‘It must be a coincidence.’
Throughout the long history of the world, anomalies that defied the seasons occurred from time to time.
For instance, rain often fell frequently near those who possessed a powerful affinity for water.
Or, if someone with a strong affinity for fire appeared in a region plagued by heavy snowfall, the snow stopped.
Such cases were not common, but they appeared rarely in history.
The current situation was no different.
Especially now, when the Death King could resurrect heroes of the past.
‘Perhaps those powerhouses were brought back by him. Or maybe the Spirits of that area underwent a mass migration. The probability of it being related to Luna is extremely low.’
Even so.
‘I should check.’
There were no classes today.
Of course, students weren’t allowed to freely leave the grounds, but creating a pretext for Leo to go out was not a difficult task.
“What were you talking about with Professor Mel?”
Chen Xia asked with a puzzled look as Leo returned to his seat.
Eiran also seemed curious, her ears twitching.
Looking at the two of them, Leo spoke.
“You guys. Want to go flower-watching?”
At the sudden suggestion, Chen Xia and Eiran’s eyes widened.
===
Crackle, crackle—
Firewood was burning.
“Dweno-nim! Have a drink!”
“Hmm, thank you.”
“You too, Arron-nim!”
“Ah, yes!”
Guardslone was a city of many festivals.
In this era, where the world rushed toward destruction day by day.
News of the heroes’ victories against Erebos and Tartarus was enough to drive people into a frenzy.
It provided a momentary liberation from the anxiety of not knowing when the end would come.
However, today’s festival was not to celebrate a victory.
“Now, now! Everyone, attention!”
Luna climbed onto the platform and raised her glass.
“Tomorrow, we set out on our final journey to subjugate Erebos!”
The subjugation of Erebos.
It was the long-cherished desire of everyone in the world, yet a phrase few dared to utter aloud.
Mentioning that yearning in such a light tone, Luna continued.
“Of course, many of you must be feeling anxious.”
As Luna spoke with a serious expression, the festive atmosphere chilled instantly.
Amidst that tension, Luna grinned.
“But trust us! We will save the world! We’ll take back the blue sky from that damn fireball! We’ll take back the beautiful stars!”
“Woooooo!”
“And I shall be called the greatest mage in history! Everyone, a toast to me, Luna, who will become the greatest mage ever!”
“Cheers!”
At Luna’s shout, the heavy atmosphere vanished.
Watching the people raise their glasses, Kyle spoke.
“Why on earth did you leave the important speech to her?”
“Because Luna is perfect for lifting the mood.”
Lysinas, sitting next to Kyle with a glass in her hand, said with a gentle smile.
“If we let Dweno do it, he’d say something perverted, and Arron would be too nervous to say anything. You would definitely make the festival depressing. And if I did it, it would be boring.”
“Since this might be our last festival, you might as well enjoy it to the fullest, right?”
“There you go again with the unlucky nonsense.”
“K-Kyle! Do you really think this expedition is hopeless?”
Dweno, who had approached them unnoticed, clicked his tongue, and Arron wore an anxious expression.
“What are you guys talking about?”
Luna, returning from her speech, asked with a puzzled look.
“That this festival might be the last one.”
“Why the last? Can’t we just blow Erebos away?”
“That’s right. The world will be saved, Kyle.”
Luna looked at Kyle as if he were strange, and Lysinas spoke as if it were a given.
Hearing their confident answers, Kyle shifted his gaze slightly and said,
“I certainly hope so.”
“Why does this damn human keep killing the mood?”
“Would you die if you just agreed for once?”
Luna grabbed Kyle by the collar and shook him, while Lysinas sent him a cold glare.
“Now, now, stop it and just enjoy the festival. It’s not like this is the first time he’s been like this.”
Thwack!
Dweno smacked the back of Kyle’s head with his thick hand.
“You damn dwarf. You think you’re hitting lightly, but it hurts for the person getting hit.”
