Chapter 247. The Signature Technique (2)
Azureocean Castle, now devoid of its main forces, felt quieter than ever. The city surrounding the stronghold still bustled with life, but within the castle walls, only a skeleton force remained to maintain basic security.
The first thing Caron did upon his return to Azureocean Castle was to personally visit the families of the knights who had fallen at the Imperial Palace and deliver the news of their deaths. It was a grim and painful task.
Caron and Leo had split up to meet the bereaved, and by the time they returned to Azureocean Castle, night already stretched deep across the sky.
"Caron," Leo called, his face stiff and expression grim. He had returned later than Caron, having spent the entire day watching grieving families break down in tears.
Caron handed him a bottle of liquor and asked, "Do you want a drink?"
Leo, who would normally have declined without hesitation, accepted the bottle silently this time. He took a long swig straight from it.
Only when half the bottle was empty did Leo pull it away from his lips. It was elven fruit wine—aromatic and rich—and its delicate scent did just enough to take the edge off his exhausted heart.
"Doesn't this bother you at all?" Leo asked, his voice low and flat.
Throughout the day, he had faced people shattered by loss. The suffocating weight of grief, the finality of death—losing someone was always unbearable.
"Of course it bothers me," Caron replied quietly. He took the bottle back and drank as well, then wiped his mouth lazily on his sleeve. "You never really get used to it. You just get used to enduring it."
Caron had felt this before—too many times to count in his previous life. There had been countless moments when comrades who once ate meals and trained beside him returned as cold, lifeless bodies.
Even during his days training at Azureocean Castle, many from the Oceanwolf Knight Order had likely met their end on the battlefield. But this time, it struck harder, because this time, he had been there—at their final moments.