After a long walk through the twilight streets of Veythral, Cassian and Cordelia entered the Cold Apple Tavern.

Inside, as always, was filled with the after work noise, the smell of food, and cheerful laughter.

Rod, Kael, and Eric were already seated at their usual corner table.

All three turned their gazes to them as Cassian entered, his hand held tightly by Cordelia, who was scanning her surroundings with curious but equally nervous eyes.

When Kael saw this sight, he grumbled as if to say, "Here we go again," and buried his head in the table.

Cassian, ignoring this reaction, approached their table and sat down, seating Cordelia beside him.

"Good evening," he started the conversation. Eric and Rod greeted Cassian in a friendly manner. Kael, however, muttered under his breath, thinking no one could hear, "You lucky bastard..."

"Did you say something, Kael?" Cassian asked, taking an apple slice from the fruit basket on the table. His voice was innocent, but his gaze was sharp.

"Nothing!" Kael replied, without lifting his head from the table.

Rod asked curiously, "How are things going with Julian, Cassian? Any progress?"

Cassian swallowed the apple slice. "I'd say I'm doing well so far. I've made quite a bit of progress. Human anatomy and spiritual matters are much more complex than I thought. But I still need time."

"I've always wondered what Fredrinn's friend was like," Rod said thoughtfully. "I wonder who he was in the past, behind that cold, distant demeanor..."

"When we bring Julian back, we can learn that from him personally," Cassian said.

Just then, the cheerful waitress approached their table. "May I take your orders, sirs?"

Cassian gave his order. "A well cooked fish and vegetable soup for me. And apple juice." Then he turned to Cordelia, who was curiously looking at the pictures on the menu beside him. "Is there anything different you'd like to eat?"

"No! I want to eat what you're eating!" Cordelia replied excitedly.

"Are you sure? I don't think you'll enjoy dealing with the fish bones," Cassian said, smiling.

"I'm sure!"

Cassian sighed. "Alright. Make that two of everything I said."

"Big bro! My desserts! You were forgetting me!" Nivelle zipped out of Cassian's chest in a bright, emerald green light and landed anxiously on his shoulder.

"I know, I know, you gluttonous fairy," Cassian said, rolling his eyes. He turned to the waitress. "For dessert, could you bring one portion of every kind of dessert you have?"

The waitress, who was staring in astonishment at the tiny, brightly shining Nivelle that had suddenly appeared on the table, was startled by Cassian's voice. "O of course! I'll bring it right away!" she said, hurrying away.

A short time later, the tavern door opened again. Fredrinn, Rose, and Hebi also arrived at the tavern and settled at the table. The group was complete.

Everyone's spirits were high from the hard won victory against Nerath and the hope of Julian's rescue. Jokes, talk of daily life, and plans for the next missions flew through the air.

Aside from the piercing, hateful glares Rose occasionally shot Cassian, everything was fine.

Even though he had defeated Nerath and saved Julian's soul, Rose still had not warmed up to Cassian and his influence over Fredrinn.

Cordelia noticed these hostile glances Rose was giving Cassian and, in return, fixed her blue eyes on Rose, hostilely, like a wolf protecting its territory.

She leaned close to Cassian's ear and whispered in a cold, emotionless voice: "Do you want me to kill that woman for you?"

Cassian almost spat out the apple juice he was drinking at her words. He whispered back in panic: "Don't you dare! Killing people is forbidden, Cordelia! What did I tell you! She's our friend!"

Cordelia, clearly not pleased with this answer, muttered, "She is not," and turned her gaze back to Rose. Just then, the food arrived.

As Cassian ate, he also watched Cordelia.

It was as if she was using a fork and knife for the first time in her life.

Trying to eat the fish, she had nearly wrecked everything on her plate. She was trying to clean the small bones, her face a mask of confusion and effort.

Cassian set his own food aside and called to Cordelia. "Give me the fish. I'll clean the bones for you. You drink your soup for now, it won't taste good when it gets cold."

"I can clean it myself!" Cordelia protested, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

A ruin boss who had lived for thousands of years and destroyed armies couldn't handle a simple fish bone.

"You can clean it yourself next time," Cassian said, smiling. "For now, watch me and learn."

After a moment's hesitation, Cordelia adopted a meek attitude and did as Cassian said, handing him her plate. Kael muttered "lucky bastard" again. He was ashamed that a little kid was further ahead in his love life than he was.

The table was more full of life than it had been in a long time.

Nivelle was eagerly stuffing the mountain of dessert in front of her into her small stomach.

Eric and Hebi were deep in a heated discussion about new trade routes to bypass the Empire's trade embargo on Veythral.

Rose, as always, was striking up conversations with Fredrinn, trying to get closer to him.

Everything was, for the first time in a long time, perfectly peaceful.

It was Rod who broke the cheerful atmosphere at the table. "Hey, Cassian," he said, leaning forward curiously. "You never told us what happened in that last ruin you went to. Sounds like it would be a good story for tonight, what do you say?"

Kael stopped playing with his food. His mood lifted as if he had heard something fun. "Yeah! I'm curious about that too. What exactly happened to you in the last ruin? Fredrinn doesn't tell us much."

