What the Wind Carried Away Was More Than Time

The merchant's carriage approached the city gate and was stopped by the guards responsible for inspections.

Hidden inside a wooden barrel, Mel Carlo naturally sensed that the carriage had come to a stop.

"Routine inspection. What are you carrying?"

"Just some goods." The merchant smiled and took thirty Auren from his coin purse, handing them to the guard.

The guard accepted the copper coins without counting them, merely weighing them in his hand before stepping aside. "All right, you may leave."

Thirty Auren was neither too much nor too little—just enough for a round of drinks. These merchants occasionally transported contraband, but it hardly mattered. Even if they caught a criminal merchant, there would not be much of a reward. It was better to maintain this relationship and skim a little profit for themselves.

With no one watching here, Carlo had already left the city. Meanwhile, Akai led the Old Sword Saint and the others to the gang's courtyard. Before they even entered, they caught the faint scent of blood. Chocolate was slumped outside the gate in terror, and another child beside him had been scared senseless as well.

"What happened?" The Old Sword Saint drew the sword at his waist.

"D-Dead... someone's dead." Chocolate crawled out through the gate, scrambling on hands and knees.

His calves felt like they were cramping. It was not as if he had never seen death before, but the terror of death did not disappear simply because one had witnessed it.

"Chocolate, where's Mel? Have you seen Mel?"

"I don't know. I only just got back." Chocolate climbed to his feet.

The Knight Order instantly surrounded the courtyard. The Old Sword Saint entered alone. Akai and Lily wanted to go in too, but both were stopped outside. If the enemy had not escaped yet, the courtyard was still dangerous.

They had known for some time that cultists had infiltrated the Imperial City, yet they had never managed to catch them.

Before long, the Old Sword Saint had inspected everything in the courtyard. The killer had acted decisively, striking the throat in a single blow and apparently taking the dead man's weapon as well.

The victim had clutched his throat, unable to stop the bleeding, and tried to resist with his last bit of strength. The enemy had leaped backward some distance. The footprints were light, like those of a child or woman, though an assassin could do the same by walking on tiptoe.

"Come in." Sword Saint Eugene called Akai into the courtyard.

"Do you know this person?" the Old Sword Saint asked Akai.

Akai was a little afraid to look, but he still made out the dead man's face. "He seems to be an investigator for the gang. He came before when they were investigating the duke's daughter's wallet."

"Your friend Mel does not seem to be here. I don't know whether he went into the city or was taken by the murderer. How old is your friend?"

"He should be about the same age as me," Akai replied.

The Old Sword Saint stroked his chin. In that case, the little fellow named Mel could probably be ruled out as a suspect. A child that young would find it difficult to kill an adult, especially with such a lethal method. A dagger had been thrown precisely into the neck, followed by a short sword thrust into the heart.

Only two attacks had been made in total. It looked more like the work of a seasoned assassin. It was common for someone to hire a killer to murder a member of the Imperial City Gang.

But the Sword Saint soon noticed the wound on the man's hand. It was a penetrating wound. How sharp would a thrown weapon have to be to do that?

Anke watched silently. He had probably guessed what had happened. If he had not gone out to join the excitement, perhaps things would not have come to this. Hopefully that kid Mel had already escaped. Was he really an Apostle?

"Go look for your friend in the city. If you can't find him, he was most likely taken away." Eugene did not ask further questions. This gang lieutenant who had just returned probably did not know what had happened either.

The Old Sword Saint did not possess a talent for appraisal. The traces he had noticed were all thanks to his keen senses, but as he aged, even he had become somewhat slower in that regard.

They searched for an entire afternoon without finding any trace of Mel Carlo. A person vanishing into a city was like vanishing into the sea—he had completely disappeared from the world.

"Try to think positively, child. Perhaps your friend isn't dead. He may merely have been taken away. I'll have people investigate this." The Old Sword Saint comforted him. If the other side was determined to hide their target, then with their current intelligence-gathering abilities, even mobilizing the Knight Order would make it difficult to find him.

Besides, he could not mobilize the Imperial Knights for such a reason. It was a matter of status—Mel Carlo was only an orphan.

But what benefit could there be in abducting an orphan? If he was merely a witness, they should have killed him outright.

"What about the other child?"

"Chocolate doesn't want to come with us."

"What a strange child. He doesn't want to go to the Church either?"

"No, he doesn't want to go anywhere."

"Everyone has their own aspirations. I'll have my friends in the gang look after him. And you will come with me to study in the Knight Order!" The Old Sword Saint left with Akai.

Lily followed Sister Clabel into the Church to train. They would still see each other often in the future, since they were all in the same city.

Though they were worried about Mel Carlo, there was still nothing they could do with their current abilities. Other than worrying, they could do nothing of any practical use.

May the gods protect you, Mel.

Lily chatted happily with the nun. This elderly nun was not as rigid and harsh as the others. On the contrary, she was very kind.

"Lily, you already worship the Goddess of Light. Entering the Church is entirely the will of the gods." The nun smiled and gently placed a hand on Lily's head.

"Yes, my family worships the Goddess of Light."

"Still, even those who worship the same goddess have now split into many factions... Never mind. Why am I telling a little girl such things?" The nun stopped before the gates of the Knight Order and changed the subject. "If we're talking about great changes, Eugene has changed the most. I can no longer see the confidence he once had in his eyes."

Lily fell silent. It seemed that the elderly nun before her had known Sword Saint Eugene when they were young.

"If Eugene had been born a little later, I believe he would have been the hero to defeat the Demon King. Unfortunately, when the Demon King reappeared in the world, he was already somewhat old."

"Is Lord Sword Saint very strong?"

"Some had better talent than him, but they all died along the way, so he became the Empire's strongest swordsman. But even now, I do not believe that being younger would necessarily have made him a match for the Demon King. I heard that when he returned, even his disciple had died. Yet that was not the Demon King himself, only one of the Demon King's subordinates." The old nun seemed to be reminiscing, comparing fragments of her youth with the present.

The wind carried away more than time. It also carried away those passionate days of their youth. They had grown old. How many more years could they live?

"Let's go, Sister Clabel," another nun attending her reminded her.

"All right, I know. Let's return to the Church first, little girl."

They headed toward the Church's convent. The monasteries for men and women were separate, though they occasionally met at the cathedral, which was the headquarters of the Church of Light in the Gard Empire.

Akai followed the Old Sword Saint into the Imperial Knights for the first time. Unlike the Royal Knight Order, the Imperial Knights existed entirely for war. They might not be particularly skilled at protecting targets, but they showed no mercy when killing.