Ashes and Kingdoms

"Was it you"

Fentas, the priest, said so at first sight of Finn. I can't even say it's been a while, and Finn eats face-to-face and gets it right. Fentas smiled bitterly at himself and, no disrespect, invited him in with an apology.

"Recently, the barracks were suddenly enlivened, and I was surprised at what was happening. I see, were you Tenryu Hou? So your sister's with you?

"Yes. I think I'll be greeting you today and tomorrow. Now, although the troops have just entered the barracks and I have a lot of errands to run and I can't seem to get my hands off them. Fentas seemed well and relieved."

"Thanks to the blessing of Lady Naina."

Speaking, Fentas led Finn to the room and recommended pouring tea from the medicine can he put on the fire bowl. By this time, if it were sunny, there would be no need for fire during the day, but the fire bowl in the priesthood room is burning bright with charcoal, whether it's because of the profession of combining pharmacists or simply because of age.

Fentas sat on the same qualitative waist as before, and when he sipped or two sips of hot tea cold, he cut it out carefully.

"Well... I understand I'm trying to ask, how is she doing?

"If you're talking about Farnayne, don't worry. Because we're in the safest place in the world."

Finn told her that he had omitted the course altogether. Fentas seemed to feel something in that tone, but did not pursue it, just quietly thanking him.

"Really, thank you. Since Lord Ancius became Commander, that has completely disappeared. Instead, donations have dropped dramatically… well, since distribution is fair, it's salvation not to worry about starving"

That's all he talked about, and then he looked at Finn with a shine again and said:

"Isn't it harder for you than this one? Tenryu's power seems to be strong enough, but he looks tired nonetheless. Rumor has it you were guarded the castle gate all night by yourself."

"Yeah, so I asked for a favor."

"If there's anything I can do to help, I don't know."

To Fentas, who responded comfortably, Finn bowed his head small.

"Thank you. Actually, I'm talking about the campfire on the walls...... starting tonight, would you give me the protection of Goddess Nena? Nellis says he'll help, too."

Fentas blinked his eyes at the unexpected favor. Now the priest of the Temple of Deia lights a bonfire every night around the walls of the castle. If we are to counter the beast of darkness, isn't it the protection of Daia, God of Light, that is necessary?

Finn politely explained to him, who looked surprised.

"I also know it makes you wonder. Of course, it's not that the Temple of Deia is less powerful today. Instead, the other way around… it's too dazzling."

"Too dazzling?

"Yes. I stood outside the castle gate and realized that all that dazzling light surrounds the city, as does provoking the dark family. Besides, when the walls are so bright above, darker darkness arises at your feet. That's why they can get right under the walls."

Then Finn preached what he should do to break the vicious circle, the lack of boundaries while making Dark Beast hate recruit if he doesn't change the way he handles it.

Fentas still had the look of being unacceptable right away, too, but I didn't argue, I get it, I nodded.

"You can't just believe what you say to a boulder, but it's a quick count to say no without even trying to put it into practice. I'll do it."

The rational attitude seems to be that every day, people who observe and treat patient changes. At the same time as Finn was relieved, he heard a reluctant Mac from the hallway.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, priest"

Fentas and Finn all looked back and asked him to come in because we were done talking. Mac smiled and when he came to the front of Fentas, he bowed his head deeply.

"Thank you, priest. Thank you on behalf of all of Tetna."

"Ooh, ooh. Don't be so afraid, Mac. All those kids are Temple children already. It's been a while since you've been gone, but it's been hard to miss you. Thanks to you and Phineas for taking good care of me, those kids were able to live a decent life, even here soon. Yeah, well, some of them got adopted."

Fentas smiled and named about three. Mac is surprised and then becomes a look wondering if he should be happy. Fentas sensed his anxiety and slapped him on the shoulder with a pound.

"It's okay, every foster parent is a decent person. I didn't think it was possible for people to become foster parents in such tough situations, but because they were tough, they wanted to nurture the hope of having a child. I went to see how things went after that a couple of times, but we seem to be getting along."

"Really? Thank you."

Mac thanked him overlapping and breathed relief. Then he looked back at Finn and pulled that sleeve in such a hurry.

"Meet the little ones, too. I remember my brothers and uncles. I'm not the only one who seems unhappy."

Finn laughed and nodded a little too to Mac, who slipped away with his verbal butt. I greet Fentas politely, then leave the room and walk out towards the orphanage. Mac kept talking about his “little ones” on the road. I was totally fat and didn't know who I was, because I even read a book that I could only write my own name, because, happily.

Finn smiled at Mac like that, but he remembered his own growing orphanage, and his chest hurt so badly.

Nanais fell, and Nellis once told him as he cried here. Taz also says he saw the city of rubble, and is that word still true? It's good that Tetna's children were given the same benefits they once received, but on the other hand, the orphanage in their hometown remains without any help, with the town -.

Next to Finn sinking into his thoughts, Mac accidentally sighed and looked sad. As Finn turned his attention back and turned his gaze, he spilled unexpected words.

"Some guys have already gotten past my back. I don't like it."

