[Epilogue – Farewell [5]]
[74]
Ray absentmindedly rubbed the bridge of his nose.
The reality of having died and come back to life still didn’t fully sink in. Even the memories from before his death and after his awakening felt dreamlike.
However, the sensation of being struck by Johanna remained vivid, echoing through his bones.
“…”
Ray steeled himself as he prepared for his reunion with Luna.
After changing clothes, Ray briefly met Delun before seeing Luna.
Delun had changed significantly in appearance compared to ten years ago.
The Delun Ray knew before his death was still a young man with traces of immaturity. Now, Delun had matured into a seasoned and robust knight, hardened by countless battles.
The ‘experience’ emanating from Delun felt strangely foreign to Ray.
Struggling to find the right words, Ray was greeted warmly by Delun with evident joy.
“Brother.”
“…Delun.”
Forcing a smile, Ray shared a brief embrace with Delun.
After their reunion, Delun didn’t delve into long stories but sincerely expressed his relief at Ray’s return.
“Now that Sister Johanna is back, please take good care of her. She… suffered a lot.”
Before parting ways, Delun added this earnest request.
Ray briefly avoided Delun’s gaze, feeling unworthy, then nodded solemnly.
Ray had left behind many wounds among those dear to him when he died. The guilt of abandoning them faced with death weighed heavily on him. It was likely that Ray would carry this sense of guilt for a long time.
“…”
Wiping his face slowly, Ray began walking down the corridor.
Now, he had to face Luna.
He had to confront her—Luna, to whom he had caused the deepest pain and ultimately betrayed.
Every time he recalled that day when he turned away from her desperate pleas and reproaches, Ray felt sickened by himself.
He had no idea how to apologize or atone for his sins.
Still, Ray couldn’t turn away from Luna again, so he walked painfully down the corridor.
“…”
Soon, Ray reached the office where Luna was said to be waiting.
Was she on the other side of the door?
Ray’s weakened body couldn’t sense any presence beyond it.
Taking a deep breath, Ray grasped the doorknob and turned it gently.
As the door opened silently, the first thing that hit him was the smell of paper.
Struggling to steady his blurred vision due to tension, Ray blinked repeatedly.
Once his vision cleared, the first thing he saw were piles of documents scattered across the office.
Slowly turning his gaze, he heard a calm voice.
“…Are you awake?”
The woman checking the documents glanced briefly at Ray.
It was Luna.
Compared to ten years ago, Luna looked exactly the same, almost like a girl who hadn’t aged at all, gazing at Ray as if time had stood still.
“There were too many things to handle, so I couldn’t wait for you to wake up.”
Luna’s voice was calm.
Her expression and gestures were equally composed.
There wasn’t a trace of either positive or negative emotion in her demeanor.
She continued speaking in a businesslike manner.
“It took a few months longer than expected to restore Ray’s body.”
“…”
Luna’s reaction was far from what Ray had anticipated, leaving him speechless and fumbling with his lips.
When Ray looked at Luna’s face, he had intended to kneel, but her calm voice stopped him.
“It will take some more time to fully recover your body.”
“…”
“Don’t think about reconstructing the core of the Spatial Blade. You know well enough that it’s not something the human body can endure for a long period.”
Even achieving the rank of Swordmaster couldn’t entirely alleviate the burden of the Spatial Blade’s core.
If one wanted to avoid a short lifespan, they should avoid reconstructing the blade’s core in their heart.
“If you’re going to rebuild the core, look for a more stable sword technique.”
“…”
While Luna gave her advice, Ray tried several times to speak but eventually turned his eyes to the stack of papers, muttering quietly.
“This is…”
“There’s much to do. We need to calculate war losses, provide compensation, and work on post-war recovery.”
A continent-wide total war that lasted nearly ten years had ended.
The entire continent had suffered severe damage, and there were countries whose territories had been completely wiped out.
Post-war cleanup wouldn’t be an easy task.
Fortunately, after the war ended, the lands corrupted by the Demonic Realm, which had become uninhabitable, were gradually being purified by the blessings of the World Tree.
The Empire began assigning pioneering missions and providing supplies to those who had lost their homelands.
Of course, amid this chaos, efforts were underway to suppress the continent-wide confusion and redistribute scarce resources.
“It will take decades to stabilize. Twenty years of dedicated post-war recovery might not even be enough.”
“…Luna.”
Ray hesitated, trying to ask Luna something.
But before he could gather the courage, Luna called out his name.
“Ray.”
“…”
“Many things will change.”
“…”
“The changes brought about by your choices in this world… Reflect on them slowly. I hope you’ll look back at the decline and progress you’ve achieved, the frustration and hope you’ve given, with your own eyes.”
“…”
“We’ll talk about the rest later.”
When Luna made this request, Ray could only nod without asking anything further.
After briefly looking at Ray’s face, Luna added,
“After properly exchanging greetings, I recommend you visit Hayden.”
“…Hayden?”
“You’ll need Ray’s advice.”
