Chapter 192: Blue Bird Part 11

The eyes are the windows to the soul.

Tillis had once heard that saying somewhere.

“Mastema.”

And today, for the first time, she looked directly into Mastema’s eyes.

Those eyes reflected Tillis’s image like a mirror.

The image of herself, endlessly shedding tears of blood in agony.

Only then did Tillis understand what Mastema had been carrying all this time.

And with that, there were other realizations that followed.

“It must have been painful, hasn’t it?”

Mastema had sacrificed so much for her, bearing all the pain in her place, shedding tears of blood.

Then what about her? What had she given Mastema in return?

“What is it that you truly wanted?”

Tillis had always lived for herself. Everything she had achieved had only been possible because of Mastema’s help.

And yet, she had given nothing back.

Without even realizing it, she had treated Mastema as nothing more than a tool.

“……”

Mastema said nothing.

That demon had always been like that. Never answering, never complaining, simply obeying her commands and granting her requests.

But now, with their eyes meeting, Tillis heard Mastema’s voice for the very first time.

“I just… didn’t want you to hurt.”

“……”

“I didn’t want you to suffer.”

“Is that… all…?”

Tillis did not know pain. She did not know despair or sorrow either.

And to avoid even the pain of loss, she had given up happiness itself.

Yet even so, there were still things that remained within her.

“You tried so hard for me, and I never even realized it.”

It was a feeling of compassion.

And small, fleeting joys.

Moments of sulking, once upon a time.

Faint stirrings of emotion.

Those subtle feelings before they could become true pain or sorrow were all she had ever been able to feel.

And so, she gathered all of them, everything that still lingered within her.

She tried to understand the bluebird before her.

Emotions rose again and again.

And again and again, she cast them aside.

The harder she tried to understand, the more Mastema cried.

It meant that everything she had done had become a horrifying memory.

Even the act of trying to understand. That too was pain.

“Mastema.”

Once again, Tillis allowed a faint feeling of compassion to bloom. She tried her best to understand.

Learning brought joy. The more she came to understand what she hadn’t known, the more joy she felt.

Once, in the cradle, she had learned so many things she had never known before—

What emotions were. What relationships between people meant. The foundations and laws of the world.

What communities and neighbors were.

She was no longer the child who had known nothing. Now, she understood.

She understood the importance of learning.

“It’s okay now.”

“……”

“You don’t have to sacrifice yourself for me anymore, so don’t cry.”

Tillis had come to know Mastema.

She had come to know the presence of family—

The one who had always been by her side.

That demon was born from her soul, fractured by the pain of loss, and bore all the suffering and anguish she could not endure.

“It’s enough now.”

One day, in the library of the cradle, she read a fairy tale.

In that story, untouched by pain or sorrow, she learned of the bluebird.

She had always been curious about that symbol of happiness….something she had never once felt.

The bluebird had been close to her all along.

Back then, she couldn’t understand that.

“But because you were always by my side, I was happy enough.”

Now she understood.

That having someone who cares for you by your side—

That alone can be enough to make a person happy.

She now knew that the presence of another could give life meaning.

“I’ll carry what I was meant to bear.”

So she made her decision.

“I want you to be happy, too.”

And so, she resolved to end the one-sided bond.

She would give Mastema true freedom.

Because just as Mastema had lived for her, she now wanted to return that devotion.

“Because the bluebird should be free.”

Tillis reached out her hand—

To the bluebird who had always been watching over her.

Tears of blood poured forth. They were the tears she had been meant to shed all along.

The blood pooled and fell, dyeing Tillis’s entire body in red.

The color of the Judge, who had once drowned the world in blood.

Drip.

But from the moment Tillis reached out her hand, the tears Mastema shed began to turn clear.

Tillis, whose entire body had been stained with blood, now began to cleanse herself with those transparent tears.

All the sins she had cast off were returning to her heart.

“Ah…”

The pain and the anguish—

The overwhelming sorrow, so immense it felt impossible to bear, was tightening around her like a noose.

“Ah…!”

She cried uncontrollably.

At last, she could understand everything she had never known until now.

She had been far too young….far too foolish.

Only now could she grasp the weight of the words she had spoken so lightly,

The meaning behind the actions she had taken.

There was guilt.

There was sorrow.

And in between them, a burning anger.

She hated the world.

She hated it so much she wanted to destroy it.

And yet, the world was beautiful.

She realized she couldn’t just bury it all in shadow.

Because for all the pain, there had also been moments of happiness.

She could no longer bring herself to end the world.

“Thank you, Mastema.”

Tillis lifted her head again.

And embraced the great wings that had always watched over her.

“I’m truly… sorry.”

Snow-white feathers scattered.

“So go now… my other half.”

Mastema cried.

And those tears were not from Tillis.

They were Mastema’s own.

Drip.

And in the moment that tear fell—

The shadow that had swallowed the world cleared away as if it had never existed.

***

When I came to, I was standing exactly where I had been at the beginning.

Next to me, Yuna was gripping my hand tightly, tense, as if not a single second had passed.

What I saw before me was a white heart.

No, what had once become a white heart had returned to wings once again.

“…Is it over?”

The mass of trembling wings gradually began to lose strength. Then, as if dying, it slowly drooped.

Countless wings fell apart, dropping feather after feather, and within them, only Monia was left.

“The Judge’s gone?”

Yuna muttered.

The Judge Tillis was dead.

In the place where she had stood, only a small sapling remained.

“……”

I hadn’t expected this.

