"Paris," Oenone sighed.
She looked at him sadly.
"Stop letting that ill-starred girl, who brings calamity wherever she goes, lead you astray. Philok lost his life because of her."
"I've already led you into a mistake. I can't let you keep making it."
"If you stay with her, you'll become an accomplice, a villain the Okhma people will hate forever."
"I understand, Elder Oenone."
Paris looked brightly at the Heavenly Condemnation Hunters and smiled.
"I see it clearly now. You're the girl I've been searching for."
"Your authority can keep me away from the battlefield and the nightmare of Strife."
"We can hide together on Dawn Cloud Cliff and live in peace under Kephale's care!"
"When the Black Tide recedes and Strife is defeated, we can ride in a carriage adorned with flowers and fruit, our noble status opening the way, to search for the land of Romance..."
"That is the true Arcadia."
Oenone smiled with relief.
"I'm touched that you feel that way."
"My homeland witnessed that place. I'm sure I can help you find it."
"But right now, a puppet of Strife has no place in Okhema..."
They both turned toward the silent Heavenly Condemnation Hunter.
"..."
Castrum Kremnos.
Few people remained in the city.
The festival registrar stood outside the great hall and called out:
"Today is the final day of the festival. Is anyone else here to take the challenge?"
"I am."
An unremarkable gladiator stepped forward and said in a low voice:
"I'll take the challenge."
At the edge of the gleaming road, Yan Huan saw that someone still wanted to enter the festival and thought the man had lost his mind.
Even a fanatic chasing Strife should have gone to the battlefield and spilled his blood on Okhema's soil.
Dying in this wretched