Lily was extremely happy just a moment ago.
After a long time, she was looking forward to the time she would spend alone with her contractor…
“Lily, I’ll give you my answer at the dormitory.”
He had finally made up his mind, so he said.
Finally.
Finally!
‘With Arthur to my heart’s content…’
While happily daydreaming about it,
Blub!
Something penetrated through Arthur’s chest and came out.
It was something sharp that gleamed.
It was a blade.
“Arthur!!!”
The blade was immediately pulled out, and the person who stabbed disappeared instantly.
Lily transformed into her human form and embraced Arthur as he fell.
When she saw her hands supporting him turn red, Lily felt as if her heart was being torn apart.
“Arthur! Arthur!”
“Snap out of it, Arthur!”
Her contractor struggled to make eye contact with her.
“…Lil…ly…”
She could tell that his focus was fading.
“No! Snap out of it, Arthur!!”
He reached out his hand and touched Lily’s cheek.
Only then did Lily realize she was crying.
She was surprised, having not shed tears for such a long time.
But soon, his hand lost all its strength.
“Arthur!!”
She tightly held his hand, but it only moved feebly.
“Aaah…”
When Lily let go of his hand, it fell lifelessly.
“Aaaaahhh! No! Noooo!!!”
Lily immediately tried to heal him using her powers.
Phsst…
But they didn’t respond.
It was because the power she used in Dreamland hadn’t fully recovered yet.
Her only option left was a healing spell.
However, it wasn’t based on her authority but on human healing magic that would consume the target’s life force.
And her contractor had already expended much of his life force in Dreamland.
“Pleasepleasepleaseplease!”
Lily barely activated the healing spell, and soon the bleeding stopped.
Though she had bought some time, Arthur’s heart had already stopped beating.
She didn’t know what effects more time would bring.
“What, what should I do…?”
Not knowing what to do, Lily frantically remembered an old magic.
‘A spell to measure life force!’
If she used this spell, she could roughly assess how much life force Arthur had left.
And if she could adjust the healing spell to the exact amount needed to keep him safe…
Lily immediately put it into action.
Whoosh…
The spell activated as soon as the incantation rose, and light started flowing from Arthur’s prone body.
“Please… please, may there be enough left!”
Lily reproached herself for not bringing honeywine to Dreamland.
“Please!!”
Then…
“…Huh?”
Forgetting the urgency of the situation, Lily blankly stared down at Arthur.
More precisely, at the light erupting from Arthur’s body.
“…I, what is this…?”
Lily doubted her eyes.
Throughout her long life, she had occasionally used this kind of spell, and she had also seen others use it. However, she had never seen something like ‘this.’
“It’s absurd…”
Arthur was emitting light.
A light not merely flowing out of him, but streaming profusely.
Starting from his chest, the wave of light spread through his entire body.
His body was covered in radiant light, and he seemed to have become light itself rather than merely emitting it.
Through this scene, Lily remembered a nearly forgotten word.
“…The Light Man?”
After being momentarily absorbed in the spectacle, Lily snapped back and activated the healing spell.
The brightness and volume of light indicate the amount of life force remaining.
So if Arthur had an immense amount of life force remaining…
Whoosh!
The healing spell strongly activated, and the wounds engraved on Arthur’s body quickly healed.
Normally, such a wound would have diminished decades of his life, but the brilliant light from Arthur showed no signs of dimming.
Finally, when the wound completely disappeared and only a faint scar remained, Lily stopped the healing spell.
Seeing Arthur fully recovered, Lily sighed in relief.
Even though the effect of the magic that showed life force had faded, the dazzling afterimage of light still lingered in her vision, leaving her mind extremely confused.
‘Could it be that Arthur…?’
—
I woke up… or did I?
Upon recognizing my own existence, I naturally began to feel my body.
And yet…
“…Where am I?”
Everything was pitch dark, so I couldn’t tell whether my eyes were opened or closed.
I couldn’t tell where was where, whether it was up or down, ground or sky.
I just felt darkness.
The endless darkness felt chilly.
‘Why am I here?’
As I began to ponder the cause, the only thing that came to mind was…
“Lily…?”
The name of someone.
“…Who is Lily?”
The name came to mind though I couldn’t remember her face.
Yet, recalling the name made my chest ache.
Who could Lily be that she stirred such turmoil in my heart…
Trying to remember only made my head throb and prevented further thought.
“Let’s try getting out of here first.”
