Chapter 332
Chapter 332
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Great Will
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"...Lindal!"
The voice of his comrades snapped the man out of his reverie.
It had already repeated itself several times, and the tone carried a clear edge of urgency.
The man's head moved ever so slightly.
With just that, his gaze, which had been fixed on empty space, now took in his comrades.
As if he had been looking at them from the very beginning.
"Yeah? Shuyen."
"'Yeah? Shuyen-' No, that's not it!"
The fairy's expression, as she looked at the man, was soaked in deep worry.
All his comrades felt the same.
"Are you really- really sure there's absolutely no problem!?"
The Hero's Party.
No one knew the Hero as well as his comrades did.
Their bond stretched back before he was ever hailed as the Hero.
They understood exactly what kind of man Lindal was.
He was-
"Lately, we've been having a harder time understanding you, Hero."
A man utterly impossible to comprehend.
An enigma formed by perfect understanding.
That was the impression held by his comrades, who understood Lindal completely.
It wasn't about his extraordinary abilities or personality.
Was this how it felt to try grasping a beam of light in your hand?
He seemed so close that you reached out-
Only to feel he was impossibly far away.
It was the same now.
"Please tell us. Is there really no problem at all? Yes! I know. When we ask like this, you'll definitely, definitely-"
"Grin like an idiot with his lucky mug and say there's no problem at all."
"...The phrasing is a bit harsh, but Kudilak's right. No matter what we say, you always just say you're fine, Hero. Sometimes that gives us so much strength- but sometimes it makes us worry even more."
"Don't do that. When I say I'm fine, it's because I really am."
"We know you are, Hero! But what about us? What are we supposed to do when we can't feel that way-?"
"..."
It was always like this.
The Hero met their eyes directly with steady ones, a faint smile on his lips.
A sight that naturally put one at ease just by looking.
But his comrades weren't satisfied with that.
They didn't want to feel relief seeing him now.
Instead, they wanted to persistently worry until he admitted he wasn't okay.
"Hero..."
The fairy stretched out her small arms toward the Hero with all her might.
Desperately, as if reaching for a place she could never touch.
"Are you really, truly here with us right now?"
His comrades felt as if the Hero's presence was fading away.
What they first dismissed as mere imagination had grown sharper over time-
And now, it brought a stark sense of unease.
It was strange.
Superficially, there was nothing wrong with the Hero.
His mind. His body. His aura.
Everything was as ideal as ever.
As if proclaiming he was the Hero himself.
That only made the unease grow stronger.
So, what exactly was the problem?
His mind. His body. His aura.
Everything was as ideal as ever-
Why did it feel like his very existence was slowly vanishing?
"..."
That was when it happened.
A ripple spread across the Hero's face, serene as a calm lake.
He murmured softly.
Indeed.
Am I really here with you all?
"Hero...?"
A far more meaningful response than expected.
Not knowing how to react, his comrades simply stared at him in bewilderment.
"..."
The Hero seemed to gaze solemnly at his comrades for a moment before forming his usual smile again.
Had that brief inner turmoil ended?
Or was it to reassure them?
His comrades had no way of knowing.
"I'll always be by your side. Until you can clearly feel it."
They could only hope his words were true.
His comrades gazed intently at the Hero.
At eyes that seemed to look at them while staring even farther away.
Sometime later.
The Hero vanished without a trace.
After countless evils were subjugated.
After countless demons were sealed.
Right after the Hero's Party fulfilled their duty.
Peace came to the continent with the Hero's presence.
A peace of unknown duration.
"...Tara!"
"Huh? Oh."
The fairy's voice snapped the Saintess out of her reverie.
"How rude? Daydreaming in front of a guest as kind and noble as me."
The fairy Shuyen irritably chewed on something.
It was a 'modern' food procured from the present world at Saintess Tara's request.
After 'his' visit.
Saintess Tara Dorin's village had undergone many changes.
Just like the Saintess herself.
The boundary with the present world had blurred.
The saved Saintess.
The Saintess's village brimmed with far more vibrant life than before.
More souls found rest and solace under her care-
And the Saintess herself spent her days tending to her changed routine.
Tara took a big bite of the treat Shuyen had brought.
"How is it, the taste of sin, the polar opposite of asceticism?"