"I can't say I'm very good at storytelling," Cassian said, trying to shake off the curious gazes. He did not want to remember that day.

Eric chimed in. "Actually, I'd love to hear this story too. When I asked Fredrinn, he just gave vague answers like, 'It was tough.' He said you did most of the work."

"Leave them alone," Rose interjected. "If they wanted to tell us, they would have told us long ago."

"Come on, Rose," Rod said, laughing. "We all know you're the most curious one here."

"No, I'm not!" Rose said, feigning calmness.

This time it was Kael who spoke. He pitched his voice in a fake, high tone, imitating Rose. "Ahaha, liar! The one who gets drunk at the tavern every night like a girl separated from her lover, saying, 'I wonder how Fredrinn is right now? Is he safe with that monster?' w-"

"SPLASH!"

Before Kael could finish his sentence, a water ball created by Rose hit him right in the middle of his face.

Kael, from the force of the blow, toppled backward in his chair.

Rose's face had turned bright red. She turned to Fredrinn in a panic. "Fredrinn, I just..."

Before Rose could finish, Fredrinn spoke. "If you're all so curious, I suppose I can tell you."

He turned his gaze to Cassian and Cordelia. "It's not a problem for you, is it?"

"It's fine with me," Cassian replied, shrugging. Cordelia, as if imitating Cassian, said, "It's fine with me, too."

Upon this, Fredrinn began to recount everything that had happened to them from the moment they entered that ruin.

The dog faced monsters, the tragic pictures on the walls, the sudden trap of the seven Ruin Bosses, Cassian's terrifying transformation, and the true face of Nerath...

Everyone at the table held their breath, listening intently. There was no trace of Kael's boredom or Rose's embarrassment.

When the story ended, there was a deep silence at the table. All eyes were on Cassian.

"Did you... really kill a god?" Hebi asked, unable to hide the admiration in his voice.

"Seeing as we're here safe and sound, I must have," Cassian said, nonchalantly.

"Sorry, it's not that we don't believe you," Eric said, still in shock. "It's just... believing that a person killed a god... it sounds too extraordinary."

"So that god... Nerath... how strong was he?" Eric asked.

"I don't know," Cassian said. "He was definitely much stronger than a demigod. But... he wasn't the strongest person I've ever faced."

Cassian's mind went to the past, to that silver haired bastard. Even though he had once taken Cassian's life, he still didn't even know his real name.

When the conversation about the war and the ruin ended, the talk inevitably shifted to Cordelia.

"So... are you telling us that Cordelia was once the boss of that ruin?"

This time, all eyes were on Cordelia. Cordelia, clearly not liking so many gazes fixed on her, shifted uncomfortably in her seat and snuggled a little closer to Cassian's arm.

Cassian, noticing the situation, interjected. "Yes. Her situation could be said to be similar to Julian's. She was under Nerath's control."

"Wait... how long was she under Nerath's influence?"

"An estimated... thousand years or so, I guess," Cassian replied, as if he were talking about something very normal.

"HUH?" Everyone at the table reacted at the same time.

This time, even Fredrinn was surprised. He knew almost nothing about Cordelia, other than that she was a ruin boss. The only person who had knowledge of her tragic past was Cassian.

Realizing that more questions about Cordelia were coming, Cassian shut down the topic.

He did not want to test Cordelia's patience any further. They steered the conversation back to ordinary things, and the night continued with laughter and stories.

Hours had passed since that cheerful dinner at the tavern.

Cassian had returned to the room he had rented at the tavern and tried to sleep. But sleep just would not come.

He lifted his head from the pillow and looked at Cordelia, who was asleep in the next bed. Unlike Cassian, she was sleeping soundly, hugging her pillow, with the peace that came from feeling safe after thousands of years.

Cassian quietly got out of bed. He walked to the open window and stepped out.

He transformed into his crow form and landed on the roof of the tallest building in Veythral.

Then he returned to his human form, that white haired, red eyed form, and lay down on his back.

He fixed his eyes on the sky. The moon, bright and majestic as always, hung in the air, illuminating the dark city below.

No matter how many times he watched this view, he always watched it with the same awe as if he were seeing it for the first time.

In that battle with Nerath, Cassian had lost a part of his soul and his memories.

And if those nightmarish prophecies were true, he would lose much more in the near future.

He had prepared himself for this. But every time he thought about it, a fear pierced his heart.

When he forgot everything and turned into a completely different, cold monster, what meaning would the things he fought for have? At the end of the road, his hands would be stained with the blood of millions of innocent lives, he would have only a few years left to live, and he would be no different from a numb monster.

Cassian extended his hand toward that bright moon, as if he could touch it, and whispered:

"One day... if I forget who and what I am, even if I turn into a monster... I hope you continue to light up my world."

________________________________________

Author's note🧣:

Vol.1 has now come to an end.

Thank you all for reading and staying with me up to this point.

Now… it feels like the time for true revenge has finally arrived, doesn't it?

The Frosthelm Arc begins now!

Also, I'm curious:

After the Frosthelm Arc, would you prefer the main character to join an academy, or travel freely across the world?

Don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.