CHAPTER 19: DESPERATE CONCLUSIONS

The convoy finally entered the stone gates of Larnia.

They brought in such a depressed atmosphere.

Maybe it was their dull faces or painful silence.

No cheering. No laughter. No songs of victory.

Only the quiet shuffling of boots, and the weary groans of the scorched carts that carried what little was left of their shoddy supplies... and their dead.

Smoke curled faintly above the city’s rooftops.

Bells tolled in the distance.

The people of Larnia knew what happened.

They’d started getting ready for the ceremony.

That night, the hard walls of Larnia glowed with hundreds of small lanterns.

Each one, lit carefully by trembling hands.

Each one, a prayer.

When the first was released, it rose slowly into the sky and flickered gently like a small sun.

Then another.

And another.

Soon the heavens were filled with soft, floating lights.

Thousands of them.

No one spoke.

Even the children were silent.

For many of them, this was the first fire they’d lit since the flames that took their homes.

Some refugees flinched at the sight.

Others cried openly.

But they still lit the lanterns and sent them to the sky.

Even with their shaking hands and trembling lips.

Because no one else would do it for them.

･･･

Nero stood among them.

The golden lights reflected in his eyes as he held a lantern, unsure if he should even touch it.

『They’ve all lost someone...』

Family, friends, their entire village.

He glanced around.

The old, the wounded, the hollow-eyed children.

『And I’m just... here.』

He tightened his jaw as guilt squeezed his throat.

He didn’t belong here.

Not in this grief and torturing silence.

He turned to leave quietly.

But then—

"Hic..."

He stopped.

A small girl stood near one of the lantern stands as her little hands gripped the edge of her sleeve.

Her eyes were red and puffy, but she wasn’t crying.

Not yet, at least...

She was trying too hard not to.

"Hic... sniff..."

Nero sighed softly.

『Really now.』

He crouched beside her and placed a very gentle hand on her head.

The girl blinked up at him.

Then the dam broke.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she clung to his robe and sobbed with a hiccup in every breath.

Nero didn’t say anything.

He just smiled gently and patted her head until her crying turned into quiet whimpers.

The lantern she’d been holding slipped from her hands.

Nero caught it before it hit the ground.

He used [Fire Magic] to light it carefully.

He held it up for her.

"Wanna help me send this one?"

The girl sniffed and nodded.

Together, they released the lantern.

It floated up slowly to join the others in the sky.

『I don’t think I wanna leave this world... at all...』

From the corner of the crowd, Eurvaine watched silently.

Her fingers twisted nervously around the oversized robe wrapped around her shoulders.

『He’s really... kind, isn’t he?』

She looked down at the robe and bit her lip.

『And here I was... calling him useless. Treating him like all the others. Mistress Aldura was right... I call sorcerers proud and arrogant without even giving most of them a chance to defend themselves. It’s not right...』

Her cheeks flushed faintly.

She wrapped the robe tighter.

『It does smell like him~』

Almost as if she desperately wanted to hug its owner.

『Maybe next time... I’ll try to talk to him properly.』

The thought made her heart beat faster.

–

–

–

Later that night.

The crowd had begun to thin.

On a quiet balcony overlooking the square, Ardan stood with Merlin, who sat lazily on a stone ledge as she sipped booze from a stout ceramic bottle.

Below them, the last of the lanterns drifted upward.

The Knight Captain watched as he gave his statement.

"Most of the survivors have friends here in Larnia. A few have arrangements for lodging."

Merlin yawned and tilted the bottle. "Mhm."

He cleared his throat and continued.

"Uhm, as for the rest... all we can do is hope that they’ll find a way to survive here. There are too many children and elders who’ve lost everything."

Merlin’s eyes looked sleepy... half-opened maybe?

"What about them?" ᗜ˰ᗜ

Ardan hesitated.

"Well, I... for now I plan to take in the young boys as pages and squires. I believe the girls can train to serve in the capital as maids, attendants, maybe even scholars if they’re lucky. The old folks..."

