I recognized the person before my eyes. He held the unconscious Laine in his left hand and a blood-red stone in his right.

  I stared. How is this possible? How?

  The man stepped toward me, no expression on his face. “It’s been a long time, Fate.”

  “Dad…”

  “You’ve gotten bigger. This…is just part of the contract.”

  It was the face of my father, just as I remembered him when I was a boy. His hair was a little longer, but without a doubt, the face belonged to Dean Graphite. The only difference was the red tattoo that covered the upper half of his face. It clashed with his otherwise kind features.

  Even with a sword pointed at him, my father showed no signs of worry. He was calm and collected. By comparison, my hands shook with anxiety.

  “What…what is going on?” I demanded.

  He did not answer my question. Instead, he spoke with a slow, measured pace. “You’re going to let me leave without making a scene. That is, if you want the girl to remain unharmed.”

  “Dad…why?”

  Not only was he holding Laine hostage, but I felt paralyzed before him.

  My father pulled a black spear from empty space. It was different from the one Shin had wielded. He pointed it toward the wall behind him and swung. Crystals of ice formed on everything and began to crack into pieces. A hole opened in the wall and, still holding onto Laine, he jumped out.

  “Damn it… Why are you doing this?!”

  I ran to the hole to follow them, but a thick wall of ice suddenly blocked my path. I tried to slice into it with Greed, but it was no use. No matter how much of it I cut away, it continued to grow back.

  “Laine!”

  “Calm yourself, Fate,” said Greed. “You’re in shock. Your pulse is going crazy. Anyone would panic if their dead father was the source of all of this, but you need to calm down.”

  “But…”

  “Laine will be fine.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Look around. Look at the buildings. The ice pillars are melting.”

  It wasn’t happening all at once, but it was true: the ice was changing, sublimating into steam. I heard the voices coming from the hallway. The once frozen soldiers and holy knights were alive.

  “He didn’t kill any of them,” Greed said. “He only froze them. If he didn’t kill them, then there’s a good chance that he won’t harm Laine. And you heard what he said. He said it was part of the contract.”

  “You mean he’s being forced to do this?”

  “It’s a possibility. That’s all I’m saying.”

  By the time the ice fully dissipated, my father would be so far away that we’d never be able to track him. He hadn’t released Laine during his escape. Instead, he’d taken her with him. Did that mean his target wasn’t just the Philosopher’s Stone, but Laine as well? What was I supposed to tell her father? There was nothing else I could do but stand there in Laine’s laboratory, staring at the hole in the wall.

  When I’d spoken with Lord Mason, I’d allowed myself to think, What if I could meet my father? What if I could meet my mother?

  But the Philosopher’s Stone was a part of Shin. If my father wanted it, then it meant he was either being forced to work for Shin, or…he was a willing accomplice.

  “I didn’t sense any enmity in your father,” Greed said, his voice echoing with a rare kindness. “If he wanted to bring you harm, he would have done it back at the Hobgoblin Forest.”

  “Yeah… Thanks, Greed. I…I feel a little better.”

  “But so much for our big plans.”

  Unfortunately, Greed was exactly right. This had all happened because we were looking for Myne and Shin. Not only had we lost our only lead, but Laine had been kidnapped too. I felt the winds of spring flow in through the hole in the wall, suffusing the room with warmth. As I made to leave, I realized that one of Eris’s white knights had arrived. That was quick. Then again, they had been on high alert since Rafale’s attack.

  “Fate Barbatos. It is fortunate that I found you. I will need you to accompany me to the castle to explain what happened here. Follow me. Eris will be returning shortly.”

  I followed after the white knight silently. I wanted to tell Eris what had happened and figure out what to do next.

  Dad… This was not the reunion I wanted.

  Chapter 22:

  A New Journey Awaits

  THE WHITE KNIGHT MARCHED ON in silence toward the castle. There was a heavy, oppressive mood in the air. I didn’t like it, so I decided to strike up a conversation.

  “When do you expect Eris to return?”

  “Very soon. Within the next hour.” Strangely, the white knight didn’t completely ignore me.

  “Wow, that’s incredible. How do you know she’ll be back by then?”

  “I believe you should know the answer to that question.”

  “I…”

  But I actually didn’t have a clue. I tilted my head in confusion and the white knight laughed.

  “You really don’t know anything, do you? Have you not thought to ask Greed about such things?”

  “He’s kind of twisted in his own way. He won’t tell me much of anything.”

  “It is perhaps fair to say that…I have heard from Lady Eris that Greed’s personality is worse than Envy’s.”

  Though I couldn’t see the white knight’s face through her visor, I felt very much like she felt sympathy for my situation. Naturally, Greed flew into a rage, denying everything she said about him. I could hear him through my Telepathy, going on and on about how rude it was to call him worse than Envy, who was sly, wicked, cunning… The list went on.

  The white knight stopped in place and gazed up at the castle, towering above us in the distance.

  “Our connection is similar to that which you share with Aaron Barbatos. Although we are further along.”

  “You mean you share a link with Eris?”

