CHAPTER FOUR

Because of who Sharon was, Col could easily imagine her being repulsed if they brought their plan to her directly. Not only that, but she had a lot of people on her side. To show any cowardice in her position could be perceived as a betrayal to all those siding with her.

That might not necessarily be the case, however, if the cathedral showed they were in a position to accept talks.

And while his situation was the same in relation to the cathedral, it was Clark who could tie the two together.

“But…to think things would turn out like this.”

Col and Myuri were on their way to see Clark, crawling on all fours in the darkness.

Since they could not predict what Eve and the others were going to do, they needed to get things rolling as quickly as possible, so they decided to head straight for Clark, but there was a problem. There were people keeping watch over the manor that Hyland was borrowing.

They were probably working for Eve. If word got out that the two had gone to see Clark, they could figure out what they were up to and possibly cut them off from him, even if that meant putting him directly in danger.

What Col suggested was a disguise or to escape by hiding in the cargo of the merchant carts as they came and went.

But Myuri flatly rejected both ideas, and what she instead suggested put them in this situation.

“Myuri…Do you know where you’re going?”

Since they had passed through countless junctions, and the paths themselves bent and curved, Col’s sense of direction had long since been rendered useless. A faint ray of sunlight occasionally peeked through the ceiling, allowing him to make out Myuri’s fluffy silver tail as she crawled ahead of him. Though he knew that if Myuri, who had her ears and tail out, was using her powers as a wolf, then they would not get lost, he was still uneasy.

They were currently in the remnants of a sewage system, left behind by Rausbourne’s long history.

“Almost there.”

Soon after she replied with that, Myuri suddenly stopped and stuck her nose into that fluffy tail of hers.

“It’s around here…What’s wrong, Brother?”

Col sneezed and responded, “It’s nothing.”

“Ummm…Oh, so there is a board in this spot. Oof,” Myuri said as she raised her back to the ceiling, as though she was going to carry it, and moved it to the side.

She then stuck her head outside and looked around, then motioned for Col to follow.

“We’re here, Brother.”

Myuri lightly hopped into the sunlight and Col followed, sticking his head out of the hole, and there he saw a household garden, overflowing with so many colors, it almost hurt his eyes.

“This is incredible. Look at all the flowers they have at this season.”

“I think I would’ve gotten lost if it wasn’t for this smell.”

Col crawled out beside Myuri, who was brushing away at her knees and untucking her traveler’s cloak, then looked back down at the darkness from which they traversed. It was a holdover from an old era, long before the city was as densely populated as it was now, a waterway that took water from the rivers to feed the nobles’ massive gardens.

When several of the massive plots for the manors went on sale, which came with the development of the city, it seemed to be too much effort to fill the sewers, so they left them as is, but that was how nobles were. They seemed to have let them be for a turbulent situation, and they connected the manors, covered in wooden boards here and there. It also seemed as though there was regular cleaning of the remains themselves, since there were not even any cobwebs to be seen.

“Why did you know about this passageway?”

It was not Hyland but Myuri who said they should go see Clark through this passage. Hyland did not seem to know about it, either.

Myuri moved the board back with her foot, then stomped it in, fixing it in place, then shrugged.

“It’s because you always hear about underground passageways in stories about big cities. And in the courtyard, there was like, this stone pathway thing that suddenly went under the building, so I thought that might be it. And when I was putting my juice-stained clothes away, I asked one of the people from the manor.”

Col had noticed she came back a little late, and that was why. She had been just as filled with curiosity when they went out into town, but she truly was seeing a world totally different from what he saw.

“I didn’t think it’d be useful right away, though. Oh, and I heard Mother and Father used one like it once, too. That’s also what made me notice it.”

Now that she mentioned it, Col felt like he had heard that story from them before.

“Our adventures will be just as great as theirs!”

He was not sure what sort of competition this was supposed to be, but it was true that she had been a great help.

“It doesn’t seem like anyone is staying in this manor at the moment, but we should go before anyone finds us.”

“Someone probably comes by to tend the garden and stuff, yeah. Um, this way.”

Myuri looked around, straining her wolf ears, then walked off toward the direction of the sun. They were not headed for the big road where carriages went by but toward the inside of the residential blocks.

They were in the garden of a large manor, but it did not seem to be of as high a standing as the one Hyland was borrowing, since the gate cut into the wooden fence had only a simple dead bolt on it.

Myuri pressed her ear against the gate to see if she could hear anything, then raised the bolt and opened the gate. Then, there was a small alleyway, much like the one that Sharon led them through on their way to the orphanage.

“Playing tag down here could be a lot of fun,” Myuri said leisurely, and he understood why. The alley was winding, rolling; it was either an un-floored part of someone’s house or a shared washing space, as an ambiguous lived-in atmosphere continued along down the alley.

This was a path that travelers would never find if they stuck only to the big avenues.

“Lead the way.”

“Got it.”

Myuri wore a cloak over her regular clothes, and her wolf ears proudly twitched beneath the hood. The luxurious clothes they borrowed from Hyland also suited her, but Col personally liked her popular attire better.

It was an odd time of day, a little too late for the afternoon but a little too early for evening, so the alley was quiet and empty, and Myuri confidently jogged down it. Col followed the glimpses of the silver tail he saw beneath the robe, in his chest pocket a letter from Hyland detailing their intentions to denounce Eve’s plan and a proposal for peace between the Kingdom and the Church.

In addition to the letter, they planned to persuade Clark to stand between Sharon and the cathedral.

Now was not the time for Col to be modest about the name of the Twilight Cardinal. He could be as humble as he wanted, but there were people out there in the world who wanted to use his name and people who recognized his odd authority.

If he was going to be used and thrown around by anyone, he should at least use it for the path he believed in.

“Brother.”

Just as he was reaffirming his decision, Myuri stopped and turned around.

Behind her was a familiar building.

It was the orphanage Sharon owned.

Col was worried that Clark might be away, but that turned out to be a groundless fear.

He knocked on the door several times, and Clark’s face appeared through the peep window.

“My, my…”

The door opened for him right away, but Clark casually turned his gaze to the space behind them.

“Is it just the two of you?”

“We are here on matters that must be kept from Miss Sharon.”

Clark’s face tensed when he realized they were not there to relax.

“Come in, then.”

He let them in and closed the door behind them.

“Do you mind if we have a word with you?”

“No…I don’t mind. All the noisy boys are out busying themselves at the neighborhood workshop right now.”

No work, no dinner. Col remembered living in an institute like this a long time ago.

He noticed how Clark’s hands were dirtied from ink; he must transcribe while the kids are out.

“Please come in. We still have plenty of sun at this time of day, so it’s warm.”

Clark invited them in and they walked down the hall, and in one of the rooms along the way, little girls were spinning thread into yarn. Off to the side were very young children, who were not old enough to work, napping leisurely.

This sight alone made things seem peaceful, but it was not necessarily certain the orphanage would safely stay in business until these children were of an age where they could sufficiently take care of themselves.

It was depressing to know they had no blood relatives to rely on if things got bad.

“Please take a seat.”

They came to a room facing the courtyard, where there were chairs and a table where Clark had apparently been doing his work, relying on the light of the sun.

Col and Myuri sat beside each other in the rickety chairs, and Clark began speaking in a rather nervous manner.

“The most I can offer you is some cooled boiled water…”

“I don’t mind,” Col responded, then got straight to the point. “We actually came to talk to you about the cathedral.”

Still standing, Clark’s eyes widened for a moment.

The tension in his body then dissipated and he sighed, as though he’d struck upon an idea.

“The way you broached the subject and how you mentioned it needs to be kept from Miss Sharon says to me that this will not be a peaceful topic.”

Clark looked out into the courtyard through the open window, then folded his hands together before him like a scolded boy.

“I would like to know if there’s anything I can do to help…”

“Our goal is to have the cathedral and Miss Sharon and the tax collectors reconcile. I was hoping you would be able to pass the message on to a priest at the cathedral.”

Even with all her authority, Hyland was still apparently unable to open the door to the cathedral. They would not even open the outside gates if the Twilight Cardinal, the standard-bearer for Church reform, nonchalantly showed up.

But if Clark was the one to speak to them, then perhaps Col would be able to convey what he wanted to say.

That was what he had in mind, but Clark’s response was curt.

“That’s not possible.”

“…Passing on a message, you mean? Or—”

“Either.”

Despite how short and frank Clark’s words were, his gaze was weakly directed at the floor. When Col realized how inconsistent that seemed, Clark closed his eyes and spoke.

“I have a request as well.”

He then turned to look straight at Col, and what he said next stunned him.

