The three of us finally arrived in the Asura Kingdom three days later.
It was right before us…or rather, we were right in it. Despite that, the events
of the previous day still weighed us down, leaving glum looks on our faces.
We'd been utterly defeated. We'd been wiped out so abruptly, and I'd
even had my life taken from me. Orsted had resuscitated me on some strange
whim, but if not for that, I wouldn't even be here. That hadn't quite sunk in
yet.
It was true that I'd thought I didn't want to die when he landed his final
blow. You'd expect me to be traumatized, and yet, when I opened my eyes, I
felt refreshed. Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. It was more like, oh, it
was just a dream? It was the same feeling I got when I woke up from a
nightmare. Perhaps because I'd seen the Man-God right as I was dying and so
the whole thing felt surreal.
Put like that, it seemed the Man-God must have guessed what was
going on and forced himself into my consciousness. To be honest, on an
instinctive level, I wanted nothing more than to turn him away, but the Man-
God did care about Ruijerd and his affairs, so maybe the god wasn't actually
that bad.
That aside, ever since I nearly died, Eris has been sticking really close
to me while we were inside the carriage. Before, she'd just stand diagonally
across from me and say, "I'm doing balancing training. Why don't you give it
a try?" But lately, she'd started sitting down. Specifically, right beside me.
Close enough for our thighs to touch. Yesterday there was skin peeking out
from the hem of her pants. It's only human instinct to want to touch
something you can see, so I reached out with my right hand, just a bit, and
stroked it. In return Eris just glared at me, her face bright red.
She didn't punch me. Eris, the one who was always punching people,
had suddenly stopped. Even when I did something that I totally deserved to
be punched for, she didn't. Her face would flush and she'd just glower at me
instead. And she'd just keep doing that, staring me down. Not just that, but she'd keep sitting right next me. In the past, she'd move away when I did
things like that, but now, she remained close.
To be completely honest, it was getting to the point where I wanted to
thrust my hand into her pants next, so I wished she would put some distance
between us. I knew there were some things you could pass off with a laugh
and some things you couldn't. I was holding myself back. But whether she
knew of my internal conflict or not, Eris stayed close to me all the same.
If I left my hands unoccupied, they would wander off in Eris' direction,
so currently I was creating magic with my left hand and using my right to
disturb the mana flowing out of it. This was the magic that Orsted had used. I
believe he'd called it "Disturb Magic." Just before the mana could take shape
as it gathered in my hand, I used different mana to disrupt and disperse it.
It was simple and didn't cost much mana, yet it was an incredible
technique. In retrospect, this method of nullification was similar to the King-
tier barrier I'd gotten trapped in back in the Shirone Kingdom. It was simple
to explain, but actually performing it was quite difficult. Perhaps because I
was using my non-dominant hand to conjure with, for the most part the magic
still took shape, albeit imperfectly. It was extremely difficult to completely
nullify it the way Orsted had done. But it could still be used as a restraint,
even in its imperfection. He'd actually taught me something pretty useful.
"Hey, Rudeus, what have you been doing this whole time?"
"I'm trying to mimic the magic that Orsted used," I said.
Eris stared intently at my hands. In my left, I'd crafted a small,
misshapen stone cannon that fell to the floor with a small thud.
Another failure. I almost felt like I was playing rock-paper-scissors
with my hands. No matter how I tried, I kept letting my left hand win. Hm.
This wasn't going to work if I was being sloppy about it. In other words,
there were some rules involved in disrupting magic. Did that mean that if I
could unleash magic in accordance with those rules, I could actually nullify
his Disturb Magic? The possibilities were growing.
"What kind of magic is it?"
"The kind that nullifies magic," I answered.
"You can do that?"
"I'm practicing it right now."
"Why are you doing something like that?" Eris asked.
"There's been a number of times lately that I've had my magic sealed
and couldn't do anything. I guess you could say I'm researching. At the very
least, if we ever meet Orsted again and it turns into a fight, I want to be able
to get away from him. Make sense?"
Eris went quiet. For a short time, the only sound was of stone cannons
thudding against the floor.
"Hey, Rudeus, how come you're so strong?"
Was I really strong? "I think you're stronger than I am," I told her.
"That's not true at all."
"…"
"…"
The conversation died out. Eris looked like she had something she
wanted to ask, but said nothing. I wondered what was on her mind, but I
hadn't the faintest idea. No, that wasn't entirely true.
"Are you worried about the fact that you were so easily defeated the
other day?"
"…Yeah," said Eris.
It wasn't her fault. According to the Man-God, Orsted was the Dragon
God, the strongest being in this world. He'd even easily dispensed with
Ruijerd. It wasn't a fair fight. He existed on a plane you couldn't reach
through effort alone. In my previous life, I'd put in a lot of effort in some
areas and managed to scale some heights, but I'd never once ranked among
the very top in anything. Even with the games I was engrossed in, where I
thought there was no way I'd lose, there were always people better than I
was.
