Ch.330Rupture (2)

“Was this the best choice, sister?”

“Well… I’m not sure either.”

The heat of war slowly subsides.

The generous retirement pay was substantial, enough to comfortably live off for about 100 years if they returned to their homeland.

The gold coins filling their spatial storage raised deep ethical questions about whether leaving the party was truly the right thing to do.

“But it’s clear that we can’t continue with him. Isn’t that right?”

When Lucia said this, Casia quietly nodded.

They knew better than anyone that the longer Viktor remained ascended as a god, the more emotionally distant he was becoming.

It’s nothing to boast about, but Lucia was the one who had her head cracked open the most by Viktor’s choleric temperament.

And seeing him like that gave Lucia unbearable chills. Their time to talk had already greatly diminished after the Sky Warden was built and he became the Apostle of the Sun commanding armies. Now that he had fully become a god, she had no means to approach him.

Of course, she didn’t harbor romantic feelings for him, but Raisha’s presence was also one of the reasons Lucia was leaving the Iron Walker Party.

From their first meeting, Lucia had disliked Raisha’s lack of independence and her reliance on her husband, which led to subtle provocations that crossed a line, resulting in Viktor cracking her head with his fist. After that, unlike Casia, Lucia found it difficult to face Raisha.

Female adventurers typically stuck together, but Raisha’s position as both a party member and Viktor’s lover and wife created a significant gap, which was particularly disappointing for the elf sisters who already struggled to build relationships with humans and dwarves due to their elven nature.

Though elves were immortal, they were barely 100 years old—mere children. In human terms, they were equivalent to young teenagers.

Having left home on a whim of adventure, they found themselves entangled in events and adventures far beyond their capacity, and they could no longer endure it mentally.

Until now, they had persevered because of the impressive title of “companions of a god” and the sunk cost mentality of having come too far to quit. But during the battle on the way to Krix Hall, Casia had literally almost died, and Lucia had suffered serious injuries as well.

Despite both having awakened their auras after surviving near-death experiences, they were mocked by the doctor who asked, “Why is your recovery so weak for aura users?” This finally broke their mental fortitude.

“There’s no place for us in the Iron Walker Party anymore. You know that.”

“Yeah… that’s true.”

Above all, the fatal blow was that the Iron Walker Party no longer needed ranged attackers.

Viktor could handle most attacks himself, and if that wasn’t enough, Raisha could be called upon. With Simon handling the humanities side and the dwarf handling the sciences, the elf sisters, who had no special talents to showcase in non-combat situations, felt severely alienated.

“Ah! Let’s stop these gloomy thoughts! Let’s race to the nearest village and eat lots of delicious food! That’ll make us feel much better, don’t you think?”

“Hehe. Let’s see who can ride faster then. Hiya!”

That’s why they left.

Because they realized they were still too young, too weak.

Perhaps for the elf sisters, this was the path toward a happy ending. Even gods cannot transcend death. At least now they wouldn’t have to worry about meaninglessly spending time circling on a ship without building their skills, only to die in a sudden raid or assassination.

Along the mountain path where gentle breezes blew, the two elves ran with bright smiles.

The elves had walked, slept, drunk, and sung with a god, and now it was time for their own adventure.

*

And so Lucia and Casia departed.

In any other party, this might have caused a major dispute, but how could such discord be tolerated in a party led by a god?

They received their retirement pay from the commander and went far away, now beyond even Viktor’s divine sight.

“Somehow I seem to have no luck with elves.”

“Ah… come to think of it, you mentioned having an elf party member before Lucia and Casia… Seriya, was it?”

“Yes. A female wood elf. We parted ways due to personality differences back then. The woman who made great contributions to my ascension as a god in the Belka Archipelago.”

“Hmm…”

Simon searched his memory for a moment, then nodded as if he’d found it.

They had lost two party members in a single day.

The fact that it was fortunate they weren’t lost to death was proof that Viktor had not yet abandoned his human and adventurer perspective.

“Tsk. They were always chattering, but they were friends at the drinking table… it’s a shame they left like that.”

“The shock must have been great. Even though they’re over sixty, they’re still children by elven standards.”

The dwarves shared drinks and used the alcohol to discuss the women who had left.

Drinking while talking wasn’t something Viktor particularly enjoyed, but even he was chugging apple brandy straight from the bottle to overcome his unease, so it couldn’t be helped.

“Now we’ve become a complete men’s bath. Should I be happy about this?”

Although Raisha was there, her identity as the god’s wife was too firmly established, and she was always stuck to Viktor, making it somewhat inappropriate to call her a regular party member.

If interpreted to mean that the only party members who could freely interact with others were now only men, it wouldn’t be incorrect.

After all, unless one was completely out of their mind, they wouldn’t casually approach the official wife of a god.

“Sigh…”

Viktor was already on his third bottle of apple brandy.

He was getting increasingly irritated that he couldn’t feel the intoxication, but even that irritation wasn’t the explosive kind—it was more like the annoyance of drinking flat cola, which irritated him even more.

This was especially frustrating since his appetite had been deteriorating lately, to the point where he had ordered soldiers to regularly remind him of mealtimes.

“Perhaps they were wise.”

“How so?”

“Think about it. You’re a god. After the pilgrimage ends, you’ll soon become an emperor. The world will become one again, and you’ll reign eternally as a god-emperor. Unless you desire death.”

“…”

“Then, is it truly possible for anyone to stand as an equal with such a being?”

When Simon said this, even the clinking of bottles fell silent, creating a heavy silence.

Equality.

It was impossible between a god and humans.

If the strongest ant fought the weakest human… wouldn’t the weakest human naturally win?

“Don’t be too disheartened, Viktor. They’ve gone to have adventures that you can no longer have. They’ve become free beings now. Like migratory birds in the sky, they can go anywhere. They’ll embark on adventures—not as followers of a god, but as free humans.”

“Yes… I should think of it that way. What’s past is past because it can’t be undone.”

One of Viktor’s principles was that once something is broken or damaged, it can never be restored.

A broken sword cannot be rejoined. Even if repaired, it will break again at the same spot, only deepening the old wound. A broken toy cannot come back to life. Even if fixed, it’s merely a replacement memory. The feelings experienced when playing with that toy can never be felt again.

So what should one do? How can one overcome the sadness of destruction and the emptiness of loss?

“The pilgrimage is still far ahead, and we’ve only completed half our adventure. If we believe that better connections await both us and them… then this isn’t a rupture but a fusion.”

“Not a rupture but a fusion… As I always think, Viktor, you truly have a way with words…”

“When you memorize dictionaries, this is the result. I was probably the only person in Parsifal who borrowed dictionaries from the library.”

Viktor said this as he passed around full glasses of apple brandy to the five of them.

As the glasses emptied, their hearts lightened.

Yes. For everything lost, something is gained. Life continues, and death is still far away.

If that’s the case, shouldn’t one march proudly and sometimes vigorously toward that distant death?