/
Sarah, who was cheering alone went still for a moment, and asked Sears,
“But what is a Saint?”
At that cute action, people around her burst into laughter.
The tense atmosphere was eased in an instant.
Sarah had no idea why people were laughing, but she too was excited and joined them.
“Thanks to my granddaughter, I managed to laugh.”
“Me too, Marquis.”
Philos wiped off his tears and rubbed his stomach.
The others were the same.
Philos looked at Jamie with a more relaxed expression.
Although Sarah calmed the mood, they were still doubting their ears.
Jamie laughed inwardly at their reaction.
‘They don’t believe it.’
It would be blasphemous to not believe the words of Ricky who was the Apostle of the Goddess, but this was too unrealistic.
‘It is a little embarrassing to show this to them.’
But nothing is more certain than seeing the truth with your own eyes.
Jamie stretched out his left hand.
“… the scale of justice.”
Philos mumbled as he looked at the symbol on Jamie's palm.
He was the second ranked Holy Executioner, and there was no way he couldn’t recognize the crest of the church.
No, everyone was the same.
“I-Is that for real?”
Lars, who was also seeing it, couldn’t believe it.
Airak, who talked a lot about not believing Jamie, couldn’t even speak now.
The Marquis and Sears looked at each other with complicated expressions.
It wasn’t easy to decide on how to deal with this situation.
Originally, it would be normal to run wild, but Jamie’s status and abilities were far from that of an adult.
The heir of Count Welton, who reigned in the norble world in the eastern part of the Seldam kingdom, and a possible person to reach the 9th class, the supreme state.
Although the latter was a possibility, the former was a guaranteed position.
“Jamie is a saint…”
The Marquis frowned.
To become a saint meant to give up all the status he had and turn into a servant of the goddess.
And the Pyro church was here, and now that a noble was a Saint, the church could be created at the new place, however, till now, apart from Zenith, no other church dared to step into Haiss.
“That is fine.”
Sears opened her mouth with a complicated expression.
She looked at Lars.
“Haiss will embrace Pyro.”
“Madam, is that truly alright?”
When Airak asked with a surprised expressio, Lars answered.
“I was going to talk about it, but because of the incident which happened I couldn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“I got it from Count Welton before I left Haiss. The Archbishop was informed, but because of this…”
Lars took out a neat letter from his sleeve.
“Read it, sir. Among the people in this place, aren’t you the highest right now?”
“Sure.”
Upon receiving the letter, Philos read the contents of it.
And then he looked at Sears with wide eyes.
“Is this true?”
“It is as written.”
“What is the content?”
Airak took the letter from Philos and read it aloud.
“Our family intends to join the Pyro church, and we hope to build a church of Pyro in Haiss, the home of our family.”
There was more, but he didn’t read it out loud.
The Marquis was shocked that Count Welton had made such a choice.
“Did the Count really make such a decision?”
“There were reasons for it, and it is undeniably true.”
“I am glad…”
If Count Welton joins the Pyro church, Jamie’s situation will be alleviated to some extent.
However, since he was now a Saint, a property of the Goddess, he would have to give up his status.
And Sears didn’t like it.
“It is fine.”
At Jamie’s sudden words, the adults looked at Jamie.
“The Goddess said that I don’t have to.”
“What do you mean?”
“She told me to do my job. And that I don’t have to go to her, and can act freely. So I don’t have to give up my identity.”
“… is that so?”
Aira questioned, but he couldn’t ask anymore as Jamie had the symbol of Saint on him, which meant that he couldn’t lie.
“Being an independent Saint…”
Philos burst into laughter and quietly bowed to Jamie.
And the same with Lars and Airak.
Jamie looked indifferently at them.
“The sword which carries the justice of the Goddess, Holy Executioner Philos Oran, greets the newly ordained Saint.”
“The sword which carries the justice of the Goddess, Holy Executioner Airak Tedley, greets the newly ordained Saint.”
“The sword which carries the justice of the Goddess, Holy Executioner Lars Armetic, greets the newly ordained Saint.”
It was normal to be flustered, but Jamie answered them with a natural look.
