Chapter 14
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: A Yellow Flower Blooming Between the Rocks (3)
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Hop!
"...!!!"
...
"Haa..."
...
*Rustle rustle*
"Haa... huu..."
...
Hop!
Hop!
Hop!
"Hat...!"
"..."
*Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.*
...
*Crunch crunch crunch*
*Thud*
"Huu..."
...
...
Hop!
Hop!
Hop!
*Bolt upright*
"Luca...!?"
...
Hop!
Hop!
"Ah..."
...
*Rustle rustle*
*Thud*
...
Hop!
Hop!
"...!"
...
"Ah..."
Being able to fall asleep even during the day had been a blessing to me. Because I didn't have to see everything.
But now, it had become a curse. Because I couldn't see everything.
Every time I opened my eyes, the sight of Eli that greeted me grew more haggard with each passing day. Dark shadows had settled thickly under the face that had once been as pure as fresh snow, and the eyes that had shone so dazzlingly were losing their light day by day. And above all, her noticeably shrunken shoulders left a deep wound in my heart.
Even so, Eli always smiled when she looked at me. A fragile smile so pitiful it tugged at the heartstrings, but she forced the corners of her mouth upward and caressed my cheek. Then she told a lie that wouldn't fool even a child.
"I'm fine, Luca."
Like a mantra she repeated to herself, Eli recited that lie over and over, word for word. Then she sat back down at my feet and began dreaming her nightmare with many names: cold, fatigue, hunger.
I discovered in myself a loathsome desire both to hope she would give up now and to wish she would hold on until the end. Knowing full well how agonizing an endless wait could be, that selfish urge to demand her sacrifice made me despise myself. Sometimes, I even wished this damned stone body of mine would tear apart and at least become a blanket to wrap around Eli.
But even after three days had passed, I was still just a rock. A useless lump of stone that offered no warmth, only adding to the biting chill. Yet Eli kept burrowing deeper into my embrace, seeking warmth in such a worthless form.
Could warmth come even to a heart that no longer beat? Craving a true answer from a proposition that could only be false, I drifted off to sleep once more.
"...Luca. Are you watching?"
Today too, I opened my eyes at Eli's soft call. In my gradually clearing vision, I saw her smiling brightly for the first time in ages.
"This is what I was telling you about. It's not coffee, but it has a similar effect."
Eli shook the limp leaves in front of me. They were definitely the plant Leo had taught her about. Even if it felt a bit suspicious, she held them close to her nose, inhaling deeply as if she'd found something precious.
"With this, the fatigue should ease a little. Of course, brewing it would be best... but starting a fire takes strength and mana..."
To steady her mind. Or perhaps to soothe her loneliness, Eli muttered to herself as she popped a leaf into her mouth and chewed it thoroughly. From her furrowed brows, it didn't taste pleasant, but she swallowed it all without even pretending to spit it out.
"Ugh. This really tastes awful. But somehow, the sleepiness is fading after eating it."
There was no way it could work that fast. Ever since erecting the barrier, Eli had been telling more and more lies. Lies she wasn't even good at in the first place. She flashed a smile that seemed ready to fade away at any moment, then bowed her head as if collapsing.
"Anyway, my throat's dry after eating it. If only it would rain..."
I gazed up at the sky alongside Eli. The pitch-black heavens cruelly shed not a single tear. You must be watching all this too. Was this level of tragedy nothing to you?
Lowering my gaze from the merciless sky, I saw piles of snow accumulated like grime on the ground. At a glance, they looked fluffy like cotton candy, but they were no different from the sea water that lured shipwrecked sailors to their doom. In a situation where she couldn't even make a fire, swallowing them straight would surely turn them into sharp thorns stabbing her already cracked throat.
But Eli had few choices. After agonizing over it for a long time, she finally scooped up a handful of snow and swallowed it cautiously.
"...! *Cough! Cough*!"
As expected, she coughed violently in pain. I watched anxiously, wondering if blood might pour from her fragile throat.
After coughing for a while, Eli calmed down, shook her head, and slapped her cheeks hard. The sharp smack left them flushed red.
"Huu... I should have melted it a bit first. Not that it would have changed much."
Staggering over to me, Eli leaned her head habitually against my knee. As her white breath clouded in front of my eyes, a suddenly bright laugh escaped her.
"Hey, Luca. Do you remember? When we were kids, I wanted shaved ice so bad we waited until winter, collected snowflakes, and made some together. It was so good back then, right?"
Warmth briefly spread through my mind filled with despair and regret at the fond memory that surged in. Yeah. I remember. We ate it saying it was delicious, and the next day all three of us caught colds and were bedridden for a week.
"But here, even the snow tastes bad. It's definitely the same snow. Or... is it not? This is demon territory, after all. Maybe something bad is mixed in."
