The White Wind Sings (6)
The White Wind Sings (6)
#70
We fled the room with the corpses and stepped outside the building.
The sun had already set completely. Only a faint moonlight held us in place, as if pinning us there.
Not long after, we plunged into the black forest and ran like madmen, pursued by an invisible enemy.
"Haah...! Hah... wait, just a moment...!"
"..."
Freshly awakened and having just watched three people torn to shreds, there was no chance my mind was intact.
My lungs felt ready to burst, and my legs kept buckling as though I might tumble off an unseen cliff in that black forest at any moment.
Every time I lost my balance, Lily's hand caught my waist and forced me upright.
Her hand was soft, yet at the same time terribly forceful.
A grip that hauled me along whether I wanted it or not—that was exactly the sensation.
"Lady Lily, what in the—"
"If you've got the breath to talk, you'd be better off running."
"At least give me an explanation!"
Just then—a very low, long howl began to echo from the direction we had fled.
Wooooooooooo—
A beast?
More than a beast, it was something closer to a human voice...
Unconsciously, I tried to turn toward the sound, but Lily immediately seized my wrist.
"Do not look at it. Just run."
After that, not a single word was exchanged.
I had a mountain of questions I wanted to ask, but she showed no particular inclination to answer them.
The black forest showed no sign of ending. Among the burned black trees, the shadows of collapsed stone towers were visible in the distance,
and far beyond them, in a gap between the sky, the wreckage of a vast, half-tilted structure hung in the violet darkness.
Every time the wind blew, it seemed to carry the echo of someone's scream through the air.
What the hell?
This was supposed to be the world's future?
I felt like I had just seen something I should never have seen.
The Rosenheim banquet hall I'd been in moments ago—
Risie?
Rubel?
Elysia?
Sione and young Lily?
Ah, right. The Lily in front of me was that woman.
It wasn't as though I held any particular attachment to those women.
And yet, this world—where everything except Lily seemed to have vanished—was terrifying enough to suffocate me.
It felt as if an invisible dread was slowly crawling up my ankles—
"Huhk...... haak......!"
Eventually, the pressure made me stagger badly, and Lily stopped.
Her blue eyes, still glowing even in the darkness, fixed on me.
"Do-yun, are you having a really hard time?"
"Of course... I am... I only came to the future for medical treatment......"
"......... Fine. I wasn't being considerate. There's a safe house not far from here. Let's recover there first, then go."
Without a word, Lily draped my arm over her shoulder.
"Just hold on a little longer. We're almost there."
"..."
Our frantic pace slowed slightly.
Of course, it still felt punishingly fast to me.
After we had wandered through the forest for about thirty minutes, a small stone wall hidden by vines and moss revealed itself.
From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a ruin, but Lily's eyes clearly saw something different.
『Domina Viridarii, ostende—』
A soft-voiced, quiet invocation.
Hummm.
With a low vibration, the barrier carved into the stone wall shifted, and as I followed Lily inside, a landscape unfolded that was utterly unlike the ruined world outside.
#71
A space completely removed from the apocalyptic scenery outside.
A cozy garden, the low murmur of a stream, an old-looking but warmly inviting cabin.
A fragment that had broken off from the world I knew—I never imagined it would be lingering here.
"From what I saw earlier, outside was a complete disaster, but in here it seems like that's not the case."
"This is one of the temporary shelters my mother left behind. I use it from time to time."
Creak.
Lily spoke casually as she opened the cabin door.
The interior was far more spacious than I had expected.
A floor of solid logs, and an orange-lit fireplace that seemed to run on mana stones.
Beside it sat a single rocking chair and, likewise, a single narrow bed.
A bathroom also appeared to be properly installed in the corner by the door. The sound of water trickling in the bathtub echoed.
It wasn't as though someone had prepared it in advance.
What principle did that bathroom even operate on?
—A voice cut through those useless thoughts.
"Sit."
Permission, or command?
Either way, I dragged my exhausted body
and collapsed almost as though falling into the rocking chair.
Perhaps because I had run so much, it felt like my lungs were turning inside out.
"Young lady, what in the world is going on? I really don't understand a thing. Please, just explain anything you can."
"............ Fine. You should know the things you need to know too, Do-yun."
Gulp.
"You're a Deviator."
"A Deviator?"
"It means you're an existence not recorded in the Book of Fate."
"What does that—"
"I'll break it down simply."
Lily spoke over me.
"Human life is entirely bound to the Book of Fate. From the moment of birth, you can't escape the grand flow that dictates how you live and how you die."
