〈 Chapter 286 〉 Your Story (1)
*
A shining star has set.
The story of the Hero Galahal, who sacrificed his life for the next hero and ultimately reached the disaster, spread across the world. The world admired the achievements Galahal had built and mourned his death.
The death of Hero Galahal was announced.
Galahal’s funeral was held as a state funeral.
Under the leadership of the royal family, the funeral lasted for ten days, with mourners coming and going without pause.
The most heroic of heroes.
Such was Galahal.
No one could deny his achievements or his good reputation. Especially those who had once tread upon the battlefield.
From all corners, from the battlefield and Phantom Territory, countless people came to the Royal Capital. They laid flowers at Galahal’s grave. Though it was a ceremonial act, very few likely offered flowers simply for show.
They were survivors from a place called hell.
They truly honored the path Galahal had walked and what he had accomplished at its end.
“In the end, it’s come to this.”
The immortal Karioth muttered with a heavy voice, offering a flower from his hometown before departing.
“…….”
The Braver Kelharlem, standing alone in the midst of those keeping their distance out of fear, commemorated Galahal. He looked at the gravestone engraved with Galahal’s final achievements.
Defeated the apostate.
Rescued the next generation of heroes.
Achievements worthy of being called great.
Kelharlem paid his respects to the man who had accomplished such feats, despite living only a fraction of a life. He silently placed a single flower and left.
Thud thud.
As everyone kept their distance out of fear of the Braver, a girl approached him. Kelharlem turned to see.
Waving ashen hair, sunken blue eyes.
It was Raniel van Trias.
Though she appeared much the same as usual, a closer look revealed there was no vitality in her eyes. Her cold, sunken gaze had lost its light. Approaching Kelharlem, Raniel silently offered her greeting.
Trying to say something but failing, Kelharlem kept his mouth shut.
He had no right to offer advice to someone he did not know well and was not present for their loss. Kelharlem nodded in greeting and departed.
Raniel took the place left by Kelharlem.
As mourners began to come one by one to lay flowers, Raniel did nothing. She neither offered flowers nor swallowed back tears. She merely stood there, expressionless.
Time flowed.
Countless people passed her by.
The sun set and rose again.
This cycle repeated several times, yet Raniel stood still without moving. Some remarked that she looked like a doll. Others whispered that she seemed to have lost her mind.
Days passed.
Even the whispers faded away.
Until the day the funeral completely ended, when no more mourners arrived.
She remained standing there.
2.
“It’s just you and me left, now.”
“It seems so.”
Destel sighed.
Kyle nodded, his expression unreadable.
“I heard that Galahal stabbed the Spear of Holy Light into the heart of the apostate. The next generation hero witnessed it with his own eyes.”
“Is there a chance it’s false?”
“None. He’s not the type to fabricate that.”
He speaks as if he knows well.
Just as he was about to say more, Kyle took a short breath and changed the subject.
“… That shouldn’t have been possible.”
“I thought the same.”
Destel knew well of Galahal’s abilities. He definitely lacked the strength to confront the disaster. Yet in his final moments, he achieved a great feat. How on earth did that happen?
“It seems he made a deal with a Star.”
Destel answered.
He knew that Galahal had put his own lifespan on the scales over the past few years. Thus, it wasn’t hard to deduce that in his final moments, Galahal had expended all the time he had left.
“Normally, heroes can’t make deals with Stars; how he did it, I have no idea… but that seems to be the case.”
“It’s not impossible.”
Kyle said abruptly.
Destel narrowed his eyes.
“Sounds like you did the same.”
“I don’t deny it.”
“Fine, whatever.”
Destel sighed.
“Everyone probably has something they keep hidden.”
Destel couldn’t read Kyle’s thoughts, who sat across from him. Ever since a few years back, he had become adept at hiding his emotions.
‘Not that I want to know.’
He didn’t care much, either.
Destel quietly closed his eyes. He recalled the life Galahal had lived and the fate he met. A life worthy of being called a hero.
