Roxy, too, had been hurt terribly by the loss of her father, and as she became aware that her mother didn’t have much time left, she grew fearful of what the future might bring. Even Memil had been rendered afraid and uncertain when her brother Rafale betrayed her, leaving her with neither family nor home. I wondered sometimes if skills were just walls between people. I couldn’t help but ponder the thought as I tousled Sahara’s hair.

  “I’m sorry, my lord,” she said.

  “You don’t have to apologize for anything. Let’s have breakfast!”

  “Okay! Today I’ve prepared your favorite: sandwiches!”

  “Wow!”

  “I’m working really hard to make sandwiches that are even better than Lady Roxy’s!”

  “Well, that is definitely something to look forward to, then.”

  Roxy made me sandwiches quite often. Sahara, seeing Roxy give them to me, had decided they must be my favorite food. To be fair, since Roxy kept making them, they pretty much were. Sahara and I sat side by side in the dining hall and started eating.

  Whoa…what?! This is…amazing!

  “Is there chicken in this?” I asked.

  “I know you like meat, my lord, so I made teriyaki chicken and lettuce sandwiches.”

  “You’re a genius!”

  I meant that sincerely. The sandwiches were truly delicious. Sahara had only started cooking when she became a maid. I couldn’t believe she’d gotten so good in just a few months. She had a genuine knack for this—it wasn’t a skill she’d been blessed with, but something completely unique to who she was.

  I don’t want to speak ill of Roxy’s sandwiches, but…Sahara’s sandwiches are so… Wait, Fate, Don’t go there. Don’t think that thought!

  I couldn’t bring myself to admit that Sahara was capable of better sandwiches. To think all she had done was look at Roxy’s sandwiches and make her own version!

  Sahara, flustered by my compliments, shook her head. “No, I’m not very good yet. I’m still just an amateur! I’m still in training!”

  “Ah, so someone is teaching you, then? Who is it? Is it one of the nuns at the orphanage?”

  I was certain that was where Sahara would have studied the art of sandwich-making, given that she’d grown up there, but that wasn’t the case.

  “I’m learning from the barkeep at your favorite tavern, my lord.”

  “Wow! Really?”

  “Yes. When I asked Aaron if he knew of any places that could teach me cooking, he introduced me to the barkeep. I can learn to make all of your favorite dishes from there.”

  I had no idea. Sahara did sometimes leave the manor on days she wasn’t helping out at the orphanage. That had to be when she went to the tavern to learn how to cook.

  “I go twice a week,” Sahara said, “and I help out around the tavern. Sometimes I even wait on tables!”

  My jaw dropped. It was like Sahara was growing up without my noticing. She was completely different from that terrified girl kidnapped by the trafficker and almost sold to Hado Vlerick. She looked so full of confidence now. It made me glad to think that perhaps the experiences she’d been through had made her stronger.

  “Sahara, would it be okay for me to visit one time when you’re working at the tavern?”

  “Er… Well…”

  “Hm? You don’t want me to?”

  Sahara’s face went beet red. “I’m still just a novice, and I’ve only just started, so please give me a little more time!”

  I was a little saddened. I wanted to see her bustling around tables as the tavern waitress, but I knew she was in good hands with the barkeep. He looked quite tough, so he often gave people the wrong first impression. He had a kind heart, though, even if he liked to push me around. I would never forget the kindness he had showed me, giving me leftovers on the days when I was broke.

  “But when the barkeep decides that I’m a good enough cook, I’ll invite you to visit, my lord!”

  “Sounds good. I can’t wait.”

  Sahara’s sandwiches were delicious, and they were all gone in no time. With a full stomach, I decided it was time to see Laine, who was waiting for me in the Military District. It was also one of the days that Sahara spent helping out around the orphanage, so I offered to walk her there before meeting Laine. Sahara refused. She said she wanted to be able to get around inside the kingdom on her own two feet. There was great resolve in her eyes—it seemed that she was slowly overcoming the trauma of her past.

