Several days later.

[You’re very late.]

Gilroth, with his dazzling white wings neatly folded, began the conversation that way. When Kasha met his blue eyes that seemed to see through everything, she somehow found herself avoiding his gaze.

“…That’s how it turned out. It’s not that I didn’t hurry. The snow made it difficult to travel.”

It had only snowed for the last three days of the journey, but she couldn’t honestly say that she was late because she had been entangled with Leon the whole time.

[Hmm, I see. I failed to consider the imperfections and crudeness of humans.]

Fortunately, Gilroth didn’t seem to think that the descendant of the hero he served was telling a brazen lie.

‘Even gods are divine beings… Is it okay to lie?’

Kasha looked up at Leon standing beside her with a bit of conflict. He had been standing by her side the whole time, as reliable as a guard knight or a statue in a temple. Once she confirmed his presence, Kasha was able to regain her confident expression.

“So, did you check the condition of the magic stones?”

At her question, Gilroth twisted his bird-like face and opened his mouth.

[Well, considering how roughly they were handled, their condition isn’t too bad.]

As he said that, Gilroth spread his huge wings wide.

The white crystals densely embedded in his wings emitted a pure light. The three crystals embedded in the spot that had looked like gray stains the last time she saw them must be the magic stones Kasha had returned.

Among them, Onor had been scratched here and there when Kasha hastily took it out of storage.

“That’s a relief.”

Kasha, who had been tense, let out a genuine sigh of relief and replied.

She recalled the moment about a month ago when she had summoned him just in time for the deadline Gilroth had set.

Those blue eyes that had stared at her in a world dyed in pitch-black darkness. At that time, Gilroth had said:

[Not bad. But I need time to check if the pieces of me that I’ve gotten back are functioning properly.]

‘What?’

[Come to the Temple of Wanua in the northern part of the continent. It’s the only place where I can have a long conversation with you without a summoning circle like this.]

‘The Temple of… Wanua?’

While Kasha was stunned by the unexpected name, Gilroth disappeared, clutching the three magic stones with his sharp claws.

[I’ll be waiting.]

That was how the long journey had begun out of the blue.

From the perspective of a divine being, it was a distance that could be easily traversed with a single thought, but it wasn’t so for Kasha, an ordinary human.

Anyway, that’s how they had come to the Temple of Wanua, located at the end of the continent near the Lyuschino Count’s territory and close to Gillistin Castle.

A place that had become ruins after being cut off from human contact for a long time.

There seemed to be a reason why Gilroth had chosen this place, but Kasha also wanted to visit here at least once, so she had no particular complaints about his suggestion.

She looked around with fresh eyes.

Everything was just as she remembered.

This was a place she could never forget.

‘This place is closed. Leave at once.’

It was as if the broken holy knight with faded blonde hair and a missing right arm would be glaring at her from beneath that altar.

‘You want to be brutally persecuted by a beast-like person? Is that your taste? Heh heh heh…’

The fallen holy knight Leon Aranias, who had mocked her with bloodshot eyes and squirmed in agony.

This was the place where she had last met him before the regression.

‘So go and save your own life first. I’m already twisted.’

His haggard profile, dyed deep orange by the light of the campfire.

The only person who had granted her a moment of warmth at the end of this cold and lonely world. It was here that he had met a lonely end at the hands of the Imperial Knights.

Recalling that moment, it was as if the painful emotions she felt when she was dragged away, leaving his end behind, were fully felt again. Kasha unconsciously shrank back and took a step backward.

Leon’s firm, warm hand grasped her as she did so.

“Kasha. Are you all right?”

When she suddenly turned her eyes and looked up at Leon, he met her gaze with his always neat violet eyes.

Eyes filled with complete trust and affection. Only then did the stinging pain in her chest subside and her breathing return to normal.

“D-did… No, did that divine being say something absurd again?”

Leon’s tone as he asked was very rough. Perhaps it was because he had been hanging out with Count Lyuschino a lot lately, but his expressions had become quite intense as well.

Depending on her answer, he looked ready to tear Gilroth into two pieces right away, whether he was a divine being or not.

Leon was currently unable to see Gilroth, who was sitting on the temple’s altar looking down at the two of them.

For some reason, it seemed that only Kasha could see and communicate with Gilroth in this temple.

Gilroth clicked his tongue as if in disbelief at Leon’s aggressive gaze into the void.

[This is absurd. I never thought I’d see that look again.]

At that very moment, there seemed to be a hint of human emotion in Gilroth’s blue eyes.

What kind of memory could evoke such sentiments in a divine being who had lived for thousands of years?

