SS #38 Two Years Later, A Day in Each of Their Lives (5)

#8 Of the Girl, the Master, and the Warrior of the Sun

It was a memory from the past, now more than twenty years old.

But even now, Lena could remember the events of that day with vivid clarity.

The day she had completed all her classes at the Gray Tower in just three years, studying diligently with a heart that yearned to return to her master as quickly as possible, and had finally begun her journey home.

Lena had been smiling, anticipating her master’s praise—”Our Lena is the best, as always”—and wiggling her fingers as she imagined Landius, who had surely grown even more handsome over the past three years. Then, the carriage had suddenly stopped, and she had blinked in surprise.

What’s going on?

Why did the carriage stop?

Did a wheel get stuck somewhere?

If the coachman needs help, I should assist him with magic.

I’ll refuse any payment, of course.

But I’ll be sure to mention my master’s name.

He’s already renowned as a great man, but the more good things said about him, the better.

Having made up her mind, Lena clutched the staff her master had gifted her when she left for the Gray Tower and waited for the coachman to open the carriage door.

But when the door opened, the story she heard was something else entirely.

*

At first, she couldn’t believe it.

She knew the coachman had no reason to lie, but it wasn’t just him. The soldiers at the border and even the traveling merchants returning from Paragon were all saying the same thing—

Still, she couldn’t believe it.

She didn’t want to believe it.

The Paragon Kingdom had fallen.

It had become a land swarming with monsters.

The villages near the border were overflowing with undead like zombies and skeletons, and from the royal palace, demonic spells and human screams could be heard daily.

When she arrived at a village near the border, Lena incinerated a horde of zombies swarming toward her with a Wall of Flames, then collapsed to the ground and vomited.

It wasn’t her first time in a real battle.

Nor was it the first time she had smelled burning corpses.

But it was the first time someone she knew had risen as an undead, and the first time she had been the one to burn them.

They hadn’t been close.

Just a village she had stayed in on her way to the Gray Tower, and people she had greeted in passing.

The owner of the inn where she had spent a night, and the errand girl who had been exceptionally kind.

“Haa… haa…”

The border guards from the Sailun Kingdom, who had accompanied her to assess the situation, urged her to return with them. It seemed their plan was to seal the border and await orders from the capital.

It was a valid and rational argument.

But Lena shook her head.

Instead of returning with the border guards, she gripped her staff with trembling hands and took a step toward the royal capital of the Paragon Kingdom.

Because my master will be there.

My master.

My master.

Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision, but Lena couldn’t afford to care.

The scene unfolding before her made it so.

A black wind blew under a gray sky.

And in the distance, from the royal capital of the Paragon Kingdom, which stood on a hill visible even from afar, jet-black flames were rising.

*

—Lena, you are truly a genius.

I don’t really think so. I just like being praised by you, Master, so I just worked a little harder.

—Go to the Gray Tower. There, you can receive more specialized instruction than what you learn from me.

I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave your side and stay in a strange place for years.

I like the Paragon Kingdom. I want to stay in the capital, where you and Landius are.

—I may be an archmage, but I am not a great teacher.

That’s not true. You’re the best master there is. There can be no master better than you.

—So, Lena, you should go.

No. I don’t want to go.

But she couldn’t say it.

She couldn’t bring herself to throw a tantrum and refuse her master, who spoke with such a gentle smile.

So she nodded.

She forced the biggest smile she could and said she would go.

Even though she didn’t want to, even though she wanted to stay by her master’s side.

It was fine.

Yes, it was fine.

Because her master was genuinely pleased.

Because he had stroked her head and said—

—Yes, my Lena. My proud disciple. My…—

Lena opened her eyes.

It was a dream.

A memory from three years ago, the night she was told it would be best to go to the Gray Tower.

Her master’s smile had been gentle, and the warmth of the fireplace had been comforting, but reality was not so kind.

It was a cold night.

Her face was stained with sweat, ash, and tears, and her whole body felt sticky with sweat.

But she couldn’t even properly register such discomfort.

It was her third day in the Paragon Kingdom.

She had not met a single survivor.

