“Well, anyway, that’s how I found out. There’s no need to go deep into it. You know somewhat what my unique ability is, right?”
whoosh
As if feeling good about something, her head bobbed, making her hair sway. At the same time, the sticky emotions that had been hanging on her face disappeared.
snicker
I listened to the laughter mixed in and started to recall.
When I had to subjugate Tylant in Ursphere, the unique ability that ‘I’ had used.
When I first held the sword of Cartia, the memories of ‘me’ and Rubia flowed in.
Thinking of those things, those feelings from back then, I could hardly stay still.
“…Why, why did you do that?”
I had to hear the reason.
But.
“It had to be done.”
Jong-eon answered before I could finish my question.
“To save Rubia.”
“But—”
“But it’s not a ‘but’.”
Jong-eon shrugged.
“There were many things, but in the end, you made it this far, right? I don’t know what will happen next, but at least, things went well. You reached the end properly. Not me, but you.”
Then, she reached out her hand to me. Slowly.
It didn’t look like she was asking for jelly, so I also cautiously extended my hand toward Jong-eon.
thud— Jong-eon’s hand, which had come closer, grasped mine.
“A handshake of comfort. You did well.”
Jong-eon’s hand gently grasping mine was slightly coarser and drier.
And cold.
“By the way, did you get shorter and your hands got smaller? I think you’re a bit shorter than me?”
For a moment, Jong-eon released our clasped hands and spread her palm before me.
“Let’s compare.”
I instinctively tried to put my hand forward but brought it back to my chest.
“…Rubia told me not to take anyone else’s hand…”
“Hey! Are we ‘anyone else’? Huh?!”
Jong-eon shouted, her voice going squeak squeak. She looked at me as if she had genuinely been hurt.
Well… we’re not ‘anyone else’.
Just, a bit… different in the time we’ve lived.
If I had to say it, it would be a relationship that is farthest yet closest… maybe.
“Um… I’m… not anyone else, right…?”
“Right? Then hurry up and compare! Hehe.”
Despite her cheerful expression, Jong-eon’s hand trembled slightly.
“…Okay, I get it.”
Feeling a bit sorry for that tremor, I quickly brought my hand forward.
But.
“Wow, it’s really small.”
“What are you talking about…? There’s hardly any difference…”
“That’s not true! Hey, look! This much difference!”
She wiggled her fingers as if to appeal that she was bigger.
…I sure was smaller.
But it was such a minute difference that I could feel it; a difference that couldn’t be noticed just by looking.
“Relax your expression. If the side effect is just getting smaller, that’s a bargain.”
Side effect?
What side effect are you talking about…
“Oh… right. Back in Ursphere…”
“Do you know how hard I worked to lessen the side effects back then? If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even have been able to lift the great sword! Or you’d be so messed up that Rubia wouldn’t recognize you!”
Jong-eon proudly tilted her chin and reached out her hand.
“…Rubia would never forget me no matter what.”
snicker “That’s true.”
I took a handful of jelly and placed a whopping handful more on her hand. Then, I opened the bag hanging from my waist and laid it down between Jong-eon and me.
“About that time… I’m really grateful. Truly…”
Jong-eon looked at the jelly-filled hands and ditto as she looked from the bag to me, then smiled brightly.
“You just needed to know.”
thud— Our hands bumped together.
*
“…You’re eating all this.”
“Yeah… I packed so much, but…”
We talked a lot until the jelly in the bag ran out.
Of course, all trivial topics.
Which city had the delicious food, what clothes were nice, which region had a beautiful landscape— meaningless conversations.
Among those, little by little, stories of ‘me’ before becoming Jong-eon were mixed in.
The story of ‘me’ that followed the game’s narrative.
And there were stories about Hermila, Ser, too.
Of course, there were also stories about Rubia.
Our hearts resonated most with the topics about Rubia.
The most interesting one was definitely Rubia’s personality. My Rubia is a bit mischievous and playful. ‘My’ Rubia seemed to be very kind and mature.
Hmm… Was their common trait that they both played sly tricks?
Of course, the nature of those tricks was a bit different.
Rubia played tricks openly, while ‘Rubia’ seemed to play extremely meticulous and sneaky tricks.
And then.
Hermila, Ser, Yuria, Hephaestus, Charlotte.
The stories of others, including my friends, just didn’t resonate.
Among them, Ser especially… was a completely different person than the Ser I knew.
“Well, it seems like I’ve made more friends.”
“…Yeah.”
“It looks like there are quite a few people who want to help you.”
snicker— Jong-eon smiled. I stared at that smile for a while, feeling hesitant, then opened my mouth.
“What about you?”
“Me?”
Jong-eon closed her eyes. With a mysterious smile as if savoring previous memories, she spoke softly.
“I wasn’t unhappy either.”
“…I see.”
I knew the words she had swallowed.
I had swallowed the same words.
