The storm raged on throughout most of the night.

The rain beat continuously against the roof of the old shrine while the little campfire burnt peacefully within it.

Finally...

The darkness surrendered to dawn.

The first rays of sunlight shone through the gaps in the old stone walls and illuminated the interior of the shrine with soft golden light.

The storm was gone...

Outside.

The grasslands sparkled with numerous raindrops.

All the leaves, flowers and blades of grass glistened under the early morning rays of the Sun.

The air smelled fresh.

Pristine.

Alive.

Roxy stretched her arms and yawned loudly.

"Mmm..."

"I actually slept rather well."

Jennie smiled as she prepared breakfast over the almost extinguished fire.

"Despite the thunderstorm?"

Roxy nodded firmly.

"I’ve learned something."

Jennie tilted her head to the side.

"What?"

"If there’s hot tea around..."

"I can sleep anywhere."

Snow looked at her.

"...Quite an amazing skill."

"I know."

Jennie chuckled softly.

"You’ve got strange priorities."

"They’ve kept me alive until now."

Shanks was already awake.

He sat outside the shrine watching the sunrise silently.

His straw hat lay next to him.

For the first time...

Jennie could clearly see his face.

He was just an ordinary traveler in his early thirties.

Calm blue-gray eyes.

Dark hair with streaks of silver in it.

Gentle smile which showed no hint of arrogance.

There was nothing special about him.

But...

The longer Jennie looked at him...

The stronger she felt something that she could not put into words.

It was neither fear nor mistrust.

It was simply...

Familiar.

Like she knew somebody else who smiled the same peaceful smile.

She shook her head.

I’m overthinking it.

Snow approached him silently.

The Divine Wolf sat next to the traveler without saying anything.

Shanks quietly poured some fresh tea into two wooden cups.

He offered one of them to Snow.

Snow took the cup respectfully.

"...Thank you."

"No problem."

The two of them sat silent and watched the sunrise.

Roxy poked her nose out of the shrine.

She blinked several times.

"...Am I going crazy..."

"...or is a giant Divine Wolf drinking tea?"

Snow answered her casually,

"Yes."

"I’ve seen everything."

Jennie giggled.

"I don’t think that anybody would ever believe our story."

When the travelers finished their breakfast...

Jennie carefully strapped Excalibur and Leviathan to her back beneath her cloak.

Roxy somehow squeezed three new books into a backpack which was already absolutely impossible to squeeze something into.

Snow shook his head.

"...Magic."

"No."

"Determination."

"I don’t see a difference."

Shanks rose to his feet.

He took his old leather travel bag.

He walked with the same unhurried pace.

As if time itself meant nothing to him.

Jennie stepped closer to him.

"I guess that it’s time for us to part ways."

Shanks nodded gently.

"For the moment."

Jennie bowed respectfully.

"Thank you."

"For the tea."

"For the stories."

"And..."

She smiled happily.

"...for being kind to us."

Shanks returned her bow respectfully.

"It was my pleasure."

Roxy waved her arms excitedly.

"I wish to see you again, Master Shanks!"

"I still have lots of questions to ask!"

Shanks chuckled.

"I supposed so."

Snow bowed respectfully as well.

"Good travels."

"And you."

They stayed silent for a couple of moments.

The morning wind caressed the grass around the old shrine.

The birds were singing in the trees.

This was one of those perfect moments which travelers remembered even after they finished their journey.

Shanks silently looked at Jennie.

Not at the swords which she hid under her cloak.

Not at the legendary White Hunter whose name echoed in all corners of the continent.

Only at the young lady standing in front of him.

Gentle smile appeared on his face.

"You’ve changed."

Jennie blinked.

"...Changed?"

She scratched her cheek sheepishly.

A small giggle came from her lips.

"People tell me that a lot."

Snow smiled gently.

"They aren’t wrong."

Roxy nodded enthusiastically.

"Back when I first met you..."

"You always seemed like you were carrying the whole world on your shoulders."

Jennie looked surprised.

"Do I?"

"You did."

"But now..."

Roxy smiled widely.

"You smile a lot."

"You joke."

"You smile without even knowing it."

Snow added quietly.

"And you don’t walk alone anymore."

Jennie’s gaze softened.

She looked at her two friends.

And back at Shanks.

"I suppose..."

"...That’s right."

Shanks nodded slowly.

His voice sounded calm and warm.

With quiet confidence in it.

"That’s a good thing."

Jennie smiled.

"I think so too."

For some reason that simple phrase meant more to her than any compliment she ever got before.

The morning breeze brought the smell of the fresh rain in from the open grasslands.

The three of them started walking down the road again.

Several steps away...

Jennie turned her back to them one last time.

Shanks still stood at the entrance of the old shrine.

One hand raised in farewell.

His same gentle smile didn’t change.

Jennie smiled back at him.

"See you next time."

Shanks bowed his head slightly.

"...Yes."

"See you."

She turned away from him with her two friends next to her.

Nobody saw the smile which appeared on his face when she was gone.

It was not the smile of the happy traveler.

Not the smile of an ordinary man.

It was the quiet smile of the person who found the answer to the question he carried for a thousand years.

He looked toward the empty road and whispered softly only to the wind.

"...You’ve become far greater than the man I once knew."

And then, Jennie, Snow and Roxy slowly disappeared behind the rolling hills.

Their laughter carried away by the breeze.

Soon...

The road was left all alone.

