joy.

“So you met Captain Tsubaki, huh?” asked the clergyman.

“Wait, you know him?” responded Eva in question.

“Most people here in Mumei know of him,” stated the young priest. “He fought in the Great War and now serves under good King Aredor, after all.”

“Woah...” breathed Eva. I’m quite surprised. He looks so young.”

“Yes, he does. However, I suppose most Faerith Leid look youthful in comparison to a human.”

“Wait, how do you know I’m human?” she asked.

“Well...” began the clergyman. “You’re from Aleilyo, but you carry no significant aspects of the nymph and naiad creatures from that country.”

“But, how do you know where I’m from...?”

The young clergyman laughed heartily.

“I’m surprised you trusted me so easily, Miss Evangelique,” said he. “You don’t even know my same, and you hardly seem suspicious of me.”

“Uhm, yes, well...” fumbled Eva. “I suppose it’s just that-”

“Do you suppose you can trust me because I’m a Hitsujikai?” interjected the young priest.

Evangelique stopped her walking. Snow clung to her boots as her movements halted.

“You shouldn’t be too trusting of who I am, just because I am wearing the garments of a man who has vowed to teach Elohim’s words,” he began.

“There are many wolves who dress as I who preach falsely and many snakes who commit heinous crimes, yet act as if they have done no wrong.”

The young priest looked at her with a soft smile.

“Even one such as I have committed evil deeds.”

Evangelique choked on her breath and began to cough. She was taken aback by his sentence.

“Ah, miss, are you okay?!” asked the young clergyman, worried.

“Y-Yeah...” replied Eva. “Do you tell everyone you meet that?”

“Oh!” exclaimed he. “Uhm...not usually. Or rather, not like I just did.”

“Then why did you tell me that so abruptly?”

“Ah...well...”

He turned his gaze away from her, awkwardly as he lifted his right hand to his head to touch the back of his neck.

“That’s because you’re a part of my team,” he stated. “I suppose I just needed you to know that.”

“Wait,” replied Eva. “So, if you’re a part of my team...”

Evangelique recalled her fellow teammate, Cyril, talking about a team member who wasn’t there to welcome her.

“You’re the guy who worries that he’ll worry his wife!!” exclaimed Eva, pointing at him.

“So that’s what they’ve decided to coin me as...” replied the young priest, slightly embarrassed. “Did they tell you my real name?”

“Ah, yes!” said Eva. “It was Ago, correct?”

“Yes, that’s right, Sister Evangelique,” responded the clergyman, Ago.

Evangelique looked at Ago, puzzled.

“Sister Evangelique?” asked Eva.

“Ah, I usually call my teammates and those I hold dear my brothers and sisters,” replied Ago. “I apologize if that is a bit strange to you.”

“No, no, it’s quite alright!” assured Eva. “I don’t have any siblings, so it feels nice to know someone in this world calls me family.”

She looked at Ago, who looked ahead with a peaceful smile. She gasped.

“Just a moment,” began Eva. “But does that make me the big sister or little sister? You are very young looking, after all.”

“Haha..well, that’s very kind of you,” replied Ago. “But you see, I’m 36 years of age...”

“No way!” responded Eva, taken aback once more. The priest looked more like he was 18 years old rather than 36. “How is that possible?! You are human, right?”

“Y-Yes...I’m human, but I don’t like talking about why I look so young...”

He laughed shyly, and Eva prepared to say another thing.

As they walked onwards in the snow, the day died down, but their conversation grew, much like the flickering flames in the lampposts around them.

In the night, Eva sat in her room, brushing her hair. She had eaten dinner with all her teammates, except for Ago, who said he had to get home so he wouldn’t worry his wife (or rather, so he wouldn’t be so anxious about worrying her).

After their meal, they all talked together as if they had known each other for a long time.

Yasha and Althia shared information on the latest events going on in their work. Augustine rambled about a strange, scientific theory and in order to stop him, Cyril sang a tune he had composed only a few days before.

’I’m so surprised by how kind everyone is...′ thought Evangelique.

She sighed out of contentment and sat upon her bed. The golden camellia rested on her nightstand, still glowing. Evangelique picked it up and held it close to her.

She remembered the young man she met.

Tsubaki.

His heart was in despair, and now, Eva had a better understanding of why.

‘It’s so hard losing someone special to you...’ thought Eva, empathetically. ‘And to have to take their responsibilities must make it even worse.’

Evangelique’s mind wandered through an ocean of thoughts.

Who did Tsubaki lose? A family member? Lover, perhaps?

Why of all people was she chosen to become a Lieutenant beside him?

How was she to balance her responsibilities as a teacher and a Lieutenant?

Now knowing that she had received the Hamadryad powers she had lost before, what was she to do?

Evangelique’s mind began to drift, her words inside becoming like the sound of peaceful waves.

Lying down in her bed, she felt her eyelids grow heavier. The pattering of fresh snow against her bedroom window set her at ease.

Holding the golden camellia closer to her chest, Eva began to murmur a prayer. She slowly drifted away, the contents of her prayers becoming unrecognizable to the human ear, but fully heard by Elohim, the one who held her in safety as she slept.

A scraggly, bearded man laughed coarsely as he ran in the moonlit snow. Close to his chest, he held a glimmering dagger stained with the blood of a once breathing body.

“There’s no way he can haunt me now...” cackled the man.

SLASH!

The metallic sound of a blade flew past the once fleeing man. He let out a shriek as continued running. Three more blades rushed in the wind towards him, one making its way into the man’s left shoulder.

“GAH!” coughed out the man, falling to his knees.

“You lack of strength surprises me,” said a gentle yet chilling voice.

“Y-You!” spat out the man.

“You must know, you have committed an unforgivable crime, according to the law,” said the chilling voice, ignoring the scraggly man.

“B-But you can kill me, can you?!” cried out the man. His eyes were wide and deranged. “Isn’t it no in accordance with your vows?”

“I’m not taking down an innocent man,” replied the voice. He took out a sword from the scabbard on his right hip. It glistened in the moonlight as it was raised up into the air.

Shortly after being raised, the blade fell, and a sickly scream crawled out of the man’s mouth. Blood trickled, dying the snow red. In the light of the moon, the blood was as bright as blooming roses.

Traumatized eyes looked up, surprised by the agony that coursed through its body. The silent and cold figure loomed over the body, staring at it with sharp eyes of regret and disgust.

Was it still worth it to try and stay alive?