I could understand that to some extent.
It matched the stories I had heard up until now.
"But you're different."
Lily's blue eyes stared straight at me.
"You're someone not recorded in that book."
"... What?"
"Because you're an existence that was never supposed to be here in the first place."
A chill ran down my spine.
I swallowed dryly.
"I roughly understand what you're saying, but is that a big problem?"
Lily let out a short sigh.
"It's a problem. A huge one."
She leaned against the window and continued calmly.
"A mage bound by fate can only fight in ways bound by fate. No matter how hard they struggle, there's a limit. But a Deviator is different. Because you exist outside the book from the beginning, the existing rules don't apply to you."
"......"
"We think we've killed you, and you survive. We think we've sealed you, and you slip out. We think we've stopped you, and a completely different outcome happens. To summarize: you're completely unpredictable."
Only then did it start to click.
"......So that's why you used me as a weapon."
"Yes."
Lily nodded at once.
"At first, it was only a few Hunters. Because just one existence like you could produce an absurd variable against mages bound to fate."
"A variable......"
"The moment you're thrown onto the battlefield, the entire board flips over. Who will win, who will die, what kind of outcome will emerge—it all clouds over."
Her voice was dispassionate, but the content was anything but.
"No matter how strong the opposing mage is, sometimes a small variable can open a path to victory."
"..."
"And everyone came to learn that those kinds of variables were indeed effective."
Lily lowered her eyes.
"It wasn't just the Hunters. As time passed and the war grew fiercer, the ones who wanted to survive, the ones who didn't want to be robbed, the ones who wanted more power... they all sought to get their hands on a Deviator."
"......"
"If they could make one, they made one. If they couldn't, they stole one. The broken ones were stitched back together by force and sent out onto the battlefield again."
Lily went on.
"At first, it was only a few. In our arrogance, we believed we could control it. But once it started, there was no stopping it. Because the enemy was using Deviators, we had no choice but to use them ourselves."
"And so the war broke out, and the world......"
"Yes. The War of the Deviants."
A short, dry answer.
With a quiet look, Lily gazed at the darkness beyond the window.
"The world didn't end because of some great catastrophe."
"......"
"Mages searched for a more efficient weapon, and in the end, they threw the world itself into the grinder. Because we destroyed the fate we were supposed to follow with our own hands."
For a long moment, I couldn't say anything.
My throat was bone-dry.
Only after what felt like a very long time could I finally open my mouth.
"...Then in the end, who exactly am I?"
Lily slowly turned to look at me.
"You're the starting point of the war."
My heart dropped.
"You're the First Deviant."
For a split second, her gaze wavered.
"And you're also the existence that first proved to the world that this entire tragedy was possible."
***
***
***
"Then what happens to me now?"
"From here, I'm taking you to the House of the Great Oneness."
"The House of the Great Oneness?"
"Mm. It was where Arcanum's two dukes lived. No one will be there now, though."
I furrowed my brow.
"Hold on. Why are dukes suddenly involved?"
"Because I think every clue to how the Deviants' war began, why it grew so enormous, and why no one managed to stop it leads there."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I saw it myself."
Her answer was calm.
She wasn't lying, was she?
But that did not make it comfortable to believe everything she said.
I sighed.
"Are you saying the dukes started this war?"
"No."
Lily shook her head at once.
"At least, the Hunters were the ones who first lit the fire."
"Then what?"
"But a war on this scale doesn't happen just because a few crazy bitches down below run wild."
Lily's blue eyes turned toward me.
"They observed everything and still allowed the world to fall into ruin like this."
"The dukes did?"
"I believe the answer is still in that mansion, at least. It was where the Book of Fate was first created."
The answer was still there?
Something about that wording bothered me...
She did not say she knew the answer.
She did not say she would tell me everything.
She only said the answer remained there.
I leaned against the back of the chair and looked at her.
"So the reason you're telling me to go to the dukes' mansion is that I'll learn something there?"
"Mm."
Lily fell silent for a moment.
Only the crackle of the burning Mana Stones in the stove filled the room.
Crackle.
Pop.
"If you want to survive, you'll have to pass through there eventually anyway."
"What does surviving have to do with the dukes' mansion?"
"Too many things are hunting you right now."
Lily tapped the cottage window twice with one finger.
"The Hunters want you—as research material, as a weapon, or both."
"..."
"Other Deviants are after you too, along with the failed creations that almost became Deviants."
Was she talking about whatever I had seen in the forest?
"And there's one more."
"What is it?"
Lily did not answer immediately.
Her gaze wavered for the briefest moment.
