I burst into laughter, unable to hold it back any longer. Tesilid, who had been sulking and blushing at the tips of his ears, soon joined in, his laughter echoing in his throat.
Tesilid shared his thoughts on the visit to the magic tower.
“The chira researcher can actually be helpful sotis. It's funny that the Demon King of Sanarak ended up in his hands.”
“It felt like destiny, didn’t it?”
At that mont, Tesilid let out a low sigh.
“I wish you wouldn’t flirt with .”
“True, haha.”
“Co to think of it, I’ve seen you get proposed to three tis in front of . Count Orshu, Ligares, the chira researcher...”
“Each one of them was a little strange. Hahaha.”
Hmm, sohow, the topic of conversation was gradually turning against ...
“Oh, co to think of it.”
“Hmm, hmm?”
“You secretly went to the Unisus dungeon too, right? I’m kind of relieved I didn’t get to see the King of the Scoundrels asking you to lay eggs for him...”
Ah, and now we’ve reached this subject!
His eyes narrowed as he looked at . I tried to keep smiling, but it seed like my laughter wouldn’t be enough to deflect it.
Suddenly, I felt a little wronged.
“Wait a second, Terry. You’re not exactly innocent either. You got proposals from the Harpy Queen and the Queen of Ice in front of .”
And that’s just counting this tiline. If we add in all the other tilines, it would be impossible to count.
Sohow, I got carried away, and my voice rose a little.
“Whether I saw it or not, you were seducing all kinds of females!”
“Well, that... that wasn’t my will...”
To block his pitiful excuse, I glared at him pointedly.
“What, was it my will?”
“...”
“And by the way, Tesilid.”
“...Yes?”
“You were the revered leader of the Ten Thousand, Lord Reid. You could’ve built a harem empire with demons! And yet, here you are, criticizing for only managing a humble four wives?”
“...Shall we stop this conversation?”
His desperate voice touched my heart, so I decided to let it go. I am such a magnanimous person.
Before long, our steps reached the balcony. However, we didn’t imdiately break the spatial transfer stone.
The deep blue night sky, like the ocean, and the sparkling magic city. We took a mont to enjoy the mystical and romantic night view.
I felt the night air, cool from the heights, rise from my ankles and gently wrap around my hair.
There was soone I always thought of when I gazed up at the dark sky.
Perhaps it was because I was closer to that dium today. For so reason, I couldn’t help but think of him.
A faint but suffocating feeling began to rise in . Fortunately, there was soone by my side I could share this with.
“Terry.”
“Hm, yes?”
“I’m curious about sothing.”
“What is it?”
I hesitated for a mont, unusually so. His sea-colored eyes were kind, and he watched without urging, waiting for to speak.
I said it.
“I wonder if Reid is doing well.”
The Tesilid Arzent from the 101st tiline, living in a different tiline.
I killed him during the final battle, sending him to a special tiline copied by the creation of heaven and earth.
I still don’t know if that was a horrific punishnt that caused him pain or a form of salvation that might have offered him so comfort.
At that mont, another man I had killed in the past spoke up.
“Curious?”
His question seed to suggest he already knew everything, and my eyes widened.
But his answer was incomplete, and he wanted to find the missing part from and piece it together.
“The answer to that question depends on how you answer my question.”
“What question?”
Tesilid’s face drew closer. The night’s darkness settled on his silver hair, and the flickering red light danced in his smooth eyes.
Perhaps it was that, but for a brief mont, I thought I saw another vision of him.
His voice, like the lody of a string instrunt, asked as if reciting beautiful lines of poetry.
“Do you love Reid in the 101st tiline?”
“...”
Ah.
How should I describe this feeling in this mont?
Should I sigh, feel relieved, cry, or laugh?
I honestly couldn’t figure it out, so I squeezed my eyes shut.
Everything about him, returning to ti and ti again, felt so tender that I couldn’t bear it.
So.
I can’t say I don’t love him, I just can’t stand it.
Now it was my turn to share my half of the answer. I opened my eyes again and smiled widely at Tesilid.
“If you live a good life without doing anything bad...”
“The answer has co.”
Tesilid’s face drew nearer. As he closed his eyes and our lips t, the light of the spatial transfer stone surrounded us.
✠
The vast fire attack unfolding on the horizon caused the sky’s blue to retreat.
Ti rewound from the deep night to early evening. Due to the ti difference between the two faraway places, we could now see two sunsets in one day.
The place Tesilid and I moved to after leaving the dark magic tower was the land of Elfenheim, near the foot of Mount Elteo.
An untouched plain, where no human traces had been found for years, was filled with grass that had a strong vitality.
When the wind blew, it reminded of a green sea that gently swayed.
Step by step, the sensation of stepping on the thickly grown grass reached my feet.
Tesilid and I continued walking, occasionally admiring each other’s faces, bathed in the light of the setting sun.
