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Chapter Text

My teacher has always taught me that I should never let my stress bottle up, yet there were just too many stress factors the Sun Knight had to face every single day. For example, I could only ever record beauties out of the corner of my eyes. I had to walk as slowly as a tortoise to prevent my clothes from getting messed up. I must praise the God of Light every three sentences I speak. A benevolent, forgiving smile must be on my face at all times even when I don't feel an ounce of mercy. If I were to trip or fall, it had to happen gracefully. I had to stay out of direct sunlight, or else I'd have to increase the times I applied my facial mask. On and on the list went.

How could someone not feel stressed from all those demands? Certainly not me. So, in order to maintain the image of the perfect Sun Knight, I once again headed off to order a few undead creatures from Pink. A showy battle would certainly do wonders in converting more people to the Church of the God of Light, and I could take my stress out on those undead creatures while I was at it.

Of course, her services weren't cheap, but I had to bear with it for the sake of my sanity. I debated on asking Judgment to queue up at the dessert shop for me, but he would definitely question me if I were to ask him to buy me a strawberry lollipop instead of a blueberry one. If only Ice hadn't been sent on a mission! I could have asked him to make some lollipops instead. The lollipops he made were practically divine, and they were free and plentiful, too.

I selected a cloak, making sure to pull it on securely. A cloak was truly the most useful piece of garment for concealment. Even someone as eye-catching as I was would become just another passerby once I pulled the hood on. With the cloak fastened around me, I was no longer confined to the speed of a tortoise, free to stride down the road as I pleased. I was even free to look at all the beauties I wanted with no one the wiser!

Bless cloaks! Best invention ever!

Sadly, though the cloak had many uses and alleviated many of my stress factors, it could not help me magically gain a spot at the front of the line at the dessert shop. I queued up at the back, dismayed by the number of people in line. This is a popular shop, but really? Don't you people have anything better to do than line up for desserts in the middle of the day? You there! Yes you, Mr. Tall Buff Guy. I don't believe you're lining up for yourself. You must be trying to impress a girl! Damn you!

I tapped my foot, already regretting that I hadn't asked Judgment after all. If he were here, he could waltz right up to the front of the line and glower at anyone who dared to make a comment about his cutting in line. But if I tried to pull the same stunt, I would only get grabby hands tugging my hair and pulling my sleeves, as if people would get blessed just from the contact.

I flicked my eyes up in resignation. Even then, it was still worth a try. It was better than staying in this never-ending line. The sun would be down before I even got a lollipop, and I really didn't want to visit the necromancer after nightfall. That was just plain stupid.

Mind made up, I forced myself to keep my foot from tapping out my impatience, making sure I had my composure back. Then, I walked several paces forward. Just as I heard someone say, "Wait a minute, the end of the line is that way—" I pulled off my hood, golden hair spilling down my back as I shook it free.

I turned my head, a gentle smile ready to charm the disbeliever into forgetting how I was trying to cut in line, but my smile nearly faltered.

Why did my smile nearly falter? That's because the dissenter is that tall, buff guy! Who does he think he is? Does he think it's cool to play some upright citizen? Is he showing off for his girlfriend, huh? I bet he is!

I deliberately smiled even wider, daring him to say something back to this face. He opened his mouth and then closed it, as if he didn't know what to say, eventually settling on silence. Good. The citizens are still plenty in awe of the Sun Knight, despite that I'm fairly new to the position.

I made my way to the front of the line, smiling the entire time. When I got there, I inclined my head apologetically and said to the woman who was first in line by the door, "The benevolence of the God of Light has brought Sun here today, bidding Sun to acquire a delicacy created to bring joy to the hearts of all children. Sun needs but one to share the warmth of the God of Light with this child and will trouble you no further after the deed is completed. You have my gratitude for your generous heart."

The woman stared blankly up at me. I smiled, taking it to mean her agreement to my suggestion of letting me go ahead of her to enter the shop. After all, I only needed a single lollipop. It would take no time at all to make my purchase... If only this crowd hadn't suddenly formed around me!

"Sun Knight! Can you grant my child a name?"

"Sun Knight! Can you..."

"Sun Knight!"

Dear God of Light, can you all just back up three steps? This is why I should have just asked Judgment to come in my place. None of you would dare to trap Judgment like this!

I smiled widely and said, "I bestow upon your baby the name 'Trinary.' May she grow up to appreciate the beauty of threes." Come on, take three steps away from me already! Three is a beautiful number!

The mother looked at me, stumped, but then smiled and held her baby's hand up to wave it at me. Of course, just as she did so, the baby giggled and reached out to grab my hair.

Ouch... I could only keep smiling.

Beyond the crowd, a platoon of royal knights in their eye-catching lobster red passed by, several curious glances shot my way. But that was the extent of their response. None of them broke away from the group to come check out the reason for the crowd. Come on, aren't you royal knights? Or is your only job to protect the fat pig king and his family? If you see your Sun Knight in trouble, you should rescue him!

Among the royal knights, a tall knight with sandy brown hair had also looked my way, an odd expression on his face. It was not a curious one like the others, but more... amused, though that was not quite right either. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Still, how dare he laugh at the Sun Knight!

He shook his head and walked on ahead of the others without looking back, the royal knights naturally falling in step behind him. He totally had the look of someone who was pretty high up in rank. With that kind of face and that kind of commanding aura, there was no way he hadn't climbed the ranks at an exponential rate.

The sight of his back turned to me as he walked away gave me a sense of déjà vu. I must have seen him somewhere before, maybe on one of my visits to the palace. Yet, that didn't feel quite right. I almost frowned but remembered in time that I was standing in the middle of a giant crowd of people.

I fixed my smile back in place.

By the time I finally disentangled myself from the crowd, the sun was already hanging lower, and a ton of people behind me in line had already gotten their sweets and seemed ready to reenact another round of "let's bombard the Sun Knight."

Thanks, but no thanks!

I pushed the door to the dessert shop open and walked over to the counter as fast as I could, to a thankfully short line inside. Sadly, "fast" was still the pace of a tortoise. Just... a fast tortoise. Then, I was finally able to make my purchase of one strawberry lollipop after wasting more time indulging the crowd than I would have spent if I had lined up properly.

Finally!

By now, I had put all thoughts of the strangely familiar royal knight out of my mind, instead focused on finding Pink before sunset.

He, however, had never forgotten me, not even after all these years.

Chapter Text

After vanquishing the undead creatures I had Pink summon for me, the city sung endless praise of the Sun Knight. I had put on quite a performance, dragging out the fight beautifully, before finally dispatching the two pitiful dead knights she had summoned, to great applause from the bystanders. We were in such a time of peace that even such a small fight was met with applause and cheers.

Thanks to that performance, the next worship service boomed with attendees. The Hall of Praise, the Church of the God of Light's largest building, was pretty much packed to the brim. I walked forward to the stage, happy that I had managed to bring in such a large crowd, as more people meant more donations, yet it also meant I had to sing in front of way too many people!

Storm walked by my side, winking non-stop at all the girls in the audience. There were so many people in attendance that he had not a moment of respite to his winking.

"This is all your fault, Sun. I never want to get paired with you again for these worship services!" Storm muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, I was waving slowly at all the people to acknowledge their presence, making sure that each wave was no faster than the speed at which I combed my hair, and I'll have you know that I comb my hair extremely slowly and gently to avoid pulling any hairs out. The Sun Knight, losing too much hair and going bald? That's just preposterous!

Now, as for why Storm was bemoaning getting partnered with me for worship services, it was because somehow the weeks we conducted the services together always boomed with attendees, so much that the Pope gleefully signed us up for tons of rotations together. Any week that I led usually had an uptick in attendance that I called the "Sun Knight effect," but with Storm in the mix, somehow that number would skyrocket even more.

It made me want to go and steal the Pope's list to change the rotation. We, the Twelve Holy Knights, took turns leading the weekly worship services in pairs, but that did not mean I had to partner up with Storm all the time and face such immense crowds. Why can't I get paired with Metal? No one ever attends his services!

