Book 12 Chapter 20

Side Story Part 2, Episode 13

The Child Weaving Hearts (13)

Yes… how wonderful it would have been if that day's return home had ended only with happiness, I think.

But there seemed to be a total amount of happiness in the world, and if this happiness was excessive, a corresponding sorrow had to be faced alongside it.

The moment they realized this fact was when Fride called Rain and Miria on the night the celebration banquet ended.

"Yes, this is your child."

It was the middle of the night, everyone asleep. This was the first time that companions from 300 years ago could talk among themselves.

Fride held Elaham, gazed blankly at her face, then smiled, and then became wistful again.

Fride looked back at Pipi, who was sitting on her shoulder, and said.

"Pipi, look at this. Those two crazy lunatics had a child. I can't even imagine how much of a lunatic it will be."

"Crazy, crazy, a calamity for the world. Pipi is afraid, Pipi is scared."

Rain and Miria flared up simultaneously.

"No matter what, could it be worse than you?!"

"Hey! You guys are acting so normal these days, but 300 years ago, you were lunatics beyond compare. You know that?"

"That's not for you to say. You were one of those lunatics too."

Rain found his own laughing and chatting self so strange that he let out a hollow laugh for a moment.

Memories from 300 years ago…

Weren't they just painful memories when recalled? So, they could be shared as memories with someone like this.

"Actually… I have something important to tell you two."

Fride returned Elaham to Miria's arms and suddenly spoke in a serious tone.

"You two, can you see Pipi's condition?"

Due to multiple reunions overlapping since Elaham's first birthday, they hadn't been able to focus much on Pipi's condition.

Outwardly, Pipi seemed to have no particular problems.

However, Pipi had never joyfully flown around, pecked foreheads, or played pranks like before.

"Pipi doesn't have much time left. And neither do I… Even when I came here, I couldn't fly on my own and had to be carried on Aki's back."

That wistful closing remark…

…sounded like it was impossible to ever break free from the tragic ending of 300 years ago…

"Is that even possible?"

Rain felt the tumultuous waves of the world rushing dizzily before his eyes. He instinctively opened his mouth to deny that truth.

"Dragons are immortal, aren't they?"

"Ascension to a dragon isn't about gaining divinity. Immortality is only possible for those with divinity. You reached the truth, but you didn't gain immortality. Right?"

"That…"

"Humans wear out not just their bodies but also their souls. If you've lived 300 years longer… you've lived much longer than I expected."

Miria couldn't open her mouth for a while.

Perhaps as a child, she could sense her mother's sad silence. Elaham woke from her sleep and began to cry.

While Miria hastily comforted Elaham, Rain reached out his hand to Pipi.

"Pipi, can you come here?"

"I can't fly that far. Come a little closer."

Rather than letting Pipi fly, Rain simply held her in both hands.

Looking closely, even her appearance wasn't whole.

Pipi had lived for 300 years, over 300 long years, and most of that life was stained with the loneliness of waiting for Lin without end.

The traces of those years were tragically etched all over her body… Rain felt a stinging in his eyes.

"So what's going to happen? Are you just… dying peacefully of old age?"

Fride chuckled and shook her head.

"No, do you think I, Fride, the Priestess of the Fire Dragon, would be content with such a trivial death? I'll become part of <Flame Myriad Miles>. Both Pipi and I. It's a fitting finale for us, isn't it? Even when we go, we go artistically."

Astounded.

Dumbfounded.

Fride gave no room to refute with social conventions, to object with personal feelings, or to argue rationally.

"So I want to invite you. To our final flight."

* * *

The final flight was made on Fride's wings.

For this flight, it seemed she had borrowed Aki's power to conserve her energy.

Rain and Miria, along with Elaham and Setsunen, accompanied them.

"I'll take responsibility for taking those people to the Tersh Archipelago, so don't worry."

Akirea took into account the circumstances of her in-laws. Mirngardia also said she would go with them.

"I need flying practice. Long-distance flying practice is impossible on the peninsula."

The pretext was flying practice, but in reality, it was probably a desire to spend more time with a sister she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Alright, Mir. If His Holiness the Water Dragon reprimands you, just say I told you to do it."

"Lying is impossible. I will only accept the sentiment."

"My child… Alright, I understand."

Nen looked at the two with envious eyes but did not emit darkness.

It was clear that she was suppressing her own feelings, her sorrow, as much as possible, which was also incredibly admirable.

When she was hugged tightly as if to say she would be cherished more than her sister and brother, Nen's trembling gradually subsided.

That fortnight-long flight… was also a journey tracing back the past five years spent during the period of turmoil.

Stories shared while looking down at the places where traces of the 300-year-old journey remained… blossomed beautifully on Fride's back.

They traveled to so many places and spoke of so many things in those places.

It was simply astonishing that all of it remained until now as such brilliant memories.

Nen listened to the stories of the journey, laughing along, and then grew melancholic.

