◈ Episode 413. Roses Are Not Enough (1)
The final three had fallen.
With that, Antonium was covered in roses, in eternal happiness.
Seric Rose began to walk.
“Then next.”
Further still.
It was time to cover the Arcana Continent in an eternal dream.
Just as Seric Rose was thinking of her next move,
she suddenly felt a pulse.
“?”
From the blossoms of Antonium.
They had fallen into happy dreams.
They should not have stirred in the slightest.
And yet the blossoms were twitching.
They were not blooming. They were waking from “Eternal Sleep.”
Seric Rose’s face twisted.
“How dare they reject the dream I bestowed upon them?”
How……?
*
Ransha’s pupils trembled.
“What are you doing there?”
Mate was looking at her, smiling brightly.
Behind him stretched the scenery of Dredsen.
Mate came closer and whispered to Ransha.
“Don’t tell me you were stunned because I’m too handsome?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Haha, kidding. Are you tired? Did you not sleep well last night?”
“No. It’s not that.”
Ransha walked across the meadow with Mate. In the mountain village of Dredsen, once the sun went down, nothing could be seen. They had to return to the village before the sunset faded.
Mbaa─!
“Oh my, you two are together again today.”
Gardner, who was herding goats, recognized them and called out.
Mate joked around,
but Ransha lowered her head, her face flushed.
“Seriously, please……”
Being treated like a married couple already was embarrassing.
Gardner laughed heartily.
“What’s wrong with that, Ransha? Everyone in our Dredsen village knows. Let’s see, what could I give you two as a wedding gift? A goat would be best, I suppose?”
“Sir, are you serious?”
“Mate, I don’t know about you, but would I lie in front of Ransha?”
“Well, our Ransha is a little persistent. Even today, she wouldn’t try to leave my side for even a moment, you know? Once we’re married, we’ll be stuck together every day, so I don’t know why she’s like this……”
Ransha stared intently at Mate and Gardner as they talked.
Why was it?
An emotion she had forgotten seemed to gouge at her chest.
Without realizing it, Ransha smiled.
“So this was the happiness I wanted……?”
Surely she should have had no lingering regrets.
Yet her chest ached. One corner of her heart would not be filled. She should have been grateful for the happiness unfolding before her eyes…… and yet she kept feeling as though she had lost something.
To be precise.
“……
Ransha, are you crying?”
She had not forgotten.
Over Mate’s face, she could see Mate writhing in agony from demonic possession. Above the peaceful village of Dredsen, flames and a rampaging demon rose vividly in her mind.
The sight of Gardner, the retired mercenary, raising his weapon to face that demon as well.
And lastly.
“……
What do I do? I can’t forget any of it.”
Brilliant silver hair.
A straight, upright back.
And even Hoyeol’s figure, more solitary than anything else.
A conversation flashed through her mind.
-“So in the end, you intend to shoulder everything again this time.”
A ship that flew through the sky.
The stories she had heard from the dwarves aboard the Iron Castle.
Ransha opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry, Mate.”
“Sorry? For what, all of a sudden?”
“I think I…… have to go back.”
It was ridiculous.
She was not an adventurer, nor a hero, nor did she have any great ability. She was just a country bumpkin. The happiness she had wished for was unfolding right before her eyes. So why was she trying to return to that miserable reality?
Ransha spoke the reason aloud.
“I can’t be happy alone.”
If she had not known, perhaps it would have been different.
But she had seen that lonely back.
She could not see it and then turn away.
At that moment, Ransha’s vision began to brighten. The happiness was disappearing. Dredsen, Gardner’s face, and Mate’s smile were all being buried in the bright light.
But she heard it clearly.
“Really? Then go, Ransha.”
A gentle voice.
“It’s all right if you’re late. I’ll wait for you forever.”
...
Nam Taemin tilted his head.
“Did it feel like this?”
A complete victory.
Sitting on top of the fallen Hisagi, Nam Taemin examined his own feelings. It had truly been an overwhelming championship. In the quarterfinals, he had crushed Skal; in the semifinals, Leonie; in the finals, this snake-eyed bastard……
“Somehow, something feels off, doesn’t it?”
