Leonardo Blaine burst out of the station and ran as if about to fall, forcing his way through the raging wind and rain. Thunder and lightning raged beyond the gloomy storm clouds and the downpour lashed his cheeks, yet he did not hesitate. He passed the road he had once walked with Signe and slipped into the alley off the main avenue in front of the station.

Avoiding people’s eyes, even using teleportation, he arrived at Riverside Aldenon Street No. 41. It was a historic row of shops in a street rumored to have kept the same signboards hanging for three hundred years.

He had neither the time to open an umbrella nor the presence of mind to put on a raincoat, but finding the magic supply shop was not difficult. People were visibly gathered around a single point, murmuring. Breathing hard, Leonardo approached the crowd and stopped dead in place when he saw the cordon surrounding the shop.

Inside the cordon, two figures who appeared to be investigators from the Council were blocking access. Around them, the wails of grieving residents flowed together with the sound of rain.

They had created memorial spaces on both sides of the shop and left a single chrysanthemum each.

“I never thought he’d go so suddenly...”

“Heaven can be cruel.”

Someone placed a charm purchased from the shop in front of the nameplate and prayed for Grimbleton’s peaceful rest. Seeing it, Leonardo could not even blink, his soaked shoulders merely trembling.

When he received Terzio’s message, it had not felt real. And even now, seeing it with his own eyes, his mind still floated.

The man he had met only weeks ago had suffered misfortune — he simply could not believe it.

At the same time, he was terribly anxious that the death might be connected to his own contact with him.

“He did seem weak these past few days.”

“He was perfectly fine just last week...”

“We should’ve known when he started giving away those things he treasured for free. When a person starts acting unlike themselves, it means their end is near.”

His ears instinctively picked up the fragments of conversation drifting by.

“He lived a long life. Stop making a fuss and let him go.”

“That’s harsh. He was a warm person. Took in kids and helped them settle down. Everyone must be shocked.”

“Who said he wasn’t kind? I mean—”

Standing in the rain, Leonardo glanced aside, then pushed through umbrellas and blended into the crowd. Pulling his hat low and raising the hood of his cloak, he spoke to a middle-aged woman watching the scene.

“Excuse me. The old man here — how did he die?”

The woman, who had been talking with someone beside her, paused and turned to him. She eyed the suspiciously dressed young man warily, then, seeing the grief in his eyes, cleared her throat.

“You knew Grimbleton? We don’t know the cause. The Council collected the body, so we’ll hear soon enough.”

“Was it murder? Any blood at the scene, witnesses?”

“No. It was nearly mealtime and he didn’t come, so Dott went to check on him herself. Found him collapsed alone last night.” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

She added that Dott ran a restaurant on the main street just ahead of the shopping row and often prepared meals for Grimbleton, who lived alone.

“He was old, you know. Looked fine but had chronic ailments. Sometimes rambled nonsense... and when he fixated on something, he’d stay shut in the little back room connected to the shop for days. So townsfolk checked in on him in turns. Recently, though, he started sorting through the things inside the shop.”

“He sorted them?”

“Of course. What else would that mean? He knew his time had come.”

The woman said that as one of the oldest residents in town, the shop owner had likely always been prepared. Seeing him paying off old debts and traveling outside town to meet old friends, she thought he must have sensed death approaching.

“He even donated half his fortune. That says it all.”

However, she added that the Council still considered the possibility of robbery or a planned killing since the deceased possessed considerable wealth and no will had been found. Leonardo, who had suspected the same, merely nodded.

“Please clear the path. Additional investigators will arrive shortly. Anyone who saw or contacted the deceased before or after the incident must report to the investigators and refrain from speaking externally.”

Under a legionnaire’s direction, those gathered before the shop stepped back one by one. The woman speaking with Leonardo glanced around and left in the opposite direction.

Leonardo watched her retreating back, then turned again. Standing blankly among the dispersing people, he finally stepped toward the memorial and bowed his head deeply.

There was a reason he had run here like a madman the moment he heard the news. He realized it only after leaving Riverside, but when he met the shop owner, someone had been tailing him.

He did not know since when, but the conversation about his collar and the curse, and the process of moving from here after hearing a hint and arriving at the fog-covered old castle, were tangled with extremely sensitive secrets.

So if the pursuer had tried to control that secret and considered Grimbleton — who knew too much — a target?

