Chapter 105 – ???? 

What if.

What if, separate from the predictions of someone who had already seen that future, things turned out for the worst?

And, if, after considering every possibility, there was someone who believed he absolutely wouldn’t die, or that his life would never end so meaningles sly,  and that belief was betrayed, what kind of expression would they make?

What would they think? How would they witness it all?

The rising bubbles seemed to illuminate the past, yet also a completely different world.

A boy who, by grasping the holy sword, was reborn as a hero.

A girl bound to the fate of having to kill the hero.

But beyond that,  the saint, who in some ways was the one who tied the two together.

If he, lying with his eyes closed as if merely asleep, never woke again, if that became reality,  would anyone just sit and watch?

Would they only stand by?

* * *

A black-haired boy, lying on frost-covered ground as if sleeping, now seemed unable to ever open those bright, sorrowful, golden eyes again.

His breath had stopped long ago, his heart long since ceased, and even his warmth was fading.

And, the golden girl watched this scene, as if looking into a distant world.

The fierce battle between hero and Demon King meant nothing to her.

She didn’t care.

But the reality that the boy in her eyes might never open them again, surprisingly, truly surprisingly, seemed to leave a profound impact on her as well.

– I do not like peering into the future.

Long ago, the Great Demon King asked his followers, disciples, hands and servants whether seeing the future would be a blessing or a curse.

Most said it would be good to know, that they wished for it.

…Except for her alone.

If my future is decided before I can do anything, what would be the point of living?

What motivation would I have?

Even if I don’t want that future, it would come anyway?

It’s not that knowing would tie me down?

Maybe knowing would let me fix or change some things.

But, there would be more to lose than to gain.

Whether it’s for myself, or for others, the pros and cons would differ by purpose.

But my satisfaction, passion, happiness, and joy would all become almost nonexistent.

For some reason, Grandeus was able to glimpse such things.

So he lived every moment in despair.

Even so, he could never let go.

I don’t know what he saw.

But,  in the end, he threw himself into that future.

He passed a vision to me, a comrade, but it was so ambiguous.

An ordinary human, no matter how hard they train, will hit limits.

Time.

Perseverance and grit.

Personality and nature.

And, most of all, desperation and willpower.

Even if you have enough time, your ability will be limited.

Lack of effort?

No, that effort means burning yourself away, enduring soul-rending pain that crushes, rips, and breaks you.

Enduring even the most extreme boredom.

Suffering the absurdity that erodes your humanity, your emotions, your reason… all of it.

Even so, your conviction and sense of justice must not fall.

It’s okay if your sense of justice wavers sometimes.

But it must not, in the end, tilt to evil.

A sword style that cannot be learned in any ordinary way.

Looking only at the stances and movements, it’s crude.

But with the right mindset, techniques, and qualities, it transcends into a unique vision.

Even in her dreams, where she drove Cariel to suicide and killed him through countless trials, in a way, all she did was lead him by the shortest path.

What she wanted was only trust.

Belief.

And Cariel, whether because of the contract or because it was all he had, showed her that belief rooted in desperation.

Resolve? Thoughts? Spoken vows?

None of that matters.

Only action counts.

And Cariel answered her with action.

That’s why, for him to grow as he did… was only natural.

The Demon King thought so.

– Did he leave before he was ready?

A pitiful life, wasn’t it.

Still, our contract will stand.

Even in death, you will not be saved.

Most of those connected to you will now become tangled in cause and effect and experience the extremes of misfortune and despair.

That’s why I resisted so fiercely.

But in the end, you couldn’t see it through.

Where did it go wrong?

Failing to obtain Elbart?

Grandeus must have made plans even for that.

Was it simply that you couldn’t reach that far?

No matter how I think about it, just one more step.

She thought that one step was missing.

– ……

Is it inevitable?

She leaned close to his cold face, and gazed at Cariel as if looking at her own reflection on water.

– I’ll grant just one thing.

