Volume 2: Chapter 021: Percelis (Eltear)‘s Fourth Memory
Author: かっぱ同盟／友麻碧
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3862be/
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
(Fourth Memory)
Holy Nation of Vabilophos
Eltear : 26 years old
Shuma : 8 years old
“I’m sorry, but this is my transgression. Therefore, I must be the one to stop him.”
“So you’re going… you’re going to leave me and Shuma behind?”
White Sage Yunosis said that it was because he was the White Sage, he had to fulfil his responsibility. The hero he had chosen was indeed the hero that was meant to be. Was there really anyone else that could fulfil that role? But how did that happen?
“… I’m sorry.”
He apologised and dropped to his knees to meet Shuma’s gaze, his dear child.
“Shuma, when everything is over let’s go to that place that Father promised. It’s our promise. Until then, stay by your mother’s side.”
“Okay, Father.”
Yunosis caressed Shuma’s cheek, his smile was as tender as ever. I had seen him do this plenty of times before, but things felt different that day.
Somehow, it all felt very different.
The uneasiness I felt made me think of waking up from a very, very long dream.
“Well, it is time for me to go. Eltear, please… take care of Shuma,”
“Make sure to come back safely.”
“… …”
“No matter what happens, don’t die… okay? And come back. Come back even if nothing goes well.”
“Indeed… I shall put an end to it all and be sure to return. Do wait for me.”
“Of course.”
No matter what, I could not show my anxiety. Not only was I this man’s wife, but I was also Shuma’s mother. I was determined to wait for him. Even if I was the only one waiting for him, I would never, ever leave his side.
That promised place… where was it?
Hm?
His disappearing back…
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“Just what…”
“… …”
“Tell me, Hero Kaya! Just what is going on?!”
Reality struck me like a physical blow.
Hero Kaya was no longer the hero or the hope for the people. He was a traitor to the royal family and a traitor who deceived his comrades. He made an enemy of his mentor the White Sage and was the one who stabbed the Black Demon King of the North to death.
When he came to the Holy Nation, he arrived with the corpses of the two demon kings he had murdered.
I never thought of him as a terrifying being until now. His eyes were colder than anyone else’s. It was as though he was revealing the fact that he had always been like this from the beginning.
To my shock, the people of the Sanctuary bowed deeply to him, as though acknowledging the existence of this person.
Even though the White Sage was killed by him… as though his existence was an inevitable thing.
“Just what… is going on…”
I don’t understand.
I don’t understand.
Kaya emotionlessly instructed the residents of the Sanctuary to move the two bodies to the caskets housed within the Sanctuary. Hero Kaya then chanted a spell that opened the caskets and… that was when I realised what I was looking at.
There was already a body inside the casket, but I had never really looked at it before. Now that I was looking closely… the face of the corpse inside that casket was somehow Yunosis. I had looked upon these corpses before, but it had never occurred to me how much they resembled each other.
I don’t know anything.
I cannot do anything.
I collapsed by the caskets, unable to accept that Yunosis was dead.
“Why… why, Yunosis…”
The corpse that looked like Yunosis was taken out and dropped into an underground spring that bubbled under the caskets. Yunosis was laid inside instead.
He looked pure and white, it was like he was just sleeping.
“Yunosis…”
My legs would not move. I dragged myself forward with my hands to the casket and looked into the casket. I touched his water-soaked cheeks and wept at the coldness.
“Just why… you said… you won’t die…”
That you will never die. That you are afraid of eternity.
“Why… just why did you kill him, Kaya!! Yunosis was like a father to you!!”
“… …”
“I will never forgive you, never, never, never!”
“Do I look like I care?”
Kaya’s cold gaze stared straight through me as he drew a golden sword from his waist.
“If you wish to meet the White Sage, I can kill you now, Green Shrine Maiden. Your casket is right there.”
“…?!”
The Kaya I knew was no longer there.
As a child, I thought of us as siblings, as we were guided by the same people growing up.
However, there he was… a person that neither I nor Yunosis truly knew.
Was this something he became after reaching adulthood?
No, that’s not right. He had been like this all along.
We had all been deceived.
“Please stop, Great Hero!”
Standing in front of me was Shuma.
He must not understand that the hero he respected was the one who killed his father. However, this child still had the courage to stand between his mother and a sword pointing at her.
“… …”
“… …”
Kaya stared at Shuma for a long time. While I was wondering what he was thinking, he sheathed his sword.
“Green Shrine Maiden, you have not fulfilled your role as yet. If you wish to go to the White Sage, you must first fulfil your duty as the Green Shrine Maiden.”
