〈 Episode 269 〉 Reality and Ideals (6)
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A wide open field.
The green fields swayed in the cool wind. It’s not just the grass that shakes. Galahal’s pure white collar fluttered in the wind.
“······.”
Galahal is looking at Chloe.
He doesn’t say anything. After asking one question, Galahal remains silent. As if he would wait no matter how long it took to answer.
Or, no matter how much time it takes… as if they will only let go once they hear the answer.
Chloe met that gaze.
Who is the young man standing in front of me? Galahal is said to be the most warrior-like warrior. The most heroic warrior asked about being a hero.
『What kind of hero do you want to be?』
What kind of warrior do you want to become?
Chloe pondered the question. To answer the question, I needed to look back on my life.
Chloe did so.
She looked back on 18 years of her life.
2.
Chloe’s life began in a slum where abandoned and abandoned things gather.
When she grew up, her parents were no longer there, and the little girl understood that she had been abandoned. All the girl knew was that her name was ‘Chloe’.
Abandoned among the dirty things.
He was abandoned and lived crawling on the floor.
He got scared by the sound of someone’s footsteps and ran away, and lived by picking up things that someone had thrown away. I don’t even remember how I survived.
I was just struggling to survive.
Deep in the slums, in a narrow gap between walls, was the girl’s home. The place was full of dirty books and newspapers that had been picked up through the trash.
The girl who could read read the books she had picked up. She looked at children’s books, and she would endlessly look at newspapers reporting news from the battlefield.
The world of fairy tales is beautiful.
In a beautiful world, wonderful heroes existed.
It wasn’t just a fairy tale. Newspapers also contained stories of heroes living in reality. The girl read it again and again. Because when I read it, I was able to forget my life even for a moment.
Because it is dirty, because it is at the lowest level.
Humans envy shiny things.
I hope to reach high places.
The little girl is no different. The girl dreamed while reading a book. I used to look up at the sky from a narrow gap and hope. I hope she can shine too.
Was it a coincidence?
Or was it inevitable?
【Do you wish?】
One day, someone whispered in the girl’s ear.
The voice answered the girl’s question, “Who are you?”
【A being that answers to prayers.】
The being asked the girl her wish.
The girl answered the question. He also wants to shine and live a brilliant life. Someone gave me an answer to that earnest wish.
【If you wish it, it will happen.】
A warm platinum-colored light enveloped the girl.
The girl’s gray hair, which had become dull, regains its original white color. A ring of platinum-colored light appeared in the girl’s green-colored eyes.
The girl was chosen that day.
It is a simple whim of God, an inevitability caused by chance and coincidence. The chosen girl later learns the source of her powers.
The girl who learns the origin understands.
I am different from those who were forcibly chosen.
He became a warrior because he hoped and prayed to shine brightly. He said it was a wish he made during his immature days, and there is no way he would be allowed to run away.
There are responsibilities and obligations.
The girl doesn’t ignore it.
‘What should be.’
The girl asked and answered herself.
‘A person who always shines.’
Because I wanted a life like a fairy tale hero.
Since I wanted a brilliant life that always shines and gives hope to people… I have to become that way.
‘but···.’
On the other hand, the girl is worried.
I wonder if I can really become like that.
Time passed by.
The time has come to shoulder duties and responsibilities.
As time approaches, the girl’s worries grow. Because the girl saw it.
I saw a boy who had survived the dirtiest place on his own and was able to stand in the light.
He saw a wizard who understood and utilized his talents better than he could.
I saw a proud princess who was loved by the stars, but who had her feet on the ground and was moving forward.
and.
I saw a warrior wandering around who was tired of reality but could not give up. I got to see up close a warrior who was still dreaming against reality.
They are all shining brightly.
They shine so brightly that you feel shabby in front of them. The girl thinks as she looks at them.
‘I.’
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Can I become like them?
Maybe I shouldn’t have received this star?
Shouldn’t this power go to them, not me?
It’s a worry I can’t tell anyone about.
The girl puts it in her mouth.
“I am.”
The girl.
“I wanted to be like a hero in a fairy tale. I want to live a bright life like them. I admired them. “I wanted to be like them.”
Because I long for it, because I hope for it, because I pray for it.
“The star answered the wind. “The star answered my wish and gave me strength.”
In the end, Chloe became a hero.
“but.”
However, I ask a question.
“Isn’t this something I shouldn’t have?”
This is a story that has never been told anywhere.
When Galahal heard that story, he held his breath for a moment. He became a brave warrior. That part didn’t take Galahal’s breath away.
A star answered the prayer.
The stars gave him strength and he became a warrior.
Although that case is extremely rare, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist at all. What caught Galahal off guard was the next sentence. So, I wonder if I shouldn’t have this power.
“···aha.”
Galahal smiled bitterly.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
That was a question that Galahal himself also had. Also, it was a question that was still looking for an answer.
“I understand.”
Galahal opened his mouth.
“I understand your worries, Chloe, and the shaking you are feeling… I understand. Just understand.”
Galahal slowly raised his arm and pointed at himself. Galahal smiled awkwardly while pointing at himself.
“Because I’ve thought that way too.”
“···yes?”
“Chloe, you know I have no talent. “I was not born with anything, neither the ability to manipulate the stars nor any talent.”
Galahal let out a short breath.
“The First Prince laughed at me, and Master Draka declared that I had ‘no talent.’”
You have no talent.
You have to work dozens of times harder than others to achieve the same results as others. It’s a cruel story, but you don’t have any talent.
Draka said this to Galahal.
“Indeed, yes. Because I still can’t resist disaster. “He is a weak warrior who cannot protect a single comrade in the face of disaster.”