The breeze softly blew the tall grasses around the abandoned shrine.

For several minutes...

The sole remaining traveler stayed motionless in the place where Jennie had left him.

A slight smile still graced his face.

He quietly observed the horizon.

"...Travel safely."

His voice almost as soft as the wind.

Then...

Silence.

The smile slowly faded away.

Kindness in his features evaporated under the morning sunlight.

He lifted his hand.

His fingers wrapped themselves around the brim of his old straw hat.

Slowly...

He took it off.

The cheerful traveler known as Shanks was no more.

The very air grew heavy.

His calm blue-gray eyes slowly changed.

They deepened.

Darkened.

The crimson light of ancient times slowly shone through them.

Eyes which had seen kingdoms born.

Empires die.

Heroes fall.

And civilizations fade from history.

They were no longer the eyes of a traveler.

They were the eyes of a being who had been alive for thousands of years.

An invisible pressure quietly spread around the surrounding plains.

It was not aggressive.

It was not meant to intimidate.

Its very presence made the world go silent.

The bird songs stopped.

The wind slowed down.

Even the mana in the grasslands seemed hesitant about moving.

The dark mana surrounded the Second Demon General.

Not savage.

Not corrupt.

Perfectly controlled.

Black smoke slowly curled around his robes.

There was no anger in it.

Only boundless power.

The peaceful shrine suddenly seemed old.

Tiny.

Insignificant.

As though standing before someone who had existed long before its creation.

Then...

The shadows behind the shrine started twisting in unnatural ways.

A black crack opened in empty space.

From inside...

A lone individual came out.

He wore the black armor with crimson runes etched on it.

The white mask covered his entire face.

He had two horns decorating his forehead.

The newcomer immediately kneeled down.

He bowed his head deeply.

He didn’t dare look up.

His voice trembling from complete respect.

"My Lord..."

"The scouting reports have arrived."

The traveler was silent.

The masked demon continued.

"The White Hunter has obtained two Divine Swords."

"Excalibur..."

"And Leviathan."

Another pause.

Then...

He said the title which he had been guarding in his heart.

"Lord Second General..."

The words disappeared into the silent air.

There was no one else present except for the abandoned shrine.

The endless plains.

And one of the oldest beings that were alive.

The Second Demon General calmly observed the horizon where Jennie had disappeared.

He quietly asked.

"How many of our spies have confirmed her identity?"

The masked demon immediately responded.

"All of them."

"There is no doubt."

"The girl named Jennie..."

"...Is the reincarnation of the Sword King."

The black mana gently ripples over the grass.

Then it calms down.

The demon slowly lifts his head.

Just a little bit.

His voice becomes cold.

"If that is true..."

"Then this is our best chance."

He clench his fist.

"She has not recovered her former power."

"She travels with only two companions."

"No army."

"No kingdom."

"No legendary knights."

A moment of silence follows.

Then...

He asks the question which he wanted to ask since the very beginning.

"Shall we eliminate her?"

The words hang in the air.

The wind stops completely.

For several moments...

The Second Demon General only looks towards the distant road.

His ancient crimson eyes remained unreadable.

Finally...

He answers.

His voice calm.

Almost gentle.

"No."

The masked demon stops in his tracks.

"...My Lord?"

The Second Demon General calmly places his straw hat back on his head.

His features remained completely unreadable.

"Not yet."

The demon looks puzzled.

"But..."

"If she becomes the Sword King again..."

"She could endanger all of Demonkind."

The Second Demon General quietly shakes his head.

"No."

"She is..."

He pauses.

For the first time in centuries...

A faint smile appears on his lips.

Not the warm smile of the traveler.

But the calm smile of someone who finally got an unexpected answer.

"...Different."

The demon stays kneeling.

Puzzled.

The Second Demon General continues.

"I watched her."

"I shared tea with her."

"I listened to her speak."

"She never searched for glory."

"Never boasted about her power."

"But when she was given the choice..."

"She spoke about protection."

"About her home."

"About peace."

He slowly closes his eyes.

"The Sword King I once fought..."

"... Would have only spoken of ending the war."

He opens his eyes again.

"But Jennie..."

"... Speaks of ending loneliness."

Another silence falls.

The masked demon hesitates.

"Then..."

"What are your orders?"

The Second Demon General observes the bright morning sky.

"Watch."

"Nothing more."

"And if anyone moves against her without my permission..."

His crimson eyes briefly flash.

The temperature around the shrine suddenly drops.

"I will personally erase them."

The body of the masked demon starts trembling.

"I understand."

"I will convey your order immediately."

Without a single word...

The demon takes a step backwards.

The shadows swallow him whole.

The crack in space closes.

Silence returns.

The Second Demon General stands alone under the clear morning sky.

Far away...

Jennie’s laughter faintly echoes across the hills.

He listens to it quietly.

Then whispers with a voice audible only to the wind.

"Leonis..."

"I waited for a thousand years to face you again."

A small smile appears on his lips.

"But the one traveling that road..."

"... Is not Leonis anymore."

"... She is Jennie."

"And I find myself hoping..."

"... That she never becomes the man I once fought."

With these final words...

His body dissolves into black mana floating around.

The empty shrine remains.

As though no one was ever standing there before.

Far away from the horizon...

Jennie continues to travel beside Snow and Roxy.

Unaware...

That one of the most powerful beings in existence chose to become her silent observer instead of her executioner.