Andy’s Inn.

“So, what was written on that locket?”

“If you answer first, I’ll tell you. Why did you give up your position in the Imperial Knights and enroll in Xenia?”

Noah and Nigel were having a tense exchange across a wide table overflowing with steaming dishes, not leaving any gaps.

At that moment, Andy managed to place two glasses of fruit juice on the table that was filled to the brim.

“You two, what are you doing not eating? Could it be… a lovers’ quarrel?”

“No.”

“No, it’s not.”

Nigel and Noah answered simultaneously.

“Hmm… Are you sure it’s not? Otherwise, let’s eat together.”

Andy sat down next to Nigel with a mischievous smile.

“By the way, why isn’t Allen here? Is he joining late or not coming at all?”

“He said he can’t come. Apparently, something urgent came up right before he was about to leave.”

Nigel answered with a terrifying glare as if he could kill someone.

“Aha, so today it’s just Nigel and Noah going out together? Then… is it a date?”

“Well… We did eat a couple dessert set at a dainty coffee house where couples usually go, so I guess you could say that. Right, Beselion?”

“…Gah, cough cough!”

At Nigel’s playful words, Noah suddenly choked and his face turned red as he started coughing violently.

Andy quickly brought him water and only then did the coughing stop.

Andy’s eyes sparkled subtly as she looked at Noah. It was similar to when she discovered interesting gossip material in a tabloid.

“Hmm… I see what’s going on here. What about you, Nigel? You look especially good today, I guess you’ve been having a lot of good things happen lately?”

Nigel told Andy about everything that had happened recently.

From his relationship with Allen and Noah going sour and then making up after many twists and turns during the picnic, to secretly reaching the finals of the Mage Sword Competition behind the professors’ backs.

“…To summarize what Nigel said, lately there are a lot of people showing interest in Nigel, right?”

Andy spoke while sneaking a glance at Noah, who had become slightly sullen.

Interesting stories were filtered out one by one, and in the ears of Andy, an avid reader of gossip magazines, all that remained was the story of Nigel becoming popular.

“Hmm… That’s true. Wherever I go, someone gives me something. Although it seems like they’re just playfully giving it to me because I’m momentarily popular.”

At Nigel’s cool acknowledgment, Noah’s face subtly darkened.

“Aw, Nigel, you should still look carefully. There might be a connection among them, you know.”

Andy spoke playfully while glancing at Noah.

“Yeah, yeah. I got it. By the way, Andy, how have you been feeling lately?”

“Oh, I’m fine. It’s already been a month since that incident. Besides, who has your mana in this body! With such precious mana, there’s no way I wouldn’t be healthy, right?”

Andy smiled warmly. Only then did Nigel completely relax.

“Enough about my perfectly fine health, tell me more about you, Nigel. Anything is fine!”

Before they knew it, the sky had turned dusky.

“Nigel, feel free to stop by comfortably again. You’re always welcome here! Ah, of course Noah and Allen too!”

Julie and Andy personally came out of the inn to see Nigel and Noah off.

“You two must be busy, so hurry and go back in.”

“Oh, no matter how busy I am, I have to see our Nigel get on the carriage before I go!”

Julie, who had rushed over while still wearing an apron from working, smiled warmly.

Seeing Julie’s kind face, a question suddenly occurred to Nigel.

“Um, Julie… There’s something I’d like to ask.”

“Oh? Tell me anything, dear.”

Nigel hesitated before opening his mouth.

“When you had Andy, how did you feel?”

“Hmm… That’s an interesting question. When my husband and I first had Andy, we wondered who the baby in the womb would resemble more, if it would be a boy or a girl, if their personality would be lively or gentle. We waited for and looked forward to the child.

In the end, as time passed, regardless of the child’s gender, appearance, or personality, it didn’t matter. We just hoped and prayed that the child would be born healthy into this world and meet us safely.”

Julie’s loving gaze briefly turned to Andy, who was talking with Noah.

“Nigel, your parents would have been no different from me, if not more so.”

“Even if… the child was born while devouring the life of the parents?”

Nigel finally blurted out the words he had been hiding, his eyes lost and fixed on the ground.

“Of course! Rather, I would have thought I was fortunate to be the one suffering instead of the child.”