I doubt it. We've drunk rainwater here plenty of times. Bobby... that pig bastard said it back then. Even in demon lands, things from nature aren't much different.
"We can only hope not. My beauty's already fading these days, and if it gets worse here, you'd be sad too, right?"
...
I don't care. As long as you're alive.
Eli fell silent, lost in old memories, breathing quietly. I too cast my gaze toward the endless snowfield.
"...Hey, Luca. Maybe we shouldn't have left our hometown after all."
She struck at my vitals in unexpected moments like this. Back then, I would have snapped asking what she meant now, but now I could only nod.
Yeah.
"If we'd just stayed home... what would we be doing now?"
Definitely better than this.
If I could turn back time, I would...
...
I'd thought this before. If I could turn back time, I could fix everything. I wouldn't have fallen for that unknown Four Heavenly King's curse. Or maybe I wouldn't have let Leo, Bobby, Rick—those bastards—into the party from the start. Or perhaps, I would have ignored Nadia and stayed in our hometown.
That's what I'd thought. That turning back time would let me right all wrongs.
But now, my thinking had changed.
If I could go back to the past, I want to hold Eli in front of me as tightly as I can.
It doesn't matter if she panics. Even if just for a single moment, it doesn't matter. I want to wrap her in these arms, feel her body heat return to my embrace, tell her I love her. Whisper how grateful I am she's by my side, how much it means that she's with me.
I wished for one final miracle. To any higher power watching all this—please end this tragedy now and let me hold Eli in my arms.
"...Who knows."
Then, like a miracle, a voice descended from the sky. I perked up with fleeting joy, only to sink back into despair upon recognizing how familiar it was.
"Sera."
"Maybe we would have failed to stop the demons' invasion and all died."
The voice was familiar, but the cruel pessimism in her tone was utterly alien. Turning my gaze toward the sound, a pang of complicated emotion hit me.
"Or maybe just Luca dies, and the two of us get dragged off as sex slaves by some goblin chieftain. Either way, things wouldn't have gotten better, Eli."
"Don't say that, Sera."
"I'm just pointing it out because you're chasing an impossible dream."
The two, once inseparable friends, now eyed each other warily across an uncrossable line. In their hopelessly tangled fate, Eli cautiously spoke up.
"How have you been, Sera?"
"As you can see. Do I look like I'm doing well?"
"...No. I guess I asked a stupid question."
At the curt response, Eli trailed off. She probably just wanted to check on her beloved friend.
"And you look like you're barely hanging on too, Eli."
"I... can't deny that."
"We didn't both have to end up like this."
Sera's words carried an irremovable bitterness. Hearing them, Eli let out a quiet laugh.
"Yeah. We didn't have to end up like this. Guess we really shouldn't have left home."
She dragged up my sins—those same sins—once again, the one she'd mulled over countless times. This time, I smiled bitterly too. Yeah. From one to ten, all my fault.
But Sera didn't smile at all. Instead, she frowned and stared straight at Eli.
"No, Eli. That's not what I mean. I'm glad we left that hometown. Leaving that godforsaken rural dump was one of the best decisions of my life."
"Then...?"
"What I'm saying is, you didn't have to drag me down with you."
"Stop."
Eli bit her lip in pain.
"Stop it, Sera. I don't want to hear it. You're not yourself right now. You're..."
"No, Eli. Everything I'm saying is my honest truth, without a shred of doubt. Because I can't lie anymore."
"That's not true. I... I just won't listen. You're not the Sera I knew anymore."
"Of course not. The gullible Sera who was easy to fool is gone."
Hearing that, Eli plugged her ears and bowed her head deeply. Dissatisfied, Sera raised her voice a bit.
"Look at me, Eli."
"..."
"Look at me!"
But as always, Eli couldn't refuse Sera's plea and lifted her head. Satisfied, Sera smiled and continued.
"I've thought about it a lot lately. Why did I end up like this? But the answer came without much pondering. It's all your fault, Eli. Right? I've spent my whole life bearing your burdens. Wearing the fancy title of genius mage, crushed under its weight."
"Sera. I only did it because you asked me to. Even at the entrance exam. You wanted to get into the academy no matter what. You wanted adults to love you."
"Yeah. That immature kid begged for it. So you thought, 'Sure,' and dumped all the baggage on me. Right? You've always been smart, so you knew exactly what the genius mage title entailed."
"Not at all, Sera. If you'd been suffering that much, I would have stopped anytime. But I thought you were happy. That's why...!"
"No, Eli. You never would have stopped. Because you got Luca in my place."
In the end, I was at the heart of their long-buried secret. Sera sneered and glared at Eli.
"You targeted Luca from the start, didn't you? Looking back, even at the entrance exam. You disguised me as the genius mage to shove me into the academy, then ran off with Luca. If I hadn't thrown a fit to get you both in, you would have stolen him from me forever. Right?"
