***
Rosha had a hectic morning.
Packing wasn’t difficult, since traveling away from home was a task with which Rosha was familiar. However, the problem was that Ray, who had been outside, had not yet returned.
However, Ray was so independent that sometimes once he left the house, he would only come back after a few days.
When that happened, Rosha would open the window and the birdcage and leave Ray as he was and went on the mission. When she returned, the big eagle was perched in the cage with a thick look on his face, as if to say, “When did I leave home and not come back?”
Rosha wasn’t so worried that Ray hadn’t come home. She was more worried about this wolf that was stuck to her side.
The little wolf tormented her as it chased after Rosha’s chiffon dress that fluttered from her ankles.
“I heard wolves are in the dog family, why are you acting like a cat?”
Lifting the wolf up, Rosha kissed its black nose.
After getting some of her things ready, Rosha laid down on the couch and rested, playing tricks with the wolf on her stomach.
It was then that she heard a knock at the door. The highly independent brothers of the Golden Dawn Society did not come to the room often, so Rosha curiously opened the door.
“Noah.”
It was Noah who knocked, and although Rocha was the main visitor to Noah’s office, this was the first time Noah had come to Rosha’s room in person.
“Rosha, did you name the wolf?”
Noah’s first words after his sudden visit puzzled Rosha for a while, but she immediately thought of the fact that Noah had decided to name the wolf for her, and since she didn’t place too much significance on the name, she forgot about naming the wolf in the first place.
“No, not yet. Didn’t Noah decide to name it?”
“You didn’t wait for me to give it a name, you forgot, didn’t you?”
“…I feel guilty.”
“You’re an indifferent master.”
Noah walked up to the bored, couch-scratching wolf and patted the little head.
“This guy’s name is Sadrak.”
“Sadrak?”
“It means I hope he will be a loyal species, always obeying your commands.”
Rosha didn’t attach much meaning to the name, but she wasn’t Noah. He was a person who believed that people would live up to their names. So it seemed obvious how much trouble Noah had gone through to name it.
It was also a good name to pronounce, Sadrak.
“Rosha.”
“Yes, Noah.”
“May the light be with you in your future.”
A small powder of light permeated into Rosha’s body along with Noah’s hand. After receiving Noah’s blessing, Rosha smiled in gratitude.
After exchanging a short but sincere goodbye with Noah, Rosha was about to leave the room with her bag and Sadrak. That was when she saw a black object flying outside the window from afar. Rosha, who knew exactly what it was, stepped aside.Then Ray flew into the birdcage on its own.
“Ray, I almost left you here.”
Putting the pocket watch around her neck and a burgundy cape-coat that covered only her upper body, Rosha lifted the heavy birdcage containing Ray with her hand holding a cane. With the suitcase still on her shoulder, Rosha left her room.
“Rosha! I hear you’re going on vacation?”
“I hear Herodion is winter all year round. Sounds fun!”
“Don’t forget to buy some souvenirs!”
After hearing the brothers’ carefree words without knowing the truth of her trip, Rosha left the gate of the Golden Dawn Society with her heavy luggage.
***
Herodion was the farthest country Rosha had ever been to, but the way there was easier than anywhere else. This time, Noah allowed her to warp.
There weren’t many wizards who could use the warp more than three times a month. Only wizards who ranked in the top ten in the Golden Dawn Society could do it. Warp magic itself was a magic that eroded the energy of the wizards. But this time, the third-ranked Rostelier, Kashin, decided to make the warp happen himself.
After leaving the headquarters, the brothers took their turn to enter an alleyway where no one was passing.
“Then I’ll start the warp.”
Kashin drew a magic circle on the floor.
took his turn on the floor. As the Rostelier brothers stepped in the magic circle, Kashin stood in the middle. Rosha also stood on the circle that Kashin had drawn and watched as Kashin performed his magic.
The wind was blowing and dust was rising around his feet as he stood in the center. This was when Rosha, who hated dirt, held her breath.
A red light leaked out from the circle of the brothers standing across from her and eventually consumed them. Rosha was nervous for a moment even though she knew the light was bright and it wasn’t an attack. One by one, the brothers disappeared into the light, and finally Rosha was left.
Rosha’s eyes met Kashin’s, who was focusing on the magic.
At that moment, somehow, Rosha wanted to tease Kashin. It was an extremely impulsive action to take out the earrings that Kashin had given her as a birthday present.
Originally, she had brought them outside to throw away, because he was afraid that Noah would get angry if she threw away Kashin’s gift inside the headquarters.
Waving the diamond earrings, Rosha deliberately smiled. Looking at her, Kashin felt the ominous feeling, and his eyes grew wide.
‘I’ll throw these away well…’
There were some lines she had prepared.
‘I will throw this away well and go.’
Then Rosha was going to throw the earrings very coolly and disappear. But the problem was that she saw an unexpected appearance. Kashin smiled.
“…”
A warmth drifted into his red eyes that had always seemed so hair-raisingly cold. That was the last image of Kashin just before Roshaleft for Herodion.
‘I forgot to throw my earrings.’