“I have to ask you to leave this city.”

Of course, Col had predicted that he would refuse to pass on the message.

But he had not dreamed of hearing what Clark had just said.

“Please don’t ask anything else and leave. And please separate yourself from the trouble with Sharon and the Church.”

Clark was a full-fledged priest who received benefices from the Church. The Twilight Cardinal, who was pressuring the Church to reform, was, in a sense, the enemy.

And yet, they came to ask Clark because he had been born in similar circumstances as Sharon, and he was helping operate the orphanage for her. Not only that, he was going against the Church’s will by transcribing the common-language translation of the scripture that Col had done and was placing them in chapels throughout the city. It was hard to think that his excitement when they’d first met was an act.

It was too much of a surprise to hear such a man tell them to step back and leave the city that Col did not know how to respond. Clark himself also seemed to be bewildered by the words that had come out of his own mouth, as his eyes darted left and right and he bit his lip.

There was that odd inconsistency again. The words he spoke were harsh, but he acted like a weak little lamb.

The sigh Col heard from beside him was Myuri’s, as though lamenting that there were now two of her meek older brother.

“My brother is on Sharon’s side. But we still have to leave?”

Clark looked like he’d had a wound prodded.

“…”

He silently nodded in response.

When Col looked at the other man’s expression, he suddenly noticed that all he could see was that his command to leave was not how he truly felt.

“Has the cathedral been threatening you?”

It was uncertain if the cathedral was aware that the Twilight Cardinal was in town, but it would not be out of place if he had been given strict orders to never listen to discourse from anyone who sided with the Kingdom.

There were plenty of children in the orphanage who could be used as hostages.

And Clark shook his head.

“No. They are still hiding behind the stone walls, holding their breath. They’re praying things will take care of themselves.”

Despite his sad expression, there were sharp thorns to his words. It was similar to the anger that came with exasperation.

“Then, why?”

When Col asked again, Clark shook his head slowly.

The deep breath he took next was his way of collecting something.

“Why do you think Sharon has placed me here?”

There was a clear hint of something akin to hostility in the gaze Clark gave Col.

“Because…you’re just like Miss Sharon…”

“Yes. But that is not all. You know what Sharon’s like. She’s so young, and despite being a woman, she’s gathered all the people who have been tossed aside by the Church, organized them, and displayed the genius that eventually made her the vice president of the tax collector association. She would not place someone like me here for that reason alone.”

He spat it out, deprecating himself in a way that even felt like desperation.

Col unconsciously turned to look at Myuri, and she looked at him in bewilderment.

“Sharon thought she could use me, so she left me in charge of managing this orphanage. When the benefices stopped, I was truly left out in the cold, so this was my lifeline. There was also a side of atonement to it, one where I might be able to do at least something about the dirty parts of the Church.” Clark spoke quickly, as though hurling out everything he had kept bottled up. He then took a deep breath and continued. “Sharon placed me here not at all because she felt an affinity for me because of our similar origins but because she needed my position. Just like you.” His face twisted in surrender when he said that. “Sharon was hoping to reconcile with the cathedral at first. And so she placed me here as a liaison just for that.”

Col was both surprised and hopeful when he heard Sharon was thinking about reconciliation.

“In that case, that is all the more reason to help, is it not? I—”

“No, it’s useless,” Clark said, cutting him off.

“…Useless?”

“Yes. Do you know why Sharon has such darkness in her eyes…? At first, she was hopeful for her—no, for our father.”

There suddenly came the sound of a crying child from the hallway behind them. It soon quieted down; the girls spinning the thread probably calmed them down.

When the crying stopped and all became quiet again, Clark continued in a tired tone.

“Sharon and the others have not always been this radical. At first, when she was generously gifted with the rights to tax collection, she realized it was the perfect chance for drifters to reestablish their lives, so she wandered around to help those from similar circumstances and created an association in which they could help one another. It was not for bloody revenge at all.”

There was a side of Sharon that burned with the hatred to drag out the priests from the cathedral, no matter the cost, and string them up by the road, and the other side to her that looked on at the children of the orphanage with kindness.

For whatever reason, those two sides of her ended up splitting.

“But as she worked as a tax collector in the city, she came to learn that several of these ‘uncles’ worked in the cathedral. She used tax collection as her lead to try and talk with them. The cathedral gates had been closed and the high-ranking priests holed up inside, even back then, but she figured they would respond to tax collection, which had the backing of royal authority.”

It was the same logic that Ilenia had.

“But none of the high-ranking priests responded, including the archbishop. If they did, then they would have to acknowledge their own sins.”

Clark’s mouth twisted in irony; Col knew how he felt.

If they did not recognize it existed, then it did not exist—it was the same thing.

That was how the Church had accumulated so many evils.

“But if that was all, I don’t think Sharon and the others would have turned out like they did.”

Clark dropped his shoulders and turned his gaze outside.

The hues of evening were starting to creep into the afternoon sunlight, which illuminated the man’s profile as he reminisced.

“What happened?”

Col prodded him to continue, and Clark closed his eyes, not bothering to turn back to him.

“You happened, Your Eminence.”

He then turned to Col, his tone and gaze completely different from the first time they’d met—they were filled with anger.

“You raising the beacon for reform in Atiph was the cause of all this. The priests remaining in the Kingdom were thrown into confusion and asked for instructions from the papal office on the mainland. The response was to absolutely not compromise. But then, after the commotion in Atiph, there came word that the northern islands, which could be seen as allies of both the Church and the heretics, were starting to work together with the Kingdom. Word of how the archbishop who the papal office had directly dispatched had been chased away and pulled back in dejection was talked about all throughout the city.”

The archbishop was the one who had been on the Ruvik Alliance ship and had tried to get Autumn and company on his side with money. Rausbourne was a port city, so the news had probably reached here through the sailors’ word of mouth.

“By then, an air of unease had enveloped the city, where a lot of merchants from abroad come to stay. The Church will not allow the Kingdom to hold the dominant position at this rate. There is a rumor they will surely start a war sooner or later.”

The powers had to protect their power.

And Col and Hyland sought to reform the Church, which endangered their authority.

“Sharon and the others still saw hope. If the situation got so desperate that war ended up breaking out, then their ‘uncles’ would likely cross over to the mainland in order to avoid being taken prisoner. If that happened, in the end, they might at least listen to what their children had to say.”

People expected goodwill from others because they had the same kindness within them.

Sharon seemed to be naturally realistic and could not ignore other people in trouble.

That was why she hoped for the best.

“And they were betrayed?”

Clark smiled sadly, restlessly clasping his hands together and then separating them.

“The decision the archbishop and company came to was not to set up an opportunity to talk with Sharon and the others but to make the merchants their allies.”

Col recalled the commotion in the harbor, and it had not felt at all like they had mutually approached each other.

“The Kingdom is getting stronger every day, thanks to all you’ve done, and the tax collectors they back have deduced that they should be able to push through to the Church as they are now. Do you understand how shocked Sharon was when the cathedral placed the traders’ association on their side to stand against them head-on? Even though their ‘uncles’ could see war brewing on the horizon, they still refused to bear the brunt of the attack.”

Clark’s accusatory gaze did not so much seem like one of a foolish lamb who had been innocently at the whims of the world but one who blamed himself.

It was clear that when Sharon heard the archbishop’s answer, she came here to the orphanage and suffered before Clark. And perhaps that made him aware of his weakness.

Col knew, too, that prayers were entirely powerless in real-world problems.

But Clark continued to speak, signaling that there was more to it than that.

“But…but Sharon and I were disappointed in them because they’re really not bad people.”

They were not bad people?

As Col found himself bewildered by that, a vexed smile crept into Clark’s expression.

“The priests know I am taking care of children at the orphanage Sharon maintains. It might be a big city, but you can’t really hide anything. But instead of reprimanding me, they went through people to even give donations to keep the house running. Sharon probably has a faint idea of what’s happening, too.”

Col’s mind was filled with confusion.

The archbishop and company were donating to this orphanage? Even despite how they refused to talk, rejected the notion of fighting themselves, and even got the traders’ association on their side in order to strong arm the tax collectors?

While Col did not understand it all, Myuri murmured.

“Real bad people are hard to find.”

Clark’s eyes widened; then he slowly nodded.

“Right. As Sharon and the others toughened their attitudes and got even more radical, I listened to the thoughts of the high-ranking priests and the archbishops, and I didn’t know what to say. They did not put the merchants on their side because they thought Sharon and her friends were getting in the way.”

When Col saw Myuri shrug in annoyance, he interjected in spite of himself.

