Ellie
by Afuhfuihgs
The moment I saw the staff pointed at me, I was actually relieved. If Ellie chose to betray me, she wouldn’t die unlike Nelson’s plan. That’s all that matters. That’s all I need. As the strength slowly left my shoulders and my gaze lowered to the floor, Ellie asked.
“Do you regret trusting me?”
The moment I heard that voice, I was overcome with a strange sense of unease. The emotions blooming in Ellie’s voice were impossible to hide. I raised my gaze to meet Ellie’s eyes, and I belatedly realized the nature of my unease.
Why did I only realize it now?
“…You, that thing.”
The staff pointed at me. Once I recognized it, I couldn’t help but laugh at the obvious contradiction, wondering how I hadn’t noticed it sooner. It wasn’t the staff Ellie usually used, but the Fairy King’s Staff that Bella should have had.
Faced with Ellie’s silence, I chose to act on instinct rather than think. I immediately tried to use space magic to snatch Ellie’s staff, but my hand couldn’t penetrate the subjugation barrier created by the Fairy King’s Staff. Quick-witted Ellie seemed to have anticipated my next move.
Watching my hand flail in the air, Ellie took a deep breath inside the subjugation barrier and said with her usual smile.
“I told you. It’s too late.”
What was too late? Without realizing it, I frowned and gritted my teeth.
“…Ellie, why do you have that?”
“I received it as a gift.”
Ellie lowered the staff she had been pointing at me and said.
“Bella already knew what choice I would make. Rather than a final gift, given Bella’s personality… it’s probably a gift to prevent any unforeseen variables.”
“So you’ve had the Fairy King’s Staff all this time and haven’t used it?”
As I said that, I inwardly thought Ellie was amazing. She had faced death several times in the labyrinth, yet she saved it for this moment. Honestly, I had to admire her incredible mental strength.
However, my expectations were wrong. Ellie gave a bitter smile.
“No, of course, I couldn’t. If I could have used it for you, I would have used it a long time ago.”
Ellie pointed to the obsidian earring hanging from the end of her ear.
“That was my restriction, my Geas. In exchange for using it only once at the last moment, I gained the mental strength to endure until then.”
I couldn’t hide my surprised expression at all. I had never imagined that Ellie would have something similar to the Covenant Ring I had used. I managed to fix my wavering gaze on Ellie’s eyes and asked with difficulty.
“…Then now?”
I wanted to ask Ellie if she was using it for me now. But even though she knew what my question meant, Ellie didn’t answer. She just looked at me with her large, obsidian-like eyes, wearing a gentle smile. Feeling like my heart was burning from that gaze, I couldn’t help but ask again.
“Are you using it for me now?”
Ellie chuckled at my desperate question.
“No.”
Ellie said in a very affectionate voice.
“We kept our promise to be together until the 10th floor of the labyrinth, so shouldn’t I receive the reward for that promise now? I think I’m qualified enough.”
I nodded at Ellie’s gesture of shaking the Holy Grail.
“Yes, you are qualified enough. If it weren’t for you… I would never have reached the 10th floor.”
That’s the truth. If it weren’t for Ellie… I would never have reached the 10th floor.
Ellie blinked at me for a moment. She hesitated, pursing her lips, and then quietly asked.
“You were expecting me to betray you… weren’t you?”
“No, not at all.”
My answer came faster than I thought. Ellie smiled brightly at my immediate reply, then lowered her head powerlessly.
“I see, Ross is still the same idiot.”
Saying that, Ellie raised her head again and asked me softly.
“Then why didn’t you suspect me? Even if you’re an idiot… I’m always a main character in the terrible moments of your life, aren’t I?”
This time, I hesitated a little. Not because I was worried about what to say to persuade Ellie, but because I was wondering how much of my true feelings I should reveal. But my hesitation was shorter than my worry. What couldn’t I do if it was the last time?
“Because it’s you.”
As always.
“I thought it would be okay anyway.”
Because you are Ellie to me.
“…You’re such an idiot.”
I could tell that Ellie’s voice was trembling slightly as she said that. While Ellie bit her lip and pondered, I wondered if there was a way to break through the subjugation barrier and snatch the Holy Grail from Ellie’s hand. It would be possible to use the World Tree’s Spear. However, Ellie would certainly not be unscathed by the destruction caused by the World Tree’s Spear.
I became greedy. I wanted to save Ellie as she was and revive Luna using the Holy Grail. To do that, I had to somehow persuade Ellie to come out of the subjugation barrier on her own-
“I know how to use the Holy Grail.”
At the voice that cut off my thoughts, I gave a dry smile.
“I know. I learned all the truth on the 9th floor. That all of this… was Nelson’s plan.”
Ellie playfully shook her head.
“Not just Nelson. He did it together with Bella, who gave me this staff.”
“The Ellie I know wouldn’t like being manipulated by someone else’s plan. Wouldn’t she try to ruin it, given her personality?”
As I said worriedly, Ellie chuckled.
“Of course.”
“Then….”
“That’s why I joined the plan.”
“…What?”
“Because I think this is the right answer.”
Her eyes were filled with firm determination. Seeing her like this, Ellie had a lot in common with Roel.
“Because this is a choice that only I can make.”
“…What does that mean?”
I could feel the end of my voice cracking at this crucial moment. Ellie opened her mouth after a brief silence.
“The role of the childhood friend who betrays you at the most important moment can only be me, right?”