Fride, citing fatigue, stopped flying at one location and settled down for a moment… It was a field of twilight flowers.

Since even the twilight of dawn was still dim, there was no way there would be people, and it was a time when even the twilight flowers hadn't awakened.

Yet, this place brought a faint shock to them.

Fride returned to her dragon-human form and sat astride a rock.

It was a major tourist spot where she had been told, when she came here with Aki previously, that an elderly Fride used to sit alone here.

"I often came here after I reached middle age. With Pipi, you know. When you get old, time is something you have in excess."

"Tsk, your skill at slacking off is truly unparalleled."

"Oh~ It was fine because I'd already handed over the priestess position to Tureina. An elder priestess can wander anywhere, it's legal."

Fride lightly brushed aside Rain's playful retort and gazed down at the horizon of the river and flower field, smiling wistfully.

"Sitting here, I thought of you all. When I thought of the laughter we shared back then… one question arose."

Were those fools truly happy?

Even if they were fools, they were people who knew how to share happiness just like ordinary humans, but was their end truly, truly happy?

What about the great mage who died saving his companions, and the hero who died waiting for that great mage's promise?

"Only then did I realize that waiting for you solely on faith was a truly irresponsible act. As a mentor, I couldn't even face Tureina, who was struggling with the sole purpose of reviving you, Lin. From then on, I… researched ways to ascend to a dragon."

Fride suddenly stopped speaking and began stretching here and there, then once again took on the form of a dragon amidst the flames.

"Let's leave before people arrive. It's not sunset, so there isn't much to see anyway."

Fride did not speak.

About the loneliness and pain she had to endure during that period of ascension.

Rain and Miria also didn't ask. Because Pipi's appearance spoke for similar loneliness and pain.

"Now the Akrad continent is coming to an end too."

"Remember what happened there? Fride didn't want to eat Lin's terrible cooking, so she brought only caviar, but it spoiled, and she starved."

"Yeah, I really thought she was crazy. She should have brought jerky or something."

"Damn it, you did the exact same thing when you went from the archipelago to the Adrion continent, and you're in a position to talk?!"

Every time such stories were exchanged, Nen laughed brightly, and perhaps because the ripples of her laughter spread, Elaham also laughed.

Like that, like that…

300 years ago, they wished for this journey to end as quickly as possible, but during these two weeks, they wished for this path to last as long as possible.

'The Vermilion City <Langbard> workshop, and the fierce battle at the Crimson Holy Land <Shuriganaqius>…'

Numerous dangers and enemies lurked in every gap of that journey, but never once did they feel overwhelmed, difficult, or painful.

Everyone…

Because everyone was by their side, everyone was near, and they were walking that path together with everyone.

'Damn it…'

Now, there were no dangers or enemies anywhere in the lands below, only peace.

So…

It seemed natural that the journey to the ends of the earth was violently shortened compared to then.

"…"

From the moment they passed <Shuriganaqius>, conversation ceased, and from then until they reached <Flame Myriad Miles>, only the sound of their breathing could be heard.

Nen, sensing the surging sorrow within Miria, hugged Miria's back tightly.

Miria received considerable comfort by holding Nen's hand.

From the peaks of Flame Myriad Miles, the sound of red dragons welcoming the return of their kin could be heard.

Within a few hours, Fride landed near <Flame Myriad Miles> and returned to her dragon-human form.

Fride then threw herself into the flame barrier of <Flame Myriad Miles> without looking back, and Miria cried out in surprise.

"Fride, no!"

But it seemed it was all a prank, as Fride only plunged her hand into the flames of <Flame Myriad Miles>.

<Flame Myriad Miles> was a wall of fire built from the soul of a fire dragon, its heat capable of filling the entire South Pole, making its temperature almost impossible to gauge.

However… Fride's arm, when pulled out again, merely had the fire of <Flame Myriad Miles> clinging to it, appearing completely unharmed.

"See? It's not a painful process at all. It's just… like laying the body over these flames, and the soul being liberated, I guess. Like a cremation while alive, you could say. So there's nothing to be scared of. 'No,' what 'no'?"

For a moment, silence flowed.

None of the three shouted "Goodbye" first, nor did anyone shout "I'm leaving" first.

No one wanted to go, and no one wanted to send them off, but this situation, where they had to go and had to be sent off, choked their throats with extreme sorrow.

"Father!"

Aki arrived around that time.

His departure was later than the group's, but not being old, his flight speed was fast and there were fewer stops, so he seemed to have arrived quickly.

Mir landed shortly after, and the dignity of a dragon was gradually emanating from Mir.

"Lady Fride, are you leaving?"

"Yes, I have to go now. I wanted to disappear grandly… but Aki and Mir came like this."

Fride approached Mir, affectionately patted his cheek, and then kissed his forehead.

"In this life… I pray that your life will be able to bestow a dawn-like tranquility upon this land."

Mirngardia of the Blue Star could not fathom what that piercing sorrow she felt at that moment was.

