Book 11 Chapter 3
Episode 255
“It’s okay to give me just a little, a little more time, isn’t it?”
It was the moment when an unexpected tension was pulled taut, as if it would snap at any second.
「Countless living beings wish to become dragons, yet you would abandon being a dragon yourself. How can such a mysterious thing be?」
At the voice of Zhakan, the third son who had maintained a reverent silence, the wyverns prostrated themselves.
「Forgive these children’s impudence. Their lives are long, and they tend to become more stubborn than any other race.」
And then Gruidaone, the second daughter, approached Aki, knelt on one knee, and met her gaze.
「Is that human your father?」
Aki nodded her head vigorously.
「Humans cannot bear dragons, and dragons cannot bear humans. Nevertheless, do you believe that human is your father?」
Aki nodded her head again.
Suddenly, a heavy silence seemed to fall, and then Gruidaone let out a laugh that carried a reverent tremble.
「Then have your wish. The name Alrakish gave you is Freedom (自由), and what you wish to do from your heart is your mission.」
The wyverns, not daring to defy her majesty, barely managed to voice their concerns.
「However, O Child of Fire. Humans cannot walk through time like dragons.」
「A mission, indeed, that is true. But which dragon on this earth could possibly debate Alrakish on the matter of a mission? With the being who has guarded the distant North Pole alone since the Age of Origin?」
「!」
「And you call him human, yet your eyes are too imperfect to see it, but the weave of this human's soul is already identical to the black sun, and thus he no longer falls within the human category.」
I blinked my eyes.
I didn't understand what was happening. When I asked why, Gruidaone said:
「The age of the dragon race is coming to an end. We, the last True Dragons who served Bel'dakidoon, and our legion, will soon fulfill our destiny (命) as the fuel of this <Flame Myriad Miles>.」
“Such a thing…”
「Dragons live by their mission and die when their mission ends. It is paradoxical. Though they live for ages close to eternity, they remember the old world but know nothing of the present one.」
Does this mean the Red Dragons, having received the Fire Dragon's command to guard this wall of flame, must live out their days protecting only this wall until they die?
This time, Zhakan approached.
His eyes were looking not to the south, but to the north. To the north where the Republic's land lay, and across the narrow strait, the Empire, the Duchies, and the City-States.
「In the future, let that child's mouth tell us a story.」
“……?”
「What does that great and beautiful world, which Alrakish, Shalesarum, Pyras, and the legion protected with their messengers (使) and destiny (命), look like now?」
“……!”
「The age of the dragon race is entering its twilight, and the age of humans is greeting the dawn; let us feel the light of that dawn.」
Gruidaone nodded as if agreeing with her kin's wishes, and looked at me with gentle eyes.
「Perhaps Alrakish would also wish for this. That soul is emitting such a tremor; will you protect Akirea until she becomes an adult?」
As I opened my eyes wide, Zhakan, perhaps thinking I didn't understand the meaning, added an explanation.
「On the day your body fulfills its destiny or Akirea becomes an adult, we will begin the True Dragon's education. At that time, we will send you back here.」
There was no need to hesitate with the answer.
Forgetting even the heat of the white sand, I bowed my head to the ground.
“I will do so. Please allow me to do so.”
Gruidaone and Zhakan exchanged smiles and extended their hands to Aki.
「Come, now that we will not take your foster father (義父) from you, come into our arms for just a moment. We wish to know the warmth of your soul.」
Sniffling, Aki hesitated for a long time, then approached the True Dragons on the condition that I wouldn't move more than two steps away.
Zhakan first placed his hands on both of Aki's sides and lifted her up, and then Gruidaone held Aki in a tight embrace.
It didn't take long for tears to well up in the eyes of the two True Dragons.
「You are truly Alrakish's daughter. How long has it been, sister? How wonderful it would have been if you had come with her…」
Then, for just a very brief moment.
