A Time to Part

The next day, Lux told Sona that she would be going on a long trip.

Then she learned from Sona that, on Mrs. Buweier's recommendation, Sona had also just joined the Illuminators' choir, becoming the orchestra's reserve organist.

Though "choir" made it sound like a singing group, the Illuminators' choir was actually the finest musical ensemble in all of Demacia. It was called a choir, but in truth it was a complete orchestra of exceptional scale and caliber.

After all... an orchestra that could afford an organist needed an organ, at the very least—and organs were often built into entire churches or auditoriums.

For that very reason, the organist was one of the choir orchestra's most important roles, second only to the conductor and lead singer. Sona was only a reserve organist, and the third reserve at that, but considering her age, it was still an honor worth taking pride in.

After learning that her friend had a new duty of her own, the sadness of parting between Lux and Sona naturally eased somewhat.

I'm going to help with disaster relief, and you're going to be a musician. We both have bright futures ahead of us—in that situation, even though this was their first time parting, it somehow felt like the beginning of another journey.

And so, what had been a rather sorrowful farewell soon turned into two twelve-year-old girls holding hands and chattering excitedly about their imagined futures.

This time, Karya didn't spoil the mood by suggesting that they make up for missed lessons. He simply listened quietly as they chattered away.

Twelve years old. What a wonderful age.

In Karya's previous life, on Blue Star, twelve was still elementary school age. Girls who matured early had started caring about their appearance, while boys would launch into debates about "who's stronger" in any context, arguing over matchups that could never happen.

For these elementary schoolers, parting might mean a classmate transferring to another school because of a change in their parents' work. Even if they couldn't yet grasp the true meaning of goodbye, they would still feel a pang of sadness.

When Karya had first arrived in Runeterra, twelve was the age at which children had just survived infancy and could be given a name. Twelve-year-olds were counted as members of their tribe and half-fledged laborers for the first time. They also lost their exemption from being killed if their tribe was wiped out.

In that age, when civilization was still mired in ignorance, Karya had been transported to Runeterra. While advising Setaqa, all he could do was try his hardest to be the leader of the children and protect these "older kids" who had just begun stepping into a cruel world.

In Demacia's noble families today, twelve was likewise the age when children were expected to take on responsibility. That was especially true of precocious young noblewomen: soon they would feel the first sparks of love, only for their families to extinguish the flames just as quickly.

Thousands of years had passed. Though Karya had once been tormented by his failures, he still believed that the wheels of history would keep turning...

Though the Void had infected and corrupted him, Karya could at least still be a teacher, passing the seeds of hope onward.

That was enough.

With that thought, Karya simply joined the conversation, teasing Lux and Sona about some of their more far-fetched fantasies.

"Become a dragon rider? Lux, do you really know anything about dragons? Those elemental beings are nothing like drakehounds—"

"None of your business!"

"Hold a concert in Placidium? Sona, you'll have to practice more Ionian religious music. Those solemn melodies aren't easy to play..."

"I'll do my best."

"..."

"..."

Beside the pond in the Crownguard family's garden, Karya finally stood among Lux and Sona as a true friend (meaning he was stuck in the bank), speaking freely with another generation of young people.

Just as he had three thousand years ago, on cold nights in the Great Sai Desert of Shurima, when he sat by the campfire with the orphans without families whom the tribe had taken in, helping them create their own writing system.

Just as he had two thousand years ago, at the first human university in Shurima City, when he defied the royal family and announced publicly that the school would always open its doors to anyone.

Just as he had a thousand years ago, amid the raging Rune Wars, when he had barely managed to awaken and guide his wielder, leading that group west to hide in the Rune Woods.

Karya wasn't exactly a successful man.

Having crossed over in his own body, he had done little credit to his identities as an Ascended and a transmigrator in either strength or talent. He was frail and couldn't sense magic. Even after his Ascension, he could only fight with his own physical attributes.

He had devoted himself to mending the rifts between different peoples, yet had ultimately failed to stop the Icathians from growing estranged. Though he had always treated students from every region equally, he couldn't stop the other Shurimans from acting with pride and prejudice.

