〈 Chapter 288 〉 Your Story (3)
*
“I’ll get up first.”
Rosel glanced at Rania as she rose from her seat.
She looked relatively fine now, but just days ago, her condition was quite serious. After ten days without proper meals or sleep, Rania had looked like a walking corpse.
Glassy eyes.
Drooping arms.
Seeing her disciple, who had been staring blankly at the clouds for hours like she had lost her mind, was shocking for Rosel.
‘It’s the first time I’ve seen this in over a decade…’
Even when she faced great despair, she usually bounced back within a few hours or, at most, overnight. To see her in such a state for over ten days was indeed concerning.
“Are you feeling any better?”
“Huh?”
“I said, are you feeling better? You looked like you had a lot on your mind.”
Rosel was somewhat aware of Galahal’s death and the incident associated with it. However, she only had a basic understanding of the information transmitted to her through the text; she didn’t know the stories that lay beyond the words.
Not knowing, she dared not speculate.
Rosel cautiously observed her disciple without asking about the details. Rania smiled wryly out of her master’s consideration and spoke.
“Well…”
Rania tied her hair back.
“I’m not sure, but…”
She buttoned up her clothes and draped a robe over her shoulders.
Finally, with gloves on, Rania turned to Rosel and continued.
“I feel like I need to do something. Just looking at the clouds is getting boring.”
“…Is that so?”
“Yes, a little.”
Nodding, Rania opened the door.
Turning her back to the warm spring sunshine, Rania said, “I’ll be back, Master.”
“…Alright. Be careful out there.”
2.
The aftermath of Galahal’s death is significant.
It was only natural. The death of a hero, especially one as heroic as Galahal, was bound to have consequences. The morale of the knights, who had depended on him psychologically, could hardly be maintained after such a loss.
The silver lining is that Galahal’s sacrifice was not in vain. He had given his life to find the next hero candidate and seemingly succeeded in his endeavor.
There were even rumors that he dealt a fatal blow to the apostate, Gletus, during the process. At one point, some considered it manipulated information designed to make Galahal’s death more meaningful, but that opinion was short-lived.
The minions controlled by the apostate had all vanished.
There were quite a few strongholds that had fallen victim to that terrible calamity, but they were protected by the beasts controlled by the apostate.
“There’s nothing here. It’s completely empty.”
However, after Galahal’s death, not a single beast controlled by the apostate could be seen anywhere. The voices questioning the rumors had all but quieted after that event.
Galahal died, but he did so as a hero.
The knights expressed their respect for the achievements accomplished by a single hero at the end of his life. Moreover, some were inspired by Galahal’s life, hoping they too could meet such a brilliant end, not a futile death.
The morale had dropped.
However, it wasn’t as bad as expected.
The knights’ attention turned toward the next hero candidate.
Who would succeed Galahal?
Who did Galahal save with his life?
Everyone was curious about these facts.
Meanwhile, the royal family announced the identity of the next hero candidate to the public. The First Princess and the Knights Order Leader opposed it, but the hero himself wished for it.
*
With numerous eyes watching, the hero’s enthronement ceremony commenced. This was something that should originally be conducted by the king, but since the disappearance of the First Prince, the king had become a mere shell of his former self and no longer appeared at public events.
Filling in for him was the First Princess, Lruiel.
She wasn’t standing in her usual position.
The place she stood was where the king of this nation should be. No one questioned her presence there. After all, it was Lruiel who had remedied the chaotic political situation.
Dressed differently than usual, positioned uniquely.
As the king’s representative, she stood there.
“……”
Silently raising her hand, she gestured lightly.
At that signal, the knights began to move. The knights guarding the royal family, those who had once fought on the battlefield, slammed their banners against the ground.
Boom!
The ground rumbled, and the noise gradually faded.
Under the silence that followed, someone’s footsteps softly echoed. The steady cadence of the steps soon stopped right in front of Lruiel.
White hair tied back.
Shining green eyes.
Dressed in the hero’s regalia crafted by the Black Tower and the royal mages, Chloe knelt before Lruiel. Her clothes fluttered in the breeze.
Numerous knights watched her.
The crowd gathered beyond the knights glanced at her out of the corner of their eyes. Amid countless gazes, Chloe slightly lowered her head.
“I shall ask you.”
While Chloe was with her head bowed, Lruiel opened her mouth. She stood here not only as the king’s representative but also as the representative of the stars shining brightly in the night sky.
As a proxy of the god, she asks.
“What does a hero mean to you?”
Earlier, Kyle Toven answered that defeating enemies is what makes a hero. Destel claimed that a hero is someone who brings about complete victory, while Galahal stated that saving others is what makes a hero.
“A hero is someone prepared to be an idol.”
Chloe stated her own answer.
“Someone who is willing to be considered an idol by someone, someone who is determined to live their life as a hero. That is what I believe a hero to be.”
Someone embodying victory.
Someone who resolves to live by drinking the blood of others.
Someone who wishes to remain a hero until their final moment.
“To me, a hero is an idol.”
Chloe responded.
Lruiel smiled faintly at Chloe’s answer.
“Indeed, an idol.”
She nodded.
“Correct.”
Looking at the young girl before her, Lruiel spoke.
“A hero is one who becomes an idol. If you want to be an idol to someone, you must always be perfect. Lowering your head is never permitted.”
To become an idol carries such significance.
“Will you always be able to walk forward without looking back?”
Is there sufficient resolve to become a symbol?
Just as Galahal had done, are you prepared to walk the rough and difficult path until the end? Lruiel asked, and Chloe quietly raised her head.
With unwavering green eyes, she looked up at Lruiel and spoke.
“Yes, of course.”