He was not particularly happy.
Nam Taemin’s question did not last long.
Because he felt a sense of déjà vu from the ranking system message floating before his eyes.
“……
That’s right, Mr. Hoyeol!”
The overwhelming number one in the unofficial rankings.
He had not surpassed Mr. Hoyeol.
How could he call himself the strongest?
“And no matter what.”
Nam Taemin laughed as he looked at the scenery fading away.
Specifically,
as he looked at the fallen Hisagi.
“We’re not in the kind of relationship where we beat each other down anymore, are we?”
Hisagi was seeing a similar scene.
“The real Nam Taemin is even ruder than you.”
The last guild master of the Giant Alliance.
Leonie had her eyes squeezed shut.
Just what had she seen?
With her eyes closed, she shouted at the top of her lungs.
“As if that bastard would ever say something like that, you crazy bitch Leonie!!”
Had someone slapped her?
Or had she hit herself?
Her cheek was flushed red,
but in any case, a clear message appeared before Leonie’s eyes.
[Status abnormality, “Eternal Sleep,” has been解除ed.]
...
Bensch looked at the dining table.
It was a scene he had never seen before.
Such peace did not suit the William family.
“Brother, Brother. Today, I!”
Nash chattered away.
His younger brother, who had always been timid, was acting playfully as befitted his age.
It was quite a pleasant sight.
But Bensch knew.
‘Happiness, is it.’
This was not the happiness he had wanted.
Because he had never made a wish that could not come true.
Bensch set down his fork and knife.
It was a shame,
but it was about time to return.
His mother asked.
“Why? You’re not going to eat more?”
Bensch replied.
“It is time for me to go.”
His father said.
“Where are you going at this hour, Bensch?”
Bensch smiled.
“Where else? To that damned reality.”
Someone had once said it.
That one could only miss something after experiencing it.
But that was wrong.
He had never once experienced the happiness before his eyes.
Yet from the moment he rose from his seat, he felt as though he would miss this scene.
Bensch continued speaking to his mother.
“Mother, you will be lonely by yourself for a long time. But I believe that someday, the day will come when we meet again. Well, even if I say that, isn’t life the sort of thing where we might reunite as soon as tomorrow?”
Then he looked at his father.
“And my thoughts about you remain unchanged, Father.”
Happiness, was it.
Perhaps I had wished for a father like that.
However, Bensch had not forgotten his father’s gleaming eyes.
Bensch added with a smile.
“So please do not even think of pretending to be kind, even in a dream.”
Then Nash tugged at his sleeve once more.
“Brother, do you really have to leave……?”
Bensch stroked Nash’s head.
“Yes. That’s how it turned out.”
“As expected……”
Truly.
“……
Even in that world, they can’t do without you, Brother Bensch! You really are amazing, Brother Bensch. When will I ever become as dignified as you?”
He was the same younger brother as ever.
Even as he spoke, Nash still clung to his sleeve.
Bensch looked at Nash, then opened his mouth.
“I promise, Nash.”
“Yes? Promise what, Brother?”
“From now on, let us see each other often.”
“……
Really?”
Rustle─
At those words, Nash let go of the sleeve he had been holding so tightly.
Soon, his vision began to brighten.
A faint voice continued in Bensch’s ear.
“You really promised, Brother Bensch?”
Whoosh─!
“Of course.”
……
And then.
Within the flower of flame, the Flame Emperor opened his eyes.
Across from him was Seric Rose.
Only now has that composed expression of yours cracked, has it?
Anger could be felt in Seric Rose’s voice.
“Why did you reject the mercy I granted you?”
Bensch let out a hollow laugh.
“Mercy? I never wished for a dream like that.”
“Silence. There is nothing I do not know.”
The Library of the Battlefront.
It could provide every answer to every question. Naturally, that meant it could also know what happiness the people desired. And yet why had they awakened from the happiness they truly desired……
“What is your reason for returning to this miserable reality?”