“P-please wait. I do not understand what you’re saying to me. According to what I’ve heard, the cathedral got the merchants on their side and were planning to go ahead with the war with the Kingdom now that they had the advantage. Not only that, but you say that is the priests’ plan, and they refused a direct confrontation with Miss Sharon and the others. And yet—”

Was it not to antagonize Sharon and the tax collectors?

Col was tormented by something that felt like seasickness, as if he was standing in a swamp and did not know where to place his feet.

Clark flashed a kind smile, as though signaling he understood his confusion.

“It is perplexing, isn’t it? I was the same. But when I listened to them, I understood where they were coming from. The priests are not all evil, but of course, they are not all good, either.”

After a brief pause, he continued.

“The archbishop and company need to show the papal office that they are fighting with the Kingdom so they don’t lose their position. That being said, they are afraid a real war will evolve from this and that they will have to cross swords with Sharon and the tax collectors. While the Kingdom might be gaining momentum, the power of the Church organization is massive. The priests higher up thought that if they end up going to war, they will, without a doubt, win, even if that isn’t in anyone’s best interests. What do you think would happen then? The priests, now on the winning side, would be made to burn at the stake the heretics who bared their fangs at the Church.”

And who was at the forefront of it all?

Sharon and the tax collectors.

“No parent could hang their own children and let them burn. They are good at their core. They donate to this orphanage—that means they haven’t forgotten their sense of guilt. If they are guilty of anything, it’s their reluctance to commit to anything and their attachment to their positions. As a result, they’ve turned into pitiful lost lambs who don’t want to do anything in particular, and unluckily for them, they’re clever. They have power. So they organized the traders and worked out a plan to put the Kingdom in a disadvantageous position, then prayed the Kingdom would compromise.”

What for?

It was obvious.

“It’s so they don’t have to go to war with the Kingdom, Brother.”

So that they would win the war and so Sharon and the others would not be burned at the stake.

If they could lead the Kingdom into compromising by creating an absolutely advantageous position, then they could win without fighting; that was the possibility that Myuri had mentioned straightaway. Most of war was the fighting before the actual exchange of fire, an exchange of bluffs to make the opponent think that fighting would be unproductive for them.

In that regard, the idea of getting the merchants on their side was a brilliant step.

They protected their position on the outside while also making sure that Sharon and the others were safe.

“But when Sharon and the others heard that, it was instead almost like their last hopes had been severed. They knew they could not separate the priests as truly evil, nor could they expect them to repent for reconciliation. They were lost, unable to forget their anger regarding the very people who had dropped them into misfortune but also unable to confront them, and that lost feeling easily turned into hatred.”

Sharon had said the only way to set them straight was to crush them all at once.

That was what that meant.

Their noncommittal attitude certainly must have been irritating to Sharon and the others. In the end, the priests continued to turn away from their past sins and continued on stringing together flowery words on the surface.

However, after hearing all that, the anger Col felt was not toward the selfishness of the priests but toward Eve and the merchants.

While it was born from a warped conscience and a weak heart, the priests were still making plans to avoid war with the tax collectors. On the other hand, Eve and company were almost sneering at them, trying to use them.

Eve and company were making plans on the presumption that war was already going to be happening, and they were even thinking about starting it themselves. Were they unaware of what the archbishop was planning? Unlikely.

They were trying to turn blood and tears into money.

For a moment, he thought about telling Clark. If he told him that the merchants were using the priests’ intentions, then he might relay the message to them.

But then what? The only result he could imagine was that the priests would cut the merchants off and then stiffen up, unable to trust anyone else. The only thing that would happen was that his small sense of justice would be fulfilled. That would just be an inconvenient reality for the merchants, and they would only wish they could have used them more effectively.

Could they leverage that reality to keep Eve from acting? Even if reconciliation was impossible, perhaps they could at least create a platform for them to talk with the archbishop. Otherwise…

“Brother?”

Myuri called out to him, and he snapped back to reality.

“S-sorry…There’s a lot to think about…”

Myuri sighed lightly, then turned to Clark.

“Okay, but why?”

“Huh?”

“What about that whole thing makes you want my brother to leave? Reconciliation might not be possible, but there’s no questioning that he’s on the chi…Sharon’s side.”

She was right. Or maybe it was her way of asking him not to throw the place into any more confusion.

The Twilight Cardinal was a big deal to society.

However, if he were just big and did not move quickly enough, he would be like a bull in a china shop. No matter what he tried to do, it would just make a mess of things.

Clark raised his head and gave a tired smile.

“Don’t you understand? It’s because I can’t renounce the priests. I’m at fault for the same sins.”

The smile he wore was one that was beginning to melt, one that appeared only after crying one’s heart out. Myuri looked as if her heart had been broken when she saw Clark like that.

It was a grown-up expression, different from the ones Col knew well.

“Do you like her?”

When she asked that question, Clark gulped, closed his eyes, and gritted his teeth.

“…Yes. That is why I have no right to renounce the priests and the archbishop. I’m a priest, but I’m attracted to Sharon, and that is why I agreed to manage the orphanage. At the same time…” Clark’s lightless eyes turned to Col. “I cannot stand the thought of you being her ally instead of me. It’s such a pity. It’s nothing more than jealousy…”

There was no such thing as a guiltless priest. The scripture even said that people are born with sin in the first place, and that is why everyone must constantly pray to God for salvation.

Clark was not a saint; he was a regular, kind young man.

What pained him was that he was earnestly thinking of Sharon, but at the same time, he had true faith.

When Clark closed his eyes and hung his head, Col found himself reaching out to him, but Myuri grabbed Col.

She looked at him and shook her head.

“Let’s go, Brother.”

Myuri’s keen eyes told him that they could not expect Clark to help them and that anything they could say would only hurt him. Col dropped his hand, and relief crossed Myuri’s face, as though he had put down a weapon.

Nothing would get done if they stayed here. Despite knowing that, Col could not leave behind a man whose heart was about to be crushed by a giant stone mill.

He stood planted to the spot, but Myuri pulled at him and he finally took a step, as though his roots were being torn out.

“If only Sharon and I had been brother and sister like you two.”

The sudden statement froze Myuri in place, her shoulders raised and tense.

She had been trying to somehow overrule her little-sister relationship with Col.

She probably wanted to instantly correct him, but she must have thought that was not mature of her.

She walked off again without looking back, and it occurred to Col that her profile seemed terribly stiff.

“Myuri?”

As they made their way down the hall, Col unwittingly called her name, and she closed her eyes, slowly inhaled, then spoke.

“I’m not always going to be your little sister.”

When she looked up at him with her usual huffy expression, he relaxed.

“I hope you won’t always be such a handful of a little sister.”

Myuri puffed her cheeks in anger, and a girl just carrying sheep’s wool to the room stared up at them.

They left the orphanage without a send-off, and when a chilly breeze blew over them, a remnant of winter despite how bright it was, Col unconsciously sighed. He had totally made the relationship between the priests in the cathedral and Sharon and the tax collectors worse. And Clark, who was supposed to be their last hope to bring both parties together, was no longer able to reprimand the priests because of the affection he felt for Sharon.

But it had not been entirely fruitless.

“Also, Brother?”

“What is it?”

She tugged on his sleeve and he looked to her.

“Did you get the whole point of the conversation?”

She glared at him, the natural progression of the huffy look she just wore.

“That failure of yours taught us something super important.”

He did not think Clark was a failure of his, but he was ready to admit that they were of a similar pedigree.

“Is it about Miss Eve?” he responded, and Myuri puckered her lips and raised her eyebrow slightly.

“Huh…Looks like you’ve grown up a little.”

He was not sure how he felt hearing that from the girl whose diapers he used to change, but she had done good work at the Golden Fern, so he would not be able to argue for a while.

“That evil fox said she wasn’t planning on actually fighting with the people in the Church, but she tricked us! She’s awful!”

She cursed them—Myuri was full of mischief herself, so perhaps she did not like how similar they were.

“Miss Eve is trying to start a war, regardless of how the archbishop and the priests feel. They explained they were trying to make it so neither side wins, though…”

He was not sure if they truly would be able to pull off something like that, and he could imagine Sharon and the other tax collectors being made responsible for starting the war. Even though, most importantly, no one would be happy in the event of a war, Eve alone was sitting in the deepest, darkest place, under layers and layers of webs, elegantly sipping her wine.

But they found out where she was and had a grasp on the heart of their scheme.

“Myuri.”

Col called her name, and Myuri, who had been walking ahead of him, stopped and turned around.

“Yeeeaaah?”

She deliberately extended the word, responding with a childish tone.

