Before returning to the base.
Destel called Rania aside. There was something they needed to talk about. Now, facing Raniel, Destel blinked blankly.
“If I wasn’t mistaken…”
Destel pointed a finger at Rania’s face.
More specifically, at her perfectly restored eyes.
“…Didn’t you have a hole in your eye?”
“I used to.”
“My fingers were completely blown off.”
“They were.”
“But why do you look fine now?”
Destel blinked.
Just before collapsing from exhaustion, she clearly remembered that body being in tatters. Now, far from being in tatters…
“Is it just me, or do you seem more lively than before the fight? I don’t know… it’s like you’ve gotten younger.”
“…Really? Do I look that way?”
“What’s with you? Why are you suddenly getting all up in my face? It’s uncomfortable. Get back.”
“I’m asking if I look that way.”
Only after hearing Destel utter “You do look that way” did Rania pull back, smiling with satisfaction. Destel, who watched her, let out a hollow laugh as if she couldn’t believe it.
“So, how did you do that?”
Destel pointed at Rania.
“No matter how you look at it, that injury wasn’t something you could recover from so easily. You know that, right? The hero’s regeneration isn’t all-powerful.”
“I know.”
While it was true that the hero’s regeneration was remarkable, it also had clear limits. Especially when it came to the regeneration of missing parts.
“Even Kyle, with all that starlight, struggled to recover from physical losses.”
Destel continued.
“You don’t have that much starlight, do you?”
“That’s classified military information,” Rania replied with a bitter smile.
Officially, it was said that Rania had fully inherited Kyle’s starlight, but that was a lie. She was left with only a handful of starlight.
‘The bare minimum needed to be called a hero.’
Using that handful of starlight to its utmost limit and mixing it with mana to maximize its effects, she didn’t show any signs… but the absolute quantity of starlight she possessed was still inferior to Destel’s.
“It’s impressive how you can utilize that handful of starlight like that, but whatever the case, it’s still strange. Did you use some trick?”
“Trick? What trick?”
Rania shrugged her shoulders.
“Thanks to a gift from my senior.”
“…Senior? Did you get something from the previous hero?”
Saying that, Destel tilted her head. By Raniel’s standards, there shouldn’t be any living heroes from the generation before hers.
“Not a hero. Just an ancient senior.”
“…Well, if you say so, I suppose.”
It seemed she had no intention of explaining in detail.
Destel didn’t pursue it further. There must be a valid reason for her to keep it hidden. Just then, as Destel was pondering, Rania opened her mouth.
“What do you want to say?”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You didn’t just call me here for small talk. You brought me to a place where there aren’t many people.”
She gestured around.
A dense forest. A location a little distance from the resting members of the extermination squad. Rania questioned what was so important that it had to be conveyed like this.
“…”
A brief silence.
After repeating the motion of opening and closing her mouth, Destel irritably ran her fingers through her hair. It was a story she found absurd to say out loud.
“Hey, Raniel.”
After some thought, Destel finally spoke.
“Is it possible… theoretically, to have something like a regression?”
2.
Regression.
The moment Rania heard that word, her eyes narrowed even more. She let out a short breath and replied.
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“…Regression, or parallel worlds. One of those theories must be true to explain what I went through.”
How should I explain this? Destel muttered to herself while watching Rania’s reaction. Contrary to what she expected, Rania was focused on what he was saying. It meant she didn’t treat it as a fantastical story.
‘…Seems like she has some inkling.’
Destel took a deep breath and started talking.
“When I borrowed Galahal’s power to launch my spear, in that moment, starlight rushed out of my body and I saw something strange.”
Recalling the memory, Destel continued.
“A desolate world. Split land. A long trail of blood.”
He recounted the scenes that filled that bloodstream.
Belnoa’s death. Chloe’s corruption. His own endlessly falling figure. And at the very end, what he saw…
“I was standing at the end of that blood. A version of me that looked at least ten years older. That guy asked me.”
“…What did he ask you?”
“If I had any regrets.”
“…”
Rania fell silent.
Destel pressed on with his story.
“I said at that moment that I didn’t have regrets, but thinking back, that felt weird. It was too realistic to be just a figment of my imagination.”
It wasn’t a delusion at all.
It felt more like a recollection, showing images that had already happened.
“It’s an absurd story, but…”
Destel glanced at Rania.
“Considering your reaction, it seems like you have some idea about it?”
“…I do have some idea.”
Rania exhaled deeply.
“First off, there aren’t parallel worlds. It’s impossible for worlds to branch out based on decision points. Stars, providence, and truth all must be unique entities.”
“Then…?”
“Regression exists.”
Rania blurted it out.
Indeed, when Destel heard that, he pinched the bridge of his nose. After much contemplation, he sighed and said.
“So, you were a regressor?”
“Yeah, I’m from the future… Wait?”
Rania’s eyes widened as if startled, about to nod.
Since that wasn’t the answer he expected. However, Destel, who had been pressing his nose into the ground, didn’t see Rania’s face and continued the conversation.
“Looking back, it did seem strange.”
With a remarkably serious expression.
“To be flipping through the history of magic at just under twenty, making a name for yourself right after becoming an adult, and to toy with wizards who’ve lived for decades… that doesn’t make sense.”
