Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Easy Path and Difficult Path
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Suddenly, the world was empty. Everything had vanished.
And in that emptiness, two paths stretched out before me.
Honestly, I couldn't make sense of it.
Why had this phenomenon appeared out of nowhere? Was it some kind of mental world like the ones that popped up occasionally in novels? Or just the hallucination people see right before death?
But one thing I could say for sure.
These two paths before my eyes. What they represented was crystal clear.
The easy path and the difficult path.
Just hearing it might sound absurd. I get that. Truth be told, I was just scraping together what little knowledge I had to describe it.
But I couldn't put it any other way.
The easy path really was easy. It was wide, straight, and perfectly smooth. No matter how you walked it, it seemed like you could go forward without any trouble.
And at its end... there I was.
Drawing a perfect full moon.
Myself, severing the white one's neck.
The difficult path, on the other hand, was different.
It was so narrow, twisted, and jagged that even setting one foot on it felt impossible. Pitted and cracked everywhere, it looked like you'd plummet at any moment.
And midway through, the path just cut off abruptly.
Beyond that... nothing.
Only void. That was it.
At that moment, the easy path shimmered.
As if beckoning me to come on over.
As if asking what I was agonizing over.
As if questioning why I'd bother taking the hard way.
Maybe that's why. Without thinking, I took a step toward the easy path. It wasn't a deliberate conclusion—it was pure instinct.
But once I did, I couldn't turn back.
That single step felt too comfortable, too cozy.
I didn't want to break free from that familiar sensation.
I admit it. This really is the easy path.
Right now, I'm teetering on the edge of death. To survive, all I have to do is cut down the white one.
She's a magical girl anyway. Her body's tough, so if I'm lucky, she might not die.
And besides...
Honestly, I was just tired of it all.
The goal of subduing the white one. Sora's plea to be careful not to hurt her. Holding out until Sora and the octopus girl got back.
I wanted to drop it all.
I wanted to feel a little freer here.
With that in mind, I was about to take another step toward the easy path.
That's when a hero from a novel flashed into my mind.
I don't know the exact reason.
It was just vague, sudden, out of nowhere.
That hero was different from me.
Even with an easy path laid out before him, he never took it. Even with countless shortcuts available, he never reached for them.
That hero always walked the difficult path.
A path so painful even a single step hurt.
A thorny road filled with countless calamities and losses.
That didn't mean he was some flawless superhuman who walked the hard road without hesitation.
He was a hero, but he was human too.
Sometimes he failed, sometimes he despaired, sometimes he felt fear—a mere ordinary human.
But still.
Even so, that hero pressed on steadfastly.
If he fell, he stood back up.
Even in moments of despair, he never gave up.
He clung to even the tiniest possibility others ignored and kept moving forward.
Not settling for the lesser evil to avoid the worst.
Not compromising with "this is good enough."
Toward the absolute best ending that satisfied everyone.
Was it because of that sudden recollection? I suddenly couldn't bring myself to step toward the easy path.
It felt truly irreversible, my feet inexplicably heavy, like I'd regret it and suffer for life if I took that step.
I hesitated, staring at the easy path.
Then it shone even brighter than before. Whispers drifted through the sparkling light.
Was I really not coming this way?
Wouldn't it be better to solve this the easy way?
Why stubbornly circle around when the simplest, shortest path was right here?
Instead of answering, I looked at the difficult path.
It looked even more treacherous than before. The moment I stepped on it, it seemed like it would crumble, and the darkness made it hard to see anyway.
My instincts rang alarm bells.
My gut screamed warnings like mad.
Don't do anything stupid. No need to take the risk. Absolutely do not go that way.
If you do, you'll die.
At the fork of choice, on the boundary between life and death, I gave the two paths one last look.
A few steps to the end on the easy path.
Not even one step in sight on the difficult path.
And then, I took a step.
Not toward the easy path, blindingly bright and wrapping me in its gentle embrace.
Toward the difficult path.
I know.
It won't be easy.
I have no confidence I can even walk it properly. I don't know what ending waits at the end. No guarantee I'll even reach it.
Even so, another step.
I know full well.
I can't become like that.
No matter how much I walk this difficult path now, I can't become a hero just like the one in the novel.