Was that it? But… I can refute it enough.
“There’s nothing more boring than reusing a material that’s already been used several times. It’s also not like the Ellie I know to repeat mistakes.”
Ellie rolled her eyes and looked at me, tilting her head as if the conversation was a little boring.
“I’m sorry, but unlike you, I’m not a writer. So it’s okay if you get tired of me. If that’s the right answer.”
She was firm. Ellie seemed to have made up her mind. Realizing that further persuasion was meaningless, I shrugged.
“So, are you going to take the Holy Grail to Roel now?”
I thought Ellie had chosen Roel, not me, as the owner of the Holy Grail. Using me to gain her own advantage was the most Ellie-like choice. Betraying me at the most important moment. Losing faith in the precious childhood friend who had been with me until the last moment of the labyrinth… I thought that was Nelson’s plan.
However.
“No, why would I do that when I know Roel Oppa is wrong? Like the novel title, ‘The Hero’s Harem Can Only Win’… I have to help Roel Oppa win.”
I was confused by Ellie’s words. If she wasn’t helping Roel, then what was she going to do by betraying me… I sent her a questioning look, and Ellie gave me an enchanting smile and said softly.
“To use the Holy Grail, you have to fill it up first.”
Ellie showed me the empty Holy Grail and said in a voice without any regrets, as if revealing a secret.
“With one life.”
“…What?”
“To revive one life, you have to lose one life. Should I call it a fair balance?”
Knowing it was futile, I momentarily materialized a Shadow Spear and swung it at Ellie’s hand holding the Holy Grail. But as expected, I only felt the sensation of cutting through the air at my fingertips. I threw the Shadow Spear to the ground and approached Ellie, shouting.
“Ellie!”
A voice filled with laughter replied.
“It’s okay. I’ve been prepared for this ever since I learned how to use the Holy Grail.”
Was this Nelson’s plan? Not losing faith through Ellie’s betrayal, but losing Ellie herself to regain Luna. It was cruel. So cruel that it felt like my heart was tearing apart.
Unable to do anything in front of the subjugation barrier, I bit my lip and deliberately spoke sarcastically.
“Ellie, do you think I’ll be grateful if you do that? You’re just doing something stupid. I’ll just be happy that I can revive Luna with your sacrifice!”
Ellie smiled quietly.
“If that were really the case, you wouldn’t be saying those things to me right now.”
“…Ellie.”
I reached out my hand desperately, but I couldn’t grab Ellie, who seemed like steam to my eyes.
“It’s strange. Why can I see through Ross’s lies so clearly when he’s a natural-born liar?”
“…Nelson and Bella are wrong. That plan is wrong!!!”
No matter how much I shouted, Ellie had a peaceful expression. I could clearly feel that she had already crossed a point of no return.
“You know, Ross. I’ve always acted selfishly and used you for my own benefit. I’ve left you with scars that can’t be healed, and I’ve done many unspeakable things.”
“…Ellie.”
“We fight and break up, you try to distance yourself from me… we become strangers and then go back to being friends… My relationship with you is almost sickening now.”
“…Ellie, please.”
Ellie looked at me at my desperate voice. Her obsidian-like eyes were filled with tears.
In that moment, I sensed it.
That this was our last moment, which seemed like it would never end.
“But you always believe in me. Because it’s Ellie. You say it as if it can’t be helped. Even I, who shamelessly tell people that I’m your childhood friend, can’t do that like you, but you always act as if it’s so natural.”
“…It wasn’t an action I did hoping for something in return.”
“I know, that’s why I’m even more grateful. Because you’ve always been sincere with me.”
Ellie smiled. Her face was full of tears, but there was no sadness in that smile.
“A selfish and willful childhood friend. A bad kid who only thinks about herself. A fool who only realizes the importance of Ross, who was always around her, after finally losing him.”
The tearful droplets that had been welling up in Ellie’s eyes streamed down her fair cheeks.
“It’s just that the time has come for that fool to return what she could barely learn from her precious childhood friend.”
“….”
“So I think it’s a relief.”
Ellie said in an utterly calm voice.
“That my only friend is you.”
Inside the subjugation barrier, Ellie slowly raised the hand holding the Holy Grail. I, who had been staring blankly, flailed my arms and screamed, calling out to Ellie to stop it, but her actions did not stop.
“Hey, next time, will you help me become a better childhood friend?”
At Ellie’s playful smile with her tearful face, I stopped my meaningless struggle and answered Ellie’s last question, swallowing my tears.
“…Of course, because it’s you.”
With those words, Ellie disappeared along with the subjugation barrier.
Leaving only the Holy Grail filled with its contents lying alone on the floor.
I collapsed powerlessly to the floor and crawled towards the Holy Grail on my knees. Holding the Holy Grail in my hand, I literally laughed while crying.
I’ve come this far.
By sacrificing everyone.
So I can’t waver now.
“…Luna.”
As I said that name, the contents of the Holy Grail quickly disappeared. The Holy Grail, completely empty, disappeared from my hand, leaving an afterimage like a phantom. As I stared blankly at my empty palm, I felt the space behind me ripple.
Looking back over my shoulder, I saw the space warehouse open on its own. And inside, Luna, who had been sleeping for a long time, slowly walked out.
“…Ross?”
The moment I heard that voice, I felt all the emotions that had been suppressed until now explode like a torrent.
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