GDWY 09

Chapter 09

Kashin was only two years older than Rosha, making them peers. But unlike Rosha, he was taller than most adults, and more importantly, there was an overwhelming gap between them in ranking.

Kashin was the third-ranked Rostellier, sometimes called Noah’s right hand.

At one point, Rosha had tried to get along with Kashin, who wasn’t much older than her. For a brief moment, they had even been quite close. Of course, it didn’t take long for their relationship to fall apart.

“I will definitely reach my target rank and take down the demons who make people suffer! And I will find my little sister, no matter what!”

When Rosha declared she aimed to be in the top 100, Noah had placed Kashin by her side, both as a mentor and a friend. Looking back later, Noah admitted he thought putting a socially awkward child and a stubbornly unadaptable child together might benefit both. Of course, that choice had turned out to be a huge mistake.

To Rosha, who lived every day fixated on her goals, Kashin was extremely harsh.

“How do you plan to bring a dead sibling back to life?”

At that, Rosha spoke clearly:

“My little sister is alive!”

Not finding her body was the only glimmer of hope that she might still be alive. Other Rostellier brothers tried to preserve young Rosha’s fragile hope, but Kashin scoffed, crushing it mercilessly.

“If she were alive, there would have been news from nearby villages. But even after searching the area, you didn’t find her, did you? A five-year-old girl couldn’t have run far. Even if she survived, she would’ve starved or been eaten by beasts.”

“What do you know… how dare you say something like that?!”

From that moment, Rosha and Kashin became practically mortal enemies. The funny thing was that, despite this, Kashin made it to Rosha’s birthday party every year and always sent gifts. Meanwhile, Rosha had never attended Kashin’s birthday parties or sent him gifts, no matter how much Noah tried to persuade her.

“Meeting after so long, and you greet me with quite the intensity, huh?”

“We’re not close enough to be friendly.”

“So that’s why you attacked me?”

“If I didn’t, you wouldn’t even notice me.”

What frustrated Rosha even more was that she tried to avoid Kashin, yet it was Kashin himself who would harass her.

With long strides, Kashin suddenly closed the distance and stood right in front of Rosha.

“…Crazy guy.”

He had dressed up for the party, but blood smeared his cheek. Judging by the smell, it wasn’t his own—it was demon blood. The characteristic stench of rotting flesh clung to him.

“Wipe the blood off your face. It’s your birthday—you don’t want to look like a mess.”

Kashin’s eyes widened briefly, perhaps realizing the blood was on his own face.

If he had done it on purpose to annoy her, Rosha might have fought him with all her strength. Luckily, it seemed unintentional.

Rosha watched Kashin awkwardly wipe the blood with his sleeve. Without a mirror, he only smudged it more, even getting it in his hair, seemingly unaware.

All Rostellier knights of the Golden Dawn change eye and hair color when they awaken. According to prophecy, their awakened color usually matches their soul. Rarely, some retain the same color before and after awakening—Kashin was one of these cases.

Before awakening, his eyes had been blue. After awakening, they turned red, but his hair remained jet black.

Rosha sometimes teased him that his soul must be that murky. Of course, she got scolded by Noah afterward.

“Did you get my gift?”

“You didn’t sneak a demon’s head into the gift box, did you?”

“I’ve never sent you something like that on your birthday.”

“Ah, right. But why do your gifts feel so creepy every year?”

Rosha’s teasing made Kashin close his mouth, stopping whatever he was about to say, and simply stared at her.

Rosha tensed. She wouldn’t be caught off guard twice—she would attack before Kashin did.

Just as she readied herself, Kashin spoke:

“I meant to say this earlier, but it’s late now.”

“…What?”

Kashin, saying something mysterious, suddenly reached out his hand. There was no magical energy in it, but Rosha instinctively stepped back.

Before she could, his hand grabbed hers.

“W-What are you doing?!”

Rosha tried to pull away, but Kashin was faster. Bowing in a stance as if asking for a dance, he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. The reverent gesture somehow felt mocking.

“Happy birthday.”

Rosha snatched her hand back roughly, rubbing the back on her dress to clean it.

“My birthday’s already passed.”

“I know. I just wanted to say it anyway.”

“Since my birthday’s over, today is my sister’s birthday.”

“…You still haven’t let go of that foolish hope.”

Rosha thought.

She still hated him just as much as ever.

“I think I’ve had enough of your harassment. I’m leaving.”

She passed Kashin, who frowned at the mention of her sister.

“Oh, right.”

Before opening the terrace door, Rosha paused briefly and addressed Kashin without looking back:

“Thanks for my birthday gift this year too.”

