Chapter 2

“Fifteen years?”

Valanus had existed fifteen years ago?

I couldn’t make sense of what the man was saying.

I grabbed him by the collar.

“When Valanus was still here, what happened to the children who lived in this house? What happened afterward? Tell me everything you know.”

“I-I don’t know! I just bought this place!”

The man struggled frantically, terror written all over his face.

The moment he said the building had been sold, all the strength drained from my body.

Valanus…

Sold?

And turned into a brothel?

I had no idea what had happened after my death.

Judging by his expression, this man truly knew nothing.

There was no point questioning him any further.

Nor did I want garbage like him remaining inside our home.

“…Get out. Take everyone who’s still here with you.”

The moment I released him, he stumbled out of the office in a panic.

Even after his footsteps faded away, I remained standing there for a long time, as if nailed to the floor.

The room reeked of sweet perfume.

It made my stomach churn.

Everything that had once filled this place in my memories was gone.

Only unfamiliar scents remained.

The laughter of my disciples…

No longer echoed through these halls.

I stood there in despair before finally forcing myself to move.

This wasn’t the time to wallow in grief.

I had to understand what had happened.

I had to find my children.

I headed into the city.

Fifteen years had passed, but perhaps some familiar faces still remained.

I needed to find someone who could tell me what had happened.

As I entered the downtown district, I spotted a restaurant that was still open.

Its signboard had aged, but I recognized it immediately.

Even after fifteen years…

It was still here.

The restaurant was quiet.

I sat at an empty counter seat, and the owner approached me.

She had grown from middle-aged into an elderly woman.

“What would you like to order?”

“…Soybean soup, please.”

I ordered something I used to eat often.

A strange look crossed her face.

“We don’t serve that anymore. Where did you hear about it?”

“I heard about it a long time ago.”

“…Is your father’s name Dain? You look exactly like him.”

Hearing my own name from her lips startled me.

Then again…

I really did look exactly the same.

I was simply twenty years younger.

Instead of correcting her misunderstanding, I nodded.

“Yes. My father told me about this restaurant. He said the soup here was excellent.”

“Huh. That’s surprising. He was so obsessed with raising his disciples. I never knew he’d had a kid.”

She chuckled and disappeared into the kitchen.

A place I’d been visiting only days ago…

Now looked as though decades had passed.

Fifteen years.

Fifteen years had truly gone by.

Why had I come back?

Why had I returned in the body of my twenty-year-old self?

Questions crowded my mind.

But there was something even more important.

“Here you are. The soup. The bread’s on the house.”

“Thank you.”

The warm soup sat before me, but I had no appetite.

I hadn’t come here to eat in the first place.

I turned to the owner.

“I have a few more questions. I came here looking for my father’s Domus.”

A Domus.

The place where my comrades, my disciples, and I had lived together.

A Domus resembled a guild in some ways, but there were important differences.

Guilds recruited proven professionals and operated as organizations focused on profit.

Members came and went freely.

A Domus, however, was closer to a family.

We took in orphaned and abandoned children.

We trained them through apprenticeship.

Whether they were geniuses or ordinary children, we accepted them equally as family.

My companions and I had been their teachers.

Their guardians.

Their parents.

I had to find my disciples.

“Are there still any members of the Valanus Domus living in this city?”

“Valanus collapsed fifteen years ago.”

“…How?”

The owner hesitated before answering.

“The city was attacked fifteen years ago. A lot of people died. All the adults of Valanus died too. There was no one left to take care of the children, so they all scattered.”

…No one?

None of the adults in this city had taken those children in?

The answer stunned me.

Valanus had maintained close relationships with many guilds and Domuses.

We’d had an excellent reputation.

“I visited the Valanus building. It’s a brothel now. Do you know how that happened?”

“I’m not sure. Some people say the brothel owner seized it by force. Others say he bought it. Though… if he really bought it, considering all the children were left homeless, he probably got it for next to nothing.”

I imagined how my disciples must have lived after my death.

My head spun.

Pressing a hand against my forehead, I asked,

“Do you know where the children ended up?”

“Hmm… Oh! Cesare is still in this city. He came back a few years ago and works as a mercenary.”

Cesare.

The image of his bright, innocent smile surfaced in my mind.

If fifteen years had passed…

He would be twenty-seven now.

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of man he had become.

“Do you know where Cesare lives?”

“Not exactly…”

“Could you ask around? Please.”

I placed fifty thousand baht on the counter in addition to the cost of the meal.

The owner pocketed the money with a friendly smile.

“I’ll ask my regular customers. Come back tomorrow.”

