Chapter 409
Chapter 409
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 409
Chapter Title: To Armiel, My Beloved
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In the shop left alone after Raniel departed, Cardi stared silently at the table. The letter Raniel had left behind remained untouched on its surface.
A worn sheet of stationery and an envelope stamped with the Hero's seal.
Gazing at those two missives, Cardi recalled what had just happened. Raniel's voice echoed in her ears.
"I have a favor to ask of you."
"I won't beat around the bush. See for yourself."
Her voice was different from usual as she spoke.
That voice was both a warning and a consideration, so Cardi intuited it instantly. The moment she opened this letter, she would be making a choice, one way or another.
"I'll come back in a few days, so think it over until then. Choose whatever you want. It's your call."
She left without forcing any particular choice. All that remained on the table was the letter she had left behind.
"...Hoo."
Cardi let out a long breath.
The envelope stamped with the Hero's seal was the one Raniel had handed her, and the remaining letter... even without any explanation from Raniel, she knew what it was.
Cardi reached deep into the shelf.
There was a box containing the letters they had exchanged. A dusty old box. Ignoring the creak of the rusted hinges, she opened it to find dozens of sheets of stationery stacked inside.
"When's the next lesson, Armiel?"
"I-I properly healed someone for the first time today. Just like you said, I set the bones right first, and sure enough, the patient's screams were half as bad this time."
Starting from the letters from the days when she had taught her.
"Quit smoking already. I threw out every last one piled up in the lab, got it? Why write it in a letter? Because if I said it to your face, you'd get mad."
"Armiel."
"You must be busy these days? Locking me out because you're researching— isn't that too much? I'm the representative of the church visiting, you know."
Letters from when she had become the church's symbol, sent with a mischievous expression.
"I'd love to see your face tomorrow."
Even without unfolding them, Cardi remembered every word inside. It wasn't just because elves had good memories.
She had read them over and over again.
She had to dredge up memories this way.
Cardi placed the letter she pulled from the box next to the one Raniel had left. It was the exact same stationery. Even the point about it being warded with all sorts of spells because she was embarrassed to show it to others felt just like her.
"...Really."
Cardi let out a hollow chuckle.
Unable to bring herself to touch the letter, she swept a hand over her face. The letter was right there, within arm's reach. The letter left by the one who had become a catastrophe.
She was afraid to open it.
Because she had no idea what words she had written. She feared it might be filled with curses directed at her, or lines blaming her. That was why Cardi couldn't bring herself to reach for the letter.
It was frightening—frightening enough to make her feel pathetic.
Even now, did she hope the woman didn't resent her? After failing to keep her promise, after being unable to choose anything, did she dare hope for that? No, that wasn't it.
What she feared even more was something else.
Confirming that the woman she remembered as Gloria had changed, recalling the sight of her from that day when Arcadia fell apart—that was what terrified her.
For a long while, Cardi stared at the letter.
Only after a great deal of time had passed did she finally reach for it. No matter what words were written inside, she had a duty to face them head-on.
Kirrik, kiiik...
Stationery sealed in a way unchanged from hundreds of years ago. Rifling through old memories, Cardi dismantled the sealing circuits wrapped around it.
And then, click.
The circuits released, and the letter unfolded.
Cardi let out a long breath and shifted her gaze to the first line. Prepared to accept whatever was written...
"...Ah."
But the moment she took in the first line, Cardi couldn't even breathe. What was written there was utterly different from what she had expected.
『Armiel, to my beloved you.』
The letter began that way.
2.
Raniel walked a familiar path and arrived at the mansion.
A mansion perched atop a hill.
She glared for a moment at the fields sparkling in the sunset light, then knocked on the mansion's door. After a short wait, it opened.
"What brings you here, Raniel?"
Rosel van Trias.
He looked a bit more aged than in Raniel's memories, chuckling softly as he gripped the doorknob.
"Showing up without a single notice."
"I'm here and gone in secret, for now."
Rosel reached out without a word and lightly tapped Raniel's head. To the world, she was humanity's greatest force, a mage touching divine realms with grandiose nicknames... but
"Come in."
...in front of Rosel, she would forever be a child.
"It's chilly out."
Even in front of a child he hadn't seen in ages, keeping a stern face was no easy task. His expression softening, Rosel smiled. If anyone who knew him were beside them, they'd doubt their own eyes.
"It's almost summer, Master."
"...Do you have to nitpick like that? And even in summer, evenings are cold. Just go with it..."
"I'm the Hero; I don't get cold."
"......"
Always poking at him.
Tsk, Rosel clicked his tongue briefly and shook his head. Following Rosel into the mansion, Raniel grinned as she walked.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...Hasn't the mansion gotten a bit too flashy?"
Raniel blinked.
The mansion was larger than she remembered, and the lab tucked into one corner—which had been modestly sized—had expanded to rival any mage tower's facilities.
"No way, that's an Azure Mage Tower magic tool..."
Absurdly expensive magic tools.
As Raniel eyed the lab equipment in disbelief, Rosel shrugged.
"I didn't buy a single one. The mage tower lords and court mages came by and expanded it on their own."
"...Huh? Why would they?"
"Why do you think, you fool?"
Rosel pointed down the hall.
The corridor, converted into a display case, was lined with plaques and medals of all sorts. All sent to Raniel and Lania.
"They're all too busy watching your mood."
"My mood?"
"Anyone with even a speck of guilt or who thinks they were rude to you came begging me to 'put in a good word,' bringing those along."
Rosel added that the Azure Mage Tower Lord had been especially desperate, pale as a ghost and bowing despite his dignity.
"And the White Mage Tower Lord who came with gifts teased the Azure Lord mercilessly..."
