After Alicia disappeared, Killian, who was moving to find the crack connected to where she had vanished, caught a strong scent of roses coming from somewhere.

Although he did not like flowers, he clearly remembered that rich fragrance.

Following the scent, Killian discovered a fiend reaching out its hand towards Alicia in the torn space he had entered.

【……Al……krrrk……icia…….】

A mere fiend that could not even put on the mask of a beast had no right to utter her name.

Fueled by that rage, Killian swung his sword and severed the fiend’s arm in one stroke, then turned to confirm Alicia’s safety.

“Killian…….”

She was crying.

Her sky-blue eyes, simultaneously feeling fear and joy, reflected only Killian’s image.

He reached out and wiped the overflowing tears from her cheeks, then turned to face the fiend screaming savagely.

If it were an ordinary fiend, an arm would have regrown from where it was cut off.

However, these mutated beings did not possess such regenerative abilities.

The secrets of these mutations were also something he needed to uncover somehow, but the most important fact at the moment was that Alicia was crying because of this creature.

After gazing briefly at the red rose petals rolling by his feet, Killian launched himself towards the fiend.

It was not a leisurely movement like when he faced fiends with the wolves, but one intended to sever its neck in a single strike.

While his face betrayed no emotion, his deep green eyes, blazing with intense fury, tracked the fiend’s movements.

Alicia, watching Killian confront the fiend trying to strike at him with its remaining arm, was still weeping.

She dared not even wipe her tears, fearing that the sight of Killian’s back before her would vanish like a dream if she looked away for a moment.

If this was a dream, it would be a nightmare.

A nightmare trying to deceive her by showing a scene that she truly wished for but could never happen in reality.

Yet it was a nightmare she never wanted to wake from.

If only it could last forever…….

While Alicia fervently hoped to remain in this nightmare, Killian, having successfully decapitated the fiend, walked towards her, leaving behind its disintegrating form.

He seemed satisfied that she could not take her eyes off him as she continued to shed tears, and simultaneously pitied her for crying in a place without him.

As he approached her with a gaze that could not be defined by a single word, he noticed a red rose petal rolling by his feet and picked it up with one hand.

Although the petals were torn and crumpled from tumbling on the ground, the fragrance had instead grown richer, teasing Killian’s nostrils.

“A fairy rose, was it?”

Killian knelt on one knee before Alicia, holding the battered flower, and asked.

Not wanting him to hear her sobbing voice as he inquired about the flower’s name, Alicia nodded in response.

“It’s pretty.”

Placing the petals on Alicia’s palm, Killian embraced her shoulders and the back of her knees as he stood up.

Then, letting her still-weeping face rest against his chest, he began walking again.

He ignored the clearly visible path.

It was not the path he desired.

Following traces only his eyes could see, he moved on as a few more red petals of unknown origin fell behind him.

Alicia, who had fallen asleep in Killian’s arms after crying herself to exhaustion, woke up to a familiar voice rousing her shortly after.

“Your Highness, shall I bring you some water?”

At Casa’s voice, Alicia barely managed to sit up from where she had been lying and realized she had been sleeping in an unfamiliar place she was seeing for the first time.

Running her hand over the clean bedding to confirm this was not a dream, Alicia accepted the glass of water Casa offered and moistened her throat.

The water flowed endlessly due to crying herself to sleep.

Only after receiving and drinking two more cups of water from Casa did Alicia’s thirst subside, and she let out a long sigh.

Just as she was about to rise from her seat, the wooden door opened and Brody walked in.

“You’re awake?”

“And you are?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Brody, the second of the fifth.”

“The first time?”

She had clearly exchanged greetings with him at the entrance of the Prisca Mountains when he was to guide her to the Sage’s Tower, so why was he saying it was the first time?

As if noticing her confusion, Casa, who was standing beside her, spoke up.

“He’s a different person from that jerk.”

“Pardon?”

“The name and voice are the same, and the face…… is probably identical too. Anyway, he’s a different person who looks exactly like that jerk.”

“Ahaha, more like ‘that jerk’ looks exactly like me, right?”

“Yes, that’s how it is.”

The same but a different person.

Although it took some time to understand, Alicia grasped the situation more or less and bowed her head towards Brody.

“I am Craig’s daughter.”

“Wow…… You are truly a well-mannered person. The one beside you grabbed me by the collar and flipped me over the moment we met.”

