Chapter 111 – Traces

The moment I stood before the door, I let out a hollow laugh without even realizing it.

Five petals were carved into the door, a cherry blossom design. But the engraving was crude. Very crude.

It wasn’t made with a knife, chisel, or any sort of tool. It had been scratched in by hand, by a finger. No wonder it looked rough.

Even so, it was oddly precise. You could feel the care put into it.

“Carving the Eustetia crest so blatantly into this thing… That’s just asking for thieves. Idiot.”

Heh, muttering to myself as I looked at the door, Pina stared at me with a curious expression.

I looked at her and asked,

“Do you know what this is?”

Shake, shake.

“What about that crest on the door?”

Pina glanced around before crouching down and writing in the dirt.

[Isn’t it the crest of the Eustetia Ducal Family…?]

“That’s right. Eustetia’s crest. So then, who do you think carved it?”

[I don’t know.]

“Arisa. Arisa Eustetia.”

A tremor hit Pina’s brown eyes.

[You mean the Hero Arisa?]

“Yeah, that’s right.”

[Then… is what’s inside this place her treasure?]

Arisa’s treasure…

No. No, it’s not.

“It’s not Arisa’s treasure.”

I shook my head.

“It’s all mine.”

“Eep.”

Pina gasped.

I lifted her to her feet and looked straight into her wide, innocent eyes.

“Pina.”

Tilt?

“Do you know the stories about the Heroes who were active 400 years ago?”

Nod, nod.

Her eyes twinkled as she nodded, then she sat back down and began writing again.

[I know them very well. I’ve read all the fairy tales, novels, seen the plays, musicals, visited every museum at least five times. I love the stories of the Heroes.]

“Uh-huh. I see. Alright, so… who was your favorite among the Hero party?”

Pina didn’t hesitate.

[I liked Lady Arisa Eustetia the most!]

…Yeah. That tracks. I mean, that chimp, well, she left behind the most out of all of us, and the Eustetia name still…

Still remains to this day as a ducal house.

Yeah. Totally understandable.

“Oh… really? Who’s next?”

[Lady Luna Secrid Pranecia is my second favorite!]

…Luna was the Saintess. That makes sense. Yeah.

“…And next?”

[Sir Paulo Humble Brandis is my third favorite!]

“Goddamn it.”

“Eek!”

I slumped down and grabbed Pina’s shoulders with both hands.

“What about Ronan? Ronan Lujarak?”

Trembling, Pina weakly scrawled shaky letters on the ground.

[Sir Ronan Lujarak is scary.]

[And personally… I don’t really like him.]

“What the hell?”

“Hiiiek… hic… hiek…”

“Why is he scary? You’ve never even met him.”

She shook her head. What she meant by that, I had no idea. But it was too late now.

I snatched her wrist and pushed it down to the dirt.

“Answer me.”

Her hand trembled pathetically as she scribbled out a reply.

[I’ve heard many stories about how scary he is.]

Scary stories?

“From the spirit?”

Pina’s eyes grew wide.

Then, she suddenly wrapped her arms around her head and curled her tail inward.

“Look up. I’m not gonna eat you.”

Tremble, tremble, 

“If you don’t look up right now, I will eat you.”

Startled, Pina jerked her head up, her eyes glistening with tears.

“Why are you so scared?”

[I heard that if people find out I can see spirits, bad things will happen to me.]

“So you thought I’d do something bad to you? Wow. That’s disappointing. I thought we were friends, but I guess you didn’t feel the same way.”

[That’s not it this just became a habit]

The last part of her sentence was so scribbled and jumbled I couldn’t read it, but her urgency was clear.

“Anyway, answer me. Did the spirit tell you all that?”

[How did you know I can talk to spirits?]

“I met Sparkle.”

Tilt?

Oh, right. She doesn’t know that name.

“Uh, the… what’s the name again? Fl… Fl-something? Anyway, you know, sparkly flying squirrel.”

At the mention of ‘flying squirrel,’ Pina visibly shook. Then she leaned in close.

Her mouth moved rapidly, muttering something too fast for me to make out.

“What?”

Realizing how flustered she was, Pina took a few deep breaths and finally wrote in the dirt.

[Did you meet Light?]

“Light? Uh… well, if the one you call ‘Light’ is that flying squirrel, then yeah. I met her.”

[Would it be alright to ask what you talked about?]

“Hmm.”

Unfortunately, I can’t share that part.

But, 

“That Sparkle… Light asked me to make you stronger.”

That much I could say.

[Stronger…?]

“Yeah. Asked me to toughen you up. So you don’t go around getting beat up.”

[That compassionate Light said such a thing?]

Compassionate? That slippery squirrel?

…How should I even respond to that?

…Should I protect her childhood dreams?

Yeah. That’s probably for the best.

“…No, I mean, she said it a bit more gently. She asked me to take good care of you.”

Pina smiled brighter than ever before. Good thing I protected that innocence.

“Anyway, back to the question. Why is Ronan scary? What did the spirit say about him?”

[…I don’t remember.]

