episode_0106

“…Ha… haha… What are you talking about, Mister? A final warning?”

“It’s exactly as I said, Eli. If you don’t release everyone right now… you’ll never be able to turn back. I want to curse at you right now, but I’m holding it in to tell you this, so it would be wise to listen carefully.”

I glared at Eli, making it clear this was the final warning. But whether it was because she strongly believed in the countermeasures she’d set up, or because her confidence had soared through the roof, Eli looked at me, full of rage, and laughed as she spoke.

“Hehehehe… I told you not to worry, Mister? I’ve already prepared many countermeasures! Well… it was unexpected that the Saintess would run away without killing anyone and then come looking for me… but it doesn’t matter! I already had backup plans to deal with that! So you’ll have to endure a little discomfort, Mister? Because… I don’t want to see you struggle… for you to eventually change and love me…”

“…So… you’re even ignoring my final warning? What made you so arrogant, Eli?”

“What…?”

When I spoke without my voice changing tone, Eli finally seemed to realize what was happening, and she began to show a greatly flustered expression again. But it was already too late. Eli had already coolly kicked away my last shred of mercy, and more importantly, she had tormented Aria psychologically. This meant she had already crossed the line.

“…You deceived everyone, and you cornered Aria psychologically. Do you think I’d be okay with all that?”

“B-but I couldn’t help it!! You know!!! In this world, for the sake of something big, something small…”

“How dare you think of human lives as small things!!! You’ve finally crossed the line completely, Eli!!!”

“…?!”

The moment Eli was about to say that sacrificing something small for something big was unavoidable, I flared up in anger, pointing out Eli’s attitude of viewing human lives as insignificant. Eli became greatly flustered and spoke in a trembling voice.

“B-but this is all for love… This opportunity to prove I’m superior to the Saintess…”

“You’re superior to Aria…? I’ll say it again… You were practicing a love inferior to Aria’s… no, even to that of ordinary people, Eli… And… I’ll say it again…!! You’ve already squandered all your chances!!!”

“…!!! W-what?!”

As I emphasized to Eli that she had already thrown away all her opportunities and began to shoot flames from my hands, Eli became greatly flustered. At that moment, the fire started to spread to the ropes and chairs, then slowly began to catch onto the floorboards. Eli saw flames coming from my body and that I wasn’t getting burned, and she said in great shock:

“W-what is this…?! Magic…?! No… it doesn’t seem like it?!”

“It’s the unique power of a spirit, Eli. Iruvan… I’ll need to borrow a little of your strength…!!”

While Eli was absorbed in searching for the suddenly disappeared Aria, I recalled how Iruvan had shared his power with me in the Kriton region. Thinking that Iruvan’s flames could burn through these strange ropes binding me, I warned Eli again. When Eli lightly ignored the warning as I expected, I unleashed Iruvan’s flames from my body.

“…A spirit…? N-no, more than that… Th-this house will all burn down like this!! You too…”

“I directly received Iruvan’s flames. So a spirit’s fire doesn’t harm its user. What will burn in this fire is… only your dark desires, Eli.”

“Ah… Ahh…!!”

I continued to unleash flames from my hands. But I wasn’t burned by Iruvan’s flames. A spirit’s power inherently grants abilities to its user. And that power absolutely never harms its user. Unless it’s countered by being deflected or absorbed, this fire is on my side. In short, what would ultimately burn in this fire were the filthy torture instruments Eli had prepared for this moment, and this place that had harmed Aria from afar.

“Stop it!!! How much I prepared for this moment…”

“Why would I care about preparations to harm others? I tried my best not to get angry… but seeing all your shamelessness, arrogance, and ugliness, I just couldn’t hold back anymore. And… if I’m this angry, how angry would the people you manipulated be if they found out about this? And how betrayed would your family feel? You can’t even grasp any of that, yet what makes you think you have the right to shout so loudly!!!”

“…I don’t care about any of that!!! Family or whatever!!! You, Mister, who have treated me like this until now, were everything to me!!! I absolutely can’t lose you… I didn’t want to use it… but since it’s come to this, I have no choice…!!”

Eli took a deep breath, saying she had no choice, and I realized what that meant. But I showed no reaction, merely sighing as I spoke to Eli.

“Is it the Siren’s Song? The situation got urgent, so you finally abandoned your pride.”

“I can abandon something like that anytime!! If I can have you, pride like that…?!”

The moment Eli said she didn’t care about abandoning her pride to have me, a black and purple lightning-shaped energy burst from my back and covered my ears, greatly surprising Eli. Then, with a truly bewildered expression, she spoke to me.

“Wh-what’s that…?”

“Demonic energy. Also known as mana.”

As I revealed the nature of the energy covering my ears and summoned Trahan into my hand, Eli became greatly flustered. She then slowly started to back away, looking at me with a face full of terror as I unleashed fire from my hands and demonic energy from my back, with Trahan in my grasp, and she spoke:

“I-impossible… How much I’ve prepared… until now…”

“…Eli. We haven’t just been playing around all this time either. As much as you prepared for this moment, we’ve had many encounters until now. You told Aria earlier, didn’t you? That you had to hide me from other women. But thanks to those encounters, we were able to grow together. In other words, you weren’t the only one who could grow.”