It meant the mysterious old man who had watched over the quiet street for so long might have died because of him. Because he went to see him and received too much help.

Reaching that thought, Leonardo frowned. A pounding headache surged. Beyond the stabbing pain came nausea. Though the cause of death was unknown, he was tormented by guilt, feeling his carelessness had dragged in an uninvolved person.

Steadying himself, he clasped both hands and closed his eyes. Letting the rain soak his body, he silently thanked him for letting him meet someone like a father, even briefly. Before the chrysanthemum-covered nameplate, he offered a moment # Nоvеlight # of silence.

He regretted not having time to bring flowers. Still, he thought it fortunate — by the customs of Raina Rogia — that rain fell on the day honoring the dead.

He also worried what reaction Signe, likely still a trainee, would have upon hearing the news.

But if it really was the one who followed me... I can’t stay here long. I need to leave...

Reason coldly urged him to get away, yet his feet would not move easily. Leonardo remained until even the two Council members stared at him curiously.

About five minutes passed, and the people around had all changed when a low voice sounded behind his left shoulder.

“Hey.”

Reacting half a beat late, Leonardo flinched and spun, knocking away the hand about to rest on his shoulder.

The person he faced was fairly familiar. The hood shaded the eyes, but the scar at the mouth made him instantly recognizable. Shaking off his hand, Terzio jerked his chin.

“Follow me.”

Leaving the crowd first, he led Leonardo to a deserted place.

***

The sky was brighter than when he first arrived at Riverside, yet the rain grew fiercer. Visibility was poor, and nearby canals had overflowed, water rising to their ankles. Shops closed because of the sudden flooding, and several men ran toward the magic supply shop.

Judging by the tent materials in their arms, they seemed reinforcing the memorial so it would not be submerged.

In life, neighbors asked after him; in death, they mourned together and guarded his place to the end — whatever the cause, it seemed he had lived a good life.

Leonardo kept looking back, uneasy about leaving like fleeing. But Terzio, walking ahead, never once turned around. He simply moved quickly in silence.

Knowing why, Leonardo followed at a measured distance. They reached the back of the main street, entering a narrow alley through a small side door.

The foul weather darkened the sky and there were no streetlamps, giving the empty alley an eerie air. Rainwater formed streams rushing into drains, perfectly masking their footsteps.

When Leonardo felt every lingering presence nearby vanish, he drew close behind the man and asked,

“Where are we going?”

Terzio only glanced back without answering. Since the other did not speak, Leonardo did not press further.

They silently pushed through the maze-like alleys. Like Libertas, the paths were complex enough to lose direction easily.

He wondered how this guy knew the way — whether he had another partner — when at last the guide abruptly stopped before a door.

After carefully checking the surroundings, he finally replied,

“The first witness is looking for you.”

“What?”

“Doesn’t seem they know who you are. But they said they have something to tell you.”

“To tell me?”

Leonardo’s golden eyebrows twitched. Instead of answering, Terzio grabbed his forearm and climbed the three wooden steps. Leonardo shot him a puzzled look, but the man ignored it and knocked twice.

Startled, Leonardo seized his wrist.

“What are you doing?”

“Lower your voice.”

Before he could stop him, about three seconds later the firmly shut door swung open with startling speed, as if waiting.

Instinctively, Leonardo pulled his hat low to hide his face.

“I brought him.”

“This the one?”

A young woman he had never seen stepped out. She and Terzio spoke naturally.

“Show the card. It reacts to the owner.”

Though bewildered, Leonardo looked her over. Her worn apron was stained, carrying the scent of seasonings and food oddly comforting in the situation. As he checked the nameplate, the earlier conversation with the middle-aged woman came back.

[ The Table of Dott, Main Street ]

Terzio gestured urgently that there was no time. The woman immediately pulled a sheet of black paper from her apron pocket.

The woman presumed to be Dott held out the palm-sized paper.

“You know this, right?”

Leonardo’s eyelids twitched faintly. He could not possibly not know.

It was the Renuntio card he had handed the shop owner, telling him to burn it after learning the information.

As he reflexively reached out and took it, a clear magic circle appeared on the black surface and vanished.

Leonardo looked between the two as if asking what was going on.

Confirming the owner of the card, she stepped aside from the entrance and gestured inward.

“Come in.”