"Captain, just don't blame me later for dragging you into this. But this isn't an opportunity I gave you—it's one you gave yourself. If you hadn't quickly pulled yourself together after returning to Tobesk and then distinguished yourself in Middlesburg, there would have been nothing I could do even if I wanted to give you a chance."
Shade said, raising his glass to clink it with Captain Rades's.
At that moment, he suddenly felt something strange. The man before him, whose destiny had gradually changed because of Shade's arrival, might be one of the traces of the Outlander's existence in this world.
"Perhaps only when I see the calamity Captain Rades turned into in the Past will I truly understand what exactly I have done in this world."
He drained the low-strength ale. After setting down his glass, he saw Captain Rades looking through the window at the village children playing in the tavern stable, and asked:
"Captain, do you think future history books will record this meeting and conversation of ours?"
The captain looked at the children outside and gently shook his head.
"Detective, that's a truly weighty subject. But this must never, ever be recorded in history books."
After all, everything recorded in history books was far too heavy.
Captain Rades was still deeply grateful that Shade could offer him this opportunity. Rumors about Shade and the Duchess had long been everywhere. Since the handwritten letter had been brought by Shade, the captain would not have to worry afterward about being made a scapegoat or quietly dealt with.
The two sat in the tavern for a while longer, casually discussing the possible aftermath of the events to come, before finally saying goodbye and leaving at around eleven.
Since Grandma Cassandra's train would arrive in Green Lake City that