“… …?”
Then, he looked down at the body of the White Sage whom he had killed.
At this point, I still have no idea why he killed Yunosis.
Then, Kaya said something.
He said it as though it was a certain thing.
“You will meet again.”
“… …?”
I still don’t understand.
Then, he turned away from the body and ordered the people to close the casket.
I continued to sit in front of the body, still suffused with regret and sadness. My very being rejected the idea that Yunosis’s corpse was in front of me.
While I wept, I placed a white bellflower on his body.
Ah. That’s right.
In the language of flowers, a white bellflower means ‘I will love you forever’.
“But… he died…”
There was no eternity.
The White Sage had achieved what he wanted, the one thing I did not want.
Although I was sad, I was also somehow relieved.
At least, he was able to see the end.
How many tears had I shed?
Every day, I gazed at his unchanging face as his body slept inside the water casket every day. The body inside the casket had not decomposed. Perhaps it was due to the magic on the body. The white bellflower I had placed on the body did not wither either.
“… Yunosis…”
However, I could not just sit here and cry all the time.
There’s still Shuma.
Shuma looked at his father’s body as he stood next to me. The expression on his face was resolute, as though he had made up his mind about something.
Why was the child so strong? His body was still so small…
“Don’t worry, Father. I will protect this nation and my mother.”
“Shuma…”
It was almost as though I was kept alive only by the existence of that child. No, I was sure that I was still alive because of this child.
I have not lost everything yet.
So long as Shuma existed, he remained my connection to Yunosis.
With tears in my eyes, I hugged Shuma.
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Hero Kaya headed west next.
He was on his way to kill the Crimson witch.
Would the Crimson Witch and Hero really fight? No one would tell me anything about this.
I have heard of the Crimson witch before. She has the appearance of a young girl of about 17 or 18, with long red hair, and favoured red dresses. She had the frightening charm of a witch in her three-cornered witch’s hat.
Apparently, she enjoyed destroying things just for the fun of it.
I had one question regarding the Crimson Witch.
Of the three major powers, the Crimson Witch of the West, the Black Demon King of the North and the White Sage of the East, she was always alone.
At least, the Black Demon King had a nation. He had an army of demons as a harem, the very image of a powerful man. He was someone with comrades and relatives beside him.
The White Sage was the same. He had disciples learning White Magic from him, and there were many who respected him. When he was on his way to subdue the Demon King, he had the party of heroes with him. Then, there was me and Shuma.
However, the Crimson Witch had no one.
She would fight alone.
Although I had never seen her before, I could only imagine the scene of a young girl fighting against the world. It was a rather striking image.
A part of me was interested in her because she was also a woman.
Why was she fighting?
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It had been a year since the death of my husband, the White Sage.
Unlike the unreliable me, Shuma remained a splendid child.
Though he was barely a child of 10, he had his own will and was not afraid to show it. It was fascinating to see him trying to live his life so strongly.
He looked just like that person.
The people from the Sanctuary demanded for me to take a new husband. I requested more time as I could not sort out my feelings this past year, but eventually, I came to understand that I had been required to fulfil my role as the Green Shrine Maiden.
Just as Yunosis had died fulfilling his role.
It happened while I was pondering over my thoughts.
Suddenly, a tremor shook the world.
A pillar of fire splits the sky.
“Mother… that’s…”
Shuma was looking up at the sky, overwhelmed by the light.
“Just what is happening…”
I pulled Shuma close. An uneasy feeling permeated me as I stared at the bright red sky and felt a restless energy surging through the forest.
I was frightened, true, but I had to know… just what was that pillar of fire? Driven by the need to know, I grabbed Shuma and ran through the forest towards the sea. To that very special spot by the beach.
“Just what…”
The sight was enough to convince anyone that the end of the world had come. It looked like some kind of big explosion had happened on the Western Continent. The explosion was so huge that it was visible over the sea.
The pillar of fire did not disappear even after a while.
Instead, it rose higher and higher into the sky.
I remember thinking that it had to be quite the explosion for it to be visible all the way from the Southern Continent.
Then, it struck me.
Ah, the battle was over.
The long battle between the Demon Kings which had lasted over 100 years, ended just like that.
That crimson sky.
The colour of the sky appeared to foreshadow the end and the beginning.
The final battle between the Crimson Witch and the Hero had decimated most of the Western Continent, turning it into a land of death.
It was a terrible tragedy that greatly influenced the future of Maydea.
[Gumihou: Did my best to convey the feels]
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