As soon as I arrived in the Afterlife, I spotted a woman in a white dress.
Plus, she had long, flowing black hair.
She resembled Eliya.
I randomly ran after her.
But I couldn’t reach her.
The more I followed, the further she went.
“Where did she go…?”
Before long, the woman’s figure completely disappeared.
Like a mirage.
I felt like I saw something that wasn’t there.
“Where on earth am I…?”
The scenery changed drastically.
Before I knew it, the surroundings were completely different.
I exited a foggy riverside.
The grass on the ground had vanished, replaced by sand and small pebbles.
A barren land filled with yellow.
A rocky desert scattered with uneven stones.
No matter how I looked around, that woman was nowhere to be found.
‘Eliya… was it really her?’
Long, winding black hair.
That’s the only common trait, but strangely, she gave off a vibe similar to Eliya.
“Haah…”
After letting out a sigh, I kept walking.
Where I was didn’t really matter that much.
Since I didn’t know where Eliya was, I had to keep wandering this world.
Until I found her.
If there’s one thing to be thankful for, it’s that I’m not thirsty.
I’m not even hungry.
I have to exert myself with every move, and I’m tired, but I can manage this much.
The sky is there, but there’s no sun. No moon, no clouds.
Just an endless pitch-black sky.
There are a lot of stars.
It shouldn’t be bright, but it doesn’t feel dark either.
Maybe it’s because there are so many stars.
It’s a strange place.
I walked around the endlessly spreading desert.
I kept walking and walking.
All that filled my mind was the determination to find Eliya.
After a long walk, I suddenly stopped at a certain point.
‘…What is that? A bird?’
On the steep cliff of a large rocky mountain.
Several birds were flapping their wings and flying.
Even from a distance, they were quite large.
‘What kind of bird is bigger than a person?’
From the looks of it, they seemed like eagles, but they were much larger than the eagles I knew.
‘Should I avoid them?’
Aside from the woman I saw, these were the first creatures I encountered here.
It’s a mixed feeling of being pleased and a bit scared.
‘Of all things, it’s a beast and not a person. I really don’t know what to do. They won’t attack me, right?’
Let’s approach them first.
I need some sort of clue.
Also, the way the eagles were circling and lingering over a certain spot suggests something is there.
As I cautiously approached, the eagles’ actions became clearer.
Several eagles were fiercely attacking the rocky mountain.
They were pecking and clawing ferociously.
I wondered what they were doing, but they weren’t attacking the mountain.
They were attacking a person bound to the cliff.
With arms stretched out, he was shackled by chains at his wrists and ankles.
He had been gruesomely injured by the eagles.
Blood was spilling, and his flesh was torn.
“Who… wait a minute. Is that person?”
As I got closer, I recognized him.
A middle-aged man.
Someone I knew.
“Balak?”
Eliya’s biological father.
Balak de Bevel.
*
I climbed up the steep rocky mountain.
There was no trail, so I scaled the cliff.
Grabbing onto protruding rock edges, stepping here and there, I steadily made my way up.
Fortunately, the eagles weren’t interested in me.
They were focused on pecking Balak.
Thanks to that, I was able to reach Balak’s height without much difficulty.
Even as his sharp claws scraped him and his beak tore at his flesh, Balak let out not a single groan.
He only mumbled in a daze.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
His voice, weighed down by guilt, was incredibly powerless.
It was a pathetic sight.
It felt oddly complex.
I didn’t know why he had left Eliya in such a bad environment.
No matter how reasonable or great his reasons might be, I couldn’t empathize with him.
He was a despicable and hateful person, but seeing him in such a powerless state evoked a tiny bit of sympathy.
Just a tiny bit.
“I’m sorry… It’s my fault, all my fault…”
I sat diagonally on a protruding rock next to him.
The angle of the cliff allowed me to do so comfortably.
“Hmm.”
I didn’t like it, but he was the first person I saw since arriving here.
The woman from earlier was too far to count.
‘Should I try talking to him?’
He looked like he was out of his mind, but maybe if he came to his senses, it could help.
He must have been here longer than I had.
He might know some hints.
‘Guess there’s no harm in trying.’
After making a quick decision, I swatted the eagles away with my hands.
“Shoo, shoo. Get lost.”
A few looked at me and quickly tilted their heads.
With bright eyes, they observed me.
“I need to talk to this uncle, so move aside.”
“Bik bik?”
“What? You make a cuter sound than you look.”
“Bik?”