He sighed so uncomfortably.

"Perhaps the new retirement home in Bramble territory will take them."

Merlin didn’t reply immediately.

She just swirled her bottle slowly.

"Mhm."

Her eyes flicked toward the courtyard below.

Nero, Aldura, and a shy-looking Eurvaine were talking.

『So the Red Dragon’s gone, and he’s already back to chatting with other women. Typical.』

Her pout deepened. ( ¬⤙¬ ) Hmph!

『And here I thought he’d at least try to ask why I’ve been ignoring him... unbelievable.』

She shook her head.

"Disappointing." "( – ⌓ – )

Ardan’s eyes widened.

"You’re right, it IS a bad plan! I’ll find a way!"

"Wait, what—?"

But he was already running off dramatically.

"I’ve failed as a knight!" .·°՞(¯□¯)՞°·.

Merlin blinked, then sighed.

"And people call me dramatic."

She took another drink and stared back at Nero.

『Let’s see if you’ll ignore this face too, jerk.』

･･･

Down below, Nero smiled as Aldura talked.

It was always a pleasure to listen to her talk.

Not just because of her beauty, but because her elven accent and elegant tone.

"So, you really plan on staying in Larnia so you can help the refugees settle in?"

Aldura nodded. "It’s only right. They need a healer."

"Yeah, that’s fine then."

Nero scratched the back of his neck.

"Sometimes I forget you’re this selfless."

Aldura chuckled softly.

"Because I act like a sleazy bitch, you mean?"

"Eh—"

"Don’t worry, I take it as a compliment."

Then she smiled gently.

"What about you? Are you staying?"

Nero hesitated, glancing at Merlin.

She was seated far away, pouting at nothing in particular and pretending to be fascinated by her bottle.

It was a little overdramatic.

Nero sighed.

"Probably. Merlin looks like she wants to leave soon."

Aldura touched his cheek softly.

"Take care of her, then. She’s not one who wears her heart on her sleeve. She can be... difficult."

Merlin’s muffled voice drifted from afar:

"I heard that, elf bitch."

Aldura’s smile widened. "See?" ( · ❛ ֊ ❛)

Nero laughed. "Yeah, I see."

"Still, living with her isn’t a chore, right?"

Nero smiled. "Never could be."

Aldura patted his cheek affectionately.

"That’s the spirit, dear."

Just as she was about to leave, Eurvaine fidgeted nervously behind her.

"Oh—almost forgot."

Eurvaine froze mid-step.

Aldura reached into her brown satchel and pulled out a small, neatly bound tome.

"For your potioneering..."

She placed it into Nero’s hands.

"We talked a lot about it a lot, remember? So, you can uh... consider this homework."

[ⓘ Item Acquired: Elven Potioneering Tome]

‣ Contains rare formulas for minor pills and elixirs

Nero smiled.

"Thanks, really."

Aldura nodded and turned to Eurvaine.

"Let’s find the hospital."

"C-, Can I have a moment?"

Aldura shrugged.

"Be quick or I’ll start drinking."

Eurvaine stepped forward nervously.

"H-, Hi, Nero." (⸝⸝⸝﹏⸝⸝⸝)

"Hey."

They both tried to speak at once.

"Ah—sorry, you first!"

"No, you go—haha..."

Awkward laughter.

Then Eurvaine bowed deeply.

"I’m really sorry about everything I said before! I was rude, judgmental, and—and stupid!"

Nero waved a hand.

"It’s fine, really—"

"It’s not! I won’t do it again!"

He chuckled softly.

"I get it. Insecurity can make anyone make mistakes."

His handsome face turned solemn.

"Trust me, I know what that’s like."

She blinked. "You... do?"

"Sure. Feeling like everyone’s better than you. Like you’re the odd one out. Just because you look different from other kids or you don’t have what they want... so you just feel like you’re a mistake."

Eurvaine’s lips parted slightly. "Yeah..."

For a moment, they just looked at each other quietly.

Then, to break the awkwardness, she started fumbling with the robe.

