Chapter 596: Jealousy is My Power (96)
Chapter 596: Jealousy is My Power (96)
Memories as numerous as stars drifted through the void.
Getting hurt, breaking down, collapsing, and falling into despair.
The sight of the man who had to grip his sword even while shedding tears was pitiful beyond words. It possessed a strange, magnetic pull, and for a long time, 'Senior Elsie' and I watched the man's memories in silence.
How much time had passed?
Knowing I couldn't stay like this forever, I spoke up cautiously. Outside, a life-or-death struggle was likely in full swing.
"Can you even see them properly?"
"No."
The answer was immediate.
I let out a silent sigh of realization. Of course. If she could see them clearly, there was no way she would be standing here so calmly.
In these memories, women with obviously extraordinary relationships with him were appearing. Even if 'Senior Elsie' was on the more mature side, it was obvious how she would react, given that her original self was Elsie.
In truth, I couldn't see all the memories clearly either.
Some images appeared only as faint afterimages. One memory in particular was so blurred that not even a hazy silhouette could be seen.
It was a recollection that radiated a particularly deep sorrow.
There was no way Senior Elsie could have access to all of the man's memories.
My suspicion was proven correct a moment later.
"I can't see the details. Perhaps it's because they are memories I'm not permitted to see? But I can feel the general emotions. So much sadness, so much pain... and yet, that sense of duty that tells him he must stand up, it's almost despairing."
As the girl recited her impressions, her voice sounded somewhat dazed, yet lonely.
These were memories of a lover separated by death. I couldn't even begin to imagine the heart of a woman who had just discovered that her lover's life had been such a path of thorns.
I chose silence.
There were times when silence was the most eloquent language.
"Why couldn't I have stood by his side back then?"
A short, questioning murmur.
I wasn't sure if I should answer or not.
After hesitating for a long time, I squeezed out a clumsy bit of comfort.
"If you hadn't been there, his fight would have ended long ago."
"I know. But why... why was I... while he was hurting so much right next to me...!"
Unable to control the surge of emotion, the woman's head dropped. Her voice was thick with moisture and a sobbing tone; I silently averted my gaze.
The one left behind.
The man had continued such a lonely and arduous fight, but the hearts of those who had to watch from the sidelines could never be at peace.
And the one who had been sent away.
Clear droplets fell from Senior Elsie's eyes. As if truly frustrated, her small fists tightly gripped her hem.
"Why... hic, why couldn't I even hug him? Why couldn't I comfort him? I could have at least told him he did a good job, that it was okay to rest for a bit... If only, if only I could have said at least that much!"
It was a plea filled with raw, aching emotion.
The sight of the sobbing girl was so pitiful.
Without thinking, I reached out my hand.
"Senior..."
"Don't touch me!"
Slap. The woman's arm swung, knocking my hand away with enough force to make it sting.
Gasping as she suppressed her tears, the girl's eyes were still red. Even so, she refused to lean on me.
"......The person you need to comfort isn't me."
I stared at her blankly for a moment upon hearing those words.
Then, I slowly withdrew my hand. The woman's face as she bit her lip again looked terribly lonely.
"It's already too late for me. No matter how much the person I love suffers, I can do nothing but watch like this... But it's different for you two."
With that, Senior Elsie looked up at the sky once more.
She must be in agony.
Would the day ever come when I could truly understand that feeling?
I hoped that such a day would never come.
"......Go, quickly."
A single sentence uttered while suppressing her sobs.
Before I knew it, the girl was pointing in a certain direction with her index finger. The path stretched on, and at the end of the increasingly narrow passage, a faint light shone.
"Go where you need to be... and protect your world."
My feet began to take hesitant steps forward. Just before I completely lost sight of her.
On a sudden impulse, I turned back and shouted.
" I'll make sure she's happy!"
The girl's blank gaze turned toward me. Though the moisture hadn't left her eyes, she couldn't hide the question reflected in those blue pupils.
So, I had to promise once more.
"My 'Senior Elsie'!"
The girl looked stunned for a moment, then let out a hollow laugh and pulled the brim of her hat down low.
"What are you talking about, you dumbass..."
My path continued.
