“The Black Cloak!”

“The Blue Knights rescued the Black Cloak!”

The Black Cloak, whose face was covered with a black coat that she borrowed from Podrick.

The cheers grew even louder as they saw Pumong’s black horses coming behind them. Some people even fell to their knees, weeping.

“Emily! Oh, my daughter!”

“Jake, is that you, Jake! It’s me! Your fiancée, Cecilia!”

“Yen! You were alive! Oh, I was so worried!”

Families, friends, and lovers of the missing people cried out passionately and ran towards them.

The missing people had returned alive. Naturally, people’s eyes turned to the three standing in front of the missing.

Emmett Bovir, the next hero, Raiden, his captain, and the Black Cloak from Pumong.

“The Blue Knights and Pumong saved Kamit!”

A man on his friend’s shoulders shouted loudly. Starting with him, people raised their fists and shouted.

“The Blue Knights and Pumong saved Kamit!”

“The Blue Knights and Pumong saved Kamit!”

The crowd parted, making way for Pumong’s executives.

The executives endured the awkward stares by rubbing their necks or scratching their cheeks.

“How did this happen…?”

“I bet the Crown Prince is going to be really pissed.”

“Bet you anything, the Black Cloak pulled another stunt.”

At Peon’s exasperated voice, Beth and Mingus shrugged their shoulders. Lunan, who had been indifferently reading Turner’s diary despite the loud cheers, pointed with his chin.

“Look at that.”

The clueless executives looked where Lunan pointed.

Sergi had hurriedly run through the path made by the people and was hugging the Black Cloak who had dismounted.

“If only he’d been honest sooner.”

Lunan shook his head and spoke like an old man. The executives sighed in agreement.

Probably, not just them, but even Sergi himself couldn’t deny it. Just like now.

“This is enough, this is all I need.”

With a trembling voice, Sergi whispered to Rosé, who was in his arms.

“You came back alive, that’s enough for me.”

He had long since forgotten about the means in front of her. Sergi accepted the feelings he had for her over the past year.

He wanted her to live. He wanted her to be happier than anyone else. Not as a means to an end, but simply as a person.

“Sergi…”

Rosé, with a bewildered face, awkwardly patted Sergi’s back and looked at the people applauding them.

‘This is the power of the d*ldo…’

Something was definitely very wrong.

* * *

The news of the closure of the Kamit boundary quickly spread to Millerain.

It was no exception among the athletes who were diligently preparing for the Northern preliminaries yesterday, today, and probably tomorrow.

“Did you see the news? The Blue Knights and some woman in a cloak closed the boundary.”

“The Blue Knights, sure, but a woman? That’s impressive. Judging by her southern accent, she must be an outsider.”

Henry, who habitually said ‘outsider,’ quickly added.

“Hmm, better than a Northerner.”

Then the athletes who had been glaring at Henry turned their attention to the newspaper article.

Outsider.

A word naturally ingrained in the mouths of Northerners who were wary of outsiders. But after meeting the woman named Rosé, the athletes changed.

They no longer rejected people from other regions just because their hair and eye colors were different; they no longer made fun of accents from other areas.

Their narrow perspective of thinking that winning in Millerain was everything also disappeared. This was all thanks to that woman, Rosé.

“Sigurd! Your performance in today’s match was excellent!”

Mikhail, who entered the training ground, showered Sigurd, who was engrossed in the newspaper, with praise.

Sigurd, who was chosen by Rosé, had made winning the imperial tournament his life’s goal.

He studied martial arts until dawn every day and never skipped physical training even on weekends.

Mikhail knew that Sigurd’s hard work was all to marry that southern lady.

Sigurd planned to receive a title from the Emperor and propose to that lady.

“Now that the Kamit boundary is closed, let’s go to Heinz’s tavern! Drinks are on me today!”

At Mikhail’s hearty shout, Sigurd finally put down the newspaper and joined the athletes in cheering. The newspaper he had folded had the following headline in bold letters.

「The Mayor of Millerain announces plans to create an ice statue of the ‘Three Saviors’ to commemorate Kamit’s new beginning.」

* * *

The demolition ceremony of Kamit Castle, which resembled a festival, lasted for fifteen days.

The imperial knights returned to Monchen within a day, but the idle Pumong attended the demolition ceremony and made an unexpected gain.