I mean, converting more worshipers into believers of the God of Light was my duty, but this was just taking it too far.

The only times when the crowds were worse was when all of the Twelve Holy Knights joined together to conduct the worship service. Thank the God of Light that those worship services only happened during special events, such as someone from the royal family getting married, or someone from the royal family having a birthday, or someone from the royal family going on their first hunting trip, or someone from the royal family... You get the point. The Pope called for special services with any reason he could so that he could squeeze donations from the worshipers to their last ducat.

Storm and I took our positions at the right side of the stage. Soon after, the Pope welcomed us all, with words from the Priest of Brilliance and the Priest of Radiance, praising the God of Light and extolling the deeds of the previous generations of Twelve Holy Knights. Following that, the clerics in the back began a chorus of "la la las" before Storm and I then opened our hymn books and began singing.

Is that a shriek I hear? I must be hearing things? Why would anyone react to our singing that way?

Storm's voice and mine blended well, with mine slightly higher than Storm's. We were considered the better singers among the Twelve Holy Knights. I know I practiced a ton because my teacher would never let me live it down if I could not sing gracefully, but I wonder what made Storm practice so much. I glanced over, immediately receiving my answer.

Ah, he's pretending he's so into the song that his eyes have closed on their own. Such a pretense meant he didn't need to be winking at anyone while we sang, a brief respite for his eyes.

I hope he doesn't fall asleep. I probably would if I closed my eyes while singing.

The problem with singing was that it was so boring. Hymns did require us to inject holy light into the song as we sang, but that came so naturally to me that it was like breathing and therefore truly quite boring. As I sang, I let my eyes wander, since this was the perfect time to record some beauties. What better way to stave off the boredom? There was nothing else I could do while stuck up here singing anyway.

As I looked for a suitable beauty to record, my eyes were instead drawn to someone standing to the side behind the crowds, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Unlike Storm who was pretending that he was super into the song, this guy was probably truly captivated. Although his expression appeared troubled, as the song went on, the holy light from the song seemed to soothe his worries, his expression relaxing.

He was dressed in lobster red—a royal knight. No, not just any royal knight. He was a royal knight captain.

There were several royal knights in attendance, as was always the case with worship services, since the royal family always attended, even if not the entire family. Today, it was the princess in attendance, which I did not mind all too much. The crowds were much more pleasant during times when the princess joined us instead of the fat pig king. Whenever the fat pig king showed up, we'd have to be on the lookup for riots, and there was no guarantee that we could safely finish any songs. None of the royal knights would be able to close their eyes to experience the song like this.

Though there were several royal knights here for the security of the nobles and the princess, the knight by the wall seemed to be off duty for the moment. He stood separately from the rest, as if he were just another person among the crowd, but clad in that lobster red and bearing a height that was at least a head taller than all those around him, there was no way he wouldn't be eye-catching.

But none of those reasons were why my eyes had been drawn to him.

This was the knight from the crowd the other day. He was just so familiar, yet I hadn't been able to place him then, and I couldn't now either. I'm not trying to boast or anything, but I have a really good memory, to the point that I can recall a spell just from seeing it once, so I should have been able to recognize him right away. I knew this guy, and not because of all my visits to the palace. He wasn't just another colleague. My mind didn't equate him with a royal knight. I knew him outside of that lobster red. He is... He is...

Just as I thought that, I finished singing the current verse, and he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze sought me out, his expression serious, bringing to mind the serious boy who had been my childhood friend, only that face was now sharper, belonging to a grown man. That change was why I hadn't recognized him right away. I somehow had not considered that the royal knight would be someone from my past. He was all grown up now, when the last time I saw him, he had only been half this height, vanishing from my life after I was announced as the next Sun Knight instead of him.

We had all thought it would be him.

Roland.

I almost forgot to start singing again. Storm had already started on the next verse. I joined in as quickly as I could, but I was still a beat late, no doubt earning me a questioning glance from Storm, but I didn't turn to check his response. I had my eyes trained on Roland. I didn't want to lose him among the crowd, though that would actually be no easy feat to accomplish.

Seeing my attention on him, he inclined his head, the smallest of smiles gracing his face, sending a pang to my heart.

Where have you been all these years?

He was clearly a royal knight now, and a captain no less. After the end of the Sun Knight selections, was that where you went? He did have such good swordsmanship. I imagine he must have passed their trials with flying colors.

Have you been so close this entire time?

When the singing finally ended and we began the part that truly mattered, the asking of donations, I had to plaster on one of my brightest smiles when all I wanted to do was barge into the crowd to accost Roland. But I couldn't leave, and Storm even gave me a jab to get my head back in the game. With the sheer amount of attendees we had today, the donations similarly exploded. Normally, I would be quite gleefully counting the ducats that came pouring in to make sure that the Pope gave us our fair share later on, but with my long estranged friend among the crowd, I was finding it immensely hard to focus on the task at hand. By the time we finished, Roland was no longer among the those still milling about.

But that mattered little. Now that I knew he was a royal knight captain, I could easily seek him out.

Yet, I did not.

Chapter Text

I brought two stools with me to the toilet next to the Judge's Complex and settled down to wait for my good friend, who was not supposed to be my friend, to arrive after his interrogations for the day. While I waited, I daydreamed about what kinds of desserts he might bring with him this time. Might it be blueberry cake? Or blueberry pie? Ooo, or maybe blueberry shaved ice? Ice had wanted to try his hand at blueberry shaved ice now that the weather was warming up. Oh, but Ice is still on his mission.

I could only bid the idea of blueberry shaved ice farewell with tear-filled eyes.

Judgment arrived just as I was wiping at my eyes, to which I merely said, "blueberry shaved ice" when he raised his eyebrows.

He shook his head at me, handed over the basket he had prepared, and then rushed over to puke. He had the timing down pat and never endangered the food, no doubt thanks to all the practice he had at rushing to the toilet and puking during our trainee years.

While he was puking, I dug through the basket. I was happily munching on a blueberry muffin by the time he was done throwing up and had come over to wash his hands and face.

"Mrffin?" I said with my mouth full, offering him the basket.

He shook his head again and sat down. I shrugged and grabbed another muffin for myself. It had been worth a try. Now, he couldn't blame me for not offering.

We exchanged our usual "pleasantries" about the God of Light's benevolence and the God of Light's severity, color coming back to Judgment's face as we spoke. Good. He looked much better than how he had looked when he had rushed in. I mean, his complexion had been bad, even worse than those dead knights I had fought some days ago, and when Judgment had a bad complexion, he looked downright scary, like he wanted to squash you like a bug.

See, I was doing everyone a huge favor, making sure our Judgment Knight was healthy and hale. There would definitely be fewer cases of servants fainting or running away crying if Judgment got his weekly quota of heart-to-hearts with his good friend, namely me.

"Why have you been terrorizing the palace maids lately, Sun?" Judgment suddenly asked.

"Hey, I don't terrorize people! That's your specialty," I complained. I had just been thinking about it, too. I'm not you, okay, Judgment? People don't faint or run away crying because of me! "And how do you know I've been at the palace?"

"Storm told me," Judgment said.

Storm, you don't have to report everything to Judgment, come on! Is he your leader, or am I?

"Those maids have been crying to him about how you're putting too much pressure on them. They think of it as sudden scrutiny from you. With the Sun Knight always prowling about, they feel that they must be perfect at their job and must not leave any inch of the palace dirty."

...Is that why they've been in such a dusting frenzy?

One had even been trembling and trying to hide behind her friend when she spotted me, furtively pulling her sleeves down over her arms. Surely I'm not so frightening? Seriously, it's not like I'm Judgment! Since when have servants been afraid of me, this benevolent, always smiling Sun Knight?

