The atmosphere changed with the old man's appearance. Ralph and his subordinates began to squirm uncomfortably.
The old man's name was Vinur Jaycee.
He was Armand Jaycee's father and a man who held a grudge against Fade.
'I didn't expect him to come personally to such a dangerous place, even if he was angry.'
Although it was for revenge against the one who killed his son, his temperament could be roughly guessed from the fact that he came in person.
Just looking at how his subordinates squirmed, Vinur's temperament must be like burning flames.
Those fierce eyes turned toward Osian, who was carrying Loraine.
Osian was internally tense.
'Although Loraine defeated Fade, who could be considered her enemy, conversely, Loraine failed to properly protect his son. If he nitpicks about the failure of the escort duty, we'll be in trouble too.'
They should have fled before he got here, but it was too late now.If there was any consolation, it was that Loraine couldn't feel this tension.
'Thanks to the hemostatic agent and medicine I gave her, she fell right asleep as her tension eased.'
It was better this way than facing Vinur and getting into trouble.
Regardless, Vinur looked at Osian and Loraine, then immediately fixed his gaze on Fade's corpse beyond them.
Though anger briefly filled his eyes as he looked at Fade, he maintained his tightly closed lips and cast his gaze elsewhere.
There lay the broken automaton and Fanut's corpse.
"Hmm."
Vinur tapped the ground with the cane in his hand.
It was difficult to guess what he was thinking. The only thing that could be guessed was that Vinur was also doing quite a bit of thinking in his own way.
Everyone gathered there quietly waited for Vinur to speak.
Finally, Vinur fixed his constantly shaking cane to the ground with a snap!
"Ralph."
"Yes, Lord Vinur."
Vinur spoke in a stern voice to Ralph, who hurriedly bowed his head.
"Give this man a reward."
"What?"
Ralph unconsciously asked back. Then, belatedly realizing his mistake, he bowed his head.
Vinur didn't particularly point out Ralph's attitude. Instead, he stared intently at Osian.
"Young man, you have good eyes."
"......"
When Osian hesitated to answer, Vinur let out a snicker.
"Why? Surprised that I'm being more rational than expected?"
"It would be a lie to say otherwise. I'm sorry about your son."
"Yes. It's unfortunate that my flesh and blood died. I actually came to see the face of the bastard who did such a thing."
Vinur raised his cane to point at Fanut's corpse.
"It's this one, right?"
This time Osian couldn't hide his surprise.
Without anyone explaining the situation, he had immediately recognized the one who had backed the Ghost Army from behind.
"It was suspicious from the start when these nameless ghosts were going around killing people from other households besides my child. For this many people to suddenly appear and move systematically, it would be impossible without some bastards behind them."
Vinur stared directly at Osian's face with gleaming eyes.
"I must repay the favor for killing those who killed my son on my behalf. But I am someone who repays enemies doubly. So I'll ask. Who are these people?"
Usually, people's anger spreads indiscriminately like suddenly spreading flames.
The anger of Vinur, a father who lost his only son, would be more than enough, never less.
But Vinur had a clear direction for his emotions.
It was rational anger. Though they were incompatible words, Osian couldn't think of a more appropriate expression.
Not wasting the emotion of anger elsewhere, but making extremely rational judgments to accomplish a single purpose.
In that sense, it felt even more chilling.
It meant he was carefully folding and suppressing his current burning emotions to surely cut off the opponent's breath.
But this was conversely an opportunity for Osian.
To deal with the 'White House' that openly declared they would target him, this side also needed a reliable wall of sorts.
In Osian's view, Vinur was more than enough to play such a role.
"Do you know about an organization called the White House?"
*
Vinur left saying he would contact them separately later.
Watching him leave, Osian regretted not asking for a ride.
But Vinur had already left, so Osian walked through the night streets carrying Loraine.
The rain fell steadily. It was just enough not to get wet, not needing an umbrella.
Through the sky full of dark clouds, the night sky could be seen sparsely.
Perhaps it was because a good rain had just fallen.
The briefly revealed sky was so clear it made one wonder if this was really Tirna.
Clear enough to see the starlight and soft moonlight beyond that everyone had forgotten.
Many things happened today too.
People who were once comrades pointed guns at each other, and those who were less broken survived.
Those who trusted each other more than anyone ended up killing each other.
In time, in the flow of the world, people end up changing…and in quite a cruel form at that.
Yes, the world changes. Sometimes it felt tiring because it was too fast.
Under the starry sky, all things on earth arise like bubbles and fade like mirages.
Before one event ends, new things happen.
Traces of the distant past…most would have disappeared, but there are still things that remain.
However, just because something has remained from a thousand years ago until now doesn't guarantee it's exactly the same as the past.
Fanut, who handled the Blood Prince's power, was like that too.
Though identical to the power in memory, that's not to say it hadn't changed. The Blood Prince had also changed over time.
But that sky is different.
This same scenery was seen even in the past over a thousand years ago.
And probably, beyond that sky will always look the same even after a thousand years.
That's why it's beautiful.
Perhaps its value and beauty are multiplied because it floats nobly as if completely unrelated to the ugliness on earth.
In short, the epitome of perfection.