Perhaps it was a hallucination born from a desperate wish for it to be so.
In this tearful reunion, I thought I saw the figure of a cherished benefactor. With hands resting on the heads of her two younger siblings, sending a gentle smile my way.
「Thank you.」
* * *
Du······ Gero······ Al ki de······.
The dragons' song resonated reverently, singing of the sunset.
This song, holding an echo of hope for all living things and those yet to live…
“It’s a song sung to bless kinsmen who are setting off on a long journey.”
“Aki is no longer a little dragon.”
“You’re saying that again. Well, she’s young now… But it’s polite to at least show gratitude to the True Dragons.”
Aki now had no intention of leaving Rain's embrace, but as Rain kept saying that, she eventually peeked her face over his shoulder.
“Haba ne shi rade mia.”
And she uttered a dragon language in response to the dragons' song.
Then, the dragons perched on the ridge of fire simultaneously spread their wings, a majestic sight that made one's heart swell.
The two True Dragons were still in their humanoid forms, waving their hands at Aki.
「That little kid who only knew how to cry for herself now knows how to cry for someone else. It really makes one think, living for so long. Right, Pipi?」
Friede and Pipi giggled playfully.
To be able to playfully chatter so happily over such trivial jokes, Pipi really ought to stay by Friede's side.
Pipi wanted it, and Friede also decided there was no longer any particular reason to leave Pipi with Rain.
「Where will you go now?」
“There are many places to go… I haven't even traveled through all the Imperial lands yet. But for now, I'm thinking of going home.”
「Aha, you're going to boast to your parents about your lovely wife and granddaughter, perhaps? That's not bad.」
Miria's face, silently glaring at Friede, seemed to be tinged with red, perhaps due to the darkening twilight.
“Friede, won't you come with us?”
「What are you talking about? I told you, didn't I? This is my transcendent form; I reached transcendence with the help of the Fire Dragon. So I must protect this place.」
“…….”
「Why are both of you making those faces? I'll probably live longer than you, won't I? You'll have long lives ahead, so come visit occasionally. Whenever you arrive at <Raptas>, I'll come out to meet you.」
Yes…
Friede gazed at her two companions, lost in a strange reverie. No, she was immersed in the delusion she had always harbored since the old journey ended in tears.
Because she would return someday, no matter when. Just as it had happened 300 years later.
- If this expedition ends, won't we travel together?
- Rin, you promised, didn't you? That we would travel together.
- Yes, I promise.
Because you definitely promised that.
I firmly believed and prayed that you would return someday and come here. That's why I left Pipi behind and departed.
Because I believed that, because I believed your words, because I knew you were a child who always kept your promises.
No matter how exhausted she became, she didn't give up on life, went through the arduous process of transcendence, and was reborn as a dragon.
- If not in this life, then reborn into a new one?
Yes.
I prayed only for the day when you two would meet again.
To forever pray that the gods would watch over your reunion, which had been fated for a tragic severance from the moment you met.
‘Perhaps there is no such thing as coincidence in this world.’
Everything operates under the providence of the gods, under the name of destiny.
‘And that destiny granted those two new time. So that they could fulfill the promise they made that day, before they were covered in ice.’
I have longed for this moment alone.
I prayed to see the day when you two would overcome that tragedy and find happiness.
And seeing that prayer finally bear such beautiful fruit, I am simply endlessly joyful and grateful.
「Then the two of you will embark on a journey. Just as we talked about before.」
In the fleeting and sorrowfully setting twilight, they simply gazed at each other for a moment.
Then, though they had never promised to do so before, they embraced each other almost simultaneously.
With Setsunen entrusted to Aki, at this moment, no one, whoever they might be, would dare to intrude.
「You little brat Rin, still without a speck of cuteness, don't just stay away for life because you don't want to hear nagging.」
“Don't worry, I'll come even if you tell me not to. I'll have to see Pipi too.”