All she had encountered on her way here were monsters and corpses risen from death.

Why was she even heading to the capital?

To meet her master.

Because her master would be there.

But was that really true?

With a disaster of this scale, wouldn’t her master have already fled to safety?

Her master was an archmage.

A very powerful one at that.

So no matter what calamity had struck, there was a high chance he was safe.

Perhaps he had already escaped the capital, taking the royal family with him.

Yes, maybe he had gone to the Sailun Kingdom and was now worrying that his immature disciple had walked into a death trap.

He might even risk danger again to find her.

Therefore, the right thing to do was to turn back now.

That was the logical course of action.

At the rational thought that formed in her head, Lena gritted her teeth and shook her head.

It wasn’t rational.

It was a cowardly excuse born of fear and dread.

Her master was not the kind of person to flee alone.

It was far more likely that, even at this very moment, he was in the capital, fighting to protect people.

So she had to go to the capital.

She had to help her master.

It was a flimsy line of reasoning.

In terms of probability, her first thought was far more likely.

But still, Lena rose to her feet and tightened her grip on her staff.

She was hungry from not having a proper meal in days, and her head was dizzy from repeatedly casting magic without proper sleep, but she did not stop walking.

She could feel the scent of powerful mana nearby.

Common sense dictated she should avoid it, but Lena walked toward the scent instead.

Why?

Was it to subjugate a powerful demon and restore this situation to normal, even if just a little?

Or was she trying to make it safer for any survivors who might be hiding somewhere?

Or perhaps—

Revenge.

Revenge for her master.

Revenge for the Paragon Kingdom.

Lena cut off her thoughts.

She didn’t think.

And she had a premonition.

From the way the zombies stepped aside, opening a path for her instead of rushing at her.

From the increasingly intense, familiar scent of mana.

She knew.

She knew her master was not one to flee.

That he was a man who would save people until the very end, even if it meant sacrificing himself.

The reason she had walked this way.

The reason tears were streaming down her face.

“Le… na.”

Her master was smiling.

With a face that was half-rotted away.

Wrapped in an eerie mana.

*

“Lena, you’ve grown up so deliciously.”

I’ve wanted to violate you for a long time.

I sent you to the Gray Tower because I could no longer suppress my desires.

But I shouldn’t have sent you away. If only I’d known you’d ripen so exquisitely.

It was nonsense.

Her master would never think such things.

“The truth is, I hated you. That’s why I cast you out to the Gray Tower.”

Because your talent was too dazzling.

Because I was so jealous of that talent I couldn’t bear it.

It was a lie.

Her master was a great archmage.

If he had been jealous of her talent, it would have made more sense to stop her from learning magic in the first place.

Sending her to the Gray Tower to learn more was illogical.

“Do you really think so? If I truly cherished you, why would I have let you go? Why would I have done so, knowing you didn’t want to leave? The truth is, I hated you, Lena. To the point that the very act of breathing the same air as you disgusted me.”

It was a lie.

It was all a lie.

But even though her head knew it, her heart felt like it was shattering.

It was her master’s face.

It was her master’s voice.

And.

And this whole situation.

The zombies swarmed in.

At the command of her master, who had become a lich, the dead continuously rushed toward her.

Her master was dead.

He had become undead.

He had become a tool of a demon, killing countless people and raising them again.

Her mana wouldn’t gather properly.

Her hands and feet felt numb, and the incantations swirled in her mouth but couldn’t form into a voice.

At some point, her knees buckled.

A ghoul leaped over the Wall of Flames and pushed her down.

In an instant, zombies converged on her.

Unable to form a spell, she pushed them back with raw mana, but it was only for a moment.

Lena fell again, and this time, she couldn’t get up.

Master.

Perhaps this was the destined end.

No, she must have known, to some extent.

But still, she couldn’t stop.

Because she had to see her master.

Her master.

The master who was truly like a father to her.

“Yes, so just die now. My hated disciple.”

Lena closed her eyes.

And she suddenly recalled a childhood memory.

When she was captured in a goblin lair.

When she faced despair there.

One person had naturally come to mind.