“….”

“Of course, I’ll throw it in the trash without opening it.”

She didn’t wait to see his reaction—and didn’t want to.

Rosha opened the door without hesitation and walked into the dazzling lights.

The next day after the extravagant birthday party, the brothers who had drunk heavily suffered from hangovers.

Even though Rosha hadn’t had a drop of alcohol, she was exhausted from dancing non-stop at the party, partly to show off to Kashin. Even after a deep sleep, her body still ached.

“You look like someone who hasn’t slept in days.”

Aaron clicked his tongue at Rosha, who sat on the sofa on the first floor.

“I noticed when you kept spinning around like crazy yesterday.”

“Spinning around? I was dancing!”

“To me, it didn’t look much different.”

“If you came to pick a fight, just leave.”

“Rude little one.”

Aaron clicked his tongue repeatedly, shaking his head, but stayed by her side.

“Noah called. Wipe your eyes and follow me.”

“Noah?”

“I even sent someone to your room, but didn’t expect you to be lying here. Tsk, wasted effort.”

Rosha ignored Aaron’s nagging and got up. Noah’s call could mean a new mission, so she couldn’t ignore it despite her fatigue.

“Back in my day, no matter how fun a party was, I restrained myself for tomorrow…”

Rosha grimaced at Aaron’s endless lecture, hurrying toward Noah’s office. She arrived quickly.

Knocking and entering, she saw other brothers who had been called, along with Aaron. Noah and Giselle were also present.

“Even that grumpy man Aaron, and Casper and Eric have all been granted leave.”

Those called had received leave from Noah, as Giselle had explained before. Some others, including Kashin (whom Rosha detested), were also present.

Rosha deliberately sat next to Giselle, avoiding Kashin. Giselle, unaware, happily petted Rosha’s hair.

Kashin glanced at Rosha briefly before turning his gaze away to drink tea.

“All gathered?”

Once everyone was seated, Noah spoke.

“Some of you might know why I’ve called you here, some might not.”

Indeed, Aaron and Kashin seemed uninterested, already knowing, but others did not.

Noah’s usual playful, kind smile was gone. Rosha, tense, didn’t touch the cookies on the table.

“Brothers.”

Noah began.

“The time has finally come.”

Everyone was shocked. Even without explanation, Noah’s tone conveyed the meaning clearly.

Among those serving the Golden Dawn, none were unaware of the ‘time yet to come.’

Just as a child of God once descended to save humanity, prophecy foretold that another child of God would one day descend.

The Golden Dawn, and those born with magical ability, existed to protect this child.

“Rosha, what does the prophecy say about the birth of the new savior?”

“The day the Blue Cross Star rises over the scattered blue blood on the floor.”

“Correct.”

Noah turned from Rosha to the other seated brothers.

“I have lied to you all.”

Everyone froze, astonished, but Noah continued.

“The child of God has been born for about ten years.”

“Why reveal this only now…?”

“Ten years ago, Aaron and I were interpreting the prophecy when we heard rumors about a woman claiming to conceive a child as a virgin. We went to Beria, met the pregnant woman, and assisted her in childbirth. Suddenly, demons attacked Beria. Aaron and I hid the woman and entrusted her to a midwife before fighting the demons.”

“Was the Blue Cross Star visible that day?”

Noah nodded.

The blue blood meant demon blood. Though their blood could be green, red, or black, the first discovered demon blood was blue, hence the general term.

“Where is the woman now?”

Casper asked. Noah shook his head solemnly.

“When we returned, the woman was dead, and the midwife and child had disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

Giselle, seated next to Rosha, asked. Noah nodded calmly and continued.

“We thought it odd too. There was no place to hide a woman carrying the child of God, so we left them in an old dry well in the village. Without someone to retrieve them, it would be impossible for the midwife to emerge from the deep well with the child.”

The demon attack on Beria was famous among the Rostellier. Rosha had studied it during her apprenticeship. Yet almost no one in the Golden Dawn knew the child of God had been born that day.

“In any case, we’ve been tracking orphaned boys from Beria to find the missing child of God. We have located surviving boys from that attack. Each was adopted in a different country.”

“So among them, the one using stigmata or divine power must be the child of God.”

Noah nodded.

“As you know, evidence of the child of God comes in three forms: first, stigmata; second, divine power; third, the obsession of evil.”

Stigmata—the sacred wounds. Divine power—the holy ability. The obsession of evil—demons and the malevolent forces aiming to kill the child. Just as the Golden Dawn seeks the child of God, Babel’s Arteliers would as well.

