Inside the grand hall where the witch had fallen dead.
A silence, almost hollow, swept through the space.
Since Melvin had released his spirit form, this absurd wind couldn’t have been his doing.
Judith’s expression shifted from blankness to growing seriousness.
It was inevitable.
The Curse of Craving ending with just a single sneeze—this was clearly an abnormality that defied all logic.
Was it simply because Bersia’s divine power far exceeded ordinary limits? Or was it, as she said, not the Curse of Desire but merely a cold?
That couldn’t be true.
The latter wasn’t even worth discussing, and the former… well.
‘It’s the curse that destroyed the Holy Kingdom.’
In the past, when a saintess served as both queen and priestess of this land, only one saintess appeared per generation.
And unlike today’s saintess, they wielded the authority of divine power.
The Curse of Craving was the very one that brought down even the final queen, said to be at the pinnacle of power.
A curse that shakes the human spirit and collapses emotions.
A curse that tests the human being itself, rather than being a correlation of divine power.
Her lips twitched.
Judith felt a small fear and great curiosity about this incomprehensible phenomenon.
The instincts of a scholar were awakening within her.
With dangerously raised corners of her lips, she opened her mouth.
At that moment—
“Hey, could you perhaps….”
“Let’s leave for now.”
“…What?”
It was Usher.
He looked drained, pointing at the ceiling.
Rumble!
The grand hall was beginning to collapse.
Judith clicked her tongue.
“…Alright, let’s get out first and talk later.”
With that, Judith turned her body.
She looked quite displeased.
The war that took place in the western archipelago ended in a somewhat futile manner.
About four hours after the initial assault, the fact that the actual battle lasted so briefly made it feel that way.
But it wasn’t an easy war.
“110,000…”
“Save…!”
All wars are tragic.
There were significant casualties, and the injured were twice as many.
Above all, the fishmen—they were the problem.
After cleaning up the aftermath of the war, they tried to turn them back into humans, but it was determined to be impossible.
“Recovery is impossible.”
Haka had been saved through surgery and divine healing before the curse had completely overtaken his body.
But these fishmen were different.
Judith, who had operated on Haka, confirmed this.
All the pirates of the East and South could do was one thing.
“We prayed they’d go to a better place. I don’t know how far that so-called god will help, though.”
Lycas said bitterly.
Beside him was Felik, and in front of them was the grave of Gon, whom they had killed with their own hands.
It was at the edge of a cliff overlooking a clear sea somewhere in the archipelago.
“He was greedy and committed the worst sin, but he was still our companion. This much is the least we can do, right?”
Usher looked at the two men’s backs.
There was pity, and faint sympathy.
The realization that it all ended in tragedy brought such feelings to the surface.
Shortly after, Usher bowed his head briefly.
“…Yes, the Father will surely forgive. He is merciful.”
“Is that something you’re saying because you’re a saintess?”
At that moment, Usher gave a bitter smile.
It was because they had learned about his affiliation during the battle.
It was a truth bound to come out eventually.
The regret was simply that he couldn’t say it himself.
Usher spoke sincerely.
“I’m sorry for deceiving you. Yes, I am affiliated with the church.”
“Was your relationship with Kyle a lie, too?”
“That, at least, was true. I was raised by him, and I witnessed his final moments.”
A silence fell.
Lycas gazed at the sky.
He seemed lost in thought, letting out a long sigh.
In the end, he laughed emptily.
“What an annoyingly clear day. Perfect weather for setting sail.”
It was his way of telling him to leave.
But there was no resentment or betrayal in his voice.
This was purely his consideration.
After all, after this war, Usher had risen to an absolute position in the archipelago.
If he stayed, other pirates would either try to capture him or erupt in anger over perceived betrayal.
To prevent that, slipping away quietly now was the best choice.
Still, the aftermath lingered in Usher’s mind.
“What will you do now?”
There was no new king of the archipelago, as they had hoped.
Only the disgraceful scars of war remained.
Even if those wounds healed, the same events would repeat.
The archipelago would continue to fight endlessly.
Usher had something he wanted to say about that.
“May I say just one thing before I leave?”
“If it’s advice, spare us. Aren’t you a saint now? Don’t try to do more for rough people like us.”
“If it’s a final will, am I allowed to say it?”
At that, both men turned their heads sharply.
Judging by their shocked expressions, they seemed to think he was talking about taking his own life.