Even in the agony of a ghoul biting her shoulder and a zombie tearing at her arm, she pictured one person’s face.

And at that very moment.

In her dark vision, filled only with despair.

The sun rose.

*

It was the back of a man.

But to Lena, it didn’t look that way.

It was light.

A single flash of light that shone ever brighter the deeper the darkness, the longer the night.

Landius charged.

He cut through the swarming zombies and skeletons with his Golden Sun Sword and rushed toward her master—the archmage who had become a lich.

“Lena.”

At the familiar voice, Lena blinked.

She saw a beautiful man with white hair.

He was pouring potions on her, healing her wounds.

Kamael.

Landius’s closest friend.

The Sword Demon of the Royal Knights, who carried the blood of the Paragon royal family.

“It’s okay. You’ll be okay.”

His words weren’t cold and cynical.

His voice was laced with an awkward gentleness.

Kamael carefully held the limp Lena in his arms.

He shared a little of his warmth.

Held in Kamael’s embrace, Lena looked straight ahead.

Landius was fighting her master.

“Lena, you’ll be fine. So just wait.”

After saying that, Kamael gently released Lena from his arms.

He glanced sorrowfully at her as she collapsed weakly again, then turned and charged toward Bardo.

Lena watched the two fight, weeping.

No, she couldn’t watch.

She squeezed her eyes shut, covered her ears with her hands, and curled into a ball.

How much time had passed?

At a gentle, albeit awkward, touch, Lena raised her head.

She saw Kamael.

She saw Landius standing in the distance, and at his feet, her master lay fallen.

Lena staggered to her feet.

No, she couldn’t tell if she had stood on her own or if Kamael had helped her up.

But she took a step.

She approached her master’s side.

Her master’s eyes, now devoid of light, moved.

He opened his mouth again, and Lena instinctively raised her hands to cover her ears.

She was scared.

Scared of hearing those agonizing words again.

Scared of hearing such outrageous lies in her master’s voice.

But at that moment, Kamael shook his head.

With a careful touch, he removed Lena’s hands from her ears.

And Lena could hear.

Her master’s voice, faint but gentle.

“Le… na…”

“My Lena… will be coming back…”

“I have to… go meet… her.”

“My… Lena…”

“Is she… eating… well.”

“Is she… staying up late… just studying… again…”

“Lena’s favorite… cheese… cake…”

“A new… staff for Lena. Pretty… clothes…”

The false life that had inhabited Bardo Einsberg was fading.

His gray eyes could no longer see anything.

His ears could no longer hear anything.

He couldn’t even maintain proper reason anymore.

“My Le… na… my beloved… disciple… my one and only… daughter…”

A faint smile graced Bardo Einsberg’s face.

A gentle, warm, and affectionate smile.

Lena collapsed on the spot.

She fell into her master’s cold embrace and burst into sorrowful tears.

*

Lena lifted her head.

The sudden memory had reddened her eyes, but she forced back the tears.

Landius and Kamael.

The sun that had always saved her, and her most precious friend in the world.

A truly grateful person who had shared his warmth when she was at her lowest and allowed her to hear her master’s last words.

‘So I’m going to keep my wits about me.’

He was her Kamael, after all.

No strange woman should be clinging to him.

Of course, if she was a really good woman, that would be fine.

Because she wanted Kamael to be happy, too.

If Fran had been there to hear her thoughts, he would have shaken his head and called it obsession and overprotection, but he wasn’t here, and Lena was quite serious.

Because both Landius and Kamael were truly precious to her.

“Hoo, let’s go.”

Taking a deep breath, Lena turned around.

She smiled anew at the sight of Landius, Fran, and Belkian through the window.

#9 Of the Patient Spirit and Her Master

The survivors of the Magic Kingdom of Magellan were exceedingly few.

Setting aside the fact that the calamity itself was one that made survival difficult, Magellan had been a thriving kingdom nearly a thousand years ago.

Even the long-lived elves found it hard to last five hundred years.

Even for the high elf royalty, a lifespan of a thousand years was the limit.

Thus, survivors of Magellan were extremely rare.

This was true even for the children of the ruined nation, born after the kingdom had effectively fallen.

