“Rubellan.”

Rael smiled faintly at Rubellan as he opened the door and entered.

“Rael.”

It was a name he always called, but had it ever felt this heavy? At this moment, Rubellan found it difficult to call Rael’s name. This was truly the first time he had been afraid of a conversation with her.

“Your face looks dark. Are you feeling unwell?”

At her question of concern for him, Rubellan felt like he might crumble. However, he swallowed the suffocating heaviness and approached Rael.

“Rael…”

His knees touched the floor. He leaned forward like he was prostrating himself over the legs of Rael, who was sitting against the bed.

“You must have had a really hard time.”

Rael slowly stroked the hair of Rubellan, who had hidden his face on her knees. At this, Rubellan felt a surge of sad emotions.

Who was the one who should be receiving comfort?

“Rubellan.”

At her call, Rubellan looked up at Rael.

“…I’m listening.”

Whatever she might say, he was ready to hear it. If she blamed him, he would gladly become a sinner and planned to live atoning for the rest of his life.

“We have something we need to do.”

“Anything, I’ll do anything.”

If only he could lessen Rael’s sadness, he could do whatever it was. If she wanted revenge, he would somehow tear off the sealed vines and rip Juletan apart in front of her, and if she was angry at him, it would be fine to cut off his own limbs and gouge out his eyes.

“Let’s make a grave.”

However, at Rael’s words, Rubellan realized that once again he had been foolish.

Revenge, resentment – those things weren’t what mattered.

“In a sunny place without monsters or anything.”

“Yes.”

Rael’s gaze fell on the box containing baby clothes. Rubellan’s gaze followed along with hers.

“Those clothes will be used a little early.”

The baby clothes that she thought would be used after spring passed would come out of the box before winter even arrived.

She hadn’t known that those white clothes would become burial garments.

She had chosen the softest fabric to make them, and now she worried whether they might get torn in the cold winds on the way to the afterlife. If she had known this would happen, she would have made them a little thicker.

“Yes. That will do.”

Could someone long so painfully for a person they had never met in this world? It was truly a strange emotion.

“Should we go right now?”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Actually, her physical condition wasn’t that good, but Rael didn’t want to postpone this matter.

Thus, that day in the nameless mountain of the warmest island in the south of the empire, a small grave was created.

That grave without even a name on the tombstone, throughout the long years that passed, never once became overgrown with weeds and maintained its appearance surrounded by beautiful flowers.

* * *

After several weeks passed like that, Rael, whose body had mostly recovered, moved from Sezl’s castle where she had been staying to Rubellan’s castle. Rubellan had worked hard to repair the castle for Rael. More solidly than before.

And a welcome guest came to visit there.

“Bastian!”

“Rael, have you been well?”

Bastian had left for the temple immediately after that incident. He reported everything related to the Magic Tower to the Pope without omitting a single detail, and the temple collected the bodies of the Tower Master and mages while sharing with the imperial palace the wrongs committed by the Magic Tower and what had happened in the demon realm.

The temple and imperial palace were greatly angered and disciplined the Magic Tower’s elders, then stripped the Magic Tower of its independent authority and ordered major reforms. And they kept this matter secret so it wouldn’t leak to the outside world.

And in that process, Bastian had to explain why he had lost his Divine Power.

He was prepared for dismissal. He even thought of the worst-case scenario where he might be branded a murderer and punished, but the Pope buried this incident and buried his sins along with it.

However, even the Pope couldn’t stop Bastian from voluntarily giving up his position as High Priest after losing his Divine Power.

“How did things go at the temple?”

Rael also expected that Bastian would face difficulties at the temple, so she asked worriedly.

“Well, now I’m just enjoying the unemployed life.”

“Were you dismissed? Why? You didn’t do anything wrong!”

Knowing that all of this was her fault, Rael couldn’t help but jump up.

“I wanted to quit being High Priest myself. I’ve lived diligently all this time, so now it’s time to rest.”

“How old are you!”

“Sometimes you need time to take a break.”

Unlike the surprised Rael, Bastian spoke with a peaceful expression.

Actually, he really did need rest. There had been too many things, and in that process he had to deeply contemplate whether his ideology of dividing good and evil in binary terms was correct. His values were shaking.

In this state, he couldn’t serve God with a devout heart as a priest. Though he couldn’t completely take off his priest’s robes, at least right now he needed time to stop and think.

“There’s no health problem, is there?”

