Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Farewell (?)
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A light temporarily returned to the man's eyes.
With great difficulty, the man who regained consciousness first resigned himself in despair.
"This... won't do. One last request. Kill me. Before I completely lose myself."
Gazing upon the 7th circle realm, he was truly a warrior.
Countless battlefields and brushes with death had failed to break the man's will.
Yet now, with not a single wound on his pristine body, he lay upon the bed and calmly accepted his end.
It was utterly futile and utterly clear.
Such was the end of one poisoned by turbid truth.
Indeed, it was the elixir made from herbs used by the Dark Elves.
The noble felt the fire energy roiling within him.
The noble thought.
With this power, the walls blocking his path would no longer be an issue.
And so a day passed, then two, then a fortnight.
"Hot... so hot...!"
The noble writhed under the fire energy that blazed fiercely, as if to devour his body.
The unrefined fire energy showed no sign of settling.
On the contrary, its heat only intensified.
Until it completely burned the man away.
The retainers reminisced about the old family head's majestic figure.
"Are you testing me? Very well. I accept your challenge, you insignificant creature."
At the time, no one thought it arrogance.
The family head was the master of the Blue Tower and the lord of a great house, while it was merely a lesser demon.
And a year passed from then.
Ruin came to the once-prosperous territory.
The eyes of the man who had possessed wisdom and valor were now filled with turbidity.
All because the great mage had accepted a fragment of a lesser demon's power.
"...Master?"
"Hm?"
"Aren't you feeling anything off?"
As breakfast was drawing to a close.
Katria cautiously asked Rishir.
"...Wait! Come to think of it—"
"...!"
"Your hairstyle looks a bit different from usual!?"
"?"
"No, I misspoke. Your makeup!"
"?"
"No, not that—the bread tastes...!"
"..."
"Damn. Am I really that useless? Sorry, Tia. What did I miss?"
"It's not that. I was just asking if there's anything bothering you—"
"Bothering me? Well, if I had to say... I'd like a bit less bread and more meat?"
Too much bread, too little meat.
That was all the discomfort felt by Rishir, who had been poisoned by turbid truth, ingested the Four Hundred Lotuses, and been encroached upon by Verdandes' power.
Katria finally sensed something was off.
Rishir's outward appearance was far too normal.
As if nothing had happened at all.
As if, for some reason, all problems had been resolved.
"More meat, right!? Got it! Starting tomorrow—no, from dinner tonight, I'll make sure of it!"
Katria said energetically.
It was the most natural look of the cheerful maid she had shown so far.
Her heart was pounding rapidly.
With hope that perhaps, unbeknownst to her, a miracle had occurred.
"Cough...!"
But that hope was immediately denied.
Rishir, about to say something, covered his mouth with his hand and coughed.
"Master!?"
Rishir looked down at the hand he had used to stifle his cough.
The palm was stained dark red.
Yesterday.
After the spar with Meltas ended, Rishir spent a hectic time.
Upon checking his body's condition triggered by the outburst of visionary magic, he found all sorts of things accumulated within.
Rishir stayed up all night to assimilate them all completely into his own.
Circulating mana until he was satisfied.
As a result, mana backlash and overload followed.
It wasn't anything to worry about.
Ever since the past mana overload nearly wrecked his body, he had greatly lowered his threshold for limits.
To put it in perspective, it was a minor symptom comparable to muscle soreness.
'Then what is this?'
Rishir looked at the blood staining his hand red.
'Hm?'
Then, he noticed that the faint foreign sensation he'd felt in his body since yesterday had vanished.
'Come to think of it, the Blue Breath is supposed to have the effect of expelling bodily waste.'
Rishir guessed as much.
Surprisingly, it was close to the correct answer.
Verdandes.
The remnants of the mighty demon that once dominated the desert region had been expelled from his body as waste.
Feeling a pleasant refreshment, Rishir said.
"It's fine. It's nothing, so don't worry about it."
He formed a gentle smile.
Even with blood on his lips.
Katria found herself staring blankly at his face.
Observing it more closely than before.
Then, things she hadn't noticed before came into view.
Clear signs of fatigue.
"Ah..."
Katria realized.
The reason he seemed fine wasn't because he truly was.
He was merely acting as if nothing was wrong.
"..."
In a way, it was only natural.
How could he possibly be okay?
Even at this moment, his mind and body were surely being encroached upon.
Katria felt a bitter self-loathing.