Perhaps even talking to them gave them a scare, as I was one of the highest authorities around. From my experience, no one paid servants all that much attention, and they were probably used to it. Some might even consider them "invisible," as they were always there in the background to help make sure things run smoothly while not being obtrusive themselves.

If any of them went missing, the nobility would likely not even notice, as there were plenty of other servants around to take their place. With how good they were at their jobs of staying out of the limelight, they were some of the best sources of information. Knowing that Roland was a royal knight, of course one of the first things I did was ask around the palace servants about this long estranged friend of mine who may or may not hate me.

I waved my hand in the air and said, "That's a good thing then. Slacking off isn't a virtue. May the God of Light shine upon these hard-working maids."

From what I heard from the maids, Roland sounded like he hadn't changed much since he was a kid. The maids didn't see him around all that often, as he was always practicing his sword at the training grounds by himself, but boy did they enjoy watching him train whenever they managed to find him.

The friend of that trembling maid even recounted how the maids had begun congregating during times he trained. At first, Roland hadn't paid them any attention, but he soon began training at all different kinds of hours and several different locations, making it much harder for the maids to catch him practicing.

Roland is still a huge sword idiot, huh? And still as diligent as ever with his training. If Earth had been the one with a bunch of maids flocking to watch him train, he'd be preening under all that attention. But not Roland. He'd much prefer practicing where no one would bother him or notice his effort.

He still sounded much like the Roland I had known, who had helped me fend off bullies, chase away dogs, climb over the walls to buy me desserts... But that was also the same Roland who had turned and left without saying goodbye.

It was very possible that he might no longer want to have anything to do with me.

"Say, Judgment, if you had a friend among the Judgment Knight candidates, but they stopped talking to you after you got chosen, only to suddenly show up in front of you again, would you try to reach out to them?" I asked.

Judgment gave me a look. "There was no one I would possibly consider a friend among those candidates. Why do you think my teacher was so intent on having me join the selections?" Before I could tell him to forget what I said then, he continued, "But I know that's not your real question. Are you wondering about Roland?"

I shot up from the stool, the legs of my seat clattering. "How do you know about Roland? Are you a mind reader?!" You... You tapeworm!

"All you've been doing this week is ask around about him. I grew curious and did some of my own investigations," Judgment said.

"Oh," I said and sat back down, somewhat relieved. It wasn't that Judgment had transcended and become a super tapeworm. His occupational disease had kicked in, like always. Whenever there was something fishy going on, there was no way he could leave it alone. I really couldn't get anything past him. Thank the God of Light I wasn't a criminal under his judgment.

I propped my elbows on my knees and rested my chin on my folded hands, waiting for him to elaborate.

"It seems that Roland has been doing some of his own investigations lately." Judgment said.

Judgment investigating me investigating Roland investigating someone else... Well, well.

"Go on," I murmured.

Chapter Text

I sat by the side of the fountain, hood pulled over my head. It was quite a sunny day, so wearing a hood wasn't even all that strange. None of the passersby came to bother me, leaving me to enjoy the peaceful spray of the fountain, the water creating a slight mist as it cascaded down.

From what I had observed, a certain group of royal knights always passed through the plaza at this time. Roland never failed to patrol with them, responsible to a fault. I settled to wait, and as I had expected, the royal knights soon approached, the lobster red of their uniform announcing their presence even from a distance. At the front of the group was a rather young knight, but all the others were following him.

For once, Roland was nowhere to be seen, despite the fact that his entire squad was present.

Roland, I came here to meet you, not that try hard young knight over there!

I had prepared myself to cross paths with him only to be sent back to square one. How are you going to make up for all the wasted effort and mental preparation?

"Hele, what are our orders today?" one of the knights asked the try hard young knight at the front, whose name was... Hele? Heely? Heel? All right, from now on, I deem you "Foot." A whole foot is better than just a heel. So much easier to remember too.

Foot gestured around him and replied, "We're to patrol our usual routes and then return to training."

"So, just like when Captain Roland is here?" someone else asked.

"Yes, until Captain Roland returns from his mission, we will follow our usual routine," Foot answered.

What a group of diligent subordinates. If I were out on a mission, my platoon members would most definitely slack off. Sigh, just where did I go wrong with them? But thank you, Foot, you answered my question very well.

I stood up and dusted myself off. I would have to try again another day.

As the Sun Knight, I had my skin whitening routine down to an art. It was rather time consuming to mix the ingredients, apply the goop, and steam myself, but it could be relaxing—sometimes I even hummed to myself—as long as no one knocked on my door!

It's a curse, I'm telling you. A curse! I'm cursed to always get disturbed when I'm applying my facial masks, just like now.

"May Sun ask which brother has come to share the God of Light's murmurings with Sun tonight?" I asked, still hoping that they might decide to go away after all. I'd gone to the plaza several more times with no luck. Roland was still away on his mission. It was an awfully long mission that his subordinates seemed to know very little about.

While I had worn a cloak each time to the plaza, there was still no guarantee that my face hadn't caught some of that scorching sun, so this private facial mask time was of utter importance. Go away already, person at the door!

"Sun," the person said, and my annoyance disappeared immediately.

Just hearing that person say my name made my eyes shine. "Wait right there, dear brother. Sun will be right with you!"

Why was I so eager to wash this goop off when I normally hated to get interrupted? Well, let me tell you now that the person currently at my door was someone that I did not mind washing this green goop off for, as I had been waiting for his return this entire time! My personal baker was finally back! I could totally reapply my facial mask later. What Ice was bringing me was much more important.

"Brother Ice," I greeted with a genuine smile as I opened the door.

Ice gave me a nod, and as always, made no comment about the wait.

I stuck out my hand.

If this were Judgment, he'd be rolling his eyes at me or making some kind of remark, but Ice was too nice for that. He dropped a little bag into my waiting hand. I opened it as fast as I could and popped one of the chocolates right into my mouth.

So, so sweet!

"Dear Brother Ice, Sun is delighted to see your safe return from your mission," I said once the chocolate was gone. After all, it would not do for the Sun Knight to speak with chocolate still in his mouth. And next time, no more sending Ice out on away missions! I'm going to die from sugar deprivation like that! The rest of the Holy Temple had suffered in much the same way from missing their desserts and breads, but I doubted that anyone had suffered as much as I had. I think I even lost weight!

"My platoon and I are back," Ice reported, his single sentence kicking my brain into overdrive.

Sweets made my mind work so much better.

The question was, what kind of "mission" had Roland been sent on? Now, while it was certainly not a big deal for a royal knight to be sent on a mission, that he had been sent without any of his subordinates was quite another matter altogether. Even the stingy Pope allowed Ice to bring his platoon with him on his mission. I could not imagine that the royal knights would be stingier than the Pope and would not allow Roland to bring at least a few of his subordinates with him. Knights worked in groups, after all, be they royal knights or holy knights.

Also, while I was certainly someone people liked to "impress" given that I was the Sun Knight, I was still not someone who would frighten the maids into a dusting frenzy, and neither was I someone who would make a maid tremble at the sight of me.

I collected Storm on my way to the palace, and we walked to investigate the palace training grounds under the cover of organizing our patrol routes with the royal knights for our next parade. They had several training grounds, some more remote than others. Storm's winks proved quite useful, as the maid we waylaid swooned and babbled easily about which training grounds Roland preferred. There's too big a discrepancy between Storm asking her and me asking her. What gives?

In any case, she led us to several training grounds, as it seemed that Roland liked to keep them guessing so that he could give the slip to his audience. Maybe I have influenced Roland after all... Roland, sneaky? It was unthinkable, really, of the Roland I'd known. Then again, it has been more than a decade since I last saw him. I can't really say I know him anymore, can I?

When we stopped at a fairly remote training ground, the maid looked all around us, checking that we were alone, before facing us and saying with a quiet voice, "I always come to watch him here."

She opened her mouth again but snapped it shut right away, looking every bit like she had something more to say to us but didn't dare to do so. I'd have wondered if she weren't a secret admirer of Roland's if not for that frightened look on her face, like she was afraid someone might jump out of the bushes and grab her for talking to us.