I thought that returning her emotions to her would merely be the beginning.

I was wrong. It was a happy mistake.

The moment Tillis became aware of her emotions and the meaning of her actions, she gave up being the Demon King on her own.

“This easily?”

She must have hated the world.

So, in the end, she must have believed that destroying it was the answer.

That must be why she tried to swallow all evil and become the ultimate evil herself.

A belief that the world should be cleansed not through good, but through evil.

That’s why she was probably more filled with resentment than anyone else in the world.

She had to be convinced.

Drawing out her true feelings had only been the first step.

“Or… was it not?”

Come to think of it, she truly believed she could save the world.

It was extreme and horrific, but her goal had always been world peace.

Her methods were wrong, but her conviction never wavered.

She hated the world enough to destroy it…

But instead of hating it, she chose to embrace it.

She just didn’t realize that her way was hardly any different from destruction.

She was called a saintess by the people.

Partly because she was good at hiding her true self, but mostly because she often went around helping others.

Even as she tried to purify the world through evil, she never denied good.

“She was just ignorant, wasn’t she?”

Tillis was ignorant.

She didn’t even truly understand the meaning of what she was doing.

Not knowing the weight of that pain is what allowed her to act without hesitation.

Even after losing her country and being cast into the world alone, she couldn’t feel the pain thanks to Mastema. So she assumed others must be the same.

“How empty.”

Tillis was dead.

A truly empty end.

I don’t know if such a death is a fitting punishment for her crimes, but now that she’s gone, there’s nothing more that can be done.

I’m not even sure if there exists a punishment heavier than death.

In any case, she left a deep scar on the world.

She died a hollow death, leaving behind nothing but pain.

What a bitter ending.

“Heave-ho.”

Lobelia and the students of the Cradle.

And even Yuna who looked completely exhausted as if she had poured everything into a single strike.

In a space where everyone else was down, I was the only one who could still move.

Well, to be honest, I took quite a beating today too…

But I guess it can’t be helped, since I shed less blood than the others.

“……”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

I looked down briefly at Yuna, who seemed even less injured than me, but since she was the one who dealt the finishing blow, I decided to leave her be.

Truthfully, I didn’t do much.

Even though I tried to be more proactive this time, in the end, all I did was set the stage.

Well, that’s just how I am.

“Whew… Monia…”

I looked for Monia, who was lying face-down where Tillis had been.

She might be dead. If so, I should at least clean things up a little.

“Urgh…”

“Oh, you’re alive.”

Good enough. I’ll just move her to a hidden spot later.

For now, there was something else I needed to check first.

“Nothing left behind?”

She was the so-called final boss.

Even if the ending was anticlimactic, she might have left something behind. I looked around the area where only white feathers remained.

Nothing obvious at a glance. Not even the sword she often used was in sight.

“Really nothing, huh.”

Same with Kult, same with Tillis.

Maybe it’s because they burned their entire lives chasing their goals, they left nothing behind.

Perhaps they lived lives that had nothing worth leaving.

Come to think of it, both of them chose their own ending.

Kult and Tillis. The moment they gave up on their ideals, they died.

Looking back, maybe such an end was fitting for people who lived clinging to their ideals.

“Huh?”

Just as I was about to walk away after briefly reminiscing and saying a light farewell to Tillis, I saw it.

In the middle of the ruined city center where only rubble and fragments of buildings remained.

Something was visible through the feathers scattered over the debris.

“This is…”

It was a sapling.

A slender, fragile-looking sprout, like a tree that had only just begun to grow.

But the moment I saw it, an indescribable chill ran down my spine.

I knew instinctively. This wasn’t an ordinary tree.

“…The World Tree?!”

The sacred tree of the elves, long ago burned to ash.

And now, it had begun to grow in the very spot where Tillis had died.

There’s no need to explain the kind of impact the World Tree could have.

The Emperor himself went to war just to burn it down.

Should I hide it?

But how? Hiding a tree that grows taller than most castles was practically impossible.

Even if I planted it in some remote village in our domain, it would be discovered in no time.

Besides, our territory wasn’t even that large. If we planted the World Tree, it would probably overrun the whole place.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this…”

I have a pretty good idea of what the closest thing to the right answer is.

It’s to offer it up to the Emperor.

He’s the kind of man who wants to keep every potential threat under his control, so if I hand it over without resistance, I might be able to avoid a bloodbath.

But… is that really the right decision? Giving something like this to the Emperor?

“Hmm…”

Its very existence is dangerous.

Even just knowing about it is risky.

Why would Tillis leave something like this behind at the very end?

“Should I just get rid of it?”

Maybe that’s the right answer.

Pretend it never existed. Rather than handing it over to the Emperor, it might be better to burn it again.

As I seriously wrestled with how to deal with the World Tree—

“Chirp chirp!”

“Ah, damn it. What now? So annoying.”

Some random sparrow started chirping and fluttering around near me.

“What? Go away. I don’t have any food.”

“Chirp chirp chirp!”

“Oh, come on.”

I waved my hand to shoo it away, but the sparrow had no intention of leaving. Irritated, I glared at it.

And then I froze.

“Chirp! Chirp chirp!”

“What the…”

Right in front of me was a bluebird.

Not an illusion from a dream or the void…it was a real bluebird.

And ironically, just like I had recognized the World Tree the moment I first saw it, I instantly realized what this bluebird really was.

“Mastema…?”

The demon Tillis had once commanded Mastema had descended into the mortal world.

And not just that…

“Chirp!”

In an incredibly cute form, no less.