“Pipi, Pipi, Pipi.”
「And you, hero, who blasphemously reincarnated into a new body as you prayed for, now stop using swords and live happily.」
“If the old miko promises not to tease me every time we meet, I'll try. But I think I'll continue to use a kitchen knife.”
Serwebon and Shirpeng each emitted their own light, as if blessing this moment.
At that moment, they were smiling at each other, but above their eyes, the twilight shattered into a rainbow of colors.
How much they must have longed for this moment, how much they wished for the day it would come to this.
Then, as if remembering something, Rain took a basket out of Sereshia's inner pocket. When he opened the lid, a pure white dragon egg was visible.
“Turaina is in here.”
“What?”
「Turaina?」
“It's just a fragment of a soul, but Lord Kalenden said this is comfort for us…”
「I see.」
Friede swallowed a bitter smile that looked like it would break at any moment.
「I'm sorry, Rin. It's all my fault that Turaina ended up like that. I led her astray, I… I should have embraced that child's heart more--」
At that moment, there was a sound that cut Friede short.
It wasn't anyone's voice. It was the sound of cracks spreading across the pure white dragon egg. One, two, three, and then another.
Everyone held their breath in bewilderment, and soon the cracks broke open, and a child's face emerged.
“This is…”
Hair and eyebrows that recalled untouched white snow on a winter's day. A pure white child, without a single speck of blemish.
“A human? A dragon-person? Was Aki like this too?”
“No, Aki was a baby dragon when she came out of the egg…”
Myrngardia had the exact same appearance as when Yeriserica held her in a vision long ago.
Myrngardia didn't whimper like Aki. She simply looked around at the faces of the three people and one animal, as calm as a lake.
Streams of water flowed from the child's two eyes, as she tilted her head with an expressionless face. Unknowing the reason for her own tears, guided by the fragments of her soul.
「Ah…」
Friede pulled Myrngardia out of the egg's mucous fluid, and upon seeing the familiar weave residing in Myrngardia's soul, tightly embraced her.
And began to weep silently.
Tears streamed ceaselessly from Friede's eyes, eyes that had never shed tears before parting or after reuniting.
There are moments that exist because there are meetings.
There are feelings learned because there are partings.
Meetings and partings coexist, teaching humanity the finiteness of life, and teaching humanity the hearts of the gods through their joy and sorrow.
Because knowing that there is an end makes them cherish each other.
Because when they meet again someday after the end, the joy of reunion will also be as great as the affection they had for each other.
That is the providence of creation, the heart of the Creator Gods who spread the heavens and built the earth.
And this is the story of an end.
The story of the day the grand finale of a journey that could not end and continued for 300 years, finally concluded.
And at the end of that story, the story of a new life begins. A story that could only be dreamed of 300 years ago.
Now, finally, the time that had stopped begins to flow forward.
* * *
“Your Excellency, the Prime Minister.”
In the Prime Minister's office, located in the Imperial Palace where all affairs of the Holy Human Empire's governance were handled, hung the crimson-eyed emblem symbolizing the Ludwig ducal family.
The black-haired handsome young man, who had been busily moving his quill at the table in front of it, raised his head.
A badge, beautifully reflecting the sunlight from the left breast of his official uniform, with four stars elegantly inlaid on its surface.
This badge was given only to members of the Hwangha Office, the Empire's foremost talents. The young man was the Magus Star among them, who had served in the Empire's state affairs for generations.
Although he was excessively young to hold such a crucial position, no one raised an objection to this appointment by Laida Eijin, who had been newly elected emperor this year.
“The Imperial Council is ready.”
The man's name was Rain Ludwig.
The third sage in the Empire's thousand-year history to successfully reach the threshold of truth (眞理), and the second Great Sage to master that truth.
The era had already revered this young man with such a title even before he became the Magus Star. The Sage of Dragons, the Dragon Sage (龍賢).
“Mm, I'll go now.”