Storm noticed her hesitancy as well. I was right to bring him along, as he could cut straight to the point when I could not.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

She twisted her hands for several seconds before finally saying, "My friend..."

I smiled at her, encouraging her to continue. "The God of Light shines upon us today. There is no need for hesitancy in sharing your worries with Sun and his brother."

Whatever happens, the Church of the God of Light will back you up.

She nodded and said, "Sir Roland... when we came to watch him practice his sword, he took notice of my friend..."

Oh? Roland taking notice of a girl? Has he actually grown up to be a Casanova? Is the world coming to an end?

"She was limping." The maid immediately dispelled my guess about Roland with a whisper and twisted her hand some more. Twist, twist twist. "I can't believe I didn't notice."

First, a maid trying to cover her arms with her sleeves. Now, a maid that was limping. Either they were the very same unfortunate maid, or...

I shared a look with Storm. He gave me a nod. He would look into this some more. Storm was dependable and scary like that. If you wanted to uncover any deeply buried secrets, Storm was your man. It was definitely the height of foolishness to ever get on his bad side. Who wants to have all their secrets aired out in the open for people to laugh at? Definitely not me, not that I have any deep, dark secrets... that he can tell anyone about without implicating himself! But I won't put it past Storm to make people believe that I love apples to death or something! Bleh!

In any case, now that Storm was on it, the truth would definitely come to light.

"Is Sir Roland all right?" the maid blurted. "Is he... all because we..." She buried her face in her trembling hands.

Storm patted her on the back to console her. The world hadn't come to an end, but now I was sure something more sinister was going on. I let Storm murmur comforting words to her, something about how she and her friend could come to the Holy Temple for help, and how we would keep their identities anonymous, while my mind pondered through the possibilities.

See, like I'd said before, people usually don't pay much attention to the servants. When even a sword idiot like Roland took notice of his spectators, something had to be up. He had noticed something, and that something must be the reason for his disappearance.

Yes, disappearance.

He had been investigating something he shouldn't, the enemy much too powerful for a single royal knight to triumph over, captain or not.

I was pretty sure by now that he had not been sent on a mission. Even his subordinates had no idea what kind of "mission" he was on. While Roland could have gone off on his own on some undercover mission, what was wrong was happening right here in the palace, so where could he have traveled to? It didn't make sense.

He had taken notice, and because of that, someone had made him vanish.

I gripped my cape, for if I did not, I would probably be twisting my hands by now, just like what the maid was doing earlier.

Despite the warmth of the sun, I felt chilled.

Chapter Text

Someone who could make the maids too frightened to reveal to the Sun Knight their abuse and who could make a royal knight captain like Roland disappear, while making everyone else believe that he was on a mission, narrowed down the culprit quite a lot. Storm thought the same, soon giving rattling off a list of people who had access to the palace and had a habit of torturing others. He hadn't even needed to look into it, already knowing it by heart.

"So many have lost their way?" I could not help blurting after hearing his report. While I had never had a high opinion of the nobles, it had not even crossed my mind that so many would take pleasure in torturing others. Just how is that even noble? "Which among those could make a royal knight captain disappear?"

"The king or Baron Gerland have the highest authority among those aristocrats," was Storm's answer.

That good for nothing fat pig king! He's going to be the death of this kingdom.

It mattered little whether it was the king or whether it was Baron Gerland. Perhaps no one would notice them torturing the servants. But making a royal knight captain disappear? Making my friend disappear? Whoever it was, they were going down for messing with the wrong person.

There was a myriad of secret passages underneath the palace, so numerous that I was quite in disbelief that the palace hadn't collapsed altogether from all the digging that had been done beneath its rooms. They were, however, perfect for sneaking about. Even the shiny Sun Knight could go unnoticed when traversing the palace through the passages, as long as I donned my trustworthy cloak.

The cobwebs though, ugh. I'd have to give this cloak a thorough washing after this. My hair too had not escaped the reach of the cobwebs.

I came across several trap doors in the passages, a serious security risk, giving intruders too many ways in, but I moved passed them all, as none of them led to the room I had in mind. When I finally reached the door that led to the room I wished to investigate, I pushed against it, only managing to lift it by the slightest. There must be something heavy laid upon it. No matter how I pushed, I could not open it.

I'd have to return with more manpower or use the actual door, going about it in broad daylight perhaps, borrowing the Church of the God of Light's influence. While I could blast the trapdoor open, that was not the least bit helpful in staying undiscovered. The palace had its own mages, and they would certainly discover any flashy magic used below ground, not to say all the rubble I'd leave behind or the noise I'd make.

Still, even while stuck in this cobweb-filled passage, I was close enough to do some investigating. I closed my eyes, extending my sensing ability instead, trying to get a feel of whether there was anyone inside the room. I mean, I certainly didn't need to close my eyes to do this, but having them closed made things easier to parse.

My sensing ability was not a common ability, which was why my teacher cautioned me to keep it an utmost secret. It would only benefit me to have my opponents underestimate me. At first, I had only been able to sense a small area around me, but the more I used it, the wider the range I could manage. Nowadays, sensing what was in the next room over was no big deal. Though it could still give me away if any mages attuned to it were close by, at least this was not as eye-catching as blasting the trapdoor apart.

There was no one in the room. Phew. I should have checked before I even attempted to lift the door. Good thing the room is actually empty. I extended my sensing some more, coming upon a secret chamber behind the full-length mirror on the wall. Yet, my sensing could not make out the shape of the chamber behind it, as if it were shrouded from my sight, which was beyond suspicious. The owner of the room was no mage, and I doubted he had even thought there was a need to hide the room from a mage's sight. Why then is the room hidden from my sensing?

Is there another person involved in this?

"I certainly don't mind playing the bad guy," Judgment told me when I detailed to him what I needed from him, "but are you sure of this?"

I wasn't, and I hated that feeling. I never headed into battle so unprepared. That just wasn't how I did things. If I weren't 200% confident, I'd at least be 100% sure before I attempted anything. Yet this time, there was still something I was missing, but I couldn't tell what it was. However, this just couldn't wait.

Although Storm had used his reputation and charmed plenty of maids, learning from them that there was a startling number of them who had been tortured before, it was also true that none of them had gone missing or died in the process of getting tortured. However, Roland was not a maid, and therefore, there was no telling if his treatment would be the same. It had already veered off course, with him disappearing like this.

He could be tortured right at this moment. He could be dead. All because I'd taken too long to notice him, to seek him out. He'd been well enough to make fun of me in front of the dessert shop not long ago, and now, he was possibly dead? That was just wrong.

"I'm ninety percent sure," I answered.

"Then, what about the remaining ten percent?" Judgment asked.

"The remaining ten percent says to do it anyway, or else I'll regret it my entire life," I responded.

Judgment gave a nod. "Then, let's go. It matters little whether or not I upset the royal family. They have a poor opinion of me in the first place."

Indeed, the entire royal family thought of Judgment as the devil. They would not put it past him to be audacious enough to arrest someone from the royal family, which I had just asked of him. We had plenty of evidence from the maid's testimonies and the scars that were still on their bodies. Even if the royal family bought all of them off, there was still the last lead that I was ninety percent certain we would find in that secret chamber that had been shrouded from my sight.

Which was why I was going to rope Roland's squad in as "witnesses." They deserved to know what had happened to their captain, after all.

Everyone knew the Sun Knight and the Judgment Knight didn't "get along," so even if the royal family had a bone to pick about Judgment suddenly arresting one of them, the Church of the God of Light could play it off as the Judgment Knight acting on his own, leaving me and the Pope free to seek a different way to keep the royal family in check.

All it required was for Judgment and me to put on a little act.

Chapter Text

"Step aside, Sun Knight, this has nothing to do with you," Judgment said flatly, robes billowing about him.

