Even if the Dawn Abandons You - Chapter 35

Anais recalled the affectionate care of young Leonard, who used to comfort her when she was feeling down. With a slightly melancholic gaze, she reached out her hand to tidy up the edge of the blanket, reminiscing about those days. There were moments like that in the past. Memories she could never casually reminisce about, but if she were asked to pick just one or two good things from that time, she couldn’t help but pluck out those inevitable memories.

“I believe you’ll take care of her no matter what.”

If Leonard had no intention of taking care of Marie until the end, it was a fact that Anais would be the next person to entrust her to. However, she wasn’t willing to take responsibility for Marie until the moment she no longer needed a guardian. So the best solution was to find a suitable guardian.

A suitable guardian.

The fact that the faces that came to mind were all old acquaintances pushed her into another vortex of uncertainty. She wanted to believe that she had partly severed ties with them, but now, in this situation, they were the only ones that came to mind. However, it was undeniable that all the people she knew, who were socially established and financially stable enough to support a child, were government officials.

Anais pondered for a long time, but suddenly, she felt that her contemplation itself was very strange. More precisely, it all started with Leonard’s words, “I believe you’ll take care of her no matter what,” and this contemplation had unexpectedly become unbearable. Because the Leonard she knew was never someone who could pass his responsibilities onto others.

In the midst of such a situation, where she couldn’t be at ease with anything, Anais hugged her knees, lay on the bed, bit her nails, and repeated her thoughts over and over.

Little did she know that Leonard was in her living room, listening to her toss and turns, and reassuring herself every minute and every second.

? ? ?

An agreement was reached between Anais and Leonard to ensure that their home was never left empty until they felt at ease leaving Marie alone. For instance, on days when Leonard went out to help people, Anais would stay home, and on days when Anais had to go out, Leonard would look after Marie.

Neither of them considered abandoning the other as an option. There were many suffering within the civil war in Ruye, and regardless of what happened, Anais and Leonard were individuals who couldn’t bear to abandon those in need of their help. They had reached a point where they couldn’t persuade each other anymore about this matter.

Today was Anais’ day out. Anais got on a streetcar heading to the Rue City Hall in Lemez to visit the camp where the Basbourg refugees had gathered, seeking more effective protection, right next to the government military base.

As Anais rode the streetcar through the town of Saint-Corde, Anais watched the scenery of the city, which had become more empty than when she came to look for a house the other day. This was in Saint Cordet, which had not yet been directly affected by the civil war. The nearby communes, closer to Basbourg, would be much worse off, and places closer to Belize…

There was no need to say it aloud. Those who lived here knew well enough that this place had become a mess due to the Belize bombings, and there was no reason to believe that the other side would be any quieter. But now, with Kladiev’s support and the involvement of Wisteria, the civil war seemed to be spreading nationwide. It was something they desperately hoped would never happen.

While worrying about that, the streetcar with only a few passengers rode at a reasonable speed and arrived at Rue City Hall. As she was walking toward the old government building where the military camp was located, she saw the mercenaries of the Ardinang Army coming her way, giving the impression that they were heading out.

And in the midst of them, Anais spotted a familiar face.

“Oh my, Ms. Belmartier!”

Stephanie Valli, who immediately recognized her and waved at her, had three or four Ardinand mercenaries by her side. Some of them recognized Anais and greeted her, to which she responded with a brief nod.

Her luscious, wavy chocolate-colored hair swayed beautifully whenever Stephanie let out a light laugh. Dressed in a bright red coat like a rose in May, she stood out from afar, displaying her distinctive charm as she mingled with the Ardinand mercenaries. They seemed more talkative than usual, regaling Stephanie with various stories. Anais watched them from a distance before eventually resuming her own path.

The military base wasn’t far away. As she approached the center of the base, she noticed Celine Châtelier stepping out of the barracks with an unfamiliar woman dressed in an emerald green officer’s uniform.

A small blue magic circle shone in the air in front of the woman’s hand, holding her radiant white blonde hair in a hairnet and holding a hat around her chest. A country where officer uniforms are yellow-green is the Republic of Wisteria. Anais naturally guessed that the woman’s identity was one of the officers in the Wisteria army who had miraculously joined the government forces a few days earlier.

