because she had a reason to become a Military Cadet? What if she was relieved because she thought he wouldn't know?
'......A person who remembers a past that she barely managed to erase. It might be difficult for her to accept if she finds out. She might really run away. Why didn't I think of this?'
She is Zenith, a realm above Master.
If she was determined to hide from him, he might never find her. He didn't want that. To not be able to watch over someone who had finally come within reach.
If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have appointed her as a Squire.
Wasn't that as good as showing that he remembered? He should have approached her more slowly and carefully. He knew the depth of her wounds, yet he was hasty.
It was no use regretting it now.
Even in this situation, he couldn't even think of the option of not approaching her.
'No, no... It might be okay. We don't know how she'll react yet.'
First, he had to meet her in person. He wanted to go find her right away. But he didn't know if it was okay to go find her now. She was already in an unstable state, and if he went to find her as soon as he appointed her, wouldn't that just provoke her even more?
His mind was in a mess. All the plans he had made on the premise that she knew everything were ruined. Yuriene paced anxiously around the commander's office before stopping at the window.
The commander's office was on a fairly high floor. The Azure Knights headquarters was in full view.
A glimpse of pink caught his eye. Yuriene immediately activated True Sight. A dazzlingly bright soul was clearly revealed. Ekinesia Roaz was heading towards the city gate.
* * *
Ajenka had an outer fortress that surrounded the entire city, and an inner fortress located slightly north of the center. Originally, there was only the inner fortress, but as the city developed and expanded, the outer fortress was newly built.
The Azure Knights headquarters, the Great Temple, and the Military Academy were all located inside the inner fortress. Usually, in Ajenka, when people said 'Ajenka Castle' or 'inside the castle,' they were referring to the inside of the inner fortress.
She is heading out of that inner fortress.
An inexplicable anxiety filled his entire body. Did she hear that she was appointed as a Squire and realize that he remembered her? Is that why she's trying to leave like this? Will he never see her again?
Yuriene grabbed his hood and rushed out of the commander's office at full speed.
[Um? Why are you suddenly doing this?]
The Holy Sword asked, sounding very displeased, but he ignored it. He put on his hood as he ran. He thought it would be too late if he went down all the stairs, so he opened the window in the middle of the hallway and jumped out. He ran like crazy, chasing after where she had gone.
He soon caught up with her. As soon as he saw Ekinesia's back, Yuriene stopped and caught his breath.
If he got any closer, she would notice. She didn't seem to be particularly scanning her surroundings, but her senses would definitely be broader than his.
Yuriene mingled among the people on the street and carefully followed her. She walked slowly, with an attire and attitude that didn't seem like she was running away.
At first, she seemed to be walking aimlessly without a destination, but at some point, she started walking towards one place. It was towards the central plaza.
[You... I think you're doing something quite rude right now. Secretly stalking a woman.]
The Holy Sword muttered very sullenly. Yuriene ignored Rangiosa's words, as it wasn't a warning that he was doing something evil.
In the meantime, Ekinesia arrived at the central plaza. She walked against the crowd in the plaza and stood in front of the fountain.
In front of the fountain where she greeted him in the erased autumn of 1632. The place where he and she last met. The place where his previous life ended.
She looked up at the angel statue in the fountain. He couldn't see her expression from behind. Even with True Sight, he could only see the quietly burning light.
Yuriene closed his useless True Sight and watched her with his bare eyes. The hair that hung down under the fresh flower-decorated hat with a short veil swayed slightly.
What is she thinking as she looks at that fountain? What kind of expression is she making? He couldn't stand not knowing.
Was she crying like the last soul he saw? Even though it wasn't her fault, was she blaming herself? His feet moved on their own. He got a little closer.
At some point, she turned her head. Their eyes met.
A white face surrounded by wavy pink hair. Clear purple eyes. The woman he was facing properly for the first time was more beautiful than the vaguely remaining memories.
No, rather than just being pretty, something about her made it hard to take his eyes off her...
He approached as if possessed, but stopped in surprise when he got too close. She looks up at him. Her height barely reaching his chin. Slender shoulders visible below her thin neck. A frail body that was hard to believe held such a strong soul.
She was so different from when he saw her at the first banquet. Different from when he saw her body stained with the Demon Sword and her burning soul. Different from when he saw her taking the preliminary exam at the training grounds from afar, and when he saw her soul become the sun. Completely different from when he saw her in Rangiosa's memories.
Not stained by anything else, not seeing her through anything else, seeing her facing him with her own eyes so close for the first time. She was alive and breathing right in front of him.
Did she endure all that time and achieve a miracle with such a frail body? A woman who was just the daughter of an ordinary Count.
He was shocked anew. And then came the realization.
Ah, a woman, she was.
He finally fully realized it now. A point he hadn't reached even though he desperately wanted to get closer, wanted to approach, wanted to be by her side.
The eyes looking up at him through the veil were clear. If he lifted the veil, they would be even clearer and more distinct. He knew that when those eyes held will, they were dazzlingly intense.
The things that surrounded that intensity were endlessly delicate. Skin that looked soft enough to melt. The lines of her neck and shoulders revealed white between her flowing hair.
Her shoulders rose and fell slightly with her breath. Her parted lips trembled slightly. They were red and wet. He could see a glimpse of her tongue inside her mouth.
Something he hadn't thought about while watching her until now. Or perhaps he had thought about it unconsciously, but hadn't realized it.
Yuriene felt a desire for another person for the first time in his life. A chilling sensation that ran through his entire body in an instant. He was so startled by that naked desire that he tried to suppress it.
It didn't work well. So Yuriene thought again about who she was. The woman in front of him.
"...Ekinesia Roaz."
The daughter of Count Roaz. The Demon of the Demon Sword. A swordswoman who had reached the realm of the great sword, Zenith. A woman who had fallen into the abyss because of him.
A soul that sprouted a spark into the sun. A person who performed a miracle. The most outstanding, the most powerful, the most precarious, and the most fascinating being he had ever seen.
But no matter how he regarded her, her current official status was just a Military Cadet.
"Cadet."
He belatedly added the title. Ekinesia blinked as if startled. Yuriene hesitated because she seemed flustered.
How should he say it? Did she really not know that he had his memories?
He tried to pronounce the words several times in his mouth before finally asking the question.
"Do you know me?"
Ekinesia flinched, then lowered her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand. She avoided his gaze and replied.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are. Do you know me?"