“Even if you’re cute, no! Stay out of it.”
“Bik!”
As I waved my arms and spoke, they seemed to think I was playing and tried to perch on my arm.
I flailed my arms around.
“I’m not playing! I said get lost!”
After I scolded them harshly, they looked dejected before flying up into the sky.
They circled above, seeming not to totally give up on Balak.
“Hey, can you hear me?”
“I’m sorry…”
“Hey.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Uncle.”
“……”
He who was deep in despair slowly raised his head.
He lifted his eyelids.
With dazed eyes, he looked up at the sky and scanned his surroundings.
“Uncle. Are you coming to your senses?”
I snapped my fingers and called out to him again.
Slowly, he turned to me.
His eyes were hazy.
His unkempt beard was thick.
“…Judas?”
“Do you remember me?”
“How did you get here…. No way, you…?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Why do you think there are people here in the Afterlife?”
“Th-that’s…! What happened? Is Eliya safe?”
I realized one thing.
He had no idea that Eliya was dead.
It wasn’t a lie I was trying to tell.
I just couldn’t bring myself to say it.
I simply averted my gaze.
“Ah…”
Balak sighed.
“But I’m still alive. I didn’t die. That was a lie. I came to take the lady away.”
“…?”
He looked at me like he’d heard nonsense.
I know it’s hard to believe.
Honestly, I felt a bit unreal too.
But no matter how surreal it felt, my task remained unchanged.
That was enough motivation for me to act.
“Do you really have no clues on whether you can save Eliya?”
“Probably. Can you help me?”
It would be better to have someone with me.
If needed, we could split up to search.
Balak hesitated for a moment before answering.
“Do I have the right to…?”
At that moment, all the annoyance I’d been suppressing burst forth.
I tightly clenched my teeth and spat out.
“Come on, let’s be reasonable.”
“……”
“What, the right? Is the right important in saving your own daughter?”
“……”
“What’s the point of moping around with that expression like you’ve shouldered all the burdens and sins alone? Is the situation going to improve? If those feelings aren’t hypocrisy, you should be nodding, not wallowing…”
Even for Balak, this was a migraine of a situation.
It’s a vast Afterlife where I couldn’t even fathom the end.
And in that place, I had to find Eliya without any clues.
Finding her won’t be enough.
Taking her away is a separate issue.
Moreover, it wouldn’t be easy after taking her away either.
I’ll have to exchange memories.
Mine or Eliya’s.
Whichever memory gets offered up, it won’t all end up happily like my wishes.
There are still more despairing elements left.
What if I take Eliya away from here, but by then, the world’s time has flowed too much?
What if it’s been so long that all of humanity and life has perished? What then?
I pretended to be fine and tried to treat Balak as normally as possible.
But it’s an environment and situation that’s hard to maintain sanity in.
Even so, I persevered because I had to.
I focused on the current tasks, ignoring the uncertain future.
Right now, Eliya only has me.
“Ha… No, forget it. It’s a bit weird for me to get mad at the one asking for help. I’ll handle it myself.”
“No. No. You’re right…”
Balak quickly stopped me with his words as I was about to leave.
“I’ll help you. No, let me help you… Please.”
After taking a deep breath, I replied.
“Understood.”
“…But I know I’m being shameless.”
“Excuse me?”
“Could you untie these chains for me? That… I’m not able to break free myself…”
“……”
I couldn’t help but let out a laugh unexpectedly.
Seriously, this is absurd.
Knowing he was in an embarrassing situation, he avoided my gaze.
I grabbed hold of the chains and pulled them apart.
As soon as the restraints were released, he tumbled down the rocky mountain.
Before long, he vanished from sight and appeared down below.
It looked like he used a teleport.
‘Can magic be used here too?’
Sliding down the cliff, I noticed him moving his body here and there.
Having been tied up for a while, it seemed he felt stiff.
His torn flesh had healed by now.
Noticing my surprise, he explained.
“This place is like that. If you want, you can get hurt or recover. You can’t die or live, though… But hey, you said you weren’t dead, right?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how that’s possible… But you should be careful. Anyway, since you’re not dead, getting hurt here might cause some repercussions.”
That made sense.
“Got it… but can I get some clothes?”
“Um…”
Balak was naked.
And it seemed that while souls can heal their bodies, they can’t create clothes.
He cleared his throat and glanced around.
As if looking for something to cover himself.
Seeing him like that, I couldn’t help but chuckle again.
‘What a spectacle.’
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