"Judgment Knight, cease this folly. The God of Light's benevolence teaches us not to let enmity brew in our hearts. We must love all our brethren and open our hearts to forgiveness no matter how far from the path one has strayed," I said.

"Forgiveness? Sun Knight, it would behoove you to open your mind to the God of Light's severity. I am afraid that the one I seek has strayed too far from the path. You cannot hope to save this one. To hope in such a case is willful ignorance, the height of folly. Do not stop me," Judgment warned.

I kept up with his strides, my clothes getting messed up by how quickly we were walking. Would it hurt you to slow down, Judgment? I really wanted to just snap back, No, you! but that wasn't something the Sun Knight would say, so I could only swallow those words back down.

"Judgment Knight, it is not too late to turn around. You do not want to do this. To continue on is to turn your back on the God of Light!"

Around us, a sizable crowd had formed, watching as the two of us pretty much stormed through the palace. We caused such a racket that the royal knights had even come over to check up on what was going on, and just like I had planned, Roland's squad was among those who had hurried over. However, none of them dared to step up to stop us.

I shared a glance with Judgment. Our plan was going smoothly so far. Everyone knew that the Sun Knight and the Judgment Knight were the "worst" of enemies. By playing up to expectations, we had easily stormed right into the palace and confused everyone. Not only that, now everyone would believe that the Sun Knight and the Judgment Knight disagreed. This was not something endorsed by the Church of the God of Light.

It was time to continue on to the next step. Judgment blinked twice in succession to show that he had gotten my message. He then said, "Turn back? To turn back now is to trample over the God of Light's teachings, for no evildoer should go unpunished!"

"Which evildoer has angered you so, Judgment Knight?" I shook my head, as if I couldn't believe him.

By now, we had reached the royal quarters, which were guarded by royal knights, and quite an impressive crowd had followed us, trying to stop us to no avail. Foot had tried to interrupt us multiple times, but we just spoke right over him. Judgment looked like he had every intention to storm right past the palace guards, but even he had to stop when they crossed their spears in front of the entrance to the hallway to block us.

"Halt!" one of the guards called out, essentially stopping Judgment from "answering" my question as well. "You may not pass without permission."

Judgment just glared at him, causing the guard to take a step back involuntarily, but to the guard's credit, he quickly shuffled forward again and pretended he hadn't been cowed. The full force of Judgment's glare was truly nothing to scoff at. It was deadly enough to make people faint and had certainly made no small number of people flee or cry.

"You dare to stand in the way of justice?" Judgment growled. "Do you know who you are speaking with?"

The guard visibly gulped and gripped the spear tighter. "Yes sir, Judgment Knight, sir."

That's one too many "sirs" in that sentence just now.

"'Yes,' you dare to stand in the way of justice?" Judgment flung back at him and glared even harder.

"N-No! I mean, yes, I know you are the Judgment Knight..." the guard's voice grew quiet.

I would pity the guard, but there were more dire matters at hand. I smiled a gentle smile at the guard and made sure my eyes showed deep grief. I placed my hand over my heart and said, "Kind knight, would you let Sun and his brother pass? There have been rumors going around the palace and the Holy Temple that Sun and Judgment Knight must get to the bottom of. Sun does not believe that anyone here could have lost their way so much, but no matter how much Sun tries, he has been unable to persuade Judgment Knight to believe the same. I am afraid that only by investigating in person will Judgment Knight be able to see the error of his ways."

The guard just stared at me, completely dazzled by my smile and confused by the word vomit. I opened my mouth, about to repeat my request, when a voice sounded behind the guard.

"What is all this fuss?"

We all turned to see the crown prince walking toward us with a frown on his face. The guards quickly saluted him.

Perfect.

Ever the diligent son, I had expected him to come out to see what was up. As for the king? Fat chance he'd get off his lazy bum to do anything productive.

Judgment crossed his arms. "Your insolent guards insist on obstructing justice."

I turned and covered my mouth to prevent laughter from escaping through my lips. Oh dear, that was a close call. "Your insolent guards insist on obstructing justice! Hmph!" Okay, he didn't say "hmph," but dear God of Light, Judgment, are you trying to kill me here with that sullen look?

Judgment gave me an unimpressed glare.

"Cough," I said into my glove.

"Sun Knight, are you well, sir?" the guard asked.

I held a hand up and said, "Sun is well, only troubled. If the truth of this matter is not ascertained, Sun will not be able to lay down his troubles. Has this esteemed soul truly strayed from the path of light, as what Judgment Knight believes, or is this perhaps a baseless rumor? Sun cannot bear to even entertain the thought that anyone can believe such a thing to be possible. How can our honorable ruler partake in something as base as torture? Preposterous."

The royal knights behind us, including those in Roland's squad, began to murmur.

The prince frowned even harder and snapped, "You dare accuse your king of such a thing? Though you may be the Sun Knight, you are still stepping out of line!"

I wanted to laugh again but held back the urge. Since when did I even mention the king? I only said "ruler," which could mean a lot of people, the prince included, but of course right when I said that in conjunction with "torture," everyone's thoughts jumped right to the king, as who else would be foolish and repulsive enough to do such a thing?

I shook my head and took the opening he gave me. "Your Highness, Sun means no such thing. Sun only wishes to clear His Majesty's name and put an end to these baseless rumors once and for all."

Judgment actually gave a "hmph" and cut in, saying, "Sun Knight means no such thing, but I certainly do. Though you may be the prince, and your father the king, you and your father are still not exempt from justice. Move aside, Your Highness."

Ohhh, burn. That last "your Highness" was oozing with sarcasm. You totally nailed it, Judgment!

The prince pursed his lips but couldn't refute Judgment's words.

"Your Highness, Sun will accompany Judgment Knight, so please feel at ease," I said to persuade him.

"The royal family will not forget this transgression, Sun Knight," the prince said with narrowed eyes. "Come. Let me witness this 'justice' you speak of."

Ah. The prince is sharp indeed, earlier misstep aside. How did that fat pig king come to have such a smart, devoted son? Sometimes, I really wondered if they were even father and son. I mean, look at the prince! He's quite tall and has a refined appearance. He and his father look nothing alike, and their personalities are also eons apart. Either the prince and the princess both take after the queen, or the queen had a grand time with someone else. I mean, who would blame her, when her husband is such a deplorable excuse for a human being?

While the entire continent knew that the Sun Knight and the Judgment Knight never got along, and the prince therefore believed the same, he also, unfortunately, knew whenever I was up to no good.

Drat, I had hoped to get one over him, but no matter. We had already gotten this far.

He waved us in.

Chapter Text

We searched room by room, even though I already had in mind one particular room. However, there was no possible way the prince would let us search that room right away. We would just have to keep being "thorough" to make it less obvious. I don't believe you can stop us after that!

We even searched the prince's room under his gaze and came up with nothing, which was actually relieving. If even our future ruler was rotten, then there was no saving the royal family.

The princess's room was similarly searched. Through my sensing ability, I discovered that she had a trap door hidden inside her walk-in closet that led down to a secret passage underneath her room, but as it had little to do with our investigation, I did not bring it up.

Finally, we came to the king's room. A quick sensing told me that this was indeed the room in question, the one with the odd hidden chamber I was unable to see the inside of. Whether or not our plan came to fruition would depend on what we found in that secret room.

How I wish to be wrong about what we may find.

The prince stepped in front of us and gave us a stern look, but Judgment just glared at him. Are you trying to compete with Judgment's glares? Dream on!

I shared a look with Judgment. It was time to put an end to this.

"Judgment Knight, it is still not too late to turn back," I said.

Judgment shook his head and commanded Roland's subordinate, Foot, to knock on the door.

The young royal knight rushed to do just that. He knocked lightly at first, before pounding much harder. Even the prince didn't stop him, though I could see the prince gripping his elbow. The prince was no idiot. By now, he must have realized our true intentions, and somewhere inside of him, he must have the same doubts as us. If not, surely he would have declared his father innocent. But the word "innocent" had very little to do with the king.