There was no hesitation in her voice.
Lruiel quietly nodded. As she extended her hand, a knight standing beside her presented a sword to her with both hands.
This sword was a sacred relic bestowed by the stars when the dynasty first established itself on this land. It was a ceremonial sword used by the last queen and passed on to the first king.
Swish.
The drawn blade shone with a platinum hue.
Not made to kill, but crafted to bless someone, the sword was beautiful. The shining blade lightly grazed Chloe’s shoulder.
“Hero of the Sacred Stream, Chloe.”
An unqualified hero with no alias yet.
The name attached to her refers not to her, but to the boundless stars she is born from. She has not yet earned any title of her own.
She has just begun her journey.
What name that journey will bear is something she must answer with her own life.
“I look forward to the day your life bears a name.”
The First Princess, Lruiel, smiled gently.
In the midst of the ensuing cheers and applause, Chloe slowly began to rise. Her gaze fell upon Rania, mingling among the crowd.
Looking at Rania, Chloe smiled.
Rania nodded and returned the smile.
3.
After the enthronement ceremony, Chloe had to hurry to and fro for various duties. Unsurprisingly, there was much to take care of. I exchanged light greetings and left the scene.
The lazy sunlight of spring shone down.
One season fades away, and a new season begins. A lot is about to start, and many things will change. To wrap up what has ended before the start, I moved forward.
My steps were directed toward Galahal’s grave.
In a place where sunlight streamed in, located a few steps away from the commotion, I stopped in front of the peaceful grave. Then I plopped down beside the tombstone.
“……”
Seated, I gazed at the sky.
Watching the clouds drift by, I opened my mouth.
“By the way, I forgot to bring flowers.”
Of course, there was no one to hear me.
Galahal’s body had turned to dust, and his soul had crumbled away; this message would never reach him.
“So, I came to bring flowers.”
Even so, I deliberately spoke aloud.
What else could I say?
Feeling a strange awkwardness, I began to speak.
“…And, Chloe has become a trainee hero.”
Though the Knights Order Leader, Heinkel, and Princess Lruiel both said it was too early for Chloe, she insisted strongly that she needed to make her presence known now.
“It has to continue.”
There must be no gap.
Even if she doesn’t go to the battlefield right away, at the very least, it should be shown that Galahal’s death was meaningful. Chloe argued this passionately.
Thus, it happened.
The enthronement ceremony took place, and Chloe’s existence became known to the world. Apuria would be in uproar for a while… perhaps they might even need to form a separate faction for Chloe.
“It seems like she’s brimming with ambition, but I doubt Chloe will see a battlefield anytime soon. She still needs more training.”
Ambition alone won’t get you far.
“But the good news is, she doesn’t seem to be wallowing in sadness. If anything, she’s so filled with enthusiasm that she trains from dawn until late at night, and it’s exhausting even for me.”
I chuckled bitterly.
“She said she wants to become an idol.”
Just like you, Galahal.
She said she wanted to be a hero like you.
“It seems tough, yet she’s determined to do so. She wants to do it, even to fill your void.”
I recalled the knights’ reactions to Chloe’s declaration.
Chloe still had no achievements. No feats. So those who heard her didn’t take her words at face value. Nevertheless, I could see surprise in the knights’ eyes.
A girl much younger than them, a girl who seemed delicate, declared with unwavering voice.
In that declaration, some might have felt Galahal’s lingering presence, and others might have recalled the once modest but now towering figure of Galahal. I felt that way too.
“She seems to resemble you.”
The prince had scoffed at Galahal when he proclaimed his convictions during the ceremony. The gathering of people had looked at Galahal with expressions that showed little hope.
Perhaps Chloe might face the same fate.
Those without accomplishments might be mocked for their declarations, and someone might scoff at Chloe. Yet, today, no one dared to act like that. There was already a precedent. Someone had turned mere ideals into reality.
“No one would dare mock Chloe, your successor. They can’t. You made it that way.”
Anyone can shout ideals; the weight of those words is determined by who speaks them. What Galahal proclaimed carries more weight than anything today.
“Seriously, it’s impressive.”
I leaned against Galahal’s tombstone.
“What a lunatic.”
I laughed.
“Just when I thought I was walking beside you, you disappeared in the blink of an eye.”
What kind of life did you live?
What thoughts did you have, and what answers did you find?
“How could you remain so magnificent until the end? Until the very last moment, how could you smile like that?”
“Ah, indeed… how wonderful… ”
“Such a joyous occasion.”
Galahal’s last smile did not fade from my mind. Remembering that smile, I hoped that one day I too could smile like Galahal at the end.
“Well, then…”
I slowly rose to my feet.
“I may not have the knack for writing, and all I’m good at is summarizing reports and research outputs, but…”
Galahal’s unfinished novel.
Taking out the last page, I engraved a name on the subtitle. Since the name Raniael was already written above, this time I chose a different name.
[Rania van Trias.]
Having seen slightly more than Raniael.
Embracing thoughts a little different from before, I engraved my name.
“I’ll give it my best shot.”
I smiled.
“Whether it turns out to be a mess or a masterpiece, I’ll give it a go.”
I wasn’t sure how many pages remained.
I had no idea how many pages I’d be granted or what sentence I would write at the end. I didn’t know, and I was full of uncertainty.
“Finding that is what life entails.”
The process of searching for the answer is life itself.
I shall live to determine the sentence that will mark the end of my story. May that be as beautiful a sentence as Galahal’s story.
I sincerely hope it will be so.
“Thank you for your efforts.”
Leaving Galahal’s tombstone behind, I walked away.
Winter has passed, and spring has come.
This spring will be a little busier.
Suddenly, I thought.
*