"No, Sera. I...!"
"At first, I thought you sacrificed for me! The glory, the honor of being a genius mage—all yielded for my sake. So I thought I had to yield Luca to you in return. But no. You dumped all the burdens on me and stole even the last thing I had."
"Sera!"
Eli finally couldn't hold back and jumped to her feet.
"How can you say that? You, of all people? I... I really gave up everything for you. Even when people compared us and pointed fingers, even when I was subtly ignored and ostracized in the party, I thought it was fine as long as you looked happy. You know what I've sacrificed all too well... how can you say that?"
"Sacrifice? That lie doesn't work anymore, Eli."
"I... I really lived only for you, Sera! Even if no one acknowledged what I did, even if no one praised me, as long as you were happy. Seeing you recognized and praised was my happiness! Because you're my one and only friend. You are..."
"I wish we'd never been friends from the start!"
Sera's final words pierced through the chilled night sky. Eli couldn't utter a word, her body frozen as if paralyzed by the echo in her ears.
Sera crossed her arms smugly at the sight and shot Eli a cold look.
"...Well, fine. Maybe from your perspective, it felt like yielding. I believed that once too. So I thought it was an implicit promise: I'd take all the glory you deserved, and in exchange, give you Luca."
Eli still didn't move. But Sera pressed on.
"But now, I'm wondering if that was necessary. If you're yielding once, shouldn't you give everything? That's true sacrifice and love, right? So..."
"Sera..."
"What if I just take it all?"
Egoism. Jealousy. Inferiority. That tangled mass dropped heavily. Only then did Eli finally speak.
"But Sera. You've already... abandoned Luca..."
"Right."
Her immediate reply was almost chipper. But what followed was bitterly venomous.
"Still, handing him over to the likes of you? I'd rather die."
With those words from Sera, paradoxically, the night sky began to brighten. She shrugged and walked back, and the moment the sound of her retreating footsteps faded, Eli collapsed to the ground.
"Ah..."
A faint sigh like a death rattle echoed softly from Eli. She stared blankly at where Sera had been, then let her head droop limply. As if the final pillar propping up her heart had snapped.
Night fell again. Like fate, I opened my eyes.
The moment I awoke, a warm presence brushed my feet. It must be Eli, I thought, lowering my gaze—only to find a rabbit rubbing against my leg instead. In this piercing cold, was I its only shelter? I looked at it pitifully, then scanned for Eli.
It didn't take long. But the instant I spotted her, my heart sank like a stone.
No.
Eli lay slumped over the now ice-hard snow. The moment I saw her fall, I desperately searched her body for signs of breath. But finding proof of life over her thick clothes was no easy task.
Or maybe she's already dead.
No. No way. Clutching my desperate heart, I gazed intently at the back of her head. Black hair spilled across the white snowfield like blood.
*Rustle.*
Suddenly, the rabbit at my feet hopped toward her. Wagging its snow-white tail, it approached, sniffed around her head for a long while. Then, very slowly, Eli's hair began to stir.
"Haa..."
Only after her faint breath and white puff spread did I exhale in relief. Eli rose agonizingly slowly, glanced at the rabbit, and murmured a single short word.
"...Thanks."
As if understanding, it rubbed its head against her hand once, then bounded off into the snowy expanse. Eli and I watched its back until our eyes met.
...
How did I look in Eli's eyes? I couldn't know, but to mine, Eli looked wretched. She'd never been truly well since the barrier trapped us, but after yesterday's talk with Sera, she seemed especially worse. It was no wonder. Five days without sleep, without food. Surviving by eating snow instead of water.
I had no desire to say it, but it was miraculous she was still alive.
"...Huu..."
After staring at me for a long while, Eli suddenly stood. Her legs, ready to shatter any moment, trembled wildly, her whole body uncontrollably shaking, yet she somehow staggered toward me. Reaching me at last, drained of strength, she leaned against me.
"Luca."
Her voice nearly brought tears. Her throat, cracked to its limit, didn't sound like it belonged to the living.
"...Hey."
Her limp arms slowly rose, wrapping around my neck. Clutching me tightly, Eli struggled to continue.
"I might not hold on much longer."
No. Eli.
"So... I didn't want to do it here, but... somehow... if not now, I feel like I won't get to say it..."
Then don't, Eli. Please. Just hold on a little longer. I'll definitely break free, wipe out those bastards, and then you can say it.
"It might really be the last chance... that's why I'm saying it..."
No, Eli. Don't say it. I know your heart fully, so when all this ends, tell me in person. Please, Eli...
My stone-sealed lips couldn't even pray. In the end, along with tears the heavens wouldn't shed, Eli's long-held words fell into my ear.
"I've... liked you for so long."
...