At least…

Cesare was still here.

That alone brought me some relief.

Once I’d learned that, another question surfaced.

The mysterious invaders who had attacked the city.

Who were they?

“You said the city was attacked. Do you know who the attackers were? Or why they did it?”

“Not really. I heard all the attackers died, so I don’t think anyone bothered investigating.”

No one had ever uncovered the reason behind that terrible tragedy?

The thought left me uneasy.

Then the invader’s dying words echoed once more in my mind.

“Still… I’ve broken the tree’s trunk. Someday… even its roots… and its new shoots…”

Those had unquestionably been his final words.

His voice had carried certainty.

As though everything wasn’t over yet.

Anger simmered quietly beneath my skin.

Who were they?

What had they truly wanted?

I needed answers.

But first…

I had to find my disciples.

In the end, I left the restaurant without touching the soup.

At least I’d learned where Cesare was.

What had become of the others?

What did they look like after fifteen years?

Gripping the necklace around my neck tightly, I continued walking.

“The word is that Cesare’s staying at the Horned Whale Inn.”

Around noon the following day, the restaurant owner greeted me with good news.

Thankfully, finding Cesare hadn’t taken long.

I’d spent the night inside the abandoned Valanus Domus.

I hadn’t slept much.

The brothel owner had sent men after me.

After beating them half to death and sending them back, I hoped they’d leave me alone for a while.

The Horned Whale Inn…

So it was still standing.

A strange nostalgia filled me as I walked toward it.

Cesare…

A mercenary.

It was hard to picture.

The Cesare I remembered had only just begun learning the sword.

A twelve-year-old boy who’d come running back with both hands full of wild raspberries, laughing with berry juice smeared all over his face.

His raspberry-red hair.

His olive-green eyes.

The memories remained vivid.

Would I even recognize him?

As I wondered that…

I arrived near the inn.

The front door suddenly burst open.

Someone came tumbling out.

A man rolled across the ground before crashing into a pile of luggage.

“You lunatic! Do you know how much you owe? You’ve got the nerve to come begging for booze in broad daylight? You damn alcoholic!”

The man shouting at him was someone I’d never seen before.

But…

The red hair.

The green eyes.

Those were familiar.

He looked to be in his mid-twenties now.

He’d grown so much over the years.

He had quite a sturdy build—

Well…

Maybe too sturdy.

He’d put on quite a bit of weight.

His belly stuck out noticeably.

And…

Judging by his receding hairline, he seemed to be starting to go bald.

Nothing like I’d imagined.

Even so…

Seeing my disciple fully grown brought tears to my eyes.

I felt my vision blur.

Perhaps sensing my stare, he turned toward me.

“Can I help you?”

“You’ve grown so much… I almost didn’t recognize you.”

I walked over and warmly took his hand.

He looked utterly bewildered.

“Huh? What are you talking about? You look younger than me…”

“That’s understandable.”

Smiling with relief and joy, I patted his hand.

“I’ve been worried about you. I kept wondering what had happened over these fifteen years. And now you’ve even opened your own business. I’m so proud of you, Cesare.”

“Cesare?”

His eyes widened.

Then his brows furrowed.

“I’m not Cesare!”

“…Huh?”

But…

The hair color was identical.

The eye color too.

The age.

Even the gender matched.

As I stared in confusion, he yanked his hand away.

“The Cesare you’re looking for is that guy! Let go!”

I released him in a daze and turned around.

Buried beneath the pile of luggage was the man who had just been thrown out of the inn.

Even while sitting, the broad-shouldered man looked remarkably tall.

His face was hidden beneath a hood.

With growing dread, I walked over and pulled it back.

The stench of alcohol hit me immediately.

It wasn’t even noon yet.

Unkempt crimson hair.

A filthy, overgrown beard.

His green eyes drifted unfocused like those of a hopeless drunk.

Every breath carried a foul odor.

Not just alcohol—

The smell of someone who hadn’t bathed in a very long time.

“Ah, fuck…”

“What the hell do you want?”

The thick curse rolled off his tongue.

He glared at me with the savage eyes of a beast.

My voice trembled.

“…Cesare.”

“…Are you Cesare?”

No…

It couldn’t be.

The Cesare I remembered had been a tiny, gentle child.

Whenever one of his masters came home smelling of alcohol, he’d shriek in horror and run away.

The enormous, bearded man glared at me.

He spat onto the ground.

“Yeah, I’m Cesare.”

“So who the hell are you?”

I stood there in stunned silence.

This…

This man was Cesare?

My gentle…

Kind-hearted disciple…?

[Illustration 1]