Following the end of the monster invasions, Pialu’s residents, regardless of their age, status, post, and sex, enjoyed happy and cheery days, free of all worries. However, a very small number of these residents held an emotion completely opposite to these feelings of joy. Lara returned to her lodging. The place was still quiet. Although the war was over, not enough time had passed for the city to regain its original vigor. It was a matter of time; soon, this place would be bustling with merchants waiting to trade beyond the Denest Mountain Range.
However, as of now, there were even fewer people than before since the group they had shared this lodging place with—Zich and his companions—had moved to the mansion the mayor provided for them. Thus, she and her companions were the only ones left in the lodging. Lara walked up the staircase, followed the long hallways, and stood in front of her room. Her eyes lingered on Glen’s room next to hers. Glen hadn’t come out of his room after the recent battle. Skipping his meals, he just remained holed up in his room and didn’t respond even when his companions knocked on the door.
Of course, Lara was worried. She knew nothing would happen to Glen even if he skipped a couple of meals, but the fact that he was holed up in his room hinted that he was struggling with some kind of problem. Although Lara had given up on all hope in regards to Glen, she couldn’t help but worry. After all, he was someone she used to love once.
Clack! A lock was released and a door opened. It wasn’t Glen’s room.
“Did you return just now?” Pina came out of her room.
“Yes.”
The conversation was over like that, and a heavy silence circled around them. The fact that companions in a party meant to protect each other’s lives showed so much distance clearly indicated the abnormality of Glen’s party. However, unlike Glen or Lara who gained a completely new mindset, after the recent battle, Pina didn’t seem much different from before. Like she had always done, she let off a cool air with her characteristically cold face. However, Pina wasn’t really heartless as she appeared.
“He didn’t eat again,” Pina said and crouched in front of Glen’s room. It was then that Lara realized there was a tray with a simple meal in front of Glen’s room. It seemed as if Pina had left the meal there. However, the meal on the tray was untouched.
“Did Glen not come out today too?”
“It seems so,” Pina said and began banging on the door. “Isn’t it about time for you to come out! How long are you going to be holed up in there!” Pina yelled unlike her usual self, but what answered her was only silence. It was the same even after she knocked a couple of times. In the end, Pina gave up.
“Do you have a guess as to why Glen is acting like this? Ms. Browning, you have traveled with Glen the longest out of all of us.”
“…No. I can’t think of anything.” Lara also didn’t know why Glen was stuck in his room or if the Glen she had known until now was really him. The only definite thing she knew was that the Glen she had fallen in love with was no longer the current Glen.
“I don’t get why he is acting like this,” Pina sighed. Since the leader of the party, Glen, was living like a recluse, the party couldn’t function like normal. Although people were making all kinds of commotions and rejoicing if they took just one step out of their lodging, only this lodging was the epitome of gloom.
“How is Ms. Widne?” In contrast to Glen, Widne was one of the people who had changed after the battle. Widne still went around with a kind smile everywhere she went, but Lara noticed that Widne would occasionally show hints of nervousness she hadn’t displayed before.
‘Before, she used to stick around Glen whenever she had the chance. Not anymore,’ Lara thought.
“Who knows? I haven’t seen much of her either,” Pina said. No matter how distant they were to each other, it was unbelievable that fellow companions showed this much lack of interest in one another.
‘It really is a strange party,’ Lara thought and recalled how Hans had described his companions; he looked truly joyful then.
“Are you both talking about me?” It was then that the door of another room opened, and Chelsea stepped out. Then, she asked Lara, “Are you curious about something?”
“No, it’s just that it’s been a long time since we saw you after the battle,” Lara answered.
“True, but it can’t be helped since our leader won’t come out of his room.” Chelsea stared at Glen’s room. Her regretful face seemed to show her worry for Glen, but why was that so? Lara thought that Widne’s expression could also be described as annoyed or at least irritated.
“Ms. Browning, where have you been going around these days?” Yet, Chelsea was the same as before when asking her a question.
“I am patrolling outside the city since monsters that separated from their group could be wandering in the surroundings.”
“As expected of you, Ms. Browning. Patrolling even by yourself. May our god Karuna bless you.”
“How diligent of you.” Both Chelsea and Pina were impressed by Lara, and she smiled slightly in response. Like that, the three conversed back and forth. No one exchanged deep conversations since all their relationships were just a step above strangers who knew each other’s faces. However, even in this conversation, Lara felt something she hadn’t experienced before. It was the first conversation the three had shared without Glen.
‘I’m enjoying myself a bit.’ It was ironic that Lara, who had already decided on leaving Glen’s party, was now finding out the joy of conversing with her companions of all times. But her mind didn’t change simply because of this joy; she simply thought it wouldn’t be bad to have a last nice memory with her soon ‘ex’ companions. Thus, Lara became more active in leading the conversation and enjoyed her conversation with them. However, this enjoyment didn’t last long.