“I hit you so that it would hurt.”
“Fine, then can I give you a hard punch in the solar plexus?”
As Kyle growled, Dweno replied nonchalantly.
“P-Please don’t fight.”
Arron hurriedly tried to stop the two.
After that small commotion.
Left alone, Kyle sipped his drink.
‘The mood is great.’
Watching his friends enjoy the festival with vibrant laughter, Kyle rested his chin on his hand and placed his glass beside him.
‘Yes, you all will surely be able to move forward into the future.’
All five of them knew it was a fight where victory could not be guaranteed.
But even so, their mindsets were different.
As Kyle wore a soft smile, he felt a presence sneaking up behind him.
Kyle could easily tell that the presence belonged to Velkia.
‘What is she up to now?’
While he watched to see what she was doing, Velkia slipped something into Kyle’s glass.
“Kyle-nim, have a toast with Luna-nim.”
Then, as if nothing had happened, she quickly sat beside Kyle and calmly called out to Luna.
“Luna-nim.”
“Hmm? Why are you calling me?”
“Let’s have a toast.”
“Shall we?”
Luna smiled brightly, raised her glass, and came over to toast.
Luna downed her drink in one go and shouted,
“Kyah! That’s the stuff!”
“Aren’t you drinking?”
Kyle grabbed Velkia, who was playing innocent, and forced her to drink the contents of his own glass.
“Ugh!”
“What are you two doing!”
“This idiot put something in my drink.”
“Velkia, what did you put in it?”
At Luna’s question, Velkia hurriedly closed her eyes and said,
“T-The love potion Dweno-nim made...”
At those words, Luna clicked her tongue.
“That thing doesn’t work.”
“What?”
Velkia’s eyes widened.
“It’s just a stupid pervert’s potion with no effect whatsoever.”
After speaking bluntly, Luna swept away.
Velkia pouted her lips.
“Do you want to prank me until the very end?”
“It’s not like that!”
As Velkia pouted,
“Kyle-nim.”
Vihar approached Kyle.
Looking at Velkia and Vihar for a moment, Kyle spoke.
“You two, sit in front of me.”
At his words, Velkia and Vihar sat before him.
Kyle poured drinks into their glasses and said,
“You’ve worked hard learning from me until now.”
“Why are you talking as if this is the end?”
Velkia said with a frown.
“Because it might be.”
“Stop saying strange things.”
Velkia pouted, but Vihar bowed her head with a solemn expression.
“Thank you... for teaching me all this time.”
“You stop saying strange things too! Kyle-nim will defeat Erebos and come back! Are you saying Kyle-nim can’t subjugate Erebos?”
Velkia grabbed Vihar and shook her violently.
“No, I believe it.”
Vihar smiled faintly.
“That Kyle-nim will defeat Erebos.”
Satisfied with the answer, Velkia huffed and nodded.
Looking at the two, Kyle asked,
“What will you do when the era of peace arrives?”
“I’ll help you all rebuild the world.”
Velkia smiled brightly.
“I want to help people in need and create a world where everyone can be happy.”
“Right, do your best.”
“Of course.”
“Velkia. Can you come here for a second?”
“Yes! Luna-nim!”
Velkia ran toward Luna’s call.
Luna handed a large bouquet of flowers to her disciple.
“This is a gift. It’s my favorite flower.”
“Wow, they’re so beautiful! Luna-nim!”
Watching Velkia genuinely rejoice as she received the bouquet, Vihar smiled and said,
“Velkia will surely make this world a brighter place.”
The soft smile on Vihar’s face suddenly vanished, turning expressionless.
“Kyle-nim.”
“What is it?”
“After peace is restored, if there are still those who eat away at the world like they do now... what should I do?”
Emotion vanished from Vihar’s voice.
“Should I continue doing what I do now?”
Kyle looked at Vihar in silence.
Fundamentally, Vihar distrusted others.
Having lived a thoroughly miserable life without parents from birth was an inevitable flow of the era.