With no response from within, Judgment barked, "Open the door."

Foot flinched but followed his orders. The door was, of course, locked. He turned to look toward Judgment for instruction, who glowered at him. Between facing Judgment's wrath and the king's ire, Judgment was obviously scarier. Besides, his captain's safety was in question. Just as I was wondering how Foot would open the door, he lived up to his namesake and let his foot fly out, kicking the door open.

Blaze would have been proud.

I had to give it to Foot, a royal knight who had just dared to kick the king's door open. Next to us, the prince held his head.

Without further ado, we headed inside.

Within, the king was standing in front of the full length mirror I had sensed before and even had a hand on it. He seemed to be staring blankly into the mirror. Come on, no matter how much you look in the mirror, you'll only see a fat pig staring back. If I were him, I wouldn't want any mirrors in my room.

Don't tell me he was so mesmerized by his own ugly mug that he didn't hear our knocking?

It wasn't until we came closer that he suddenly jumped, as if he had been broken out of a spell. He spun around, eyes darting wildly at us, like a cornered animal. He quickly moved in front of the mirror. He was really making it super obvious and wasn't acting like a king at all.

Guilty. So, so guilty.

"What is the meaning of this?" the king demanded, but his voice came out more like a squawk.

"The God of Light bids us to—" I began to explain, but Judgment interrupted nicely, saving me from wasting my breath.

"We have reason to believe that there are nefarious acts going on in the royal quarters. Step aside and let us investigate, and we shall put these suspicions to rest once and for all," Judgment said.

The king paled at his words. "Son, guards, send them away! I am the king. You can't investigate my room like this."

The prince came over to his father's side. He shook his head and said, "The Judgment Knight is the highest authority presiding over justice. We can't stop him from investigating any leads he has." Hah, exactly. Public relations between the palace and the Church saved your skin thus far, but even this goodwill has stretched thin. "But rest assured Father, if they turn up nothing in this investigation, I will count this as an affront against the royal family from the Church of the God of Light. I will not forget it so easily, Sun Knight."

Hey, why aren't you blaming Judgment? Why single me out?

As I had thought, the prince was too shrewd. Whether or not Judgment was acting on his own didn't matter to him. He would still count it against the entirety of the Church of the God of Light, or would demand for me to compensate for my subordinate's transgressions.

Tough luck there, Your Highness. I have an entire palace as my witness. Judgment is only doing his job. Whatever compensation you demand can only be superficial.

Besides, our public act also served another purpose—he couldn't sweep this under the rug and pretend not to know about it.

Despite what the prince had said, the expression on his face was a troubled one. Even though he stood next to his father's side to support him, and had warned us that the royal family wouldn't forget or forgive us so easily, he clearly had his doubts too, wishing that his father would not disappoint him, yet afraid that he would.

After all, there were too many rumors for all of them to be false.

"Search the room. Leave no nook or cranny alone," Judgment commanded.

"Yes sir!"

The royal knights scattered to search the room. After all the rooms we had searched together, they had gotten it down pat, and no longer did anyone freeze at getting commanded by the Judgment Knight. They turned over all the pottery, opened all the marble cabinets, and searched under all the rugs. However, no one had gone to search the full length mirror by the wall, as the king was still standing in front of it to block it. I shared a glance with Judgment and flicked my eyes at that particular wall.

He gave me an almost imperceptible nod and barked at the royal knights, "You there, search that wall."

Foot jumped but still moved over and began feeling his way around the wall.

"What insolence!" the king suddenly screeched. "What gives you the right to accuse me like a criminal in my very own room? Out! All of you, out!"

Bingo. There must be something behind this wall you don't wish us to see.

Judgment merely raised an eyebrow at the king's screeching.

"Enough," the prince said with a frown. "You are upsetting my father, your king. You give too little trust to him."

I nearly wanted to snort in laughter, but I turned and coughed into my glove instead. Your Highness, have we ever been given a reason to trust your father? That our kingdom is still standing is already a blessing in and of itself.

Judgment gestured at the mirror and said to the prince, "Shall we find out if that trust is deserved?" He then turned and commanded the knights, "Remove the mirror."

All color vanished from the king's face. "No... you can't. You can't! You can't do this! I am your king!"

No one paid him any attention.

A king is a king through his actions. Shouting your title at someone to make them acknowledge you just shows your incompetence. How would anyone be willing to swear their loyalty to someone like you?

Although these thoughts ran through my mind, my eyes were trained on the mirror. Just what will we find beyond this mirror? Is Roland truly confined within?

As I watched, the king suddenly turned and hugged the mirror. "No, no, no! You can't do this! You can't!"

This... this is just unsightly. How desperate can you get? Have you no dignity at all?

I shared another look with Judgment.

"Father, let them investigate. They won't find anything, will they?" asked the prince, who placed a hand on his father's shoulder and gently guided him away from the mirror. Perhaps he couldn't bear to watch his father act in such a way anymore.

The king's hand lingered on the mirror, but he let his son lead him away, his body shaking with each step.

Neither Judgment nor I made any comment over the king's behavior. Judgment just ordered once again, "Remove the mirror."

With the king now out of the way, Foot and the others followed Judgment's orders and began removing the mirror, revealing the hidden room behind it.

Any words I might have spoken died before they could form.

We all stood, shocked to our core, staring at what was revealed.

How could anyone be so cruel?

Chapter Text

When I finally found my voice, I whispered, "Is this the pride of the royal family? Is it?"

The prince didn't respond. The king fell to his knees, holding his head with his hands, a string of "no, no, no" tumbling endlessly out of his damn mouth. I pushed past the prince, meeting no resistance. I felt no joy at my suspicions getting proven true.

I shouldn't have even given them any courtesy. I should have just blasted that trap door apart, consequences be damned. But I had to do this with witnesses, to make sure that we could hold him accountable, but damn it all. Just damn it!

"Father..." The prince whispered in a strangled voice, yet it still echoed in the room, enough to reach my ears. "How could you?"

I wanted to ask the same. How could anyone be so cruel? How could this have been happening under our noses? If Roland hadn't taken notice of the maids, how long would we have let it go on? How many more people would have gotten hurt?

For once, I thought I might take a page out of Judgment's book and rush to the toilet near the Judge's Complex and throw up all that I had eaten today. But that particular toilet was much too far, and I would pass through too many corridors before I could reach the sanctuary, so it definitely wasn't an option.

Besides, I was needed here.

Why did I, Grisia Sun, who has never flinched at the sight of criminals getting flayed, felt the need to copy Judgment?

The room I had stepped into could barely be called that. It reeked of blood, so much that it was suffocating. Someone behind us actually began retching. It wasn't Foot though, as he was the one who gasped, "C-Captain...?"

There, inside the hidden chamber, strapped to the wooden bed with nails hammered into his arms and hands, dried blood caking his skin, was Roland.

Roland, who had been hale just the other day. Yet now...

Were we too late? Had I wasted too much time finding a way to arrest the king in daylight?

There—it was almost impossible to tell, but his chest had risen a tiny bit. He was still breathing. I shook myself out of my stupor and rushed forward.

"Roland! Don't you dare die on me!" I shouted. Don't you dare! "Ultimate Heal!"

Though I tried, no magic gathered to form the crucial healing spell that could mean life or death for Roland.

"What...?"

I tried again, this time calling out, "Minor Heal!"

Still, nothing happened.

Not giving a damn that our audience might think it weird that the Sun Knight knew other magic, when Roland was quite literally on his deathbed, I called out, "Wind Blade!"

No breeze blew through the room.

Are you freaking kidding me? Roland is dying here, and I can't do anything?

Judgment was more clear-headed than me, barking at the royal knights to remove Roland from the chamber. Right, we should get him out of here.

It had to be this chamber, after all. The chamber itself must be blocking me from gathering the elements, just like how it was shrouded from my sensing.