So, I didn’t add anything more, and I tapped the blade of the great sword laid before me.
After a brief moment.
“What about those people, aside from them—?”
Jong-eon, who had kept her eyes closed, opened them.
Her eyes were chillingly cold.
“Not everyone was kind.”
“W-Well, still… some—”
“Arlba might have been warm-hearted. But what after you left there?”
I recalled the knights I met in the eastern ruins after leaving Arlba. The first time I felt the sensation of killing intent came back to me. The cold and dry gazes from Loholan, the whispers, the atmosphere all rushed back.
“The knights of Erden I met in the eastern ruins. Yeah. The knights were still noble. They fought alongside. But as for the adventurers in Loholan during the battle? They didn’t help you guys. Perhaps they assisted this once, but what was the outcome? Everyone but one abandoned Rubia and fled. So… you saw what happened to Rubia.”
grind— I heard a grinding sound.
Without time to think about whether it came from my mouth or Jong-eon’s, she continued speaking.
“Not just that! What about the villagers? After risking their lives to save them, when Carpen showed up, they said to fight outside the village! Not a drop of water or even a bit of encouragement—they drove you out. So, what happened? Ruchi died. Heinzel lost his arm. If the villagers and adventurers had helped you in that situation, what do you think would have happened?”
Jong-eon paused her speech, as if asking me to think.
I wanted to stop thinking but couldn’t.
My mind had already reached a conclusion.
If everyone had helped, Ruchi wouldn’t have died.
“Next, Ursphere. Do you know how many tried to stop the avalanche summoned by Tylant? Just six. If you’d been there instead of me, Yuria would have died there. You would have died far worse than Hephaestus while trying to kill Tylant, who ripped Hephaestus apart. And eventually, the Imperial Knights would come and subjugate Tylant. They might have failed, too, because all of Tylant’s seals were undone.”
Gradually, Jong-eon’s voice grew louder as she exhaled faintly. Then she gently caressed the swaying flower in front of her and continued.
“The Mage Tower that Sirin brought down, too. If Sirin hadn’t broken the discipline, hadn’t brought down the tower, maybe… you could have been kidnapped. You could have undergone all sorts of experiments and tortures. It would have been immensely painful and lonely. All alone, without anyone’s help. At that time, Ser wouldn’t have been able to help either.”
snap— The flower that had blossomed beneath Jong-eon’s hand snapped off. The decaying leaves brushed against my cheek as they fluttered in the wind.
“This world hasn’t been kind. Not once.”
My lips, which had parted repeatedly, sealed shut.
I couldn’t refute her words.
“And not just this world that wasn’t kind.”
thud thud— Jong-eon shook off the broken stem from her hands.
“The world we lived in before, and the humans there. They turned a blind eye to us.”
Jong-eon’s eyes gazed into mine.
In that colorless world depicted by sensation, a bright red spark glimmered.
“Do you still want to protect this world, one left only with such people?”
Everything she said was true.
I know that there were countless unseen helps lurking behind the path I walked.
Without those, I wouldn’t have made it to this place.
Because of the help of many people.
To allow me to receive help from such people.
I know that I was able to grow strong and arrive at this point.
But.
“It wasn’t completely… absent.”
The liberation forces of Arlba.
Hephaestus and one adventurer from Loholan.
Revuze and Charlotte from Ursphere.
The villagers and adventurers of Cartia.
“There were definitely those who wanted to save others.”
There were those who risked their lives for the sake of saving the world.
One in a million.
No, even if it were one in ten million, they undoubtedly existed.
And.
“But things have changed.”
Things changed. The world I lived in and the world I lived through are now clearly different worlds.
They reached a different ending.
Even if there were helps I could not know behind it.
Things changed.
Everything.
So.
“I… believe.”
In this world.
In the people.
And.
“You and ‘Rubia’.”
Those who wanted to change this world with everything they had.
Who wanted to change the ending filled with despair.
I believe in you, ‘Rubia’.
“Ahaha… you believe in us…”
snicker snicker— Jong-eon laughed and stood up.
“So, what’s your answer?”
I also stood up, gripping the great sword before me.
“I’ll protect it.”
For those who have already perished.
For those who remain in this world.
For the liberation forces of Cartia who are still fighting.
And.
“Rubia said she wanted to travel. So I have to protect this world that Rubia has come to love.”
For Rubia.
“Really?”
Jong-eon gripped the great sword tightly.
An indescribable magical power surged. The darkness of the black sun concentrated on Jong-eon. A chilling sound like scraping iron echoed to the ends of the sky. The earth writhed, and all the magical power existing around vanished.
A curtain of darkness.
Within it, a brilliant golden eye resembling Rubia’s divine power shimmered.
“Then, it seems we must protect it.”
I looked into those eyes.
I gazed into the eyes imbued with divine power and raised the great sword.
“Yes. We must protect it.”
Even if it means dying.
Even if no one remembers me.
Somehow.
