Chapter 178 — 6 Months: Rick & Shoyo
Shinokuni-01 was still standing.
Barely.
The walls had survived.
That was what mattered.
Everything else could be rebuilt.
Rick stood at the top of the eastern wall and looked down at the destruction.
Workers moved through the streets below.
Broken stone was being cleared.
Damaged buildings were being reinforced.
Families had begun returning.
Slowly.
Cautiously.
But they were returning.
Shoyo stood beside him.
"You're staring again."
Rick didn't look at her.
"I'm thinking."
"That makes one of us."
Rick looked toward her.
Shoyo smiled.
Rick sighed.
Below them, another section of the city was being rebuilt.
The people had changed.
Rick could see it.
Six months wasn't a long time in the history of the world.
But six months was long enough to change people who had nearly died.
Children played beside buildings that had once been destroyed.
Workers carried stone.
Watchmen stood along the walls.
Life continued.
Rick looked toward the center of the Shinokuni.
"Think it'll ever go back to normal?"
Shoyo's smile faded.
"No."
Rick looked at her.
She continued watching the city.
"But that's not always a bad thing."
Rick didn't answer.
He understood what she meant.
The old Shinokuni-01 had been destroyed.
Not completely.
But enough.
The people rebuilding it weren't trying to recreate what had been there.
They were trying to survive what came next.
Rick jumped down from the wall.
Shoyo followed.
They landed in the street.
Several workers immediately noticed them.
Some bowed.
Rick awkwardly raised a hand.
"You don't have to do that."
They continued working.
Shoyo laughed.
"They respect you."
Rick frowned.
"Why?"
Shoyo stared at him.
Rick looked confused.
"What?"
"You're asking why people respect you?"
"Yeah."
Shoyo shook her head.
"You really don't see it."
Rick looked toward the workers.
"I just helped."
"You stayed."
Rick turned toward her.
Shoyo continued.
"That's different."
Before Rick could answer—
a horn sounded.
Everyone stopped.
Rick immediately turned.
The sound came from the western gate.
Shoyo's expression changed.
"That's not a work signal."
Rick began walking.
"I figured."
They reached the gate quickly.
Several guards stood together.
Beyond them—
a carriage had arrived.
Rick recognized the symbol.
His expression hardened.
Shoyo looked at him.
"What?"
Rick didn't answer.
The carriage door opened.
An older man stepped out.
He wore royal armor.
His hair had turned grey.
But his posture remained straight.
His eyes immediately found Rick.
King Aldric.
Rick's hand moved toward his weapon.
Shoyo noticed.
"You know him."
Rick didn't look away.
"I've heard enough."
Aldric walked toward them.
The guards moved aside.
Rick stepped forward.
Shoyo remained beside him.
Aldric stopped several feet away.
For a moment—
no one spoke.
Then Aldric looked past them.
"Where is my son?"
Rick's eyes narrowed.
"That's how you're saying hello?"
Aldric's expression hardened.
"Henry."
Shoyo looked toward Rick.
Rick looked at Aldric.
"Not here."
Aldric stared.
"Where is he?"
"Not here."
Aldric stepped closer.
Rick didn't move.
"Do not play games with me."
Rick smiled slightly.
"You came here."
Aldric's eyes narrowed.
Rick continued.
"So apparently you're the one looking for something."
The guards around them shifted.
Shoyo sighed.
Rick glanced toward her.
"What?"
"Try not to start a war."
"No promises."
Aldric looked toward Shoyo.
"And you are?"
Shoyo smiled politely.
"Shoyo."
Aldric waited.
Shoyo didn't elaborate.
Rick smiled.
Aldric looked back toward him.
"I have attempted to contact Henry."
Rick's expression changed.
"So?"
"He doesn't answer."
Rick remained silent.
Aldric continued.
"Six months."
Rick's face hardened.
"You think I don't know?"
Aldric stared at him.
"I know he was with Xcution."
The name made several guards look toward one another.
Rick's hand tightened.
Aldric continued.
"I know Brook fell."
Rick immediately stepped forward.
Shoyo grabbed his arm.
Rick stopped.
Aldric watched him carefully.
"So it's true."
Rick's eyes narrowed.
"Watch your mouth."
"Is he alive?"
Silence.
Aldric's expression changed.
Rick looked away.
That was enough.
Aldric's face hardened.
"What happened?"
Shoyo answered.
"Brook is alive."
Aldric looked toward her.
"But he hasn't woken up."
The King went silent.
Rick looked toward Shoyo.
She continued.
"And Henry is still with him."
Aldric's expression shifted.
For a moment—
he looked less like a king.
More like a father.
Then it disappeared.
"When can I speak to him?"
Rick answered.
"When Henry wants to speak to you."
Aldric looked back at him.
"He is my son."
Rick stepped closer.
"Then act like it."
Silence.
The guards moved.
Shoyo closed her eyes.
"Rick."
Rick didn't stop.
Aldric's eyes hardened.
"Be careful."
Rick smiled.
"Or what?"
Aldric raised his hand.
The ground shook.
Stone erupted beside Rick.
Shoyo stepped forward.
Rick immediately moved.
The two forces collided.
Aldric's hand moved again.
The earth rose.
Rick jumped backward.
Shoyo raised a hand.
"Enough."
Aldric looked toward her.
Shoyo's expression had changed.
The air around her became still.
"Step away from him."
Aldric stared.