Kasha, who had been watching Leon’s aggressive gaze, squeezed his hand tightly and then let go, as if to reassure him. She then cautiously asked Gilroth:

“Wanua… Is that god referring to you?”

The Temple of Wanua was built by the northerners hundreds of years ago, but it was a place where the lineage had long been cut off, and both the believers and records of the faith had been lost.

However, Kasha, who had stayed here for several days before the regression, knew well.

That the statues erected throughout this temple, cracked or broken, were all in the form of birds.

[…They said he was the god of shepherds. A god in the form of a bird who showed the way, or something like that.]

Gilroth seemed to be trying not to make eye contact with Kasha as he replied.

[The god of shepherds?]

Kasha’s eyes widened as she recalled someone from Gilroth’s words.

Wasn’t the girl that Gilroth’s master, the hero Gilesus, loved a shepherd?

[…Don’t ask any more. It’s too old a story that even I have forgotten by now.]

Gilroth looked a little gloomy as he replied. If Kasha’s eyes weren’t mistaken, he looked lonely and longing for someone.

‘Somehow, I get the feeling that Gilroth isn’t just longing for the hero Gilesus.’

And then another thought occurred to her. Perhaps immortal beings like gods, after clinging to their longing for such a long time, eventually forget what color that emotion originally was.

And when they find traces of those they long for after a long time has passed, they become even more obsessed and unable to let go, perhaps?

For Gilroth, that would be Kasha, who resembled the hero Gilesus and the shepherd girl.

[Anyway, I no longer have any justification to keep you here. Causality is clear, and you no longer owe me anything. Go back, Kasha Lyuschino.]

Listening to Gilroth’s words, which were unusually slow, Kasha put her hands on her waist in disbelief.

“You made me travel for a month to find this place, and now you’re telling me to just go back?”

[……]

Gilroth closed his beak-like mouth as if a little flustered. Somehow, Kasha no longer found that divine being scary unlike when she first saw him.

After rolling her eyes and lost in thought for a moment, Kasha glanced at Leon and whispered something in his ear.

He immediately frowned and shook his head, then whispered back in Kasha’s ear.

After exchanging whispers like that for a while, Leon sighed as if he had no choice and nodded.

[…What are you doing now?]

Gilroth asked in a hurt tone. Anyway, he was quite a sensitive and fussy god. Kasha spoke in the gentlest tone possible, as if to soothe him.

“I’m trying to revive this place.”

[Revive this place…? How?]

Kasha noticed a hint of excitement mixed in Gilroth’s reply and continued with a smile.

“The north is too barren right now. There are also many injured and poor people due to the rampage of magic beasts. We desperately need a place to take them in and care for them.”

[But now there won’t be a single believer in the god of Wanua…]

Gilroth seemed quite embarrassed to say the name ‘Wanua’.

“Not a temple, but a shelter for people in need. A place to care for the sick and injured, provide a place to sleep and food for the poor, and serve as a school for children.”

[……]

Gilroth seemed a little disappointed at the mention that it would be a shelter, not a temple, but after a moment, he mumbled, averting his gaze.

[Well, that might not be too bad either. Humans are such imperfect beings, so they would definitely need such a place. Besides, the humans around here are really living miserable lives. It’s a wonder how they’ve managed to survive for so long without such a place.]

For someone who constantly looked down on humans, he seemed awfully interested in them.

Kasha continued.

“Yes. And once the shelter is established, I’ll keep visiting too. After all, it’s a place I’m taking responsibility for rebuilding.”

[……]

Kasha pretended not to see Gilroth’s blue eyes sparkling and shining.

“To do that, we need an event that will draw people’s attention.”

[An event that draws attention…?]

“For example, a wedding between Grand Duke Osilote and the young lady of Count Lyuschino.”

At her words, a cold wind seemed to blow from Gilroth.

However, Leon, who was standing next to Kasha, looked at her in surprise upon hearing those words.

“Kasha. You just…”

“If we’re going to do it anyway, there’s no point in delaying it for long.”

Kasha smiled brightly and wrapped her arm around Leon’s solid neck.

“As for the date… probably in the spring when the snow has melted?”

“Kasha. You’re really…”

A smile had already bloomed on Leon’s lips as he shook his head slightly.

“Then, I also have a reason to take the lead in helping with the establishment of the shelter.”

As Leon said that, a snowflake blown in through a crack in the broken roof settled on top of his head.

Kasha gazed for a long time at the sight of him smiling with white snowflakes resting on his head like a crown.

She was convinced that even when she recalled this place now, it would no longer be painful.