"I-, I should probably return this. The robe."

Nero shook his head.

"Keep it. Just... return it to me next time."

Eurvaine’s eyes lit up.

"Next time? So... we’ll meet again?"

Nero smiled. "I hope so."

Watching from afar, Merlin made a gagging noise.

"Ugh, someone hand me a bucket." (˶˃𐃷˂˶)

When Nero turned toward her, she immediately looked away and started whistling.

[ⓘ The Next Day...]

The waking sky burned orange as the two horses trotted down the road.

Only Merlin and Nero now.

Most of the ride was silent.

Just uncomfortable, heavy silence.

Merlin drank lazily from her bottle while Nero gave her suspicious side-eyes every few seconds.

He wanted to speak. She didn’t.

A rare role reversal.

Finally, she broke first.

"Why did you give that hangover potion to Aldura?"

Nero blinked. "Eh?"

Merlin’s gaze shifted toward him.

"You gave me that potion first."

Her slender fingers fiddled with the reins.

"It made me feel... special." (/ᗜ/˰/ᗜ/)

She looked away, cheeks faintly pink.

"I’ve never had a student do that for me before. So when I saw you hand her the same thing, it... sucked. I thought it was our thing, you know?"

She fidgeted with the reins and looked down at them.

"I thought... it was our special thing..."

She was a little embarrassed.

Nero’s mouth opened.

"Wait, that’s why you’ve been ignoring me!?"

Merlin puffed her cheeks and looked away.

"A little..." (,,¬﹏¬,,)

She whispered it out in shame.

Like she knew it was such a dumb reason to do so.

Silence again.

Nero didn’t say anything for a full minute.

Merlin sighed as her shoulders drooped.

"Forget it. I—"

Then she froze.

Nero’s horse got close, and before she could react—

Chu♥️

He kissed her cheek.

Her eyes widened a tad, but she was still calm.

"What was that for?"

Nero smirked. "Our new special thing."

Merlin blinked.

Then her lips curled into a small, helpless smile.

She looked away, cheeks glowing red.

"Yeah. I like that."

[ⓘ Task Complete: Express your feelings to Merlin!]

[ⓘ Merlin’s Affection +5%]

‣ Reward: +300 EXP | B-grade Potioneering Kit

‣ Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!

[ⓘ Event Complete: The Red Dragon Incident]

‣ Rewards: 1,200 EXP | 500 Gold | Reputation +40 | A New Urban House | Shop Access | Dragon Egg

‣ Congratulations! You’ve leveled up!

The world around Nick suddenly froze.

BZZZZZZZZTTT!

Then it completely went haywire.

Everything started flickering like a broken screen.

The mountains, the sky, even the people nearby turned into glowing pixels and scattered into the air before everything went pitch black.

Then silence.

Nick gasped and blinked hard.

GAAAAAASPPP!

His vision cleared and he was back in his VR pod.

The helmet was still humming softly on his head.

"What the hell just happened!?"

He shouted like a mad man.

He quickly pulled up the login menu like an addicted drugie and tried to reconnect.

But...

Before he could even get past the loading screen, a red notification flashed in front of him:

[ⓘ Account Suspended!]

[You need a break. You’ve exceeded the maximum session limit of 38 hours. For your safety, this account has been banned indefinitely. Remember, our goal is to support a healthy balance between your in-game and real-life activities!]

Nick vibrated like an epileptic patient.

"No, no, no... you can’t be serious."

He hit the side of the helmet desperately.

"Come on, let me in!"

"I want to see Merlin again, things just got serious!"

"Didn’t you see the kiss—!? I need to be with her!"

The same message appeared again.

He tried once more.

Then again.

Each time, the warning became colder, stricter.

[ⓘ Final Warning: Further login attempts will only result in a permanent ban.]

Nick’s heart stopped.

He went stiff, then ripped the helmet off with shaky hands.

He sat there for a while, staring blankly at the floor.

"This is so unfair..."

All he could think about was Merlin—how close they’d been to something big.

And now... he couldn’t even say goodbye.