“N-no… This can’t be…!!! I… I prepared so much not to lose to that Saintess… How much for that dream…”

“But do you have time to worry about me right now?”

“…?”

As Aria’s and my growth differed from her expectations, Eli despaired in a desperate voice that her plan had completely failed. At that moment, I felt something and told Eli that she had no reason to worry about me, leaving Eli dumbfounded. And the next moment, a staff pierced through the burning wall and grazed past Eli.

“…?!”

“Found you.”

And as the staff was swung, the wall completely collapsed, and Aria’s completely enraged figure slowly began to appear from within the smoke in the hole. I then reabsorbed the emitted flames back into my body, turned my head to Aria, and said:

“You’re here.”

“S-Saintess… how did you… get here…”

“Why? Because I told Aria where this place was using demonic energy just now. It’s easy if you know the source of my ability.”

“…!!”

The moment I had freed myself from the ropes with Iruvan’s fire, I had sent demonic energy to Aria. Realizing that Aria knew the exact location of this place and had come, Eli was terrified as she looked at Aria, and she kept backing away as Aria approached.

“D-don’t come…!”

“You… not only dared to abduct Zeke-nim… but you even manipulated Zeke-nim’s benefactor? How dare you pick only actions that Zeke-nim would dislike… I don’t like it… And…”

The moment Aria, who truly disliked Eli, was listing Eli’s sins with a very fierce expression, she spotted something on the floor and picked it up. What was that? A yellow orb with what looked like lightning flashing inside… a sphere? Could it be that because of this, Aria hadn’t been able to detect my location? The moment I was wondering about the identity of the orb Aria had picked up, Aria crushed it with one hand and then glared at Eli, saying:

“Orb of Heavenly Light… You evaded my divine power with this… It’s something found in Esrad too, so I know it well…”

“Orb of… Heavenly Light…? What is that, Aria?”

“…Those who possess this item cannot be detected by divine power. That’s because it’s carried by those chosen as a symbol of holiness. So it was used to identify those who impersonated such individuals. But this… like this…”

Aria, who had been explaining that the Orb of Heavenly Light was a tool for identifying holy people, began to stomp on and shatter several other Orbs of Heavenly Light scattered on the floor with her foot. And she did it with great resentment.

“Because. So many. Were installed. I couldn’t detect you.”

Aria, having shattered the last remaining Orb of Heavenly Light on the floor, pointed her staff at Eli. Eli then collapsed to the ground in fear, and seeing this, I let out a deep sigh and said:

“Let’s just let her live, Aria.”

“…?! W-what did you say, Zeke-nim?!”

When I said to let her live, Aria was greatly flustered, and Eli turned around and smiled brightly at my face. Of course, such a reaction would come… And as I expected, Aria vehemently objected.

“No!!! How long will you be so merciful, Zeke-nim?!”

“…Eli grew up without receiving her parents’ love, and her way of expressing love became twisted. There was no one to point it out to Eli. Riera and Tiara couldn’t understand Eli’s true intentions. So I’ll forgive her. As long as she doesn’t do it again.”

“Ah… Mister… as expected, you also love m-…”

“Instead, I forgive her, but you, Aria, don’t have to. So you can handle the punishment as you see fit. Just don’t kill her.”

“…!”

When I asked her to handle the punishment as she saw fit, Aria’s expression softened, and she nodded. Eli’s face, which had been full of smiles, was instantly filled with despair. Then she said to me in a trembling voice:

“…M-Mister…?”

“You have to be punished. If you’ve crossed the line. Now then…”

“W-wait!! Mister!!”

As I stepped away for a moment, Eli called out to me desperately. But when Aria struck the ground next to Eli with her staff, Eli shut her mouth again in fear, and Aria smiled with a shadowed face, saying:

“Do not call Zeke-nim with that filthy mouth. Now… then… a punishment is in order, isn’t it? I told you before, didn’t I? I learned how to deal with that song from the Siren Queen.”

“What…?”

“And I also learned the method of punishment. Ahh…”

Aria said she had learned the punishment method from the Siren Queen, and then suddenly began to clear her throat. Then she suddenly began to sing a song, and Eli started to struggle, clutching her throat as if in great pain. What was that song…? Was that the punishment learned from the Siren Queen? The moment I was wondering about the song Aria was singing, Aria stopped.

“Alright, it’s done. Now… tell me your thoughts.”

Eli then gasped for breath and lifted her upper body. She then opened her mouth, intending to say something to Aria. But something was strange. Her mouth moved silently… but no sound came from Eli. When no voice came from her mouth, Eli became greatly flustered and began to touch her throat.

“…? What did you do, Aria? What was that song?”

“Do you know what the most painful punishment for a Siren is? It’s losing their voice. But… what about a Melodian fairy, whose strengths are song and music, like a Siren? The ability to change their body to human size requires a voice… No… if a Melodian fairy, whose every ability depends on their voice, loses their voice…?”

