Ch.2Chapter 2: My Wish Came True in an Unexpected Way

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Though I was aware that death was gradually consuming my body, my mind remained surprisingly calm.

The radiance of the holy sword had burned away my nerves, eliminating all pain, which might have been why I felt no fear of death. But after a moment’s reflection, I easily realized that wasn’t the case.

It seemed I simply had no desire to cling pathetically to life when I was already dying.

However.

*Hiss*

As the ash crept past my feet and slowly transformed both my legs.

“Still… I feel some regret.”

From my mouth, which had shown no fear of death, came a belated sense of disappointment.

“I wanted to see… you saving the world…”

While I had no attachment to life, a desire lurked in a corner of my heart—I wanted to witness the most brilliant moment in the life of someone I still cherished. But…

“Haa… *cough* *cough*”

That seemed impossible now.

I knew it instinctively when I saw the black blood flowing from my mouth.

My consciousness was gradually fading.

As everything blurred, my heart filled with regret, but…

“Even if I can’t see it, I’m truly glad… that you saved the world.”

Before long, the regret was replaced by relief.

The belief that she—Lillian Siz—had successfully completed everything beyond my sight and would bring light back to this land filled my dying heart with comfort.

I wanted to depart thinking only of good things.

I tried to imagine her being loved by many people and living a happy life after completely removing the darkness that had permeated the world and bringing light to people. But…

*Surge*

“Kuhwek!”

The desperate thoughts in my nearly gone mind couldn’t continue as blood gushed from my mouth.

“Wh-what… words are ne-needed…”

Now even my speech was failing to form properly.

“It’s all… my fault.”

It’s my fault with no excuse.

If I had simply accepted my fate to die from an incurable disease, she would have become a hero without any problems and defeated the demon lord much more easily.

My desire to live manifested as a craving induced by the demon lord’s manipulation, and all my subsequent actions left the world’s savior with nothing but honor—nothing else remained for her.

It was laughable that I was having such thoughts at this point, but…

I was worried.

About her, about Lillian Siz.

I was so worried.

Those who knew her would cheer her on enthusiastically, and she would live a successful life as a hero, but…

This emotion struck me as soon as I realized the cold reality she would face—she now had almost no one left to share such joy with.

Why did this thought suddenly come to me?

-After first meeting you, I once held warm feelings when looking at you.

-I may be the fool who was deceived, but I deeply regret and find pathetic that brief moment when my heart warmed looking at you.

Ah…

From that moment when clear regret and hatred flowed from her lips as she looked at me…

That’s when concern for her seemed to enter my mind.

“Keheheh…”

What a madman I am.

Even in this state, I’m still so sensitive to those words about how she once saw me properly.

Perhaps I wasn’t stabbed deeply enough by the holy sword in her hand.

But even as I sank into self-mockery…

My mind wouldn’t stop conjuring all sorts of impossible scenarios.

The thought that if I hadn’t made the wrong choice, perhaps I could have become healthy and stood beside her here, returning light to the world.

The thought that maybe I should have honestly expressed the warmth I felt when looking at her, beyond the brief warm feelings she once had for me.

It would undoubtedly have been the happiest scenario if it had come true, but…

It’s futile. Truly futile.

Recalling the past and imagining what could have been is pointless.

“What a… pathetic bastard.”

Kehehehe

As death approached, I let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh at myself for having such pathetic thoughts.

Enough idle thinking—I should prepare for the true end now.

“Who knows… Perhaps as mother said, it might be glow-ing red…”

I reached into my breast pocket and took out a carefully kept item.

I hurried to retrieve it before my hands turned to ash and disappeared.

For a moment I worried my weakening hands might not find it properly.

Fortunately, my hand succeeded in pulling out that object—a necklace—from my pocket and raising it high enough to enter my field of vision.

It was a necklace adorned with an exquisitely crafted ruby in the shape of a heart.

-If you wish upon it with desperate sincerity, this necklace has the power to grant wishes.

I recalled my mother’s voice as she handed me the necklace just before her last breath, explaining its power.

Tempted by her words, I had earnestly made several wishes, but all were in vain.

Please cure the incurable disease consuming my body.

Please make me stronger.

Please give me thick skin that won’t break no matter how harsh the words I speak or hear.

…The last wish was a bit strange, but anyway, no matter how many times I wished, nothing happened, so I just kept it in my pocket as a keepsake of my mother.

Now, with death right before me, I suddenly remembered the pendant that supposedly granted wishes.

Whether it would grant it or not, I wanted to make one last wish.

Of course, I wasn’t going to make a pitiful wish asking to save my dying self.

A truly desperate wish had come to mind.

One I wanted to wish for with every last bit of my remaining strength.

*Woooong*

“…!!”

It brightened.

The necklace that had refused to shine no matter how desperately I wished suddenly responded to the desperation in my mind before I even made my wish, emitting a resonant sound as a beautiful light bloomed.

“K-kehehehe.”

Now that I’m at death’s door, this wish-granting necklace finally emits light.

