Episode 624: The End of Truth (1)
Ludger tried to reach out his hand towards Gariel.
Even if he didn’t say what he was going to do, I could instinctively feel it.
That’s why we need to stop it.
The moment I stretched out my hand, Gariel’s appearance disappeared.
A quiet silence swept through the lab.
A cold yet foreign sensation, as if dew had settled on the body in the cool early morning.
like.
It felt as if each second that had just passed had been decades.
Ludger slowly lowered his outstretched hand.
Then, I left the lab with slow steps.
Step by step. Step by step.
The sound of shoes hitting the floor spread like a bell ringing through the building in the early morning before the sun rose.
Sigh.
Ludger is in the room right next door.
I slowly opened the door to the room where Line was sleeping.
Through the door that slowly opened, I saw Line lying comfortably on one side of the bed.
Ludger opened the half-open door completely.
A long sofa against the wall opposite the bed.
To one side, an old man with thick white hair sat in a helpless posture, holding a cane in one hand.
Step by step. Step by step.
Ludger walked over to the sofa and sat down on the empty seat opposite.
The old man and Ludger sat on the ends of both sofas and quietly stared at the bed where Line was lying.
“how.”
Ludger was the first to speak in silence.
“How long has it been?”
“well.”
The old, cracked, weak voice of an old man.
The old man fingered the pure white beard that had grown under his chin.
“After 30 years, counting has become a hassle.”
Even though he said that, Ludger could tell.
That old man. No, Gariel Cosmo has used up almost all of her remaining lifespan.
“Why?”
Ludger couldn’t help but ask.
“Why did you do it like that?”
Was that question surprising?
Gariel glanced at Ludger and then shifted her gaze back to the sleeping Linne.
There was unprecedented kindness in those eyes.
“What is the reason?”
Gariel’s actions of sighing and laughing contained many meanings.
The biggest meaning of all is probably, are you in a position to ask such a question? That would be absurd.
“If you were in the same situation as me, you would have done the same.”
“no. “I couldn’t do it.”
“….”
“You can do it because you are.”
It was my first time.
How could that arrogant man, a man who seemed incapable of acknowledging others, praise himself this much?
Gariel felt a tingling in her chest.
In the past, even though I wanted to be recognized by someone, I couldn’t achieve it, but now I get recognition just for doing what I deserved.
The moment I realized the change and difference, I remembered my past foolishness and sighed, wondering why I did that.
“I am a time wizard. Time wizards are much more free from time than other people. But foolishly, I was the one who was trapped in time more than anyone else.”
Gariel took something out of her bosom with her thin, scarred hands.
It was a glass bottle filled with a clear liquid.
“Everyone moved forward, but I couldn’t. I kept hovering in my seat and not wanting to leave. “My time stopped that day when she died.”
Gariel looked at the reagent bottle with trembling eyes.
It was a cure that Line had finally succeeded in making by combining the ingredients herself.
Ludger felt it instinctively when he saw it.
The mixing ratio of the stabilizer has not yet been revealed, nor has it been studied.
Nevertheless, the fact that she was able to complete it means that even after finding the ingredients, Gariel studied alone for more than several years to perfect the stabilizer.
By wasting your time.
By consuming his lifespan.
“So, I’m going to let it go again.”
As much as I was stuck in the past.
As much as I was putting it off and stopping.
Now I want to shake it off and move on.
“This is what I got back as I stopped time.”
Gariel slowly got up from the sofa.
Even though he was old and his legs were shaking, he didn’t give up on getting up.
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Gariel stood up, holding a staff in one hand and using it as leverage, and slowly approached Liné.
“So this is my last.”
Gariel opened the cap of the reagent bottle and carefully poured it into Linne’s mouth.
Slowly, drop by drop. So as not to wake her from her sleep.
It was a simple act, but even for an old Gariel, it was quite physically and mentally exhausting.
But Ludger did not help Gariel.
It couldn’t be done in the first place.
That was Gariel’s choice.
All he could do was just watch and take in the whole thing.
That was when Gariel finally emptied the reagent bottle and smiled happily.
“Uh, huh.”