“Thank you for saving the villagers. This is a small token of appreciation from our Red Knights to Pumong.”

Not only the executives of Pumong but also the guild members of the Millerain branch.

They all stared wide-eyed at the pieces of black magic stone in their hands.

“According to the Red Knights’ manual, it belongs to the imperial family, but as you know, this is the first demolition ceremony since the establishment of the Red Knights… No one will know.”

Oster handed over the pieces of the castle wall collected during the demolition ceremony.

Purely refined with imperial technology, black magic stones were not only twice as expensive as ordinary black magic stones but also difficult to obtain, making their prices skyrocket.

“And for the Black Cloak.”

Oster approached Rosé, who was staring at the black magic stone with eyes sparkling like stars in the night sky.

A hero of the North who, along with the Blue Knights, closed the boundary. Oster’s eyes had changed to something akin to admiration as he looked at her.

He handed her a fist-sized stone that sparkled like a diamond and said,

“This is Sir Turner’s magic stone found in the basement of the shelter. Although we only found one, I hope you will take it.”

Oster placed his hand on his chest and bowed to the Black Cloak as knights would do in front of the Emperor.

“On behalf of the Red Knights, I thank you. You are a hero to all of us.”

The S-tier magic stone was in her hand. Rosé’s eyes sparkled greedily, but she quickly cleared her throat and thanked Oster.

‘What should I do?’

I owe all this glory to my d*ldo.

…is something she couldn’t say.

Rosé quickly put the magic stones into her inventory and composed her voice solemnly.

“I only did what was necessary to save lives.”

The other Red Knights, who had been watching the Black Cloak with clasped hands, exclaimed, “Ah!”

As expected, the hero of the common people, the Black Cloak, was nothing but a corpse without loyalty and affection!

Even those who had been hesitant followed Oster’s example, placing their hands over their hearts and bowing their heads. It was a solemn salute from everyone to Rosé.

“Ah, I should have been at the front.”

Watching them from afar, Podrick clutched the white wolf fur blanket he had harvested from the ice castle and wailed.

Why wouldn’t he have looked for the glass stones? In fact, he had dreamed of monopolizing the glass stones after sending Rosé away.

But inside the melting ice castle, finding diamond-like gems was impossible.

Haa… Lunan, who had been listening to Podrick’s long sigh, coincidentally found a passage in Turner’s diary and read it aloud.

“That which emits a light so white it dazzles, has properties similar to ice. It melts easily if left alone, making it difficult to manage. So, I froze all the glass stones I collected along with the lake… oh.”

“Oh.”

Both Lunan, who was reading the diary, and Podrick, who was listening quietly, simultaneously made a dumbfounded “Oh” sound.

They quietly exchanged glances. The memory that automatically replayed in their minds was the same.

― Wait, Venter hasn’t come back yet.

― He’s checking if there are magic stones in the lake.

― Could there be magic stones in the water?

And finally, the words Venter shouted before he died echoed in their ears.

― F*ck, I found it! It’s the glass stone! That ice…!

“Venter found it.”

“Really…?”

The two of them stared blankly at Kamit, which was fenced off for reconstruction.

“We can’t go in there now, can we?”

“Wait a minute. I’ll turn invisible right now!”

“It’s no use.”

Just then, just as Podrick was rolling up his sleeves, ready to run, a voice that spoiled his mood reached his ears.

Podrick, about to retort with an annoyed face, realized it was Sergi and quickly lowered his shoulders like a dog tucking its tail.

“Due to the closure, the lake has completely melted. Unless you can drain the lake, it’ll be hard to find anything, Podrick.”

The lake was deep, and the magic stones, due to their properties, were heavy. In other words, they would have sunk.

Podrick screamed, “Aaaah!” and threw his fist into the air. Lunan looked at him pitifully and quietly read the last page of the diary.

The white monsters seem to mistake the magic stones for ice and make clubs out of them. It’s too embarrassing to write in the diary. What on earth are they trying to do…?

‘Were they making weapons?’

Lunan sighed at the incomprehensible content and eventually closed the diary.

The Black Cloak became a hero of the North, Podrick acted like a crazy woodpecker, and the leader’s regret deepened as he watched his unrequited love.

Their last day in Kamit passed by in such a hectic manner.