In the void, countless memories floated like stars.
Injured, crumbling, falling, despairing.
The sight of a man holding a sword while shedding tears was pitiful beyond words. It also had a peculiar allure, and for a long time, Elsi and I admired the man’s memories in silence.
How much time had passed?
We couldn’t just remain like this forever, so I cautiously opened my mouth. Outside, a deadly battle must be raging.
“Can you see properly?”
“No.”
It was a straightforward answer.
I sighed inwardly, as expected. If he could see properly, he wouldn’t be so quiet.
Unusual women appeared in the memories, and although Elsi was somewhat more mature, it was clear how she would react since the original was Elsi.
In fact, I couldn’t see all the memories either.
Some scenes merely flickered like faint afterimages. One memory, in particular, was so vague that not even a faint image was visible.
It was a recollection heavy with sorrow.
Elsi certainly couldn’t access all the man’s memories.
My assumption was soon proven correct.
“I can’t see the details. Perhaps these are memories not permitted to me? But I can feel the general emotions. It’s very sad, painful… yet there’s an obligation to rise again, to a despairing degree.”
The voice of the girl reciting her impressions sounded somewhat dazed and lonely.
It was a memory of a beloved who had passed away. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how the woman’s heart felt upon learning that his life had been such a thorny path.
I decided to embrace silence.
Silence can be the best form of communication at times.
“Why couldn’t I stand by his side?”
A short question.
Should I answer or not?
After hesitating for a while, I forced out a clumsy comfort.
“If you weren’t there, his fight would have ended.”
“I know. But why am I… so close to him, yet unable to help him…!”
The woman, unable to suppress her overwhelming emotion, bowed her head deeply. Mixed into her voice were tears and a sobbing tone; I averted my gaze without saying a word.
The ones left behind.
While the man continued his lonely and arduous battle, those who could only watch couldn’t possibly feel at ease.
And the ones who had let go.
Tears fell like clear droplets from Elsi’s eyes. Her tiny fist clenched tightly around her clothing, as if genuinely indignant.
“Why… why can’t I, ugh, even give him a hug? Can’t I comfort him? At least tell him he can rest for a bit… if only I could say that, just that!”
It was a heartfelt plea.
The sight of the sobbing girl looked so pitiful that I reached out my hand without thinking.
“Elsi…”
“Don’t touch me!”
With a sharp force, she struck my hand hard enough to leave it tingling.
The girl’s eyes, still red from stifling her tears, showed she would not lean on me.
“The one you should be comforting isn’t me.”
Hearing those words, I had an instant dumbfounded expression.
I slowly withdrew my outstretched hand. The lonely expression on the girl’s face, as her lips moved again, was quite desolate.
“I’m already too late. No matter how much my beloved suffers or struggles, all I can do is watch… But you shouldn’t.”
Then Elsi looked up at the sky again.
It was evident she was in pain.
Would a day come when she could truly understand that feeling?
I secretly wished that day would never come.
“…Hurry and go.”
A word squeezed out from her locked emotions.
The girl was pointing in a direction with her index finger. A path stretched out, with a faint light shining at the end of a narrow corridor.
“To where you need to go… and protect your world.”
My feet hesitantly began to take steps. Just before fully glancing back at the girl.
For some reason, I turned around and shouted.
“I will make you happy!”
The girl’s stunned gaze turned towards me. Even though her eyes were still glistening, she couldn’t hide the question reflected in her blue eyes.
So I had to make a promise again.
“Senior Elsi!”
Then, the girl had a brief look of shock before breaking into a resigned smile as she tugged her cap down tightly.
“What are you saying, idiot…”
Thus my journey continued.
With each step I took, unfamiliar memories tickled my eyes and ears. It was a story of a girl I had not known.
[Elsi, the world is not kind to the weak. As a member of the Rainelle Clan, remember this well.]
[Are you stupid? Of course, it’s because you’re weak that you get bullied. Don’t you see? Even dogs tear apart weak dogs.]
[Sis, sis… the dogs… help me…!]
Through memories of childhood.
[So I have to live like a dog?]
[Fine, I’ll be the dog you want… A fighting dog of the Rainelle Clan? Sounds cool.]
Passing memories from a few years ago.
[…Elsi, this is a dog’s death.]
[Heh, ahaha… a “dog’s death”?]
[Woof woof!]
Going through memories from months ago.
[Take this staff.]
[Live your life, Elsi… as a true Rainelle.]
[That old fool couldn’t kill me… What did you think you could do, pet?]
Eventually, the memories reached the recent past.
My steps stopped where a tiny back appeared. The girl was curled up, weeping.
With a pitch-black staff dropped on the ground.
“I’m scared, I’m scared… I’m so scared….”
I thought about the strength of humanity.
Falling, crumbling, despairing.
Yet there were those who would rise again. Even the memories of the man I had seen were along those lines. Time and time again, broken and bloodied, the surreal sight of him holding onto his sword.
But not everyone could be like that.
Rather, it would be more accurate to say that most humans were not that strong. It was common to not realize the weight of having humanity’s fate resting upon them or to wish for the world to be saved.
Or to be crushed by that weight.
A weak human was crying. A girl too small to bear the fate of the entire continent.
“I’m not that great of a person… I’m not a great mage like Uncle… I can’t…”
Trembling, the woman held her head tightly.
“I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared… There are plenty of strong people besides me! If someone else could save the world instead of me…!”
“No.”
“Wh-wh-what?!”
At my sudden declaration, the girl’s body jolted upright.
She seemed quite flustered, having not even noticed my presence. The way she fell backward and dragged herself was very confused.
With tears glistening in her eyes, she shouted.
“You, you… what are you! You’re the one who was chased away last time?!”