Sweat rolled down Pina’s pale face.

“Pina.”

“Hieek… h-hic…”

“I might look calm, quiet, kind, and patient on the outside… but I’m really not.”

Pina tilted her head.

And for the briefest of moments, just a split second, she genuinely made a face like, ‘What are you even talking about?’

…Why can’t she tell?

I’m holding back so much right now.

Anyway.

“So if you don’t speak up, I’ll make you. And I know plenty of ways to make someone talk. So while I’m asking nicely, answer me. Why don’t you like Ronan?”

Tears dripping down her face, Pina picked up a stone and began to write.

* * *

By the time I was standing in front of the door again, I’d made up my mind to rip Sparkle’s neck off the next time we met.

Pina got up and followed me.

When I saw the words [I don’t like Sir Ronan], I nearly smacked her on reflex.

When she asked [Are we allowed to go in?], of course I said yes.

When she asked [Can we take out what’s inside?], I said yes again, obviously.

Even so, Pina still looked uneasy.

“There are a lot of spirits around me, huh?”

Nod, nod.

“Yeah. Alright then… let’s go.”

I walked forward, trying to calm the nervous pounding in my chest.

Please open. Please open. Please open.

Don’t embarrass me. Don’t give me a headache.

Don’t let all the blood and pain I shed be for nothing.

One step, two steps, three steps, 

By the fourth step, I was standing right in front of the door.

Nothing happened. Was I supposed to touch it?

I touched it. Nothing.

This… can’t be right.

“…Too old and broken?”

I tried channeling [Mana]. No response.

Touched the cherry blossom crest. Nothing.

Punched it hard. Still nothing.

“Open sesame…!”

Still nothing. My face was burning.

Pina stared at me in confusion.

“What the hell, why the fuck won’t it open?!”

Right then, 

RUMBLE!

A massive sound, followed by an even bigger tremor, erupted in front of us.

“…Wait. Was it voice-activated?”

While I stood there stunned, the door released a terrible vibration as it slowly, steadily began to open.

Rrrrummmmbbblle!

It went on for a while.

Long enough for me to think, At this rate, the whole world’s gonna hear this.

Then the vibration stopped, and a familiar scent wafted out.

Once, it was Arisa’s scent.

Now, it was the scent of cherry blossoms.

A smell I couldn’t help but find familiar, no matter what.

“Heh…”

I started laughing.

I didn’t know if it was a bitter laugh, a dry one, an angry one, or a joyful one.

But my body moved forward.

And the moment I stepped into that scent, 

“Whoa…”

“Eeek!”

The scenery changed.

Pina and I had been transported to another location.

And the place we’d arrived at, I recognized it. I’d seen it in a vision. In the letter Arisa left behind.

At the center of a great stone, countless weapons were embedded. Not a single one had rusted. They were still in pristine condition. Of course they were.

[Celestial Steel]. [Diamondbone Ore]. [Eternal Coldiron]. [Shadowforged Steel]. [Aetherium].

Weapons made from divine materials, materials that might no longer exist in this world.

And with Kaloso’s [Enchantments] and Luna’s [Blessings], of course they were still intact.

But my eyes weren’t on the weapons.

Step, step, 

I walked, gaze fixed on one point.

Leaving behind Pina, who trembled and curled her tail in fear.

Past the weapons, past the now-unobtainable tonics, elixirs, tomes, artifacts, 

I headed for one place.

A rock. A stupid-looking rock. Unnecessarily big, hard, and ugly.

A gravestone.

I stopped in front of it.

Only then did the writing come into view.

Crude and rough, yet still the neatest handwriting I’d ever seen.

Clean, straight, and heartfelt.

Arisa Eustetia’s handwriting.

[Ronan Lujarak]  

[416.7.19 ~ 452.12.24]

There was nothing else written on the gravestone.

Of course not. We never thought about what to inscribe on it. Naturally, there was no will either.

I slowly, gently ran my hand over it.

“What kind of rock is… this hard?”

Cold. Of course, no warmth remained.

Rough. So rough that you couldn’t even think of carving it barehanded.

Heavy. I wouldn’t even dare try to move it.

“Seriously… being stupid just makes your body suffer. Then again, you had the strongest body out of all of us, didn’t you? So maybe it wasn’t too bad.”

Heh, laughter slipped out.

And there I stood for a long time in front of Ronan’s gravestone.

In front of my own gravestone.

Pina cautiously approached me.

“What do you think?”

Tilt?

“This grave is pretty pathetic and plain, right? It smells, it’s damp, it’s dark, it’s rough. There’s not even a body under the headstone. All that’s left is the name.”

And yet, 

“I really, really love it.”

Wide-eyed, staring like she didn’t understand why I was saying all this.

“It was made by my comrade… no, my friend.”

I looked at Pina and said,

“This is my grave.”

The one who killed the most demons.

Who beheaded two of the [Seven Generals].

Who ran ahead of everyone else, 

Only to die like an idiot.

“Ronan Lujarak.”

Eliaernes Eustetia.

“I am the reincarnation of Ronan Lujarak.”