CHAPTER 64………………
“Owen, were your eyebrows and hair white ever since you were born?”
“…”
“Why?”
“You’re the first person to ask me that outright.”
“What, am I not allowed to? What’s the big deal about white hair? Do you know how many people desperately bleach theirs and can’t even manage it?”
“Lady Adel, really… who on earth does that?”
“There’s a place you don’t know about. Plenty of them there.”
Adela brushed it off casually as she set up the tent.
Pitching and striking camp over and over was troublesome, but without a tent, surviving in the winter mountains was impossible.
Once Owen and the expedition members joined in, the large tent went up quickly.
Luspel, who had been watching idly from the side, trudged over.
Even with just a cloak on, he didn’t look the least bit cold.
“Adel, are you done yet? My legs hurt.”
“You really have the gall to say that to me while I’m shivering and working?”
“You endure cold with grit.”
“…Try undoing that warming spell on your body before you spout crap like that!”
“I’m a mage. Unlike you dumb sword-swingers.”
“You bastard…! Swordsmen are sensitive too! So sensitive it feels like I’m about to freeze to death, so hurry up and put a warming spell on me!”
“Ugh, you’re so noisy… Fine, fine, I’ll cast it. Happy now?”
“You’ll do it for the others too, right?”
“Waste mana on those idiots? Are you insane?”
“…”
Even at Luspel’s heartless reply, the expedition members barely reacted.
Partly because they were afraid of him, partly because they were already used to his habit of treating everyone with equal contempt.
“Just go already. We’ll call you when it’s finished. Get out of my sight!”
“Why the hell are you yelling when I said I’d do it?!”
Snapping back, Luspel stomped off.
Adela watched his retreating back and let out a long sigh.
“Because of him, I can’t sleep. I keep worrying he’ll get himself stabbed one of these days.”
“Hahaha!”
The members burst out laughing here and there. Owen stifled a laugh and kept working quickly.
The tent was finished in no time.
While warming his frozen hands over the campfire Salamander lit, a warm blanket was draped over his shoulders.
“You’ll catch a cold again at this rate.”
The one most vulnerable to cold, Owen, looked back with a smile.
“Thanks, Adel. Where’s the courier?”
“He went hunting rabbits with Pell and the men.”
“Lord Luspel too?”
“Pell’s the lunatic who insisted we must have rabbit stew tonight.”
“Ah…”
“Since he begged for it, maybe Luspel will actually use his detection magic for once. Anyway, why are you shivering so much? Still cold?”
“Yes… a little.”
“Sylph, block the wind. Salamander, stoke the fire.”
- Done blocking, Lady Adel.
- Ugh, this is such a pain. Can’t he regulate his own body heat?
- Lizard-for-brains… how many times do I have to tell you? Humans can’t regulate their temperature like us!
- And why the hell not? What are they, idiots? Don’t you think so, Gnome?
- …
Adela’s spirits started bickering again.
Owen, as always fascinated by them, spoke up.
“It used to be black.”
“Ah, cut it out, you guys! Hm? Owen, what did you just say?”
“My hair. It used to be black.”
“Huh? Then you dyed it? What about your eyebrows?”
“I didn’t dye it.”
“Then what?”
Owen’s mother had been a tavern worker.
He was too young to remember her face clearly, but he still remembered her rough hands, the shadows under her eyes, and the warmth in her voice.
“My son, who did you get this pretty face from, hmm?”
Then, one day, she came back slung over the tavern owner’s back.
Unconscious.
Her whole body was covered in bruises, her face so swollen she was unrecognizable.
“Found her in the back alley. Must’ve picked a fight with thugs… I’m sorry.”
But she wasn’t unconscious.
She was dead.
Owen held his mother’s cold hands and prayed.
He didn’t even know who to pray to—he just clasped his hands and begged.
“Please, someone save my mom! Somebody help me! Anyone, please!”
He prayed and prayed, until suddenly, light burst from his body—
And he blacked out.
What followed was five days of excruciating agony, so severe he couldn’t even scream.
He didn’t know why it hurt.
He only knew that when he finally came to, his hair had turned stark white.
“When I woke up, a priest was already at my side. Apparently the light I gave off was strong enough that he came running when he heard the rumor.”
“To take you to the temple?”
“That, and because… if no priest helps with divine power during Awakening, the pain can kill you. He rushed over to save me.”
