Linosa Island, by the coast.

A small ship that had been cutting through the blue tropical sea without hesitation gradually slowed down.

A man standing on the rocking boat, looking at the approaching island, muttered softly.

“This place… is still damn clear and sunny.”

He was wearing a large straw hat, perhaps to block out the intense sunlight.

Linosa was such a small island that it didn’t even have a proper port.

As the boat stopped at the dock built beyond the sandy beach, the crew members busily began tying ropes to the stakes to secure the boat.

“Welcome to Linosa Island!”

A ship employee standing on the sandy beach a short distance away shouted out the standard announcements.

“Passengers, please wait on the boat for a moment… Wait, hey! I said wait…!”

The employee, who had been reciting the precautions with an indifferent face, shouted urgently.

The man standing on the boat had suddenly leaped off.

The crew had not even finished securing the boat yet.

For a moment, they thought he would definitely splash into the sea.

But the man flew through the air for an oddly long time, then lightly landed on the sandy beach, right over the dock.

It was an unbelievably agile movement.

As if he had used magic.

“Wh-what the…”

The startled employee examined the man’s face, slightly revealed under the straw hat that had been removed while flying through the air.

He looked to be in his mid-thirties now.

The man with somewhat dark skin was handsome enough to be rarely seen on an island like this.

‘Black eyes and black hair…?’

On the continent, there was a general perception that witches and wizards had such an appearance.

The man lightly tapped the shoulder of the employee, who was gaping in surprise.

“I’m short on time.”

He pulled the straw hat down even deeper and moved his steps towards the interior of the island.

The employee, who had been carefully observing the direction the man was heading, suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!” and muttered.

“He must be a guest of the Saint…”

It had already been 7 years ago.

The incident where lightning struck the village’s sacred tree was no longer even a public secret.

Fortunately, the people of Linosa Island village, who were originally gentle and unambitious, had perfectly accepted that special immigrant as their neighbor.

“Ever since the Saint came to the island, many interesting things have happened.”

The island was small and peaceful, but sometimes boring because of that.

The villagers pleasantly accepted these occasional incidents caused by the Saint.

“Alright, it’s done now! The rest of the passengers may disembark!”

The crew had just finished tying the ropes to the stakes.

Only after fixing the boat without rocking did the remaining people on board start to disembark onto the shore.

As it was such a small island and not a vacation period, there weren’t many guests.

The employee, who was looking at the boat thinking this was the end, soon noticed someone staggering off the boat.

It was a boy who looked to be barely fourteen or fifteen years old.

“Huh? Wait. Little boy.”

In a nosy manner typical of Linosa Island people, the employee couldn’t just pass by and called out to the boy.

The boy, who seemed to have severe seasickness, was walking unsteadily with a pale face and trembled at the call.

“Where are your parents? You didn’t come all this way alone without a guardian, did you?”

“…”

The boy bit his lip.

That expression was the answer.

“Oh my goodness! It takes more than half a day by boat to get here even from the nearest inland! Hey, little boy. I don’t know what your story is, but…”

“Mind your own business!”

At that moment, the boy shouted roughly.

“I won’t be staying long on an island like this anyway! Once I do what I have to do!”

“What? No, wait…”

Without giving him a chance to stop him, the boy rushed off towards the interior of the island.

Oddly enough, it was the exact same direction the wizard guest had headed earlier.

Meanwhile, Lin, who had disembarked from the boat, was diligently making his way towards Delphine’s hut.

He had to deliver the news to her quickly.

Just in case ‘that child’ had already arrived on this island.

‘…Of course, as long as that man is by her side, there’s no way Delphine will be in danger.’

So maybe it was all just an excuse.

…Maybe he just wanted to see her as soon as possible.

Lin’s hurried steps gradually slowed down.

Even though she couldn’t use her full power out of concern for wearing down her lifespan, Delphine was a woman with a strong will and ability.

Wasn’t she also the main person who led the Holy War to victory 10 years ago?

‘She was really amazing.’

Her, with her red hair fluttering, standing against a cruel fate.

A nostalgic smile crept onto Lin’s face as he recalled those days.

It was then.

“Uncle!”

