EPILOGUE

When Wintshire heard the gist of the plan from Rhodes, he acted with great precision.

He apparently had a proposal for Hyland, a withdrawal of his idea, and an explanation of what he would be doing next.

Hyland mentioned that it almost seemed like he knew they had a hand in this; it was unclear.

Either way, Wintshire and the knights stood clad in full battle armor, glinting in the spring sun, announcing what it was they intended to do. They were going to knock the churches into shape, investigating any that had kept their doors closed and refused to right their own wrongs.

While the masses had taken issue with the Church, they still knew that the churches were a necessary establishment for their daily lives. That is why they had received the knights’ declaration with standing applause; because it could very well change the situation in the kingdom.

So awareness of the knights spread like a wildfire, which would mean the pope would surely have to adjust his own attitude, and they all lived happily ever after…But a dark feeling had Col jiggling his right leg.

“I believe this is necessary, but…”

“You’re still talking about that? C’mon, chin up!” Myuri told him, and when he looked up, she placed a colored sash around his neck. This sash indicated the rank of clergy, and since Col was not officially registered as part of the clergy, it was white. But in a way, it was his way of criticizing the Church system.

That was all and well, but Col was still not happy with the position he was in.

Just as he was translating the scripture, Myuri barreled into their room, dragged him out, and shoved him into a carriage without telling him anything. Hyland was already there, and the cart departed before Col could say a word.

He was about to ask what was going on, when Myuri tossed him a bundle of clothes.

It was his normal attire, the priestlike set he had worn when he left Nyohhira—clothes he had not been wearing as of late.

“We thought you might refuse if we talked to you about it beforehand, so I’m sorry it has to be like this.” Hyland, who sat opposite him, said this apologetically, and then told him what this was all about. He did not know who it was that thought of this plan, but he was not going to ask.

Because he knew what was going to happen.

But he felt dispirited when he imagined it happening, and so he had been fidgeting with his Church crest with both hands this whole time.

“But isn’t this easier than a public catechism? I know I probably shouldn’t say this, but you just have to stand there,” Hyland said, surprisingly defensive, much like his gloomy attitude.

Myuri, finished placing the sash around his neck, took a comb in hand and began to run it through his hair.

When she neared him, he realized she smelled a little different than usual—sweet, like flowers. That is when he finally noticed that she was wearing clothes that, though they were not the ones she wore from Nyohhira, they were not the company errand boy ones.

“…You, too?”

She ran the comb through his hair, found a wildly scraggly one and pulled it out, then shrugged.

“Of course. Because I’m your knight!” she declared.

She wore robes that reminded him of a traveling nun.

But what was different was that she had her bright sash, embroidered with gold thread, wrapped around her waist, and a dagger sheath at her hip. He had never seen such a self-assertive nun before.

“I couldn’t get a sword, so I just have a sheath. I’ll need a sword since I’m going to be your knight. Ooh, what kind of sword should I get? Heh-heh!”

“…”

Just as he wondered if it was a mistake to have defined their relationship as knights, he realized Hyland was looking at them.

She was smiling apologetically, and now he had no choice but to accept it.

“I will refrain from doing any more but stand. There should be some knights among them who still do not think fondly of me, after all.”

In fact, the knights’ resuscitation idea was supposed to have been Rhodes’s idea. The Twilight Cardinal was still an enemy of the church and a target for the knights.

And what Hyland had suggested was for him to join the others in seeing them off as they left for the churches in neighboring regions.

“I don’t mind at all. It’s enough, so long as it creates rumor.”

“The Twilight Cardinal, seeing his greatest enemy, the knights, off…Yes, for faith!” Though Myuri herself did not have a lick of faith in her, she said that as she tied Col’s hair back tightly. She sighed proudly. “I would’ve preferred to harden your hair with some egg whites, though.”

“You think? I think it’s nicer this way, it’s natural. It makes him seem much kinder and valiant.”

“You’re right. C’mon, Brother! Stand up straight!”

Hyland and Myuri looked over him, evaluating him, and he straightened his back.

He almost felt like he was essentially a plaything.

“It should be about time…There are so many people outside. We were right to come outside the city wall. This would’ve been impossible to do inside the city.”

The carriage had passed through the city wall at some point, and Col had not realized due to the sheer number of people outside. Everyone and their uncle had come to see the knights off, and there were plenty of people waving homemade versions of the knights’ banner.

“O God, please save me…”

When he voiced a prayer that he rarely ever said, Myuri took his hand.

And she smiled innocently, as though she was telling him to relax.

