No sound came out in response, my throat unable to form words.
So, without a single word, I embraced my apprentice.
A warm and soft sensation met my touch.
It was a fulfilling feeling that only my apprentice could give, one that tickled my heart.
At last, a sense of relief as if my arms were finally filled.
But now, within my embrace, the maiden’s breaths were growing faint, marring the tranquility.
It was my fault.
I had sent my apprentice ahead a little earlier because I had unfinished business in the town, never expecting an attack to occur in that interval. And I certainly didn’t anticipate that she would confront the traitors lying in wait for me.
Even now, from the center of our lodgings, a muffled rumble escapes, shockwaves still erupting.
It signified that the battle was still ongoing.
The trees were being uprooted, and furious winds rampaged around, merely from the aftereffects.
It was the battle between the vampire eager to end our long cohabitation and one of the Masters of the continent, my teacher.
I, someone like me, could only be a burden if I were nearby.
Though it might seem an unbecoming thought for a disciple, I was, ironically, somewhat thankful for this fact.
It gave me time to bid farewell to my apprentice.
Stammering, words of apology tumbled out of my mouth.
Before long, my voice had grown damp with the wetness of tears.
“Mi, mi-sorry. Sorry, apprentice… I, I’m too late….”
Even at death’s door, my apprentice giggled and burst into laughter.
As always, it was a playful laugh.
But today, even that sound seemed blurred, causing a single tear to slide down my cheek.
“…Don’t cry, kid.”
Her tone was as confident as ever.
Rather, it seemed like she was trying to comfort me, as she wrapped her arms around my body.
Her sweet voice caressed my ear, full of affection.
“Thanks to you, I was able to just be myself…not ‘Rainelle’ but your apprentice and lover. For the first time in my life, I was truly happy.”
“Apprentice, please…”
Each word she spoke felt like an assumption of our farewell, leaving me nothing but to plead with her.
Yet she would not stop.
As though she still had so much left to say.
“There were so many firsts with you.”
I couldn’t speak, my throat clogged.
“Our first love, first kiss, and first date…laughing and talking about the future together. I even thought that if it were just the two of us left in this world, it would be fine.”
It felt like fissures were being carved into my chest.
“…So thank you, senior.”
Hearing the title she had so seldom called me, I was rendered speechless.
The young woman wore a gentle smile.
And as she tightened her arms around me,
“F-Finally, I’ve managed to protect…”
She let out a sorrowful whimper, as though finding comfort in relief.
“…My precious person.”
Long ago, she was a woman who helplessly lost her younger brother.
As if communicating her final thoughts, the only salvation she could provide, she conveyed them to me.
And suddenly, her hand, which had been fumbling against me, fell limply to the ground.
“It’s not…acceptable…”
Memories we made together invaded my senses.
Our sweet first kiss.
The playful moments when she’d coyly open her blouse with a smirk.
The sweet scent she used to emit every time we met.
The faint taste of her cosmetics that lingered on my lips and the warmth she used to radiate in my embrace.
Gasping for breath, I pleaded with desperate tones.
But it was already too late.
“It’s not acceptable, not acceptable, not acceptable…! I’ve made a mistake, apprentice… I’ve arrived too late…Ah, in the future, it won’t happen again….”
I cried.
“Do you not like being called apprentice? Then I’ll call you as you’ve wished—senior… We still have a place, just the two of us, where we wanted to go… So…”
I sobbed.
“Please, please….”
I pleaded, but she didn’t return.
“…Do not die.”
This was the essence of death itself.
The haze that clouded my vision suddenly cleared.
My breaths were already rough.
A moment of confusion washed over me, only for me to realize the figure I held was not a young woman, but a boy.
Ned—the playful companion who dreamed of becoming a knight to protect his younger sister, the one who affectionately called me “Teacher” and always followed me around.
My eyes had long been red and swollen.
“Teacher, I… cough! I wasn’t lazy with my training as you said I should be….”
“Yes, yes.”
I muttered like a broken automaton.
Ned boasted proudly of his deeds.
“To the one attacking my sister, I… was able to take him down…”
“Yes, yes. Wonderful. Truly, very much…!”