Among those survivors of Magellan, how many could have participated in the Artificial Spirit King Project?

And among them, what were the chances that a survivor who had participated in the Snow Queen Project remained?

It was a slim probability.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it nearly impossible.

But as someone once said, a miracle is a miracle because it happens.

‘In the first place, if it were just an ordinary survivor, I wouldn’t have arranged this meeting.’

It would have just been awkward for them to meet.

But because that wasn’t the case.

Because this was not a meeting with an ordinary survivor.

The Incarnation and the Pope of the Yudelria Holy Nation had come in person.

They had mobilized the Empire’s Grand Swordmaster and had the Queen of the Forest of Eternity prepare the venue.

“Here, Melissa. I made you a promise, didn’t I?”

Cordelia said boastfully, but Melissa couldn’t answer.

But Cordelia understood.

Smiling, she offered the bracelet to the elderly elf sitting beside Elun.

“This is Melissa.”

At Cordelia’s words, the elf accepted the bracelet with trembling hands.

Then, in a voice mixed with sorrow and joy, she spoke cautiously.

“…Melissa. It’s me. Do you remember?”

Having let go of the bracelet, she couldn’t hear the voice.

But Cordelia felt like she knew what kind of voice Melissa would have made, what she would have said.

So Cordelia quietly stepped back.

She stood beside Yuder, and he held her hand tightly.

It was to share with Cordelia the joy of the woman who was Melissa’s best friend and constant companion.

[I’m so happy for them. Truly.]

Belencia said in a tearful voice, and Yuder nodded.

Cordelia smiled and wiped away a tear.

[Should we leave them alone for a moment?]

So they could talk more comfortably.

At Belencia’s suggestion, Cordelia gave a nod to Queen Laika, and Yuder took the hand of Elun, who was sitting there blankly, and helped him to his feet.

Yuder and Cordelia stepped out onto the large balcony attached to the Queen’s Room and looked up at the sky.

It was a night sky full of stars.

And in the distance, there were others gazing up at the same sky.

“The moon is beautiful.”

“It is.”

“It’s a beautiful night.”

Red Wind, Kirara, and Sara smiled as they looked out the window.

“Oppa, look at the moon.”

“It’s beautiful. It looks like you, Yuria.”

“What are those two even saying?”

Vivian scrunched up her face at the sight of Yuria and Yujin whispering closely, but Regina couldn’t answer.

She was too busy snuggling up to Elwin, gazing at the night sky herself.

But it wasn’t as if Vivian was all alone and miserable.

“It’s okay, Noona. You’re much prettier.”

“Ahem, what are you saying? You’re embarrassing me.”

Though he was old enough to be going through puberty, Walter was still a good and proper boy who adored his older sister. At his words, Vivian pretended not to be, but smiled happily.

And back to Regina.

“It’s beautiful.”

Genuinely impressed by the night sky, she smiled brightly, and the same was true for the Fairy Queens gathered in one place.

With high-quality chocolate for fairies from the Yudelria Holy Nation in their mouths, they each smiled elegantly and gazed up at the night sky.

“Whoa, did you just see that shooting star?”

“I saw it.”

“Did you make a wish?”

“…I did.”

“Ooh, that was fast. What did you wish for?”

“…It’s a secret.”

“Don’t be like that.”

Natasha giggled and looked up at the night sky again, and Kamael did the same.

So did the Heroes of Paragon, who were watching them from a distance.

The night was deepening.

Count Bayer and Count Chase sat at the dining table, and Edward and Sylvia, Gale and Adelia, and Amber and Aiden each took their seats and began their dinner.

Rough Avalanche, the mascot of Bailun, also waddled to the table and sat down.

“Is Vivian going to be late again today?”

“Probably.”

“Hmm, she’ll be late, you say?”

Kaisa suddenly purred in a suggestive voice and hugged Lucas’s left arm. Scarlett giggled and hugged his right.

Though it had been well over ten years since they married, and they had even had eleven children, Lucas still blushed.

The day was coming to an end.

But it wasn’t sad.

Because when the sun set, the night came, and the sun rose again, a new morning would begin.

