Ending Maker SS #32 Lucas Hresvelg (2)

Lucas’s second dance was with Kaisa.

The flow was so natural it was as if it had been planned from the start.

While Lucas danced with Kaisa, Scarlett danced with Count Hresvelg. When the music for the third dance began, Lucas found himself face-to-face with Scarlett.

“Still, I’m the older one.”

Even if it was only by a year.

With a shrug, Scarlett spoke as if in passing and took Lucas’s hand.

“I shouldn’t have refused back then.”

Lucas froze for a moment, not immediately understanding what she meant, but it was only for an instant.

She was talking about the Founding Day Ball.

“I never knew the immature young master would grow up to be so dashing.”

Speaking just loud enough for him to hear, yet as if talking to herself, Scarlett took a light step. Lucas, his cheeks slightly flushed, began the third dance.

The party continued late into the night.

And as is typical of such parties, it gradually shifted from a birthday celebration to a social gathering for the nobles who had assembled under that pretext.

Therefore, Lucas didn’t feel much guilt about slipping out of the banquet hall.

“But here of all places?”

“Why, isn’t it nice? I figured no one would come here.”

Scarlett smiled brightly as she looked around.

Lucas, Kaisa, and Scarlett.

The three of them were in the indoor training hall used exclusively by the direct line of the Hresvelg family.

“Hmm. So this is what a northern training hall looks like.”

Kaisa had been invited to not only the Bayer and Hresvelg estates but also to those of quite a few other northern families, yet this was her first time inside an indoor training hall.

“Is it very different from the south?”

“Yeah, for one, training halls in the south are rarely indoors.”

Answering Scarlett’s question, Kaisa began to rummage through the items she had brought and set them down in a suitable spot.

“Lucas, spread that out over there.”

“Oh, that looks like a good spot.”

“Yes.”

Following the two women’s orders, Lucas spread the mat he had carried onto the training hall floor, where the moonlight shone. Kaisa and Scarlett then arranged the wine and food they had brought in a basket on top of it.

“And we can’t forget this.”

Everything else had been grabbed from the banquet hall, but not this.

Scarlett grinned and took out a small, round chocolate cake. Kaisa, from who-knows-where, produced a candle and stuck it on top.

After spending the last three years together, the two of them were perfectly in sync.

“Happy birthday.”

“Happy birthday, Lucas.”

“Thank you.”

As Lucas blew out the candle on the small cake, Kaisa and Scarlett clapped and wished him a happy birthday once more.

He thought it felt like children playing house—no, it probably was playing house—but a bright smile still spread across Lucas’s face.

‘My apologies.’

To everyone who attended the party today.

But my heart leans a little more toward this simple celebration right now.

Still, thank you all so much for coming.

After his brief apology and thanks, Lucas looked back at Scarlett and Kaisa, who were filling each other’s glasses as if on cue.

Of course, they didn’t forget to fill Lucas’s glass as well.

“Drink up, drink up. We’re going all out tonight.”

“Says the one who’s always the first to pass out.”

When Scarlett chuckled, Kaisa’s face reddened as she protested.

“You two are the weird ones for being able to outdrink me, you know?”

After all, the blood of a Divine Beast flowed through Kaisa.

Her detoxification ability was exceptional, and back in her homeland, she had never lost a drinking contest.

“I can understand Lucas, since he’s reached the horizon, but there’s something strange about Scarlett.”

“What’s strange about it? I just have a high tolerance. And what does reaching the horizon have to do with holding your liquor?”

Stumped by Scarlett’s valid point, Kaisa pouted and, as always, was the first to raise her glass.

“Anyway, cheers.”

“Cheers.”

So that her raised glass wouldn’t be left hanging, Lucas and Scarlett quickly lifted theirs.

“Ahh, that’s good. This is delicious.”

“Alright, alright, let’s get the presents out of the way before you get too drunk.”

Patting Kaisa’s back as if soothing a child, Scarlett took out two pre-prepared items from the basket.

One was her own, and the other was Kaisa’s.

“Here, a birthday present.”

“Me too.”

The wrapping paper was different colors, red and blue respectively, but the size and even the weight were identical.

“Thank you.”

