Ch.221On Being Forgotten (6)

The day before the arrival of the demon lord.

I was wandering aimlessly through the city.

I didn’t have any particular destination in mind.

I just wanted to observe the flow of the world passing by.

I walked quietly.

“……”

My footsteps made no sound.

With my fluttering shadow behind me, I held silence on my lips.

Through narrowed eyes, I surveyed my surroundings.

Perhaps it was a terrible wandering.

“Fresh vegetables for sale! Just arrived today, very fresh!”

“Mister! Give me five of those good ones.”

“Make way! Cart coming through! Everyone please step aside!”

“Mom, Mom! They’re selling something interesting over there!”

“Really? Let’s go take a look.”

The streets were bustling with everyday life.

Perhaps because this was a rural village located quite far from the center.

Despite the tension spreading throughout the continent, life here still overflowed with vitality.

It seemed the news of the cathedral’s collapse hadn’t reached here yet.

In a world on the brink of destruction, this place remained peaceful, as if unaware of what was coming.

“Do you dare stand against me?”

“How foolish. You’re nothing but a mere doll and fragment.”

The gentle scent of summer settled on the bridge of my nose.

I breathed faintly, feeling the lukewarm breeze.

A whisper of unease echoed in my ears.

“Ten days from now, when an eclipse is promised to the world.”

“On the night when the power of the sun, moon, and stars grows weakest, I shall descend as a complete being.”

“This world will lose its original meaning. And be reborn as a perfect world.”

The season was vividly, burningly bright.

I kept my eyes gently closed.

“Hide yourself far away. Clutching in your hands the things you’ll soon lose.”

“And tremble as if you’re afraid of having them taken away.”

No.

The world would not be destroyed.

Even if it cost me my last breath, I would stop it all.

“Well then… Pinocchio.”

“Let’s meet again on a starless night.”

I waited for the starless night.

More precisely, I had no choice but to wait.

I continued my silent steps.

In contrast to my inner turmoil, everything around me remained peaceful.

‘I am…’

The world does not grieve.

It wasn’t confused either.

It simply continued as always.

Tomorrow, I would no longer remain in this world.

Yet the world didn’t seem to care at all.

As if the exit of a mere extra wasn’t worth its attention.

‘What am I?’

The world was peaceful.

And it would remain peaceful.

The seasons flow by without even a single flower of remembrance.

Perhaps I found that disconnect difficult to bear.

“……”

Back and forth—

My vision kept swaying.

The world was staggering.

As if an earthquake had struck, I struggled to maintain my balance.

Only after exhaling a breath close to a hangover did I realize.

‘Ah.’

The world wasn’t staggering.

It was my legs that were unsteady.

Like someone drunk, I stumbled with sober steps.

As I became aware of this, I felt gazes from all around.

Perhaps I looked like a drunkard intoxicated in broad daylight.

“Tsk… what’s wrong with that young fellow, drunk in the middle of the day.”

“Don’t be too harsh. He’s young, these things happen.”

“Who’s scolding him? I’m just saying it would be trouble if he collapsed.”

“Should we help him?”

People passing by with furrowed brows.

People speaking with kindness and concern.

Looks mixed with contempt or pity.

I stood there, trampling all those whispers.

Like a sprawled-out drunk.

‘Why.’

Perhaps I felt some resentment.

Toward a world that doesn’t love me.

Toward people who won’t remember me.

Toward mourning that will never be mine.

“I loved Miss Lezia too.”

A fate of disappearing without leaving anything behind.

Not loved, not remembered, not mourned.

Simply meeting my end in the dawn of ignorance.

A doll’s demise, footnoted as pathetic.

I am dyed in darkness.

“It’s okay.”

And then I take it back.

“I’m fine.”

*Ding!*

[A small amount of lies has been recovered.]

[Current remaining output: 71.8%]

“I’m not lonely.”

*Ding!*

[A small amount of lies has been recovered.]

[Current remaining output: 72.3%]

“As always… I’ll be fine.”

*Ding!*

[A small amount of lies has been recovered.]

[Current remaining output: 72.9%]

“I…”

The mechanical sounds in my ears were noisy, but I didn’t care.

I just held my breath. Gently settled the stirring emotions.

So that I wouldn’t harbor other thoughts.

To be trapped in the purgatory of endings.

I deceive my heart, and deceive it again.

“Every time we abandon pride, we take one step closer to becoming beasts. Every time we abandon our hearts, we take one step away from beasts.”

It was a philosopher’s saying.

According to him, I was killing my heart.

Steadily moving away from being a beast.

