Chapter 150: How to Write a Proper Ending (2)

The end arrived in autumn.

On the day when the wheat turned golden, and farmers in straw hats harvested the wheat.

September 2nd, Nicolai year 69.

The western sky crumbled.

This isn’t some metaphor. As if something had taken a bite out of it, a chunk of the sky simply fell away.

And finally, what lay ‘beyond’ the sky was revealed.

An endless black void, and billions of eyes staring at the world with yearning gazes.

And so people finally understood.

That, in truth, the night sky was the sky’s true form. And what we had thought to be stars all this time were merely parts of those eyes.

It took less than a day for the entire continent to be engulfed in fear. From the emperor of the empire to the beggars on the streets, there was no one who did not suspect the end was near.

But humans are beings who ultimately resist.

The Empire, dulled by 200 years of peace, drew its swords. They gathered their armies, which had become nothing more than for show, and marched westward.

Shining armor and lavishly decorated warhorses.
And a general with a magnificent mustache.

People sent them off with hope in their hearts.

Hoping that they would put an end to the terror,
That the approaching end would prove untrue.

But a week later,

The shining army returned in tattered rags.

The general, having lost both arms, cried out with a face rooted in despair.

That the monsters, the Demon King, had returned.
That only death awaited them.
That, finally, the end had come.

Hope ultimately crumbled, and only terror bloomed, so there was only one path left for the people.

To the east.
To where destruction would reach last.
Even knowing it was meaningless, they moved as far away as possible.

And so, frightened faces flowed like rivers through every main road of the Empire. The sound of sobbing lingered like the wind.

It was the beginning of an exodus that spanned the entire continent.

However, not everyone headed east. Some chose to remain in the cities.

Because they knew escape was meaningless,
Or because they couldn’t abandon their homeland,
Or because they still believed there was a chance.

…Or to set right what they had wronged.

I walk down the deserted street with my hood pulled low. There wasn’t a single soul in the city where monsters were about to descend. Even those who remained simply offered prayers in their homes.

It was truly a scene of the end times.

One that began because of me.

I bite my lower lip, my chest constricting. Forcing away my churning emotions, I headed toward the place we had agreed to meet.

The Seven Bears Inn.

The door was already smashed to pieces, as if it had already been looted once. Composing myself, I carefully opened the door.

“Rem!”

And at last, I could finally breathe.

I stroke Parsley’s red hair as she falls into my arms, then look around at the others.

Clara, with her awkward posture,
Feya, wearing a sullen expression,
Sister Amy, smiling softly,
The Captain, trying hard to hide her envy,
Shafiq and Big Nose turning their heads with sour expressions.

Everyone was here. Just that alone eased my mind a little. I managed a smile and said.

“So, did anyone find Alain?”

***

After escaping from the Demon King’s castle, the first thing we did, ironically, was disband.

They were people who had already suffered enough from pointless schemes. They had already fulfilled their roles.

I emptied my remaining funds and gave them severance pay. Some, no, most refused to leave, but I sent them away, even forcibly if needed.

I didn’t want to lose any more of my people.

But there were also those who simply wouldn’t yield to my force. The seven people before my eyes now were exactly those.

They even threatened me, saying they would stay by my side.

And I wasn’t strong enough to refuse even that.

Finally, the eight who remained moved onto the next plan.

[The Goddess will be here soon!! While I buy you some time, go and find that old man Alain!!]

Finding Alain.

Genius’s last words,
And perhaps the only way to stop the Goddess.

“Nothing.”

“Couldn’t find him…”

“Didn’t find anything, big bro.”

“Sorry for being useless, Rem…”

“Couldn’t find out anything, Vice-Captain.”

“Sorry, Rem… I even tried using tracking magic…”

“Checked the library too, but there’s nothing, Vice-Captain. How about you?”

The problem was, it was more difficult than we had thought.

“…I also haven’t found anything.”

I answered, barely suppressing a sigh. It was a moment when shadows fell across everyone’s faces.

A month since escaping the Demon King’s castle, despite searching the entire continent, we couldn’t find even a small clue about Alain’s whereabouts, let alone Alain himself.

Come to think of it, it was only natural. He’s a man who supposedly ascended 200 years ago and vanished from this continent. How could we possibly find him now.

*Clap-!*

“Well, what can we do. We never thought it would be easy to find him anyway.”

The Captain clapped her hands, trying to dispel the gloomy atmosphere. Forcing a smile, she continued.

“Everyone’s worked hard, so let’s get some rest today. We can think about our next move tomorrow. Okay?”

I was about to reflexively say we couldn’t do that, but I closed my mouth. It wasn’t because I thought she was right.

It was simply because I didn’t think we’d come up with any brilliant ideas, even if we discussed it further. It’s been like this for the past month.

“…Understood, Captain.”

I nodded, feeling defeated.

Of course, even if I lay down in bed, there was no way I could rest.

It wasn’t because of anxiety or fear. It was just that scenes burned into my retinas kept resurfacing.

Abandoned cities,
Haggard refugees,
Soldiers broken from fighting monsters,

Achievements brought about by my stupidity.

[And you are the greatest contributor to my resurrection. I don’t forget such favors.]

Though Sister Amy had told me not to take it to heart, there was no way I couldn’t. Because the Goddess’s words were ultimately true.

There was definitely a part of me that was responsible for this end.

“Haah…”

Finally, with a sigh, I get up from the bed. As I rub my face, a sudden thought makes me slip my hand into my pocket.

What I take out is a necklace with a small metal piece attached.

On the metal piece engraved with a human eye, there is an X-shaped scratch. On the back, a name has been carefully carved.

Clevens, the name of another one of my mistakes.
…And the name of my friend.

“Rem, can I come in?”