You’re not here now, so you won’t see it yourself.

– But to leave something for those left behind, think of this as my own blessing.

She reached out and stroked his cheek.

It was as if she melted into Cariel’s body.

And some time later, 

“……”

The boy who rose began to glow, his entire body turning to gold.

No, that wasn’t all.

* * *

“Huh?”

Luillin was the first to sense something strange.

The ground itself was turning to gold.

Even more, the color seemed to spread from her feet, climbing over her whole body.

Within seconds, Luillin’s whole body shone with golden light.

She wasn’t the only one.

Everything around, as if spreading paint, was gradually turning gold.

“W-what is this?”

Luciri, flustered, cried out.

Leo couldn’t hide his confusion.

At the same time, the battle was forcibly brought to an end.

His body wouldn’t move.

And that, 

“Why…?!”

even Mines, who inherited the Great Demon King’s legacy, was no exception.

At some point, golden pillars began filling the area.

It felt as if the whole world was being dyed in gold.

Yet the sky, which had been turned pure white by the frost storm Mines created, even that began to change, becoming bright gold.

At that moment, the golden boy, Cariel, spoke.

“Sing a requiem.”

A scream is fine.

A cry of agony, even better.

Wailing wouldn’t be so bad, either.

Be joyful if you wish, be delighted if you like.

“Experience for yourselves just how meaningless a lifetime of anguish and worry truly is.”

To those who haven’t even lived a whole lifetime yet, 

The Demon King of Wisdom.

The Golden Demon King.

With her passing, she bestowed upon them tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of lives’ worth of pseudo-lifetimes.

“What is reality? If a dream feels real, is it reality or an illusion? Where does the real ‘me’ exist? If you answer that, you’ll be set free.”

When I was an ant, who was I?

When I was a butterfly, who was I?

As a wolf, as a fox, as a snake, a toad, a fish, a bird, an insect…

“……”

Soon, the ground rose up and a golden throne appeared.

The golden boy, sitting familiarly on it, rested his chin on his hand, waiting the entire day without closing his eyes once.

The sun rose and set.

And just as it was about to rise again,  he finally arrived.

“……”

Maybe it was a deliberate disguise, but he wore a plain, ash-grey coat.

It was a terribly rude outfit for an audience with a king, but she didn’t scold him.

She simply greeted him.

“My dear, I almost fell asleep waiting. You’re so late, the sin is great indeed.”

“……”

White hair, golden eyes.

When they first met, he had seemed so immature.

Now, he just looked fully mature.

It was hard to even compare him to before.

Truly, if the heavens bestowed beauty with intention, it would look like this, he was flawless.

Even Cariel’s own beautiful appearance was only possible thanks to him.

In a sense, that was a perfect human being.

“Are you really the person I know?”

“If you’re expecting the worst, then yes.”

I am here.

“And you have returned before me.”

The gold in Cariel’s body looked bored.

And Luelde, who faced him, and Patina who came with him, seemed utterly at a loss as to how to accept this situation.

Of course, Luelde had grown mentally strong the moment he accepted he was the Golden Beast.

The more perfect the hero, the less human he became.

And yet, to have the former Demon King take over your son’s body.

There could be no greater nightmare.

“Are you the one who made my son like this? Did you lead him with sly words, use him, and make things turn out like this? And now you’ve taken even Cariel’s body?”

“Let me clarify one thing. I have no desire or will. I don’t care for revival or flashy body snatching. This is all not of my own doing.”

“…Is that really what you’re going to say? Someone of your power?”

He was ready to draw his sword and do something right then.

But that was the body of his child, the child who was both his and Ermina’s.

And with that child’s body, with that mouth, it said, 

“I’m here to tell you why this boy ended up like this. Nothing more. Do you want to kill me? Try it, then. You won’t hear a thing. No matter what you do to your son’s neck or heart, it won’t affect me at all.”

You know that, don’t you?

“I’m already dead. What could I possibly fear?”