"... oh"

Finn hit the vague gavel. It's been about a year since we met, but Mac's height has barely changed. He said he was old enough to stretch. I couldn't even tell you how badly comforted I was, and Finn thought about it a lot before opening his mouth carefully.

"I've been thinking, maybe you have dwarf blood all over you somewhere in your ancestors?

"Is that supposed to be a joke?

"No. I'm sorry if I offended you, but I'm serious. You have a low back length, but you have plenty of strength... which means you have no weakness at all. So, maybe."

To Finn's hypothesis, Mac tilted his neck with a complex face. I know it's no offense to them, but it's just not a pleasure to be told. He answered with a praise for his shoulder.

"Come on, you've never heard of that. I hear your mother was a very small person."

"Apparently?"

"Yeah. Um, I didn't tell your brother yet. My mother, she died early. I guess it was around three or four years ago. That's why I don't remember much."

Mac spoke openly of his birth. In an unyielding tone that just says it's still a more enjoyable topic this way than it is about the back length.

"If you ask Mr. Valt, he'll know when I don't remember. If you're the father left behind, there's nothing you can do about it. My childhood memories are all about my neighbor's aunt, who took care of me a lot, and my dad, who's drunk and snoring in the kitchen."

So you can't tell which memory is when, can you? Then I looked up at Finn, who was out of time, and smiled bitterly.

"Don't look at me like that. It's not like I was unhappy. He was a bad father to me, but the violence didn't sift, and the people in the village made me better. I've been busy, but I wasn't crippled. And my grandmother, who's so spoiled."

To nostalgic memories, Mac chuckles. Finn shut up and put his hand on that head. Immediately Mac stopped laughing and snapped pompously.

"... Village, I wonder what's going on"

We can go check it out soon.

"Yeah."

Word interactions like rain. When Finn let go of his hand softly, Mac raised his face as he suddenly returned to me.

"Ah, but I, my brother, take precedence over Tetna, so don't freak out!

"What?"

"So, I mean, I don't have the idea of getting Tetna back on track, or the guy who was there originally saying goodbye there. I know it's hard to get that village back on track."

Said something he didn't even anticipate, Finn stood up with his chest poked.

Until now, the goal has been to rebuild Nanais without any doubt, but Mac's hometown is not there. Many of the faces of the Tenryu squad, such as Valt and Plast, are also from Tetna or Winnea. I had totally forgotten that Nanais humans only had their own family anymore.

"... oh well. We need to talk about that, too."

"What, did you forget? I don't know what else to do. Now my brother has a lot to think about."

Mac nodded in concert with one of the people who looked frightened, let's go, and slapped Finn on the back. While walking, Tetona is difficult to maintain because it is originally an isolated rural area, and in fact expresses the idea that it is better to base Winnea or even get out to Nanais facing the sea. Finn listened in silence, but when the conversation broke, he leaked the truth.

"Mac, aren't you better suited to Dragon Marquis than me?

"Brother......" Ah, sigh. "I thought I figured out how my brother felt struggling with Nellis before, but it's been getting more and more reversed lately. Please, don't talk too blurry."

I didn't mean to blur, but I was heartbroken, and Finn just looked at me unwillingly.

The time to relax like that soon ended. When dusk approached, there was no one left to face the Tenryu Squad, and they rushed around in a hurry.

Nellis and Fentas will persuade the priests of the Temple of Deia to take turns lighting the bonfire. Finn put very little Lena's power into the crew's weapon, keeping it so that the Dark Beast wouldn't have to come out under the light to be wounded.

Finn drops off the soldiers scattered around the walls at the castle gate. An army soldier who was nearby spoke in a disgruntled manner.

"Why don't we give our weapons some protection?

From that look on, what Finn explained to each unit leader of the Legion doesn't seem to penetrate much. Finn is patient and repeats the same story about how many times it will be. You can't crawl out of the mud forever trying to force your dark family away with light. On top of that, he said.

"My fellow Tenryu Squads already understand how to fight the Dark Families and their minds are now following them as well. But you... I'm sorry, but I don't think you understand how we do it. If you have a weapon that can drive you away from the darkness, you must be happy and brave to attack the Dark Families."

But, my lord, you can get rid of them.

"Temporarily, only in narrow places, indeed. But then we just get cornered and destroy ourselves. Come on, get in position."

No matter how many words you exhaust, you don't get through to someone you haven't tried to understand from. Finn let the soldier go over the walls, and he went outside the castle gate.

It's gonna be a rough night.

Exploring signs that he had begun to surround the city with dim darkness, Finn pulled out his sword. Lena shows up beside her and leans in worried.

"The light's faded, so it's very vibrant. Finn, don't be impotent."

"Oh, I know.... I guess it was a bad idea to change all the bonfires at once"

Although I expected it to be harsh tonight, I'm a little vulnerable to boulders. Badly in between, the moon is still thin, and the sky has clouds. Nevertheless, there is no time to pull out the priest of the Temple of Deia. He also told the crew that only tonight would it be good to aggressively attack the Dark Beast. Because if you don't, it might not last the night. Finn, too, wasn't going to dare take the offense tonight.

Standing in front of the castle gate as Lena shows up so that she can help at any time. Finn walked alone, toward darkness.

In the impending night darkness, countless blue lights were beginning to blink like stars.