  “All right,” I said. “But put this somewhere people can see it, okay? Promise me.”

  “This is the Barbatos family crest…” she said.

  “Nobody will try anything if they know you’re connected with a holy knight, especially one from one of the esteemed families.”

  “Thank you, my lord!”

  I took the badge with the family crest off my equipment and passed it to Sahara. Better for it to protect her instead of me. Sahara took it from my hands happily and placed it on her chest. I watched as she ran out of the manor.

  “I’ll see you later, my lord!”

  “Take care out there!”

  Seeing her recede into the distance filled me with pangs of incredible loneliness. It wouldn’t be long before I’d never see her innocent, carefree smile again.

  “Why the long face, Fate?” said Greed. “You know you can always stay here if you want.”

  “No, I can’t. But this time, I at least want to do things right before I go.”

  I watched Sahara leave, then headed to the Military District. As I did, I noticed a particular man walking in the opposite direction: Lord Mason. He smiled warmly as we approached one another.

  “Good morning, my lord,” I said.

  “Good morning, Fate. Is Aaron home?”

  “Unfortunately not. He’s at the castle.”

  “I see. A pity. I suppose I’ll just have to come back again tomorrow.” Lord Mason rubbed his jaw in thought, then looked at me with a grin. “By the way, Fate. Do you have time to spare? I’d like to talk with you.”

  “With me?”

  “Yes. I’d very much like to chat with the head of the Barbatos family. Are you busy?”

  “No, I have time. Let’s talk.”

  “Thank you, Fate.”

  However, Lord Mason did not go to Hart Manor. Instead, he went to a large park in the Holy Knight District.

  “My apologies, Fate,” he said. “If we go back to the manor, we’ll have to deal with Aisha and Roxy.”

  “They’re overjoyed to have you back, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, so it seems…” he said, though he didn’t seem as enthusiastic as I would have thought.

  The park was empty, perhaps because it was so early in the morning. The chirping of birds in the trees were the only sounds.

  “Let’s take a seat here,” said Lord Mason as we arrived at a bench.

  I was nervous. I didn’t know how to act around Roxy’s father, and Lord Mason saw through me immediately.

  “No need to be so tense, Fate. Just be yourself.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No need for apologies either. After all, you’ve done so much to help me.”

  “My lord…”

  “You protected Roxy from the Divine Dragon after it killed me, correct?”

  “That… Well, to be honest, I only did that for myself, and…” I paused as I thought. In the end, it really had been for me. My Gluttony was overwhelming me, and I’d looked to her for salvation. “I wanted to save her, but in the end it was Roxy who saved me.”

  “That’s not how Roxy tells it. She was very excited to tell me all about you. Only good things, of course.”

  “Ah, I see…” I said, relaxing a little.

  Lord Mason seemed happy to see me a little more at ease. He told me that if I wanted to know more, I should hear it from Roxy. He couldn’t simply share with me the things his daughter told him in confidence.

  “But sitting with you here and talking to you, I can see that you are exactly the man Roxy told me of.”

  “You mean…in a good way, right?”

  “Of course. And you healed the sickness that befell my wife, Aisha. I am beyond grateful.”

  Lord Mason stood from the bench and bowed deeply. The gesture caught me completely off guard, and I hurriedly begged Lord Mason to stop. He was a man I admired deeply—a man who gave everything for his people. I didn’t see myself on the same level. I wasn’t the sort of person Lord Mason should ever bow to.

  “Before the Divine Dragon turned me to dust with its roar, I had regrets,” he said. “Worries. Would my young daughter be able to follow me as head of the family? What would happen to my wife, bedridden as her body failed her? But when this strange phenomenon occurred, and when I rushed home, I discovered that I no longer needed to fear. When I realized that, I felt a lightness in my soul, as if it were saved.”

  Lord Mason held out a hand toward me. I gripped it in my own, and I felt great warmth in the firm handshake. Lord Mason was alive, of this there was no doubt. But I wasn’t used to being praised like this, and it was hard for me to feel at ease. With my hand still in Mason’s grip, he continued calmly.