“Was it beyond that hill?”
“I think so.”
Just as we were approaching the right path, we saw the first landmark.
It was a small stream flowing along the curves of the land.
At the mont when the battle with Reid was concluded, Reid and I had fallen from the top of Mount Elteo, surrounded by countless millennial glaciers.
The ancient ice had lted at that ti, forming a small lake, and from that lake, a stream had split off to form the brook.
Wildflowers blood around the banks, colorful and delicate, like fine embroidery sewn on a green carpet.
I thought to myself, how wonderful it would be if I could take a bundle of that ho to my living room.
I was lost in that thought when I tugged at the hem of my dress and looked at my shoes.
“Co to think of it, I’ve ended up wearing my ball gown.”
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“Not really, but...”
“Then?”
“I wonder if I should wear sothing more modest. Shouldn’t I wear simpler clothes?”
When I expressed my worry, Tesilid laughed heartily and said,
“They’ll like it. You look really beautiful right now.”
The words ca out smoothly, a reflection of soone’s opinion and his own thoughts. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud too.
“Well, I’m glad then.”
As we exchanged words, we almost reached the top of the hill.
As we neared our destination, I consciously tried to breathe evenly. I wanted to step with a calm and clean feeling.
To the place where Reid had passed away.
Take care. I’ll co back again.
It had taken one year and six months to survive after the victory at Armageddon and wandering through the chaotic tomb of gods. When I first ca back here, I regrettably couldn’t find Reid.
Ti is rciless, and the vessel that held him had returned to the earth, turned to white soil.
But fortunately, there was still so trace he left behind. That was the second landmark.
Just as Tesilid and I reached the top of the hill, the view that had been blocked opened up, and the second landmark welcod us.
“Wow!”
“It’s amazing...”
The grand scene that unfolded before us made us exclaim in awe.
In our sight was a huge field of green, with turquoise flower pistils and silver petals of the Signflower, blooming in vast clusters.
It felt like we had entered a massive garden of Signflowers dedicated to him.
“It’s grown so much since the last ti.”
“It’s amazing. I didn’t think anyone had cultivated it.”
This world seed so indifferent, and I thought no one had mourned Reid’s death, but perhaps that wasn’t true.
Maybe it was alright to feel a little bittersweet joy.
I smiled and turned to Tesilid.
“Let’s find a good spot. Sowhere nice.”
“Yeah, sure.”
We had sothing we needed to do.
I didn’t know the exact location where Reid’s eyes closed. So, we decided to pick the most scenic place.
I stopped at a spot I liked and pressed the ground down evenly. Then, I rummaged through my inventory and pulled out a special gift.
The heavy weight of the object pressed down on the ground with a soft thud.
In the center of the silver Signflower garden stood a delicately carved black stone. I looked at it and spoke as if to him.
“I hope you like it, Reid.”
Not long ago, when I replaced the dungeon farm’s gravestones, I had asked Skellet Lannon ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) to make an eighth gravestone. This was that gravestone.
It was difficult to engrave his real na, just like Reid. So, as usual, I decided to give him a flower na.
Asphodel
“I thought a lot between the Signflower and this one. But the aning of this flower seed to suit you better.”
It was also a comfort to , who misses him even after his death.
“Hey, Reid. It’s been a year since I married Terry.”
I didn’t want to feel down. I tried to chatter cheerfully.
“We eat delicious things together, see beautiful things together. When we eat freshly baked cake, when we see cherry blossoms in the spring, when we feel the wind on the beach in the sumr, we always go everywhere together. Oh, in the winter when it gets cold, we don’t go out much. Actually, we don’t leave the bed much, do we? It’s warr that way.”
“...”
Beside , Tesilid pretended to clear his throat. Ignoring him, I continued.
“Anyway, every day, I wake up in the morning with Terry and go to sleep at night with him...”
I paused for a mont, hoping my words would sound as beautiful as possible.
“I’m so happy.”
So.
“I hope you’re happy too.”
I gently leaned my head on Tesilid’s shoulder and looked at the setting sun.
I hoped, in another tiline and another horizon, that he too was watching the sunset and not feeling lonely.
Soon, the ti for darkness to fall on this place was drawing near.
“Terry, don’t you have anything you want to say?”
“Hmm...”
After a mont’s hesitation, he spoke.
“I hope you live a good life and get saved. Like I did.”
Nice words.
“You heard that? It’s the advice of a senior, so engrave it in your heart.”
I looked at Tesilid and smiled brightly.
It was ti to return. We held each other’s hands and surrendered ourselves to the light.
The vision was erased by white light and then returned, regaining its colors and shapes.
When I opened my eyes, there was a cabin with a cheese-tabby cat wearing white socks, using a swing hammock to sleep.
Cozy and peaceful—our ho.
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