Fwoosh!
As soon as I saw the crimson fla forming in Scarlet's palm, I quickly retreated and hid behind Miho.
Then, I peeked my head out from behind her and protested.
"Why! You said you would answer anything!"
"...I certainly did."
Scarlet glared at with eyes that seed to be sparking with fire.
"There were so many important questions I could have answered. And all you ask is how old I am?"
"I was really curious! Isn't it my freedom to ask whatever question I want!"
Flinch!
As soon as I t Scarlet's gaze, which looked like it would eat alive, I quickly pulled my head back in like a turtle.
"..."
I could feel Miho's gaze, which was looking at with pity.
But I didn't give up and continued to protest while hiding.
"Are you planning on not paying the promised reward to the rcenary who ca back after saving the world? Didn't you say that all those who don't pay their rewards on ti should be burned to a crisp!"
Miho glanced back at , who was hiding behind her.
"You're really sothing else. You knew Scarlet's personality, and you still wanted to ask that?"
"I asked because I knew. Do you think she would have answered if it wasn't now?"
"Hmm. That's true. How wise."
"That's ."
Scarlet let out a deep sigh and scattered the flas she had been holding in her hands.
"Alright, co here."
"Are you going to burn ?"
"I won't burn you."
"Really?"
"I said so."
But when I still hesitated,
"Co out."
Miho's tails dragged out.
I had no choice but to co out from behind Miho and et Scarlet's gaze.
"You know what my origin is. And you're still curious?"
I answered with a voice that did not waver.
"Yes."
"..."
Scarlet sighed.
"I... have lived for a very long ti."
It seed she was going to talk.
I exchanged a glance with Miho.
"Born from ashes. I have watched the spring rain fall, the forest turn green, the leaves fall, and the first snow co... countless tis."
"How many tis have you watched..."
"Well... I stopped counting at so point, so it's not exact. But I think I've seen it more than five thousand tis."
"F-five thousand...?"
My mind went blank at the number that far exceeded my expectations.
"Then... five thousand years old?"
Scarlet answered with a face that was now half-resigned.
"At least five thousand years old. In reality, it's probably far more than five thousand."
My jaw dropped.
How long was a dragon's lifespan?
When I looked to the side, Miho's mouth was also wide open.
"Why are you surprised? Didn't you know?"
"I didn't know it was that much. I've lived long enough to be called a legendary being, but to think it was that much..."
Scarlet looked at .
"Is that a sufficient answer?"
"Uh, yes."
"Then, the second question."
I swallowed my surprise, and then, after thinking for a mont, I opened my mouth.
"That ti, in the rain. You said you gave up sothing for . You said I would be surprised if I knew what you gave up."
"I did."
"What did you give up?"
Scarlet stared at and then said bluntly.
"Immortality."
My mind went blank for a mont.
Did I hear that right?
Immortality? The immortality of not dying forever?
"Immortality...?"
Suddenly, Istradel's words ca to mind.
—Dragons are immortal unless sothing special happens.
"For ... you gave up immortality?"
"Yes. The balance must be maintained. To gain one thing, you must give up another."
"Do you have any regrets?"
"None."
Scarlet's expression was truly one of relief, without a single regret.
"...Why?"
Crack.
My hand tightened.
What had I done to deserve such a price?
"We are all beings who are running towards death. Everyone is bound to reach the end soday. It's just a matter of whether you reach the finish line quickly or not."
"..."
"I just made a slightly different choice."
"What choice?"
"Will I spend a lonely and desolate rest of my life after all my loved ones have left, and then et an empty death? Or will I make it a great journey?"
Scarlet smiled brightly.
"I chose a great death."
I was at a loss for words for a mont, and then I barely managed to ask.
"How much... is left?"
"Well. Assuming the world doesn't end, enough to live with you guys, bickering and fighting, and then et death without any regrets on the sa day?"
"..."
"Is that an answer?"
"...I think so."
A strange light appeared in Scarlet's eyes.
"That expression. It's very satisfying. It was worth the wait."
"You have a bad taste."
Scarlet chuckled, as if she found sothing so amusing.
"The last question."
'The last question...'
As I traveled through the various ti periods of the past, the question that had been constantly on my mind ca out of my mouth.
"Am I... a created being?"