  “By the way, I heard this from Aisha… Is it true that, yesterday morning, you went into Roxy’s bedroom and pinned both my daughter and my wife? And then you even tried to drag Haru into it all?”

  “Huh?!”

  “I would like a clear and detailed explanation as to exactly what happened. So, sit down.”

  Lord Mason’s expression changed completely. I now beheld the steely face of Lady Aisha’s husband…and Roxy’s father.

  Oh, geez, where do I even start?

  This was Lady Aisha’s doing, without a doubt. Lord Mason probably still didn’t know that Roxy and I had swapped bodies. Lady Aisha loved playing pranks like this. She’d known this would happen if I met Lord Mason and so fed him just the right amount of information. Roxy had probably had so much to tell him that she hadn’t even gotten to the events of yesterday.

  Which means this could be…pretty bad…

  “Now, tell me clearly. And tell me all of it. How you manhandled my wife and daughter and even tried to pull our head servant into the mess, all in my daughter’s room!” he said, unable to restrain a chuckle.

  “It’s all a misunderstanding! You have to listen to me!”

  “Oh, you better believe I’ll listen. But my holy sword may answer in my stead, depending on what you say!”

  “Eh?!”

  Clearing the air was going to take longer than I’d thought. But I still had ten minutes before meeting with Laine, so I sat down on the bench and told Lord Mason all about the soul-swap incident, right from the very beginning.

  Chapter 21:

  Uninvited Guests

  THERE WERE SOME misunderstandings, but eventually I managed to explain to Lord Mason what had happened in Roxy’s room. Lord Mason laughed and shook his head. I breathed a sigh of relief now that he knew the truth.

  “Ah, I see,” he said. “That Aisha is trouble sometimes. She’s been playing pranks on me for a very long time.”

  I wondered if Lady Aisha’s love of jokes and pranks stemmed directly from Lord Mason’s trusting nature.

  “However, magic spells that can swap souls…used by ancient monsters long thought extinct…” said Lord Mason. “What in the world is happening?”

  “We still don’t know.”

  We theorized that it had something to do with the Door to Distant Lands—Myne’s goal—but I didn’t tell Lord Mason about that. It was little more than a hunch. Honestly, I didn’t even know what the Door was. If I told Lord Mason about it and he asked, I wouldn’t know what to say.

  “Perhaps I should be grateful. These strange happenings granted me the chance to return home. But is this for the best? I don’t think that all of it is.”

  “Why not?”

  Lord Mason had found a way to return home. I couldn’t understand what he meant.

  Lord Mason, noting my confusion, continued. “It’s because everybody’s been taken back to the time before I left.”

  “Taken back?”

  “Indeed. My death left wounds upon the hearts of the Hart family. But they lived on and overcame that grief. Roxy inherited my position as head of the family, and she leads it with great dignity. Aisha found a way to support her. By coming back, things may revert to what they once were, and that frightens me.”

  “I… But even if that’s the case, I’m glad you came back,” I said. “Roxy thought she’d never see you again, but here you are. She’d never say it was better if you’d never returned.”

  “Thank you, Fate. I appreciate your kind words.” Lord Mason stood once more and put out a hand. “I would have liked it if Aaron could have been here with us. Come visit the manor soon, Fate. You’re always welcome.”

  “I will. Thank you.”

  I shook Lord Mason’s hand and bid him farewell. As I began to walk toward the Military District, I heard him call out to me.

  “The world continues to get stranger, Fate. What do you intend to do about it?”

  “When I know what’s causing all this, I will leave the kingdom in search of it.”

  “I see…”

  There was a chance that by eliminating the source, I might also eliminate Lord Mason’s new existence. But he said nothing about it. Instead, he simply nodded gravely.

  “If you are being considerate of my situation, Fate, there’s no need. I should be dead. I intend to make the most of this miracle for however long it lasts.”

