It was only after I confirmed that Loki’s corpse had completely collapsed that I was finally able to lower my sword.
He must be dead… Right? I have to believe he’s really gone now.
“Gah!”
“Oh, that confirms it.”
Soon after, Theseus who had been blankly trapped in the illusion finally came to his senses.
Clutching his face like he had a headache, Theseus panted heavily.
“Haa… haa…”
He didn’t look good at all.
He was gasping for breath, and I could see tears falling through the fingers covering his face.
No reason to provoke him needlessly.
I passed him by and checked on Cattleya, who was sprawled near Loki’s corpse.
“Are you alive?”
“……”
Cattleya gave a slight nod, letting out a faint breath.
She had detonated a magic engineering battery at close range. There’s no way she escaped its effects. She fell into the illusion right after that too.
“You’re one tough lady. No wonder, you are someone’s fiancée.”
Whack!
The moment I cracked a joke, Cattleya used what little strength she had to punch me.
I had to step back, grabbing my shin after the blow landed squarely.
“Good grief, even when you’re half-dead, you’ve still got energy.”
“That line sounds like something straight out of a villain’s mouth.”
Villain? Come on. I was just stating the truth.
Besides, didn’t I just defeat the real villain, Loki?
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re alive. You managed to survive somehow.”
“Yeah, somehow.”
I kept a bit of distance as I spoke with Cattleya.
But now what?
What do we have to do to get out of here?
“……”
Come to think of it, something felt off.
There was an eerie, bone-chilling silence.
Considering how the Judge and the Great Sage had been clashing just moments ago, this was strange.
I slowly turned around and there he was.
Great Sage Faust was staring blankly at me with an expressionless face.
He was close.
Right behind me, in fact.
Maybe because he had transcended life and death, but his movements felt ghostly.
“Ah, um… you’re here? Why don’t you just keep doing what you were doing… why come back to me…?”
What happened to Tillis? Don’t tell me Faust defeated her?
Well, I guess it makes sense. At this point in time, Faust was still stronger. Unlike Tillis, he was a fully realized being.
I subtly glanced behind Faust, trying not to draw attention.
“Gah!”
There she was. Tillis finally coming to her senses. Wait, was she caught up in Loki’s illusion too?
She blinked rapidly for a while as if getting her bearings, then suddenly locked eyes with Faust.
A sudden lull in the chaos. As if unsure what to say, Tillis opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, clearly searching for words.
“Let me correct one thing.”
“…Huh?”
“Loki Vicious von Miltonia wasn’t completely ignorant.”
He’s defending that bastard now? Defending the guy who outright admitted to using him? That takes some nerve.
“He merely pretended not to know. Weakness isn’t a sin, after all.”
“……”
“He too knew the pain of loss. He just believed he had no right to grieve. A pitiful man. There’s no need to be so harsh with him.”
Compassion, from the Great Sage Faust.
I couldn’t say anything in response. I just listened.
Yeah, I guess there could be something I didn’t know. Not that it excuses everything Loki did. I mean, right in front of me stands one of the greatest mass murderers in history. Preaching to the deaf here.
“Johan Damus, I understand your resolve well. You are a strong person.”
“…Huh?”
That’s the first time I’ve ever been called that.
And hearing it from someone who’s practically the final boss? That made it even more bewildering.
“You know the pain of loss. Yet, you chose to live with it.”
You didn’t overcome it; you embraced it.
Faust hit the nail on the head. Yeah, that’s the Great Sage for you.
I haven’t overcome anything. I just accepted it.
But that’s not some extraordinary thing. Everyone lives like that.
Since we can’t solve everything, we bury the unsolvable problems deep in our hearts and keep going. That’s normal.
“But, Johan Damus… not everyone is like that. There are those who can’t do the same. People who are trapped in the past, unable to move forward.”
You didn’t need to name anyone.
The man standing right in front of me was exactly that.
“Some would say we should help them overcome it. Others would try to cover that pain with even greater joy.”
Clatter.
Faust raised his arm. The chain wrapped around his frail limb looked impossibly heavy.
“But… must it really be that way?”
“……”
“That pain. Doesn’t it prove that we once loved?”
“Maybe so.”
“I just… I don’t want to forget. The moments I shared with them, the love that burned so fiercely it could’ve set the world ablaze.”
Faust turned his gaze.
He looked toward Theseus who was still clutching his face and spoke.
“To bury something in your heart is to accept a pain that will never disappear.”
Then he shifted his gaze again, this time toward Tillis, who was staring blankly in our direction.
“There are also children who can’t even feel that pain.”
And finally, his eyes returned to me.
“Not everyone can live as you do.”
“……”
“I don’t believe the world is wrong. I think even pain and loss are necessary parts of our lives. After all, don’t we grow through those very things?”
The old man who had lived through countless years gave an answer that stood in complete contrast to the young prophet. He wasn’t chasing after paradise.
“But must it really be that way? Is running away and hiding truly such a bad thing? Isn’t even that pain still a part of life?”
All he wished for was a place of rest, a place to stop and breathe.
“That’s why I reach out to those who feel the pain of loss. I try to understand them. These chains…they bind me, yes, but they are also the proof that I’ve tried harder than anyone to understand others.”
As he said those words, Faust reached his hand out toward me.
His face remained expressionless.
But in his eyes, countless emotions were tangled together.
Emotions too many, too deep, to ever be expressed with a mere expression.
“I understand your heart.”