Though she was supposed to be a knight, someone who challenged and endured hardship, her smile was a satisfactory one, like she was pleased that a prank of hers went well.

“No dinner for you if I see any extra nonsense from you.”

Myuri shrugged, her smile still easy, and she went to help Hyland open the door.

Sounds of the bustling town immediately flooded the carriage, and Col felt his heart clench.

“Come on.”

Hyland exited first, followed by Myuri, and beneath the spring sunlight Myuri extended a hand toward him.

Though he regretted for a moment why he’d ever brought her out from Nyohhira, he grabbed her hand.

Her hand was small, but it was powerful like an adult’s.

“Here they come!”

Hyland shouted, succumbing to the crowd’s excitement.

Col turned toward the city to see the knights headed straight for them.

“Glory to the Knights of Saint Kruza! Blessed be righteous faith!”

The people at the sides of the road yelled in loud voices, scattering flower petals along it.

In the front were two knights atop white horses, carrying deep crimson banners, and behind them were several more knights on horseback. Col spotted Wintshire’s face immediately, and he also saw Rhodes among the knights on foot behind the horses.

“Heh-heh, he looks so proud. Even though he’s a crybaby.”

“That is not something you say.”

Col poked Myuri’s head, then took a step onto the small, elevated platform that the carriage driver had prepared for them.

Myuri also stepped up with him and adjusted her clothes herself.

“What do you think, Brother? Am I cute?” she asked, tilting her head. How she acted, plus her clothes, which were a different sort of ladylike than usual, certainly made her seem lovely. He wished she did not have the sash and dagger on her, but he then corrected himself that she would no longer be Myuri without them.

“Yes, yes. Very cute,” he said in an almost dismissive manner, and Myuri seemed discontented with that nonanswer, but she eventually drew up her shoulders in happiness.

The cheering of the people soon grew louder; the knights were approaching.

Col received a large copy of the scripture from the carriage driver, tucked it under his right arm, and grasped the Church crest around his neck with his left hand.

He recalled Myuri’s comments and puffed out his chest more than normal and straightened out his back.

At first, there was a strange ripple through the crowd. But the ripples finally coalesced, became a wave, and some began to point at him. The knights also realized what was going on and looked up.

It was not long before the flag-bearing horses came near, and a brief second later, Col’s eyes met with Wintshire’s.

For a brief moment, he thought he saw the old knight’s eyes widen in surprise, but they quickly shifted to a look of kindness.

That was enough to tell him that Wintshire had seen through everything.

Perhaps what surprised him was that Col had come to see them off.

Col raised his left hand high, the one that held the crest of the Church, then bowed forward in a posture of prayer.

The knights would simply pass right by him.

Right as he was thinking that, something unexpected happened.

“Ooh!”

There came a cheer.

Wondering what it might be, he unwittingly raised his head to find the knights all with their hands at their chests, looking at him as they passed by. It was the knight’s salute, and they were all presenting it to him.

That meant they knew the truth. He was not sure if Rhodes had spilled the beans or if Wintshire had told them. Or maybe, unbeknownst to him, their fair piety made them do so out of respect to those who came to see them off.

Whatever the true reason may be, the sight lit Col’s heart ablaze, and Rhodes eventually came to pass in front of them. Rhodes was looking at Myuri; when Myuri gave him a little wave, his face went bright red, and the knights on either side of him wore dry smiles.

The knights’ procession passed before them in an instant, and a whole crowd of people was following them close behind, looking for handshakes, touching their cloaks—it was a whole to-do.

Then they vanished like a scattered rain shower, and commotion over the knights seemed so far away.

With a satisfactory sigh, he felt his right hand suddenly grow warm.

“I think it’ll go well,” Myuri said, watching the knights’ silhouettes fade in the distance.

Her hand that grabbed his was gripping harder than usual.

“I think the king will be able to support them openly, too,” Hyland said, and looked to Col. “Let’s go back. I have a table for us at the Golden Fern. I want to celebrate your new coat of arms, too.”

“Meat!” Myuri yelled, and hurried back to the carriage.

Col wondered if he should change before arriving at the restaurant as he turned to leave, but he looked back toward the knights one more time.

The knights’ crest, raised high in the sky, fluttered gallantly in the wind.

May God bless them.

After saying a quick, silent prayer, he sat next to Myuri as she urged him to hurry, placed the scripture on his lap and closed his eyes.

Winter was over, spring had arrived and that was merely one scene of an act in a season of many wonderful days still yet to come.