Recalling how, just moments ago, she had denied that obvious fact and escaped reality.
"Tia...!?"
"How..."
Katria's expression twisted in pain.
"How can you smile like that...?"
Rishir looked down at his hand in bewilderment.
'Damn. Why does the waste come up instead of down honestly.'
Thinking the maid was shocked by his coughing up blood, he tried to soothe her with a kind smile.
"It's fine, Tia. It's nothing. So don't worry like that."
"...!"
A flood of emotions.
The mask of the cheerful maid that Katria had worn crumbled away.
To stem the flood, she covered her face with both hands.
The sight Rishir showed her tore at her heart.
What should she say to him?
-It's fine, Tia. It's nothing.
To him, who knew nothing of his condition and thought optimistically.
-So don't worry like that.
To him, who even now worried about her.
How wonderful it would be.
-Yes, it'll be fine.
If she could reassure him with a smile.
But she couldn't.
The signs of fatigue he couldn't fully hide even with his acting.
The blood he coughed up.
Katria felt that the end she had desperately postponed was now right before her.
Rishir.
He wouldn't make it past today.
She had ultimately failed to save him.
She had ultimately led him to ruin.
The man who had saved her world, no one else.
Pity and guilt toward Rishir.
Self-loathing and disappointment toward herself.
They tangled and strangled her with all their might.
Her breath grew labored.
The urge to sob made her chest tighten.
"Tia...?"
But she had to hold back.
She had no right to cry.
No right to burden him with worry.
Then what should she do?
What was she supposed to do now?
"Master!"
Maid Tia lifted her head.
"Can I ask one favor!?"
"A favor?"
"Yes! I want to spend time with you today!"
Maid Tia said with the most vibrant smile.
"...Shall we?"
Rishir couldn't refuse her request.
Because tears welled in the eyes of the girl smiling so vibrantly.
Other than the maid sticking right by his side, it was an utterly ordinary day.
Having resolved most of the merchants' requests, Rishir spent his usual routine at the magic tower.
Reading books, training his body, and just as he was about to take lessons from Meltas again.
"Master!"
Maid Tia approached him, fidgeting restlessly.
Spending the last moments of his life on mundane routine.
Rishir had no idea how his actions appeared to her.
Ouch!
To Tia, Rishir was a man who loved his life.
It was only natural.
"If it's not too much trouble, can I ask one thing?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"If today were the last day of your life, what would you do, Master?"
"...Hmm? Never really thought about it."
"..."
Ouch!
It was natural, in a way—he wasn't prepared for the end.
"Let me rephrase— is there anything you want to do right now?"
"..."
Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?
Rishir tried to read Tia's intentions.
Ever since she saw him cough up blood, her behavior had been markedly strange.
Anxious, perhaps.
'Does she think if something happens to me, she might go back to being a slave?'
Rishir nodded to himself.
It seemed today he should spend it calming her unstable mind and body.
"Tia, want me to show you around the magic tower?"
"...Yes! Sounds great!"
The two smiled happily at each other's reactions.
The final stop on their magic tower outing was a pond located in one corner of the tower grounds.
Rishir and Katria sat side by side on a bench, gazing at the pond bathed in sunset.
Katria thought.
A pleasant silence.
Just as he said, truly a beautiful sight.
If only time could stop like this.
"Tia."
"...!"
Rishir's voice reached her then.
Yes.
Time did not stop.
His remaining time would continue to flow.
"How was it... fun?"
That gaze.
Katria realized.
The reason he had spent time with her today.
He had gifted her his time.
Without even knowing it was her time.
In the end, to the very last moment, she was the one receiving help.
The one imposing.
"Master."
"Hm?"
"Today was truly enjoyable."
"Yeah? Glad to hear it."
"Truly, truly, truly... No time in my life has been more enjoyable than this..."
"...That good? Maybe I should start a magic tower tour business."
"And for you, Master... how was it?"
Rishir smiled as brightly as possible to reassure her.
"It was fun. Even if I died today, no regrets."
"...!"
Ouch!
Katria turned her gaze from him back to the pond.
"If it's okay... would you spend time with me tomorrow too?"
"Sure."
"Tomorrow... outside the tower... show me around Bondalles..."
"Yeah. Got it."
"...I'm happy."
Katria smiled brightly.
Rishir gently stroked her back.
Because tears were streaming from the eyes of the brightly smiling girl.
And so, the day faded.
"Tia. Get up. Time to go see Bondalles."
"..."