“You were so f*cking weak.”
“Oh my gosh,” said Raniel, covering his mouth and chuckling. Every time he laughed, blood flowed from his body, but Raniel didn’t stop laughing, as if that was okay.
I did it. I finally did it.
By grasping at the slightest possibility, he achieved a feat that everyone said was impossible. The tragedy he experienced from the future will no longer occur, and no one will call Kyle a disaster.
‘It was difficult though.’
Although I almost died several times.
‘Nevertheless…’
Really, I did it.
It’s not the worst. It was also not a lesser evil to avoid the worst. It is not an ending that one can barely accept and endure, gritting one’s teeth and saying, ‘This is okay.’ It is the best ending that can be accepted with a smile.
Raniel caught that ending with his own hands.
“I beat you. “I applied it.”
Because I’m happy about that fact. I’m so happy.
Raniel didn’t stop laughing.
Glancing at her smile, Kyle felt unfamiliarity and longing at the same time. Raniel van Trias. The guy who was called a wise man never smiled like that.
Ridicule, self-deprecation, light laughter.
The wise man survived with only that false smile. Because I couldn’t smile sincerely while wearing a mask. However, the Raniel in front of me was smiling sincerely. Just like Raniel did before becoming a sage.
“···Crazy guy.”
Kyle smiled and mumbled.
That’s the first thing you say in a situation like this. In some ways, I thought it was truly Raniel-like.
“What did you say?”
“They said he was crazy.”
“So you were hit by a crazy person?”
“···Do you have to be so childish?”
“What’s childish about winning and losing?”
Yes, this is how it comes out.
Kyle let out a short breath and relaxed his shoulders.
“If I were to be honest, wouldn’t I have 3 wins and 1 loss, and you would have 1 win and 3 losses?”
“···what?”
“Once before, when you grabbed me by the collar. Once again when we reunited at the main church in Delohim. “Once when we met in the North.”
Kyle said with a mischievous smile.
“I think I won all three times?”
“Hey, that was a fight without strength. Even some of them were not resolved…”
“How much did I care for you? “If you had made up your mind and swung your sword, you would have been one hit.”
“Isn’t it the same for me as well? “The reason I lost there was just…”
“I said clearly that I just lost.”
Raniel flinched and closed his mouth.
Kyle shrugged his shoulders and continued.
“Well, if you get robbed three times in a row and only win once, you should be happy. Because one win after a losing streak is sweet. “I understand that feeling too.”
“you you···.”
Kyle laughed out loud as he watched Raniel trembling. She even felt like she had returned to her childhood. Kyle heard Raniel’s retort by screaming her words out of one ear and out of her other ear.
Really, it’s ridiculous.
‘It’s childish now and then…’
Nothing has changed. same.
Kyle’s expression hardened slightly as he glanced at Raniel, who was pointing at his broken arm. Kyle’s eyes were on Raniel’s chest.
‘···hardened blood stains.’
There was a trace left in his heart as if he had been stabbed with a knife. In addition, a long sword mark on his shoulder came into Kyle’s field of vision. None of these injuries were minor. Injuries that could lead to death.
“Hey, Raniel.”
Kyle said in a slightly stiff voice.
“Are you okay?”
“what.”
“The wound. wound.”
“Oh, this?”
Raniel shrugged his shoulders.
“Are you okay? I told you. You’re a loser. “It’s not even close to the wound axis.”
Raniel shrugged his shoulders and then made a ugh sound and his expression scrunched up. Of course he was bluffing. There was no way Kyle couldn’t recognize that bravado.
“I am···.”
Kyle asked a question.
“Was I strong?”
After contemplating whether to bluff again, Raniel ended up smiling bitterly and leaning against the wall.
“If you were a poor person, would you have gone through all this trouble?”
Raniel sighed and answered.
“It was strong. He was so f*cking strong. I almost died several times. “I think I actually died at least once.”
“···Is that so?”
“Does it make sense to grow to that point? Man, I got goosebumps. “I’m clearly moving faster than you, but your eyes are moving quickly and you’re following me?”
“Ugh,” Raniel trembled.
“Even if you hit it with the highest level spell, it won’t fall, even if you rip off its arm, it will recover, even if you burst and break its neck, it will stick again, and even the sword you swing will ignore the distance and split the space…”
···You burst your neck?
Kyle unconsciously touched his neck.
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For some reason, I felt a rough texture on my skin.
“In the end, it only reads the flow of mana and even splits the spell… Wow, when you think about it, it doesn’t make sense, does it? “How did I really win?”
