In the center of Rezaira Village stood the town hall.
It was the gathering place for all the villagers when they celebrated feasts, and it was also where everyone had gathered when I first arrived in Rezaira.
The town hall was always bustling with people, whether it was the elderly sharing stories with each other in the winter months when there was little work to be done, or children coming together to play.
One late night.
It wasn't a feast, but the villagers had all gathered because they heard that I, their long-term guest, would be leaving soon.
"We're going to miss you, our dear child."
"Wherever you go, take care. You're a strong one; you'll do well no matter what you do."
"Leaving in the middle of the night? Why don't you wait until the day breaks?"
The elders embraced me and patted my back.
There were some who worried about my nighttime departure, but the majority, knowing it was Luna's decision, nodded their heads and said nothing.
"You've worked hard."
"It seems like you're leaving without ever having a proper rest."
"Let me grab you some potatoes. Just wait a moment."
"I should pack you some jerky. Stay here for a bit."
The men and women hurried back to their homes, returning with bags of preserved food for my journey, more than I could possibly carry.
"Why are you leaving so soon, big brother?"
"We didn't get to play with you much."
"Can't you just stay here?"
"I wanted to marry you when I grow up!"
"But you promised to marry me!"
"Ugh, you're ugly, Ulf!"
The children bickered amongst themselves, creating a chaotic din.
I wasn't familiar with how to handle children and had never properly played with them.
But as the saying goes, "time makes a thief"; I had been forced to play with them and had been pestered by them all day long.
I said goodbye to each person and finally stood before Arta and Lena.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes, I am."
Arta wasn't the sentimental type, just like me.
However, he had accurately assessed my situation and guided me on the path I should take.
Arta and I didn't have a tearful farewell.
We simply shook hands.
"May the blessings of the sun and moon be with you."
In a hushed tone, audible only to me, Arta whispered those words.
I had suspected as much, but it was clear that Arta knew about the Sun and Moon Sect, unlike Lena.
"You could have stayed a little longer. I'm sure you have your reasons for leaving so suddenly."
"Well, yes."
Lena blinked away tears as she spoke. In a way, Lena was just like the country girl I had imagined her to be.
She had taken care of me from a distance, neither too close nor too far.
"I never got to ask why you couldn't come with Ellen."
Lena wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled.
"Still, everything will work out."
I knew that believing so didn't necessarily make it true.
"If it doesn't, I'll make it work."
But without that much faith, nothing could be accomplished.
Everything would turn out well.
I would make it so.
Although I had stayed in Rezaira for a long time, my farewells were brief.
Because farewells should not be prolonged.
The villagers had given me so many things that Luna ultimately packed only the essentials into my backpack.
I slung the backpack over my shoulder and fastened the scroll book, which I had unstrapped for a long time, around my waist again.
I changed back into the traveling clothes I had
I put on the traveling clothes I had worn when I first arrived in Rezaira. Though I hadn't worn them in a long time, Luna had kept them clean.
The villagers waved at me from afar as I departed.
The outskirts of Rezaira.
Now, only Luna and Ronan stood by my side.
"My dear."
At Luna's words, Ronan nodded.
Ronan Artorious stood before me.
His imposing figure, with an intense scent of masculinity, was more like a grown man than a youth.
Though he was a man of few words and stern demeanor, he sometimes showed an incredibly tender side to Luna.
Luna wasn't particularly talkative either, but Ronan was especially taciturn.
It wasn't that he disliked me, it was just his nature.
"Reinhardt."
"Yes."
He placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Do you have confidence in making Ellen happy?"
At his candid question, I felt a lump in my throat.
It wasn't an easy thing for him to ask.
However, as difficult a subject as it was for Ronan to inquire about, it wasn't an easy question for me to answer either.
I had no idea what the future held.
"To be honest, not really."
"..."
Even if I died.
Even if Ellen died.
We would both be unhappy.
How could this twisted relationship be healed? I didn't know where to start, or what to do.
"But I will do what I can. If something seems impossible, I will find a way."
I didn't know how to find a happy outcome for both of us, but I would try. Just like when I found my way into the Master Class and achieved my goal.
If there was no way, I would find one somehow.
I wasn't confident, but I always tried to find a way, and I succeeded.
That was the best I could do right now.