However, I wondered about something.

‘What am I becoming?’

A step away from being a beast.

But no one told me where that retreating step was heading.

‘Human…’

Is that really so?

If a human has no heart, can they still be called human?

Perhaps that retreating step was actually approaching becoming a doll.

When swept up by emotions, we approach beasts; when we kill our emotions, we approach dolls.

Our lives are spent staggering on the boundary between beast and doll.

Sometimes swept away by emotions, other times killing them.

Repeatedly becoming beasts, then becoming dolls.

Simply praying that at the end of this journey, we might become human.

“Pinocchio.”

The same was true for me.

Perhaps I wanted to become human.

Through the footprints I’ve left behind, and the fruits borne at the end.

A happy ending where I escape being a beast, shed being a doll, and someday become human…

“……”

The sunshine was still blazing.

My legs staggered again.

Lost in thought, I simply continued walking.

Toward the day of rest that had already arrived tomorrow.

Even then, there was no one in the world who remembered me.

‘That’s right.’

I was simply being forgotten.

***

Meanwhile.

At the dormitory of Gallimar Academy.

“……”

Following the streaming sunlight, green eyes blinked.

Lezia sat there, lost in thought as always.

Her gaze wandered somewhere.

But its destination remained unknown.

Like a flock of sheep lost among the stars.

“Miss Le…”

A fever lived in her heart.

Emotions that wouldn’t go away, bubbling in place.

She could neither explain nor understand the reason.

The chest pain that had continued for days tormented the girl.

Because of this, Lezia had to sink into deep helplessness.

“I came to find my friend…”

It was an ordinary, unremarkable daily life.

But the girl suffered from a sense of loss.

As if she had lost something precious.

It was strange.

If it had been so cherished, she wouldn’t have forgotten it so carelessly.

Even when she tried to retrace her memories just in case, everything remained the same.

Lezia occasionally pulled at her hair.

‘…It hurts.’

She couldn’t quite come to her senses.

A particularly hazy consciousness and unceasing headache.

Sometimes it was hard to bear.

Anything.

It felt like her suppressed emotions would explode.

Without knowing their true nature, the girl sobbed.

“I loved Miss Le… too.”

Her lips burned.

Like kissing a burning branch.

Yet the soft sensation seemed to linger on her lips.

It was burning and painful, yet tender and sad.

Tears kept welling up in her eyes.

“Ah, ugh…”

Her lips felt like they were burning, but it wasn’t painful.

What felt like it was being torn apart was a corner of her heart.

Phantom pain for something that had been cut away.

Lezia retched with sobs many times.

“Haa, haa…”

But the girl couldn’t understand why.

Why her heart ached so much.

Why she felt such sadness.

Why she longed to see someone so badly.

Lezia was in pain, but she didn’t know the source of that pain.

She could only cry.

‘No… don’t go.’

She made pleas whose meaning she didn’t understand.

When dawn came and the inevitable loneliness visited.

The pilot knelt before the window covered in night.

And as if wishing for something, she offered an earnest prayer.

Though she didn’t know the content, the passion was unmistakably vivid.

The girl left her room.

“*Sniff*…”

She didn’t have any particular destination.

She just thought that taking a walk might calm this restlessness a little.

People didn’t notice anything. Her aimless steps continued to wander.

Nothing had changed. Everyone was laughing, talking, occasionally getting angry, and sometimes sad…

Despite such an ordinary everyday life, she suffered from a terrible sense of disconnect.

It felt like she had returned to when she first traveled the continent alone.

‘Why?’

Despite being surrounded by so many people.

From close friends to passing acquaintances.

The pilot no longer wandered the desert or the night sky.

Yet she felt heartbroken.

“But Miss Lezia.”

“Being among people doesn’t mean you can’t be lonely.”

Lezia moved with stumbling steps.

After some time had passed like this,

The girl suddenly stopped in front of an unfamiliar building.

It seemed she had arrived at a strange place while letting her body follow her unconscious.

She looked around.

“A dormitory…?”

It was a residence prepared for someone.

Judging by its size, it seemed to be the dormitory for the top student of the year…

“Looks like no one’s here.”

Given the timing, it seemed no student was staying there.

Lezia tilted her head. Somehow this space felt familiar.

She furrowed her brow at the strange sense of déjà vu that pricked at her.

She tried to shake off these odd impressions.

“…I should go back.”

Just as she was about to turn around, someone grabbed her sleeve.

“Lezia.”

“…?!”

The pilot turned around in surprise.

What came into view was a most unexpected person.