Osian suddenly felt as if the starlight in that sky was whispering to him.
That he too could become like them. So throw everything away and come up here.
Osian stared at the starlight as if entranced. Osian couldn't move his feet for a while.
It felt like the moment he took a step from here, his body would break free from the principles of the world and fly right up there.
It was then that Loraine, carried on his back, stirred and moved.
Osian turned his head slightly and asked.
"Are you awake?"
"Yeah, I must have fallen asleep for a bit."
"You can keep sleeping if you want. We still have time before we arrive."
"...Yeah. But somehow, my eyes just opened on their own."
Loraine's voice was mumbling as if intoxicated by the medicine.
But Osian, who was carrying her, could clearly hear what Loraine was saying.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you, I might have died meaninglessly. Even if not that, I would have died by those who made Fade like that. It's all thanks to you."
"I only did what I had to do. It's not something to receive thanks for."
"Right. You were that kind of person. Maybe that's why you felt really reliable."
Loraine let out a small laugh and asked.
"Hey. You won't leave, right?"
"......"
At those words, Osian found himself speechless without realizing it.
Whether she didn't notice Osian's reaction or not, Loraine continued with what she wanted to say.
"I just got that feeling somehow. I’m worried that you might leave far away. Strange, right? There's no way that would happen."
"...Right. It's a needless worry. Just get some more sleep."
"Yeah. I should."
Loraine fell asleep again but the words she had spoken remained in Osian's mind.
The question of whether he wouldn't leave.
There probably wasn't much meaning to those words. If anything, Loraine must be feeling great anxiety from the death of Fade, who was once her comrade.
Both physically and mentally exhausted, she just found someone to rely on for now, and that happened to be Osian.
But is that really true?
Osian didn't think Loraine's question came from such rational reasons.
Rather, it felt like Loraine had sensed something with a very sensitive sense, and instinctively woke up to speak those words.
Not worn out by today's fight, but rather as if a sharpened sense had activated after thoroughly washing away old stains.
'For a moment, I thought I wanted to break free from here.'
Change signifies imperfection. Because people are not perfect, they try to become perfect.
That process is very arduous, causing many mistakes, and most people collapse, unable to endure the pain.
There were many such collapsed and fallen people on earth.
Such people pile up, die, and pile up anew even more.
That's why the sky spoke to him.
Don't stay in such a dirty place, but come to where we are.
But is that really so?
Osian saw Loraine's figure. And he also saw dead Fade's face.
Though that fight occurred due to twisted emotions and hatred, his departed face looked very peaceful.
Was that dirty? Was it such an eyesore?
No. Like how beautiful lotus flowers bloom even in mud, though their story was surely tragic and horrible.
Nevertheless, peace and salvation existed at its end.
Osian looked up at the sky again. The dreamlike night sky was no longer visible as black storm clouds already covered the sky.
'Was it just an illusion?'
Osian hurried his steps. He needed to get back quickly as the falling raindrops seemed about to get stronger.
That's when he saw someone running urgently from beyond, splashing through puddles.
It was Diolan in comfortable clothes wearing his trademark worn boots.
He was running with several umbrellas in hand when he spotted Osian and stopped in front.
"Diolan."
"Are you okay? You suddenly disappeared so I came looking. Loraine is..."
"She's asleep. Seems today's events tired her out a lot."
"I see. Still, glad you returned safely."
Osian stared intently at Diolan. Feeling that gaze, Diolan flinched and showed an awkward expression.
"W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Hmm. No, never mind. Seems I was mistaken about something."
"What, so bland."
"Just thought the starlight was particularly bitter today."
"Forget such talk. Let's hurry. The rain will pour harder soon."
Diolan spoke while putting an umbrella over Osian.
Osian walked together with Diolan, letting out a snicker.
When the three arrived at Violet Fox, the lights were on in the store that should have been dark.
Upon opening the door and entering, Ena, Ronan, and Edgar were waiting for them without sleeping.
"W-what? You're back?"
Edgar saw Loraine on Osian's back and grumbled.
"Ha, damn it. Waited for nothing. That's enough now. I'm going to sleep."
Though it seemed inappropriate words for seeing an injured person, Osian could see the relief briefly visible in his eyes after checking on Lorraine.
Edgar was the one who had been waiting most anxiously here.
"Huhu. Despite how he acts, Edgar worried the most. Please don't scold him too much. He stayed up past his bedtime waiting."
"I know. He looked very tired."
"More importantly, did things end well?"
At Ronan's question, Osian pondered how to answer.
If things ended well was quite ambiguous. This incident wasn't simply about Fade and Loraine.
Furthermore, there was the Ghost Army seeking revenge against the military, and the White House's plot to use such a Ghost Army to incite chaos.
Doctor Cromwell, a scientist and one of those in charge of the White House, had recognized Osian's existence and was targeting him.
Did it end? No. This was just the beginning.
But too many things happened today, and Osian recalled there was someone sleeping so deeply on his back that she wouldn't know who was carrying her.
"As always."
Yes. Surely more things will happen going forward. There might even come days when we think today's events were better.
Even so, at least in this moment, let's allow everyone to simply rejoice in the fact that we returned, without any worries or concerns.
"It was a clean finish."