A hero’s life.
He lived as a hero and died as a hero.
A life without a single flaw, perfect in every way. Destel longed for that perfect life but was also certain he could never attain it. The fear nestled deep within him only grew.
A radiant death is beautiful.
However, for Destel, the concept of death itself was terrifying.
Because of this fear, Destel knew he couldn’t achieve great acts like Galahal by sacrificing his life. With the title of coward fitting him too well, he would simply run away again like a coward.
“I could never do that.”
Destel muttered.
A bitter smile lingered at the corners of his mouth. He felt the weight of his conquest as a hero far too heavy.
“What about you?”
“What are you asking?”
“Could you become like Galahal?”
Kyle said nothing.
As if he expected that, Destel let out a small laugh and stood up.
“Rania van Trias.”
Then it happened.
Kyle spoke the name of a girl.
“Have you met her?”
“I have.”
After a brief pause, Kyle continued.
“What was she like?”
“What do you want to know?”
“I’m asking about her attitude in the face of Galahal’s death.”
“You could just go see for yourself. Why ask me?”
Kyle fell silent.
Destel gave Kyle a questioning look, then sighed and continued.
“She didn’t seem normal.”
As he said this, Destel recalled the moment he had met Rania before Galahal’s gravestone.
「Are you okay?」
「……」
「What are you doing in the rain…」
Even when spoken to, she didn’t respond.
Only when he asked what had happened did she finally speak in a dry voice, giving a short answer.
「I don’t know.」
She didn’t know.
She knew nothing.
「Now I no longer know what is what.」
She answered like that.
Her voice lacked strength. It bore no confidence, as it usually did. Destel had seen this type of voice often on the battlefield.
From those who had given up.
And in front of mirrors.
“I think she’s a bit lost. Or perhaps she’s in agony… anyway, she didn’t seem normal.”
“Is that so?”
Kyle nodded.
“If that’s the case, then she wouldn’t be Rania.”
“… What?”
What on earth is he talking about?
Destel blinked, unable to grasp the context of his words.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Didn’t you feel that Rania and that girl resembled each other?”
“… I thought there was a resemblance.”
“I felt the same. But I can now say with certainty, that’s not the case.”
“Why?”
Kyle answered shortly.
“She wouldn’t break down.”
His voice wasn’t dry as usual.
There was a hint of warmth in his tone.
“She doesn’t break. She doesn’t suffer. If that girl were to face Galahal’s death…”
“Hey.”
Destel interrupted Kyle.
Destel glared at Kyle with a furrowed brow.
“I shouldn’t be the one saying this.”
Destel scoffed in disbelief.
“Do you realize how ridiculous you sound right now?”
That was almost an obsession.
Destel also thought Rania wasn’t entirely human, but he didn’t reject her as a human being. However, Kyle’s attitude towards her was similar but different from his own.
She was not human.
Being non-human was how she could accomplish such things.
She must remain perfect.
‘Rania must always be perfect.’
That’s how it sounded.
He rationalized himself so much that he interpreted the presence of others according to his own standards. Destel felt disgusted by that display.
“What do you really think Rania is?”
Kyle answered the question.
The moment Destel heard Kyle’s response, it was as if he had been struck on the head. Then he laughed and ran his hand through his hair.
“Wow.”
With a gasp of admiration, Destel blurted out.
“I’ll give you one warning, Kyle.”
“What’s that?”
“Never say that in front of Rania or Rania that girl. Absolutely don’t.”
“… Why?”
“Because I was Rania once, you jerk.”
Destel tapped his temple lightly.
“I just pierced right through it, you bastard.”
3.
Raniel looks at Galahal’s grave.
She knows.
That his body is not interred here.
In fact, she knows that body does not exist anywhere in the world.
The last time Galahal moved his hand to guide a star, he shattered into tiny pieces and scattered into the air. It was the ultimate end of a human who had used all of their allotted time. Also, it was the preordained end that awaited her.
Sacrificing one’s lifespan.