Several royal knights moved forward as commanded, their faces green. All they had at hand were their swords, which proved fine for cutting through the belts, but were much too large for removing the rusty nails. While they were still at a loss as to how to proceed, I could not bear to watch any longer, moving forward to snatch a pair of pliers off of the wall. There was no time to waste here.

All sorts of tools lined the walls. They were obviously all torture devices, polished until they were sparkling clean, even though they must have been used to render Roland into such a state, with bruises, cuts, and burns spanning across his skin, his clothes ripped and stained beyond salvation. Torture devices or not, whatever we had at hand, I would use.

The royal knights followed my lead, grimly grabbing those distasteful tools that hung lovingly on the wall in display of the king's disgusting hobby.

As we pried the nails out of the bed one rusty nail at a time, Roland grunted from the pain.

Good, if you can still make noise, you can get through this. Hang in there, Roland. I won't let you die on this stupid wooden bed hidden away in this perverse pig of a king's torture chamber.

The nails were only partially out, but that would have to be good enough, as long as he could be moved. Judgment even had us move aside. He bent down to scoop Roland up himself, careful not to jostle him too much, but Roland still curled up in pain.

The moment Judgment stepped through the threshold, I called out once again, "Ultimate Heal!"

I poured everything I had into the healing spell, practically blinding myself with how bright the room abruptly became. Holy element rushed in to answer my command all at once, enveloping Roland in its embrace.

It was too early to feel relief, but I could feel my eyes stinging.

It's working. I can gather magic out here. I can save him.

I kept the spell going.

There's no way I'd let you die like this, Roland. We've barely reunited. We haven't even spoken a word to each other after all these years. Laughing at me from afar doesn't count!

I clenched my teeth and barged on.

Roland, don't you know? You're my very first friend.

The selections had been fun, thanks to Roland. He had been such a serious kid and rarely smiled, but that made the chuckles I got out of him all the more rewarding. Us orphans should stick together, I had told him. We had none of the fancy clothes or armor that the other candidates had, but what did it matter? We had each other, and that was what I wanted the most from joining the Twelve Holy Knights. Family. Brothers. I had wanted Roland to be part of that, too.

Judgment gently placed Roland down on the plush carpet, so that I could heal him more easily.

Damn it. Why are you making me remember all of this, Roland? Why were you so foolishly righteous that you stuck your nose in business way over your head?

As the holy element surged around us, I could not help recalling Roland and me so many years ago, when he had spoken of a future where he and I would both be part of the Holy Temple. Even if I did not become a knight, I could become a cleric and heal his injuries. We had all thought he would get chosen as the Sun Knight and that I would have no chance at all, yet somehow, I was the one who had gotten chosen, and Roland had then vanished from my life.

I hadn't become a cleric, but by the God of Light, I was going to heal every single injury on Roland's body!

I'm not allowing you to kick the bucket! We're not friends anymore if you do that!

I hadn't even said sorry.

By the God of Light, Roland, I want you back in my life.

There was still no indication of Roland getting better.

Roland, don't you dare die. If you do, you bet I'm going to drag you back to the living!

As holy light continued to pour out of me, Roland's skin finally began to heal, but it was closing around the remaining nails that were still stuck in his flesh.

"Judg—"

Before I could even finish uttering his name, Judgment bent down and began the gruesome task of removing the nails that had hammered Roland into that awful wooden bed. It would not do to have his flesh heal over the rusty nails.

His ashen complexion made him look just like a corpse, so much that I doubted all the holy light I poured into him was doing any good. But he was still alive. I refused to believe otherwise. If he were dead, the dark element would corrode his body, and there was simply no sign of that at all.

God of Light, please... please lend your encompassing favor to Grisia today...

"Ultimate Heal!" I uttered once more, even though I was already past my limit. "Roland, don't you dare die on me!"

Black spots dappled my vision, so much that I almost didn't notice when his eyes finally, finally, fluttered open.

A voice rasped out, "Grisha?"

That he could still recognize me even in such a state relieved many of my worries, even while his slurred speech sparked a new one.

But. He was not beyond saving. I hadn't been too late.

"Roland... welcome back," I whispered. Welcome back...

Then, blackness took over.

Chapter Text

When I next woke up, I was in my own bed. I still felt tired, but not to the point that I would faint again. I turned, not surprised that my good friend Judgment was sitting to the side of my bed with some paperwork on his lap.

"You're up," he said, moving the paperwork aside. "The Pope said you exhausted your magic."

As always, such a dependable tapeworm, answering my question before I even had to ask. Now, if only you could keep on explaining stuff without needing my input!

"Roland?" I rasped out. Ugh, how is this the same voice that sang in front of so many people the other day? All of our followers would desert the Church of the God of Light if this is what they got!

Judgment handed me a glass of water and helped me up. As I drank greedily, he said, "The Pope and the bishops have been seeing him. He will recover."

Damn, his condition is so serious that even the Pope and the bishops have to step in?

Still, I gave a nod and leaned back, closing my eyes in relief. I hadn't been too late, even though Roland had looked like a corpse. I had almost thought that I would need to use Resurrection on him or something, but that was not a spell that I knew.

Sure, I could rush off and study it right away, but no matter how good I was at absorbing magic like a sponge, there was no guarantee that I could learn it just like that. Besides, it wasn't like I could use Roland as my first test subject. What if he came back wrong, with wings or horns or something? What if he became even more of a sword idiot, or so incurably serious that he never smiled or laughed?

My hesitancy at reconnecting had almost cost him his life. Healing spells could patch him up, but it wasn't like they could replenish all the lost blood, or wipe the trauma from his mind. Some scars were the kind that simply never went away.

I hadn't even been able to cast any healing spells to begin the healing process for him until we were out of the torture chamber.

Now, I finally understood the ten percent of uncertainty I had felt. My suspicions hadn't just been paranoia.

I opened my eyes and caught Judgment's gaze.

"Judgment, the room blocked my magic," I told him. "The king isn't smart enough to set something like that up."

"The king's behavior in front of the mirror was strange as well," Judgment continued on from my observation, unsurprised by what I had brought up.

I nodded and said, "He totally seemed like he was about to piss himself when he realized we were there, but that inattentiveness before that? There's no way he couldn't have heard us knock, yet he just kept stupidly staring into the mirror."

"My platoon is investigating the mirror as we speak," Judgment said. "There's another party involved, isn't there?"

I nodded. I hated that I didn't know who it was. Was it one of the palace mages? Or was it someone else? I knew too little. Whoever the other person was, they were unquestionably guilty, and I would never forgive them.

Judgment gave a nod in response, and said, "From my initial interrogation, the king appears to be completely unaware that there was a third party who tampered with the room and his mind."

"Just how stupid can he get?" I asked in disbelief.

Seriously. It didn't matter that there was some unknown person out there who had manipulated him. The king was just as guilty for his nasty hobby and his utter stupidity.

Judgment wasn't done with the bad news. He continued on to say, "I should also let you know that the bishops reported that there are signs of injuries on Roland that were healed over several times, including bones that weren't set quite right."

My first thought was that I had put Roland back together wrong, until I realized what Judgment was implying. "You're saying that...?"

Judgment gave a grim nod. "He was tortured and healed, then tortured and healed again, several times over."

I clenched my fists so hard that my nails dug into my skin. With a cold voice, I said, "Lock him up. King or not, tricked or not, lock that damn bastard up. We won't let the other one escape either."

"Even the king isn't above the law," Judgment agreed. "This will pit us against the royal family."

I nodded and said, "There will be plenty of people out there who will think the Church of the God of Light is trying to seize power, but there will also be plenty of people awed by our unwavering stance on justice, and the rest of the nobles will think twice before they try to step out of line after this. Furthermore, the maids and the royal knights, though not of high status, will be grateful and feel that they matter. We will have their support. There is power in numbers."

I turned and smirked at Judgment. "Besides, what better way to send a message to that third party? If even the king cannot escape from justice, then what chance does that person have?"