“And your mother…”
“She was gone. My divine power wasn’t enough to bring someone back to life.”
“…”
“Don’t look like that. At least my divine power manifested in time to send her off with a purified body.”
Owen turned his gaze to the campfire.
“I don’t regret it. Except for the hair turning out like this.”
“What’s wrong with your hair?”
“People always stare at me strangely. Honestly, it’s embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing?”
“Why?”
“That hair is proof of how much you loved your mother. If it were me, I’d be proud.”
“…”
Owen stared quietly at Adela, then smiled softly.
And he swore to himself—if Adela were ever in danger, he’d save her, even if his hair all turned white, even if it all fell out.
“Everything you say is always right, Lady Adel.”
The moment he answered, the sky and ground suddenly twisted together, and the scene changed.
Corpses. Corpses. Corpses.
He was standing in a village massacred by beasts.
“No… this can’t be. How could anyone do this…?”
“Owen, we don’t have time. The Demon King’s already gotten far ahead.”
“I can’t… I can’t just leave them like this! We can’t abandon these poor souls on this frozen land… Hhk!”
Then, snow began to fall thick and heavy from the sky, covering the gruesome sight in pure white.
Where even God turned His back, Adela did not.
“Owen, come on. We need to hold their funeral.”
Owen couldn’t tear his eyes from Adela’s faint smile.
His chest was about to burst with awe, grief, and tears all at once.
From that day on, the “god” in Owen’s heart was Adela.
Every morning when he awoke, he checked his divine power, afraid God might notice and take it back.
Without it, he’d have to leave the expedition. A priest who couldn’t heal would only be a burden.
But strangely, the power remained. No—if anything, it grew stronger.
As though it were proof he was walking the right path.
The scene changed again.
To the day of utter despair, when everything ended.
“…N-no. Lady Adel, it’s not true, right? I must be mistaken…”
“It was filthy being with you. Let’s never meet again.”
“Lady Adel…?”
The land that swallowed both the Demon King and Adela was silent.
“No… this can’t be. It’s not true, right? Lady Adel, don’t joke like this! Come out! Lady Adel? Adel…”
The world collapsed.
“Adel!!!”
Blink. Blink.
Tears ran hot down his temples the moment Owen opened his eyes.
Through the blur of water, the ceiling swayed into focus.
“Brother Owen! You’re finally awake!”
“Brother Ducker? How did I get here… Ugh!”
“Whoa there! Don’t move your hands carelessly! Let me help you.”
With Ducker’s support, Owen sat up against the bedframe.
“What happened?”
“Yesterday, His Third Highness and Master Luspel brought you back. The whole house was in an uproar. We were terrified.”
Priests called the temple “home,” and every fellow cleric was “brother.”
“I’m sorry… because of me…”
“Oh, come on, it wasn’t your fault. I heard it was an accident during a magic experiment? Goodness, you should be more careful.”
So Leonhart and Luspel had covered for him like that.
‘The ring!’
Yesterday’s events came back into focus.
Owen instinctively checked himself, then swallowed hard.
Someone had changed his clothes—he was in casual wear, his entire right hand wrapped in bandages.
His hand felt numb. He couldn’t even tell if the ring was still on.
“My hand…”
“Our strength wasn’t enough, so the Great Brother healed it himself, but strangely, it wouldn’t completely mend. You’ll have to live with it like that for now.”
“…Thank you for taking care of me.”
“No thanks between brothers. Oh! Good news—looks like we’ll finally be able to build the orphanage. Someone has pledged to donate the whole site.”
“That land…”
Wasn’t it owned by House Ivrante?
Before he could ask, Ducker shot up from his seat.
“Ah! Listen to me. You must be hungry, right? I’ll fetch lunch. Wait here a bit.”
“A priest being served in bed… I couldn’t possibly—”
“Ha! Of all the things the Father created, none are meaningless. Even idleness has its place. Take this chance to experience it.”
“N-no…”
Owen flustered, but Ducker only laughed heartily and stepped out.
“….”
As soon as he was alone, Owen’s smile vanished.
He waited until Ducker’s footsteps faded, then hurriedly unwrapped the bandages.
The bulky wrappings thinned quickly, until only a layer remained.
Creak—
The door opened, and footsteps approached.
Owen quickly hid his hand behind his back and turned.
“Ah! B-brother, you’re already—”
“Owen.”
The one who entered the room was none other than Duke Adrian Ivrante.