I thought I knew it all along. But hearing it directly crushed my heart with its weight. The meaning behind those words, the fact she said them now of all times—it stabbed like needles through my body.
"Not just as a friend. I love you more than that. Your kind personality, your warm way of speaking, your face that's so handsome to me—I loved you every single moment since I met you."
Eli's weight pressed on my shoulders, slowly crumbling my form. Buried in snow, it should be cold, but her heartfelt warmth was too much to bear.
"I should have said it sooner... but seeing how Sera looked at you, it was too heartbreaking. But now... now I have to say it. I really love you so much. Every morning I wake up, your face comes to mind, and even when I close my eyes to sleep, I hope to dream of you. Then every moment with you flashes vividly, warming my body even in midwinter."
Eli. Please stop. It's too heavy. I really might...
Collapse...
"Hey, Luca. So, I want to ask..."
Eli painfully lifted her head from my shoulder. Then, smiling with her wrecked face, she asked me.
"Do you love me too?"
I love you.
I love you.
Of course I love you.
More than anyone in the world.
With lips that wouldn't part, I poured out those words from my heart. Please let this reach her. Please let her feel my heartbeat, that my heart still beats for her.
"I know even without hearing. That you love me. Because you're my knight."
Eli smiled genuinely wide and stroked my forehead. Gazing at me tenderly, she suddenly lit up as if struck by a good idea and spoke again.
"Hey, Luca... So, what if we just... get married here? We're both too hopeless to cheat anyway. So... let's just do it here."
...
Yeah. Let's. Just like that.
"The rabbit from earlier can be the officiant, so skip that... next is... Ah, this."
Eli pulled away slightly and thrust her shivering hand into her frozen pocket. Fumbling deep inside with stiffened fingers, she pulled out a small object and showed it to me.
"Usually the man gives this, but... it's from Granny Emil. Specially... for you."
She slipped something tiny onto my outstretched finger. Knowing what it was, I didn't look, but its weight settled clearly there.
Even standing briefly exhausted her; she leaned against me and coughed violently again. As the spasms finally subsided, Eli mustered her last strength.
"Then we need vows... but I don't have the energy for those long words..."
Did she lack even the strength to tremble now? Propping herself on my shoulder with corpse-like hands, Eli faced me. Her face still dirtied by snow and earth, but this was when Eli was prettiest to me. Eli covered in dirt. The girl blooming like a flower even between rocks.
The girl I'd loved my whole life smiled—perhaps her last—and said to me,
"Then... let's do a kiss instead. Okay?"
Yes. Eli.
Let's kiss.
The moment my heartfelt words ended, her face drew near. A face I'd seen countless times, yet never this close. Long lashes dusted with snowflakes. A cute, squirrel-like nose. Pale pink lips thin enough to see through. As I took it all in, an unbearably warm, soft touch met my lips.
It was the moment I'd dreamed of since childhood: holding hands with Eli, kissing. I'd thought I'd be overjoyed, but strangely, tears came first. Until the unshed tears trickled from my eyes down my jaw, we kissed long and deeply.
*Shatter!*
"Eli!!!"
The dreamlike moment shattered in an instant as Sera's piercing scream rang out. Eli clenched her teeth, exhaled white breath, whirled around, and charged across the ground.
"Sera!!!"
With the barrier's collapse, the piled snow atop it avalanched down. Amid the swirling blizzard, Sera leaped high and unleashed blazing flames.
"Uwaaa!"
With a mighty shout, the flames erupted, but Eli extended her hand, crushing them midair and sending them crashing to the ground opposite. Without time to confirm the deflection, Eli reached out, grabbed Sera by the collar, and slammed her down. Mana gathered in her clenched fist.
"Aaaah!"
She screamed as she thrust her fist forward. But in that split second, something that even stole my vision halted her punch.
"Eli..."
Sera's terrified face. Not the genius mage, but the child Sera used to make. That fearful expression briefly frozen her raging arm.
"Sera..."
And that hesitation was fatally critical.
*Thwack.*
Suddenly, Nadia struck Eli's nape from behind. This time it landed true; Eli crumpled limply into the snow like a doll.
*Thud*
...
"Ah..."
Seeing Eli fall, Sera stared mutely at her nape. A dazed murmur escaped her rigid lips.
"Eli..."
But her voice drowned in Nadia's sharp one amid the snow. Nadia approached Eli, laughing genuinely gleefully.
"Ahaha! Eli! Look at you! Acting all tough, but in the end, nothing special!"
"Ugh...!"
Nadia brutally stomped Eli's right hand. Eli only let out a faint groan, unable to resist.
"Se...ra..."
To the end, she called Sera's name. But the response came not from Sera.
"Eli."
Footsteps approached from afar. The nightmare advanced without a tremor, soon taking clear form and smiling wickedly.
"Finally caught you."