“Nice to meet you. I hope you can look after me.”
The Marquis’s feelings were complicated at Jamie’s appearance.
The 3 Holy Executioners left first saying they had a lot to do.
“We too…”
The Marquis was about to move away too, when a priest rushed for him.
“Wait!”
“What is it?”
“Hu, hu…”
Perhaps due to the lack of exercise, the priest gasped for air after a short run.
Marquis and Sears waited for the priest to catch his breath and when he calmed down, the Marquis asked.
“Okay. So what was it that you had to run over here?”
“It is… Sir Beryl Onyx has awakened.”
At that, everyone except for Sarah was shocked.
Sarah wasn’t interested so she looked at the ants walking down.
“Is he awake?”
“Yes.”
“Right. What will you do?”
The Marquis turned to his daughter and asked.
Beryl helped Jamie out of the forest.
But looking at her face, it felt like she was still feeling burdened.
“There is a lot of time, and if you are tired you can come back tomorrow…”
“I will go.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I need to greet him. He is my son’s benefactor.”
Saying that, Sears placed her hand on Jamie’s head.
The Marquis smiled at the sight of his daughter and nodded his head.
“I can meet him anytime, be safe. Sarah, let us head back first.”
“Okay.”
“Jamie will stop by Mr. Beryl and come back with me by holding hands right?”
“Yes, grandfather!”
The Marquis ruffled Jamie’s hair seeing how he replied boldly.
Jamie felt a bit uncomfortable and regretted that he spoke too strongly.
“It is here.”
It was Ricky who led them to where Beryl was staying.
“I will leave.”
“Thank you.”
“Nothing. See you later, Jamie.”
“Yes. See you later.”
Ricky waved to them and disappeared as he walked away to the corner.
Sears looked at the door nervously.
It was whether she had to go inside, and if she was to go in, then what kind of conversation would she have with him? Was there any hope for her broken relationship to mend, these were all thoughts in her mind.
A big disappointment for her.
And now that so much time has passed, the feelings in the past had diluted and it was impossible to treat him like the past.
‘Let’s say thank you and leave right away.’
She raised her hand to knock, but her hand didn’t move.
It is just tapping, how hard could it be-
“Mother.”
It was then.
Jamie pulled Sears’ dress.
She looked down at her son and he nodded his head, as if it was okay.
When she looked at that face, all her complicated emotions subsided in an instant.
Smiling at her son, she knocked.
“Come in.”
Beryl’s voice was heard from within.
Sears took a deep breath and opened the door.
Beryl was inside, reading a book and looked at Sears with calm eyes.
The terrible image of the past overlapped with the present Beryl. This man in front of her felt like a completely different person, but it felt familiar to Sears.
“Hello.”
As Sears stood still at the door, Jamie strode in.
“Is your body alright?”
“Well, it is better.”
“That is fortunate. What would we do if you died?”
“How can such a little boy speak like that in front of a patient? Ah, maybe because you are a kid?”
“Kids can normally do anything.”
“You are one smart kid.”
Sears was bewildered by the sight of her son talking to Beryl without a hitch.
Were they close enough to talk like this?
As Sears was shocked, Jamie motioned her.
“Come on, mother.”
“Y-yes. Right.”
Sears glanced over and walked over with her son.
Beryl smiled and said.
“I saw you a few days ago, but somehow it feels like I haven’t seen you for a long time.”
“… I guess so.”
“So what did you come here for?”
Sears hesitated for a moment at Beryl’s question, putting her hand on her son, she answered.
“I am here to thank you.”
“For what?”
“You saved my son. Thank you very much.”
“Indeed, I did save Jamie, but so did he.”
It was true that he saved Jamie from the Baron demon but it would have been impossible to survive in the first place without Jamie in the battle with Sable.
“Nevertheless, as a mother I came here thinking that it would be appropriate to greet the benefactor of my child. Then, take good care of your…”
Sears hurriedly tried to end it and leave.
But Beryl’s next words made it impossible.
“Jamie. I’d like to talk to your mother for a while, could you please stay out for a moment?”