Liné, who had been sleeping, faintly opened her eyes with a cooing sound.
“…“Master?”
Perhaps because she had been unconscious for too long, Liné still looked dazed.
Even though she was like that, she immediately recognized the old man looking down at her.
“Have you woken up now? “You look like a sleepyhead.”
Gariel smiled brightly as she looked at Rine like that.
Just as naturally as when I taught her before.
“Master, you are very old.”
“Hey you guy. How much time has passed, of course he has aged. “I guess I’ve grown old enough.”
“I feel like I had a long dream.”
“What did you dream about?”
“Well, I don’t remember.”
“Well. That won’t work. “If I go back to sleep, I will be able to continue my dream.”
Gariel smiled warmly.
Liné was somewhat surprised by that appearance.
This was because she always remembered her teacher as a self-willed and mischievous old man.
But at the same time, he is not only dishonest, but he is also a person who cares about himself more than anyone else.
Master, you have become much softer as you age.
Line had no choice but to think that way.
“Oh, I just remembered the dream. “My mom and I were together when she was together.”
“…“Is that so?”
“and.”
Liné’s eyes, which had been vaguely open, slowly closed.
“I remember having fun playing with my uncle. “Uncle Gariel, he has been very good to me.”
“….”
Gariel opened her trembling lips to say something, but no voice came out.
This is because I unconsciously covered my mouth with my hand.
If I didn’t do that, I felt like I would just burst into tears.
I thought I had already shed enough tears in the time that had stopped, but were there still any left?
“I remember the scenery that day. “Having fun with my brother, catching fish with my uncle, and making new friends.”
Gariel swallowed her sadness and asked calmly.
“Did you enjoy it?”
“yes.”
Line answered with her eyes closed.
“The end of the dream was the worst, but I was definitely happy at that moment.”
“Then that’s a good thing.”
“Master. I went to Seorn and worked really hard. I met good people, made friends, and experienced many amazing things. There were some difficult times. There were a lot of assignments and a lot to study.”
still.
That whole process.
It was really fun.
Line said with confidence.
“But I’m anxious. “I don’t think I can be happy at all from now on.”
Gariel knew why Rine said such things.
So I didn’t bother to ask why.
If Rine, who doesn’t want to worry others, would say something like that, she must be in such a distraught state.
“Line. This teacher is. “He hasn’t lived a fulfilling life to the point of giving life advice to others, but he can still tell you this one thing.”
“What is that?”
“My life has always been a series of regrets and neglect. If I felt like something was going to be difficult, I would try my best to ignore it or run away. “Because difficult things are scary, and comfortable things are better.”
“no. Master… .”
“Even in a country like that, you couldn’t run away forever. The world harshly put me in a corner and forced me to make a choice. Actually, I was able to run away then too. All I had to do was turn my back and look away like I always do.”
Gariel spoke in a calm tone.
“But this time I couldn’t bear it.”
“….”
“That’s why he didn’t run away this time. Instead of looking away, I faced it directly and fought with my fists raised. Then do you know what happened? “What I thought was so scary was that he got tired of my momentum and ran away.”
When she thought back to that time, Gariel giggled and laughed, as if she was still happy.
“That’s it. “Even if someone looks really scary on the outside, you don’t know anything until you face them in person.”
“Why on earth did you do that to me….”
“Line. I don’t want you to run away. “Even though it may be difficult right now, I hope you fight and overcome it.”
know.
Supporting people like this with only words is not courageous at all.
Didn’t he do that too?
People around me gave me this advice, but I couldn’t truly accept it until I experienced it myself.
Still, I had no choice but to say this.
Because right now, all he can do for Rine is this.
“You can dismiss it as a senile remark from an old teacher. I won’t even force you to keep this. However, please remember this one thing. “If something difficult happens someday, I will definitely remember what I said today.”
“yes.”
Line didn’t know the reason, but she could feel the earnestness in Gariel’s voice.
“all right.”
“okay. If so, you’re lucky. I’m sure you have many years to live. Someday difficult things will happen. “Maybe it’s right now.”
Gariel slowly got up from the chair.