「So you should've picked the right line to stand in, pfft!」
「I'm practically sworn sisters with her already. Sisters calling each other that. Jealous? Dying of envy, right? What do we do about our poor Azure Tower Lord's stomachache!」
"Not a pretty sight."
"I can imagine."
Sworn sisters? What was that about?
As Raniel tilted her head, admiring the lab gear and medals, Rosel watched her fondly.
"You wouldn't know how much you're praised."
Raniel flinched.
She had devoured the newspapers Tephran brought before coming here.
"Oh, I know..."
"News wouldn't reach that far properly. Come here. I gathered ones you'd like."
Read them slowly over dinner.
Rosel said so, and it happened just that way.
"Whoa, whoa..."
Raniel had to reread the papers while eating, and it was no pleasant experience. She had to show appropriate reactions to Rosel, who eyed her expectantly.
After finishing the meal with her master for the first time in ages, Raniel had to rub her twitching lips from the forced smiles for a while.
"So, you're leaving after three days?"
"Yes, can't leave the front lines empty for too long."
"Can't be helped, but it's a shame."
"I'll visit often if I get the chance."
As if there'd be any chance.
Rosel smiled wryly and sipped his coffee.
"Anyway, rest well before you go."
"Yeah, that's the plan."
Slouched on the sofa, Raniel chuckled.
Glancing out the window, it was dark. Late night. Staring at the starry sky outside, Raniel thought.
That guy Cardi has probably read the letter by now.
She would've agonized over it forever, but the stubborn elf Raniel knew wasn't one to turn away. Scared as she was, she'd open it.
'She probably thinks the heretic resents her...'
But Raniel didn't think so.
The heretic had always missed Cardi. It wasn't hatred or love-hate. So the letter probably said...
3.
『Probably, we'll never meet again.』
『I know. I have no right.』
『I know I shouldn't see you, that it would only harm us both. I'm no longer a saintess, and you're no longer the great sage. And above all, I'm not the Gloria you long for.』
『I'm Gletus.』
『The heretic called the Betrayer.』
『Not the Saintess Gloria you wanted to protect, but the horrific catastrophe Gletus. Sometimes my mind clears, but each time I realize it's too late to go back. I can never be Gloria again.』
『Truth is, I know.』
『That you couldn't keep your promise.』
『That I've come too far to return. That even if a miracle happened, it shouldn't be allowed for me. I know, but I can't help it. When I close my eyes, all that rises is that brilliant past.』
『Ah, it was truly fun.』
『The adventures with Ganikalt, the days playing with the children alongside Belial, every moment with you, Armiel—they're all I miss. If only I could forget it all.』
『Do you feel the same?』
『I've burdened you with a cruel role.』
『You, of all people, must remember everything clearly, in your right mind. Complaining to you like this must seem petty. I'm sorry, Armiel.』
『...Writing little by little isn't easy.』
『You know? This is who knows how many rewrites. I only write when sane... but when I open my eyes, the letter's a mess. So I keep fixing it, and the sentences get jumbled.』
『Still, I wanted to say this.』
『No matter how wretched my death.』
『Even if my desired salvation crumbles.』
『Even if I lose everything.』
『To the end, I do not resent you.』
A shaky handwriting.
Ink scratched, letters sometimes smudged.
Sentences full of traces from repeated rewrites.
"......"
It hadn't taken long for Cardi to read the letter, completed over a vast span of time. Having reached the final line before she knew it, Cardi silently set it down.
Cardi covered her eyes with her hand.
To the end, there were no words of resentment.
No curses, no blame, no reproach—nothing. What remained in the letter was the opposite. Words vowing no resentment to the very end.
I failed to keep my promise.
I chose nothing at all.
Yet she said she wasn't the Gloria I knew. So there was no need to save her, no need to keep the promise. Cardi clenched her teeth as she reread those lines over and over.
A miracle cannot happen.
We've walked too far for one.
Kyle's case showed catastrophes could return to human form, but that miracle-like event was impossible for her—and shouldn't be possible.
She had gone too far.
We could choose to restore her to human and let her live again, but we shouldn't. She herself wouldn't want it.
『I miss you, Armiel.』
At the very bottom of the letter.
A single line in small script. Cardi stared at it for a long time with hollow eyes. The absence of resentment only deepened her pain.
...Raniel, what did that girl hope for?
What did she hope by delivering this letter?
The reason was probably in the remaining letter. Cardi opened the envelope stamped with the Hero's emblem. Inside was an operations plan. But different from the one Raniel had drafted before with her help.
The very last page.
A page shown to no one else.
Cardi read what was written there.
Light returned to her hollow eyes as she read. The more she scanned the densely packed text, the more her gaze shook, her fingertips trembling as they gripped the paper.
What entered her eyes was possibility.
The last chance permitted to Cardi.
『This is the final phase of the plan, shared only between you and me. I know this isn't right. I know we should strip everything from her and crush her utterly. I know, but...』
The last line of the page.
Cardi read Raniel's note.
『This isn't for the heretic.』
『It's a final farewell to the hero who once tried to save the world, respect shown to a senior.』
She was saying.
『You have the right to do that.』
We will crush everything of Heretic Gletus.
But we won't take everything from Saintess Gloria. That is the tribute to the hero of old.
『A cruel request, I know.』
『The choice is yours, Cardi.』
Choose. It's your call.
"...Ah, ha."
Cardi laughed.
A cruel request? This?
Sweeping her face, she laughed. Out of absurdity, at the fact that this damned junior had schemed this behind her back, prepared this. She laughed.
It wasn't a cruel request.
This was the last chance given to Cardi.
Would she seize it?
Or once more choose nothing and live centuries in regret? Or end her life in regret?
The answer was all but decided.