“Okay.”
Jamie readily agreed to his request.
“Wait. What are…?”
“I will be waiting outside, mother.”
“Jamie!”
“He is an old friend.”
Sears' eyes trembled at the word ‘friend’.
To her, Jamie said.
“Let it all out.”
After saying that, Jamie went out and closed the door.
And the room fell into silence.
And it was Beryl who broke it.
“You have a wonderful son.”
“Yes. He is very lovely.”
When it was just the two of them, they couldn’t even look at each other.
But like the old time, words were laid out naturally.
“Jamie is a great kid. It is so amazing that it is hard to put it into words.”
“Thank you for thinking that about my son.”
“Your son will one day become a great being who will rule the world.”
Sears just smiled faintly at it.
“Is the Count doing well?”
“He is always fine.”
“He should be. He is the man who defeated me.”
“Do you still think about that day?”
A duel between two men for Sears.
The day Count Welton won it by overwhelming strength.
And then, rumors came that Beryl disappeared from Apton.
“It is funny that I still have that day in my heart.”
At that time, he hated the situation so much that he wanted to kill Count Welton. In fact, he even planned several assassinations.
There was a time when he was obsessed with it.
“But someone said this. Suffering is useless, so rather, take time to reflect on yourself.”
After losing the duel, for three years he lived in the shadows.
Even after completing his family’s revenge, it was a time when he was mad and hoping for bloodshed.
“At first I thought that was bullshit. And wanted to kill the person who said it.”
-As long as you can’t get rid of your affections and raging emotions, you can’t defeat me.
Defeated.
He was defeated even worse than the match with Count Welton.
And he started to change after that.
Beryl challenged that person again, and again, over and over again.
And each time he lost, he looked back and reflected on himself and looked at the problems in his swordsmanship, he began to find problems too.
And one by one, he found it, and then turned curious.
Why was he like that? Could he be fixed?
He thought about it for two years, and many changes occurred in the process.
“It was around the time I became a real Sword Master.”
He was a Sword Master in the past too, he was skilled too, that wasn’t a lie.
“And then I came to know the cause of my problem.”
Beryl took something out of the bag next to him.
Sears looked at the object and covered her mouth.
“Do you remember this?”
“This… mother gave…”
“Right. It is a music box which my aunt gave me when I first met her.”
A broken old music box, a prince and a princess dancing hand in hand.
But the song didn’t come out.
And the box was left unattended for so long.
“Seeing this reminds me a lot of the past.”
A time when they were like siblings.
Beryl and Sears were inseparable.
Always together, everywhere together.
“It is my fault.”
His family collapsed and Sears was the only one he could rely on.
At first, it was a small obsession.
However, as time passed, the degree of obsession became more and more severe. To the extent the dreams turned chaotic.
Later, he tried to find every man she met and kill them.
To be honest, he couldn’t remember that time, but it was a time he regretted.
“And I didn’t have courage.”
Time and time again, he wanted to head down to Haiss, get down on his knees in front of Count Welton and Sears and tried to apologize.
But he couldn’t, because he knew he was wrong.
“Really… I am really sorry.”
Sears, who heard everything, didn't say anything for a while.
She looked at the music box in Beryl’s hand.
-Wow! The sound is so nice! I want to dance like a princess too!
-Haha! Sears is pretty, so you will be able to meet a prince later.
-Then will I be a pretty princess too?
-Maybe a queen rather than a princess?
-Queen! When I become queen, I will invite brother to the palace!
-Obviously!
She danced while imagining that she was in the hands of a prince, and Beryl would applaud her.
That was how they played.
‘I danced and brother clapped.’
They didn’t play like that when they got a little older, and sometimes they would just listen to the music from the box.
Even now, she could feel the faint melody ringing in her ears.
Sears smiled and said.
“Next time… next time when you come to Haiss. I will be waiting for you with him.”
“Ugh, you don’t have to do that.”
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Jamie, who was outside the door, shrugged as he watched birds near the windows.
‘I still don’t understand what these emotions are.’
Still, he wondered if this was something which could be called a happy ending.