"Hmm?"
It was an unexpected question, and Scarlet tilted her head.
"What do you an?"
"Istradel said so. That I am a sword forged by the gods to defeat the Evil God. Then... was everything about arranged according to the gods' intentions?"
The chilly night air brushed against my cheek.
"Losing my parents and being born in a dirty back alley, being betrayed and losing Tina, falling off a cliff, surviving by desperately cutting down my enemies... was it all, part of a pre-arranged plan?"
My tone grew increasingly heated.
"Was I just a part of fate? My actions, words, thoughts, even my trivial habits. Was I just a ticulously crafted puppet? Was I... really?"
No matter how much I struggled, the result would not have changed?
All of that, the trials I had gone through, was it just a way to sharpen the sword?
"My struggle to survive! My fierce life where death brushed past at every mont! Was it just a play with a written script!"
Even at this very mont.
The thought that I might be just reciting a pre-determined line.
It was driving crazy.
"Heok! Heok!"
The things I had thought were my life were denying .
Was I not the master?
Was I just a puppet controlled by fate?
Even this, according to the gods' intentions...
SLAP!
My vision flashed, and my head turned to the side.
My cheek burned.
"Ashuban."
Scarlet's frosty voice was heard.
"Look at ."
I slowly turned my head and t her clear, green eyes.
"You are not a puppet."
Scarlet looked into my eyes and said in a gentle tone.
"The gods have been watching for a long ti. Literally, for over five thousand years. And then, they finally found you."
"..."
"You are not a puppet, but a chosen being. By the gods who are so picky."
"Why? Why did they choose soone like ? A dirty vagrant?"
"Because you shone so brightly. To the point where they had no choice but to choose you."
"That's the most dazzling bullshit I've ever heard."
Scarlet smiled gently.
"The brightest light is the light in the darkness. Have you heard that sowhere before?"
"...I don't know."
"Authenticity is the accumulation of uniqueness."
"Pardon?"
"It's true that you're entangled in fate. But how you accept that fate, how you overco it, and with what attitude you overco it."
"..."
"There is no one who has broken through fate like you. Your actions caught the eyes of the gods, and so you were finally chosen by the gods."
"..."
"The cause and effect are a little different. To define you, you are not a 'designed being', but a 'naturally occurring outlaw', or a 'super weed that grew out of nowhere on the side of the road'."
"...A super weed?"
Miho, who had been watching blankly from the side, stared at .
"It suits you sohow. A super weed."
Scarlet laughed out loud.
As I listened to her laughter, I rolled my cooled head and asked.
"Then what about that prophecy?"
"Hmm?"
"The prophecies that the gods had been spouting about what I would do. The Hero of Light was just spouting them out."
"Ah, there was a misunderstanding. The gods are beings who can freely co and go between the past and the future. We should not judge the gods rashly from our perspective. It will only lead to more misunderstandings."
"Mmm..."
Scarlet patted my shoulder as I was lost in thought.
I bent my legs to et her eyes.
"Ashuban."
"Yes, Big Sister."
"You are the sharpest sword chosen by the gods. There has never been a sword so fierce and sharp."
"..."
"There were thousands of candidates, but they all failed to overco the trials and broke. Among them, there were also those who the gods had intended to raise from the beginning, just as you thought. But they were no different."
"...I see."
"You are special. I'm not just saying this."
Scarlet looked at my face as if she were examining it, and then smiled with satisfaction.
"I didn't know Ashuban would be having such existential worries. It feels like just yesterday when you were running around. You've grown."
I could hear the Heavenly Demon clicking his tongue.
[You must be doing well. To be spouting such unfunny nonsense so seriously.]
"..."
[Would you have had such useless fantasies when a sharp blade was at your throat? Life is life, what else is there?]
Ah, how embarrassing.
A wave of sha washed over , and I covered my face with my hands.
Co to think of it, it was like a child's tantrum.
I could hear Miho's voice from the side.
"Ashuban. Your ears are red."
"Shut up."
I could hear Scarlet's gentle laughter.
A hand with a warm heat ca and slowly removed my hands that were covering my face, and green eyes that held the mystery of the beginning of ti looked at .
"Make a face that I can be reassured by. The face you made while cutting down the trials that fate had given you."