Rael asked with some concern. She couldn’t understand why Bastian, who had lived with such pride in his profession as a priest, would voluntarily step down from his position as High Priest.

“I’m fine. Better than ever.”

Bastian laughed like she was talking nonsense. It wasn’t a lie. His body was healthy. The only problem was that he had lost his Divine Power.

But he thought there was no need to tell Rael about this. Even without his own matters, she would be having the hardest time from this incident, and he didn’t want to inform her of this news as well.

“Then what will you do now?”

Rael asked Bastian.

“I’m thinking of traveling.”

“Traveling?”

“Going around temples and doing volunteer work.”

“You say you’re taking a break but still doing volunteer work?”

Rael made a disgusted face but laughed. She burst out laughing thinking that Bastian, who would always work at temples even when going to the best resorts, had grown up to be someone who couldn’t even rest properly.

“Yes. That would be your decision.”

But wasn’t even Bastian’s foolish kind of rest better than herself, who was stopped and unable to do anything?

No matter how you looked at it, the real coward was herself.

“Ah. There was a tree in front of the castle.”

When Rael’s face darkened, Bastian changed the subject and asked about the thorn tree that stood prominently right in front of Rubellan’s castle.

“Ah, yes. It’s exactly what you’re thinking.”

“You have good nerves. Leaving that there.”

That tree was the thorn vines where Juletan was trapped. The tightly tangled thorn vines had grown like a tree.

“It would be good to remove it, but it won’t come out… Well, I guess it’s more comfortable for Rubellan to keep it there and watch over it.”

It was probably more comfortable for Rubellan to keep it where he could see it and monitor it.

“How is Rubellan’s condition?”

Bastian found it very amusing that he was asking about a demon’s well-being.

“He’s fine. His wounds healed completely, and his Magical Power has stabilized.”

“I see.”

Bastian didn’t feel that the situation where everything was returning to its place was entirely peaceful. No matter how much they returned to their previous state, he knew that the one thing they had lost would remain as too great a wound.

When he closed his mouth, Rael also fell into thought, and silence briefly circulated in the room.

“Bastian.”

Suddenly Rael called him in a calm voice.

“Yes. Tell me.”

“I’m going to leave here.”

Rael said while looking out the window. Her voice without highs or lows was just matter-of-fact. So Bastian perceived her words about leaving as just meaning she would move somewhere else to live.

“Are you going to live in the human world?”

“Yes.”

“With him?”

At Bastian’s question, Rael’s eyes lowered to the floor. He couldn’t read what emotions were contained in her calm blue eyes.

“…No.”

Bastian was a little surprised at Rael’s words that flowed out slowly.

“By myself.”

The voice saying “by myself” felt somewhat wet. Bastian couldn’t bring himself to ask why she was leaving alone. That was an area he shouldn’t interfere with.

The change hadn’t only happened to him. He could only guess that much. He just hoped that in this process of change, his beloved friend wouldn’t be hurt more… wouldn’t have regrets.

“Write letters wherever you go.”

The moment she said she would leave, the place was already decided.

“I’m going to my hometown.”

“To that village, again?”

“Yes. Right now I just want to take it easy. I’m thinking of living by running a small potion shop like before.”

No matter how much she thought about it, the place she would return to was ultimately her hometown.

What would it have been like if she had lived without leaving that place from the beginning? To think that the time she had considered a stuffy life like a frog in a well was the only peaceful time.

When she met Rubellan at the academy, and even now when she met Rubellan because of the Magic Tower, the ending was ultimately returning to her hometown – this made her think that perhaps this was the right answer.

“I guess my place is really that small village.”

“I’ll come visit often.”

“Yes. Then we can talk while reminiscing about childhood memories again.”

Since the choice was Rael’s, Bastian decided to just support her. Though he could no longer be called a priest, he wanted to pray for Rael.

After all, what he could always do was at most pray for someone.

“I know you’ll take the right path.”

“Thank you.”

“When you pass through the path and reach somewhere, the places you’ve passed through will leave meaning as some kind of memories.”

“I wonder. I think I’ll probably think it was a little difficult.”

“That’s not bad either.”

If you don’t take a difficult path because it’s hard, you won’t reach wherever you want to go. All the moments Rael experienced would come together to guide her to the right place.

Rael felt comforted by his priest-like words.

“Yes. Everyone has their own way.”

Rael decided to comfort herself in her own way.