  “Yes, though it is a story that goes back a long, long way. I will never forget that we both made a promise to live alongside her.”

  That meant the kingdom had begun with Eris, Envy, and the two white knights. It was said that when Galia fell, many had been left with nowhere to go. They’d banded together in small villages, and over time built the kingdom. One part of that was due to Eris’s Lust skill, which drew people to her.

  “However she might seem, Lady Eris is very kind at heart. She made a promise to the bearer of Gluttony who came before you. She led those who were lost, and with them she established our kingdom.”

  “So, that bearer of Gluttony before me…what sort of a person was he? Greed won’t talk to me about it, as you can probably guess. Eris won’t tell me a thing either… Even Myne says that she’s forgotten!”

  Everybody I met had some kind of excuse, some reason to say nothing of it. The white knight saw my troubled expression and sighed.

  “That person was our hope. But in the end…I don’t much like to remember it. But there are traces of him in you. Eris sees them too. It’s why sometimes she sees the past in your eyes.”

  “What happened between them?”

  “When I was young, that man saved us all. Since then, there was nobody else for Lady Eris—only whoever bore the Gluttony skill. This kingdom was originally built to reflect his ideals. However, without him, it did not go according to plan.”

  The kingdom of old had been surrounded by powerful monsters. Those who were key to defeating those monsters, and thus pushing forward the kingdom’s development, were those with holy sword skills. As a result, a hierarchy was formed that saw those with powerful skills as inherently just and correct.

  But the kingdom wasn’t entirely awful. Even as discrimination flourished, it was still a place where people were protected. For better or worse, when Galia fell and the world changed, the kingdom Eris had created became a haven for the lost.

  “It was impossible for us to do everything right,” said the white knight.

  But if the kingdom hadn’t existed, and the people had been left with no place to start again… I didn’t know what would have happened to them. The white knight’s words reminded me of what Roxy had said. Because we’re human, we inevitably make mistakes. But if we refuse to even try, we’ll never accomplish anything.

  “Things might not have gone well,” I said, “but it’s not over yet. There’s still time to start over.”

  The white knight stood in silence, watching me. I wondered if I had said too much.

  “I never thought…I never thought you would utter the same words that he did.”

  It seemed I’d inadvertently echoed my predecessor again. He’d said something like that to Eris and the two white knights, and he’d been by their sides until the end.

  “I think,” said the white knight, “that I understand now why Lady Eris has developed such a strong attachment to you.”

  “Actually, those words belong to Roxy. I just borrowed them.”

  “But if you accepted those borrowed words and made them yours, they belong to you now. In the same way, Lady Eris, my sister, and I were all changed through our encounter with the former bearer of Gluttony.” The white knight walked on. “Does that mean…you’re his…?” she muttered, the words spilling from her mouth as she was lost in thought.

  “Hm?”

  “No, that’s not possible,” she said. “Please forget I said anything.”

  There was no pushing her on it any further, so I simply followed along silently. I was happy enough that she had opened up to me as much as she had.

  When we entered the castle, Aaron and Memil met us. The other white knight was with them.

  “Fate! Seems you had your hands full in the Military District again,” said Aaron. “I would have gone to help, but…”

  He turned to look at the other white knight, who had presumably ordered him to wait. I thought it strange that Aaron hadn’t come to my aid, and now I knew why.

  “I ordered Aaron Barbatos to remain at the castle,” said the white knight. “According to our reports, he did significant damage to the Hobgoblin Forest.”

  “Oh, my…not this again…” Aaron looked a little flustered and nervous before the knight. It was perhaps the first time I’d seen him in such a state.

  “You are a necessity for the future of our kingdom,” said the white knight. “We cannot afford for you to be too reckless in battle, Aaron.”

  “Yes, but…”

  For Aaron, who loved battle more than anything else, this was a difficult order to follow. I saw his shoulders slump, dejected, and I stepped over to Memil.

  “How did it go?” I asked.

  “They were very understanding. I’m just glad they were both willing to listen to reason.”

  “That’s great. Especially because they’re always so strict with me.”

  “Ah, well, that’s because it’s you, my lord. Isn’t that right, everyone?”

  The two knights gave her a confident nod. Then Aaron nodded too!

  “I suppose I should nod as well. Yes, I think I will,” said Memil.

  “Hey!”

  I couldn’t catch a break! I was completely outnumbered. It felt like I was hearing that a lot recently. Well, that’s because it’s you, Fate, they said—Roxy, Greed, and even Sahara. Would the list ever end?!

  But as I stood there thinking about it, one more person cast their vote.

  “I wholeheartedly agree. It’s because it’s you, Fate.”

  It had only been a little while, yet it felt like a long time since I’d heard her voice. She walked toward us, her blue hair flowing behind her.

  “Eris!”

  “Yo. I’m back. Looks like you’ve had your hands full while I’ve been gone. You’re a real troublemaker.”

  Eris had finally returned from her expedition to the mountainous city of Tenburn, where Rafale had set up another base camp. She was back earlier than scheduled, but she had left her team in Tenburn and come back to the kingdom alone.