Even so, another step.
At that instant, the difficult path whispered for the first time. In a voice thick with sorrowful worry.
Why walk this grueling road?
Is there any need to do something so unprofitable?
It's true. A magical girl I've known for barely any time at all. Hard to say she was worth walking the difficult path for.
Honestly, I don't even know if this is the right choice. No assurance it's the best. I might regret it until I die.
And I'm different from the hero in the novel.
Not a heroic figure like him, not even a successor following in his footsteps, let alone a comrade walking side by side.
But.
Isn't it okay to at least gaze at his back?
That hero would have chosen the difficult path.
Always, as he always did, this time too, without fail.
That's why.
I wanted to try walking while looking at that hero's back.
Yeah.
I just wanted to.
Just like when I saved the girl who was about to take her own life.
—"No particular reason."
—"I just wanted to do it."
And.
One special reason I couldn't voice back then, but can now.
Because I'm a hero.
Isn't that enough?
So, I move forward.
One step, then another.
At that moment, the world returned to normal.
Of course, time was still frozen. Everything remained fixed in place.
But that was only for a moment.
Soon, time flowed again.
Everything resumed its original motion.
The white one frantically gripped her magic wand. My entrails spilled from my side with a wet splat against the ground. My arm swung through completely.
But one thing was different from the original flow.
The Moonlight Sword vanished from my hand.
Along with the full moon manifesting along its blade.
"Huh...?"
The white one let out a dazed murmur.
Well, that's a natural reaction, if anything. She probably never expected me to waste that final chance so pointlessly.
But it didn't matter.
I ignored it.
While she stood there with a blank look, I gripped something else in place of the Moonlight Sword.
And swiftly clamped it around the white one's wrist.
Click.
The magical handcuffs I'd grabbed earlier.
They wouldn't work on a monster, but against a magical girl? Different story.
She couldn't use magic anymore, and eventually, she'd be neutralized.
They'd proven effective before, so they'd work this time too.
Yeah. This is my choice.
I won't die.
But I won't let the white one die either.
This is the difficult path I chose to walk.
I probably won't be able to draw the Moonlight Sword again for a while, but there was no helping it. I'd have to accept that.
With the momentum building, stopping was practically impossible. To avoid killing her, unsummoning the Moonlight Sword was essential.
Just then, the white one caught on to my plan and wore a subtle expression.
"Ha."
She must have realized it.
She wouldn't be able to do much soon.
But then she sneered.
"You think this is enough? Even without magic, I can still move."
Admittedly, this was an unforeseen issue.
For some reason, it wasn't adjusting like before. It would take time for the full neutralization effect to kick in.
"You're a real hopeless idiot. You really just throw away your magical last chance like that?"
In other words...
"Die."
I just had to hold out until then.
Bang!
No sooner had the gunshot rung out than two new sensations hit my wounded side.
First scorching heat, then emptiness.
A third of my abdomen was gone.
Well, lucky in a way. I'd reflexively slapped the barrel with my hand, so it hit my gut instead of my heart.
At that instant, the white one leaped back and aimed her gun.
"Just die already, please!"
This time at my head.
Desperate to deflect the barrel, I charged at her.
But I failed.
Too far away to close the gap.
With my mangled hand, barely blocking the barrel was my limit.
Then, she fired.
Bang!
Bone and flesh fragments aside, my hand and arm shattered to pieces. Even after killing some momentum, the tiny metal pellets stole half my vision and hearing.
Still, it was fine.
She couldn't use the shotgun anymore.
Without magic from the handcuffs, transforming it into a wand would be useless anyway.
A beat late, I reached her and clung on. Less like a hug, more like hanging desperately.
Some buckshot must have nicked my spine—sensation below it was gone.
Not bad, though.
At least my lower body wouldn't hurt anymore.
At the same time, I thrust out my still-relatively-intact arm.
Aiming to snatch the revolver from her holster and toss it.
"This annoying magical ant's been a pain all this time!"
But I couldn't.
She'd noticed and drawn it first. My shitty condition had slowed me down too.
I let out a feeble mutter.
"So close..."
I thought that was the last bullet.
Ignoring my regret, the white one pointed her final weapon, the revolver, right at me.
And.
Bang!