Parting Does Not Mean Farewell (4)
Louise.
A child who deserved to be loved, and who had been turned away by every adult nonetheless—a child whose heart was already full of darkness.
His small friend. The young marchioness of the border.
And….
"In the original future, Mordred was destroyed in the end. But though it fell, Mordred did not lose. The last of Mordred—the child named Louise—succeeded in sealing that ominous being back into this land."
…a child who had been doomed to a cruel ending.
"……."
Lee Han couldn't begin to guess what his own face looked like, but one thing was certain. It was not a good face.
"Hehe. Don't worry. It's only a future that will never come."
Perhaps she had read as much in his expression. The nun whispered, gentle, that he needn't wear a look like that.
At her words he quieted his heart for a moment. If the nun said so, then that was how it was.
And then—
"How did a powerless little kid stop an evil spirit?"
He had to ask. The ending of the future that had been appointed.
Even to a question as troublesome as that, the nun answered without hesitation. No—she went further than an answer.
"It will be faster to see it than to hear me tell it."
"What?"
"Look into my eyes."
"…?"
"Quickly."
"……."
Lee Han looked straight into the nun's eyes, where a Light Source shone. If she told him to, there would be a reason.
And sure enough—
A low hum.
"—."
In a single instant, through the nun's eyes, Lee Han saw a great many things.
What he saw—
"…They killed her far too easily."
—was nothing short of a sight that sent nausea climbing his throat.
In a fleeting instant—one second, not even three—what Lee Han saw through the nun's eyes was a future that might have come. The future in which neither he nor any other reinforcements arrived to help.
Flames roared up.
Mordred, Wales, was burning.
"KAAAAAA!!"
Hundreds of thousands of monsters devoured human beings the way one finishes a light dessert.
"Woooo…."
And there were souls that, even after dying in agony, fell at last and became wraiths.
A mountain of corpses. A sea of blood.
The dead rose into hills, and blood ran in rivers. It was no different from hell itself descending on the world of the living—a sight too hideous to bear.
And at the center of that sight….
"Kyahahaha! Ahahaha!!"
Inanna, laughing as if she had gone mad with joy. As if the cruel, dreadful hellscape of her own making pleased her down to the bone.
"This is the end of those who defied me. But I'm much too merciful. I didn't even snuff out the souls of those impious wretches. Hehe."
"……."
"Last of Mordred. Aren't you happy? The humans who persecuted you, who tried to kill you—look what became of them. It must feel wonderful, doesn't it?"
"……."
"Hmm. No fun at all. Well, it hardly matters. Better if the child who will be my Vessel is meek. …Now then. I've gathered enough offerings. Shall we begin?"
Inanna leered at the countless offerings that would strengthen her Vessel. At the humans. As if her heart were already trembling at the thought of obtaining that Vessel and becoming the new ruler of all the South.
And so she poured her soul into the child's body. Into the body of the child born with the freshest, most superior talent in all of Mordred's blood.
And—
"…Huh?"
By the time Inanna understood that this had been a mistake, everything was already over.
"H-how is this possible!?"
"…You're bad."
"!!"
"I… don't like you…."
"H-how!!!"
If Inanna had erred, it was in this: she knew the child named Louise was a spirit medium born with the greatest talent in Mordred, and she had dismissed that fact as nothing of consequence.
That, and one thing more.
Ding—.
Deeeng—.
"Wh-what is this sound now!!!"
She had not known of the Sacred Relic that could weaken her power, and that ignorance became the fatal blow.
—
A nun who had forgotten her name was bleeding. Both her legs had already been torn away, and still she rang the bell, pouring into it her life. Everything she had.
The Sacred Relic, the Star Song, took up its wielder's will and pressed down on Inanna. Pressed, and pressed again.
It was a miracle made from a child's tenacity and talent, and from an old woman's resolve and sacrifice. And the result that miracle brought—
"Louise doesn't do bad things, even if she hates the grown-ups. Because that's…"
Light flared.
"…a bad thing. And a sad thing…."
And so the child sacrificed herself.
She could not use Holy Law, yet a crooked path remained open. Offering her own Spirit Eye as the price, the child called forth Self-Sacrifice—a miracle.
"Aaaagh! Th-this can't be! This shouldn't—"
Inanna's soul slowly collapsed inside the child's body.
It was not annihilation. Even so, broken down this far, she would stay quiet for a thousand years at least.
