Chapter 286
Chapter 286
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 286
Chapter Title: Your Story (1)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A single shining star had faded away.
The tale of the hero who sacrificed his life for the next hero and ultimately reached the Calamity spread throughout the world. People marveled at the hero's achievements and mourned his death.
The death of the hero, Gallahal, was announced.
Gallahal's funeral was held as a state funeral.
The funeral, led by the royal family, lasted ten days, with mourners coming nonstop throughout.
The most heroic of heroes.
That was how Gallahal was known.
No one could deny the accomplishments he had piled up or the goodwill he had earned. Anyone who had ever set foot on a battlefield felt it even more strongly.
From all corners—from battlefields and demon realms—countless people flocked to the capital. They laid flowers at Gallahal's grave. Though it was a ceremonial act, few did it just for show.
These were people who had endured lives in places called hell.
They paid genuine respect to the path Gallahal had walked and to what he had achieved at its end.
"In the end, it came to this."
The Immortal Kariot muttered in a complicated tone before laying a flower from his homeland and departing.
"……."
The madman, Kelrhalhm, stood alone as everyone kept their distance from him in the ensuing silence, mourning Gallahal. He gazed at the tombstone inscribed with Gallahal's final achievement.
Defeat of the Heretic.
Rescue of the next hero.
Accomplishments worthy of being called legendary feats.
Kelrhalhm paid his respects to the human who had achieved such feats despite living only a fraction of his own life. He silently laid a single flower and left.
Thud.
While everyone feared the madman and kept away, one girl approached him. Kelrhalhm turned to look behind him.
Trembling ash-gray hair, sunken blue eyes.
It was Raniel van Trias.
She looked much the same as usual on the surface, but upon closer inspection, her eyes held no life. The coldly sunken gaze had lost its light. Raniel, drawing near, silently greeted Kelrhalhm.
Kelrhalhm started to say something but closed his mouth.
He had no right to offer advice to someone who hadn't been there and didn't know Gallahal well. Kelrhalhm nodded in greeting and left the scene.
Raniel took his place.
Only then did mourners begin approaching one by one to lay flowers, but Raniel did nothing. She neither laid flowers nor swallowed tears. She simply stood there expressionless.
Time passed.
Countless people passed her by.
The sun set and rose again.
This repeated several times, yet Raniel stood motionless. Some watching said she looked like a doll. Others whispered that she seemed to have lost her mind.
Days passed.
Even the whispers faded.
Until the funeral fully ended and no more mourners came.
She stood there just like that.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
"It's just you and me left now."
"So it seems."
Destel let out a sigh-mingled voice.
Kyle nodded expressionlessly.
"They say that guy Gallahal jammed a holy spear right into the Heretic's heart. The next hero saw it with his own eyes."
"Any chance it's fake?"
"None. That's not the kind of thing he'd do."
He spoke as if he knew him well.
Kyle almost said as much but exhaled shortly and chose different words.
"……Impossible feat."
"I thought so too."
Both Destel and Kyle knew Gallahal's abilities well. He hadn't possessed the skill to reach the Calamity. Yet in his final moments, he had achieved the impossible. How?
"Made a deal with a star, apparently."
Destel provided the answer.
He had known for years that Gallahal had placed his lifespan on the scales. So it wasn't hard to guess that in his last moments, Gallahal had burned through every second he had left.
"Heroes aren't supposed to be able to deal with stars in the first place, but somehow he managed it."
"Not impossible."
Kyle spat out curtly.
Destel narrowed his eyes.
"Sounds like you did it too."
"Not denying it."
"Well, whatever."
Destel sighed.
"Everyone's hiding something, I guess."
Destel couldn't read the mind of Kyle, sitting across from him. The guy hadn't shown his emotions on his face much since a few years back anyway.
'Not like I want to know.'
He wasn't particularly interested.
Destel quietly closed his eyes. What came to mind was Gallahal's life and his end. It was a life worthy of the title hero.
The life of a legend.
He had lived as a hero and died as one.
A flawless life, perfect even. Destel admired that perfect life. And he was certain he could never have it. The fear rooted in Destel's heart only grew.
A glorious death was beautiful.
But death itself terrified Destel.
Because of that fear, Destel could never sacrifice his life for a feat like Gallahal had. The coward fittingly nicknamed "the Craven" would just run away like a scaredy-cat again.
"I could never do that."
Destel muttered as much.
A bitter smile formed on his lips. The hero's uniform he wore now felt unbearably heavy.
"What about you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Gallahal. Could you end up like that guy?"
Kyle said nothing.
As if expecting that, Destel let out a scoffing laugh and stood.
"Lania van Trias."
That was when Kyle uttered a girl's name.
"Seen her?"
"I have."
After a brief pause, Kyle continued.
"How was she?"
"What are you really asking?"
"I'm asking what attitude she showed in the face of Gallahal's death."
"Just go see for yourself. Why ask me?"
Kyle fell silent.
Destel eyed him questioningly before sighing and continuing.
"She didn't look normal."
As he spoke, Destel recalled the Lania he'd met earlier at Gallahal's tombstone.
"……You okay?"
"……."
"You're getting soaked in the rain—what the hell are you doing……."
She wouldn't respond even when spoken to.
Only when asked what had happened did she open her mouth, replying curtly in a dry voice.
"I don't know."
She didn't know.
She didn't know anything.
"I don't know what's what anymore."
That was her answer.
There was no strength in her voice. No conviction like always. Destel had seen that kind of voice often on the battlefield.
From knights who had let go.
And in front of the mirror.
"Seemed like she'd let go a bit, or maybe she's agonizing…… Anyway, not normal."
"I see."
Kyle nodded.