It seemed there had been a small commotion before Alicia woke up.

And Casa, who was undoubtedly the protagonist of that small commotion, turned his head, feigning ignorance to avoid Alicia’s gaze.

“Ah, but I understand how he felt. To send such a nasty being as a guide while imitating my appearance.”

“Who ordered it?”

“The first of the first. He has a terrible personality.”

“……What was that guide?”

“I’m not entirely sure of its identity either. They say it’s something that has been living here in the Prisca Mountains since before the Sage’s Tower was built…….”

“How could they use something whose identity is unknown as a guide……?”

“Apparently, it made some kind of contract with the first of the first…… But I don’t know much about that either. However, I do know that it can see things humans cannot.”

Things humans cannot see.

The guide’s attitude, acting as if it knew she had traveled back in time, made sense.

Come to think of it, it said something to Killian too…….

“Ah! This isn’t why I came here! If you don’t mind, shall we get moving now? The Master is waiting for you.”

“What about the others…….”

“The handsome one with the scary-looking eyes is with the Master, and the annoyingly cheerful one went to meet the tower’s first.”

Recalling the reason Reilly had come to the tower, saying he had a letter from the Emperor, Alicia got up from the bed to meet the Sage.

Although she felt a momentary dizziness, Casa quickly supported her, which was fortunate as she avoided showing an unsightly appearance.

After walking through a long corridor, ascending a spiral staircase, and traversing another long corridor, Alicia first laid eyes on Killian waiting for her beyond the door upon arriving at her destination.

He had a very irritated look on his face, but he did not seem to be injured anywhere, which was a relief.

And across from Killian, she noticed a bald old man smiling with a good-natured face.

His bald head, starkly contrasting with his abundant beard, was quite striking, but feeling it would be inappropriate to stare openly at someone’s head, especially one that appeared quite vacant, Alicia hastily averted her gaze and bowed her head slightly.

“I am Craig’s daughter. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to visit the tower.”

“The fifth of the tower. I heard you had quite a tough time coming up here?”

“Ah, that…….”

“This person here already thoroughly interrogated me and extracted a huge compensation.”

……The old man’s idea of huge and Killian’s idea of sufficient compensation were bound to differ in scale.

Finally realizing the reason for the deep irritation etched on Killian’s face, Alicia let out a small laugh.

“You resemble your mother more than your father.”

“Did you know my mother?”

“As much as Craig’s daughter knows.”

As they conversed, Brody, who had prepared tea, set down cups in front of Alicia and his master.

It was a signal that from now on, only the two of them would remain in this space to converse.

Casa, quickly grasping that meaning, bowed his head, and Killian, who had been glaring at the old man with displeasure, rose from his seat and left the room with her.

After the two departed, Brody also politely bowed to his master and withdrew after arranging the seats.

Watching the old man moisten his mouth with the fragrant tea, Alicia swallowed dryly and had to strive not to show her impatience as she waited for him to speak.

“You must be curious as to why I summoned Craig’s daughter.”

“Yes. Frankly, I’m very curious.”

“When an old man ages, he naturally learns how to read the heavens.”

“Read the heavens?”

“It’s not as grandiose as it sounds. It just means gaining eyes that understand the flow of things.”

What was he trying to say?

It seemed both comprehensible and incomprehensible.

The old man looked straight into Alicia’s eyes as she obediently awaited his next words, erasing the smile from his face.

“How is it that Craig’s daughter harbors two flows within her?”

“……Pardon?”

“One that has already been severed, and one that is thinly and frailly holding on.”

“Wh-what do you mean……?”

“Do you truly not know? That can’t possibly be the case?”

This old man knew.

Alicia was certain.

However, she was unsure if it was alright to reveal that fact to him.

Perhaps he read such conflict in her?

The old man, showing a good-natured smile once more, set down his teacup and opened the window of the room.

The night sky, densely filled with stars, was illuminated by the moon leaning in the sky.

“All things in the world flow according to the natural order. But occasionally, very rarely, beings emerge that try to go against it.”

“…….”

“Usually, their ends are unfortunate. Of course, how could something that went against the natural order dream of a happy ending.”

“……Is that so?”

“Indeed. But you know, the fact that all their ends are unfortunate is also an act of going against the natural order.”

What was the old man trying to say?

Alicia waited for his next words.

“So the heavens give those beings that went against the natural order a chance to choose.”