The Final Sunset
The sound of wet, ragged coughing filled the air. "Cerise... s..."
"Commander! It's me...! Cerise, your vice-commander!"
"...Cough."
She gripped his hand with desperate strength, pouring every ounce of her longing into that single touch. But his fingers were already as cold as ice. Commander Venice kept coughing up blood, and the dark pool spreading beneath him only grew larger with each spasm.
No. I can't let him go like this. There has to be a way... Ah!
"Hans! My bag—the return scroll, hurry! We don't have a second to waste!"
In the bag she'd tossed aside before the battle was a scroll that would take them back to Leria Village. Ever since the incident with the Nepenthes, she had made it a rule to carry one on every mission.
"......Ugh... Vice-Commander..."
"What are you doing?! I said bring it now! That's an order!"
"I can't... I just can't..."
Despite her command, Hans simply collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face. She lunged forward and grabbed his collar.
"What the hell do you think you're—get the Commander to the infirmary right now—!"
"Stop... Cerise... cough. Vice-Commander."
"......What..."
She had been glaring at Hans with murderous intensity, her hand still twisted in his collar, when the Commander's faint voice reached her. She released her grip at once.
"Commander! If we head back to Leria Village right now, even for a second, you can still receive treatment—!"
"...No. Cough... I'm afraid that's impossible."
"What are you saying?!"
"I will die... cough... right here."
What are you talking about, Commander? With injuries like these... if you just hold on a little longer, we can use the teleport scroll and get you healed. You can still live.
"...It's not... cough... just because of these wounds. My body... reached its limit long ago."
"........."
What are you trying to tell me? Please... don't say it. I don't want to hear this from the person I love most... from my savior.
His sorrowful, resigned expression left her with a mountain of words trapped in her throat. She couldn't speak.
"...Cerise... Vice-Commander. I... am going to die soon. Cough!"
"If you just get treatment and rest—!"
"I know my own body better than anyone. Even with treatment... I won't survive."
".........No..."
No. No no no no no no no no. She refused to believe it. The Commander would not leave her. He would come back like always, stand by her side, and light up her world again.
"...No, I won't believe it! Commander, you will definitely... survive...!"
"...I'm sorry. It looks like... I have about thirty minutes left... cough."
"........Ah."
This can't be happening. You can overcome this. If it's you, Commander... you can win.
-Commander... sir.
-...Hic...
-If you leave us like this... what are we supposed to do...
"............"
No matter where she looked, no one seemed to believe the Commander could survive. The mercenaries wept openly, furious at their own helplessness, fists clenched so tightly it seemed their bones might shatter.
No... the Commander definitely...
"......Commander..."
But Cerise finally faced the reality she had been desperately denying. The quiet certainty in his fading voice and the look in his eyes broke her completely. A hollow void opened inside her chest, and tears poured down without end.
"...Everyone... cough. Will you come closer?"
At the Commander's weakening voice, the sobbing mercenaries hurried to gather around him one by one. They tried to steady themselves at his call, fighting to hold back their tears.
Commander Venice turned his head with great effort, slowly scanning the faces of every mercenary present. It was as if he wanted to memorize each one in these final moments.
"...You've all... truly grown so much. You've worked hard."
His warm encouragement, like that of a father, shattered their resolve once more.
"You can't... Commander... I can't take your place..."
Among them, Hans clutched the Commander's limp body and wailed. The raw grief forced fresh tears from the others who had been trying so hard to hold them back.
".....I'm sorry, Hans... cough."
"...Commander..."
Venice barely managed to take Hans's hand and continued.
"...As I told you before. You will become an outstanding commander. I have always believed in you."
"I... I...!"
"...Even after I'm gone, please take good care of the Ska Mercenary Group. Cough... Give Cerise, the vice-commander, all the support she needs."
Hans could not even answer. He simply fell to his knees, covered his face, and drowned in sorrow.
"...Villon."
"Hic... Commander..."
"...The food you made for me... cough, cough... was truly the best."