It was a pain like her soul being sliced by a blade, and though she didn't know why, her vision kept shattering transparently.

Fride wiped Mir's tears, then shared a deep embrace with Aki.

"Aki, I'm sorry I couldn't be more of a help."

"No, not at all. I've already received so much."

Finally, Fride knelt on one knee before Nen, meeting her gaze.

"Nen, you remember what your older sister said, don't you? About how wonderful your black color is."

"Nen remembers!"

"Yes, my lovely Nen."

Fride hugged Nen tightly and patted her head.

"Please take good care of those two fools."

Having said goodbye to the young dragons, Fride finally looked at Rain with sad eyes.

"Rain, give Pipi back."

Fride extended her hand.

Rain… was holding Pipi in both hands, her strength now completely gone, the intensity of her pulse infinitely frail, and he simply couldn't let go.

Pipi was the friend who came like a light when he was dying in that endless loneliness, loneliness.

'Breaking through the wall of 300 years.'

After reuniting with Pipi, that loneliness had gradually eased, and then after meeting Aki, it had truly begun to heal, hadn't it?

Pipi wasn't just a friend.

She was like a benefactor who first broke down the curtain of the era. All the joys and sorrows of 300 years ago were shared with Pipi.

'Ah, damn it… But I haven't done anything for these guys.'

Hesitating.

Hesitating and hesitating again.

He truly, truly didn't want to, but in the end, Rain finally handed Pipi over to Fride and sharply turned his back.

"Finally free from that eccentric old hag and parrot who are 300 years old. Phew, what a relief!"

He had to hide his face, which had already begun to crumble, no, from the moment this final flight began.

"Rain."

Just as Miria was about to scold Rain, asking if his words weren't too harsh, Fride took a long breath, filling her lungs to the very end, and then cried out loudly.

"Lin! Rista!"

That cry, that call, was not a simple cry, nor a simple call.

It was a guide, a link, and a memory pointing towards that distant past, 300 years ago, which only they now remembered.

From now on, in the short yet long time remaining in the future, no one would call them by those names.

"The journey to the ends of the earth with you all, truly, truly… it was enjoyable! So many things happened, but… I can only remember enjoyable things…"

A story that should have been shared 300 years ago.

"It was fun, it was fun, Pipi was fun too. Very fun."

Like those many hero fairy tales.

The well-wishes that the hero party, having conquered evil and returned, should have exchanged with laughter.

"It was really fun, but now the journey is over… let's disband and go our separate ways."

That story…

Only now, at this point 300 years later…

Only now…

"We're separating now, but we'll meet again later… in that heavenly realm, in paradise. And then… even that hopeless drunkard Kiese will be there too…"

Miria entrusted Elaham to Nen, then ran to Fride and tightly embraced her old friend.

"Fride, Pipi. Thank you so much… for waiting for 300 years like this… You must have been lonely and alone… for us…"

Rain remained with his back turned, tormented for a long time, then finally, he too placed his arms over his old companions.

"Yes, you crazy witch, even more hopeless than Kiese! Don't get kicked out of heaven until we get there… chasing after all the cool guys who came to heaven…"

His voice was playful, but.

The transparent tears welling in his eyes streamed down his cheeks and still kept endlessly welling up.

Rista's expression facing farewell was no different; in fact, her weeping was more intense than Lin's, looking as if she would burst into sobs at any moment.

"Don't get it wrong. It wasn't for you. It was all for me."

"Pipi, for Pipi's sake. Not for you."

"Right~ It was all for us, so getting it wrong is just too much."

Fride initially responded playfully with Pipi, but soon the focus in her eyes blurred and shattered.

"Me? When I saw Elaham at her first birthday party… I became certain. Pipi and I… waited for over 300 years… just to see you all become so happy…"

"Fride…"

"So… about that unpromised waiting for hundreds of years, I now think this way… Ah, I truly did well to wait…"

After Fride's last words, the hero party, without anyone starting first, began to cry loudly.

Even though the world, the era, lauded them as heroes, there was no shyness or shame towards their tears.

A story that should have ended this way. Not such a cruel farewell story, but a conclusion that should have ended as a cheerful comedy.

"Please cherish Aki, Nen, and Mir dearly until they come here."

That day, after the tears that had been choked back for 300 years finally ceased… she mixed with the wall of flames and vanished without a trace.

Having pacified the period of turmoil in the 11th century.

And Fride, the legendary heroine, Priestess of the Fire Dragon, who ushered in a golden age of sorcery.

"Well then, I'll go."

Not just in history.

From that distant era.

Even in the lives of her companions who crossed the barrier of time to the present era.

"I'll say hello to Kiese for you, so don't worry too much."

Her end…

Just before finishing her life's journey… that face, warmly waving goodbye to her old companions…

Looked truly, truly happy… just like when she accompanied her companions in her youth 300 years ago.

"Goodbye."