If one were to draw a straight line eastward from the heart of the capital, Imenia, and follow it all the way out, at the end one would find an island.
It was a fairly large island, but not one where people could live.
Because it was a volcanic region.
A dangerous island where volcanic activity continued even now without rest.
The outer regions were somehow tolerable, but the closer one went toward the center, the more the heat rose to a level no human could withstand.
A place like that was not quite one of the continent’s forbidden lands, but it was certainly an island no one had any reason to visit.
And yet there was one person heading toward the center of that island.
“…It’s hot.”
The one crossing the volcanic region alone, without a single companion.
It was Claire.
Her red hair was soaked with sweat and clung to her forehead and cheeks, and even though she had dressed as lightly as possible, it was no use.
Among the clothes Hio had gifted her before, there had been one that always provided the optimal temperature, but even that did not work here.
No, in the first place, Claire was someone who had never felt heat since awakening her skill.
That was her trait, and that was her constitution.
And yet, despite that, she could feel the terrible heat.
It was a heat she had not felt in a very long time.
“I have to climb all the way up there.”
In Claire’s gaze, fixed straight ahead, a towering volcano came into view.
It was not particularly high, but the heat was already this intense before she had even begun to climb.
She could not even guess what it would be like once she began ascending in earnest.
Even so, she had to go.
“The power of Ignerion.”
The true name of the ancient flame god was Ignerion.
How did Claire know this?
It was the result of a certain amount of coincidence and effort combined.
It had begun with an artifact called the Bracelet of the Flame Guardian.
At first, it was an artifact Hio had obtained in Ataolf’s Gray Castle, but as his realm rose, he gave it to Claire as a gift.
And when Claire, who always wore it, discovered a strange phenomenon, that was what had led her all the way here.
Hio had helped as well.
And, well, though she did not like it, Airaitz had definitely been helpful in getting this far too.
“…I don’t like her.”
Now that the Abyss was gone.
Whether she had no intention of ever leaving his side or not, Claire hated the sight of her clinging tightly to Hio whenever they met, but that would not last much longer now.
Because Claire would overcome the trial, claim the arrangement left behind by the flame god Ignerion, and absolutely enter Veltesia’s divine space.
So now it was Claire’s turn.
The summit of that volcano.
Ignerion’s temple, which would be somewhere within.
“No matter what!”
Having steeled her resolve with all her might, Claire continued walking toward the volcano.
She would overcome the trial and become the third god on a continent from which the gods had vanished.
That was fine too, but the thing Claire cared about had only ever been one thing from the start.
Simply being in the same place, seeing the same things, and being together.
That had always been her only goal.
* * *
In front of the mirror, he checked his attire once more and needlessly swept back his hair.
Even though he was already so impeccably dressed that there was nothing more to be said.
“Mm. Excellent.”
The man looking into the mirror grinned.
His complexion was a little pale, but with his high nose and deep-set eyes, his face was quite handsome.
With his neat attire added on top of that, he was extremely satisfied.
“Hehehe. Good, very good.”
As the man continued looking into the mirror like that—
“Could you stop already and go?”
A brusque voice came from behind him.
“What’s so handsome about you that you’ve been staring in the mirror for hours?”
“…It has only been a few minutes.”
“It’s been exactly one hour and twenty minutes.”
“Ahem. Let us be off.”
The man hurriedly left the room, and Hio followed after him with a sullen expression.
“The weather is fine.”
The sky was thick with dark clouds.
“And the air is refreshing.”
The rain that had been falling one drop at a time soon turned into large drops and began pattering down.
Even so, it did not touch the man’s perfectly arranged hair or clothes.
Because an invisible barrier was protecting the two of them overhead.
“This place has gotten pretty quiet now too.”
The place Hio and the man arrived at was a park.
There was one large statue in the center, with several more statues placed around it.
Beneath them lay countless flowers.
It was the Heroes’ Memorial Park.
“They made it awfully big.”