Raniel let out a laugh as if it was absurd to even think about it. After laughing like that, Raniel looked at Kyle and muttered.
“You’re such a great bastard too.”
“···Amazing?”
“They said you cut down the demon lord. I saw the sword you left in the wilderness over there. “How on earth did you do that?”
How did you do it?
To explain, there was a really long story.
“well···.”
Long, long story.
Instead of bragging about the path he had taken and everything he had worked hard to do, Kyle spoke one word.
“I heard it worked because I did it?”
Like Raniel.
“It just happened to work out.”
As if imitating her speaking habits, Kyle spoke with a ‘careless’ expression that seemed as if it would upset the other person as much as possible.
“···How did it happen?”
Indeed, the effect was outstanding.
Raniel glanced at Kyle with a very sour expression. She had the look of an unlucky cub. Kyle couldn’t help but laugh at her gaze.
“How do you feel after being hit? “It’s what you do all the time.”
“What bullshit? “I didn’t do that…”
Raniel trailed off, unable to say ‘I didn’t do it’ as his conscience pricked him. Still, she spoke in a crawling voice as if she had to refute it.
“…I didn’t do it that often.”
“I’ve heard it over a hundred times?”
“······.”
Kyle finally stopped her from speaking and let out a short breath. It works because you do it. Just do it. Now I can lightly say this, which is like Raniel’s speaking habit, but there were more times when I couldn’t do it.
“If you do it, you can do it.”
“Why on earth don’t you do it?”
“stand up. “Stand up.”
Because those words once became a curse and trapped Kyle. Only now, having overcome all of that, was Kyle able to smile and say this.
“It was exactly as you said.”
“···what?”
“The saying that you can do it, that you are the guy who can do it. “It was exactly as he said.”
Kyle grinned.
“You really beat the devil, didn’t you?”
He said with a smile.
“I cut down the devil. I imitated the blow I saw in her dream. “Honestly, isn’t this like drinking alcohol for the rest of your life?”
“···What are you bragging about?”
“You didn’t know? I actually like to brag. “I didn’t do it because it would be bad for a warrior to go around bragging.”
But, said Kyle.
“You’re not a hero now, are you?”
I couldn’t feel the starlight anymore.
Although he could feel starlight in his heart, it was not a starlight that Kyle could handle. Because all that starlight was being used to recover my body.
“So, what do you mean?”
“uh.”
“It’s a little late to ask, but…”
Kyle asked a question.
“What happens to me?”
“What happens? “Just living as a human being.”
Raniel said calmly.
“Thank you Sarah. “It’s like you can live thanks to the seeds he planted.”
“···What happened to Sarah?”
“He’s unconscious right now. When you fully recover, you will open your eyes. “Even though my memories are imperfect, well… won’t it work out somehow?”
What is sprouting from Kyle’s heart.
It is Sarah’s soul and her hopes. When it fully sprouted, Cardi and the Goddess of Ash predicted that something would change in Sarah as well.
“Then where does the starlight go? “The starlight that was handed over to you…”
“I handed over everything except a handful to you. Who wants something like this? Anyway, I end up doing useless things.”
Raniel grunted.
“That doesn’t make you a warrior. That starlight is the fertilizer that makes the seeds bloom. “It’s like offering it in exchange for a miracle.”
“···The price for a miracle, D.”
Kyle laughed bitterly.
It’s definitely something like a miracle.
It was surprising that he was able to turn himself from a disaster into a human being, and even the road that had ended was being created anew. In fact, it’s like being revived.
What caused that miracle?
Boom, boom.
It is a seed nestled in the heart.
When I listened to my heart beating vigorously… I could feel the seeds sprouting within it. A seed that grows using starlight as fuel.
‘Recovery, huh?’
The pure white light leaking from the seed was very slowly restoring Kyle’s body. It supported the collapsed body so that it did not collapse. Kyle, gauging the speed of recovery, muttered lightly.
“It’s going to take a long time.”
“I guess so.”
“I feel like I’m falling asleep.”
“···I guess that’s true too.”
Raniel laughed bitterly.
“Once the seed begins to take root, you will probably lose consciousness. “You will fall into a deep sleep.”
“Is that so?”
“I’m not surprised.”
“I died and came back to life, but that’s it.”
Kyle shrugged.
Raniel glanced at Kyle and slowly, very slowly opened his mouth.
“Hey, Kyle.”
“What.”
“Do you somehow understand the situation? “Do you have any more questions?”