“… … Anyway, even if it was a little uncomfortable, I hope you understand my heart that I wanted to meet separately and say thank you. Lieutenant Montgomery.”

“Oh, I merely did what was assigned to me. I’ve said it several times, but there’s no need to thank me.”

“I know someone who speaks similarly… Ah, you’ve arrived.”

Spotting Anais observing them, Celine Châtelier led her to the unfamiliar officer and introduced them.

“Allow me to introduce you. Here is Anais Belmartier, the pride of the Léans Revolution and the Dawn Rider. Doctor, this is Rebecca Montgomery from the Wisterian army.”

“Ah… I’ve heard the locals here talk about you a few times, Doctor. They say you’ve done many great things. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Rebecca Montgomery.”

“Hello, Lieutenant. I’m Anais Belmartier. I read about your achievements in the newspapers a few days ago. You were truly remarkable.”

Having read about Lieutenant Rebecca Montgomery, who appeared first on the battlefield in a miraculous moment, unleashing a large-scale attack magic that turned the desperate situation around, Anais conveyed her greetings and admiration in fluent and graceful Wisterian language. In response, Rebecca Montgomery blinked her vivid crimson eyes and asked in a surprised tone.

“Do you speak Wisteria?”

“I’m not very good, but since all the official documents are written in Wisterian, I naturally picked it up. I received a lot of help from Wisterian journalists.”

“You’re not just good at it, you’re so fluent!”

“If you say so, I’m flattered…”

“I’m even more pleased. Speaking Wisterian consumes quite a bit of mana, you know.”

Rebecca Montgomery patted the magic circle the size of a child’s palm in front of my mouth and frowned at the tip of her nose. Anais responded with a gentle smile, and seeing their introduction going smoothly, Celine Châtelier also showed a satisfied smile. Rebecca Montgomery was the first to offer a handshake.

“Nice to meet you. I’ll be counting on you.”

“I’m the one who should be counting on you.”

The moment Anais took the proffered hand, she heard a flashing light and a clicking sound right next to her. Startled, Anais and Rebecca turned their heads to the side. Andrew Layton, holding a camera, was watching them with the lack of vitality he had seen days before. When Rebecca raised her eyebrows asking for an explanation, Andrew shrugged his head. Perhaps because it was Rebecca who asked for an explanation, the answer that came out of his mouth was in Wisterian.

“Isn’t this the historic first handshake between the ‘Dawn Rider’ and the ‘Savior of Azure Light’?”

“These are worth capturing on film, I suppose,” Andrew added in a nonchalant voice.

Anais glanced at him with a slightly annoyed and uneasy look, much like a few days ago. Then their eyes met, and she quickly smiled as if she hadn’t been affected. However, when she looked away, she noticed Rebecca Montgomery shivering and muttering “Gosh…” at the edge of her vision.

“Hey, do people in Léans like giving each other such awkward nicknames? They’ve been calling me that for days, and I can’t seem to get used to it at all.”

“It’s because they love using investigative expressions.”

“Oh… I see.”

He said it out of some patriotism, but Anais didn’t like his nickname very much either. The rider of dawn light. Isn’t that an overly grand expression?

Though she said it based on a sense of patriotism, Anais also wasn’t fond of her nickname. The “Dawn Rider” sounded too grandiose for her liking. In her opinion, despite having been called that many times, she wasn’t someone who should lead the people holding a flag at the forefront.

She certainly had her beliefs, but she didn’t think that representing the people at the frontlines required any exceptional qualifications or inherent qualities. She just felt that, at some point, the “Dawn Rider Anais Belmartier” concocted by Edmond Lambert was swallowing the real her, who constantly questioned the direction of the world surrounding her.

Even if they didn’t know, in people’s hearts, ‘Anais Belmartier’ was truly a champion of the people, taking great pride in the world they helped shape and firmly believing in their own convictions. She wasn’t a miserable human like herself, giving in to disappointment and doubt, occasionally thinking that the desired outcome of the world might be her own death.