“…!! Then… Eli has lost all her abilities in that form!?”

“…!!”

Eli was greatly shocked that Aria had taken away her voice and tried to say anything. But when no sound came from her mouth, she wore a truly desperate expression and looked up at Aria, trembling. Aria then looked down at Eli and said:

“Yes. Only that much makes for a perfect punishment. So… you should be satisfied with having survived thanks to Zeke-nim’s mercy, shouldn’t you? Get out. Now.”

When Aria told her to get out in a chilling voice, Eli felt great fear and immediately began to escape by climbing over the burned-out wall. Then only Aria and I remained, and knowing how much Aria had suffered until now, I said to Aria:

“Aria… Thank…”

“…”

The moment I was about to tell Aria she had suffered a lot, Aria suddenly avoided my gaze, shook her head, and ran into the forest. W-why is she suddenly like this…? Could it be… I realized that Aria was still feeling distressed and immediately chased after her.

‘Where did you go, Aria…!! Damn it!!’

In an instant, I ended up losing Aria. What should I do…? If Aria’s heart breaks like this, it might be irreversible…!!

‘…! That’s it! I’ll use Aria’s method against her…!!’

The moment I thought of a method, without needing any other thoughts, I immediately poured demonic energy into the ground. Then, a holy aura was detected by the demonic energy, and I immediately went to the place where the aura was. There, I saw Aria sitting on the ground, crying.

“…Aria.”

“…”

“…It’s because of Eli’s words, isn’t it? I overheard.”

“…”

Even at my words, Aria didn’t respond. She merely stood up, turned her body towards me, and then immediately lowered her head the moment she saw my face. Sigh… To have hurt such an easily disheartened Aria like that…

“…What do you think you’re not qualified for?”

“…I… I’m just… Zeke-nim… I’m afraid to know Zeke-nim’s heart… your true feelings… Sob… I… I tried to muster the courage… to ask… but I was too scared… Waaah…”

“…So that’s what it was.”

Ah… Aria wasn’t doubting whether she was qualified or not because of Eli’s words… She was afraid to know my true feelings. She thought that perhaps when I expressed my feelings to comfort her all this time… I might have been lying for her sake… Realizing what Aria was truly afraid of, I didn’t think twice and immediately took both of Aria’s hands.

“…Aria. I’ve comforted you all this time… Is there still something you can’t believe?”

“…I don’t know… I’m just… scared… And whether my love for Zeke-nim is small… or big…”

“…I see.”

Knowing what Aria was afraid of, I took off the brooch I had given her that was attached to her clothes. Aria looked at me in surprise, and when I also took off the brooch she had given me that was attached to my clothes, Aria looked at me, dumbfounded.

“Zeke-nim…? As expected, I… huh…?”

The moment Aria was about to think that she was indeed not qualified due to my actions, I took hold of Aria’s two hands again, holding my brooch in one hand and Aria’s brooch in the other, and Aria was speechless with bewilderment.

“Zeke…-nim?”

“We even exchanged brooches like this… What are you talking about, Aria? You won that competition for me and made this brooch yourself, didn’t you? And I gave you the brooch I made, hoping you would get better. We care for each other so much like this… You shouldn’t think you’re not qualified. And haven’t we had times when we laughed and enjoyed ourselves together?”

“…Yes.”

“And yet you still think the love you felt during those times was small? I, on the other hand, enjoyed those times, being able to laugh together. A life where only one side is happy, like Eli’s dream, isn’t very good, is it?”

“…?”

When Aria couldn’t understand the meaning of my words at all, I tightly held both of her hands. Then, smiling brightly, I said to Aria:

“I’ve said it many times… you’re doing well, Aria. You know… I was really happy that you didn’t kill anyone earlier, right? So you’re doing better than anyone, Aria. Therefore… you don’t have to doubt yourself. My true feelings are that all the time traveling with you was enjoyable, and it will continue to be enjoyable in the future.”

“…!! Z-Zeke-nim… I… I really… am I qualified… to travel with Zeke-nim…?”

“You’ve always been qualified. And that… will continue to be true. And that’s because you like and love me more than not just Eli, but even others. Everyone was able to have an enjoyable time because your love was there.”

“…Ah… I see… Zeke-nim… From the very beginning… you treated me… with sincerity… Waaah…”

Aria, having fully understood my true feelings, began to burst into tears right then and there. Perhaps it was because the anxieties she had been carrying were finally resolved, Aria was crying more tears than ever before, and I gently squeezed her hand. Until all the lingering anxieties in Aria’s heart were resolved. And I…

‘Phew… It’s a relief I found out Aria was still anxious despite my comfort… Otherwise… Aria might have completely broken down…’

I was truly relieved to have realized that Aria had hidden unresolved anxieties in her heart all this time. Otherwise… someday, it would have accumulated and led to a much more serious situation than now… But wait a minute.

“Uh… huh… But my body… why is it like this…?”

“…?! Zeke-nim?! Zeke-nim!!!”

Suddenly feeling dizzy, I collapsed on the spot.