A knocking sound, followed by Parsley’s voice. I wiped my eyes and feigned a cheerful tone.

“Yeah, come in.”

Parsley enters through the door with an awkward smile.

“What is it?”

But she doesn’t answer. After mumbling for a moment, she suddenly sits beside me and takes a deep breath.

Only then did she let the words flow.

“…You just looked like you were having a hard time.”

Her gentle words sting faintly. I force a smile and try to brush it aside.

“I’ve been running around a bit too much lately, that’s all.”

“…Not your body.”

My tongue freezes. Parsley looks at the necklace in my hand and asks.

“That’s Mr. Clevens’, right?”

I unconsciously clenched my fist tight. Parsley awkwardly covered my hand with her own.

“Don’t worry. He must be alive. Probably hiding somewhere…”

“No, he’s dead.”

There are times when words, like a broken dam, come gushing out. This was one of those times.

“If he were alive, he would have contacted me somehow. He’s always been like that. Always reporting in on time, despite always being drunk. So…”

Only when Parsley’s hand touched my cheek did I feel the tears streaming down. The last sentence flowed out weakly, as if it had been pooling somewhere in my heart.

“He’s dead, Clevens is.”

Leaving a hole in my heart as deep as the weight of those words.

Parsley pulls me into a warm embrace. That warmth isn’t enough to fill the hole. Any kind of warmth would have been the same.

“Parsley, why, why do the people who get involved with me only ever lose something?”

“Rem!!”

The sudden shout drives away the sorrow. It’s more like forcibly locking it away rather than truly driving it off, but either way, I can stand up.

Because right now, all that matters is to keep moving forward without stopping.

I use my magic to wipe away my tears and step outside the room with Parsley. As we head to the dining area where the entrance is located, I can immediately see the reason for the shout.

Crimson hair and red eyes,
And adorable twin tails that didn’t match her appearance at all.

Green hair and long ears,
And everything below the neck made of wood instead of flesh.

“Marianne? Sharik?”

The uninvited guest and the unexpected guest turn to look at me. The former shoots me a glance with her lips curled up crookedly.

“Hey, Rem. I was so frustrated that I had to come and see for myself.”

“What do you mean frustrated, Marianne…”

“It means we’ve found a way.”

This time it was the latter who spoke. Sharik patted Shafiq’s shoulder and flashed a grin.

“A way to meet Alain and bring him back.”

I truly forgot my sorrow for a moment.

***

The reason Marianne was an uninvited guest was because I had written to her to stay at the magic tower. Because I didn’t want her to suffer any more harm because of me.

And the reason Sharik was an unexpected guest was because I hadn’t thought about him at all. After the Goddess’s resurrection, his whereabouts had become unknown.

Who would have thought those two would be acting together.

Sharik moistened his throat with alcohol as he began to speak.

“After you all left, I set out to find Alain’s whereabouts. After all, if anyone could clean up this mess, it would be him. So, I went around checking the facilities he left behind. And then…”

“He ran into me. At one of Alain’s secret laboratories.”

“How did *you* end up there?”

At my question, Marianne grins.

“Do you still remember that space beneath the Ailleyde mansion?”

“…How could I forget? That’s why you stayed at the magic tower, to investigate it.”

That place, which had been Irene’s secret space, was surprisingly sealed with Sage’s magic circles. It was proof that Sage was somehow involved in this matter in some way.

And Marianne had stayed at the magic tower to investigate that connection.

…More precisely, it was my excuse to keep her away from danger.

“Yeah, that’s right. And I found the answer.”

“The answer?”

Marianne answered with her brows furrowed.

“Sage made a deal with Irene. In exchange for information about Alain.”

“Information? What kind?”

For a moment, Marianne hesitated at my question. The cause of her hesitation became clear when I followed her gaze.

Parsley.

“Parsley, maybe it would be better if you didn’t hear…”

“It’s okay.”

Parsley’s firm voice cuts Marianne off. She looks at Marianne with straight eyes and says.

“My mother, no, Sage, is no longer related to me. I’ve decided to leave it at that.”

“…Right.”

Taking a deep breath, Marianne barely managed to continue.

“The method to transfer a disembodied soul into a new body or object. It’s what Alain used to… ‘recycle’ soldiers when fighting the goddess.”

Those words collide with my thoughts like billiard balls. The scattered thoughts ricochet off each other, colliding again and again, before finally settling into a pattern.

Marianne, who only had a soul without a body.
Parsley, who was still broken even after having her memories altered.
And Sage’s bizarre last will, that even if Parsley killed her, she wanted Parsley to become the next Tower Master.

Surely not…

I turned to look at Parsley. From her trembling lips, I could tell she had reached the same conclusion.

However, Parsley wasn’t the same girl as before.

“Intentions don’t matter. In the end, it’s actions that remain. That person… was a monster to me, no matter what. Now, she’s become someone I don’t care for anymore.”

Parsley gently takes my hand. Her hand is slightly trembling, but there’s no hesitation left in it.

With an almost decisive voice, Parsley put an end to her painful childhood.

“Marianne, so what’s the conclusion?”

After a brief moment of shock, Marianne let out a deep sigh of relief. With a much more relaxed expression, she continued her story.

“Anyway, I met Mr. Sharik there. We realized our goals aligned. Collaboration was inevitable.”

“And just yesterday, while investigating the facilities Alain left behind, we discovered it. Alain’s final act.”

Sharik looks at Marianne as if yielding the floor. Marianne smiles slightly and continues with the final words.

“Before ascending, Alain transferred his soul into a powerful artifact. So that his soul could wander the world and watch over it.”

Suddenly, I had a feeling I knew what that artifact was. After all, there’s only one powerful artifact in this continent that has Alain’s name attached to it.

“That’s right, Alain’s pocket watch. Alain remains inside it.”