A lively voice coming from somewhere made Lin snap out of his thoughts and look up.

But he couldn’t see anything in front of him.

“Uncle! Up here! Up!”

Following the voice, Lin tilted his head a little more.

Then he saw a girl hanging from a large tree.

Her dirty blonde hair was tied up high in a single strand.

Lovely freckles settled on the bridge of her nose.

At first glance, her comfortable outfit of pants was indistinguishable from the neighborhood rascals, but her emerald-like dazzling eyes stood out.

“…Arwen!”

Lin called out in a delighted voice.

Then Arwen shouted as she climbed down the tree.

“I told you to call me Ari!”

At that brazen shout, Lin burst into laughter.

“Okay, okay. Ari. How have you been?”

“Yes, as you can see! Have you been well too, Uncle?”

Lin gently smiled at the child running towards him and answered.

“Of course, I’ve been well too.”

“Liar! You must have been super busy again! Even though you’re a really amazing wizard!”

At the child’s continued honest exclamations, Lin burst into laughter again, feeling good.

He, who was always stern, only became so generous with laughter in front of Arwen.

If someone from the Magic Tower or the Holy Palace saw this, they would be surprised and doubt their own eyes.

Perhaps it was because he had seen the child as a premature eight-month-old baby even before the child’s father did.

Whenever he saw the child, Lin felt a very special emotion, like paternal love.

“You came to see Mom, right? Let’s go together!”

“If our little lady will guide me, I’d be happy to.”

Lin took the small child’s hand and headed towards Delphine’s hut.

Despite his tall stature and somewhat intimidating appearance, Arwen didn’t find him daunting at all.

The child ceaselessly chattered with her small mouth.

“I like you, Uncle!”

“Really?”

“Yes! So that’s why Mom made you my godfather, not Uncle Vely, right?”

Arwen answered confidently.

Delphine had designated Lin and Marian as the child’s godfather and godmother, respectively.

“If it wasn’t for Lin’s magic, the child wouldn’t have been born. …So please take good care of her.”

Behind that calm request was a heartbreaking wish for them to look after the child well, in case she and Ioan were to leave this world first one day.

“Is that so? …Then, do you like me more than Uncle Vely too?”

“Hmm…”

At the adult’s question testing her, Arwen pondered for a moment, then wisely answered.

“That’s as cliché a question as asking if you like Mom or Dad more. But the answer is actually predetermined. I like both of you!”

Lin burst into laughter again.

Except for her hair color, the child remarkably resembled Delphine.

Not only her beautiful appearance but also her bold personality.

Whenever he saw the child looking straight at him and uttering words in a clear tone, Lin couldn’t help but recall the day he first saw Delphine.

“I came to know the truth.”

Even while being confused by the terrible scenery of District 3 that she was seeing for the first time in her life, she looked straight at him and uttered those words with all her heart, one syllable at a time.

“I won’t close my eyes and be swept away by my fate without knowing anything.”

And she really did just that.

She overcame all those hardships, sacrificed her soul and body, and even defeated the demonic beings, the godlike existence.

Something no one had been able to do in the past three hundred years…

“But why don’t you get married, Uncle?”

At that moment, the child’s abrupt question greatly flustered Lin.

Surely this little one didn’t ask that knowing anything, right?

Although it was 10 years ago, he had a history of engaging in a life-or-death fight of passion with the child’s father.

He examined the little saint with a somewhat guilty look, but fortunately, there was no such indication.

It seemed to be just an innocent question from the child.

“Well. Let’s see…”

Lin hesitated, unable to answer easily.

It was literally more than 10 years ago.

The burning passion of that time had now cooled.

It wasn’t that he still had any lingering romantic attachment to a woman who had gotten married and even had a child.

But he just didn’t know how to give his heart to any other woman besides her.

The saint who defeated the demons.

The goddess of victory who successfully led the Holy War.

A woman with a strong and simultaneously good soul like a burning flame.

Having fallen for such a woman, how could he easily marry someone else?

Swallowing the sincerity he couldn’t quite utter, Lin smiled bitterly.

Then, a lively voice spoke, imitating an adult.

“They say people should find their match when the time comes.”