Conducting a trade with the time granted to oneself.
That was a taboo (??) that must not be broken, an act that defies destiny. It is impossible for one who defies Providence to receive a normal death. The soul shatters, and what awaits is complete death. The annihilation of existence.
Galahal is dead.
Someone who resembled her, someone who thought and judged as she did, has died. Even before the death of her mentor Kuntel, she had gritted her teeth and stood tall; yet at this moment, she found no motivation whatsoever.
「So I had already fulfilled my dream.」
The voice of Galahal, who laughed before his statue, echoed in her ears. The voice that said he wanted to write a novel, the voice that had resonated with the desire to do what he wanted, continued to reverberate in her ears.
Raniel hoped Galahal would spend the last three years of his life comfortably. She genuinely hoped for that. It wasn’t just because Galahal had tried his best to live.
It was because he resembled her.
Raniel saw herself in Galahal.
The life of one who runs forward, only looking ahead, is noble. However, as one who has lived such a life, Raniel knows painfully well how torturous it can be.
She wished that pain would be compensated.
She wished for him to enjoy a comfortable life.
Perhaps it would be nice for him to take on the role of a professor at the academy, or to travel the world writing stories.
Yet Galahal rejected all of that.
「I want to remain a hero until the end.」
In his final moment, he chose to remain a hero.
The expression of Galahal as he declared that has left a lasting impression. Not only that? The achievements he achieved, the miracle he exhibited in his last moment… all of that complicates Raniel’s mind.
Why couldn’t she stop Galahal?
Even while certain of Galahal’s failure, why did she allow him to walk into danger? While regretting that choice, she also thinks that if she were to go back to the past, she would likely make the same choice.
She doesn’t know.
She couldn’t know.
Time flowed endlessly without her understanding.
One day, after standing for what felt like an eternity, someone came to see Raniel. She turned to look at him.
“Are you still here?”
The agitated Roks.
He was a knight who had served as Galahal’s aide. He too had eyes similar to Raniel’s. That hollow, vacant look. He smiled with a bittersweet expression.
“I just finished organizing the place where Galahal stayed.”
He pulled something from his cloak.
“Personal items will probably be taken away by the Church and the royal family, but I thought this should be left for you, Rania.”
What Roks handed over was an envelope.
Inside were several pages resembling manuscript sheets.
“It seemed like a novel. And on the list of people he wanted to show it to first, your name was noted.”
Roks smiled slightly.
“The next was Chloe.”
Please pass this on to Chloe after confirming.
Roks said and turned to leave.
Raniel stood there for a while before finally moving her feet.
*
After returning home a few days later, Raniel washed up and sat down to open the envelope. Though Rosel had said something, it didn’t reach Raniel. Shaking off the approaching drowsiness, she took in the manuscript sheets.
She would weave the story of heroes into a novel.
Just as Galahal had said, this was a novel that tied together the stories of heroes. Naturally, it wouldn’t be completed in just over ten days.
There was a table of contents and an outline.
There were several names listed in the contents, and one of those names caught Raniel’s eye.
Her own name.
Others included Destel, Kyle, and various others currently living. She turned a few more pages. As she leafed through the chapters, she soon found herself at a page labeled “Postscript.”
…Among those who write novels, there are always some who write their postscript first. Perhaps Galahal was one of them, for the last page was densely filled.
『Author: Galahal.』
Traces of writing and erasure were evident.
Seeing the beautifully penned signature, Raniel couldn’t help but smile. With a smiling face, she read the postscript.
Strangely enough, what was written there wasn’t much different from the sections introducing other heroes. This was the page where Galahal introduced his own life. On a single page, he summarized his life.
Raniel looked at it.
In no time, she arrived at the final line of the page. There, two elegantly written sentences were inscribed.
『My story ends here.』
『I hope you will continue to fill it in.』
She turned the page.
Though she thought it was the last page, there was one more left. On the blank page, a space to write a subtitle was provided.
As if telling her to write her name.
*