Her red eyes were like those of a puppy, and she knew they would earn her some playtime.

“I cannot overlook Miss Eve’s plan, and someone needs to save Miss Sharon.”

Both corners of Myuri’s mouth pulled taut in a grin.

Her ears and tail appeared, without her even bothering to look around and check their surroundings.

“I want you to stay the cool older brother you are. Of course”—she impishly clung to his arm—“on the condition that I’m your sword and your shield.”

They would be working together as one.

There was no set way for them to complement what the other lacked.

“If I ever feel like I’ll lose my footing, I remember I have you, and I can keep steady.”

Myuri’s ears and tail flicked about and she asked, “So what are you gonna do?”

“We will go threaten…Ahem. Request Miss Eve cooperate with us. On the audacious name of the Twilight Cardinal, that is.”

“Oh-ho? You finally said it.”

There was a hint of wickedness in her smile.

“We’re going fox hunting, Brother!”

But it was a smile he could rely on.

They quickly found out where Eve was in Rausbourne. The knights who acted as Hyland’s guard arrested the people watching the manor and got the answer out of them.

Eve apparently had no particular intentions of hiding where she was, however, so the watchers immediately gave up her location, which turned out to be one of Rausbourne’s so-called public buildings.

When Hyland inquired at the city council, they also learned Eve had gone through the proper channels to use it for trade, since she would be staying for a while.

It was very much like Eve to seem as though she was plotting all sorts of things and also to do everything that needed to be done properly.

“Speak up if anything happens. I’ll place my knights nearby.”

They came close to where Eve was staying and got off their horse.

There were three other horses of excellent build; Hyland rode one, two knights rode the remaining two, and there were also two guards on foot. When Col told her what Clark had said and how deep Eve’s foxhole went, Hyland completely regarded Eve as the enemy.

“The best of luck to you.”

He did not tell her that was excessive. Eve was balancing the scales not for something like trade in the massive city of Rausbourne but smuggling on an unbelievable scale that would affect the entirety of the survival of the Kingdom.

People’s lives were practically worthless in the face of that much gold.

While he wanted to say he was safe, since there was value in using him, Eve was much too treacherous.

“Myuri?”

“Yeah.”

Leaving behind a worried Hyland and her underlings, Col and Myuri walked off alone.

This was an oddly quiet place within the lively Rausbourne, a district that once thrived but had been left behind by the passing of the ages. They heard there once was a dock on this side of the mouth of the river long ago that used to be an active market.

“This is weird. There are crowds not too far away you can barely breathe in. It’s like a different city.”

“This seems to mostly be warehouses for large companies and artisan guilds.”

The buildings were currently in use, but they were old-fashioned for how large they were and had a somber air. They occasionally passed carts filled with cargo, but they seemed spiritless.

Rausbourne was a city built on the mouth of a river, but the port here was apparently buried long ago in an accumulation of dirt and sand, and the ships could no longer come in. The land then also became very narrow, so the functions for docking were moved elsewhere, and this area rapidly lost its life.

Not only that, but since it was once a lively area, all the buildings were splendid, much too expensive for small-time craftsmen and booth keepers to rent, and its downfall was how unrealistic it was to knock it all down and rebuild the area as a cheap residential district.

The area became deserted when the people left, and once it was deserted, people never came back.

And so these buildings were apparently either used as warehouses that took advantage of the buildings’ sizes or second homes for the wealthy who wanted to get away from the deafening hustle and bustle.

That was the district Eve was in, borrowing a public warehouse belonging to the city that was not currently in use, which apparently once specialized in unloading and measuring various kinds of wheat.

“She dresses so flashy, but she’s in a place like this.”

They finally arrived at the building, and just like Myuri said, the building was much too plain.

The entire first floor seemed to be a loading area with a large wooden door that looked like the mouth of a whale. There were stone staircases on either side of the whale’s mouth, going straight up to the second floor.

The building itself was four stories—it was made of stone up to the second floor, and the remaining two were made of darkened wood.

There were no showy decorations anywhere, made with nothing but practicality in mind. And now, especially considering the sadness that it was no longer in use, it was a building that seemed less plain and more gloomy.

“But it is a lot like her.”

“Is it?”

“There’s a copper plate here.”

Snugged into the wall of the first floor of the building was a copper plaque, rusted here and there in green.

“Hmm? Um…Bale Way?”

“It’s the name of the street that passes in front of the building. It is proof this building was a central part of this district, one that handled the city’s lifeline—which is wheat—and managed the street’s maintenance and preservation.”

It was often those who lived along a road who were responsible for maintaining it, and naming it signaled its influence on the land. Even though now it had been left behind, tossed off to the side, it had been a historically important building to the city. How Eve was staying in a place like this instead of renting out a flashy, palatial residence was very much like a merchant who had made it on her own, and for some reason, this filled Col with happiness.

“I think this is where her treachery really shines.”

“I kind of get it. Their watch is looking at us, after all.”

“What?”

When Myuri looked up to the second floor, the door opened, and the guard they’d seen at the Golden Fern appeared.

“The master is waiting for you,” he proclaimed, literally looking down on them from atop the large staircase. Col could sense a confidence that they either knew they were coming here or that they did not mind at all that they had. Or perhaps an act to make their guests think that way.

Eve was a gem whose colors changed depending on perspective.

If he did not think carefully, he might end up getting caught instead.

“Let’s go, Myuri.”

“I need to take out my wheat pouch.”

He was not sure how serious she was, but she pulled out her little pouch, stuffed with wheat that she typically kept around her neck and hidden under her clothes. Myuri, with the blood of Holo the wisewolf, could use the power of the wheat to take on her wolf form. No matter how many bulky guards Eve had, Myuri would surely never lose to them, but it would be a different story if her idiot brother ended up being taken hostage.

Be careful, he told himself.

They made their way up the steps, passed through the open door, and two guards standing behind the door were looking hard at them.

“Pardon us.”

The guards said nothing in particular; one closed the door, and one walked ahead as their guide. They did not even check to see if Col and Myuri were equipped with weapons.

The old wheat warehouse Eve was renting was filled with things, which was not what they had imagined. But it seemed more like it had been that way for a long time and not that these were any of Eve’s belongings. The whole dreariness of the place was at odds with the gaudy outfits of the guards.

Luckily, it was well cleaned and not dusty at all, and the hallway was breezy for how narrow it was. Instead of a dusty musk, they could smell the faint scent of salt from the mouth of the river.

The guard still silently went up the stairs toward the second floor. They could see all the way down to the storage area on the first floor from the stairwell and, at the same time, could see up to the ceiling on the fourth floor.

The large pillars across the open atrium did not seem to be support beams but remnants of a mechanical hoist; the ripped hoist dangled from them like ivy.

When they passed the third floor and arrived at the fourth, there was a desk placed right at the end of the stairs, and sitting at it was that massive attendant, holding a quill. Rows of small, upright letters that did not match his huge stature lined the parchment.

It was in a language Col did not know; he could not read it at all.

“The master is inside,” was all the large man said, and then he returned to his writing.

Myuri seemed to be fed up with how relaxed he seemed, and she sniffed.

“Master.”

The guard knocked on the door beyond, and a small voice said, “Come in.”

The door opened for them, and they were immediately greeted by a caress of cool air.

“Miss Eve?”

The room beyond the door looked like an office, but Eve was nowhere to be found.

“Brother.”

Myuri tugged on his sleeve and Col looked to where she was pointing, and there was another room off to the side, the wall facing the river wide open.

The inside of the room was bathed in a faint blue, a reflection from the ocean, and even though the lively Rausbourne harbor was visible in the distance, it was silent here—it was like a beautiful vista from a dream.

Eve was on the outside of the other room, on a balcony facing the river.

“Have you come to give me an answer to what we talked about at the Golden Fern?”

She sat in a large chair, with alcohol and jerky sitting next to her. The umbrella girl was there, and she smiled at them.

“Isn’t this a lovely view? A long time ago, massive ships pulled right up alongside this very building. They say that twenty people would operate a hoist to raise the neck, letting all the loaded wheat pass down to the first floor through the drainpipe like a waterfall.” Eve spoke with joy, not bothering to look back at them.

“We’ve discovered your trick, Miss Eve.”

When Col said that, Eve recrossed her legs and lifted her right hand. The umbrella girl bowed, and with elegant movements she passed right by them and left for the hallway.

“You used the archbishop’s and the priests’ parental love against them to come up with a plan for smuggling, didn’t you?”

A single seabird screeched as it flew past. These birds were brutal on ships and in the harbor, but they seemed lonely on this side of the river.