Julie, who finished answering without hesitation, hugged Nigel tightly as if she had committed a sin, unable to raise his head that was bowed as if guilty.

“I’m sure that’s how it would have been.”

Julie’s embrace, tightly squeezing Nigel’s body, felt comfortable and safe as if it would protect him from anything in the world, making Nigel’s eyes hot for no reason.

“How was that, dear? Did that answer your question?”

“…Yes, very much so.”

“Good. Think of this as your home and come anytime, Nigel. I mean it.”

At Julie’s soft yet firm words, Nigel somewhat understood the feelings of his parents who had engraved magic on the locket.

Nevertheless, he still couldn’t muster the courage to meet his family.

“Beselion… Go back safely. Thanks to you, today was fun.”

“Same here, Nigel. I hope you have a peaceful night.”

Nigel and Noah, who had gotten off the carriage, exchanged farewells.

Although Allen had ditched them right before leaving, and he never found out why Noah had enrolled in Xenia, Nigel had gained something even greater.

Clink.

Nigel fiddled with the cold metal in his pocket.

After holding the locket in his pocket and blankly touching it for a while, Nigel headed not into the dormitory but into the forest between them.

Rustle. Rustle.

Only after the sound of clothes brushing against the bushes was heard for a while did a lake with a piercingly blue color appear.

Nigel took a seat on a rock near the lake, which held the brightly risen half-moon on its surface.

Then, as if someone might steal it, he carefully took out the locket and placed it on his lap.

Nigel stared down at the locket for a moment, then hesitantly forced his reluctant lips to open.

“Did you really… Did you really feel that way?”

Did you really love me… even though I killed you, even so?

The feelings that he had kept hidden for over 10 years popped out with just a few letters engraved on the locket.

Nigel tightly held the locket with his mouth firmly shut, afraid and anxious that even in this lonely place, if he let out these warm and heavy feelings, he would helplessly waver.

With only about a year and a half left until the monsters invade, the feelings and time he had endured until now, he couldn’t collapse now.

It was obvious that if he met them… no, his family now, he would only give them a bad influence, disappointment, and hurt, just as he had done to Allen, Noah, and Andy.

He had endured for 17 years, and a year and a half was a short moment compared to the time he had waited so far. So he had to wait, no, he could wait.

Nigel desperately clung to the locket as if it were a lifeline and engraved words like a prayer or spell in his heart, erasing unnecessary thoughts.

As if speaking for Nigel, who couldn’t bring himself to say it, the meaningless chorus of crickets and owls echoed through the forest and lake for a long time.

“So, how was your weekend? It was fun, right?”

“Allen, you know this is exactly the twenty-second time you’re asking, right? It was fun, I said it was fun.”

Allen giggled as if he was so happy at Nigel’s twenty-second identical answer.

‘Sigh, you go ahead and laugh. I’ll listen to the lecture.’

Nigel shook his head and opened his bag.

In the bag, as always, were textbooks, lecture notes, and the locket he had specially brought for class…

“…It’s gone.”

Nigel stared at the bag that had swallowed the locket without a trace, unable to believe it was empty.

“Did something happen, Nigel?”

“Huh, what?”

Following Noah’s worried voice, Allen also stopped laughing and asked.

Nigel rummaged through the bag without answering.

After searching for a while, what he found was not the locket, but a thumb-sized hole in the corner of the bag. Small, but big enough for the locket to slip out.

Moreover, the location of that hole perfectly matched the location where he had put the locket this morning.

His mind went blank. No, it turned white to the point where he couldn’t easily think of anything.

“Nigel…? Did you lose something important?”

At that moment, Allen’s cautious voice intruded on Nigel’s blank canvas.

“There’s still some time left before class starts, so if it’s something important, shall we go look for it together?”

Noah’s voice joined in as well.

Only after hearing that voice did Nigel realize.

That it wasn’t the time for him to be indulging in a mere harmonious family play. What was important now was Noah, Noah Beselion.

“It’s… nothing, don’t worry. I was just surprised because the cookies I had packed for lunch earlier disappeared. I was saving them to eat after Professor Roneh’s class.”

Nigel said with effort, pretending to be fine while hiding his trembling hands behind his back.