As Lucas immediately expressed his gratitude, Kaisa grinned mischievously and said.

“Hurry up and open them.”

“Is it alright if I do?”

“Of course.”

Kaisa had started the exchange, but it was Scarlett who finished it.

With the two women’s permission, Lucas tore open the wrapping paper with the eager face of a child, and he showed Scarlett and Kaisa exactly what they had been hoping to see.

A radiant smile.

“The new volume of Bildwein’s Heroic Saga!”

That’s right.

The new volume of Bildwein’s Heroic Saga, released after three long years.

The very book he had planned to buy at the bookstore today but had to postpone until tomorrow because his father had held him up!

Kaisa’s and Scarlett’s gifts were both the new volume of Bildwein’s Heroic Saga.

In the end, they had both given him the same gift, but the faces of the givers and the receiver were all filled with nothing but smiles.

“Mine is for your collection.”

“And mine is for reading.”

This was because the two of them were well aware that Lucas bought five copies of every book.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

As Lucas hugged the books tightly in delight, smiles once again spread across Kaisa’s and Scarlett’s faces.

“Alright, alright, now that we’ve exchanged gifts, let’s drink again. Tonight’s the night I’ll drink you both under the table.”

“As if.”

Scarlett giggled and filled Kaisa’s and Lucas’s glasses, and the three of them began their own little drinking party.

And how many hours passed?

Dawn.

The time when neither the moon nor the sun was in the sky.

A time when the world was dyed in a single color.

Kaisa was sound asleep, hugging an empty wine bottle and using Scarlett’s thigh as a pillow.

Scarlett, in turn, was stroking Kaisa’s hair.

“Lucas.”

“Yes, Scarlett.”

“Do you like that story that much?”

“Yes, I like it very much.”

Though not completely passed out like Kaisa, both Lucas and Scarlett were flushed with drink.

And because of that, a more honest smile than usual graced Lucas’s face.

He even voiced words he normally wouldn’t.

“I like it very much… but this volume is especially special.”

“Because it’s the first new one in three years?”

“That’s part of it, but…”

Lucas trailed off, stroking the cover of the book instead of giving a direct answer.

And as Scarlett watched him quietly, she suddenly understood.

The meaning behind Lucas’s words, “especially special.”

“You’re as sharp as ever, Scarlett.”

They weren’t on the level of Yuder and Cordelia, who could communicate with just a look, but he could tell whether she had figured it out.

Lucas opened the book and caressed the words on the first page as he spoke.

“Yes, it’s a volume that was never once published in my past lives… a new volume in the truest sense.”

Three years ago.

In countless past lives, they had been helplessly crushed by the calamity that began with the kidnapping of the children of the Northern 12 Families.

“The author must have been swept up in the disaster. Or, even if he was safe, the world wasn’t peaceful enough to create a heroic tale like this and distribute it.”

But not anymore.

The Sailun Kingdom had not fallen, and the Empire, too, stood strong.

The fate of Pleiades continued on into the future.

And so, this new volume was released.

One more piece of evidence that Yuder and Cordelia had saved the world.

Lucas looked up at Scarlett.

Perhaps because of the alcohol, he let out a few more words he would normally keep to himself.

“I… wanted to be… Bildwein.”

A childhood dream.

No, in truth, it was a dream he still had.

A strong, cool, absolutely invincible hero.

A being like hope itself, someone you could always trust and rely on.

A single ray of light that leads people even in the darkness.

Lucas knew people like that.

Yuder and Cordelia.

The true heroes who had saved not only the Wild Lands and the Sailun Kingdom but all of Pleiades.

But that wasn’t him.

Lucas himself was different from the two of them.

He had been upset when Landius took Yuder as his disciple.

When he sparred with the unbelievably stronger Yuder during their journey through the Wild Lands.

When he was defeated by an overwhelming margin, he pretended to accept the outcome calmly in front of Yuder. In front of his father, he had even strengthened his resolve, promising to work harder.

But that wasn’t the whole story.

That night, he had buried his face in his blankets and burst into tears.

He was shocked and bewildered by the absurd gap between them, and he suddenly felt so pathetic that he didn’t know what to do. He was so hurt that he had cried his eyes out like a child.

An inferiority complex.

Something he just couldn’t overcome.