The Rune tree he had so carefully nurtured had become Darkin in the war before it could bear fruit. His thousand-year plan had ended in failure, and in the end he could only barely protect some of the refugees caught in the Rune Wars.

But no matter how many times he failed, Karya still hadn't lost hope after waking once again!

He didn't yearn for a powerful body, nor did he plan to throw his weight around while he still had his wits about him.

He much preferred staying beside children like he was now, laughing and bickering with them, then secretly remembering their embarrassing moments and holding them over their heads. In the silliest, lightest way possible, he recorded every step of their growth, reminding them not to forget the past and not to betray who they once were.

The Void's corruption was nothing to worry about.

As long as he could wake up again, Karya was more than willing to sow the seeds of hope once more and loosen the soil around these young shoots.

Until one day, the twelve-year-old children of Runeterra no longer had to bear burdens they shouldn't have to carry.

Long, long ago, Setaqa had asked Karya why he did all this. That time, Karya hadn't answered.

Because, to him, this was simply how things should be.

It was just that what Karya considered obvious seemed impossibly distant to many people.

That was all.

Three days later, Lux took her sword, packed her belongings, and boarded a carriage bound for Silvermine City in the northern frontier, escorted by a squad of elite guards.

The young girl who had left Demacia City was both excited and sad. As she watched the scenery pass outside the carriage window, she chatted endlessly with Karya about her upcoming trip to Silvermine City. She was so worked up that she even started spouting nonsense, without knowing herself what she was saying.

Fortunately, Mr. Kuren spoke up and interrupted Lux. Though the loyal old steward wasn't a Crownguard, he still held considerable standing within the Crownguard family. Ogesha's decision to send him along showed just how seriously she took this trip.

Mr. Kuren generally handled administrative work as the family's steward of external affairs, more like a "professional manager." He couldn't exactly be said to have "watched Lux grow up," but he still held his young, renowned charge in high regard.

Especially when he saw that, though Lux was leaving Demacia City for the first time and her eyes shone with longing and excitement as she gazed out of the carriage, she remained composed.

As expected of our little Crownguard princess!

Now that they had some time, he needed to tell Lux more about taxation. Compared with the flexible handling of disaster relief and the firsthand inspection of the disaster, auditing the accounts was undoubtedly the most specialized task on this trip.

Faced with Kuren's patient instruction, Lux could only stop her private rambling with Karya and turn to her lessons, studying respectfully.

And what a lesson it turned out to be.

Lux's performance left Kuren, who had prepared to teach her the whole way, utterly stunned.

In Kuren's eyes, his young mistress was simply gifted!

This was her first time seeing a ledger, yet she could sort everything out with mental arithmetic, even applying what she'd learned to spot discrepancies.

Kuren himself couldn't find problems that quickly!

Could it be... Madam hadn't been telling the truth? Had she taught Lux before?

That didn't make sense. Madam had no reason to play a joke on him.

Besides, Lux really did seem to be seeing this for the first time. She couldn't even draw the symbols commonly used in bookkeeping...

Though he had some doubts, Kuren was clearly even more respectful now. Before, he'd respected Lux because of her status. This time, he respected her ability.

If Kuren knew what was actually going on, he would have been bitterly disappointed—and might even have beaten his chest in frustration.

Lux was gifted?

What the heck did she know about auditing accounts!

Only someone like Karya, who had spent years in charge of logistics, could make sense of everything so easily.

Karya hadn't wanted to help Lux with this.

Even if Lux begged him, he wouldn't have done it.

But when Lux pointed out that she had already missed a lot of lessons, Karya immediately and without hesitation took over.

Hey, what was your name again... Kuren, right? Teach her!

Once you're done, you can leave.

Lux still had make-up lessons to do after that—she'd missed her magic lessons while attending all those farewell banquets over the past few days!

Watching Mr. Kuren hurry off, Lux couldn't help giggling to herself.

And Karya didn't seem to realize that helping Lux audit the accounts made him look just like a math teacher filling in for a P.E. teacher.

It seemed that if you were a teacher long enough, you were bound to pick up a few occupational habits.

This chapter introduced a little of Karya's past. Of course, there's more to come, in the form of other people's memories, stories, and Karya's own half-true boasts.

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