Galahal let out a bitter laugh.
“There are many people who shine brighter than me. There are so many. Looking at them, I used to think. “Why was starlight given to me and not to them?”
Why, to yourself.
Galahal wondered whether he, who had no talent, had been given such undeserved power.
“Why to Raniel van Trias?”
“Why, Lord Kuntel.”
“To Kelhalm, to Draka, and again…”
“why why why···.”
Haven’t stars been sent down to those who shine like that?
Why did the star that was supposed to go to them come to me?
In the midst of failure, Galahal was constantly worried.
The worries deepened, and Galahal was never able to find an answer. Galahal could not find the reason why the star gave him strength.
“but.”
Galahal let out a short breath.
“I couldn’t just stand still like that. Even though you worry and struggle… you have to move forward. If you do that, this suffering will have meaning.”
“It has meaning…”
“Yes, and that is.”
Galahal smiled at Chloe.
“Wouldn’t there be something as we move forward? “There must be something that only I can do, something that only I can do…”
Life is not over yet.
If you keep moving forward, if you walk without giving up, you may be able to find the answer.
“Life is a process of wandering around looking for the answer.”
This is something I once told Rox too.
Saying those words again, Galahal tapped Chloe’s shoulder a couple of times.
“It is good to suffer. However, please do not get caught up in it and miss out on what is important.”
much.
“Chloe, what did the hero you desire say?”
“Like a warrior in a fairy tale, a perfect warrior…”
“Please don’t forget that.”
Don’t forget your longing.
Don’t forget yourself for what you hoped for and hoped for.
Galahal said so.
“Sometimes you can run away. You may get frustrated and stop. The time will surely come. “Humans are creatures that cannot be perfect.”
It’s okay though.
Because that’s human.
“Remember it every time. The person you wanted to become. “The dream I had for the first time.”
Well then, said Galahal.
“We will be able to move on.”
He was like that too.
Because I’m wandering around looking for the answer.
Chloe swallowed dryly at the words that were close to certainty. Chloe said while facing Galahal’s eyes.
“I am.”
I am still weak.
“Can I really become that kind of hero?”
Can I become a warrior like you?
“Yes, of course.”
Galahal answered Chloe’s question.
With strong conviction, without any hesitation.
“As long as you wish for it, it can happen.”
3.
Eastern 3rd Front, Haprion.
A few days have passed since the end of the Berta Gorge annihilation battle. Over the past few days, Galahal has worked hard on Chloe’s education, and Chloe has grown day by day.
It seemed like there was a change of heart.
It took less force with my fingers to draw the circuit than usual, and the circuit I drew so easily contained mana more smoothly than before.
It was a good change.
“So, what on earth did you tell Chloe?”
“It’s an experience. Rania, didn’t you tell me? “The best advice is advice based on experience.”
Galahal avoided giving a specific answer and only shrugged his shoulders. Even though I gave him a suspicious look, I headed somewhere with Galahal.
No matter how magical it is, there are bound to be one or two places where you can rest if you look for it. When I was on the battlefield, I had marked a place on the map as a good spot… and the place I was going to now was one of them.
‘A place where people’s eyes cannot reach.’
So, a place where you can talk comfortably.
It was a place where green fields spread out, and we each sat down. It was a place I had been to before in the past, so it wasn’t particularly unfamiliar.
The blowing wind is cool.
As I was arranging my hair that was blowing in the wind, Galahal spoke first.
“It looks like you had a conversation with Destel.”
“We shared it.”
“It seems like the attitude towards Destel has also changed a bit.”
“Because it was different from what I thought.”
I don’t want to admit it, but I had to admit it.
“…I guess I was mistaken.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you asking this even though you know everything?”
“Aren’t there things that have meaning when you say them with your mouth?”
I clicked my tongue and opened my mouth to Galahal, who was secretly smirking.
“I thought I had completely given up. “Because I gave up, I thought I was going around using words like abandonment and saying things like that.”
“Destel, that friend speaks a little strangely. “It seems like he’s saying that on purpose.”
“···anyway.”
I said, exhaling briefly.
“I could understand it when I saw it from the side.”
I saw the entire flow of the operation.
I saw where and what kind of judgments Destelle makes and how she thinks. After seeing it, he had no choice but to admit it. That I was thinking wrong.
“It’s right to use the term abandon. It’s also true that it’s easy to say the word ‘throw away’. However, since I am trying to take responsibility in my own way, I have no intention of saying anything about it.”
I thought about it from Destel’s perspective.
Assuming I didn’t have the same power as I do now, if I put myself in Destel’s position, the answer came quickly.
“You said it.”
I saw Galahal.
“People have their own ways. “I just decided to think about it that way.”
“···Is that so?”
“You think it’s interesting?”
“Because, from what I remember, you were not someone who could change with just a few words.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Because I couldn’t afford it at the time.”
I lived a busy life, and I didn’t have time to think deeply.
I lived under the compulsion to stand in front of others. I didn’t have time to look around. Because I was always in a hurry to just look ahead and run.
“Is it different now?”
“It’s not much different.”
But, I said.
“Because I have a little more free time.”
The wind blowing was quite cool.
After taking a deep breath, I raised my finger and pointed at Galahal.
“Galahal.”
“Yes, Raniel.”
Raniel, not Rania.
“You said you had something to consult with me.”
“That’s right.”
“After all, it’s about lifespan.”
Galahal affirmed by remaining silent.
I asked bluntly.
“How many years do you have left?”
“hmm···.”
Galahal hesitated for a moment.
The hesitation was not long.
As if he had made up his mind, Galahal opened his mouth.
“Three years.”
Three years.
That was the time left for Galahal.
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