I had to get out first to do anything.
When I moved my legs, they just swiped through the air, and there was nothing to step on.
I writhed around, twisting my entire body, but still felt no movement.
“…Damn, this isn’t good…”
I wasn’t in a situation to do anything by myself.
“Whatever, I don’t care…”
I got tired of trying to move.
After giving up and lying still for a while,
“…Eh?”
I heard something.
-■■■
It sounded like someone’s voice.
“…Hello? Is someone there?”
-■■■
“Huh? I can’t hear you well…”
-■■
What exactly were they trying to say?
I wanted to move towards the voice.
I writhed around again, but the voice didn’t get any closer.
-■■
“Hey~ Is there anyone there…?”
Then,
-■■■
“Eh?”
The voice was getting closer.
“Oh! So either I moved, or that person moved, or somehow, this is a place where movement is possible?”
When the voice got close enough,
“…Eh? Hold on.”
The sound was not singular.
“…Instrumental sound?”
A monotonous flute sound was heard, and occasionally, the deep thudding sound of a drum followed.
That gloomy atmosphere of the instrumental sound made… my heartbeat… Huh?
Suddenly, I looked down at my chest.
“…Eh?”
There was a narrow hole in my chest.
The long, thin hole looked like it had been stabbed…
“Ugh!”
My head throbbed.
Boom Boom Boom Boom
The instrumental sound grew closer.
I began to feel an instinctive sense of unease.
“…Hold on.”
Boom Boom Boom Boom
“Stop it…”
Whooooshhhh!
My head throbbed more as the flute sound got louder.
Boom Boom Boom Boom
My head echoed with the drum sound as it grew louder.
“Kuhhhhhhhh!!”
As I clutched and blocked my ears against the throbbing headache, the instrumental sound showed no sign of lessening.
Moreover,
-■■■■
The voice that came with the instrumental sound carried endless unpleasantness.
It was as if all the negative emotions in the world had been crammed together… Wait, haven’t I heard it somewhere before?
There was no flute sound back then.
And it was meaningful speech…
-■■, dlflfh dhehfhr go.
“!!!!!”
As the voice began to carry meaning, a wave of nausea rose.
“Uuugh!”
-dlfldhk.
“No… not…”
-dlfldhk.
“No!!”
Now the instrumental sounds were coming from close by.
“NOOO!!”
At that moment, I sensed something in front of me.
Not through any of the five senses, but more of a foreboding intuition.
There was a massive presence in front of me.
Only then did I realize.
The endless darkness.
The all-encompassing darkness around me.
It all came from that existence.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
–G!G!G!
–G!G!G!G!G!
–G!G!G!G!G!G!G!
–G!G!G!G!G!G!G!G!G!
–G!G!G!G!G!G!G!G!G!G!G!
The formless entity writhed and let out strange sounds.
As the overwhelming presence threatened to collapse my mind,
I involuntarily called out a name.
“LILLY!!!”
—
“………”
“……….?”
“…Huh?”
I was somewhere else.
It was dark here too, but had a completely different atmosphere from where I just was.
“It’s warm…”
It was warm, and cozy.
A feeling that naturally made my heart feel all fuzzy.
As I indulged in that feeling, someone appeared in front of me.
“■■!”
The person was blurred, their face and body unclear, and their voice muffled beyond comprehension.
“…Who are you?”
“…■■?”
The person seemed extremely disappointed… or perhaps sad after seeing my reaction.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know who you are.”
Though I didn’t know why, I felt I had made a huge mistake.
There must have been something I had to remember…
Something I couldn’t afford to forget…
But no matter how hard I tried to think, I couldn’t come up with an answer.
Unable to bear the guilt, I bowed my head deeply when I felt a warm presence.
Looking up, someone was hugging me tightly.
“Hm…”
Not knowing what to respond, I fumbled for words as someone spoke to me.
“■■ ■■ ■■■■.”
Just like the voice I heard in the darkness earlier, I couldn’t understand the words spoken here, but the warmth I felt in their embrace conveyed the meaning.
-I’ll always be with you.
“Really?”
“■■.”
-Yes.
“Thank you.”
For rescuing me from that terrible darkness.
“I’m sorry.”
For not remembering who you are.
“Sa…”
…Huh?
What did I just say?
It doesn’t matter.
I buried even deeper into someone’s arms and indulged in their softness and warmth.
‘I’ll surely remember you.’
No matter how long it takes.
But for now,
It was time to rest.