I sat by the fountain side, listening to the spray of water behind me.

The prince, though frustrated by our audacity, knew he had no room to fault us, not when his father had done something so deplorable, and when we had actually, in some ways, saved his father too.

Storm had rounded up a startling number of maids to give testimony about their torture over the years, many shaking too much to complete their testimony, often only able to continue thanks to Storm's gentle encouragement.

It was the scandal of the century, with the final nail in the coffin delivered by Roland, who showed up to share what had happened to him while he was still limping and all bandaged up. If that wasn't enough, the indignant royal knights who had been part of Roland's rescue had plenty to say, too.

Needless to say, the king stood no chance against the overwhelming evidence. All in all, his sentence was a light one, in consideration of the third party's involvement, and a courtesy to the prince, whom we could not completely alienate.

The king, after the Pope checked his mind, was deemed unfit to rule. His actions may have been exacerbated due to hypnotism, but they were still his own. Apparently, the tampering of his mind could only have been recent, or else he would have turned into an invalid by now. The many years of torture of the palace servants were all him and no one else's fault. It was just that someone had recently taken notice of his disgusting hobby and taken advantage of it, but the purpose behind it was still a mystery.

The king's sentence was immediate abdication of his throne, monetary compensation to all his victims, and confinement to the "jail cells," punishment and forced recovery at the same time. We could not let him be accessible to whoever was still out there. The prince, ever soft-hearted toward his despicable father, furnished his father's jail cell with more luxury than he deserved.

The prince, whose coronation was soon to happen, then shocked me by announcing his intent to take Roland as his knight-confidant. In other words, Roland was getting promoted, even though what he was getting promoted for was dealing a huge blow to the prince's own family.

How magnanimous of the prince, exactly what he'd want everyone to think.

Sure, even the prince couldn't deny the excellent work Roland had done in exposing the injustice happening in the palace, and, as a by-product, helping his father break free of some unknown person's manipulations. But Roland will also always be that person who landed the prince's own father in a jail cell.

As I always said, the prince was shrewd. He knew the appointment would earn him good publicity, and he needed all the help he could get in that department after all that had gone down. I would worry for Roland's safety, but this had become such a public affair that if anything were to happen to Roland again, the royal family would be the first to fall under suspicion.

In other words, there was no safer position for Roland than at the prince's right hand side, even if the prince resented him. Roland, once he recovered, immediately jumped straight back into work, joining the investigation searching for the third party who had tampered with the king's mind.

He was such a terrible workaholic that I wondered if he or Storm would be the first to keel over from overwork.

Here before me was a case in point. He could very well have organized for other squads to patrol this month, as his health was not the best and he had other investigative work to do—yet here he was, on his usual patrols.

The group of royal knights I had roped in as witnesses were passing through the plaza, as they always did. At the head of the group was Roland, who had given me much too big of a scare, and his subordinates dearly agreed with me. Foot was practically stuck to Roland like glue, eyes following him everywhere, afraid that his captain would vanish without a trace once more. After what had happened, I had no doubt that they would suspect any mention of Roland ever going on a "mission" again.

Good, keep a close eye on him!

Roland was no longer limping. I was glad to see that his limp wasn't permanent. His complexion was also much healthier, though he still had patches of discolored skin from his burns and where his skin had been peeled off. Even the best healing spells could not expedite his recovery more than this.

I stood up and brushed myself off, intent on returning to the Holy Temple now that I had ascertained for myself his health once again. Tomorrow, I would return.

But as I turned, I heard Foot's questioning voice at the same time as footsteps approached me. I glanced over, only to see that Roland had broken away from the rest.

Hey hey, now you're coming over to check on me when you didn't do so at the dessert shop? What gives?!

He came up to me and said with a smile, "It really is you. Grisia, you're the same as always, lost in your thoughts while sitting down."

Hearing his voice alleviated another of my worries. He was able to pronounce my name now, when he had only been able to slur it back in the king's room. I found out later that the effing king had actually sliced Roland's tongue and could very well have taken his speech from him altogether if we had found him any later.

"I'm not sitting right now," I said, our conversation so normal that it was like it hadn't been years and too many hardships since we had last spoken, and no, calling my name didn't count.

Damn, now that I was face-to-face with him, it was so obvious how much taller he had grown since we were kids. I mean, I had seen even from afar that he had grown much taller than before, but having him before me was an entirely different experience, so much that I felt momentarily off-kilter as my mind tried to meld the visage of the man before me with the boy who had been my first friend.

Still, I took the sight in, preferring this much better than the one of him lying lifeless on that hideous wooden bed.

"You were earlier," he said with a shrug, his gaze drawn to a trail of ants marching along the crack in the cobblestone by our feet.

There were tons of things I could have said to him. Did he hate me? Did he still yearn to be the Sun Knight? Was he okay? Even though it was such a sunny day, just watching him stare at those stupid ants was making me shiver. I dearly hoped that the sight of the ants was not sending him back to that room, where he had gotten sugar water dribbled over him so that ants would swarm to him.

I had not been able to spare him from all of that.

There were so many things I could have said, but all I said was, "Roland, even though I didn't become a cleric, I'm glad I was still able to heal your injuries."

I'm glad I was able to provide you with some relief.

It really wasn't enough, but at least it was something.

Roland had had a strange look on his face that day he passed by the dessert shop and saw me in line. I had thought it to be amusement, but now that he was actually before me, I realized it wasn't that.

It was... a fond look, as if he'd missed those times he had lined up for me, as if he'd missed... me. Just like how I missed him.

"You sure did," he murmured, breaking his gaze from the trail of ants.

Then, he looked up and smiled at me with that fond look on his face, and I knew he would be fine.

Though he had walked away that day without even glancing back at me, though I had almost been too late, I hadn't been, and he had returned after all.

It was going to take time, but he was going to be fine.

I would make sure of it.

I smiled back at him and said, "Roland, did you know that the shop we used to go to has gotten even more popular? They have some new flavors now, too! Let's go buy some lollipops!"

"But, I'm still in the middle of patrolling..." Roland began to say with a frown, ever so dutiful. However, Foot came to save the day, pushing his captain along and even giving me a thumbs up that I didn't quite know how to respond to. He's sure grown confident!

I suppose after getting pushed around by Judgment, nothing could scare him anymore, and certainly not the shiny Sun Knight hiding under a cloak, if he has even realized who I am. Perhaps he even felt some camaraderie with me because of how we had saved his captain together.

In any case, Roland and I walked together to the dessert shop, just like what we used to do all those years ago when we were but children eager to buy some candy. Later, we would continue to search for that third party, but for now, all I wanted was to share this time with Roland.

As I chattered on about all the flavors he could choose from, even though blueberry was clearly the best, I caught him gazing at me with that look again.

I rolled my eyes and nudged him with my elbow, glad that he was close enough for me to do so, instead of separated by a sea of people, or even worse, gone from my life.

Really, I should be the one looking at him with sentimentality.

"Hey," I said when I had his attention. "I'm so glad that you're here."

Off in a pink house a distance away from the better part of the city, an undead necromancer lazily unwrapped the large, strawberry lollipop she had been saving. She kicked her feet back and forth as she licked the lollipop.

"Darn that Sun for ruining my plans," she said with a pout. She had worked so hard to hypnotize the king so that he would torture Roland endlessly, to the point that he would die with burning hatred and regret. Only then could she turn him into a death knight, an existence that no one could touch. She had to cut her losses when Sun stormed through the palace and created such a huge commotion. There was no way she could still manipulate the king from the shadows after that.

All that hard work for nothing! She wasn't going to forgive Sun even though he always brought her lollipops. But then, she took another lick and thought of something.

"Roland as the knight-confidant to the newly crowned king? It's not as good as having him become the Sun Knight or a death knight, but I can work with that."

She stuck the lollipop in her mouth and grinned.

In fact, she should probably thank Sun for getting her child into such an influential position. She couldn't have planned it better herself.