Chapter 324: Ch 323: Changed World - Part 1

Seraphina hurried to catch up, but her eyes continued to wander toward the broken houses and disappearing streets around them.

The entire place seemed unstable, as if the world itself was slowly forgetting that it had ever existed.

A few people stood beside the road, preparing to leave with the others. Some were carrying injured companions, while others were searching through the remains of their homes for anything that could still be salvaged.

Seraphina watched them quietly, feeling a strange sense of guilt.

They had survived, but she could not remember what they had survived. She could not even remember the person they had lost.

"Leon..."

"What is it?"

"Did we really win?"

Leon’s expression stiffened for a moment before he looked away. He seemed to be having the same trouble she was having at the moment.

"Yes. The threat has been neutralised. There is nothing left to worry about."

His answer was too quick, and Seraphina noticed the way his hand tightened around his sword.

"Then why does it feel like something is missing?"

Leon did not answer. Or rather, he could not answer. Since he was in the same predicament, he did not want to reassure her.

Seraphina looked at him for a little longer before lowering her eyes. She did not know why, but she had begun to feel that asking Leon questions would not lead her to the answers she wanted.

The temple gates eventually came into view, standing tall and imposing against the damaged landscape. Several priests were waiting outside, and the moment they saw Leon, they hurried toward him.

"Hero Leon, you have returned!"

One of them bowed deeply before glancing at Seraphina.

"And the Saintess is safe as well. Praise the gods."

Seraphina stared at the priest, but instead of feeling relieved, she felt a cold uneasiness settle in her chest.

For some reason, the temple no longer felt like home. It felt like a place she had escaped from once before.

And somewhere deep inside her, a voice was quietly telling her that she should not enter.

She took a step back out of caution, and several priests noticed. They looked at her with concerned expressions and reached out to grab her.

"Saintess Seraphina, are you alright—"

Their hands looked like claws reaching toward Seraphina, and when she looked up, she did not see concerned expressions, but greedy faces that wanted her power.

"Don’t come closer to me!"

She yelled, bringing her hands up. They were shining with divine power that made the priests flinch and take a step back. They looked at her like she was a threat they were trying to understand.

Finally, one of them stepped forward hesitantly and gave her a worried glance.

"Saintess Seraphina, are you alright? If you need help, then please tell us—"

"N-No, I am fine! I am totally fine. There is no need for you to be worried about me. Hahaha. I was just a little tired, so I decided to play a trick on you all."

Seraphina suddenly realised what she was doing and let out a chuckle to lighten the situation. But she could tell that it had not helped a single bit. The looks she was getting were the same concerned ones from before.

In fact, they looked even more pitiful than before.

"Oh, I see. Is that so? That was a good joke. It seems like you still have the energy to have fun. That’s good..."

The priests looked awkward, but they tried to praise her in order to show that they stood by her side. Seraphina felt even worse because of this.

She did not want to lie like this, but because this peace had taken a lot out of everyone, she did not want to disappoint others by dragging them into her mess.

The other priests looked at her and let out a chuckle, but they did not seem to share her sentiment.

"I guess the stress of everything that happened must have gotten to you. Please rest for now. Sir Ken will be here tomorrow with the dragons because they have something to talk about. He sent us advance notice."

The priests told Seraphina and Leon, which made them nod and get ready.

...

"So, you are telling me that this world has changed because someone used world magic here? And the price they paid was their own existence? How can you expect me to believe this?"

Ken Russle, the White Knight Sword Master, looked at the Dragon Queen Varonica in front of him with an annoyed expression.

He did not want to believe what she had said because it sounded complicated. But he had to admit that even he felt like some part of his memories was missing.

It was as if someone had carved out his mind and forcefully made it go blank.

"Do you think I am lying?"

The Dragon Queen asked, and Ken quickly shook his head.

"Of course not! It’s... just a little hard to wrap my head around. That’s all. But honestly, can you blame me? Even you would be startled if you heard such words, right?"

"Your surprise is of no concern to us. However, what we need you to do is simple—keep the other nosy brats out of this. That hero and Saintess duo are particularly noisy. Make sure they don’t disturb the peace that has been brought to us by a valiant sacrifice."

The Dragon Queen stressed these words, and Ken sighed.

Ken rubbed his forehead, trying to organise the fragments of information in his mind, but every time he thought he had grasped something, another question appeared.

"And what exactly do you want us to do if the world has already changed?"

Varonica’s expression remained serious as she folded her arms.

"Nothing, for now. The sacrifice has already been made, and disturbing the balance could cause unnecessary damage. We only need to ensure that the remaining variables do not interfere."

Ken frowned at the wording, especially the way she referred to the hero and Saintess as variables. But there was nothing he could do about it.

At least, not without incurring the dragon’s warth.