"Or?"
Shoyo smiled.
"Or I'll make you."
Aldric moved.
The ground exploded.
Shoyo disappeared.
Aldric's eyes widened.
She appeared beside him.
Her hand touched his shoulder.
A symbol appeared.
Aldric froze.
Shoyo whispered:
"Sit."
The King dropped to one knee.
The entire gate became silent.
Aldric's eyes widened.
His body refused to move.
Shoyo stood over him.
Rick slowly lowered his weapon.
Several guards moved forward.
Shoyo looked at them.
"Stay."
They froze.
Rick looked toward her.
Shoyo smiled.
"What?"
Rick slowly raised his hands.
"Nothing."
Aldric forced himself to look up.
"What are you?"
Shoyo's smile disappeared.
"Someone trying very hard not to hurt you."
The symbol beneath Aldric's feet brightened.
He gritted his teeth.
Shoyo leaned closer.
"You came here looking for Henry."
Aldric stared at her.
"You didn't find him."
Shoyo continued.
"You found us."
Rick stepped beside her.
"And now you know."
Aldric looked toward him.
Rick's expression was cold.
"Don't come here threatening us."
Aldric's eyes narrowed.
"I wasn't threatening."
Rick laughed.
"You attacked me."
The King didn't answer.
Shoyo raised her hand.
The symbol disappeared.
Aldric immediately stood.
But he didn't attack again.
Shoyo watched him.
"So?"
Aldric stared at them.
Then looked toward the city.
Shinokuni-01.
The walls.
The rebuilding.
The people.
He finally looked back toward Shoyo.
"I came because Henry is my son."
Shoyo remained silent.
Aldric continued.
"And because someone told me he was here."
Rick frowned.
"Who?"
Aldric looked at him.
"I don't know."
That immediately changed the atmosphere.
Shoyo looked toward Rick.
Rick's hand returned to his weapon.
Aldric continued.
"The message came without a name."
Rick stared.
"What did it say?"
Aldric's expression hardened.
"Shinokuni-01 is rebuilding."
Silence.
Shoyo frowned.
Aldric continued.
"Tell the King his son will return when the dead man wakes."
Rick froze.
Shoyo looked at him.
The dead man.
Brook.
Rick's expression darkened.
"Who sent it?"
"I don't know."
Rick stepped forward.
"Where did you get it?"
Aldric raised his hands.
"It appeared in my chamber."
Shoyo's eyes narrowed.
Rick looked toward the city.
Someone had been watching.
Not just them.
Brook.
Henry.
Xcution.
And now—
Aldric.
Shoyo slowly spoke.
"Silvet."
Rick looked toward her.
She looked back.
"You've heard the name too?"
Rick nodded.
Only once.
Aldric looked between them.
"Who is Silvet?"
Neither answered.
Aldric left before sunset.
He didn't apologize.
Rick didn't expect him to.
But before entering his carriage, Aldric looked back.
"Tell Henry."
Rick watched him.
"What?"
Aldric hesitated.
Then—
"Tell him I tried."
Rick stared.
Aldric entered the carriage.
It disappeared through the gate.
Shoyo stood beside Rick.
"You believe him?"
Rick watched the road.
"No."
Shoyo smiled.
"Me neither."
They returned to the wall.
The rebuilding continued.
The workers were quieter now.
Word had already spread about the King.
Rick looked down at the people.
Shoyo leaned against the stone beside him.
"Six months."
Rick looked at her.
"What about it?"
"Brook has been asleep for six months."
Rick nodded.
"And everything keeps happening."
Rick remained silent.
Shoyo looked toward the horizon.
"Henry changes."
"Crowley disappears."
"Sera practices."
She looked toward Rick.
"And we rebuild."
Rick looked at Shinokuni-01.
She was right.
The world hadn't stopped.
It had simply moved forward.
Whether Brook woke or not.
Rick's expression hardened.
"He'll wake."
Shoyo looked at him.
Rick looked forward.
"He has to."
For a moment—
neither spoke.
Then Shoyo looked toward the western horizon.
The direction Aldric had gone.
Rick noticed.
"What?"
Shoyo's expression became serious.
"I felt something."
Rick immediately reached for his weapon.
"What?"
Shoyo shook her head.
"I don't know."
Rick watched the horizon.
Nothing moved.
No Abominations.
No army.
No demons.
Nothing.
That was what worried him.
Shoyo placed her hand against the wall.
Her eyes closed.
For several seconds—
nothing happened.
Then her eyes opened.
Rick looked at her.
"What?"
Shoyo whispered:
"Someone was watching us."
Rick turned.
"Where?"
Shoyo looked toward the distant horizon.
"Not anymore."
The wind moved through Shinokuni-01.
Far away—
beyond the walls.
Beyond the rebuilding.
Beyond the roads they knew—
a new Shinokuni continued growing.
Asteria.
And somewhere—
someone had already begun deciding what to do with it.
Rick didn't know its name.
Not yet.
But Shoyo did.
She had heard the whispers.
The same name that kept appearing.
Silvet.
Rick looked toward her.
"You want to tell me what you're thinking?"
Shoyo smiled.
"No."
Rick sighed.
"Of course."
They stood together.
Watching the horizon.
Behind them—
Shinokuni-01 continued rebuilding.
Ahead of them—
the world continued moving.
And somewhere beyond it—
Asteria waited.
End of Chapter 178