Just as the man said, the statue in the center of the park was large enough to be seen easily from far away.
It was a statue standing with the tip of its sword to the ground, both hands resting upon it.
Beside it, a golden lion adorned in gold was roaring.
“I wonder if Vitalianus would have liked it if he saw it.”
“I don’t know much about my Sword Saint, but I feel like he simply wouldn’t have cared.”
“Haha. I suppose he wouldn’t have.”
It was raining now, but when the weather was good, many people, men and women, young and old alike, would visit the memorial park.
Even though several years had already passed.
“It means he was a great man, respected that much.”
At the man’s words, Hio nodded, then looked at the statues around them.
Beside it was an ordinary statue that was not posed in any special way, and beneath it too lay quite a number of flowers.
It was another hero who had fallen in the war against the Abyss.
Antiphus Praman.
“To think a former possessor would have a statue erected in a memorial park.”
“Well, most residents don’t know what possessors are.”
“Even so, when I heard about his end from you, I could not help but be surprised. If it had not been for Antiphus…”
“There would have been a catastrophe.”
When everyone thought Kreutzwald had died, he had tenaciously survived and was plotting for later.
In preparation for the moment his own life might be in danger, he had planted a seed inside Antiphus’s body.
When Hio returned to the passage and saw Antiphus’s corpse with a sword stabbed into his own heart, how shocked he had been.
Because he had felt the presence of the Abyss within it as well.
As expected, his thoughts had not been wrong.
Antiphus had been responsible to the very end, and with his own life, he had saved the world.
He was a hero no one could refute.
“When you look at it that way, you really never know how worldly affairs will turn out.”
“…True.”
The man’s face, as he looked around with a faint smile, seemed truly happy.
A park with not a single passerby. The gloomy weather and even the rising damp seemed enjoyable to him, as if he were fully savoring it all.
Hio looked straight at that man and said,
“Are you really sure?”
Even with the beginning and end omitted, the man understood perfectly and nodded.
“Of course.”
“You won’t be able to enjoy eternal life.”
“You seem to be under some misconception now that you’ve become a god. Humans are not meant to enjoy eternal life in the first place.”
“Right, that’s true.”
“That’s true? Hah, look how arrogant you’ve become.”
“It’s only natural.”
“The end times are upon us, the end times.”
After saying that much, the two looked at each other for a moment, then burst into laughter at the same time without either going first.
“Where are you planning to go?”
“For the time being, I think I will simply wander here and there.”
“Sounds good.”
Hio held out his hand.
The man took Hio’s hand in his.
“Take care of yourself.”
“Yeah. I’ll visit now and then.”
“Tsk. What a dreadful thing to say. Now I too must meet a lovely young lady, marry her, and all that—not you.”
“So you’re not going to see me anymore?”
“Well, come visit me once before I grow old and die.”
“How would I know when you’ll die?”
“I do not know. It is your new authority, is it not? You would know better than I.”
Letting go of the hand he had clasped, the man turned around.
“By then, I will have seen my children—no, perhaps even my grandchildren. I will introduce you, so come by.”
The man’s back as he walked away seemed to hold no lingering attachment at all.
He truly seemed to have not a shred of regret, and rather looked utterly excited for what was to come.
At that, Hio almost felt a little hurt, but he knew the man was doing it on purpose.
So he let out a small laugh toward the departing man and waved.
“Goodbye.”
How could he ever repay all the grace he had received from that man?
He had spent years engrossed in the study of authority and fulfilled his wish, but even that was not enough compared to the countless favors he had received.
“Thank you for everything.”
He had been grateful, and it had been fun.
More than words could express.
Because he had been a fine teacher, a friend, and a reliable companion.
“Furnel Penchev.”
Furnel waved without looking back.
And with a bright smile, he left like that.
* * *
Deep in the mountains, steeped in a serene atmosphere.
In this place, where the only thing nearby was a rural village, there was a small grave.
The area around the grave was kept fairly tidy, because whenever Hio felt troubled, he would come here, grumble, and then leave.