Like someone hesitating over whether she should speak—
"...The Hunters aren't the only ones pursuing you."
My heart beat a little faster.
"What does that mean?"
"Exactly what I said."
"Who else is after me?"
"Don't ask now."
"This again?"
I could not keep the irritation from my voice.
"You've been doing this the whole time. You start talking, then stop. You start explaining, then stop. You hide the most important part. Instead of being so damn frustrating, can't you just tell me clearly?"
"Because it has to be this way."
"Why?"
Lily said nothing for a long time.
Then she spoke in a very low voice.
"The most important part of your memory is missing right now."
"..."
"I can say this with certainty. If you hear the story in your current state, you'll probably break forever."
...
A pain suddenly formed in one side of my chest.
I instinctively tried to recall what had caused it, but nothing came to mind.
Even though I could not remember, the feeling was strangely unpleasant.
As though something erased from inside me were trying to keep itself from being discovered.
I bit my lip hard and asked,
"Come to think of it, what about healing my soul? Wasn't that why we came all this way in the first place?"
"...I'll do that when the proper time comes. I'm not saying I won't, but it is far too soon right now. If every memory returns, you'll die."
Haa... So nothing would be resolved easily.
"Then this is what you're saying, Lady Lily."
"..."
"I have to go to a place called the dukes' mansion while knowing nothing."
"Mm."
"Once I get there, I'll learn something."
"Yes."
"And you can't tell me anything more or restore my memories right now."
Lily slowly nodded.
"That's roughly right."
"Not roughly. That's exactly right."
"Not exactly."
The girl said that and smiled faintly.
"When you reach that place, you'll understand."
"Understand what?"
"Why the Deviants were used as weapons of war."
"..."
"Why that war grew so vast."
"..."
"And why you, of all people, were the First Deviant."
I stared at her.
"...Are there any dangers on the way there?"
Lily gave a snort at my question.
"Where in the world is safe now? Didn't you see what happened earlier?"
"Hah."
Lily approached me.
"We'll leave tomorrow after sunset. We have to wait almost twenty-four hours, so get some proper rest."
"We have to wait that long?"
"We can't cross this forest tonight anyway, thanks to someone. Passing through while the sun is up would be suicide."
"...I'm sorry."
"Either way, you have to go."
Lily murmured while looking out the window.
"If you don't reach that house, you'll die without even understanding what is about to happen."
"..."
"I don't want that."
The last words were added very quietly.
Even after hearing them, I could not answer immediately.
Her back looked strangely distant.
Even though she stood right in front of me—
...Or did she feel farther away precisely because she was before my eyes?
Lily, whom I had met again after crossing thirty years.
If memory was part of what made a person, then Lily was probably no longer the little lady I had once known.
I slowly closed and reopened my eyes.
My mind remained a mess.
A Deviant.
A weapon of war.
The first Pseudo-Human.
The House of the Great Oneness.
The lost memories she said she could not restore yet.
"...All right."
I answered in a dry voice.
"Let's go, then. Whether it's the fucking dukes' mansion or the House of the Great Idiots."
Lily slowly turned around.
Her blue eyes quietly watched me.
"Mm. That's right. That's the correct choice."
That was what she said,
but somehow, I understood.
Those words were not simple agreement.
They were probably...
the voice of someone pleading with me to go there.
"Wash first. You can only do it while we have time. Once we leave this Safe House, you won't be able to wash for a while."
#72
"...Ah, yes."
Just as I began to stand—
Lily walked past me without a word.
And then...
Rustle—
she casually loosened the blood-soaked robe draped around her body.
"...?"
The clothing stained with blood slowly slid to the floor.
The white underwear that should have covered her sex followed it down.
Tap.
Tap.
Everything.
I froze, unable to comprehend the sight.
"...Lady Lily?"
Without looking back, Lily said,
"What are you doing?"
"...No, right now—"
Moonlight filtered through the window.
When she turned around, the white naked body concealed in the dim light was naturally revealed.
Soft breasts—
small pink nipples—
and everything in the world below them.
"Ah, you came from the past, so you wouldn't know. We're close enough to fuck."
My heart thudded heavily.
"...What does that—"
"You don't remember any of it?"
Lily gave a small laugh.
That smile—
looked a little lonely somehow.
"Of course you don't."
"..."
"What a shame."
When she turned away, her plump ass swayed softly before my eyes.
Time left no child behind.
"Follow me. Don't make me say it twice."
What always remained in their place was—
"Even if the world has ended—we still have things to do."
only a woman who could no longer return to what she had been.