The Second Farewell
The Second Farewell
The scriptures were fixated, almost excessively so, on the number three. After all, the very concept of the Trinity began with three. And so the Star Oath sworn by the Hero, a being adjacent to that divinity, was an oath that could only be made three times in a lifetime.
Cain, the first Hero, had made his three: to his brother Abel, to his friend Solomon, and to himself. Now Zeke, his descendant and successor, had just finished swearing his third oath here and now.
To Canaria, the Military God's Oath.
To Isabella, the Oath of Pain.
And now, to Rosaria, the Oath of Atonement.
Zeke had placed three shackles upon himself. The moment he finished that final oath, he vanished from the spot as if fleeing. Not long after he disappeared, the door clicked open and a thoroughly furious Isabella entered. Regrettably, she found no target upon which to vent her anger, but the moment she saw Rosaria, it dissolved in an instant. She threw herself forward and embraced her.
"...Rosaria."
Isabella immediately erased that bastard from her mind. What mattered now was telling her friend about her own choice. The anger Canaria had provoked was shelved for the time being. Reading the shift in Isabella's emotions, Rosaria smiled bittersweetly and offered comfort to her sulking friend.
"...Did Canaria torment you or something?"
"Well, everyone has days where they get hit, you know."
Physically, she'd been struck once; psychologically, multiple times. Her forehead and her heart both ached, but Isabella pushed the feeling away with all her might. Then she explained her situation to Rosaria.
"...I really am hopeless, Rosaria. Even after I promised..."
She then gave Rosaria the same farewell greeting she had given Canaria. What Isabella had chosen was, in the end, her teacher's request: to remain in Fran a little longer so she could make a perfect start. The Isabella that Canaria wanted was an Isabella overflowing with ambition, confidently walking her own path, and that was precisely what Isabella wanted for herself.
"Of course, that doesn't mean I don't want to go to the Holy Kingdom."
She was simply not going because she would be a burden to them. Though she didn't know the details, she understood that what Canaria and Rosaria were doing wasn't something a weakling like her could simply barge into. She had roughly guessed that unless you were a piece as major as the Demon King, the Saint, or the Hero, you were either unnecessary to the process or nothing more than a minor pawn, so Isabella intended to step back for now.
After all, even if she went to the Holy Kingdom, she couldn't be at her friends' sides. As for her younger siblings... she did want to see them, but returning like this would mean breaking the pinky-promise she'd made that day to come back as a cool, successful older sister. She planned to take a brief grace period and struggle on her own.
"...But I'm still not good enough yet. I'll stay here a little longer and keep practicing."
With that, she resolved to return as a grand artist, just as she had declared and promised that day. For they were friends who resembled each other even in their great ambitions, and Isabella wanted to fulfill both promises. She calculated that now was the time to step back in order to achieve both things: becoming a grand artist and returning to live together with them in the Holy Kingdom.
"...But I'll definitely come back. And of course, by the time we meet again, I'll be the Grand Artist, so have some paper ready for autographs."
Her voice had been somewhat somber when she first started speaking. After all, they'd only just managed to reunite after so many twists and turns, and now she was saying goodbye. But as she spoke, she gradually loosened up. Nostalgia for their childhood bloomed in her mind, and the peculiar euphoria it created mingled with the eventful journey she'd taken to get here, stirring a strange emotion. And at the end, just like back then, she smiled foolishly and said it.
- See you later.
"...See you later."
Exactly like the farewell from back then.
- Because I'll be standing confidently between you two then, too.
"...I'll be standing there, confidently, between you two."
But slightly different.
- So keep being yourselves, okay?
"...So Rosaria, you keep being yourself too, okay?"
She bid farewell to her friend.
- So I can have fun squeezing in between you! Haha!
"...That way, I can catch up to you guys."
At the end, she acknowledged that changed position. Isabella, who had started from the same place but was left behind alone below, lifted her head and looked up at the space between them, the space she had promised to stand in. Like a shepherd gazing at the stars, she looked upon her friends whose hearts had traveled beyond her reach.
Then she thought to herself.
'The Saint and the Demon King... it's a bit far, though.'
Weren't they beings like the sun and the moon? Of course, she had no intention of becoming the same kind of being as them... but to stand between them, she would at least have to be a star, wouldn't she? Then she could spend time wedged between the sun and the moon, right?