“Parental love, is it?”

“I am not impressed with your deception, nor do I sympathize with it.”

Eve seemed to like that answer, as she straightened out her legs and stood up.

“Who told you that? The cathedral won’t open their doors to anyone…and I doubt there are any priests who will help you because of your connections to Hyland.”

Col could tell that Myuri had changed her footing. Eve’s eyes, dark against the light coming from behind her, were just like those of a beast hunting its prey in the woods.

“I am the Twilight Cardinal.”

Eve’s eyes rounded at his caustic words, and she smiled, tickled.

“You’re right. You have your own influence, your own wisdom. Good, how wonderful.” Eve smiled and inhaled deeply. “And so,” she said, “why have you come here?”

Now, with the light behind her, Eve’s eyes and mouth stood out from her shadow like a beast roaming the dark woods.

With her hostility fully exposed, she even seemed taller.

Eve had gone through so many experiences that Col could scarcely even begin to imagine. He did not think he would win. But at the same time, he was confident justice was on his side.

“I will make an accusation against you on a large scale.”

“Oh?”

“In the name of the Twilight Cardinal, I will publicly accuse you and the merchants of preying on the cathedral.”

“…”

Eve closed her mouth, her lips still bent in a smile.

Col understood that as a request for him to continue, and he took a deep breath.

“I know from my journeys the people do not hate the Church, nor do they think it unnecessary. What do you think would happen if I, in the name of the Twilight Cardinal, accused these greedy merchants, in front of all those people, of trying to get rich off smuggling while defrauding the cathedral? The people would undoubtedly side with the cathedral. And if the Kingdom wants to avoid a sudden confrontation and war with the Church, they will count their lucky stars and side with the Church to penalize the merchants working illegally.”

If that happened, then Eve and the merchants would not get rich from smuggling but instead could very possibly end up hanging on the grounds of joint conspiracy.

Of course, that was not the ending Col wanted, and after he threatened her, he was planning on bringing up the following:

I want you to recommend to the cathedral that they talk with Sharon and the other tax collectors. Additionally, you will have the traders’ association act in a way that will ease tensions with the tax collectors. The dark clouds of war will then drift past, and Sharon and company should be able to come to a settlement with the priests in one form or another.

Of course, to Eve, who wanted war, that would mean bringing in losses, but it was much preferable to having her be sentenced to death after being accused of planning on smuggling.

The buds of Eve’s plans crumbled the moment Col heard Clark’s story.

Col waited for her words of retreat.

“Fine.”

He won.

Just as that feeling spread throughout his chest, and right before he was about to raise his terms of negotiation—

“If you want to accuse us, that’s fine.”

A dizzy feeling, like he was floating, muddled his thoughts.

It was like he thought there was an extra step in front of him, but there was not.

“I don’t mind. Sigh, I was scared thinking about what you might say to me.”

Eve twisted around after she spoke, picked up the glass cup on the table on the balcony, and sipped the alcohol inside.

Col was unsure of what that meant and stood planted to the spot.

“Miss…Eve?”

“Yes?”

She asked in response—was someone not going to attack him while he was confounded? He had imagined instead that someone would draw their dagger, threaten him, and drag him into a bloody quarrel. There was no way he could have predicted that she was going to react like this.

“I, uh…”

“You’re going to accuse me, aren’t you? Go ahead.”

He could understand if she told him not to do it. Why was she so relaxed like this? He panicked—he’d overlooked something.

He was trying to render her entire plot moot. Was her calm demeanor a bluff or something else?

Col looked to Myuri, convinced that Eve would not let them leave alive, but she also wore a puzzled look.

“Oh, I get it. You thought that by ruining my plans, I would fly off the handle, sob and gnash my teeth. And then you’d take that opportunity to bring a deal to the table—is that right?”

It was so on the nose, both Col’s body and mind froze.

“There’s no need for me to be angry. I have other ways of getting rich.”

Eve shrugged, plucked from her mouth the string of muscle from the jerky she had been munching on, and flicked it out beyond the balcony.

“And an accusation is perfect. I may as well tell you about all the wily business that Arugo and them have in their history in this town. The more flashily you can denounce them, the better. This’ll be easy for you, no?”

What on earth was Eve talking about? What had he gotten wrong about her?

He was still unable to answer, and she offered him a genuinely kind smile.

“Heh. That bewildered look is just the same as when you were a kid.”

He had only retreated a half step, but it felt like that was enough to send him back to his childhood. The only fight he could put up was a halfhearted verbal response.

“Why? Why are you…?”

Her cool smile also seemed a little sad.

“Are you asking why I seem so calm after being accused? Or why I’m going to betray Arugo and the others?”

Col’s silence served as a yes to both.

“I’m fine with being accused because I have people who’ll help me. And I’m not the one betraying Arugo. It’s their bosses who’ll be dealing with them.”

Her explanation brought only more mysteries.

Eve sighed at Col’s reaction and then spoke as though describing something to an incompetent apprentice.

“What we were planning was a large-scale smuggling operation between the Kingdom and the southern mainland. No way would things be settled just with Rausbourne’s branches. They’ll have to have a talk with the important people from the company in their home countries, of course. But the people sitting in those chairs at the main branch are real merchants. They made sure they were insured against dangerous talk of smuggling.”

He got a terrible feeling when she said “real merchants.”

Those were evil spirits nested in the innermost sanctum.

Eve’s soft hair fluttered in the cool, salty breeze.

“These real merchants asked me to carry out contract B in the case our original smuggling plan failed. And that would be sanctions against Arugo and the rest of them. It would essentially be a cleanup of merchants who’ve been up to no good in a city far away and hard to monitor from the home country. You came across a similar incident recently, didn’t you?”

She was talking about Desarev.

In Desarev, a merchant from the Debau Company had been selling off treasures from the cathedral without any permission to line his own pockets. Obviously, that was not a policy the upper management of the company, including Hilde, condoned.

However, since it was effectively impossible to keep a minute watch on the things happening in a town far across the sea, these things did happen from time to time.

Consequently, it was much more widespread in large companies that dealt with long-distance trade on a bigger scale.

“There’s not too much you need to do in order to take care of troublesome underlings. And a fight between two big powers, like the Kingdom and the Church, creates the perfect opportunity. It’s like…a mill. The bigger it is, the easier it is to secret many things into the mix and crush them.”

Eve turned her hand, as though she was turning a stone mill. But what she was grinding to powder was not wheat or grapes but inedible and decidedly non-delicious merchants.

Eve looked like a horned devil, one who tortured souls in hell.

“Smuggling is lucrative but dangerous. On the other hand, cleaning up insolent followers won’t make you rich, but it will secure the future for the real merchants. Their former followers, who used to have power in a faraway land, will absolutely pick up weapons and go to defeat their former masters one day, you see.”

Merchants were well versed in the ways of the world and doubted even their own followers.

But even Hyland was wary of Heir Klevend as a presence of discord.

Almost everything in the world came with such malice.

“And so the real merchants are using me as they please; I’m essentially their gofer. But of course, instead of making fake, placating smiles, I can stand in a good position where either contract can go well and bring me great benefits.”

There was no way she was a gofer.

A bitter taste spread through Col’s mouth when Eve smiled, because he’d underestimated how terrifying she was. The stronger the light was, the deeper and darker the shadow.

“Now, I’m sure you racked your brain to come up with the threat to accuse me of smuggling; what did you want to do with me?”

Eve spoke like a canonical jurist, as if she was going to check his answers.

“I can’t imagine you’d ask for money in exchange for not exposing me. You’re fighting for justice and faith…”

Her gaze stuck to Col, and he shivered.

“You’ve heard about the cathedral, and judging by your personality, I have a feeling you would demand we stop our evil acts out of your sense of justice, but that’s too much. You probably want me to mediate between the cathedral, who are totally unapproachable, and the tax collectors, or something like that. A private reconciliation is still possible, after all. The people in the cathedral want to keep their familial relationship with the tax collectors a secret, and since the collectors are all drifters, I doubt they would care about their public face. Right. I guess that’s your point of compromise.”

Hyland’s, Sharon’s, and his motivations were all clear. It was a given that Eve also knew what sort of situation Sharon was in. Not only that, they were well behaved.

That is why if Col took the time to think about each and every detail, it would not be too difficult for him to come to that conclusion.

What made Eve terrifying was how she got there in an instant.

She was a beast of the woods, one who would catch up to him as though he was standing still, no matter how fast he ran.

“Now, is that all you have in your hand?”

Eve clapped her hands together.

“I’m switching the offensive onto you, Twilight Cardinal.”

