“Cough, cough!”
For most of these days, he had slept sparingly and replaced most of his meals with dry rations, pushing himself relentlessly.
The Church did not send pursuers. He had already sent a message to his subordinates that he was chasing a heretic due to an urgent situation. Fortunately, thanks to his activities over the past three years, the Church did not doubt him.
There was no need to doubt him. After all, if he were truly the Servant of the Demon, he would never have committed such acts. The demonic forces had been greatly diminished compared to any previous moment.
Thanks to that, it was a peaceful time. Perhaps the calm before the storm. Fernandez looked around at the scenery as he urged his horse forward.
The Widow’s Coast sparkled with beautiful water scales under the winter sunlight.
This entire coastline would be engulfed in flames within a few years. Although the Church seemed to be preparing something, it wouldn’t be enough.
Though somewhat overshadowed by Karadskar’s fame, the northerners led by the Black Erik had burned and devastated every kingdom near the northern coastline.
Karadskar had Kirhas as a rival, but Erik had no such opponent.
The Black Erik, his halting of the invasion was nothing short of a miracle. While the courage and strategy of Vicente II and the valiant efforts of the knights of the Eastern Kingdom Alliance played a part, the biggest reason was the fever he caught during the southern campaign.
When that mighty warrior fell ill and collapsed within five days, the numerous northern tribes bound by his charisma scattered and returned home. This was the full story of the Great Northern Invasion.
Fernandez turned his horse towards the lighthouse of the City of the Awakened Dragon, visible through the distant sea fog. This city too would be trampled and burned by war. So before that, he had to confirm.
The anxiety gnawing at his heart. His heartbeat sounded more intense than ever.
-Clang! Clang!
In the distance, the sound of sailors hammering on the ship’s deck could be heard. Shouts, laughter, and rough, dull explosions followed. Fernandez tightened his robe and headed from the city’s entrance to the bustling streets, and then to the slums at the corner.
-Bark!
An old dog barked noisily and ran around. It was a lively city. Having become the center of the northeastern triangular trade, this city was a key trade route between Phaeirn’s Merlin Port and the Empire’s northern Paramarin.
Fernandez could feel a strong vitality among the passing sailors, merchants, and citizens.
Transferred from Franzrit to the Dane Kingdom, this city was brimming with the vitality of life wherever one looked.
It was a satisfying sight. The last memory he had of this city was as a vampire stronghold, and before that, the chessboard of the mad Elven King.
But it wasn’t the scenery he longed for. Fernandez was searching for a more sticky and sinister place.
One that remained vivid in his memory, whose memory had been extracted. The scar in his mind.
Fernandez walked the path he had seen in his dreams. To the gloomy alley leading to the underground waterways, where vampires and dark mages plotted to resurrect a dragon, and the Elven King schemed to use it.
He wished it was all a dream. Or perhaps, he wished this moment was the dream. The woman he had lost in his memory was not someone who should disappear like this.
-Thump.
His heart raced with an agitation that was clearly not his own. Fernandez took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions.
‘I can’t even remember who she is, so it’s irrational for my heart to race.’
He bit his lip. These weren’t his emotions. Even if they were, emotions are based on memory and reactivity. Thus, emotions from a moment he couldn’t remember shouldn’t be his.
Was it a dream? Her laughter? Or was this moment the dream? What do I wish to be true? In my hands, just a little further, lies the happiness I’ve longed for all my life.
There were no vampire attacks or threats from elf remnants. The underground waterways were filled only with occasional beggars with cloudy eyes, noisy rats scurrying underfoot, and sticky sewage swirling around.
It was a dark and damp waterway. Due to poor maintenance, stagnant filth dripped from the stone walls here and there. Fernandez lit a flame in one hand and walked forward.
Deeper underground. When he reached the deep waterway where tattered skeletons of unknown death were scattered, the cavity in his memory appeared.
“Huh…”
It was a cavity with hastily cleared experimental tools and traces of massive destruction.
The damp moss on the walls glistened under an unknown light source. He slowly walked towards the destroyed gate in the center.
A shattered stone gate came into view. Leading further down…