...So she resolved to work hard and at least become a star. If a star wasn't enough, she'd try harder and become Venus. A goal was meant to be set just out of immediate reach, after all. Thinking this, Isabella considered herself an incredibly lucky person.
Some people lose their way along the path, but
she had a path to follow for her entire life.
A path to becoming a star that stands beside the sun and the moon.
It was the day she began walking that long stretch of road.
It was the same selfish farewell as back then.
Once again, it was only Isabella who was leaving the Holy Kingdom.
But because it was so like Isabella,
Rosaria affirmed this second farewell just the same.
"...I'll wait."
Hoping that when they next met, she would have reached that dream.
She congratulated her friend on her second departure.
"...Yeah, thank you for promising, Rosaria."
And with that, the three of them completed their second promise.
*
The farewell was rather simple.
Rosaria embraced her warmly, Canaria treated her affectionately, and Isabella, sensitive to that clear temperature difference, even tried to memorize the farewell itself. After all, her time in Fran had been quite long. They had built up more memories than she deserved: the happiness they'd wanted to share together, the places they'd thought would be nice to see together, the food they'd thought would be good to eat together... She had finally done all the things the Isabella of the past had wished for.
Even if they hadn't stayed in Fran,
even if she hadn't gone to the Holy Kingdom.
...Hadn't they promised to meet again?
Thinking that, she watched the carriage grow distant and let out a sigh.
'...One year probably won't be enough.'
Her senses had dulled considerably. After all, she had even erased her memories. The days spent holding a broom instead of a brush had been long, and though it was what she had wanted, tampering with her memories meant she needed time to readjust to many things.
'...Maybe I should have told them it'll take a bit longer.'
Of course, they probably already knew, but saying it directly was a different matter. Still, honestly admitting, "Sorry, I think it'll take a little longer," wasn't exactly cool, so Isabella deliberately held her tongue. Besides, the distance between Rosaria and Canaria's positions had grown even farther apart than she had imagined.
The moment her eyes could no longer make out the carriage, Isabella slapped both her cheeks to snap herself out of it, then turned around and began walking toward her workshop for the first time in a long while.
At the same time, a trail was traced by droplets.
They were tears flowing from Isabella's eyes.
"...This sucks."
She didn't know what she'd done so well to deserve crying.
If she was that sad, she should have just followed them.
...But she couldn't stand to face them while she was still so half-baked.
She had stayed here for a promise slightly different from the one in their childhood, hadn't she?
'...Let's make today the last day I cry.'
Then she stared blankly at the sky for a moment.
A brilliant sun hung in the perfectly clear sky.
And beside it, she could faintly see the afterimage of the moon.
Both were so far away that she couldn't reach them even if she stretched out her hand.
But strangely, she reached her hand out toward them.
And then Isabella mimed grasping them.
She had the illusion that they were hot, and cold.
Of course, it was an illusion,
so Isabella's hand didn't touch them.
Yet still, she simply kept reaching out her hand.
For it was a primal desire to keep touching that warm light.
*
The carriage rattled along.
In front of the carriage, pulled automatically by the divine horse, sat an unfamiliar coachman.
- I'll praise you for hiding your appearance.
The magic dispelled the moment Canaria finished speaking.
It was Zeke, who had been avoiding Isabella all along.
- After all, it'd be a shame if your last image was of you holding back vomit.
Canaria's teasing praise.
Zeke did not answer it.
- ...Well, either way, it was a pleasant vacation, wasn't it?
A pleasant vacation.
At those words, Zeke smiled bitterly.
He knew all too well what would come next.
- Things are going to get a little busy from now on.
Where the carrot came, the whip was sure to follow. It had been a long time since he'd felt the sting of that whip, telling him to work as much as he had played. After all, the world was not yet a perfect paradise.
Things were about to get busy again.
- Because we'll have to start the subjugation of the North soon.
Canaria recited the name of the most barren land.
- Start preparing as soon as you arrive.
Thus, she declared the end of Zeke's rest.
- ...I have some separate work to do, so handle it on your own.
Canaria was excluded, that is. There were always exceptions in the world. If he didn't like it, he had no choice but to become the Demon King.
And so, Zeke silently accepted that command and departed.
Clutching the pendant he had been given.