Chapter 28

Renoah wasn’t entirely clueless about the current situation.

If His Highness Michael had been possessed by a mental-type monster, a simple physical attack wouldn’t be enough to save him.

Above all, they needed to restore His Highness Michael’s consciousness.

The reason Kanna had willingly come “here” was probably because there was a way to awaken His Highness Michael in this place.

So, why had Kanna suddenly lost her composure now?

Renoah sighed and straightened his posture.

As he lowered his gaze to shake off the mud from his hands, he froze in place.

Very slowly, Renoah stepped backward.

What he had touched was a gravestone.

Looking around, he realized that the heavy rain had concealed it until now, but the two of them were standing in a cemetery.

Dozens of gravestones stood in rows, battered by the pouring rain.

That alone would have been unsettling enough, but Renoah couldn’t tear his eyes away from the gravestone in front of him.

More precisely, it was the inscription on it that held his attention.

「Kanis Riventi  

383.5.11 ~ 389.6.3  

To our precious angel,  

May you rest in peace.  

We will meet again.  

From Mom and Dad.」

Renoah barely managed to close his gaping mouth. He clasped his hands together and bowed silently in front of the gravestone.

“The Master of the Mage Tower isn’t dead yet.” 

Kanna remarked, her gaze shifting away from the gravestone without much surprise.

“Of course, she’s been in good health ever since she came back to life.”

“Do people still use expressions like that these days?”

“Usually, they say she’s imbued with the love of the World Tree. But when people hear that, what they really think of is…”

At that moment, thunder rumbled.

“Do you think that’s really love?”

“Pardon?”

Startled by the thunder, Renoah asked again, unsure if he had heard correctly.

Kanna turned her gaze to Renoah.

“Why did you jump in?”

If Renoah had merely watched Kanna disappear beyond the black smoke with Michael, he would never have forgiven himself.

Part of it was the compulsion that mages often felt to save others, but it was also a choice Renoah had made as himself.

So, he had no regrets.

“Probably for the same reason you came here, Miss Kanna.”

“…”

“Well, is there any reason I shouldn’t?”

“Then can you make me a promise?”

“Yes.”

“I haven’t even said what it is yet.”

“Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

“…Are you underestimating me because I’m a kid?”

“No, I mean it. I promise.”

“Then.”

Kanna swallowed hard.

She opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, letting out a sigh. Finally, she looked up at Renoah.

“Don’t say anything.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ll understand what I mean soon enough.”

Kanna’s gaze shifted past Renoah.

Several laborers were walking toward them, their boots squelching in the rain-soaked mud.

Renoah swallowed nervously, but the laborers passed by as if they couldn’t see them at all.

Then, one of the laborers suddenly stopped, pointing toward the gravestone and asking, 

“Wait, are we just leaving that gravestone like that?”

“Oh, that’s the house where their only daughter, who was killed by a monster, had her corpse stolen on the day of her funeral, right?”

Stolen? 

Renoah nearly shouted in disbelief.

It was only when he met Kanna’s gaze that he understood the meaning of the promise he had just made.

Renoah silently hoped the laborers would answer his questions for him as he continued to listen.

“Well, they could’ve buried an empty coffin or given up the grave spot, but leaving just the gravestone there…”

“Can you imagine how the parents must feel? They said the body was held for ransom, didn’t they? How much was it again?”

“Ten thousand.”

“Right, ten thousand gold pieces to get it back.”

“Where would they even find that kind of money? It’s not like they’re royalty.”

“Damn it, as if living in a world overrun by monsters isn’t bad enough. Who steals a child’s corpse?”

Renoah coughed awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable.

“Um… Miss Kanna.”

“You promised.”

“….”

Renoah felt like he was going to lose his mind.

The infamous corpse thief he had only read about in history books had stolen none other than Kanis Riventi’s body.

Was this real? Had this actually happened? And what had become of it?

But with Kanna glaring at him with narrowed eyes, Renoah couldn’t go back on his word.

Gradually, he began to understand.

What Kanna had meant when she said she didn’t want to “show” this.

The past of the Master of the Mage Tower was largely shrouded in secrecy.