The wolf coming up behind him opened her mouth.

“You can officially accuse us of smuggling or not. If you don’t, then we’ll move straight into talks of making money. You might’ve already suspected it, but we’ve sent men to hide among the tax collector association, who will then attack the cathedral and give the Church an excuse to start a war. On top of that, we will make a smuggling deal with the Kingdom, who will need to secure goods. Lord Hyland may not like it, but the king will not refuse.”

Eve took a step back for the moment, as if she had bitten on to one of his feet and was playing with him.

“If you do accuse us, then I don’t mind, of course. Once I see to it that Arugo and company are burned at the stake for conspiring against the Church, I’ll return to the south and raise a glass with the real merchants there. Of course, if the Church has an eye out for any possibility of smuggling after that, then no one will be able to help the Kingdom. If they get in the way of my trade, then that goes without saying. If that happens, then the Church will surely go ahead with the advantage in war. You…”

And the wolf who was Eve Bolan dug her fangs into his throat.

“…will have to fight this battle on your own.”

Threats had power because they backed the other into a corner.

But accusing Eve of smuggling put no pressure on her and would only lead her to other ways of making money.

The one being cornered here was Col.

“Well, take your pick. I’ll let you choose. You escaped from the collar I almost put on you back at the Golden Fern.”

Eve’s gaze turned away from Col and rested on Myuri.

While Myuri demonstrated hostility toward Eve, her mouth was twisted in regret. She must have understood that all the logic was on Eve’s side.

“I understand it’s a hard choice. I had to excuse myself from making it, too. That is why I very carefully made all my plans beforehand so I wouldn’t end up like this. And sure enough…” Eve’s gaze came back to Col. “Here you are. Did you very carefully examine all the things you’re trying to do?”

He did not have the skills to argue, nor did he have any index for what path he should choose.

Neither of the two options Eve presented to him was ideal. Both of them were bad; it was only a choice of the lesser of two evils. And the impact of both would surely have great influence on the Kingdom in the future.

As he stood there unable to move, Eve took a step toward him. It was so natural and so innocent that even Myuri was delayed in her reaction.

By the time he realized it, Eve was embracing him.

“Why don’t you leave it all to me, Col?”

Her voice was quiet, barely a whisper, somewhat considerate, and even seemed as though she was begging him.

“You’re not suited for things like this, so much that it almost pains me to watch you. But this is not about relative merits. It’s the difference between gold and gems; you’re in pain because you’re trying to fight a battle you’re not suited for.”

Myuri had said that if he were like Luward, then he would not be her older brother anymore. Eve whispered in his ear like a loving mother.

“You can just choose to let me support you. Theologists long ago also had the backing of us merchants in order to get closer to God.”

And then, just as suddenly as she embraced him, Eve let go and put distance between them. She gave Myuri a mischievous grin, which likely meant that Myuri had been keeping a sharp eye to see through Eve as best she could.

“I’ll wait two days. Worry about it all you want. That’ll help build character.”

It was impossible for Col to tell if it was an act or not. All it looked like to him was a gentle smile.

“Well, this conversation is over,” Eve said, clinking the glass on the table against the jug, and the umbrella girl appeared from the hall.

“Our guests are leaving.”

The girl bowed respectfully, then signaled silently to the guard.

Col of course doubted there was anything he could gain from being insistent now.

Eve was unknowable.

“Brother.”

But unlike with Clark, Myuri did not discard their last choice. She was openly considering the option of baring her teeth and making Eve obey with her real power.

They could probably throw the guards around, but all the power in the world would likely not convince Eve to agree with them. There was no way her constitution was so fragile that she would be frightened by the sight of fangs, and Col and Myuri did not have the heart to torture her.

Col turned and shook his head at Myuri, who then regrettably let go of her pouch of wheat.

All Col could do was take Myuri’s hand and leave the room as he thought about how this was the opposite of what happened with Clark, that this must be an allotment of roles.

Eve did not say anything else to them.

They left the building, which was once a loading dock and measuring place for wheat, and he staggered down the road as if he was in the middle of a bad daydream.

Hyland and the others, who appeared on their horses, could tell at a glance that talks had not gone well.

But it did not seem like they knew exactly how it all went wrong.

“Is she a demon from the scripture?” Hyland murmured from atop her horse, gripping the reins and gazing in Eve’s direction.

Even though they had two days left, Col knew that not much would change even if he had a month. He would rack his brain until the very last moment and painfully regret any answer he would choose.

Rather, he would not be surprised if he was told this was Eve’s kind consideration for him by freeing him from this torture in only two short days.

“Let me just say first that you are not at fault here.”

It was the time of day that a red tint covered the sky, and the townspeople were headed home with sighs of relief when Hyland was on her horse again.

“If I was fighting on my own, I would not have noticed anybody’s plot by now; I would just be swept away like a leaf on a muddy stream.”

Behind her, servants were handing lit torches to her knights, who were also on horseback.

“You chased them to the very edges of the scheme. This is our territory from here on out. It’s our decision as lay-nobles to decide if it is a plan where two or three people will have to die. We’re at least going to choose the past with the least bloodshed.”

They returned to Hyland’s manor from Eve’s place and discussed remedial measures. But the most they could ascertain was there was no way to avoid the two options she had given Col, and since there was no way to control Eve, the least they could do was be sure not to put her in a bad mood.

Before the Church had spread their teachings, all people could do was grovel and beg before rampaging nature and plague. That was the class in which Eve lived.

As a result, Hyland mounted her horse in order to report to the king about these bitter options as the very problems of the Kingdom itself. Not only was that her decision as the commanding officer, but there was plenty of evidence of consideration for Col as well. Even though he would normally accompany her as the concerned party to explain the situation, she told him to stay behind.

Just as Col was about to protest, Hyland said as such:

“You are a valuable piece of mine, so if you were to be by my side when I bring bad news to the king, your worth would only go down.”

It was certainly a coolheaded opinion, and Col did not think she was lying, but it was clear that she was arranging to separate him from such a difficult decision.

“Hans, take care of the house while we’re gone.”

“I shall.”

“Now, you lot, we’ll be marching through the night for the first time in a long time. I don’t want to hear how rusty you’ve gotten because we’ve been in town.”

Hyland spoke cheerfully before kicking her horse into a canter. The hooves rattled their feet, and they were in the distance in the blink of an eye. Even after they vanished from view, Col found it hard to move from the spot or even take his eyes away from where they disappeared; there, Hans, who was in charge of the house while they were gone, spoke to him.

“Please return to your room. It is still rather chilly at night at this time of year.”

Col wanted to stand there all night and wait for Hyland to return, but he knew it was pointless. And if he stayed there, then Myuri would be out there with him.

They all returned to the manor. Col looked at the closed gate behind him and sighed.

“Would you like something to eat?”

Col almost said no, but he was not traveling alone.

“Just something small. Could you bring it to our room?”

“Absolutely.”

It was probably too much effort for Hans to serve them in the dining hall, and Col doubted his food would go down if it was only Myuri and him in such a large space. They could relax in their room, and the others would not find out if he ended up giving all his food to Myuri.

As he thought about that on their way to the room, Myuri called out to him.

“Brother?”

“…What is it?”

When he sat on the corner of the bed, Myuri sat beside him.

“I never lost a fight in Nyohhira,” she said suddenly. “But I definitely don’t think I’m the strongest out of all the people who go there.”

Royalty and titled nobility came to Nyohhira from all over the world, and their selected bodyguards supported them on their long journey.

And there was someone in the bathhouse who could easily defeat a whole army of those sturdy soldiers.

But Col understood right away what Myuri wanted to say.

“Thinking everything will go well is just the same as praying to become a god, isn’t it?”

Myuri’s mother, Holo, was once called and revered as a god in reality.

But even Holo could not fight back against the flow of the ages, and she had a pessimistic air about her. Even though she looked exactly the same as Myuri besides the color of her hair, that was also the reason why she seemed so much older.

And he had thought that Myuri had not realized it, for better or for worse.

“I never thought the day would come that you told me to be more modest…I am a very happy older brother.”

Col spoke with a tired smile, and Myuri flapped her ears and tail as though she was about to cry before headbutting him to cling to him.

“We can’t win against that. What even is she?”

She scrubbed her face against his shoulder, not because she was crying but likely because she was trying to erase Eve’s scent.

“But.” She stopped moving and said, “I don’t even know if she’s a friend or enemy. Even though she’s plotting something so evil.”

She is a sharp girl after all, Col thought.

“Miss Eve…feels just like the wind or the rain. We can do nothing about her, and while she sometimes brings disaster, she also sometimes helps us.”