Today was no different.
“Really, how disappointing. Don’t you think so? After all the time we spent together, he just up and left like that.”
Naturally, no answer came back.
Even so, Hio did not stop grumbling as he pulled out the weeds that had grown.
“And it wasn’t as if we were just ordinarily together, either. We literally became one body and spent years together, and now he tells me to come visit only when he’s about to grow old and die…”
Hio’s hands, which had been moving busily, stopped for a moment, and when they soon began moving again, unlike his earlier words, there was a faint smile on his lips.
“Well, in his own way, I suppose it was because he felt sad. I know, actually. Asking him to keep staying with me as Furnel would be greed.”
Furnel had wanted to die as a human rather than live eternally with Hio.
He said he had lived long enough and wanted to spend the end like a human, or something like that.
“The people I’ve grown attached to are leaving one by one.”
Those who had helped Hio.
Those many people who had allowed Hio to keep moving forward had each gone down their own paths, or to places where he could never see them again.
“I suppose that’s just how life is?”
Because there were meetings, there were also partings.
With that thought, Hio plopped down on his rear in front of the grave.
The wind blew coolly, and the sound of grass insects rang softly.
His somewhat unsettled heart began to clear pleasantly.
How long had he been there like that?
Suddenly, the surrounding sky was dyed pink.
“As expected, you were here.”
Airaitz dropped down lightly.
“How did you know?”
“Today was the day Furnel was supposed to leave. I figured you’d be feeling gloomy.”
“Oh, I thought you looked at Furnel like he was some passing ghost… but you remembered?”
“Mm…”
Airaitz, wearing an ambiguous smile, settled down beside Hio.
“More importantly, everything is ready. Do you want to go now?”
“By ready, you mean Pieria?”
“Yeah.”
Pieria, where Airaitz’s Church of Love had become the state religion.
She had said she would invite him to Pieria someday, and it seemed the preparations were finally complete.
“What on earth did you prepare, and how, for it to take years?”
“Hehe. Well, since it’s a honey—no, a trip with just the two of us, Hio and me. I prepared properly. Food, lodging, and so on. After all, the sleeping arrangements will be the most important. Yes.”
After the war ended, Airaitz’s personality had changed quite a bit too.
One might say she had become a little milder.
Her excessive obsession with love had lessened, and she had gained a fair amount of composure.
“All right. Let’s go see it. I’m curious how Pieria has changed under your influence.”
“You can look forward to it. It’s a very passionate place… overflowing with love.”
“…Huh? The land of snow and ice is?”
“It’s just an expression. Hehehe.”
As he rose and began walking after Airaitz, a thought suddenly came to him.
“Ah, come to think of it, it should be about time for Claire’s results too.”
“…Claire?”
“You know, she went to take Ignerion’s trial. If she succeeds, she’ll obtain the flame god’s authority and divine status.”
“Hio, do you think that bitch… no, she’ll succeed?”
“She’ll succeed. Without question.”
It was a conviction close to foresight.
That was only natural, because Hio knew what Claire’s trait was.
“Hmmm… Is that so. How irritating.”
“Mm? What did you say?”
“Nothing. Hehe.”
Airaitz’s expression, which had turned cold for an instant, changed as if nothing had happened into a loose, smiling face.
“Anyway, until that Claire or whatever comes, you’re going to Pieria with me.”
“Uh… Sylvia did say we should meet sometime soon…”
“…”
“…All right. Time is the one thing I have plenty of anyway.”
“Hehehe. Good.”
Behind the two as they walked together, feeling the cool wind and chatting softly, the lone grave still remained.
“Ah, and I heard Imenia Academy officially changed its name too.”
“To what?”
“Imenia School of Magic.”
A single pure white butterfly, which no one knew when had appeared, watched the two as they vanished into the distance, then began to flutter its wings.
Rising from atop the grave, up into the high sky.
As if only now it was all right to go.
As if now, it no longer needed to watch over them.
[End]