"Then she's not Raniel."
"……What?"
What the hell did he just say?
Destel blinked, unable to follow the context.
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you feel like Destel that Raniel and that girl were similar?"
"……Yeah, I did."
"I felt it too. But now I can say for sure she's not."
"Why?"
Kyle answered shortly.
"That guy's not the type to break."
His voice wasn't its usual dry tone.
It carried a hint of fervor.
"He doesn't break. He never agonizes. If it were him in front of Gallahal's death……."
"Hey."
Destel cut Kyle off.
He glared at Kyle, face scrunched up.
"Not my place to say, but."
Destel said incredulously.
"You know you're being a total idiot right now, right?"
It bordered on obsession.
Destel himself saw Raniel as inhuman, but he didn't deny Raniel's humanity. Yet Kyle's attitude was similar but different from his own.
Not human.
Not human, so he could achieve that.
That guy had to not be human.
'Raniel has to always be perfect.'
It was as if he were saying exactly that.
Having rationalized himself to the limit, he was interpreting others' existence arbitrarily to justify himself. Destel felt disgust at the sight.
"What the hell do you think Raniel is?"
Kyle answered the question.
The moment Destel heard Kyle's response, it hit him like a blow to the head. Then, laughing, Destel ran a hand through his hair.
"Wow."
With a single exclamation, Destel spat out.
"One warning, Kyle."
"What?"
"Don't say that in front of Raniel or Lania. Never."
"……Why?"
"I've been Raniel before, remember?"
Destel tapped his temple.
"I'd blow your fucking head off, you bastard."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
Raniel gazed at Gallahal's tomb.
She knew.
That Gallahal's body wasn't interred here.
Much less that his corpse didn't exist anywhere in the world. Raniel knew that well.
The Gallahal who had last moved his hand to guide a star had shattered into pieces and scattered into the air. That was the end for a human who had used up every permitted moment. It was also the predetermined end for her.
Sacrificing one's lifespan.
Trading with the time given to oneself.
It was a taboo (??) that must not be broken, an act defying providence. There was no way normal death would be allowed for one who escaped providence. His soul had crumbled, meeting complete death. The erasure of existence.
Gallahal was dead.
Someone like her had died—someone who thought and judged the same way she did. Even before the death of her master, Kuntel, Raniel had gritted her teeth and risen. But now, she couldn't muster any will.
"I've already fulfilled my dream."
Gallahal's voice, laughing in front of her statue, echoed in her ears. His voice saying he'd try writing a novel, saying he'd do what he wanted—it kept reverberating.
Raniel had wanted Gallahal to spend his remaining three years comfortably. She truly had. Not just because he had lived his life to the fullest.
Because he resembled her.
Raniel saw herself in Gallahal.
The life of one who charges forward staring only ahead is noble. But having lived such a life, Raniel knew how painful it was.
She had hoped that pain would be rewarded.
That he would enjoy a peaceful life.
Teaching at the academy would be nice, or traveling the world while writing stories.
But Gallahal had rejected it all.
"I want to be a hero until the very end."
In his final moments, he chose to remain a hero.
She couldn't forget Gallahal's expression as he said it. And not just that—the feat he ultimately achieved, the miracle he showed in the end…… All of it muddled Raniel's mind.
Why hadn't she stopped Gallahal?
Even certain of his failure, why had she let him walk into death? Amid regretting that choice, part of her thought that even if she went back, she'd make the same one.
She didn't know.
She couldn't know.
Time flowed endlessly as she knew nothing.
After standing so long that even her sense of time blurred, someone came to Raniel one day. She turned to look at him.
"You're still here."
Rox of Turbulence.
The knight who had served as Gallahal's adjutant. He had eyes similar to Raniel's. Hollow, vacant eyes. He gave a bitter smile, lifting the corner of his mouth.
"I just finished sorting Gallahal's place."
He pulled something from his breast.
"Personal items will probably go to the Church or the royals, but I set this aside thinking it should go to you, Lady Lania."
What Rox handed over was an envelope of documents.
Inside the envelope were stacks of pages resembling novel manuscript paper.
"It looked like a novel. And you, Lady Lania, were at the top of the list of people to show it to first."
Rox smiled bitterly.
"Next was Lady Chloe."
Please pass it to Lady Chloe after confirmation.
Saying that, Rox turned and left.
Raniel stood there for a long while before finally taking a step.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Returning home after days away, Raniel washed up, sat down, and opened the envelope. Rosel said something, but it didn't reach her. Shaking off the encroaching sleep, Raniel took in the manuscript pages.
To compile the hero's tale into a novel.
Just as Gallahal had said, this was a novel weaving together the heroes' stories. Naturally, it couldn't have been completed in just over ten days.
There was a table of contents and outline.
The contents listed various names, one of which caught Raniel's eye.
Her own name.
Along with Destel, Kyle, and others—mostly names of those living now. She flipped a few more pages. Crossing chapters quickly led to the page marked "Afterword."
……Among those who write novels, some always start with the afterword. Gallahal must have been one, as the final page was filled densely.
『Author: Gallahal.』
Traces of writing and erasing repeatedly.
Seeing the fancy scrawl of his signature, Raniel couldn't help but laugh. With a bitter smile, she read the afterword.
Amusingly, what was written there wasn't much different from the sections introducing other heroes. This was Gallahal introducing his own life. On that single page was a summary of Gallahal's life as he saw it.
Raniel read it.
Soon, she reached the final line of the page. There, two elegantly scrawled sentences were inscribed.
『My story ends here.』
『I hope you all fill in what comes next.』
She turned the page.
Thinking it was the last, but one more page remained. On the blank page was a space for a subheading.
As if prompting her to write her name.
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