Ronan gazed at me quietly.
"Well, the best advice I can give you, the best answer for you that you can hear from me is this."
"What is... it?"
"After observing you for a while, I give my approval."
It seemed like I had gained his acceptance as a son-in-law.
"Go, Reinhardt."
That was our final farewell.
"Follow me."
"...Yes."
After saying our goodbyes to everyone, Luna Artorious led me over the mountain ridge on the outskirts of Rezaira.
It was still winter, and I was only wearing the clothes I had arrived in.
Thinking about it, my body wasn't really affected by temperature, but I should have packed a sturdier coat.
Luna stood on the edge of the mountain, looking at me.
It was like the night I had met her under the moonlight while wandering the Sren Mountains. Even now, as I was leaving Rezaira, I found myself facing Luna under the moonlight.
"You won't need to set foot in Rezaira again."
"...Yes."
As she said, I would probably never return to Rezaira for the rest of my life.
Considering that it was uncertain whether I would be able to live that long, it was a luxury to worry about ever stepping foot in Rezaira again.
Here, I had not been the Demon King, but a mere guest.
A place where I only had to fear nature.
Life in the mountain village wouldn't be easy, but for me, who had lived a life full of fear and constant vigilance, Rezaira had been a haven.
A place where all I had to do was follow Luna's instructions.
There were times when I wished to live a life like this one.
It didn't have to be in Rezaira specifically, but I often thought that once everything was sorted out, I'd like to live a life where the only concerns were the weather today and tomorrow, and having enough food to last through the long winter.
However, this world was not meant for me.
I have my own world to live in.
That's why I could only be a guest in Rezaira, never a resident.
I must leave.
"Is there anything you'd like to say before you go?"
Things I'd like to say.
There were so many things I wanted to ask and so many things I wanted to say.
What is Sun and Moon clan?
Who are you?
Why do you possess such mysterious powers and yet not interfere with the world?
Several complex thoughts crossed my mind.
But there was one thing I wanted to say.
"I feel resentful."
"…?"
"I said, I feel resentful."
It may seem incredibly petty, but my honest feeling at the moment was that I was truly resentful, and I wanted to cry.
That's right!
I had been here for months, and as soon as my promotion to the master class was confirmed, they were practically kicking me out.
This was really beyond resentment! How could anyone be so heartless?
At my sudden outburst, Luna seemed at a loss and pursed her lips slightly.
"Well, you're resentful. So… what do you want me to do about it? What should I do for you…?"
"It's not about what you should do for me. You asked if I had anything I wanted to say, so I just told you. I feel resentful. That's it."
"I didn't expect you to say that. You have a cute side too, even if it doesn't seem like it."
"I know that too."
"…Huh."
At my response, Luna stared intently at me.
"I thought you'd ask about the secrets of the Sun and Moon clan… but it seems I overestimated you."
"I am only human, after all."
Honestly, I was just as curious about that.
But at this point, what does it matter?
No matter what I ask or say, Luna is a being bound by rules.
My questions might satisfy my curiosity, but they won't change anything in reality.
I had no clue about what Sun and Moon clan was.
"I think Sun and Moon clan might be… related to the vampires of Sun (Sunday) and Moon (Monday) that disappeared long ago."
I figured it out from the flame of Tuesday, and I realized that Eleris was an ancient archdemon.
It was hard not to suspect that Sun and Moon clan was a group connected to them, as the name suggests.
At my words, Luna stared at me silently.
"Do you want to know? About Sun and Moon clan."
The existence of Sun and Moon clan.
Its secrets.
"Of course, I want to know. Naturally."
Even if the satisfaction of curiosity can't change anything in reality.
Even if nothing changes, I was genuinely curious.
"Follow me."
Luna silently led the way.
The night in the mountains was pitch black, even with the winter moon overhead.
But she walked slowly and steadily, as if she could see through the darkness.
I followed her, making sure not to lose sight of her figure.
The place we arrived at was one I knew well.
During the summer, I had meditated beneath the waterfall.
The deep valley where the children used to splash in the water.
Since it was winter, the once-magnificent waterfall was frozen in place, and the valley was solidly iced over.
Luna stood atop the frozen valley, looking at me.
"Let me ask you."
"..."
Luna opened her mouth hesitantly.