“Uh, umm…”
“Sometimes you even acted like you knew the future. Especially when Kyle fell, right? How did you know to come to the battlefield?”
Destel sighed.
Rania was sweating profusely.
“If all that is true, then it makes sense if you were a regressor. Your abnormal magical skill and your occasional foresight fit perfectly.”
“No, hey…”
Destel abruptly turned to face Rania.
With an earnest expression, he asked.
“How many lives have you lived?”
Rania felt like he was misunderstanding something, but Destel’s words came out slightly quicker than hers.
“By my estimation, you must have lived at least twice already, meaning you look like my age right now, but you must have lived at least twice as long. So, in terms of age… umm…”
Destel let out a groan, glancing at Rania.
“…Should I call you sister? Or maybe brother?”
That was a seriously earnest question from Destel after a profound contemplation. However, for a certain sensitive wizard regarding age, it was the worst question possible.
Thwack!
Rania slapped the back of Destel’s head.
“Why’d you hit me! No, why are you hitting me…”
“Listen to what people say till the end, okay?”
Rania slapped him once more before she began her explanation. The explanation went on for a while, and after hearing all of it, Destel wore an extremely peculiar expression.
“So, you’re saying you’re not a regressor?”
“Right. I haven’t lived even half of your life, nor am I at an age to be called sister or brother…”
“So you’re saying it’s the you from ten years ahead that has regressed? A goddess from a world that’s been destroyed?”
It was absurd.
It was absurd, yet his experience was turning this nonsensical story into a foundation of truth.
“Then…”
Destel groaned.
“Are the landscapes I saw things that should have happened if things went as they were supposed?”
“That would be the case.”
“…Then I should be thankful for you coming from the future. Really.”
What he saw flowing through that blood was the process of a human plunging into ruin. Destel shuddered at the thought of his form back then… a disgraceful excuse for a hero who wasn’t even worthy of the title.
“I guess in that future, I somehow survived for quite a while.”
“You didn’t just survive for a while.”
Rania propped her chin up and said.
“I heard you were the last one left.”
“…I was?”
“Yeah. You survived until the very end and then, as the world crumbled, you committed suicide, she said.”
“…Surviving till the end is surprising, but I can understand why you would commit suicide.”
At Rania’s question of “Why?”, Destel replied.
“You probably survived till the end out of fear of dying. By that point, even if you managed to survive, it would likely have felt like hell. So it would have been like dying anyway.”
So that’s why you asked that.
The question of whether I had no regrets.
Am I living a different life than the one filled with regret?
“I’m relieved.”
Reflecting on the future version of himself he saw, Destel smiled bitterly.
“Because I’ve strayed far from that future.”
“To escape from that future, I’ve twisted my body to get here. During that time, I even saw scenes I couldn’t have imagined.”
Rania poked Destel in the side.
“I never imagined that borrowing Galahal’s power would lead me out like that. I thought I had a good eye for reading people, but…”
She smiled.
“For you, I’ll admit I was wrong.”
“…What’s with the sudden confession? Embarrassing.”
“Sorry, you little brat.”
So, Rania asked.
“How was it? What was the feeling like?”
“What feeling?”
“What was it like when you became a hero? It was your first time, right? When you rushed forward like that.”
Trembling in fear, yet taking a step forward.
Shouldering the burden of terror once more.
As he recalled the version of himself back then, Destel unconsciously let out a laugh. He wasn’t in his right mind. Looking back, it was truly a crazy thing, yet… it became an experience for Destel. The first time he had overcome fear.
In other words, an experience of becoming a hero.
“It’s not something someone in their right mind would do.”
Yet, Destel smiled.
“Sometimes, being a hero isn’t half bad.”
3.
Having shared everything that needed to be said, the two returned to the base while chatting about trivial matters.
“Speaking of which, Galahal’s spear…”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to borrow it again. I got the feeling when I borrowed it: this is something I can only borrow once. That’s what makes it significant.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
Rustle, as they trod on the leaves, the snowfall began to pour down. It was a sign that they were returning from the Phantom Territory to human lands. As they walked through the snow accumulating on the ground.
“Ah, speaking of which.”
Destel opened his mouth as if he recalled something.
“When I saw that landscape, there was ash flying around, just like now. It was a bit different from the ash you scatter.”
Rania flinched and stopped in her tracks.
Destel, who was walking ahead, kept speaking.
“But why was I able to see that landscape? If what you said is true, the connection to that future and the present world should have completely vanished with the destruction of the Goddess of Ashes…”
Not hearing footsteps behind him, Destel turned his head. He glanced at Rania, who was standing still.
“…What’s wrong?”
“You saw ash flying?”
“Yeah. The flying ash was part of the landscape…”
“Hey, Destel.”
Rania said.
“Try pulling up some starlight.”
“Right now? Here? I’ve already scraped everything to the bottom, and it’ll be tough to pull up for a while…”
“Stop talking back. Do it quickly.”
While tilting his head, Destel conjured some starlight. Tick, tick as the platinum starlight soared up. And through the soaring starlight…
“Whoa?”
The ash began to scatter.
The remnants of ash.
Ash that could no longer ignite.