“Ah…”
When she opened her eyes again, the smiling Kashin was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Rosha stood in a very strange place.
It was in the middle of the village with snow piled up on the chimneys and roofs.
Breaking free from the shock of Kashin’s smile, Rosha finally pulled herself together and pocketed the diamond earrings she still carried in her hand, then took out the paper Noah had given her.
She was bewildered and in a funny mood as she was constantly reminded of the afterimage of Kashin smiling at her, but now was the time to be true to her duty.
‘Which one is it?’
The place they were currently away from was Rosanto, a border region of Herodion, also the territory of the Baldwin frontier Count who still had a lot of noble power left.
Today, Rosha had to go to Count Baldwin’s castle.
Noah had once drawn her a map to the Count’s castle, but there was no need to look at the map. For there was only one high castle in this village full of one-story houses.
Rosha went straight to Count Baldwin’s castle. She grasped the handle of the castle gate and knocked on it, and soon heard footsteps coming from inside.
“Huh, who are you?”
At the sound of the old woman’s voice, Rosha revealed her identity.
“I’m from the Golden Dawn Society.”
Then, after a few seconds of silence, she heard the sound of the door being hurriedly opened.
Creak! The old gate opened and an old woman in a thick blanket stepped out.
“You must be the guest the Master mentioned.”
“Yes, is the Count inside?”
“Of course. It’s cold, so come in.”
The old woman led Rosha inside with a slightly clumsy hand.
If necessary, she would have to disguise her identity, but fortunately for the Baldwin, she didn’t have to. This was because Count Baldwin, who felt strange about his son’s abnormal symptoms, contacted the Golden Dawn Society on his own.
The Golden Dawn Society was a group with a mission to stop Barbel and the demons they used to serve the evils who had tried to corrupt the world by causing the death of the Son of God long ago. However, to the eyes of those who knew nothing about them, they seemed to be just another occult-crazed group.
It was also an atmosphere of recognition, with demons popping up all over the place these days, but it still couldn’t have been easy to get in touch with them. It must have been even more so, especially as it was a matter concerning his adopted son.
Count Baldwin had adopted his son when he was a baby and raised him until now as his own son. So it must have been even more difficult for him to admit that there was something wrong with his son.
Rosha sensed the mood of the castle. There was nothing ominous, sacred, or special about it.
She just couldn’t feel any human presence or warmth in the castle. It would take a lot of people to manage such a large castle. It was strange that it was cold, considering the children in the village who were having snowball fights in their fur coats.
“If you don’t mind, can I take out my eagle? He seemed to be feeling frustrated.”
“As long as it doesn’t harm anyone, it’s fine.”
“Thank you.”
After receiving permission, Rosha opened the bird cage and took Ray out first. After making sure that Ray flew freely, Rosha followed the old woman inside and searched the atmosphere. The castle, where there was no human warmth left, was not properly managed, so it was a little messy and old-fashioned. The sticky feeling on the skin wasn’t good.
A different kind of cold enveloped Rosha than the usual cold caused by temperature differences. She felt it more clearly as she walked up the stairs and down the corridor.
“Wait for me here.”
The old woman stopped Rosha at the door at the end of the corridor and carefully knocked on the door.
“Master, a visitor you mentioned before had come, please open the door!”
The old woman’s words ended and a bit of silence drifted in, just like when the first castle gate was opened. No, this time, the silence was much longer. However, this time, she heard a bustling sound from inside, and a metal sound.
“It sounded like a chain being unfastened, what is it?”
A small gap in the door opened. It was pitch black and Rosha couldn’t see inside. But as the Count’s face came closer through the gap in the door, she could see his hollow eyes clearly.
“Hello, Count Baldwin.”
Rosha curtsied and greeted the Count, who for some reason seemed scared.
“I am Rosha Rostelier, a member of the Golden Dawn Society.”
“…”
“…I heard that you need our help…………”
“Are you really human?”
“What, what do you mean………….?”
“Are you really human?”
The extreme fear that the Count was feeling was even felt by Rosha. Rosha was not of a kind nature, but she deliberately tried to smile kindly for the Count’s sake.
“Of course, I am human, Count. If you want, you can touch my hair.”
Rosha even took out the hairpin and untied her neatly tied hair, giving the Count a wisp of her hair.
The Count hesitated, his eyes trembling, but eventually he stuck his finger through the crack in the door and touched the ends of Rosha’s hair.
“You can touch my fingers too.”
Rosha put her fingers to the door crack in the same way the Count did, but he was startled and retreated. But seeing Rosha waited patiently, the Count stuck out his finger again and touched Rosha’s finger.
“You can feel the warmth, can’t you?”
“…”
“I am a person.”
Some demons disguised themselves as humans. There were demons whose upper body, or lower body, or a part of the body was the same as humans, but she had never heard of demons that look or transform to look exactly like humans.
She didn’t know why the Count was acting like this, but there must have been something to it, because he couldn’t believe Rosha was human even though she was in human form.
“Come in…”
Rosha waited quietly and patiently, and finally the Count opened the door.