Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051601476634937
By the time Serena returned to the guild, the sky was beginning to turn crimson.
A large church stood next to the guild.
It was the same view it had been for the past five years.
“Lady Serena!”
“Welcome back!”
The moment she entered the building,
the children came running toward her.
A smile naturally spread across Serena’s face.
“I’m home.”
Saying that, she crouched down.
She gently ruffled each child’s hair.
“You were late today!”
“Work?”
“Yes.”
Serena smiled.
“I went a little farther away than usual.”
“Did you save someone again?”
“I suppose so.”
The children laughed happily.
Seeing this, the guild members watching also couldn’t help but relax their expressions.
There are all kinds of people here.
Injured adventurers.
Children who’ve lost their homes.
People seeking help.
That’s exactly why.
Serena founded this guild.
To help others.
To be a place where people belong.
And.
So that one day, when Alt returns,
she could be the kind of person who could welcome him with her head held high.
“Lady Serena.”
An adventurer approached her.
His arm was wrapped in a large bandage.
“I got hurt during a quest.”
“Let me see it.”
Serena smiled gently.
And then.
She placed her hand on the wound.
A faint light radiated from it.
Sacred magic.
The wound slowly began to close.
Eventually.
It vanished without a trace.
The adventurer’s eyes widened.
He gripped his arm.
He opened his hand.
He shook it.
There was no pain.
No discomfort either.
On the contrary.
His body felt light.
“Amazing…”
“I feel even better than usual!”
Voices of admiration escaped from the guild members around her.
“That’s Serena-sama for you.”
“She’s truly the Kingdom’s greatest Saint.”
Serena gave a wry smile.
“You’re exaggerating.”
But.
Everyone knew.
That countless lives had been saved.
That countless adventurers were able to get back on their feet.
That there were those who made it home alive only because Serena was there.
Even so.
She simply smiled as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
After that, too.
A child who’d fallen and was crying.
A child with a fever.
An exhausted guild member.
She went around to each of them.
If anyone was in trouble, she’d lend a helping hand.
That was Serena.
“Lady Serena!”
“I’m hungry!”
Before she knew it, it was dinnertime.
Serena headed to the kitchen.
With practiced hands, she chopped the ingredients.
She added them to the pot.
She added spices.
And then.
She grilled a large piece of meat.
A sizzling sound echoed through the air.
A savory aroma filled the room.
“Meat again today!”
“Yay!”
The children cheered.
The guild members smiled, too.
Serena served the food onto plates with a smile.
But.
There was a reason behind this dish.
A long time ago.
Alt had said,
[You really like this meat dish, don’t you?]
It was truly just a casual remark.
He probably doesn’t even remember it himself.
But.
Serena hadn’t forgotten.
That’s why, even now.
Before she knows it, she finds herself making it.
“Lady Serena, you really like this dish, don’t you?”
A troupe member laughed.
Serena’s hand paused for just a moment.
And then.
She gave a small smile.
“That might be true.”
It wasn’t a lie.
She did like it.
The food.
And the memories.
All of it.
Dinner begins.
The children’s laughter.
The guild members chatting and laughing.
A warm atmosphere.
But.
Amidst it all.
Serena can’t help but wonder.
If Alt were here.
He would surely be laughing happily.
[This is delicious.]
He would have said that.
Just imagining that scene.
Made her heart feel a little warmer.
Soon, night falls.
The children fall asleep.
The guild members return to their rooms.
Only silence remains.
Serena leaves the guild.
Her destination was already decided.
The church built next door.
For five years.
A place she kept returning to time and time again.
In times of hardship.
In times of anguish.
When she longed to see him.
She always came here.
She entered the chapel.
The large altar.
Moonlight streaming in.
An empty space.
Serena quietly knelt down.
And then.
She clasped her hands together.
“God,”
she whispered softly.
“Thank you,”
It was a prayer.
“Thank You for bringing Alt back to me.”
At that moment.
Five years came flooding back.
The nights she couldn’t sleep.
The nights she cried.
The nights she prayed without ceasing.
I want him to be alive.
I want him to be safe.
I want to see him again.
That was the only thing she kept wishing for.
But.
She didn’t just pray.
Serena was a saint.
She had connections with churches throughout the kingdom.
That’s why.
From the very moment Alt went missing.
She kept sending letters to churches everywhere.
The snowy lands of the north.
The port towns of the west.
The mountainous regions of the east.
The trading cities of the south.
Pilgrims.
Priests.
Nuns.
Believers on their journeys.
Whenever someone was heading far away,
she would always ask them:
“Have you seen this person?”
Saying that,
she handed them a sketch of Al.
She asked travelers who came to the church to pray.
She asked when she was treating the wounded.
She asked merchants from other countries.
She asked adventurers who came seeking help.
If someone had come even a little way from afar,
no matter who they were,
I would ask them.
Every time a reply arrived, I held out hope.
That perhaps I’d finally found him.
That perhaps I’d finally get to see him.
But.
The result was always the same.
“That’s not him.”
“I haven’t found him.”
“I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
Those were the only replies I ever got.
Even so.
I couldn’t stop.
If I stopped,
I felt like I’d truly never be able to see them again.
So.
I kept searching.
I kept praying.
I kept believing.
For five whole years.
“I was weak,”
I muttered under my breath.
No one was listening.
So it was my true feelings.
I believed.
That they’d come back.
That they were alive.
That I’d see him again.
I truly believed that.
But.
I was anxious.
I was scared.
What if.
He had died?
What if.
He had come to hate me?
What if he had forgotten me?
What if he had abandoned me?
There were nights when thoughts like that crossed my mind.
There were days when I cried while praying.
There were times when my heart felt like it was about to break.
Even so.
I just couldn’t stop praying.
Because I felt that if I stopped praying,
it would truly all be over.
That’s why.
Those words from that day still linger in my heart.
[There’s no way I’d ever abandon you guys, right?]
Serena gave a small smile.
And then.
A single tear fell.
I was happy.
Truly.
From the bottom of my heart.
I left the chapel.
I returned to my room.
I sat in front of the mirror.
Long, beautiful blonde hair.
Serena slowly ran a brush through it.
I take care of it every single day without fail.
The reason was simple.
[Serena’s hair is beautiful, isn’t it?]
A long time ago.
Because Alt had told her that.
That was all.
Really.
Just that.
But.
That one sentence was enough.
That’s why she still keeps it up to this day.
Not missing a single day.
And then.
She opened the drawer of her desk.
Inside was a scarf.
It was a gift from Alt.
On the way home on a cold day.
To me, who was shivering.
He wrapped it around me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
[Here you go.]
That was all he said.
But.
To Serena, it was a treasure.
I hugged the scarf close.
On anxious nights.
On nights when I cried.
On nights when my spirit felt like it was about to break.
Time and time again.
Time and time again.
I held this scarf close.
It was as if.
Alt were right beside me.
“Alt…”
A quiet voice.
He’s finally come home.
I’ve finally seen him.
Finally.
Within reach.
That’s why.
I never wanted him to.
Go somewhere out of reach again.
This time for sure.
I want to be the place Alt comes home to.
When he’s hurt.
When he’s tired.
When he’s lost.
A place he can always come back to.
That was my wish right now.
And then.
I murmured in a voice no one could hear.
“I’ll be the place Alt comes home to.”
That vow, which no one could hear,
faded away into the quiet room.
–
–
If you enjoy our content, feel free to donate, Thank you in advance !
Thanks for the chapter!