Naturally, I didn’t take his hand.
I could understand Faust’s heart.
Well, they say pain lessens when shared, don’t they? Faust was simply the one practicing that idea on a grand scale.
But he must know, too.
“…Is that so?”
I had no need to agree with him. As Faust himself had said, I was someone capable of burying such grief and pain in my heart.
I was someone who took direction from it and kept moving forward.
So, while I could understand Faust’s heart, I could not agree with it.
“Then I won’t force it. Understanding another person is the hardest thing of all… Let’s hope that one day we find the answer.”
Faust turned his back.
The sudden battle ended just as suddenly.
No, truthfully, Faust had never really opposed us.
If there was anyone he stood against…
“Are we done fighting, then?”
…it could only have been the one with the purest mind.
Tillis who had just snapped out of the illusion bristled like a wary rodent and asked Faust.
It was only natural for her to react that way. She must have been dragged into the illusion in an instant. If Faust had wished, he could have killed her on the spot while she was trapped in it.
But he hadn’t.
Because Faust did not hate Tillis.
Even if he had a purpose, there was no need for him to take a life to achieve it.
And then…
“I’m not so cruel as to take away a guardian from a child who doesn’t even know they’re in pain.”
“Hm?”
Whatever illusion he had seen, Faust now seemed to have abandoned even the plan of taking the demon from Tillis.
“I’ll send you home now.”
At least Faust bore no grudges. That much was admirable.
He had dragged us here against our will, but now he was sending us back.
Behind his back, a circle began to form. His ability [Cycle] spun endlessly.
It seemed the time had come to return.
“Ah, thank y—”
The moment I tried to offer a polite word of thanks, my vision lurched violently.
Good grief, impatient as ever.
***
When I came to, I found myself left alone in the middle of a forest.
“…The weather’s clear. I guess this isn’t the capital.”
Correction.
Cattleya was with me.
Wait a second. He said he’d send us home, so where on earth did he throw us?
And it seemed only Cattleya and I had been dropped here. Where did he send the others?
Well, I suppose it’s better than being stuck with Theseus or Tillis.
Of course, that’s assuming this place holds no danger…
“Can you stand?”
“Not at all.”
“Thank you for everything until now.”
“Say it like that, and it sounds like you’re abandoning me.”
“…I am.”
So I was left in the middle of who-knows-where, in a forest that could be dangerous, unable to walk on my own, with nothing but a dead weight to carry?
What, did she want us both to die?
“You sure you won’t regret it?”
“……”
“You still have your people spread all over our territory, don’t you?”
“I only said I’d take a look around. Please don’t misunderstand.”
“Is that so?”
Good grief… so I can’t just leave her behind either.
For now, it would be best to check what’s around this area.
I moved to higher ground and climbed the tallest tree I could find.
“Let’s see… what’s nearby?”
From the vantage point, I spotted a small town.
What kind of backwater place is this? Do people even live out here?
“But…”
Something about it felt familiar.
Where had I seen it before?
The scenery was one I knew well. Was this one of the outdoor training sites of the Cradle?
No, wait a minute… could it be—
“The Damus territory?”
That explained the quiet, restrained air of the town.
But then, why would Faust have dropped us in a place like this?
Don’t tell me…
– I’ll send you home now.
Did he really mean home?
If that was the case, then Tillis must have been thrown into the ruins of the elves’ homeland.
And if that was the standard, then Theseus might’ve been dropped right in the middle of the imperial capital.
The thought alone was horrifying.
But what about Cattleya? Could she be from this town…? No way.
She’s from a marquisate. There’s absolutely no way that could be true.
***
I came back and hoisted Cattleya onto my back. Ugh! There’s blood getting on me! Disgusting! I want to just toss her off!
“Um, Cattleya? Would it be alright if I asked what you saw in the illusion?”
“An illusion? What illusion? Do you mean like a near-death vision or something?”
“Ah, never mind.”
I was starting to get a vague idea of why Cattleya had been dropped in the Damus territory.
She hadn’t fallen for Loki’s illusion.
Or more precisely, she had already been in a near-death state at that point. She was so out of it that she couldn’t be caught in an illusion in the first place.
So then… should I assume she was thrown here along with me?
“So? Do you know where we are?”
“This is the Damus territory.”
“Looks like that guy really did drop you off at home.”
“Seems like it.”
Still, maybe because she’s used to working behind the scenes, she caught on to the situation right away.
“First, let’s get to a hospital. You won’t last long in this condition.”
“Your territory has a hospital?”
“Yes, it does.”
We are a County, after all. You know?
We had excellent medical staff here. Wounds like this could be treated in a day or two.
And so, with Cattleya slung over my shoulder, I entered the Damus territory.
Naturally, since outsiders were rare here, my sudden appearance caused quite a stir. But before long, those who recognized my identity stepped in to help us.
It was when we finally arrived at the hospital with Cattleya.
“Oh dear, at this rate we might have to amputate an arm or a leg.”
“That’s what they said.”
I relayed the doctor’s diagnosis to Cattleya exactly as it was.
“…Are you sure your territory’s doctors aren’t all quacks after all?”
“Of course not. I’m sure it’s an objective and accurate diagnosis. You were involved in something that dangerous; it is an inevitable sacrifice.”
“We just don’t have proper medicine or surgical tools, young master. If we did, we would’ve done something.”
“That’s what they said.”
“This really is the middle of nowhere…”
I never claimed it wasn’t.
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