There were no records of her life before she joined the expedition organized by the First Emperor.

There were rumors that she had become a mage at an incredibly young age, but…

Perhaps that was because Kanis Riventi herself didn’t want those details known.

If that were the case, then Kanna’s distress was understandable.

She wanted to protect her mother.

Even though her mother had left her behind…

When Renoah began looking at her with a gaze full of pity, Kanna turned her back on him, narrowing her brows as she wiped the rainwater from her face.

Judging by Renoah’s reaction, Kanna was already dreading how she would face Michael later.

Just as the rain seemed to let up, the surroundings suddenly distorted, and the two of them were swept away into an entirely unfamiliar place.

“What is this all of a sudden—?”

“Well, illusions don’t exactly behave normally, do they?”

The two of them were now being jostled inside a moving wagon.

Renoah grabbed onto a rum barrel next to him and pulled himself upright.

“So this just keeps happening endlessly, with no way out?”

“It’s enough to drive anyone crazy.”

“…You saying that makes it even creepier, Miss Kanna.”

Kanna opened her mouth to reply, but a stranger’s voice cut in.

“How much did you say? Ten thousand? Isn’t that too much?”

“Don’t worry. Have you ever seen parents not spend money on their child’s corpse? Besides, this time, the kid was killed by a monster. Right in front of the parents, no less. Do you think they’re in their right mind?”

The woman holding the reins stopped the wagon and glanced back, scolding irritably.

“All you do is fetch corpses, and you can’t even tie the sack properly? What if someone saw?”

“Stop nagging me! It’s annoying. I’m doing all the work, and you’re complaining…”

The man trailed off as he followed the woman’s gaze, his face going pale.

The sack, which had toppled over due to the wagon’s jolting, was partially open. A pale child’s hand was groping its way out of the sack.

“Why… why is the dead kid moving…?”

“Check it! Go and check!”

“You check! Why are you ordering me around?”

“I’m holding the reins, you idiot!”

As the young man and woman bickered, the child’s round head emerged from the sack.

The child coughed up a breath and opened her eyes.

Her gaze met that of the thieves directly.

At that moment, her eyes glowed blue, and a pattern resembling a gnarled tree branch appeared on her forehead before fading away.

For a moment, the wagon, rattling up the steep mountain path, fell into a suffocating silence.

“Did… did you see that?”

“The mark on her forehead… Could it be…?”

“The blessing of the World Tree, damn it!”

“So that means…”

The woman cursed loudly and shouted.

“She’s come back to life!”

Renoah stared in disbelief at the child’s silver hair, disheveled from static electricity.

It was truly a young Kanis.

And she looked exactly like Kanna.

“I never imagined I’d see this…”

“You promised.”

Renoah clicked his tongue but obediently kept his mouth shut.

The path to becoming a mage was simple.

Everyone knew it well, but it was the one method no one dared to attempt recklessly.

‘To die at the hands of a monster.’

Among those, only a very small number regained life and opened their eyes again. These individuals could wield powers that ordinary people could not.

This power was the only force capable of defeating monsters and, ultimately, eradicating them completely.

Indeed, countless mages throughout history had devoted their lives to fighting monsters.

Most of them harbored deep resentment toward monsters, and they couldn’t simply return to their previous lives as if nothing had happened.

Great power always came with a price.

According to the covenant with the World Tree, when they opened their eyes again, they inevitably lost the most precious thing they had in life.

Some forgot the person they had loved for a lifetime, while devout believers lost their faith…

For a child, what was most precious to them was always the same.

“…Mom? Dad?”

Memories. Of their parents.

The young Kanis, still inside the sack, reached out toward the thieves.

The two corpse thieves exchanged nervous glances, swallowing hard.

“What do we do?”

“Damn it, ‘this one’ saw our faces. We can’t let it go.”

“More importantly, if this is really ‘that,’ the thing that kills monsters… It’s unbelievably strong.”

“…This little kid?”

Silver hair like spun thread, pale cheeks, and bright blue eyes that shone even after the light faded.

The young Kanis’s expression gradually grew uneasy.

“…Mom?”