Louise had achieved the unprecedented feat of sealing a high demon. And the child, just like that—
Crack.
—began to harden like stone.
Whether it was the price of working a miracle, or a curse the high demon had left behind.
"Mama…."
Even so, the child smiled. At whatever had appeared in her eyes, come to take her away. Brightly. So very brightly….
Ding, ding—.
And the nun rang the bell to the very end. Wishing the child would go somewhere peaceful. Wishing that, if she were born again, she would never meet a misfortune like this.
Ding, ding—.
And so the bell went on ringing….
"In the end, that child sacrificed herself. But Wales became a land overflowing with evil spirits and monsters, and because of that, all of Wales had to be sealed."
"……."
"Why do you look like that?"
"…It was you, wasn't it. Elder."
"……."
"You sealed it. So the evil spirits and the monsters couldn't spill out. Until you died—no. Even after you were dead, you kept ringing that bell."
"……."
"…Seriously. Why go that far?"
Lee Han was past disbelief. No—
So people like this really exist.
He was in awe. She was tremendous. Reverence, for someone who had done what he never could: saved the world through a sacrifice nobody would ever know. He could never be like that. A hollow laugh escaped him before he knew it.
She was a person far too vast.
In his previous life, Lee Han had known that history's great figures were admirable people. Knowing it had never let him feel it with them. They were only matters of the past, things he had read in writing. How was anyone supposed to empathize with that?
But now, in this moment—having seen this person's life not as words but with his own eyes and senses, having lived through it—he understood at last.
Ah. So this is why they call someone great.
Not a thing others are incapable of. No….
"Because it was something someone had to do. So I simply chose to do it. If I don't put it into practice myself, who else could ever turn it into action?"
…someone who carries out what anyone could do, and what no one does.
"Don't lift me up like that. In the end, the future me failed. It's only because you were there that a future that wretched didn't come this time."
"Then what about you, Elder?"
"……."
"Why won't you try to be happy? This—this is too strange, isn't it?"
Admirable was still admirable. Even so, Lee Han couldn't understand why she wouldn't try to become happy.
In a sense, she had been given a second chance. She could have made a new beginning.
…Yes. As the nun said, it might have been a disaster no one could stop.
But.
"An unhappy future wasn't guaranteed to come. No more than the future where Louise sacrifices herself."
"……."
"You should have trusted me. No—trusted people. Instead of leaving like this…."
Lee Han did not grieve. He grew angry. She hadn't believed in him, and the sight of her living and going like such a fool made her seem nothing but foolish.
Where did the anger come from? Was it anger at a woman who reminded him of himself in that past life—living like an endless fool, and dying at the end of it?
Or else—
"Don't regret it. This is not an eternal farewell."
!
Was it the ache of an eternal farewell?
As if she were sorting out his feelings for him, the nun smiled brightly once more. Whether because his heart made her grateful, or because she found it precious. The smile she wore was brighter than any she had shown before.
"There is no such thing as an eternal farewell. It's only a parting, and only for a little while. We'll meet again someday. Don't you think so?"
"……."
"Hehe. Don't cry. A fine man doesn't cry."
"…I'm not crying. Not even a tear."
"Just because you don't cry with your eyes doesn't mean you aren't crying."
"…Ha. Right to the end, I can't beat you with words."
"Hehehe."
After that, the nun said many things. That she had never been unhappy. That her life had held far more happiness than misfortune. The many bonds she had formed, and the memories she held dear.
They were not empty words offered only to comfort Lee Han. They held nothing but the truth, and they fell on him like a lullaby. Listening, he quietly nodded along, or answered her in kind.
"Please take the bell. It likes you, you know."
"That's the tenth time you've said that."
"If I don't emphasize it like this, I don't think you'll take it."
"Why wouldn't I take something that good? I'll be sure to keep it."
"I'll pretend I believe that lie."
"A lie—I've never told a lie in my life."
"Hehe. You're lying already."
"No, I really—"
"……."
"Ha. How am I supposed to get you to believe me."
"……."
"…Elder."
"……."
"…This is too much. Really."
Hoo…….
—How can you go without even saying you're going?
…It left him sore.
Lee Han let the rest slip out like a whisper, and looked up at the ceiling.
The ceiling, still full of Holy Power, shone as brightly as the Milky Way glittering in a night sky.
…Brightly, that is.