What a lazy thing, I thought with a hollow laugh, but then I gathered my thoughts.

Whether it would grant my wish or not, I needed to speak before my strength to speak disappeared.

This wish is not for me.

“Please…”

*Cough* *cough*

Blood filled my throat, making it difficult to speak, but I desperately cleared my throat and opened my mouth again.

“Let Lillian Siz Proxian live the happiest life possible from now on.”

Despite having no strength and my voice being choked with blood, the wish came out in surprisingly well-formed language.

As if responding to my desperation…

*Woooong*

The ruby embedded in the necklace grew increasingly beautiful in its sparkle.

“…Did it work?”

My momentary excitement at seeing a response I’d never witnessed before was short-lived.

“Kuhup!!”

Black blood gushed from my mouth onto the ruby.

It was like a signal announcing the end of my life.

*Thud*

My right arm, which had been holding the pendant high, slowly fell toward the ground as I lost the strength to hold it, and then…

*Hissss*

It turned to ash and disappeared.

I no longer had the strength to open my mouth.

It seems this is truly the end.

At that moment…

*Tap tap tap tap*

Even with my fading hearing, I could clearly make out footsteps approaching at a regular interval.

It seems Siz has already finished her task.

After all, once I, the demon lord’s agent, was deliberately defeated by the hero’s hand, the demon lord himself was nothing more than a powerless figurehead on the throne.

Her hurried footsteps suggested she was rushing to seal away the demon lord and then transport me to face stern judgment.

What could be so urgent?

Although I wouldn’t face humanity’s judgment, my body was turning to ash, and even my soul would become the demon lord’s plaything, suffering a painful existence.

She must really hate me.

But what can I do about it?

I would have liked to put up some ugly struggle befitting her urgent footsteps, but…

I no longer have the strength to prolong this ugly life.

*Hissss*

Following my right arm, my left arm quickly turned to ash.

Only my torso and face remained.

With death right before me, it was time to offer an apology she wouldn’t hear as she approached.

I’m sorry.

I’m truly sorry I couldn’t even keep my word to stay put.

Until the very end, I couldn’t keep a single promise I made to you.

*Trickle*

Shamefully, tears flowed endlessly from my eyes.

With both hands turned to ash, unable to wipe away my tears, I simply wished and wished again.

It was an extension of my wish.

That she, who saved the world but had nothing left around her, would still live the rest of her life happily.

And it seemed time for my farewell words to her—words she wouldn’t hear—which I had carefully chosen.

Though all I gave you was hatred, jealousy, and feelings of inferiority, at least as I go, I’ll remember the warmth you said you once briefly felt toward me.

I pray that with the impurity that is me gone, the world named Lillian Siz will become complete.

As I recited this brief farewell in my mind, the ash that would end the time of a life that had completed its purpose finally began to turn my head to ash.

“―――!!!!!”

Though I couldn’t hear clearly, I heard Siz shouting something loudly.

*Tap tap tap tap*

The increasingly lively footsteps stopped in front of me.

And in the final moment before turning to ash, what entered my eyes was…

Her face, looking at me with an expression containing indescribable complexity.

When she should be showing intense disgust and anger at me for escaping through death without keeping my promises, she showed such a deeply emotional expression.

As the thin thread of life was about to snap, my mind filled with apology toward her.

I’m sorry. And goodbye…

*Snap*

The strength left my body completely, like a thread breaking.

My eyes, which had been forcibly kept open, closed completely.

The last thing my consciousness felt as it completely faded was Siz’s touch on my face as it turned to ash and disappeared.

It was a touch I could only know was happening—I couldn’t feel anything.

What could she be thinking?

Was she resentful of me for dying on my own terms without facing the stern judgment I was supposed to receive?

All sorts of thoughts struck my mind, but as a dying man, I could do nothing to ease her thoughts.

What awaited me was death.

What I had to face was pitch-black darkness.

That should have been certain, but…

Strangely, an anomaly occurred in a sensation that shouldn’t exist.

Through my sense of smell, I felt the refreshing air that I absolutely shouldn’t be able to feel with a body that had turned to ash.

*Swoosh*

Through my hearing, I heard something cutting through the wind.

*Thwack*

And through my sense of touch, I felt something hitting my head hard.

…What’s going on?

As my consciousness, which I believed would enter eternal rest, tried to grasp my head that was dizzy with pain rather than peaceful rest, something clearly sounded in my ear.

-The winner-! Lillian Siz Proxian!

A resounding announcement of the winner, and…

-Waaaaaaaaah-!!!

Enthusiastic cheers for the victor.

Feeling puzzled, my eyes that shouldn’t be able to open did open, and I was shocked by the scene before me.

There stood Lillian Siz, holding a training sword without a sharpened edge, looking at me with a bewildered expression.

As I confirmed that she looked much younger than when she had stabbed me with the holy sword…

*Thud*

My knees, which I hadn’t even realized were supporting me, naturally buckled, and my body collapsed to the floor, my consciousness cutting off before I could further contemplate my confusion.