I pulled the corners of my mouth.
It drew a smile along the trajectory of my life so far.
A fierce smile that resembled a wolf's.
"That's right."
Only after seeing my smile did Scarlet smile brightly.
"Then now, shall I receive the report?"
"...Yes."
I briefly reported what had happened in the first and second ti periods.
And as for what had happened in the last ti period, I explained it in as much detail as I could rember.
The Demon God who had beco an Evil God.
The rampage of the Evil God who was born, splitting the earth.
The Evil God's steps, which had started from the western demon realm and crossed the continent to the northeast.
The fierce battle of the dragons to block him.
The desolate region in the north of the continent, where the current Maia Kingdom was, which had beco the battlefield.
The Evil God who had finally t his death in front of a cliff.
But his fragnts had entered a different dinsion of ti and space that had been torn apart in the process of the battle, and were recovering their strength.
A sign that he would soon be resurrected.
The return of the Evil God was inevitable.
The western demon realm was the place where the Evil God was born.
The misty cliff was the place where his last breath had scattered.
The sword forged by the gods.
And the one who wields it.
Scarlet listened silently.
And when the explanation was all over.
"...That's all."
"I see."
"You don't seem very surprised."
"I was surprised."
"Really?"
"Because I had already guessed to so extent."
"Hmm."
As Istradel had said, had she really finished all the preparations and sent to get the final confirmation?
But I was still not enough.
I was not ready.
I was not sharp enough.
Not only was my skill not yet comparable to the Eight Sword Masters, but I had not even collected half of the nine colors.
According to her, the Evil God would be returning soon...
"Big Sister."
Scarlet, who had been deep in thought, raised her head.
"Yes?"
"What should I do from now on?"
"First."
"Yes."
"Rest."
"Pardon?"
Scarlet patted my shoulder affectionately.
"You've been through a lot. Even the sharpest sword needs to be oiled and wiped once in a while. For now, get so good rest."
"But, the return of the Evil God..."
"It's not going to happen tomorrow. It's only soon from the perspective of a dragon who lives a life close to eternal life, but you still have ti. Don't worry."
"Ah."
At those words, the tension in my shoulders eased.
Sleepiness washed over .
Only then did I realize how tired I was.
Co to think of it, I don't think I had rested for a single mont while I was ti traveling.
"Haaam... I should go and get so sleep too."
"What did you do to be so sleepy?"
"I worked hard as a guardian."
"For how long?"
"Well. Maybe about ten minutes."
"Ten minutes. Thank you."
I was about to return to Guston's restaurant with Miho...
"Ah, Big Sister."
"Yes?"
"This."
I handed the red bead to Scarlet.
"This is...?"
"Your mother told to give it to you."
Scarlet took the red bead with an awkward but very careful touch.
"...Mother."
I delivered Istradel's last ssage to her.
"She said she was sorry, and that she loved you."
"..."
I left Scarlet, who was standing there blankly with the red bead in her hand, and left with Miho.
"Was there no ssage for ?"
"Who are you?"
"I am Scarlet's closest friend."
"I doubt it."
"Tsk."
* * *
Chirp, chirp.
The sound of insects echoed softly, and the stars watched quietly in the night.
In front of the cliff where the night fog, which reflected the moonlight, was shimring hazily.
"Mother... huh."
Scarlet muttered, staring at the red bead.
It was a word that didn't stick to her mouth, Scarlet thought.
"Primus Ignis Istradel."
Her na, which she had heard from Ashuban.
It ant Istradel, who held the first fla.
On the small, red bead, very complex magic formulas were drawn in tiny letters.
Looking at it, one could not help but admire the wonder of ancient magic.
Scarlet thought for a mont, and then carefully injected her magic power into the bead.
Fwoosh!
A large fla erupted.
But, it was the kind of fla that felt warm, not hot.
It grew in size and flickered here and there, and then, it ford a certain shape.
—Hello, our daughter.
Fiery red hair, and green eyes that sparkled like stars.
Scarlet could recognize her, who looked so much like her, at a glance.
"...Mother."
A beautiful single fla that had blood from the ashes.
Scarlet Bellucci.
She did not leave the cliff until dawn broke.
While replaying the video containing the welco over and over again.
(End of Chapter)
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