  “My lord…”

  “What scares me is that these resurrections may continue. They would plunge the world into chaos. If ancient monsters are coming back to life the same way I did, then the situation is much more dire than we realize.”

  None of us wanted to consider that possibility. If ancient monsters continued to return, the kingdom was doomed. Those monsters existed in the Domain of E. Just imagining a world in which monsters of equal power to the Divine Dragon roamed free was terrifying.

  “As you can likely imagine, it’s no laughing matter, is it, Fate?”

  “It might be the exact opposite,” I said.

  “At the moment, it’s just a suspicion, but I can feel something. Perhaps because I was resurrected myself.”

  It was true that Lord Mason’s fears and worries were unproven. And yet, I felt the same way. I needed to get to the Military District to investigate the Philosopher’s Stone as soon as possible. Through that, we would find the evil at the heart of this.

  But at that moment, an enormous explosion rocked the kingdom. The sound left my ears ringing. It had come from the Military District. Black smoke billowed from the area, and with it, towering pillars of ice appeared one after the other. They stood higher than the walls that separated the Military District from the Holy Knight District, pointing toward the sky.

  “That’s…how is that possible?” I gaped.

  “Fate, what are those pillars?” Lord Mason asked.

  “Please stay here.”

  “I can already tell from your answer that there is nothing I can do. If the man who defeated the Divine Dragon sees danger in those pillars, then I am powerless before them.”

  “I’m sorry, my lord…”

  “No need for apologies. I will return to the manor. If you need me, I will be ready and waiting.”

  Lord Mason headed back to Hart Manor. I broke into a sprint. There was no time to bother going through the gates, so I leaped over the high wall into the Military District.

  “The buildings…they’ve been turned to ice.”

  “Be on guard, Fate,” muttered Greed.

  “Don’t have to tell me twice.”

  Several buildings, all at least twenty stories high, had been frozen solid. There was no way to tell if the people inside them still lived. The high-rise buildings in the Military District had been constructed with Galian technology. Their black walls were made of a unique material that supposedly couldn’t be burnt, melted, or frozen. Nonetheless, the buildings I saw had been wholly swallowed by ice.

  “It’s probably more Galian tech,” said Greed. “Something very, very powerful.”

  “Greed, you really don’t have any clue what all this is?”

  “If I did, I would have told you when we were attacked in the Hobgoblin Forest. It’s freezing everything…which means it could be a weapon like myself, forged according to Galian principles. If so, then it was made after I was.”

  “I can’t sense the source of it.”

  “We should get to Laine, fast.”

  The pillars of ice seemed to enshrine the facility where Laine did her research. I dashed toward it, trying to keep calm as I neared. With each step, I passed soldiers and holy knights frozen in ice. They had been taken completely by surprise, turned into ice at the very moment that they sprang into action.

  The temperature plummeted as I neared Laine’s laboratory. Though spring was around the corner, my breath came out in misty clouds. At least I knew that whoever had done all of this had gone to the same place as I was headed: Laine’s lab.

  The automatic doors were frozen open, and the guards inside were encased in pillars of ice.

  “This is bad,” I said.

  “There’s no time to lose, Fate.”

  I pulled Greed from his sheath and stepped into the elevator, but it didn’t move. The ice had interfered with its systems.

  “You’ll have to take the emergency stairs.”

  “On it.”

  I dashed up the stairs with all the speed my stats would grant me and arrived at Laine’s laboratory. Things were worse there than on the first floor. The place was filled with holy knights and soldiers, all of them unmoving, silent, and completely frozen. They must have arrived to deliver the Philosopher’s Stone.

  “It’s freezing here,” I said.

  It was a cold that pierced through my Domain of E stats. Whoever had come here was therefore also in the Domain of E. I gripped Greed in hand and entered cautiously. The door into Laine’s laboratory was frozen shut. There was no other way to get inside, so I cut it open and jumped inside.

  “No… How…?”