With every step I took, unfamiliar memories tickled my eyes and ears. They were stories of the girl that I hadn't known.
[Elsie, the world is not kind to the weak. As long as you are a member of the Lainella family, you must keep this in mind.]
[Are you stupid? Of course you're being bullied because you're weak. Don't you get it? Even dogs bite the weakest one in the pack.]
[Noona, Noona... the, the dogs... Eeeek! H-help me...!]
Passing through memories of her childhood.
[You're telling me to live like a dog?]
[Fine, I'll be a dog if that's what you want... Lainella's Fighting Dog? Sounds great.]
Passing through memories from a few years ago.
[......Elsie, it's a dog's death.]
[Pfft, ahaha... a 'dog's death'?]
[Woof woof!]
Passing through memories from a few months ago.
[Take this staff.]
[Live your own life, Elsie... like a true Lainella.]
[Even that old man couldn't kill me... Did you really think a mere pet like you could do anything to me?]
Finally, the memories reached the recent past.
My steps stopped where a small back appeared before me. The girl was curled up, shedding tears.
The Pitch Black Rod lay abandoned on the floor.
"I'm scared, I'm scared... hic, I'm so scared..."
I thought about human strength.
Breaking down, collapsing, falling into despair.
And yet, there were those who picked themselves up. Wasn't that exactly what I had seen in the man's memories? That unrealistic sight of him grabbing his sword even after being broken and bloodied time and time again.
But not everyone could do that.
In fact, most humans weren't that strong. Usually, when told that the fate of humanity rested on their shoulders or asked to save the world, they couldn't even grasp the weight of it.
Or they were simply crushed by it.
A human who wasn't strong was crying. A girl far too small to shoulder the fate of the entire continent.
"I'm... I'm not that great of a person... I'm not a great mage like my uncle... I-I hate this now."
Trembling, the woman clutched her head.
"I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared... N-not me. Right! There are plenty of other strong people besides me! If someone else saves the world instead of me...!"
"You can't."
"Hgyaaak?!"
At my sudden declaration, the girl's slumped body practically jumped into the air.
She hadn't even noticed my presence; she looked utterly bewildered as she scrambled backward on her rear.
With tears still clinging to her eyes, the girl shrieked.
"Y-you... what! You're that guy I kicked out last time!"
"Why 'that guy'? That's a very half-hearted way to address me."
"......Hmph, so what?"
The girl crossed her arms, trying her best to act composed. The way she snorted and puffed out her cheeks made her look quite grumpy.
"I suppose you've come to try and take me back again, but don't waste your breath... I have no intention of going back. Got it?"
The way she added that last bit seemed like an attempt to sound threatening. Not that it was very effective, given her tear-streaked eyes.
I knelt down slightly, bringing myself to eye level with Senior Elsie. She stubbornly avoided my gaze.
"Why don't you want to go back?"
"Huh? Didn't you hear me? Why should I volunteer for that kind of suffering in the first place? It's just painful and hard!"
"You have to save the world."
"The world can save itself for all I care, hmph."
With that, the girl even stuck out her tongue and went "Bleh" to tease me.
It was the same pattern of conversation as before. Honestly, back then, I thought this was the best I could do.
Because the world had to be saved.
I thought everyone would agree and nod to such a grand cause. I had mistakenly assumed that my comrades, the people I led, all agreed with this premise.
But that wasn't the truth.
Perhaps everyone had been pushing themselves too hard.
I hadn't noticed because I had been running so breathlessly until now—just how difficult and painful it was to run alongside me.
Seria, Celine, and even Senior Elsie.
They weren't that strong, and I had been running away, intentionally turning a blind eye to that fact.
'Senior Elsie' was absolutely right.
I was a dumbass.
Why hadn't I realized it until now?
"Is that all you have to say? Now stop this nonsense and..."
"The Senior Elsie I knew."
Cutting her off, I spoke quickly.
"Was someone who tried so hard to act tough. Even though she was a coward and timid, she was just loud... Honestly, there were many times I thought she was a nuisance."
At my blunt confession, Senior Elsie's brow naturally furrowed. Then, her voice dropped low.
