“What are you talking about?”

He drew out the last word.

“My worries just disappeared.”

“See, I told you.”

He chuckled as if he were a wise person.

And as the two exchanged trivial conversations, when they left the bar, the sky was pitch dark. It had certainly been clear when they entered the place.

“I know a place that serves good beer.”

“Oh, really? Shall we go?”

Anita willingly left the bar, but she suddenly staggered. Although it seemed like she was walking straight, her vision shook.

“Wait, wait a minute.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t there something strange with the ground here?”

Edmund looked at her with a blank face.

“I don’t know?”

“Look here. The ground on this side and the ground on that side are at different heights.”

“Hmm.”

His head gradually tilted to the left.

“That seems to be the case. Oh, it’s really tilted, isn’t it?”

“Wait, could there have been an earthquake here?”

The seemingly endless flat ground felt tilted to them.

The two continued their silly conversation as they walked. Apart from Anita stumbling and falling once due to the tilted ground, their movements were relatively orderly for intoxicated people.

After staggering along for what seemed like forever, they reached the square, which, given the late hour, was empty.

“Damn.”

Edmund suddenly spat out a curse. Startled, Anita quickly turned her head. He was looking at the statue erected on the fountain in the square. The same fountain where Anita and Rutger had sat and eaten their sandwiches not long ago.

“Do you know what that statue is?”

“Um, no.”

“It’s my grandfather’s? The one riding on the horse.”

Riding on the horse. That’s a bit harsh to say about his grandfather, isn’t it?

“Did he pass away?”

“There’s no way he would.”

“But why is there a statue?”

“Even living people occasionally become models.”

Was Earl of Aberdeen really that great?

Anita rolled her head for a while but gave up. She had a slight headache since earlier, and she wasn’t particularly curious about Edmund’s grandfather.

“I have a good idea.”

“….”

Perhaps because of his unnecessarily innocent expression, there wasn’t much expectation. Anita didn’t care much about what Edmund was thinking, but he was heading towards the fountain.

Anita crossed her arms and stared, trying to figure out what the hell he was doing. Stepping lightly onto the fountain’s rim, Edmund hooked his feet into the stirrups beside his horse.

“Huh?”

Anita, watching, couldn’t help but let her voice drift with disbelief. Edmund had climbed onto the horse’s back with familiar ease.

If there’s a problem, it’s not that the horse is a living one but that it’s a statue in the square. And the rider already on the horse is his grandfather.

“Annoying old man.”

He sat behind Earl of Aberdeen and poked the statue’s cheek.

“Pfft.”

The sound of wind escaping from Anita’s mouth.

“I don’t care how much you don’t like your grandson, there’s no need to swing a decorative sword like that.”

Judging by the way the horse statue lifts its two legs towards the sky, it seems to be a war hero, and it still looks vigorous enough to wield a sword against his grandson.

“I think it’s a little overly beautified, and I think it needs a little more belly fat.”

This time, he poked the statue’s stomach.

While Anita may not know much, it seems like going up there is not a good idea.

“Come down now. If we get caught like this.”

Holding onto the last strand of remaining reason, Anita spoke.

“Do you want to come up too?”

“…”

“It’s fun.”

Feeling the cold night breeze and slightly sobered by the alcohol, Anita raised her head.

“Look. There’s no one around, right? If you come up just once, your perspective might change.”

As he said, the square was as quiet as a graveyard. The surrounding shops and houses were all dark, with only the faint glow of streetlights illuminating the square.

After hesitating for a moment, Anita approached him.

Sitting on the horse’s back, Edmund looked down at Anita and chuckled, reaching out his hand towards her.

This was an action he would never normally commit. Hesitating briefly in front of the fountain, Anita climbed up on the fountain’s edge.

Edmund’s words were correct. What could be the problem? The square was empty, and the lamplight was dim.