My voice faltered as I spoke.
Yet Ned’s time was running out.
I swallowed my tears with difficulty and addressed him.
“…You’ve grown greatly. Already able to protect your younger sister like this.”
“Teacher…”
Hearing my compliment, Ned finally relaxed.
He spoke to me with a heartrending voice.
“But Mei is still there behind me.”
“I will protect her.”
An answer without hesitation.
A searing promise that distilled all my emotions.
Strength naturally found its way into my arms that embraced Ned.
When no response came, I swore again.
“Necessarily, I will protect her… At least your sister, absolutely.”
Because we are older brothers.
Because we’ve sworn to protect our younger siblings.
The obvious truth that we should not have forgotten.
And Ned’s will was not yet finished.
From his labored lungs came more words.
“Not just Mei, there’s more… Ruddy from the riverside village and Charles from the neighborhood—I also vowed to protect them, heave, didn’t I…?”
“All of them.”
I clenched my teeth as if making a resolve and vowed strongly.
Reflecting the flickering flames, the blood pool mirrored my form.
My eyes were inflamed.
“All of them, I will protect… Not only your sister, but everyone.”
“…Is that really true? You won’t abandon anyone?”
The rebuttal came as though not easily believing.
So I repeated the words I often told Ned.
“Then, of course… Don’t you know, Ned? After all, a true knight…”
“…Does not lie.”
Recreating the question and answer we exchanged countless times, Ned finally seemed to rest as he smiled brightly.
“I’m glad.”
Gradually, Ned’s breaths became faint, like he was falling asleep.
“The one I know to be the finest knight is Lord Ian…”
His hand fell limply to the ground with a faint thud.
For a while, I embraced the boy and held him tight.
Until the last echoes of his breath completely disappeared from my ears.
Only then did I gently lay the boy’s body down on the ground.
My body swayed as I stood up.
I had been foolish.
I should have done this long ago.
I’d relied too much on information from the future.
Thinking that discarding things was necessary, and that eventually, I would be fine.
Every time I chose the supposedly rational option, opting for escape in words, it left me here.
In the end, I failed to protect anything.
You stupid kid, how could you not know?
The fact that there’s nothing left after discarding everything.
Clenching my teeth, I took a step forward.
With each step, my body rocked back and forth. The hand axe I’d pulled from the corpse’s flesh dripped with a mixture of blood and water.
Someone’s voice stopped me as I walked forward, head bowed.
“…Ian.”
My gaze flickered to my back.
There stood Reto, my most trusted advisor.
A sigh escaped his lips.
He must have already deduced the general situation.
“I understand your feelings, but going alone is not possible.”
As always, he explained calmly.
“Even you from the future have reached this conclusion through many calculations. We can’t defeat that monstrosity right now with our current strength. While the sacrifice is heart-wrenching, it’s unavoidable…”
“…Reto.”
But for the first time in a long while, I gave Reto a voice brimming with indignation.
The searing heat had already brushed past my eyelids.
In my dried-out eyes, only a faint reddish hue remained.
Still, my words were laced with intense anger, though I didn’t know exactly who it was directed at.
Was it me, the enemy, or the fate that pushed me to this precipitous position?
I merely hoped this wouldn’t be a decision I would regret.
“That human probably would have done that.”
With that as my final word, I fixed my gaze straight ahead.
“…Not me.”
Before Reto could try to stop me, my body shot off with a powerful thrust into the ground.
Not even the flames that licked and devoured the world around me could impede my progress.
The air compressed around me and a fierce wind screamed in my ears.
In the distance, the corpse giant loomed.
Soon enough, the monster turned its abhorrent gaze toward me.
It was an overwhelming pressure, solely from that.
This towering, thick wall dared to ask: Can you truly defy fate?
At that moment, a phrase I once read came to mind.
“Throw away what you must.”
I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
The sound of the splitting air dispersed my sarcastic chuckle.
“…What a joke.”
There was nothing to throw away.
Not Lia, not Ned, not Mei, nothing.
This was the destiny I had chosen for myself.