"You can't... Commander! You have to get up and eat it again...!"
"...If that's what you want, you may leave the mercenary group and become a chef. Find the path you truly desire."
Even Villon, who always wore a bright smile, crumbled at those words and could only cry. To Villon, who had lost his father and struggled alone to support his family, Commander Venice had been a pillar even stronger than a father.
"Hic... Hiccup..."
After that, the Commander called each mercenary by name, offering blessings for their futures. Watching him, Cerise sobbed uncontrollably.
...It really feels like he's going to leave us.
The time when she could no longer look at him or stay by his side was approaching. She would have sold her soul to a demon if it meant stopping time right there. Watching her light fade, watching her love depart—this pain was worse than having her heart carved out.
"...Cerise... Vice-Commander."
But time flowed on cruelly. After speaking to every mercenary, Commander Venice called her name. His voice was far quieter now, his mana flickering like the last ember before it dies.
"Commander... please don't leave me... please..."
"Cerise... is that you?"
His once-sharp red eyes had grown cloudy, making it difficult to even recognize what was in front of him.
"...You were... cough! Cough... the subordinate I cherished most."
".........No... please... don't leave me behind..."
"...Hmm. I can't hear very well anymore."
"C-Commander?! Open your eyes! Commander!!"
His eyes trembled violently, as if they might close forever. When Cerise shook his body with all her strength, a faint spark of life returned to them.
"...Cough. Vice-Commander Cerise..."
"...Commander... it's me. Cerise, your vice-commander...!"
"...With this mission... I kept my promise."
"...........!"
Her eyes widened at his words. But the tears came again, bringing only deeper despair. That promise no longer mattered to her now.
"Please... I don't need promises or anything else. All I need is you, Commander..."
"...Vice-Commander Cerise..."
"...Commander?! No! I'm not ready yet...!"
His hand brushed against her cheek, and her body froze. All she felt from his touch was coldness, yet from his face she felt only warmth.
".....Farewell, Cerise..."
A soft smile.
"...And everyone else. Take care..."
The man who had always maintained an expressionless face now wore the warmest smile imaginable—overflowing with kindness and affection. It was the first time Cerise or any of the mercenaries had ever seen him smile.
His hand slipped away.
"....I'm sorry we couldn't... make up..."
Before he could finish, his hand fell limply to the ground.
The desert day had passed. Now, before the night fully arrived, the sunset began to fade. The beautiful glow of dusk cast a radiant halo behind Commander Venice.
"...Commander?"
She shook him gently.
"...Commander?! No! Commander!!"
She shook him harder.
Cerise stared blankly at that smile, then began shaking the Commander's limp body. But he would never respond again.
"...No..! No no no no no...!!!"
She shook him again and again. She hadn't even apologized yet. She hadn't told him she loved him, that she was grateful. Cerise kept rationalizing that he wasn't truly dead and shook him desperately.
-Please... stop, Vice-Commander...
-Aaaaaaaaagh!!!
-Hic... Sob...
"....Vice-Commander. Please stop..."
"No...! The Commander is still...!"
She shoved away Hans, who was trying to restrain her, and looked at the Commander's face again.
"......Ah."
His body hung lifeless. The red eyes that had always shone so brightly were now empty. Blood still flowed from his severed left arm and the gaping wound in his abdomen.
...No. This can't be. This isn't right...
There were still words she hadn't said. Things she had wanted to tell him...
"No.... no no no no no...!!"
Please... tell me it was a joke. Get up like always and reassure me.
"It's not true!!! Aaaaaaaaaa—!"
Look at me again with those indifferent yet warm eyes.
"Nooooooooo—! Commander—!!"
No matter how much she shook him, no matter how hard she tried to wake him, a dead body would not return to life.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!!!!!"
In the desert twilight where a beautiful sunset glowed, at the place where a legend had fallen, those who had lost their pillar, their father, and the one they loved could only scream in anguish.
And so, throughout the night, only the sounds of raw weeping and screams echoed across Death's Canyon.