Usher quickly dispelled the misunderstanding.
And instead, he spoke the words they truly needed to hear.
“Kyle once told me something.”
“Kyle….”
“That guy…?”
Usher’s lips moved slightly.
It was one of Kyle’s final words left to Usher long ago.
“Don’t be bound. Move forward if you want to survive. The waves of the world will constantly shake you, of course. But you must not forget. Remember this: the moment you decide to move forward, the waves that once shook you will become allies, pushing you from behind.”
Kyle enjoyed using metaphors, so it took Usher a long time to fully understand the meaning.
But looking back now, wasn’t it clear?
A final message is, in its own way, words of comfort, telling those left behind to forget and try to find happiness.
From Usher’s perspective, Lycas and Felik seemed to understand those words better than he did.
Perhaps it was because they had spent so many years with Kyle, or perhaps because the sea was so familiar to them.
Usher hoped for one thing from the two of them, and from Haka, who lay bedridden.
Not to be bound by Kyle, but to live looking towards tomorrow, just as Kyle had wished for those left behind.
There was no need to add more words.
Usher bowed his head, turned around, and buried Kyle once again in his heart.
Because he believed that was what Kyle truly wished for him.
He left the archipelago.
The church had no reason to remain after everything had ended.
No matter how kindly one viewed it, the pirates were still harmful to the nation, and they could have been punished.
But strictly speaking, that wasn’t the church’s duty.
The church’s role was to resist the disorder that disrupted the world.
Such localized conflicts were also part of the natural order, and it wasn’t their place to intervene further.
Usher came to the sea and was now on his way back to land.
He turned back and looked at the archipelago for a long time.
As he did, Bersia approached.
“Are you alright?”
Her voice and expression were filled with concern.
Usher chuckled softly and replied.
“Ah, yes. The remaining matters of the archipelago are their concern, not mine….”
“No, not that—the curse.”
“Huh?”
“The Curse of Craving. I was wondering if there might be any side effects.”
Bersia approached and held Usher’s hand.
A faint tremor could be felt.
By now, Usher understood.
No matter how firm a front she put on, Bersia had a fragile nature.
She worried about small things and was easily anxious.
She had a strong tendency to avoid or ignore situations she feared might go wrong.
And when she couldn’t, she often crumbled.
She was a pitiful, fragile person.
But Usher never felt disappointed.
Because even so, Bersia was someone he wanted to protect.
Usher held her hand tightly.
He spoke to reassure her.
“Nothing happened in the few days since we left, has it? Everything is fine.”
“Well….”
“The curse must have failed. Curses don’t work properly unless the target is explicitly clear. The witch must have aimed the curse at the Saintess. But in reality, I was the one who took it. That’s probably where the problem arose.”
Usher wasn’t just saying this—he genuinely believed it.
He also wondered if this might have been the will of the Lord.
“More than that, could you keep Saintess Judith away from me? Lately, every time she sees me, she tries to make me drink suspicious potions….”
As he said this with an awkward laugh, Bersia seemed to relax a little.
“…I suppose it must look quite fascinating. Even I would be curious if someone survived the Curse of Desire unharmed.”
“I’m running out of excuses to refuse her now.”
“I’ll handle it somehow.”
As Bersia answered, her fingers began to gently fidget with his hand.
The more she rubbed his hand, the quicker her trembling subsided.
Was this how her anxiety faded away?
Somehow, the way she focused on it looked endearing.
Usher felt a pang of guilt for finding her behavior cute.
He quickly dismissed the thought.
‘…It’s just a passing thought, that’s all.’
It wasn’t a big deal.
As his thoughts came to a close, Bersia asked again.
“So, are you really okay? There’s nothing different about you at all?”
For a brief moment, Usher flinched.
Bersia’s movements stopped as well.
It seemed her suspicion had returned.
But truly, it was nothing significant.
Usher’s face turned red.
To clear up the misunderstanding, he leaned closer and whispered shyly.
“Uh… my cycle came… a little early.”
It was about four days ahead of schedule.
Perhaps even this was an effect of the Curse of Desire.
Usher’s gaze fell downward, and his ears turned red.
He couldn’t bring himself to look directly at Bersia.
In response, Bersia let out a sigh.
“…Sigh.”
Whether it was a sigh of relief or exasperation, Usher chose not to dig too deeply into it.