“There are a lot of things I want to ask, but I think I roughly understand the situation.”
“Of course.”
Raniel sighed.
“Shall we listen to what we decided to listen to last time?”
“···that?”
“Surely you forgot? There’s a saying in the North. If you don’t remember, I’ll give it to you until you remember. “Answer well.”
That’s what they said in the North.
Kyle let out a short breath.
“After I pay off all my debt to you.”
“When I can stand proudly in front of you.”
“Then, I will apologize to you.”
Kyle burst into laughter as he remembered those words.
I don’t know if I paid off all my debts, but at least now I can stand proudly in front of Raniel. If so, I guess I can say it now.
“I was sorry. “Raniel.”
Kyle opened his mouth and said that.
How much time did it take to say this? How much effort was needed?
“I was truly sorry.”
Kyle said that, and immediately afterward, Kyle frowned at the pain he felt in his side. Pain as if hit by her fist. But Raniel’s left arm was limp, and his right arm was broken. Then what on earth did you hit him with?
It was a foot.
With his barely intact foot, Raniel was stabbing Kyle’s side repeatedly. Ran El said, stabbing the man in the side with quite a bit of force as if he had no consideration for the patient.
“really.”
He gritted his teeth and said.
“You should feel sorry for me, asshole.”
He looked quite angry.
2.
“Are you sure you’re not doing anything wrong?”
“···I know.”
“What? “If you know, just tell me.”
Kyle groaned as his side was repeatedly stabbed.
“I gave up arbitrarily. I was the first to give up after pulling you in. “Failure to fulfill the duty of a warrior.”
“f*ck it, don’t do that.”
“In the tent…”
“f*ck that… I really, really have a lot to say, but not even that. “Don’t mention that.”
“then···.”
The conversation went on as if they were trying to piece together an answer, and it was only when Kyle was so stabbed that his side was about to buckle that he gave the correct answer.
“I handed the starlight over to you on my own.”
“Yeah, that one.”
Only then did Raniel stop kicking.
“Who comforted the starlight? “Did anyone even ask me to save my life?”
“…You lost half your life because of me. “I tried to repay that debt.”
“Why is it because of you? “I was trying to run away from the devil, and if I hadn’t lost my lifespan, I would have died at that time anyway.”
“If it wasn’t me in the first place…”
“If you keep arguing like that, there is no end to it.”
Raniel sighed.
“First of all, you know my personality. “Did you think I would live normally if you went to such lengths to save me?”
“······.”
“I heard you met me too? “I am from the future.”
“···We met.”
“You would know if we met. “What will become of me?”
Raniel is not free from sacrifice.
He is a wise man who lives in obsessive compulsions.
If she survived the death of an old friend, her life would definitely not be normal.
“It even becomes a disaster. “You’ve been doing it for a long time without even thinking about it. How many times do I have to tell you to change that habit?”
“…I have nothing to say.”
“right. “I shouldn’t have anything to say.”
“Ugh,” Raniel sighed.
“So do you feel sorry? “Do you feel like you did something wrong?”
“···Listen. “I’m doing this because I eat it.”
“You just need to know.”
She said, leaning her head against the wall.
“Don’t sacrifice. Save your life. “A bastard with a lover is not responsible, damn it.”
Raniel didn’t push Kyle anymore, as if he had a lot to say but didn’t want to say more.
“I’ll end my anger here.”
Raniel continued speaking in a softened tone.
“thanks. “For saving me.”
“······.”
“No matter the method, I am alive thanks to you, so I am grateful for this. “To be honest, I was scared.”
“···scared?”
“Hey, death is slowly approaching and of course it’s scary. You can’t even move properly, but imagine how much time you have left. “And every second.”
“···It’s terrible.”
“Isn’t it terrible?”
So, thank you. For saving me.
Raniel murmured like that and kissed his lips. I have to say something next, but it seems like it’s not easy to say it.
“···and.”
Still, I have to do it.
Raniel gathered his resolve and opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry too.”
“···you? “Do you have something to apologize to me for?”
“Yes.”
Raniel said to Kyle, who blinked.
“You pushed me. That thing that pushed me so hard without even giving me time to rest. “I’m sorry.”
“Isn’t that what it should have been like?”
“still.”
“I didn’t understand then, but now I understand. “Someone must have done that.”
“It’s because I thought you could have said it in a different way.”
“How can you think like that at that time? “You’re human too.”
Kyle said with a bitter smile.
“Neither one of you had any spare time, right? “To the extent that I had no choice but to do so.”