He attended the Sword Banquet in the royal capital.

As expected, Yuder and Cordelia appeared.

And Yuder became the star of the Sword Banquet.

Lucas himself had collapsed, unable to withstand the First Sword’s strike, but Yuder had blocked it. For a brief moment, he had even made the First Sword get serious.

He had congratulated Yuder.

But inside, he was crying.

Lucas himself was not the protagonist.

He wasn’t a hero, either.

A supporting role.

A side character who exists to make the protagonist shine.

He didn’t let it show.

He tried to accept it.

Watching Yuder and Cordelia thwart the conspiracy at the Founding Anniversary Celebration, he thought to himself:

We were on different paths from the start.

There’s no need to feel inferior over every little thing.

But that wasn’t acceptance.

It was a bitter excuse for defeat.

He had marveled at Yuder’s performance in the martial arts tournament, which was like something out of a heroic epic. He had clapped and showered him with praise.

Because that was the role of a side character.

Everything felt empty.

What if he just hated Yuder and Cordelia—hated Yuder?

Wouldn’t that make him feel a little better?

But in the end, he couldn’t do it.

Because Yuder and Cordelia were truly good people.

Yuder always called him a worthy rival.

It wasn’t mockery. He believed in Lucas the swordsman even more than Lucas himself did.

On the night of the Sword Banquet, he had called him to enter the Dungeon Book.

And that wasn’t the only time.

Whenever there was something they could do together, whenever there was an opportunity for Lucas to grow, the two of them would extend a hand to him without asking for anything in return.

How could he hate people like that?

“So… so I just kept swinging my sword.”

Steadfastly forward.

Toward that unseen horizon.

Scarlett, who had been listening quietly to Lucas’s confession, smiled brightly.

“What are you talking about? You’ve already achieved your dream.”

“Pardon?”

“You became Bildwein.”

At Scarlett’s words, Lucas tilted his head.

Scarlett moved to Lucas’s side, took out an old volume from the basket, and flipped through the pages.

“I’ve read it too. Bildwein’s Heroic Saga.”

Because it’s a story you really love.

I was curious what it was about.

Since you love it, I wanted to love it with you.

Skipping a whole chunk of what she wanted to say, Scarlett continued her story in a soft voice.

“One who never gives up and always moves forward. One who does not hate others. A truly good and pure being, like the sun itself.”

With each phrase Scarlett spoke, Lucas’s expression darkened.

No matter how he thought about it, he felt that description was a far cry from who he was.

So Scarlett smiled.

“Do you remember the fight at the Red Gate?”

“I remember.”

The battle where Yuder defeated the First Sword.

But Scarlett’s memory was different.

“That was the day you saved Elune.”

And she wasn’t the only one.

Scarlett herself, and Kaisa too. Everyone who was at the Red Gate that day.

“But that was because Yuder—”

“Yes, Yuder defeated the First Sword. But if you hadn’t been there, if you hadn’t held off the First Sword… we would have all been dead by the time Yuder arrived.”

Scarlett smiled again.

She flipped through the pages and pointed to an illustration.

It was a scene of Bildwein facing a giant dragon with a single sword.

“It’s a fight you can’t win. Objectively, the difference in strength is beyond comparison. But Bildwein stepped forward. Because he had to protect people. Just like you did when you faced the First Sword.”

Lucas’s face flushed red.

Scarlett smiled again and continued.

“And it wasn’t just that day.”

On the day of the Founding Anniversary Celebration.

Lucas saved the people at the ball.

He fought against monsters without a proper weapon.

He didn’t hesitate to journey to the Wild Lands.

He willingly rushed into a place teeming with the demons of hell to protect the people there.

If Lucas hadn’t been there.

If Lucas hadn’t been in that place.

“But there’s something else I think is truly amazing.”

Lucas didn’t hate Yuder.

He didn’t let himself be consumed by an ugly jealousy born of inferiority.

Instead of breaking down and lashing out at those around him, he honed himself.

He didn’t misinterpret Yuder and Cordelia’s goodwill but accepted it as such. And he returned their pure goodwill in kind.

“And you moved forward.”

Steadfastly and clearly, on his own path, even in the starless dark.

