"Have you found any trace of Naham?"
At that question, the softened expressions on both men's faces vanished instantly. Nathan Zuckerman responded with his usual impassive expression.
"Yes. Using the information passed along by Deputy Commander Wand, we searched near the desert zones in three different areas. Today, at a place called 'Sunsetâs Gate,' we found this."
What he pulled from his coat was a filthy scrap of cloth. It looked like part of a garment, but it was so darkened and clumped with grime that its original color couldnât be guessed. Kishiarâs visible red eye narrowed sharply as he scrutinized it in silence.
"It smells like dried blood. And itâs not just one fabricâit looks like two pieces stuck together."
"Correct. One appears to be part of a sleeve, and the other seems to be a bandage that was adhered to it. Both were soaked in blood and sand."
"What did Kanna say?"
"She was certain they belonged to him. But aside from that, she couldnât glean any new information. Itâs unclear what became of him."
"I see... I see."
On the so-called "Hailstone Night," Kanna Wand, alongside Ever Beck, had successfully led the Cavalry in evacuating numerous non-Awakeners. That included Kiole Diarca and the Crown Prince. However, because she failed to properly manage their detained criminal, Hosanra, she hadnât expressed any pride in her achievement.
That guilt extended to every member of the Cavalry who had directly or indirectly contributed to Hosanraâs escape. Kishiar had been unable to meet with them himself, but the weight of the matter was too great to postpone disciplinary action.
When something happens, it must be dealt with immediately. Delay makes it far harder to move forward. In this case, Kishiar determined that any hesitation would risk morale and purpose among the ranks.
So, even while bedridden, Kishiar issued orders and handled disciplinary matters through written statements. His method was simple: he asked those willing to accept punishment to write out what they had done wrong, and how they believed such a failure could be prevented in the future.
The emphasis wasnât on punishment or retributionâit was on solutions. He didnât expect the members to understand what that meant immediately, and they didnât. As expected, they interpreted it as "write down the punishment you think you deserve." They penned their own harshest sentences, along with clumsy ideas for resolution.
After reading those papers, Kishiar reduced or enhanced various parts of each and returned them accordingly.
Kanna Wand, for example, had written that she would return ten yearsâ worth of salary, step down from her position as deputy commander, and accept full responsibility for the fallout caused by Hosanraâuntil her death.
Kishiar rejected the demotion, reduced the salary return to one year, and accepted the rest.
Since then, Kanna hadnât stopped working. She poured herself into unraveling every event that occurred during Hailstone Night, coordinating everything to ensure that the Cavalry didnât falter despite the absence of both the commander and the commanderâs aide.
If not for her, even the bizarre corpses of the Sage and Diemonâdiscovered afterwardâmight never have been understood.
Just thinking about how those two died âȘ NĐŸvĐ”lŃgÒ»t âȘ (Official version) brought a cold smile to Kishiarâs lips.
âEach of them received a death that suited them.â
The Sage, who clung to hope until the end, had planned to escape by brainwashing more Cavalry members and civilians. But in the end, he was killed in agony by the very man he had exploitedâDiemon. And Diemon, driven by revenge and greed, suffered rapid aging from power overload and died before he even realized it.
A man who believed he could control everything with brainwashing.
A man who thought he could copy othersâ powers to make their success his own.
Kishiar guessed that something similar had happened in the "previous game" as well.
âBack then, Diemon probably survived only because he didnât try to completely absorb the Sageâs power. He mustâve stopped at a weakened imitation.â
Yuder had told him that the Sage in the previous game didnât possess perfect brainwashing powersâjust the ability to influence peopleâs moods. That would make sense if Diemon had only managed to create a degraded version of the Sageâs ability.
That brief decision had determined both Diemonâs life and the future Yuder had tried to guard against.
Why had such a difference emerged? Kishiar couldnât be certain. But piecing together Yuderâs words and the data Kanna uncovered, it became clear where the divergence began.
âIt was probably... because of Yuder.â
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
A long time ago, Yuder had gone to the East to search for the missing Devrand and encountered Naham for the first time. That meeting had never occurred in the previous timeline. As a result, the Cavalry learned about Naham and the Star of Nagran much earlier, and the Sageâs moves had grown more reckless and urgent.
Unlike the previous game, where he never reached the Diarca side, the real Sage had now managed to connect with both the Crown Prince and House Diarca. Using Diemonâs powers, he had one young Awakener perfectly copy a certain ability. With that, they attacked the Solar Palaceâwhere the Emperor residedâto impress Duke Diarca.
That incident taught Diemon that his copying ability didnât need to remain incompleteâif he paid the cost, he could fully absorb anotherâs power.
That experience might have influenced the fateful choice that led to Diemonâs death in this timeline. Was it a stretch to think so? Kishiar decided it wasnât.
The greater threat in Yuderâs predicted future was no longer a concern. But Nahamâwho had died in the previous gameâwas now missing, and the abnormal rifts had begun appearing far earlier than Yuder remembered.
So no, it hadnât all gone well.
Kishiar suspected that was why Yuder had pushed his broken body so hard on Hailstone Nightâtrying, somehow, to reduce the number of variables.
"......"
The weight of a future only he knewâKishiar could never fully understand that. Who was he to say he grasped what it meant to willingly shatter your body to stop something only you could foresee?
But whenever that selfish desire for Yuderâs safety swelled inside him, Kishiar would recall a dream he once had.
Petals drifting under a clear blue sky. In contrast, a mutilated criminalâs bodyâmotionless and bleeding.
A soldier dragging that criminal like an animal, the prisonerâs face reflected in the glint of a blade.
Even through the disfigurement from torture, Kishiar had instantly recognized the person behind those eyes dark with shadow.
No time was given to speak last words.
Not a single soul ran to save himâonly thunderous cheers echoing without end.
If there were such a thing as hell, surely that had been it.
Each time he remembered that dream, Kishiar would realize again how small his selfish desire to protect Yuder truly was. After learning Yuderâs secret, he became even more painfully aware of it.
"Mm..."
Right as that thought passed, Yuderâs brow twitched slightly, and a faint sound escaped his lips. Kishiar immediately straightened, erasing the heavy thoughts he had been entertaining.
âDamn. I was too caught up in itâdid it get through?â
Because of their connection, strong emotions could be unintentionally transmitted. Kishiar had been trying to avoid immersing himself in negative feelings for too long, especially after the time Yuder caught on to one that he thought heâd hidden perfectly.
Yuder could be endlessly indifferent to his own pain, but he was always sensitive to what Kishiar felt.
âAnyway... discovering what might be Nahamâs clothes and bandages isnât exactly good news.â
Yuder had suspected that Naham hadnât diedâthat heâd been transported somewhere using Hosanraâs final ability. Kishiar believed that theory was likely correct and instructed Kanna to investigate accordingly.
The site where Hosanra had died had been soaked in blood and bodily fluid, a grotesque mess. But Kanna hadnât flinched. She stepped into the crater again and again, using her abilities to search for information.
In the end, what she managed to read was linked to Hosanraâs final thoughts.
Just before he died, Hosanra remembered a man heâd met as a childâa southerner who had told him to pass along a message. "If the young master you serve ever wishes to come to the South, tell him to seek this place."
Hosanra had always suspected that man was connected to Nahamâs mother. But he never told Naham, and the memory had remained buried.
Facing death, Hosanra had recalled the fastest way to reach that placeâand used his movement ability on Naham.
The desert between the Southern Nation and the Empire. The midpoint of the road Hosanra had once crossed as a child with a merchant caravan.
That was where he sent him.