"What... what are you saying right now...!"
"But that's not it, is it?"
Another declaration followed, leaving Senior Elsie looking even more confused.
I didn't give her time to respond.
"In truth, she was someone who could become as strong as she wanted if she set her mind to it. She was someone who knew how to follow her own convictions instead of her family's will. You want to protect them, don't you?"
"What... nonsense... I told you! I don't care about the world...!"
"Someone precious."
Thump.
For the first time, the girl was rendered speechless. Her dazed eyes stared at me in silence for a long while.
After some time had passed.
"......I, I don't have anyone like that."
Senior Elsie averted her gaze and stammered.
Her eyes were shaking uncontrollably.
"Are you sure?"
"I-I-I said I don't! So get lost already, I have no reason to go back!"
"Let's go back."
"Why on earth should I...!"
Unable to calm her surging emotions, the girl started to stand up. The distance between us narrowed, our breaths overlapped, and a sweet scent tickled my nose.
And just like that, I lightly pulled the girl's shoulder toward me.
I didn't even feel the contact.
I couldn't tell if our lips met or if our teeth just bumped. I only guessed based on the wide-open blue eyes filling my vision.
I did it right.
It was immediately after that I felt a dull impact hit my solar plexus.
I let out a choked sound and tried to stumble back. But before I could, Senior Elsie pounced on me, pinning me down.
Her small hands grabbed my collar and shook me. Her face was already so red it looked like steam might start puffing out.
It was a reaction so typical of Senior Elsie.
"Y-you... you son of a bitch! You just stole a maiden's lips without permission...!"
"Because I love you."
I said, swallowing a faint smile.
"St-stole...!"
"It's too late, Senior Elsie... no, Elsie."
Tears began to well up in the girl's blue eyes.
Her pupils, resembling clear lakes, wavered. The fist she had raised as if to slap my cheek lowered slightly, and the grip on my collar loosened.
"Stole..."
"Let's go back, Elsie."
Without another word, I pulled the sobbing girl's shoulders into an embrace. Naturally, her body followed, resting against my chest.
The sound of sobbing, the sound of resentment.
Listening to all those sounds, my hand stroked the girl's hair.
It had been a long time.
"You... hic, you jerk..."
"There, there."
"Do you have any idea how scared and tired I was... that girl you call a sister is a total psycho, and my uncle died... and you want me to take over that role? It makes no sense... because of you, I have to go through all that suffering again?"
"There, there."
She probably wasn't looking for an answer to her complaints anyway.
I just repeated those short words, savoring the soft weight of Senior Elsie. After crying for a long time, the girl sniffled and managed to control her tears.
"......When we go back, we're getting engaged."
An engagement, despite already having a wife.
It was something that would surely incur the Heavenly God's wrath, but what could I do? The fate of the world was at stake.
Making such an absurd excuse to myself, I tightened my hold on Senior Elsie.
"Now, let's go back."
Finally, a piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
"To our world."
A piece to save our world with our own hands, not someone else's.
Now, only one remained.
Outside the barrier, in the Southern Forest of the Academy.
A hair-raising chase was underway.
"Kyaaa, kyaaaaaaaaaaaak!"
The one being chased was a girl with dark blue hair.
Tears fell from her eyes, leaving a trail behind her. Even while sprinting, she showed incredible skill, ducking her upper body and jumping to dodge the Blood Spears that rained down upon her.
Strangely, a woman was being dragged behind the girl's back, bound by blue threads. The eyes of the gray-haired swordsman were gloomy, as if she had lost all hope.
And the one pursuing them.
"Bl-bl-blood... give me your bloooooood!"
Once a woman of elegant beauty, she now looked like a monster, no different from a giant bat. Her bloodshot eyes told the story of her desperation.
Thud, thud, thud.
Every time Seria bounced while being dragged, the Azure-White Threads snapped one by one. Those threads caught on rocks and branches, serving as markers of the girl's path.
The girl with dark blue hair—the Princess—screamed even louder.
She tightly gripped the mysterious stone remaining in her hand.
"Kyaaa, kyaaaaaaaak! Help me, Sir Ian!"
The chase was set to continue for some time.