“I always thought so, even in my past life.”

What is with this guy?

Why doesn’t he despair?

Why doesn’t he give up?

Why doesn’t he fall to corruption?

Unless a demon was forcibly shoved into his soul, Lucas would never fall.

No, even when he was made into a demonized human like that, he always regained his humanity in the end.

‘Maybe that’s why I was drawn to you.’

To that pure soul.

To that single ray of white light shining in the darkness.

Lucas’s face was flushed bright red. Tears were welling up in his eyes.

“And you know, this is the most important reason…”

Scarlett trailed off, her face blushing, then let out a small laugh. She whispered into Lucas’s ear.

“How could the man I love not be the protagonist?”

The protagonist of Scarlett Viper’s story was Scarlett.

And the handsome, wonderful male lead that Scarlett loved was always Lucas.

‘I must be really drunk.’

Feeling embarrassed by her own words, Scarlett cleared her throat with a “Hmph, hmph,” and wrapped her arms around Lucas’s neck. After a moment’s hesitation, she shyly pressed her lips to his cheek.

“Happy birthday, again.”

My Bildwein.

My hero.

And it was at that very moment.

As if by a lie, the sun shot up from the distant horizon.

The morning glory streamed through the window, brightly illuminating Lucas’s body.

“Wow.”

Scarlett let out a small gasp of admiration and smiled as if to say, “See?” Lucas burst into a radiant laugh.

The next morning.

While Kaisa was still sound asleep and Scarlett had fallen into a belated, sweet slumber.

Lucas opened the new volume of Bildwein’s Heroic Saga.

He stroked the full-page illustration of Bildwein and thought.

Bildwein.

The invincible hero.

One who never gives up and always leads the light of hope.

Scarlett had called him Bildwein, but that wasn’t true.

Lucas himself could never be a hero like Bildwein.

But, even so.

A smile spread across Lucas’s face.

Turning the page, coming face-to-face with the Bildwein who had returned after three years, Lucas thought.

‘I want to be Bildwein.’

Even if it’s impossible right now, someday. Just like how I reached the horizon.

Lucas turned the page.

As he always had, he steadfastly moved forward.

fin

“Have you seen the sales figures for the new volume? Whoa! It’s a total hit! A smash hit!”

The man showed no particular reaction to the publisher’s praise.

No, in truth, even if he had reacted, the publisher’s employee would have had no way of knowing.

Because the man was wearing a black mask that covered his entire face.

An author who insisted on wearing a mask to every meeting, even though it wasn’t a masquerade ball.

The thought that he was a madman naturally came to mind, but this industry was full of crazy writers.

Therefore, the publisher’s employee ignored such trivial matters and brought up what was truly important.

“Author-nim, so about that… when do you think the next volume might be…?”

It had been a new volume after a staggering three years.

To declare another three-year wait now would be too cruel. The popularity of Bildwein’s Heroic Saga would only soar again if the next volumes came out in quick succession.

As the publisher’s employee sent him a desperate look, the man in the black mask replied in a low voice.

“Soon.”

“Ooooh…”

Soon.

Surely that ‘soon’ doesn’t mean another three years.

Since it’s ‘soon,’ maybe a few months?

No, even a year would be more than enough.

“Then let’s wrap it up for today.”

As the man in the black mask rose from his seat, the publisher’s employee hurriedly stood up as well and bowed deeply.

“Please take care on your way out.”

The man in the black mask raised a hand in response instead of replying. As soon as he left the shop, he took off his mask.

He had used a simple cognitive impairment magic, so no one witnessed him removing it.

And after walking for another ten minutes or so.

“Yo, Kamael.”

Among the giant man sitting at the appointed place, the beautiful woman clinging to his side, and the people staring at the two of them in wonder, Kamael let out a small smile.

“Bildwein.”

“Huh? What-wein?”

Oops. He had muttered it to himself, but had he been heard?

However, instead of panicking, Kamael said with a calm face.

“I said, Landius.”

“Anyway, hurry up and sit down. The cake here is really delicious.”

At Lena’s urging, Kamael quickened his pace as if he couldn’t refuse. And Landius—the Bildwein of not only Kamael but all five heroes of Paragon—once again broke into a good-natured laugh.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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