"So you met Captain Tsubaki, huh?" asked the clergyman.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzKNqodudhC
"Wait, you know him?" responded Eva in question.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡibDBJr50tZ
"Most people here in Mumei know of him," stated the young priest. "He fought in the Great War and now serves under good King Aredor, after all."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5kzqt8Qgm
"Woah..." breathed Eva. I'm quite surprised. He looks so young."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaUDdSnMzSm
"Yes, he does. However, I suppose most Faerith Leid look youthful in comparison to a human."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5eFKsya7j
"Wait, how do you know I'm human?" she asked.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4j6bl99Rde
"Well..." began the clergyman. "You're from Aleilyo, but you carry no significant aspects of the nymph and naiad creatures from that country."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ExhzGj5MU
"But, how do you know where I'm from...?"
The young clergyman laughed heartily.
"I'm surprised you trusted me so easily, Miss Evangelique," said he. "You don't even know my name, and you hardly seem suspicious of me."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKGDEFFnbn
"Uhm, yes, well..." fumbled Eva. "I suppose it's just that-"448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO1n0COKXIg
"Do you suppose you can trust me because I'm a Hitsujikai?" interjected the young priest.
Evangelique stopped her walking. Snow clung to her boots as her movements halted.
"You shouldn't be too trusting of who I am, just because I am wearing the garments of a man who has vowed to teach Elohim's words," he began.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsIUTjBHRkr
"There are many wolves who dress as I who preach falsely and many snakes who commit heinous crimes, yet act as if they have done no wrong."
The young priest looked at her with a soft smile.
"Even one such as I have committed evil deeds."
Evangelique choked on her breath and began to cough. She was taken aback by his sentence.
"Ah, miss, are you okay?!" asked the young clergyman, worried.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EyT9WwXK7
"Y-Yeah..." replied Eva. "Do you tell everyone you meet that?"448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOqidrEvMQ
"Oh!" exclaimed he. "Uhm...not usually. Or rather, not like I just did."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7vqRD9Yc2
"Then why did you tell me that so abruptly?"448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhuGGsegrP
"Ah...well..."
He turned his gaze away from her, awkwardly as he lifted his right hand to his head to touch the back of his neck.
"That's because you're a part of my team," he stated. "I suppose I just needed you to know that."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOlbutpNch
"Wait," replied Eva. "So, if you're a part of my team..."
Evangelique recalled her fellow teammate, Cyril, talking about a team member who wasn't there to welcome her.
"You're the guy who worries that he'll worry his wife!!" exclaimed Eva, pointing at him.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxSRBfHggy
"So that's what they've decided to coin me as..." replied the young priest, slightly embarrassed. "Did they tell you my real name?"448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEfLo5lu1R
"Ah, yes!" said Eva. "It was Ago, correct?"448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDOz1769L9
"Yes, that's right, Sister Evangelique," responded the clergyman, Ago.
Evangelique looked at Ago, puzzled.
"Sister Evangelique?" asked Eva.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuZMY856eOj
"Ah, I usually call my teammates and those I hold dear my brothers and sisters," replied Ago. "I apologize if that is a bit strange to you."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNdO71oh3L
"No, no, it's quite alright!" assured Eva. "I don't have any siblings, so it feels nice to know someone in this world calls me family."
She looked at Ago, who looked ahead with a peaceful smile. She gasped.
"Just a moment," began Eva. "But does that make me the big sister or little sister? You are very young looking, after all."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUu6vWL0nP
"Haha..well, that's very kind of you," replied Ago. "But you see, I'm 36 years of age..."448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Leq03rKoS
"No way!" responded Eva, taken aback once more. The priest looked more like he was 18 years old rather than 36. "How is that possible?! You are human, right?"448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8wP2l5k3U
"Y-Yes...I'm human, but I don't like talking about why I look so young..."
He laughed shyly, and Eva prepared to say another thing.
As they walked onwards in the snow, the day died down, but their conversation grew, much like the flickering flames in the lampposts around them.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiqFDHti9V
448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUqZBdEutB
In the night, Eva sat in her room, brushing her hair. She had eaten dinner with all her teammates, except for Ago, who said he had to get home so he wouldn't worry his wife (or rather, so he wouldn't be so anxious about worrying her).448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNLM8Dr4F6
After their meal, they all talked together as if they had known each other for a long time.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjXpsx4o4u8
Yasha and Althia shared information on the latest events going on in their work. Augustine rambled about a strange, scientific theory and in order to stop him, Cyril sang a tune he had composed only a few days before.
'I'm so surprised by how kind everyone is...′ thought Evangelique.
She sighed out of contentment and sat upon her bed. The golden camellia rested on her nightstand, still glowing. Evangelique picked it up and held it close to her.
She remembered the young man she met.
Tsubaki.
His heart was in despair, and now, Eva had a better understanding of why.
'It's so hard losing someone special to you...' thought Eva, empathetically. 'And to have to take their responsibilities must make it even worse.'
Evangelique's mind wandered through an ocean of thoughts.
Who did Tsubaki lose? A family member? Lover, perhaps?
Why of all people was she chosen to become a Lieutenant beside him?
How was she to balance her responsibilities as a teacher and a Lieutenant?
Now knowing that she had received the Hamadryad powers she had lost before, what was she to do?
Evangelique's mind began to drift, her words inside becoming like the sound of peaceful waves.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFtkhwyV2wQ
Lying down in her bed, she felt her eyelids grow heavier. The pattering of fresh snow against her bedroom window set her at ease.
Holding the golden camellia closer to her chest, Eva began to murmur a prayer. She slowly drifted away, the contents of her prayers becoming unrecognizable to the human ear, but fully heard by Elohim, the one who held her in safety as she slept.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KoyrvEnWV
448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpplmqEYR5
A scraggly, bearded man laughed coarsely as he ran in the moonlit snow.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOML3UMIDQ0
Close to his chest, he held a glimmering dagger stained with the blood of a once breathing body.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngRn69mPTj
"There's no way he can haunt me now..." cackled the man.
SLASH!
The metallic sound of a blade flew past the once fleeing man. He let out a shriek as continued running. Three more blades rushed in the wind towards him, one making its way into the man's left shoulder.
"GAH!" coughed out the man, falling to his knees.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxOSInhPHG
"You lack of strength surprises me," said a gentle yet chilling voice.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCW3qz9GOH
"Y-You!" spat out the man.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIZYELdF1Z
"You must know, you have committed an unforgivable crime, according to the law," said the chilling voice, ignoring the scraggly man.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKbboptZGZ
"B-But you can kill me, can you?!" cried out the man. His eyes were wide and deranged. 448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4zN4GzhTP
"I'm not taking down an innocent man, so I have no qualms concerning your death," replied the voice. He took out a sword from the scabbard on his right hip. It glistened in the moonlight as it was raised up into the air.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKgITSkOTo
Shortly after being raised, the blade fell, and a sickly scream crawled out of the man's mouth.448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHZMUt41HJ
Blood trickled, dying the snow red. In the light of the moon, the blood was as bright as blooming roses.
Traumatized eyes looked up, surprised by the agony that coursed through its body. The silent and cold figure loomed over the body, staring at it with sharp eyes of regret and disgust.
Was it still worth it to try and stay alive?448Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFJw9IpYVU