“So, if you hold on and live with it, it becomes okay.”
“Master.”
“I guess I’ll just go to sleep.”
Line couldn’t ask Master where he was going.
This is because an unbearable flood of water came and dragged her mind down to the depths of unconsciousness once again.
Gariel, who saw that Liné was sleeping soundly, walked slowly and tried to leave the room.
“Are you going?”
Ludger was waiting outside for the two of them to have a private conversation.
Ludger, who was waiting quietly with his back against the wall, asked Gariel who opened the door and came out.
“Where are you trying to go?”
“As you can see.”
Gariel raised her hand.
His skinny, scarred hands were trembling like aspen trees beaten by the wind.
“I don’t have much time left.”
“You’re just going to go away alone in a place no one will remember?”
“You remember.”
Gariel chuckled.
“Why are you acting so strangely? “We weren’t worried about each other.”
“….”
Despite the joking words, Ludger did not respond in kind.
Rather, when Gariel saw Ludger’s eyes looking this way, she realized what kind of emotions he had and burst out laughing.
“It’s only after getting older that I can finally open my eyes and see. Yes, I did. “You’ve always been that kind of guy.”
“If you get treatment and care now, you may live at least a few more years.”
“But in the meantime, I will have to live in a hospital bed. “I don’t want to live like that.”
“Then you’re going to die?”
Gariel pondered what to answer to Ludger’s question, which seemed a little exasperated, before opening her mouth.
“The history of time magic is deeper than you think. If you go all the way back to my teacher and my teacher’s teacher, you can see that the lineage has been secretly long. But most of the time, wizards don’t get to enjoy their heavenly days. “You know why, right?”
This was because the magic itself consumed one’s life and time.
Because of this, Gariel’s teacher developed dementia at a young age and met a terrible end.
“He’s a wizard who can control time, but on the other hand, he can’t handle his own time properly. That’s why he often ends up going in a direction he doesn’t want.”
Maybe that was why.
Death itself was not very scary.
Because I had it in my mind that one day there would come a day when I would run out of time.
However, what is truly scary is.
The end might be like the wizards of Sentai time.
“I want to choose my own end, at least.”
That’s why I used all the time I had left to save Rine.
I have no regrets about it.
It couldn’t have happened.
“This handful of time given to me… “I will use it only for myself.”
It would be enough time to walk towards the grave site.
“I am….”
Ludger opened his mouth to say something to Gariel, but soon relaxed his clenched fists.
There was only one thing Ludger could say now.
“I was sorry. “I wanted to tell you this.”
“What. Was she keeping it in her mind? I really feel sorry. “Her death wasn’t your fault, but I stupidly kept blaming it on you.”
“Are you going now?”
“okay. “The price you pay for saving the girl is death.”
“The old man dies, the girl lives. “What a fair deal.”
“That is ‘time.’”
Gariel waved his hand at Ludger.
“Let’s just go.”
“…okay. bye.”
Gariel said goodbye and left the house.
I could see the city in shambles, but I didn’t pay any attention to it.
Gariel, moving with a cane, arrived at the outermost third floor of Isla Machina.
It was a small artificially created cemetery park on an island full of machines.
Beyond the park’s railing, I could see a seascape filled with sea fog, and the morning sun was rising across the sea surface.
Gariel flopped down in front of a cemetery, looking at the morning sun.
“Yes. I kept my promise. “Line will definitely live well in the future.”
Gariel took a deep breath as she spoke to the tombstone.
“Really, I heard you had a hard time. You should have seen it. “I wonder if I’ve ever tried something like this in my life.”
Gariel’s head, holding a staff in both hands, slowly turned downward.
“So, I’m going to rest now.”
Is that okay?
My eyes slowly closed.
In a world that was becoming increasingly dark, Gariel heard a woman’s voice.
-huh. great job.
Was it an illusion? Or was it a memory of the past that I saw as a flash of light?
It didn’t matter what it was.
Because I heard her voice that I thought I would never hear again.
In one corner of a small cemetery park created for one individual, an unidentified old man passed away.
Later, someone who found the body first said:
It is said that the old man had a happy smile on his face.