The beginning of a new morning.

The beginning of a new story.

Their story, which continues even after the perfect happy ending.

Yuder and Cordelia looked at each other.

And smiled brightly.

fin

Afterword

Hello, this is Chwiryong.

The side stories for Ending Maker have concluded.

The main story ended at chapter 360, so… that means I’ve written 104 chapters of side stories.

I’ve always been one to write a fair number of side stories, but I think this is the first time I’ve written this many for a single work.

So this afterword is likely to be a bit long-winded… I ask for your understanding, dear readers.

The initial plan for the Enme side stories came about while the main story was still in full swing.

It was almost two years ago, around the time the Enme webtoon project began (which has now been released and is being serialized to great acclaim! It turned out really, really well :D).

Let’s serialize the side stories when the webtoon comes out!

That was the idea, so I actually left a few plot threads hanging when I finished the main story.

I wanted to write a Part 2-like side story, not just an ordinary daily life one.

However…

When the webtoon was released and I started writing the side stories, various unexpected external factors made it difficult to write the Part 2-like side story I had originally planned.

I can say this now, but I actually considered ending the side stories right after the arc where they visited Earth… but no matter how I thought about it, that didn’t feel right, so I quickly pushed forward with the original plan, and the result was the Outer God War arc.

But after finishing the Outer God War arc, I had a lot of thoughts.

A side story is something you can only write once, and I had a whole mountain of stories I had originally prepared.

I don’t want to ruin the ending of a story called Enme because of external factors.

It’s already a bit skewed, but I don’t want to end it like this.

So in the end, I decided to ‘just write the stories I want to tell.’

It might sound a bit irresponsible, but to be honest, many of the side stories after the Outer God War were closer to ‘I’m writing this because I want to see it, for my own enjoyment!’

Well, it’s embarrassing, but it’s the truth.

Anyway… as I unraveled the stories I wanted to tell one by one, the number of side story chapters just kept growing.

If I had stuck to my original plan, the side stories should have ended almost a month ago, but somehow, I just kept writing.

There were so many stories I wanted to write… I think it’s because I wanted to stay with the story of Enme for just a little longer.

To be honest, there are still more side stories I want to write.

The reason Kamael came to write Bildwein’s Heroic Saga, stories about Fran and Belkian who had relatively low screen time among the five Heroes of Paragon, a story about the Hresvelg family starring Vivian, Yuder and Cordelia secretly following and watching Yujin and Yuria on Earth, the daily lives of Maia and Dahlia, and so on…….

But if I keep going, it feels like the side stories will never end, so I’ve decided to wrap it up for now.

The Enme webtoon is still ongoing, so I’ll probably post the remaining stories little by little whenever an opportunity arises, like when a new season of the webtoon comes out.

The freedom to write whatever I want is the great strength of side stories, after all 😀

All the works I’ve written so far are precious to me, each holding its own meaning.

But among them, Ending Maker is a work that holds a very special meaning for me.

For those of you who have read several of my works, you probably already know this, but there is a phrase I always hold in my heart as an author, one I consider most important.

‘A story only gains life when there is someone to read it.’

To all the readers who breathed life into the story of Ending Maker, thank you. Thank you so much.

It was because of you, the readers, that I was able to enjoy writing the story of Ending Maker.

I was happy because of everyone in Ending Maker: Yuder and Cordelia, Melissa and Belencia, Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee and Natasha, Landius and Lena, Kamael and Belkian and Fran, Lucas and Scarlett and Kaisa, Count Bayer and Count Chase, Maia and Dahlia, Yujin and Yuria, Regina and Elwin and Vivian, and so on…….

And I will continue to be happy.

To my father and mother, and my older sister.

To my editor-in-charge, who provided meticulous editing, to Geon-woo Hyeong and Hyun-seop, who were always great discussion partners, and to my close author friends.

To Gaegrim-nim, Jjalsuhaengja-nim, and Pusyu-nim, who drew the wonderful illustrations.

And to DOES-nim, who took on the webtoon.

Thank you all.

I will see you in my next work.

Have a happy day today 😀

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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