“Why ‘that guy’? It’s a rather uninspired title.”
“…Hmph, so what about it?”
The girl crossed her arms, pretending to act nonchalant. The way she pouted and snorted was rather blunt.
“Looks like you’re here to take me away again; don’t bother… I have no intention of going back. Okay?”
The last phrase seemed an attempt to create a threatening atmosphere. But with her tear-stained eyes, there was nothing particularly scary about it.
I knelt slightly to match Elsi’s line of sight. The girl stubbornly avoided my gaze.
“Why don’t you want to go back?”
“Huh? Didn’t you hear me? Why should I voluntarily take on that hardship? It’s only painful and tough!”
“You have to save the world.”
“That world, ugh. Let them save it themselves.”
She even cheekily stuck her tongue out and taunted me.
It was a similar pattern of conversation to before. At that time, I thought this was the best course of action.
Because we needed to save the world.
Everyone would agree with this noble cause and nod along. I had assumed my comrades, those I led, all agreed on this premise.
But that was not the case.
Maybe everyone was struggling.
I had been sprinting too breathlessly to notice. How difficult and painful it was to run alongside me.
Ceria, Celin, even Senior Elsi.
They couldn’t possibly be that strong, and I was desperately avoiding the truth.
What ‘Senior Elsi’ said was profoundly correct.
I was such an idiot.
Why hadn’t I known until now?
“Is that all you have to say? It’s time to stop fooling around…”
“The Elsi I knew…”
Cutting myself off, I hastily began to speak.
“You were someone who acted strong with effort. Despite being terribly timid and frail, you were simply loud… Honestly, I thought it was annoying many times.”
At my candid confession, Elsi’s eyebrows naturally knitted together. Then came the girl’s voice, speaking low.
“What are you talking about now…?”
“But that’s not who you are.”
The chain of declarations spilled forth, leaving Elsi no choice but to look even more confused.
There was no time to wait for the girl’s response.
“In fact, you could become as strong as you wanted. You were someone who could choose to follow your beliefs instead of the clan’s will. You want to protect them, right?”
“What? Nonsense…! I said I don’t care for the world!”
“A precious person.”
With that, the girl’s words finally halted. Her dazed eyes stared at me in silence for a long time.
After a while.
“…I don’t have such a person.”
Senior Elsi turned her gaze sharply, speaking in a stumbling voice.
With her eyes wavering aimlessly.
“Really?”
“Y-yes, I do! So hurry up and leave, I have no reason to go back!”
“Let’s go back.”
“Why on earth would I…!”
The girl couldn’t calm the turmoil in her heart and slowly rose to her feet. Our distance closed in, our breaths intertwined, and the sweet scent tickled my nose.
I gently pulled on the girl’s shoulder.
There was barely even a sensation.
I couldn’t tell if I had kissed her or bumped into her teeth. All I knew was that I saw her wide-open blue eyes and could only roughly guess.
I did it right.
The moment I felt a sharp impact hitting my solar plexus came right after.
I gasped, trying to back away clumsily. More than that, Senior Elsi jumped on me as if pouncing.
Her small hands gripped my collar and shook me. The girl’s face was so flushed it seemed like steam would pour from her.
It was such a classic Elsi reaction.
“Y-you… bastard! You stole the girl’s lips without permission…!”
“Because I love you.”
I swallowed a light smile and said.
“Wh-what? You stole…!”
“It’s too late, Senior Elsi… no, Elsi.”
Tears began to well up in the girl’s blue eyes.
Her pupils resembled a sparkling lake, rippling. The fist raised to slap my cheek slightly lowered, and the hand gripping my collar loosened.
“What…”
“Let’s go back, Elsi.”
With that, I embraced the sobbing girl’s body without saying a word. Naturally, she leaned into my chest.
The sound of her sobs and her complaints filled the air.
While hearing all that, my hand gently stroked her head.
It had been a while.
“Hey, you… I’m so scared and it’s so hard… your sister is completely insane, my uncle is dead… but you want me to take over that role? This is ridiculous… Do you want me to suffer that again because of you?”
“Yes, yes.”
Those weren’t words she was expecting me to reply to.
I repeatedly whispered short replies, relishing the soft weight of Senior Elsi. After a long time of sobbing, the girl finally said while sniffling.
“…If we go back, I’m getting engaged.”
Having a wife and an engagement.
It would infuriate the Heavenly Deity, but what could be done? The fate of the world was at stake after all.
I justified such absurd excuses as I tightened my embrace around Senior Elsi.
“Now, let’s go back.”
Finally, one piece of the puzzle was in place.
“To our world.”
A puzzle to save our world with our hands, not others.
Now there was only one thing left.
Outside the barrier, in the Southern Forest of the Academy.
A chilling chase was underway.
“Kyah, kyahh!”
The one being chased was a girl with dark blue hair.
Tears dripped from her eyes, leaving a trail behind. Despite running, she several times bent her upper body, hopping as she skillfully dodged the crimson spears.
Interestingly, a woman with gray hair, a swordsman, was being dragged along, bound by blue threads. Her eyes spoke of losing all hope.
And behind them, the pursuer.
“Blood, blood… give me blood!”
Once a noble beauty, now transformed into a monster resembling a gigantic bat. Her bloodshot eyes revealed just how desperate she was.
Thump, thump, thump.
As Seria was dragged along, the threads of blue and white snapped one by one. Those threads indicated the girl’s path, getting caught on rocks or branches.
The girl with dark hair, the Imperial Princess, screamed louder.
Clutching a mysterious stone tightly in her hands.
“Kyah, kyah! Help me, Sir Ian!”
The chase was bound to continue for a while.