*
Near the Imperial Capital.
Cania, standing beside Ray, subtly glanced at him, cautiously observing her father, whom she had just met at the age of ten.
To Cania, her father was still a strange existence.
The awkwardness Cania displayed made Ray feel guilty.
Ray carefully smiled and gently caressed Cania’s cheek.
They say daughters resemble their fathers, but fortunately, Cania looked exactly like Karen.
This pretty child being his daughter still felt strange to Ray.
In fact, considering the time his body had been frozen, the physical age difference between Ray and Cania was closer to ten years.
As Ray touched the soft skin of his adorable daughter, Cania, who had slightly relaxed, giggled and spoke loudly.
“Daddy…! The sky today is incredibly blue and beautiful!”
“The sky…?”
Ray looked up at the sky again.
Indeed, as Cania said, the sky was very blue and beautiful.
To Ray, the sky had always been a space dyed blue.
But it wasn’t the same for Cania.
For Cania, the sky had originally been a place dyed red.
Although Luna had once recreated a blue sky above the capital using a barrier, Cania vividly remembered the red skies outside the Imperial Capital.
“…”
Imagining the ten years he had spent asleep, Ray stroked his lips.
Ray planned to investigate everything that happened during those ten years one by one.
However, before that, Ray arranged a meeting with Hayden.
Since this was a matter recommended by Luna, Ray felt unable to delay it emotionally.
After taking a walk near the Imperial Capital with Cania, Ray turned around upon hearing that Hayden had arrived at the capital.
Shortly afterward,
Ray had his first encounter with Hayden.
“It’s an honor to meet you.”
Hayden paid his respects politely to Ray.
“I currently serve as the highest commissioner of the Royal Magic Tower and the director of the Continental Medical Health Bureau.”
“Continental Medical Health Bureau…?”
The Continental Medical Health Bureau.
It was an institution Ray had never heard of before.
The fact that he’d never even heard of it suggested that it was most likely established anew over the past ten years.
“What role does this organization play?”
Though Ray had a rough idea just from the name, he asked Hayden for confirmation.
After a brief silence, Hayden sighed and delivered shocking news.
“…We have lost the ‘Divine Power.'”
“…”
Ray couldn’t immediately understand Hayden’s words.
Rather, he couldn’t confidently trust his understanding.
Facing such a Ray, Hayden calmly continued.
“We have become independent. We have been liberated. We are free. And we have paid the price.”
Long ago, Luna had warned Hayden.
That without miracles that had become shackles, they would have to stand alone.
That was the cost of freedom they had to bear.
“We mortals… have lost the miracle known as ‘Divine Power.'”
“…!”
Only then did Ray fully comprehend what Hayden had said.
There was no longer any Divine Power blessing in the continent.
This was the biggest cause of confusion in the continent after the war.
Divine Power, which had been considered a natural occurrence ever since humanity began recording history, had completely disappeared.
Ray could hardly imagine the magnitude of the shock.
After a moment of daze, Ray asked perplexedly,
“The… Church… How is it doing?”
“The situation is too complex to explain briefly.”
Within the Holy Order, there was ongoing conflict over how to interpret the current situation.
After all evil leading to the world’s destruction was purified, Divine Power also disappeared.
Some clerics interpreted it as El-Lam temporarily resting after performing miracles on earth.
Religion wouldn’t disappear because Divine Power vanished, nor should it.
Ultimately, religion formed the foundation of ethics and morality that sustained human society.
Though it may be confusing now, someday the Holy Order would overcome this difficult period and re-integrate into human society.
However, there was another significant issue.
“We must… re-establish the entire medical system.”
The continent can no longer use the miracle of Divine Power.
With the disappearance of Divine Power, the diagnosis and treatment systems for diseases, as well as hygiene, contamination, prevention, and the entire health system, needed to be re-established from scratch.
Proper surgical operations?
That was still a distant dream.
Establishing relevant policies and training medical professionals was not something that could be done overnight.
Even with prior preparation thanks to Luna’s forewarning, replacing a society dependent on Divine Power with a new system was far beyond human capability.
After the war ended, Hayden, as the Director of the Continental Medical Health Bureau, was deeply pondering how to solve the countless obstacles before him.
“…”
Ray covered his eyes with his hand and tightly bit his lips.
Ray wasn’t a medical professional in his previous life, so his medical knowledge was severely lacking.
While he could offer some advice to Hayden regarding the new medical system, playing a more core role was impossible.
Considering the potential of the academic field of “magic,” developing magic for medical purposes and integrating it with the new medical system to create synergy might be possible, but that wasn’t within Ray’s area of expertise either.
“…”
Ray felt a headache coming on from the complexity of the situation.
The extremely challenging task Hayden brought confused Ray’s mind…
But the problem that troubled Ray the most lay elsewhere.
“…”
Ray once again mulled over the question he had feared asking Luna before parting ways.
At that time, Ray had intended to ask Luna:
Who are you…
Really?
She wasn’t Luna.
