Reunion

Leonard figured everything out in the small hours of the morning, while the crimson moonlight still lingered and Backlund's steam trains had yet to begin running.

But Leonard could not wait. Night was the best time to dig up a grave, and he refused to wait another day. After hurriedly leaving a request for leave at Saint Samuel Cathedral, he set off.

By the time he reached Raphael Cemetery in Tingen City, dawn had arrived. Beneath the hazy light of the sky, Leonard knocked on the gravekeeper's door.

"I need a shovel," he said.

Once he showed his credentials, obtaining the shovel became a straightforward matter. Leonard carried it to a gravestone and stared at the inscription, remaining motionless for a long time.

Suddenly, he picked up the iron shovel beside him and drove it hard into the ground!

The piles of earth on either side gradually grew, and the grave was exposed little by little. Raphael Cemetery was deserted at dawn. Alone before the grave, Leonard dug forcefully into the soil, stroke after stroke, as though venting something.

At last, Leonard put down the iron shovel, bent over, and gripped the edge of the coffin lid.

He heaved, lifting the heavy wooden lid, only to find thick, long iron nails impeding him.

Leonard froze briefly, a thought forming in his mind. Perhaps I guessed wrong? Perhaps he-no, impossible. How could there be such a coincidence in this world!

Caught between hope and anger, Leonard heaved again. The wooden lid tore free of the coffin, nails and all, revealing the long-rotted corpse inside.

Leonard stood rooted to the spot, his entire body as still as a statue.

Immense disappointment engulfed him in an instant, followed by guilt and unease. He stood there for several seconds, then slapped himself hard across