The aroma of alcohol and sweetness from the bread filling spread from her tongue throughout her body.
Her face crumbled helplessly at the stimulation she had never known as a Saintess.
"Heh! Excellent response. Worth bringing it."
Shuyen, satisfied, stuffed her mouth full as well.
"So, what was that just now?"
Her words leaked from her puffed cheeks.
"On such a fine day, making such a serious face—what were you thinking so deeply about?"
"..."
Tara Dorin's expression hardened as if she were about to set down her fork.
But it brightened again, and the fork continued smoothly.
"Suddenly thought of that guy?"
"What? Not past tense, present progressive? Trying to gloss over it with a different topic?"
"Rishir."
"Hm. But that might be okay too?"
The mentioned topic was so stimulating and intriguing that the fairy shrugged and allowed the Saintess's digression.
"Why Rishir all of a sudden? Well, enjoying such a good time like this, maybe you're thinking about the guy who made all this possible—something like that?"
"That guy. Doesn't he resemble him?"
"Resemble him!?"
The fairy widened her eyes and flew around the Saintess.
"Something like that exists in this world?"
Her loud reaction brought a smile to the Saintess's lips.
"Yeah. Not common, though."
"So. What is this rare thing?"
"..."
Lindal.
The name slipped from the suddenly solemn Saintess's lips.
"Oh."
The fairy primly landed on the table.
"Quite sudden."
Leaving the fairy subdued in various ways behind-
The Saintess calmly continued.
"Lindal. Remember the last thing he said before we parted?"
"...He said he'd always be by our side, then vanished without a trace."
The fairy pouted and timidly kicked the table leg.
"Not that."
"Huh? Then?"
"..."
Saintess Tara Dorin gazed into the distance.
Just as the first Hero Lindal once had.
She slowly recalled his words from her memories.
-I'm always grateful for people like you.
-I believe.
-That I'll meet people like you again.
-Just like before.
-So...
-I'll never lose this faith.
Uncomfortable emotions surfaced on their faces.
The Hero's invariably profound words had stirred many thoughts in his comrades.
"Back then, I thought Lindal was talking about other comrades besides us."
"...Me too. I was really hurt. I believed we were everything to each other."
The fairy poked at her innocent fork as she spoke.
"I even thought that's why that fool suddenly left our side, Hero- no, that idiot. That he went to other comrades-"
The fairy reminiscing about her past comrade.
The dissatisfaction on her face grew thicker.
"...Argh, whatever! So why bring this up all of a sudden?"
"Rishir."
"Ah! Right! Rishir! Fine, so what!? What are you trying to say!? Talking like it's some magic spell!?"
Though she said that, the fairy acted as if truly ensnared by a magic spell.
Her expression, moments ago like chewing bitter weeds, filled with energy.
Rishir.
The moment his name was mentioned, it felt like the past was instantly summoned to the present.
From precious yet somehow gloomy and stifling memories of the past-
"Hey! Little sis!!! Toss that ball over here!"
"...What!? Hey! You kids! I told you not to call me that!"
"Hahaha! Thanks!!!"
"Your magic ball is so amazing every time, little sis!?"
To a reality that was purely bright.
"..."
Before long, a soft smile graced Tara's face.
She rested her chin and watched the children for a while.
The refreshing breeze blowing from somewhere felt so vivid it was hard to tell if it was truly from the world she had created.
The Saintess savored that happy reality for a time before speaking.
"Don't those two seem similar somehow?"
"..."
The Saintess and fairy looked at each other.
A Hero who one day vanished without warning.
And a Hero who one day appeared before them without warning.
"No way-"
It happened almost simultaneously.
The Saintess and fairy widened their eyes as the same thought struck them.
"What did you just say-"
Rishir stared at Lu-Rah with wide eyes.
Moments ago, he had clearly said it.
"Lindal...? The first Hero-"
Rishir's gaze turned forward again.
To the unidentified man awaiting them in this unknown place.
-...
The man smiled kindly without a word.
The atmosphere of the place stirred.
Everyone without exception showed agitation at the appearance of the first Hero-
Or the being claiming to be the first Hero.
Rishir, the holy swords, and even their creator.
-...No.
At that moment.
Lu-Rah shook his head.