Eve treated everything equally in the face of gold.

She had no other intentions; she was impartial and cruel.

“…What’ll happen to the chicken and friends?”

Myuri’s question let Col know he was a single powerless creature on this earth.

“If we can take the option of letting the cathedral know about the smuggling, they might get the option to talk with the priests in the cathedral. They won’t have any more allies in the city of Rausbourne, so they might search for a way to improve the situation but just feel like they’re grasping at straws. If that happens, then they might listen to us.”

“Yeah.”

“But I don’t know if that would have them honestly regret their past actions and reconcile with Sharon and the others.”

Those more world-wise, rather, might try to cut them out by pretending to go along with it and then secretly betraying them.

He did not know if Sharon would end up duped by that or take it as truth.

“And do you remember what Miss Eve said? By taking that option, the possibility of the Kingdom going to war without any help from the merchants gets higher. The Kingdom would not take on such a dangerous bet for the small possibility of reconciliation for Sharon and the others.”

Yet, if Eve had not readied a way for her to play her cards right once her plot of smuggling was discovered, then she would have used that as threatening material.

In the end, they lost to her thoroughness.

“In that case, we would just take the option of not saying anything about the smuggling, but…in the current situation, that means war. The people from the cathedral would escape to the mainland to avoid being taken hostage by the Kingdom.”

Sharon and the others would get to keep their permits for tax collection, but the targets for their anger would be gone.

They would simply be left behind, possibly to fall into a trap of their hatred in the future.

Myuri stayed silent, either ruminating over the explanation she’d heard countless times from the talks with Hyland or because she did not want to believe what she saw before them.

Then, after stirring restlessly, she spoke.

“…What about you, Brother?”

He looked to her, but she was looking straight ahead, her eyes trained downward.

“…Me? Well, of course there’s only so much I…”

When he gave the beginning of his answer, Myuri shook her head.

“Not that. I mean in the bigger picture.”

She finally looked at him.

“Because I thought about how there will be so many foxes like that on the path you’re trying to take.”

Unlike him, she could see from beginning to end for the whole.

She was likely much closer than he was to the truth of how big the world was and how high the sky was.

“I thought about how so many nuisances like her are going to try and use you. That fox was unbiased in a bad way, but that just means there are truly evil people out there who are unfair in a bad way.”

When Col imagined Eve Bolan appearing filled with spite, he understood everything she wanted to say.

“Even if you tried to act by hiding your name, would you be confident enough to not use it when that Blondie gets in trouble?”

The true function of Myuri’s intelligence was not in witty comebacks or arguing for argument’s sake, nor was it in how she manipulated the human psyche in order to get her way. It was how she could stop in a deep, dark forest and ponder far beyond the scope of what any normal human could foresee.

“…The sheepdog can see far beyond what the sheep themselves can see.”

Right after he murmured that, Myuri’s eyes widened in anger.

“Brother, you dummy! I’m a wolf!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. There’s a passage that says that in the scripture. Please don’t be angry with me.”

Still frowning, Myuri looked away in a huff.

He was too mild. He never thought about his actions, and times like that were when it showed.

“…You don’t think I’m much suited for this, either, do you?”

Strengths and weaknesses.

Myuri looked at him with a frown and then shrugged.

“It’s true you’re not suited for it, sure, but I can still picture you pretending like it doesn’t bother you and you putting on a brave face even if we went back to Nyohhira.”

Myuri’s fangs had only grown sharper since starting their journey.

“And…I want you to fight the Church, Brother.”

“What?”

That was unexpected.

“They’re pieces of shit. I don’t want to see you lose to people like that and go home disappointed.”

“You shouldn’t say that word.”

When he admonished her, she rammed her head into his shoulder as though in protest.

But he earnestly thought that Myuri was going to try and encourage him to give up.

“I just can’t forgive them about the chicken. Because that’s like…”

Her red eyes turned to him, and he flinched.

She stayed silent, her eyes beginning to swim.

“That’s just like if you were to toss me aside, isn’t it?”

When he saw her on the verge of tears, he was ashamed by his lack of insight. Not only had Myuri sympathized with Sharon, she had placed herself in her shoes. And finally, he saw the real reason why she was telling him to fight with the Church.

His dream was to become a priest.

But while he was fighting with the Church, he at least would not be able to become a priest, and as a result of the fight, he might not even be able to join any holy work again. If that happened, then Myuri’s worst fears would not come true.

There was no point in explaining to her that unilaterally casting her away after becoming romantically involved was not the same as removing himself from worldly affairs after joining the clergy. It was all the same to the one left behind.

But he was not sure what else he should say; there were no words in him.

“That’s why—”

When Myuri continued speaking, his consciousness returned to reality. She cut herself off and wrapped her leg around his, as though she was going to pull some trick.

“I think you should go along with the bad fox.”

“…With Miss Eve?”

“Yeah. She might be a crazy archvillain on Mother’s level, but I think we should rely on her while she’s on our side. She gives you a power different from mine, one that’s like a thick black cloud.”

Some people called that black cloud power; some called it scheming.

“So, like, if you honestly said you wanted to smash the Church, then she would weigh all the treasure she would get from crushing them and work hard for all those profits, all while licking her lips.”

“I don’t actually want to crush the Church, though…”

He understood that Eve would actually use her intellect to make that happen, though.

“Well, it might not give you peace of mind. I really don’t think she’d come up with some sort of plan to go along with your fragile heart,” Myuri said, her face reading, I’d be the only one to do that.

That gave him an indefinable feeling—she was exactly right but also not quite that.

“But maybe what the chicken said wasn’t true.”

Myuri then changed her tone.

“I think it’d be faster to destroy the Church than to fix it. You can rebuild and stuff afterward.”

She never listened to God’s teachings, but that just meant she was not interested. On the other hand, she might have come to harbor an aggressive disgust for the inner workings of the Church as she learned more about its reality.

“Yeah. Why don’t you just stop trying to force yourself to fight and create whatever you want?”

And though, of course, he could not just say yes and create it out of thin air, what Myuri was saying was not entirely unbelievable.

“This isn’t about going along with the evil fox; I’m talking about Blondie. I’m thinking that might be fine after all.”

“Heir Hyland?”

“Yeah. She said something about a private monastery, right? Can’t you just make an institute or something on your own?”

Despite how disinterested she acted, Myuri was always listening and could recall everything.

“People who’ve had similar life experiences to the chicken are living fun lives, aren’t they? That way you won’t have to give up on your dreams, and then Blondie can build a place like that for you as thanks for everything you’ve done so far.”

Col was flustered at her idea, which came out of nowhere, but he remained silent not because he was surprised. If he was surprised about anything, it was that he could not find the basis on which to deny what Myuri just said.

“The beardy old guys who come to the bathhouse told me that monasteries are quiet places meant for living easy, right? You can read as much as you want in a place like that, and you can think about complicated things, and I can nap by your side. Staying holed up in a place away from civilization, surrounded by high walls, will keep the evil foxes and the cold winds away. I don’t think it’s that bad.”

He almost did not believe her when she asked him if they would bring such an idyllic and gentle fantasy to reality.

Hyland was a noble who stood up there among royalty, so she likely owned a large territory in the Kingdom. When he thought back over all the work they had done so far, he imagined she would not likely say no if they asked. Then, with their own private monastery, they could distance themselves from the Church, and he would be free to pursue his own path of faith under Hyland’s patronage.

“…To be honest, I did not even think that was an option.”

“I thought so. You’re into the weirdest stuff—you’re always trying to find your way up on the most difficult path.”

Hardships were trials given by God, and overcoming them was faith.

He did not think that idea would reach Myuri if he told her, and even if she asked really? in earnest, he would not be able to prove how correct it was to her.

And Myuri, right beside her foolish brother, had found a patch of grass so lusciously filled with green.

“I don’t want to get in the way of your dreams, and I hate the idea of going home empty-handed after such a big adventure, because it would feel like we lost.”

And suddenly, here they were, talking about a monastery they could live in peacefully.

Monasteries associated with the Church were so busy with fights over benefices and power of appointment in the dioceses they controlled, intervention from the parent monastery, internal competition for success, and all that—there would be no time to rest. But none of that existed in a private monastery. As long as they had Hyland’s protection, doing “work” every day that was simply growing herbs in the vegetable garden was not a terribly out of reach or fantastical idea.

He had taken the plunge from Nyohhira with great ambitions, and if that was what he got in the end, then many people would look at him with eyes wide in surprise and bless him.

It was much like a favorable tide.