“…Do you think your sly words will sway me?”

“I will speak only the truth. If you like, we can make a contract.”

She grinned.

But to Luelde and Patina, it looked exactly like Cariel’s smile.

It was enough to send chills down their spines.

Above all, the golden land and sky filled them with more dread than ever before.

“What have you done to these people?”

“Since this child died, there had to be a price. If there’s a sin, that’s it.”

…There wasn’t a specific cause for his death.

If there were, she’d punish that useless legion commander.

Such a gloomy, foolish, truly dull creature.

If Barugo hadn’t obediently left this place, he too would have found this to be a living hell the moment she took over Cariel’s body.

The domain had already spread to the entire village.

Now, it was as if the whole village had become golden statues.

Even worse, all of it was real, genuine gold.

Is this mercy, or a blessing?

Or is it the worst curse imaginable?

“Well then, let’s begin the story.”

It’s nothing special.

“It’s just a story about the great regrets you’ll carry in your heart for the rest of your lives.”

Cariel once confided, why he could never bring himself to commit suicide, why he couldn’t do it in front of his parents.

Ermina’s power was so overwhelming that any half-hearted injury was meaningless.

And if he quietly ended his life somewhere out of reach, they wouldn’t be able to see his parents’ regret or despair.

But what if,  not that it would ever happen, what if they responded to his attempt with disappointment or contempt?

That would have been just as horrifying.

A disrespectful, impossible “what if” only imaginable in theory.

‘Well, don’t worry about that.’

Luckily, I have plenty of time.

So, I’ll play the bystander for a moment.

Listen to this story, and see how that hero takes it, how he responds.

He’ll probably keep it hidden from his wife, of course.

But sooner or later, even Ermina will hear of it.

Even if Luelde keeps silent, the woman beside him isn’t as resolute or unwavering as he is.

You may be invincible, but that only applies to you, Luelde, just to yourself.

“All right. I should probably start with how I met Cariel.”

So, 

“Your country’s ancestors, those guilty souls with nothing left but their spirits, took pity on that child and led him to me.”

In other words, 

“At the time, there was no one else to save him. After much deliberation, they made their choice. The only way they could help Cariel, as almost-ghosts, was extremely limited.”

Why did Cariel accept the Golden Beast, his father’s nemesis and a public enemy of the continent?

And why, 

“Why did he end up resenting you so much? Why did he run away, why did he try to carry on Grandeus’s legacy? The reasons are nothing special.”

The Demon King finally laid bare the honest truth that Cariel himself could never reveal, she spoke as if she was Cariel.

“Why didn’t you love me? Why didn’t you care about me? …I didn’t ask for much.”

He just wanted to be acknowledged by them.

He didn’t want to be scolded.

He wanted to be praised.

He wanted a simple, ordinary relationship, just like any parent and child.

To love and be loved.

…That’s all he wanted.

“When I was truly struggling, you scolded me. Even though I begged you to believe in me, you didn’t. How do you think I felt back then?”

Abandoned by the world.

The world fell apart.

Even his own parents denied him life.

If even they wouldn’t believe in him, 

…what did he have left?

“I told myself I’d hold on until my little sibling was born. I worried that if something I did hurt my mother, even though she’s strong, you never know. So I endured it. It was hard, painful, and I suffered, but I really did my best.”

Back then, even just breathing or facing people was exhausting, painful, unbearable.

No matter what anyone said, he felt doubt, unease, fear.

Everything felt that way.

And then, suddenly, he realized, 

It was because he was a broken vessel.

Broken into pieces, some crushed to powder.

He couldn’t hold water, or anything else.

He’d become something like that.

…It was sad, and hard.

Even thinking about it was too much.

He didn’t want to think about anything at all.

All he wished for, 

…was just to breathe a little more easily.

“When will I ever be a son you’re not ashamed of? To be recognized by you, to prove that my life isn’t pointless or meaningless, by now, the only answer is to defeat you, isn’t it?”