  “I felt a bad energy emanating from the kingdom,” Eris said. “I came back as quickly as I could, but I see I was still too late.”

  Around me, everybody dropped to their knees to welcome the queen upon her return. I remained standing before the kingdom’s ruler, which angered the two white knights to the point where I could feel it. As I danced around their spears poking at my knees, Eris laughed.

  “What’s this? Did you three become friends while I was gone?” she asked.

  “Not at all!” shouted the knights.

  Their vehement denial left me stunned. I couldn’t believe it! We had finally made a connection by reminiscing about the past. I’d really thought we were friends now. I felt saddened by the thought, but they only glared at me through their visors. Their gazes spoke volumes: Did you really think it would be that easy?! Don’t get cocky!

  I heard that people became harder to deal with as they got older, and it really did seem true. I wished they’d take a page out of Aaron’s book. Even people who had lived a long time could still be honest and upstanding geezers, just like him! Still, I knew it was useless to even try bringing it up. The white knights’ master Eris had her own eccentricities, not to mention how much trouble she caused. As if to prove it, she leapt toward me and hugged me tight.

  “Why the long face?” she asked. “Oh, I know! It’s because you couldn’t stand being so far away from me for so long!”

  “Stop it, Eris.”

  “Oh, look at you, playing all hard to get!”

  “Would you stop it with these delusions already?!”

  I pulled Eris off me. Aaron cleared his throat.

  “Lady Eris, I apologize, but time truly is of the essence. May I ask that you save this for later?” he asked.

  “I suppose I don’t have a choice, do I?”

  Aaron’s approach was admirably skillful. He hadn’t asked Eris to stop, he simply requested that she wait for a better time. He seemed to understand how she worked and how to handle her. Unfortunately, it still meant that I would end up in her grasp later.

  We moved our discussion to the great hall on the ground floor of the castle. As we began our walk there, Memil tugged at my sleeve.

  “I don’t want to get in your way, so I’ll excuse myself and head back to the manor,” she said.

  “No, I want you here.”

  “Oh. Really?”

  “Of course. I want you to know what happens next. Both you and your brother.”

  “Fate…”

  We all took seats at the huge table in the center of the great hall. I sat with Aaron on my right and Memil on my left. Across from us, Eris took a seat with the white knights on either side of her.

  “Well, let’s hear it,” she said.

  “Ah, I guess I should start with back when Roxy, Miria, and I investigated the goblin trouble in the Hobgoblin Forest…”

  I summarized what had happened for Eris: how we had discovered an ancient monster, the goblin shaman, which had caused the strange goblin behavior; how that monster cast a spell that caused me to swap bodies with Roxy; and how with the help of Aaron, Memil, and Miria, we returned to our original bodies.

  “You fought in the Hobgoblin Forest,” Eris said. “And you found Galian ruins underneath, yes?”

  “You knew about them?”

  “No. If I did, I wouldn’t have simply left them there. The fact that the ruins were buried underground tells me they probably weren’t a simple research lab. I’d love to learn more about it, but we’ve no choice but to leave it for the time being.”

  “The ice that blocks the way inside doesn’t melt. The person who put it there…is my father.”

  Aaron was first to react to the last three words I spoke. “But you said he was dead. Does that mean…?”

  “Yes. It’s probably the same phenomenon that brought back Lord Mason.”

  “I see. So he has the power to wield ice. Then the incident in the Military District just now…?”

  “Was also my father. He took Laine and the Philosopher’s Stone. I’m…I’m sorry.”

  Eris listened in silence. Then she gazed up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. “First ancient monsters that should be extinct return to life. Then people who should be dead start returning along with them. It’s all going faster than I thought. But there’s still time. The Door isn’t completely open.”

  “So the Door has the power to resurrect the dead?”

  “That’s only a fraction of its power. But it can’t resurrect just anyone.”

  “The goblin shaman, Lord Mason, my father… You’re saying there’s a connection?”

  “It’s simple. They’re all souls who were tied to this world by their regret.”

  The goblin shaman clung to a pure hatred for mankind. Lord Mason was filled with worry for the family he left behind.

  And my father… Perhaps he…

  When I had left for Galia to follow Roxy, I’d visited the village of my youth. There, I visited my parents’ graves, and I told them what was in my heart. But perhaps that message hadn’t reached my father. His regret was that he had been unable to watch over his young son. It had to be. Right?

  To know the truth for certain, I would have to meet him again and ask him myself.

  Aaron breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the conditions of resurrection. “But you said the power to resurrect is only a fraction of the Door’s power. You’re saying it’s capable of more?”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t know the full extent of its power. The last time this happened, the door was shut by the previous bearer of the Gluttony skill.”

  “The previous bearer of Gluttony…”

  “Yes. He gave his life to close it.”

  Greed had said something about that once before. He’d said the previous bearer had released everything, then died. Now I finally knew where it had happened: at the Door to Distant Lands.

  “You’ve made up your mind, haven’t you?” said Greed.

  “I have,” I whispered.

  Now that everyone was caught up, we decided to chase after Shin the day after tomorrow. We were sure to find Myne with him, and likely my father…and Laine.