He had lit the signal of reform in Atiph, made allies of Autumn and the pirates in the northern islands, and solved the problem of the cathedral treasures being sold on the black market in Desarev. Here in this city, the great abyss that was Eve was slowly closing in on him. To the Kingdom, his feats could even be called superhuman.

Col could not replace God, nor did he want to.

He should instead be proud that he had gotten this far.

“I will think about it.”

From the tone of his voice, Myuri could sense an optimistic air from him, not his usual complacencies.

Her tail stood up straight.

“R-really?!”

Col smiled wryly at her surprise.

“You’re the one who suggested it, did you not?”

“Yeah, but…”

Myuri herself likely thought it was much too convenient and just a fantasy. Her tail swept over the bed, as though disappointed with how easily he accepted her idea, and Col smiled, then spoke.

“Well, a monastery is a place of prayer, so I doubt there will be anywhere for you to nap. And only proper believers would be allowed to enter.”

“What?!”

She raised her voice in a growl, knocking her shoulder against his.

“You’re always such a meanie like that, Brother!”

“I am not a meanie. There are coed monasteries, but…you’re not a faithful believer, are you?”

“I faithfully believe that you’ll make me your bride one day!”

“Those who have faith in such heretical teachings cannot enter a holy monastery.”

“Brother, you dummy!”

After their back-and-forth, they both sighed. They had not been thrown out into the frigid nighttime sea, nor were they trapped in a little room that had been set on fire.

And yet, a mist that was worse than either of those things covered their hearts.

Myuri bit into his shoulder, perhaps because she did not want to acknowledge it.

She brought up living in a private monastery, such a pleasantly soft dream, because she did not want to see what was in front of her.

“Shall I have them bring up our food?”

They likely would not be able to wipe away this feeling.

When he murmured his question, the clever Myuri responded readily.

“Get me lots of meat!”

When she said that, he could not help but smile.

“Don’t eat too much.”

“Okaaay.”

It was their usual transparent exchange.

But it was more comfortable than anything right now.

This ambiguous anxiety he felt was probably awe at the vastness of the world.

No one could move mountains.

Even Eve, who was like a natural disaster to the two, was surely not almighty.

They crawled under the covers rather early that night.

Ever since they had arrived in this city by boat from Desarev, they had been thrown into a fiery, churning mill without a moment’s breath. They had come face-to-face with the dreams and desires revealed to them by Sharon and the cathedral and Eve, and when Col finally had a moment to relax, he realized how tired he really was.

That must have shown on his face, since Myuri, who typically crawled into bed before him and was out before the candles were, stayed awake a little while longer, stroking his hair.

But there were so many things he had to think about. Regardless of what sort of conclusion the king might give Hyland, Col had to pay attention to the movements in Rausbourne, and especially since he had been designated countless times as the source of this whole commotion, he wanted to play a role in calming the situation by any means possible.

He had not even the beginning of an idea of what he could do, however. He felt somewhat calm on the inside for how grim the outlook was, simply because he was completely lost.

And so, just as he was falling asleep, the only thing he was sure of was that his dreams would be nightmares.

He was so excited to see what sort of nightmare he might have, rather, that when Myuri suddenly called out to him in the darkness, he was disappointed.

Brother, Brother!—Myuri desperately called out to him in his dreams.

It was as he scoffed—This isn’t enough to wake me up—and rolled over.

“Brother!”

Whack! She smacked him across the cheek.

“Get up already, will you?!”

She then shook his shoulders, and he opened his eyes. He looked at her with bleary eyes, and her expression immediately filled with tension.

“What is it?”

Myuri hopped off the bed and rushed to the window.

“Some horses just arrived at the manor, and they sounded super-rushed.”

“Horses…? Wait, horses?!”

Hyland’s name immediately came to mind, but if she was there, Myuri would have said Blondie.

“She wasn’t there. But the knights who were with her are.”

“Just the knights? Don’t tell me they were attacked by bandits…”

Col threw back the blanket, stepped down from the bed, and also looked out the window. Sure enough, outside the iron gates stood four horses, their breath still heavy and white from the cold.

But when he stared into the firelight, he saw that two of the horses had a banner hanging from their saddle with the royal emblem painted on it. He felt as though they had not been there accompanying Hyland when she left.

“Are they inside the manor?”

“Yeah. They called out really loudly for that bearded old man.”

“Mr. Hans. Something must’ve happened. We should—”

Just as Col was thinking about turning around, there was a strong, rushed knock on the door.

“Twilight Cardinal!”

Judging from the volume of the voice and the weight of the knocking, it was not Hans. It was probably a knight.

“Coming.”

Col opened the door, and standing there was a knight, just as he thought. He was tall and had a physique big enough to support heavy armor. There was steam rising from his close-shaved, dark-brown hair, almost as though signifying he had run as fast as he could on his horse.

His shoulders were still heaving with his heavy breath, and he looked as though the sky had fallen down.

“A message from Heir Hyland! The king has issued a royal command with regards to Rausbourne without waiting for our report! We encountered royal communications officers on the way, and I am here to tell you what Heir Hyland has said, Your Eminence!”

After seeing Sharon’s past, the cathedral’s deceit, and Eve’s plot, he had encountered enough surprises in this city to last him a lifetime.

Though he believed nothing would surprise him anymore, the world was still much bigger than he thought.

“The king will reportedly arrest the now-violent tax collectors in order to avoid war with the Church!”

Col gulped.

“Therefore, this is reportedly equivalent to a peace negotiation, while also protecting the tax collectors from the Church by using military force!”

The very king himself was retreating. It was understandable, however, since he likely could not ignore Heir Klevend. He could not fight both the Church and Heir Klevend at the same time.

They could not blame him for making that decision, and it was likely an inevitable one in order to keep the country stable.

But there was something Col could not let go.

“So the king has recognized the tax collectors as rioters, has he?”

The tax collectors were drifters. No matter how they were used, there would be no one to mourn them.

By deeming them an unruly mob and showing the Church that they were a nuisance to the Kingdom, it was their tool to ease tensions.

He could easily imagine how they would be used.

“Heir Hyland is makng her way on horseback to inform the king of the inside affairs of the city. She has issued this statement!”

With a knightly look, the knight lowered his voice and said:

“Save the tax collectors.”

They had been discarded by their fathers and now were about to be discarded by the Kingdom, who was supposed to back them.

A saying went that an underdog would always remain the underdog.

But Sharon and the others were not dogs.

They were heroes, looking to grasp a chance to reestablish themselves and settle their pasts with their own power.

“I will now head to the city council to assist with lineup! You must do what you can to get a grasp on the situation in the city until Heir Hyland comes back, Your Eminence!”

The knight raised his voice again and had turned his gaze to the ceiling.

But when he said “assist with lineup,” he briefly gave Col a meaningful look.

Of the four horses stopped out front, two likely belonged to the royal communications officers. They did not understand how Hyland felt, so the knights were pretending to help with the lineup and were planning on getting in their way as much as they could.

But the king was sending his whole army.

“When will the king’s forces be here?”

“They will reportedly surround the city at dawn!”

That was soon.

If this was an act of precaution against Heir Klevend, then the king would have hated for him to get wind of what was happening and to create a counterplan, so he must have done this all in secret.

“I see…Thank you for all your work.”

“Yes! Please excuse me!” said the knight, almost yelling, then turned on his heel and rushed down the hallway. Hans stood waiting a short distance away, but being the seasoned butler he was, he showed no signs of panic.

“Will you be going out? What would you like to wear?”

Just as Col thought about how little time there was to change, Myuri spoke.

“Give us the fancy stuff.”

Col turned around to look at Myuri; he knew it was hard to let go after having a taste of luxury, but he was amazed that she had to bring it up now of all times.

“Are you gonna walk around dressed like a priest? Your friends will come up and stab you in the back.”

Myuri was the calm one here.

“Very well.”

Hans clapped, and the maids waiting in the neighboring room promptly appeared.

“Wow.”

“I shall take that as a compliment.”

The corners of Hans’s mouth turned upward, and he smiled at Myuri as he spoke flatly.

Col was impressed yet also amazed at how unexpectedly good-humored Hans was, and how Myuri could truly get along with anyone.

“Get changed, Brother. We’ll think about what to do as you do.”

Myuri gave orders like an independent adult when she went out to hunt deer in the mountains of Nyohhira with others.

It was at times like these, when something that needed to be done appeared before her, that she could stay rather calm.

“You’re right. Let’s think.”

They could not act carelessly. They did not have much time, and there were even fewer things they could do.

“Let us think,” he said, repeating it to himself, and Myuri patted his back.