Now Kyle knows too.
“Now I understand what you had to do. “Because you were there as a wise man back then.”
Now that I am looking at the same place again after the twisted and twisted path, I can understand it. And only now was there something I could say.
“I admired you like that.”
“······.”
“I always looked up to high things, always cried out for ideals, and always admired you for being right.”
If you think about it, yes.
“It’s been like that since I was young. From the time you forcibly dragged me away from the village and ran away, you stood in front of me. “You were always in front of me.”
It’s been like that from the beginning.
“So, I envied you. I wanted to stand by your side. “I wanted to become a human equal to you.”
Was that why?
“When I was chosen by the stars and stood by your side, I felt like I had everything. “I felt like I had achieved everything when I went on an adventure with you.”
So, was he that happy that day?
“But I couldn’t do that forever.”
Kyle laughed bitterly.
“There was responsibility. I also had a duty. I earned the qualifications to be a warrior, but my spirit didn’t do it. Because I started too lightly. “I went on this journey with the sole thought of chasing after you…”
so.
“The moment I thought I couldn’t chase after you, I ended up neglecting my duty.”
So it got messed up.
“I didn’t consider you a fellow human being. I thought of you as a god-like being. It’s been like that ever since I faced the Demon King. Because only then did I feel at ease. “Because that was the only way I could bear it.”
It is something that cannot catch up in the first place.
It’s not like me.
I could bear it only by thinking like that.
“I rationalized it like that and turned my attention away from my duty. “I did a lot of really bad things because I wanted you to be disillusioned with me, to let me go, to leave me.”
And yet.
“You didn’t let me go. I kept telling him to get up. why···.”
“Because you overlapped me.”
Raniel interrupted Kyle.
Sighing, she continued.
“You wouldn’t know it, but I never had a dream to begin with. That’s why I overlapped with you while you were dreaming. “Because we overlapped, I couldn’t see you giving up.”
Isn’t this a funny story?
Raniel said while mumbling.
“This is the real me that you admired. A person who had no dream, so he just walked ahead no matter what. An empty human being. “It was just like that.”
“···Is that so?”
“okay. “But not now.”
Raniel slowly stood up.
Unlike Kyle, who was sitting leaning against the wall, Raniel stood up unsteadily. Raniel stood right in front of Kyle, who stood up.
“Do you remember what your dream was?”
“…It was about becoming a hero.”
“Yes, hero.”
Raniel grinned.
“A flawless hero. A symbolic being. And, the symbol you hoped for was victory.”
symbol of victory.
“I’m going to try that too.”
“···what?”
“You saved me as you please.”
So, she said.
“I’m going to steal your dreams as I please.”
“···What is that?”
Raniel bent his knees, leaving behind Kyle, who was laughing as if he were dumbfounded. She placed her broken arm on Kyle’s shoulder and patted him.
“So, rest.”
A comfortable intonation as if speaking to a friend, different from the time when he was wearing a mask as a wise man. Raniel continued speaking in a light voice.
“You can rest, so take this time to rest well. How can a person just run without resting? “If you’ve been running like that, take a break now.”
You tried hard enough.
You can rest because you’ve done enough.
Seeing Raniel say that, Kyle burst out laughing. He had no choice but to do so.
Because this is what Kyle wanted to hear.
However, because it was an impossible situation, there was no time, and for countless reasons, Raniel could not say these words, and Kyle could not hear them.
‘···Do that now.’
Kyle laughed.
He smiled and raised his head. This was a devil’s land, so the sun was not supposed to rise. However, have the dark clouds cleared along with the shadows? The sun was rising.
The shining sunlight seeped in through the cracks in the collapsed ceiling. It finally reached the basement.
Raniel’s gray hair sparkled in the sunlight. Although he looked completely disfigured and unsightly, Raniel still seemed to shine brighter than anything else in Kyle’s eyes. The hero he dreamed of was there.
“I’m resting.”
said the hero.
“When you open your eyes, everything will be over. “Let’s have a drink then.”
Not a hero.
Not Raniel van Trias.
Not a wise man, just Raniel said.
“When that time comes, you pay for the drinks. “You always shot me.”
“When are you going to pay money just to buy something?”
“Anyway, you buy it this time.”
Kyle chuckled.
“Yes, when that time comes…”
It gradually became difficult to resist the rush of sleep.
The seed sprouted and Kyle’s consciousness drifted away. Kyle muttered in his fading consciousness.
“Let’s have a drink.”
fantasy,