Demons under Babel instinctively detect the holy power of the child. Thus, danger always lurked near the child.

“And one more thing.”

Noah continued.

“The emergence of a false savior.”

Babel, too, had prophecies: a child resembling the child of God would appear. If Rostellier existed to protect light and the child of God, Arteliers existed to protect darkness and Babel’s evil child.

“It seems Babel’s scheme is that adopted children in Beria all show similar signs.”

“They aren’t all evil children, right?”

“Just small tricks by demons to confuse us. You can easily distinguish them; they aren’t truly evil children.”

Noah looked at each Rostellier seated around the sofa.

“That’s why I’ve called you.”

“….”

“Regardless of your rank, I trust your abilities and judgment, so I’ve called you here.”

Noah assigned a new mission:

“Each of you will go to the countries I designate to observe and protect the surviving children from Beria. The one confirmed as the child of God will be brought here. Kashin will communicate with you and report the situation to me.”

Noah sipped his cold tea, finishing his explanation.

“This is confidential. Officially, you are on extended leave. Further details will be provided individually. Only Rosha and Kashin remain; the others may leave.”

The brothers were shocked—the promised leave wasn’t really a leave. They couldn’t immediately recover from this revelation.

Noah waited patiently until they composed themselves. Aaron rose first, followed by Giselle and the others, leaving only Rosha and Kashin.

“Rosha, are you surprised?”

“…A little.”

Ten years ago, Rosha had been five, long before joining the Golden Dawn. One of the main topics she studied upon joining was the Beria incident, but she never imagined such hidden truths.

“You’re young, and this is a heavy task…”

“….”

“Regardless of age, I trust you, so I’m assigning this task. You understand, right?”

“…I understand.”

Rosha knew how important the mission to find the child of God was. Despite being young, Noah trusted her immensely, placing a huge responsibility on her shoulders.

“Then, the first thing you must do to honor my trust…”

“What is it?”

Rosha looked up earnestly. Noah’s expression was serious… then a playful smile appeared.

“Reconcile with Kashin.”

“…What?”

She had sensed something odd when only she and Kashin remained, but now Noah was suddenly telling her to reconcile.

‘Why should I reconcile with him?’

Rosha glared at Noah, clearly annoyed, but he showed no intention of retracting his words.

“Kashin will travel to each country via warp to coordinate with those assigned and observe potential candidates for the child of God. You will meet often and need to communicate closely.”

“But…”

“No buts, Rosha. If you can’t reconcile with Kashin, you can skip this mission.”

Noah’s face was playful, yet his tone was firm.

Rosha hesitated. Should she reconcile with Kashin, who denied her sister’s survival, or betray Noah’s trust?

She didn’t want to skip this mission. Finding and protecting the child of God would help eradicate vile demons from the land.

‘But I hate Kashin too much!’

Seeing her struggle, Noah decided to help her make the decision.

“Rosha, there’s another reason you must be on this mission.”

“What is it?”

“Lily Lewen. You’re still searching for your sister, right?”

“…Yes.”

“There’s a candidate for the child of God adopted by the Herodion nobles. Coincidentally, in Herodion…”

“Could it be…?”

“…Yes. We found a child suspected to be your sister.”

Noah retrieved a document from a pile on his desk and handed it to Rosha. She snatched it eagerly and read quickly.

Herodion country, Rosanto district orphanage.

Blonde bobbed hair, estimated 9–11 years old.

Doesn’t remember hometown, age, or family precisely.

Claims her name is ‘Lily Lewen’ and that she has an older sister.

Claims to have seen a giant snake as a child.

Bobbed hair—it appeared she had cut her long hair.

“If it really is your sister, I don’t know how she ended up in another country. If you want to confirm, you need to work with Kashin first…”

“Sorry.”

“….”

Rosha immediately apologized—not to Noah, but to Kashin across from her.

“I’m sorry for how I treated you and got angry at you before. Truly sorry.”

Kashin, emotionless, stared at her, his eyes unreadable.

“Kashin, apologize too. I know you’ve spoken poorly about Rosha’s sister.”

Finally, Kashin spoke:

“…I’m sorry too.”

For someone prideful, that was probably his best apology. Rosha nodded slightly and returned to reading the file about Lily.

“And…”

Unexpectedly, Kashin still had something to say.

“Congratulations too, sincerely, about your sister.”

It was a surprise.

‘If he teased again, I really would’ve lost it…’

Thinking back to the brief period when they were close, Kashin wasn’t actually that bad.

‘He only keeps talking badly about my sister.’

Rosha accepted his congratulations willingly.

For a brief moment, peace returned to the long-standing rivals.