Not just you.

He wanted to shout at the whole world that judged him by your example.

I wasn’t wrong.

Just once, he wanted to spit out those words and get relief.

Why do you all insist on judging me your way?

I’m me.

Will you take even that away? Will you only be satisfied after robbing me of that, too?

What am I, anyway?

Because of memories I can’t even recall, everyone expected so much from a powerless, helpless boy.

And then I was betrayed.

In the end,

I was nothing at all.

I couldn’t use mana.

I wasn’t healthy.

Every chance I got, I was sick and weak, what could I do?

I trained until I coughed blood, studied through countless sleepless nights, I really, really worked hard.

And still, it didn’t work.

No matter how much I tried, it wasn’t enough.

So I asked you for answers.

But you just asked why I couldn’t do it, told me it would work out if I just kept trying.

…but for me, just asking that question was something I struggled with for days and nights.

And even that, was that just childish whining to you?

The fact that I had to agonize so much just to ask means our relationship was already long broken.

…You were the only ones who didn’t see it.

“Maybe I was your regret all along.”

Sorry for being born.

And now, 

“…As you can see, this child is dead.”

Cariel’s tone suddenly shifted, once more the Golden Beast, enchanting, imperious.

“I’ll give you a choice. If you want to stop here, then cut my throat now. I’ll leave it at that.”

“…You mean there’s more you want to say?”

“Of course.”

The Demon King smiled.

“That was only what was in his heart before he left home. You still don’t know what happened after that, do you?”

“……”

Just hearing what he’d heard so far left him reeling.

And yet, he was curious, and part of him didn’t want to hear any more.

He desperately wanted to know, but at the same time, he was afraid.

He had never known such terror before.

Now, even gold itself felt like nothing in comparison.

What mattered was Cariel’s heart, his feelings, what he had gone through.

Learning that truth, that was what Luelde truly feared.

“……”

The Demon King seemed to watch Luelde, but her gaze was elsewhere.

Patina, meanwhile, looked almost half out of her mind.

She must have cherished Cariel in her own way.

But it was warped, twisted, wrong.

‘Was it really only their fault?’

Once again, something felt off.

Was there some unavoidable cause?

Or was there something, someone, pushing things to turn out this way?

“……”

Well, it doesn’t matter anymore.

I am not an avenger.

I’m not some unwelcome guest to carry someone else’s will, beliefs, or grudges.

A dead person taking responsibility for something? Ridiculous.

So even this, what I’m doing now, is just meddling.

Maybe I caught it from Cariel. Normally, I wouldn’t be doing anything like this.

Maybe it’s because I have no body. How pathetic, getting tossed around like this.

“All right. Then I’ll take it you want to hear more. So now… yes. Let’s talk about what happened after that child left home, when he went to that place, Cariela or whatever it’s called.”

How he inherited Saint Cariel’s will.

The bonds he formed there, and how he parted ways with them.

“That story is quite fascinating too.”

The Demon King once again played the storyteller.

For a short and long time, the story continued.

The storyteller smiled, while the listeners sank ever deeper into despair, a truly absurd theater.

Within it, the Demon King softly whispered a requiem.

Rest will not come.

We made that kind of contract, after all.

Even so, I wish you could be just a little less weary.

The most wretched thing in the world is exhaustion.

Pain is twice as hard when you’re tired, and suffering only grows.

In the end, you lose even yourself.

Nothing remains but pain, regret, resentment, and despair.

When even resignation burns away, only frantic struggle is left.

Even so, 

…the ones who punish us, without a shred of mercy, will continue to torment us.

Telling us to atone.

Calling it judgment.

Calling it punishment.

Because you were in the wrong.

That’s why you suffer.

There is no mercy in this world.

Only coldness, only rules and principles.

Only despair and cowardice coexist.

If you truly feel wronged, 

…then blame only that which is not ■.

For only that is the original sin that you were forced to bear alone.