"Do you think we're wicked?"
"..."
"Do you think we, who hide in the world, who turn our backs on the world's affairs, and even keep the village children in the dark about what chaos has befallen the world, are wicked?"
Luna did not seem to be arguing.
"I guess there's no reason to say we're wicked."
There isn't necessarily a reason they have to sacrifice themselves for the world. Just because they are strong or wield mysterious powers beyond understanding.
Even if their power can help the world, there is no inevitability that they must risk their lives to do so.
Still, it's true that they felt a certain cruelty.
Although they knew it in their heads, they couldn't deny that in their hearts they wished for a little help.
"At least, I am curious."
"About what?"
"Why you must hide. Why you must turn away."
I stared at Luna, who was quietly looking up at the sky.
"I can't help but think there must be some sort of inevitability to it."
"..."
She turned her gaze and looked at me. There was a law in the Sun and Moon Sect, and because of that, they didn't interfere in the world's affairs, but rather, they couldn't.
That's why when she tried to kill me in the past, she looked like someone who had firmly resolved herself.
She walked silently towards the frozen waterfall.
As she waved her hand, a path appeared as if the space within the waterfall opened up.
I had never seen a cave-like space behind the waterfall when I had been on the left side. It must have been revealed by her power.
Could it be that such a space existed behind this waterfall where the children had carelessly swum and played?
She walked into the suddenly revealed path, and I followed her.
As she flicked her finger, pale white magic lights began to glow in the dark corridor. No, I wasn't even sure if they were truly magic lights.
Luna walked between the pale lights of the magic lamps, spaced evenly along the massive corridor walls.
What was this place?
But I felt like I was getting closer to the secret of Rezaira.
"As you said, the Sun and Moon Sect is related to the ancient Vampire Lords named Sun (Sunday) and Moon (Monday). How much do you know about them?"
At her words, I nodded.
"I only know that they disappeared a very long time ago and that even the Vampire Lords don't know what kind of beings Sunday and Monday were."
Sunday and Monday.
Like Eleris didn't know what they were, neither did I.
"The desire of mortals for immortality is inevitable."
She walked silently down the corridor.
"It has been so since ancient times."
As we walked down the corridor, we soon arrived at a massive niche.
In the middle of it, there was something like a rag, but nothing was hanging on it.
She walked past the niche and continued.
The corridor continued once again, and I could see strange patterns engraved on the walls.
"Before the age of written records, humans existed, of course. Whether through shamanism, runes, rituals, or forbidden arts, the mysteries have been there since before human history began."
"Fearing death."
"Desiring eternal life is a universal wish among mortals."
Before the systematization of magic, before the practice of strengthening the body and mind under the name of Magic Body Strengthening became widespread, there were countless attempts in the distant past to attain immortality through research and experimentation.
"Such mysteries, countless incidents invoking powerful forces without fully understanding what they truly are."
"The end of such mysteries."
Luna and I soon arrived at another chamber after passing through the corridor.
This chamber was much larger than the one we had just left.
There were two sculptures in the chamber.
On the left, a hue that was both yellow and red, their colors intermingling and swirling together.
On the right, it shone with a blue, pure white, and pale yellow light.
It wasn't difficult to figure out what they represented.
The Sun (Sunday) and the Moon (Monday.)
They must have been symbolic representations.
"Granting strength and performing miracles to those who believe and pray, the origin of all beings and the final destination of mysteries."
The apex of mystery.
"Deity."
She approached the sculpture that symbolized the Moon (Monday) and gently placed her hand on it.
"In the distant past, when the gods had no names, people worshipped the moon and prayed."
"They asked for the eternal life of immortality."
"The moon bestowed the blessing of immortality they sought."
"However, they did not pray to the sun."
"They lived in a world where the dominion of the sun and the moon coexisted, praying only to one power."
"The sun may have despised such people."
"The reasons were complex, but the outcome was simple."
"Having desired immortality, they had to pay a fitting price."
"The moon gave blessings."
"The sun cursed a race."
"An immortal race that could not walk under the sun, and was cursed to continue their existence in a barbaric and despicable manner by taking the lifeblood of other beings."
"Do you understand what I'm saying, Reinhardt?"
Luna looked at me.
"Monday, the first vampire."
Vampires were beings that originated from a deity.