Why were they trying to open their eyes again in the Arcana Continent, hideous beyond measure?
Seric Rose glared at Bensch.
Very well, man worthy of the Flame Emperor.
“You must be able to guess. The dreadful series of events that will befall the Arcana Continent from now on. They are not something weak humans can endure.”
“……!!!”
At that moment, Seric Rose’s voice was resounding in the minds of everyone who had awakened from Eternal Sleep. Seric Rose began to list the disasters that awaited the people.
“The appearance of demons that devastated the empire and the continent was nothing more than an omen. Now that the struggle for the Ten Thrones has begun, the Demon World is seething as never before! You will envy those who died before you.”
“Even in that chaotic age, foolish humans will attack other humans in the same plight. The monarchs who had hidden themselves will rise up everywhere and plunge the Arcana Continent into even deeper chaos.”
“And yet, why would you kick away eternal happiness? The rest bestowed upon you by merciful me? My people!”
Bensch answered.
“Because then we would have no face to show.”
“……
No face?”
“If we were satisfied with happiness of that level, if we became drunk on dreams and staggered around, then we would have no face to show Lord Senios and the Tower Master, who gave their lives for the Magic Tower.”
It was not only Bensch.
Antonium.
The awakened citizens of the empire were shouting one after another.
“Do you know how my son protected Antonium……!!”
“We endured all the way here. Even out of spite, I can’t run away now.”
“Even if I die when the time comes, I’m going to pay those demon bastards back before I do!”
Seric Rose was deeply shocked.
“What did you say……?”
These were trials that even she herself had to fear. And yet these fragile beings had truly resolved to face them and fight? There was not even time to think in order to understand.
“Good. The citizens of the empire buried in blossoms are waking up as well. Then there is no longer any need to suppress the calamity fire. Yes. From now on, I will be serious.”
Because the Flame Emperor was spewing out calamity fire.
No, it was not only Bensch.
Before anyone knew it, the Holy War Alliance Army on the ground had assumed battle formation.
Matisse and Bellier.
Nash, too, staggered as he joined their ranks.
And then.
Thud─!
The people began clinging to the tightly shut gates of Antonium.
Those who had awakened from the blossoms shook off the pollen
and began to face the cruel reality.
“Cut down the thorn vines!”
“Damn it, I don’t care if I get stabbed now!”
“But don’t we have anything? At least a kitchen knife or something……”
The arrangements of “someone” began to shine.
“We will lend you our equipment.”
“Wait, aren’t you fellows scavengers?”
“……
You’re lending weapons? To us?”
Yes, Antonium had not completely fallen.
From the lowly sewers,
there had been scavengers waiting for this very moment.
“To think I’d live long enough to receive help from you lot. In any case, thank you.”
“I never thought I’d hear someone thank me.”
“Then are we even?”
Shing.
The scavengers and the people joined forces and began cutting down the thorn vines covering Antonium. Why……? Seric Rose still could not accept it.
“Do you truly desire suffering, my people?”
Even if they cut down the thorn vines, they could not directly harm her.
The Flame Emperor before her was the same.
Even if he burned this body to ashes with blazing calamity fire.
‘This is nothing but a shell.’
Her true body was the seven roses blooming in the Library of the Battlefront.
So even if they struggled foolishly……
It was the moment Seric Rose gathered her wits.
“……!”
Chill─
A sinister, cold sensation brushed past the nape of her neck.
She could tell instinctively.
Someone had entered the Library of the Battlefront.
The seven roses.
They were aiming for her life……!
...
The Library of the Battlefront.
The King of Scavengers.
Emilio thought.
Did Claudius foresee even this? That a worthless thing like me would crawl all the way in here and discover these roses? Well, that hardly mattered.
Even if
my judgment was wrong,
if it was that person,
“he would generously forgive me.”
Emilio’s sword aimed at the roses without hesitation.
Slice─!
*
I opened my mouth.
“Everything is going according to plan.”
……
No, even if you expected it, Grandfell, I had no idea at all.
More importantly, Senior Bensch William.
You were far more incredible than I had expected, weren’t you?!