Because Erebos and Tartarus had robbed everyone of their happiness and cast them into misery.
But the ones who handed her tragedy as an Orphan Soldier in a life of only misery were humans like her.
Kyle looked at Velkia.
Despite being born into a dark world, Velkia was a bright woman.
If she were like the sun, Vihar was like the moon in the night sky.
“I... cannot tolerate it. In a world where peace was regained through the sacrifice of many heroes... a world built by the hands of you and the Great Heroes... I don’t think I could ever forgive the maggots that eat away at the world for living in it.”
Vihar spoke as if spitting the words out, emitting twisted bloodlust.
“If I see those who are unworthy of living in the era of peace... if there are many such people... what should I do?”
“There will probably be many,” Kyle said calmly.
Those born in the era of despair thought the world without Erebos would be purely beautiful.
But because he had lived before the era of despair, Kyle knew.
That a world without Erebos wasn’t just beautiful.
That sometimes, it was even more hideous than the era of despair.
“You’ll see a lot of filthy things.”
Vihar gritted her teeth at Kyle’s words.
“But don’t dwell on those things too much.”
Kyle smiled.
“Because many people, including myself, risked our lives to save the world even while knowing that.”
“...”
“Once the era of peace comes, you’ll definitely meet all kinds of people. I bet Lysinas will regret it too. She’ll think, ‘Did we save the world for the sake of things like that?’”
Kyle smiled faintly, looking at Lysinas in the distance.
“But still, there will surely be more good people. The era you will live in will be a world where the light is brighter than the depth of the darkness. So.”
Kyle reached out and roughly ruffled Vihar’s hair.
“When the world finds peace, don’t spend your whole life living only in the dark.”
“...Yes, Kyle-nim.”
===
Deep in the forests of the eastern continent.
There was a village of considerable size here.
“Melanu Village. It’s a village that outsiders visit for sightseeing or recuperation because of its beautiful natural scenery. It’s famous for its hot springs.”
Chen Xia told him about the village.
“But... this is surprising.”
Chen Xia looked at the scenery unfolding before her with a bewildered expression.
“Look at this! I’ve never seen these flowers before, but they’re so beautiful!”
Eiran beamed, looking at the flowers blooming profusely on the ground.
“I wonder what kind of flowers these are?”
As Chen Xia also looked puzzled, Leo answered.
“Statice.”
“Leo-nim, do you know this flower?”
“It’s a flower that has disappeared in this era.”
To be precise, they all vanished during the Era of Calamity.
‘The flower Luna loved the most.’
Now, it was a flower that could only be bloomed through Magic that Blooms Flower.
The moment Leo plucked one flower.
Woooong—!
Leo’s Spirit Energy reacted, and his vision went black.
In that instant, he saw.
Step— step—
Vihar was walking, holding a large, withered bouquet of Statice.
[Where is Kyle-nim?]
[... Here.]
At Vihar’s question, Velkia, who was beside her, showed a small urn.
[Is it right to bury Kyle-nim beside Luna-nim?]
At Vihar’s question, Velkia gripped the urn tightly.
[... We couldn’t find the graves of the others. At the very least, I want the two of them to not be lonely.]
Watching Velkia bow her head, Vihar nodded.
[Let’s go.]
Unlike Vihar, who walked forward, Velkia could not.
She simply stood there blankly, staring at the ground.
Flash—!
“Leo-nim?”
“Leo-nim!”
Chen Xia, panicked, supported Leo.
Eiran hurriedly rushed to Leo’s side.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
Leo, holding his head, shook it.
‘That just now was Spirit Magic. But whose memory was it?’
Velkia or Vihar.
It was certain that it belonged to one of the two.
‘Is it related to this flower?’
Leo looked at the flowers blooming in abundance.
He couldn’t tell the source of the memory.
Only that it was connected to this flower.
‘All I can know for now is... that Luna’s grave, and mine, are around here?’
***
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