-You are not Lindal. Am I wrong?
-A difficult question to answer.
-What...?
Lindal looked at Lu-Rah.
It was-
In a way, the face of joy at reuniting with an old friend.
And in another way, the face of meeting a stranger for the first time.
-...
Lu-Rah.
A clear agitation seemed to surface on his featureless face.
A terribly unfamiliar experience.
At this moment.
He felt overwhelmed by the other's presence.
-Who exactly are you...?
Lindal smiled at Lu-Rah.
-Just as you said, I am Lindal. Known as the first Hero. But-
Lindal.
He turned his back and gazed beyond the horizon.
The endless prairie landscape had been replaced by a scene atop a towering cliff.
Whoosh!
With the sound of fierce waves crashing up the cliff, it spoke.
-Also a being that cannot be defined merely by that name.
The tone, soft as swaying prairie grass, turned rough as sheer cliffs.
Turning back to face Rishir's group, it was no longer the first Hero Lindal.
It murmured a new name lowly.
Rishir didn't know it.
Neither did Lu-Rah nor the holy swords.
It had to be that way.
That name belonged to an era not even recorded in history.
-Remember the seven heroes who sealed the darkness.
It murmured resolutely, looking down at its own fist.
"Sealed the darkness...? No way...?"
Rishir was the first to grasp the meaning of those words.
"Ri, Rishir!? You have an idea!?"
"...Every time we destroyed an Archdemon fragment, I've had those thoughts."
Lately.
Thanks to days spent repeatedly destroying 'fragments'.
Rishir spoke as if recalling his past doubts.
"Who on earth... split the Archdemons into fragments and sealed them like this..."
They were already in fragment form when first discovered.
Traces of an era unrecorded in history.
Rishir wasn't the first to question the fragments' existence, naturally.
Many before him had the same doubts-
And their conclusions all led to one.
It was His grace, His trace-
"The God..."
Someone murmured blankly.
At that moment.
Rishir was speaking to the man on the cliff.
"Was it you...? Who sealed the Archdemons-"
-...
It slowly mulled over Rishir's words before opening its mouth.
-Yes.
"...!"
Rishir's group urgently looked left.
Then right. And all around.
The voice came from every direction.
From prairie to cliff.
From cliff to wasteland.
The world shifted again.
Innumerable figures surrounded Rishir's group.
Lu-Rah showed surprise upon recognizing some faces among them.
They spoke as one.
"""""What you said is indeed our doing."""""
"Our..."
As Rishir pondered those words, someone approached.
It was the first Hero Lindal.
-We have opposed the darkness since long ago. Very, very long ago. Without end. And thus, our- Great Will has been inherited.
"Our..."
-Yes. Our.
"...!"
Rishir flinched.
Lindal.
No, the Great Will gripped Rishir's hand firmly.
"""""All for reaching this place."""""
"..."
Rishir understood.
That 'this place' referred to himself.
Lu-Rah reached the same conclusion.
-A chain of existence through reincarnation... The inheritance of will and power thereby...!
Awakening urgently from his thoughts, he questioned the Great Will.
-Is that what you're saying!? That after eons of time and eons of fate, you arrived at that man...!
Lu-Rah's voice trembled with excitement.
Now everything made sense.
Rishir's incomprehensible power.
A power impossible for a single existence.
If that power was accumulated across many lives-
It all fit.
-...
The one wearing Lindal's face did not answer Lu-Rah's question.
It simply smiled softly, gazing at the man before it.
-I offer you deep gratitude. For not losing the way. For properly following our traces.
"Your traces... What are they...?"
It grasped Rishir's hand.
The hand holding the holy sword-
-No need for questions. Your presence here proves everything. You have inherited all of us. You are-
No room for doubt.
He couldn't have reached here otherwise, if not part of them.
It stared straight into Rishir's eyes.
For the culmination of the Great Will.
To become complete unity.
-You are...
He was the new incarnation of the Great Will-
The reincarnation of the first Hero.
-You are our one-...
The eyes filled with firm will wavered.
-You are our...
The wavering intensified-
-...!
It violently shook off Rishir's hand it had grasped.
As if repelled by it.
By a higher rank.
-You...
It looked at Rishir.
-...Who are you?
Something whose identity even the being called God could not discern stood there.