Click! They heard the door lock opening. Lara, Pina, and Chelsea all became immediately silent, and their gazes head towards Glen’s door.
Slide! Since they were staying at an expensive lodging, the door seemed to have been well greased as the door opened smoothly without much noise. The room they saw from the small crack of the door was dark. Considering that the outside was completely sunny right now, it seemed as if Glen had closed all the curtains. Then, Glen moved out of the door.
“Glen!” Lara walked towards Glen. His hair was messy, and he looked like he hadn’t shaved in days; he looked very different from his usual well-groomed and clean style. However, except for his messy hair and beard, he looked the same as usual.
“Are you feeling unwell anywhere?” she asked with concern, and Glen looked at her. Lara instinctively took a step back and hit the plate they left behind for Glen. It made a loud sound as it flipped over. However, no one, not even Lara who kicked the plate, paid any attention to it.
Lara had not received a warm gaze from Glen recently. His disapproving gaze and disgruntled tone were always directed toward her. However, she could swear that she had never received such a cold gaze from Glen before. How could she describe it? Indifference? Frigid? She couldn’t think of any word that described Glen’s eyes right now.
However, Lara was sure of one thing—Glen no longer considered her his comrade. He moved away and passed Lara as if he was passing a rolling stone in the street and stood in front of Chelsea and Pina.
“M-Mr. Glen?”
“Glen?”
Chelsea and Pina were both flustered by Glen’s attitude. They both cautiously called out to Glen.
Glen said, “Have you been well?” Fortunately, his voice and tone were the same as before. “I want to first apologize. You must have been worried because I locked myself in my room without telling you two, right?”
“Uh, yeah. That’s true. Are you all right now?” As expected of a mage, Pina found her cool first. However, even she couldn’t completely cover her surprise as her voice slightly shook.
“I’m all right. I wasn’t sick anywhere anyway. I just needed time to think.”
Chelsea asked, “Time to think?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you need to think about?”
Instead of replying, Glen asked, “Chelsea, Pina, don’t you both want to gain fame?”
At Glen’s words, Chelsea and Pina’s eyes sharpened into focus.
Pina replied first. “Of course I want it. The reason why I left the magical tower is because I want to restore my school’s honor and status. To do that, I need to increase my magic ability and gain fame—a fame great enough to wash away my school’s negative image.”
“There are people who look unfavorably towards those who seek fame as someone from the clergy, but I have a different opinion. As my fame increases, Karuwiman’s fame would also naturally increase. Then, many more people would try to follow God Karuna’s light. Thus, I want to have some amount of fame.” Then, Chelsea thought, ‘Most of all, if I have overwhelming fame, I’ll be able to drag down Lubella from her position.’
Pina confidently said what she wanted to say, and Chelsea also hid her inner thoughts and spoke, but they were both similar in that they wanted fame.
Glen nodded with satisfaction. “Then, let’s begin to work on increasing our fame.” Then, Glen slightly lowered his voice. “By using any means.”
“Glen?” Lara was shocked. Chelsea and Pina were shocked too. As a Karuwiman Honorary Knight, Glen had moved for justice at least on the surface. However, Glen was saying that he’d even throw away working for a just cause. Of course, they all didn’t think that Glen would actually commit a crime since Glen had put on a thick mask so far. However, it was clear that something had deeply changed about Glen.
“What are you saying, Glen! That’s not the right thing to do!” Lara thought that she was wrong about the type of person Glen truly was, but she had never imagined that he’d outrightly say that he would use any means to increase his fame. However, when Lara’s eyes met Glen’s, she gulped. It felt as if she was looking at a deep cave filled with endless darkness where not even a stream of light could be found.
She almost swore out loud. How could someone change so much? She knew this instinctively: ‘There’s no hope for Glen anymore.’ Lara looked at Chelsea and Pina. She thought that no matter how much they desired fame, they wouldn’t easily support his statement—no, she wanted to believe this.
However, as soon as she saw their faces, the last hope she had been clinging to shattered into pieces. Pina and Chelsea looked taken aback, but they didn’t seem to be really against Glen’s words. It was then that Lara realized that there was a large rift between her and them. The reason why Lara had started her journey with Glen was because she was drawn to his sense of justice and wanted to help people and do the right deed. She believed that Glen shared the same sentiments, but the Glen in front of her was a completely different person from the person she thought he was. It was clear that Chelsea and Pina also shared the same mindset as Glen because their goals and reasons for beginning their journey were fundamentally different from hers. She felt as if the rope connecting her and Glen broke and became more tightly wrapped around Glen, Chelsea, and Pina.
“Glen…” Lara called Glen’s name; her voice had no strength. Glen looked toward her, and Lara held onto her final hope. But it did not take long for her final hope to be completely crushed.
Glen said with an icy voice, “You’re still here?”