Orsted had curses restricting him, and despite that, his physical fighting
ability surpassed Ruijerd's. He'd defeated Eris with one hand and rendered
me completely powerless. On top of that, he fought in such a precise way that
he exerted no more effort than necessary to take you from full HP to zero,
which meant he still had energy to spare. I had no idea how strong he would really be if he went all-out.
"He's an unfair opponent to have. It's not your fault."
"But…"
I could understand why Eris was troubled. She'd been done in by one
attack. He'd taken her sword attack straight-on and sent her flying.
"You're still young. As long as you work hard, you'll get stronger," I
assured her.
"You really think so…?"
"Yeah, even Ghislaine and Ruijerd said the same thing, didn't they?"
Eris suddenly lifted her head and looked straight at me. "You know
you almost died, right? Why are you… How can you say that so easily?"
Well, because it felt surreal to me. I wasn't thinking about trying to
fight him in the future, either. The next time I saw his face, I was going to jet
off like a rocket. Or maybe hide in the shadows like a rat. If I couldn't find a
way to run, maybe I'd beg him to spare my life. I prayed that wasn't a sight
that Eris had to see.
"Because I don't want to die next time," I said finally.
"True, you don't want to die, do you…?"
"Please don't worry. I'm going to work hard, so that if we ever wind
up in another dangerous situation like that, I'll be able to pick you up and
make a run for it."
Eris had a complicated look on her face as she leaned her head against
my shoulder. I might have gained more affection points with her if I'd used
the opportunity to reach over and stroke her head, but I was in the middle of
casting Disturb Magic with my right hand.
"Well, no matter what happens, we've got to get a little stronger."
Just a little bit more. There was no way we were going to become the
strongest in this world. The ceiling here was way too high. But I wanted to at
least get strong enough that we could get away if we were attacked by some
weirdo.
As I thought that, I pressed my face into Eris' hair and inhaled her
scent. Once night fell and Eris was asleep, I spoke to Ruijerd. We'd spoken
even less than usual since that incident. Ruijerd wasn't much of a chatterbox
to begin with, but since then he'd become morosely quiet. He probably
blamed himself for what happened because, despite his promise to deliver us
safely home, he hadn't been able to protect us. But at least I was still alive,
regardless of how much luck played a part in that.
"That man, Orsted—he's apparently the Dragon God," I told him.
"Number two of the Seven Great Powers." I opened the conversation with
that remark, starting on the idea that since our opponent was too strong, it
was only natural that we lost.
"So that's who he was. No wonder he was so…"
"Strong, right? After you were knocked out, there was nothing I could
do to oppose him."
"This is the first time since Laplace that I took just one glance at
someone and felt like I couldn't defeat them."
Ruijerd didn't know about the curses restricting Orsted's power. He
didn't know he'd been beaten in physical combat by an opponent that was
holding back. If he knew the truth, it might shock him.
"Even I don't think I can stand against the elite of the Seven Great
Powers. Those people are monsters beyond comprehension. It was bad luck
that we ran into someone like that on the road. It can only be considered good
luck that we managed to survive." The words made it sound like he was
making excuses, but it also felt like there was a tinge of self-reproach in
Ruijerd's tone. Perhaps he acknowledged that there was nothing he could do,
but saw that as a separate matter from him being unable to fulfill his duty.
"Rudeus," he continued. "If we ever meet someone like that again, you
absolutely must not pick a fight with them. Don't even meet their eyes. If you
don't want things to happen again like they did this time, that is."
"Y-yeah. Well, next time I'll probably just avert my eyes and move
on."
He was angry with me. Well, if I hadn't called out to Orsted we
probably would've just passed each other by. I would admit to that mistake. Although he didn't look that dangerous at first. No…after Ruijerd and Eris
reacted the way they did toward him, I should have been more cautious.
"So then, what's bothering you?" I asked.
Ruijerd cast a sharp glare at me. "Who is the 'Man-God'?"
Oh. So that's what this was about.
"At first, it seemed he intended to let us go. Despite the bloodthirsty
aura radiating off of him, there was actually nothing murderous in his eyes.
But the moment he heard the name 'Man-God' he turned all of that animosity
toward you."
I closed my eyes. Should I tell him or not? It was a decision I thought
I'd already made before. But as unsavory as he looked, the Man-God wasn't
that bad a person, and after what had happened to us, I didn't like keeping
things hidden.
"Actually, the Man-God is…"
Despite how long I'd mulled over whether to tell Ruijerd or not, once I
made my decision the words came right out, slipping past my lips. I told him
how, since the time of the Displacement Incident, a mysterious being who
called himself the Man-God had occasionally appeared in my dreams. That
he'd advised me to help Ruijerd; that he'd given me advice at other times as
well. That my suspicious behavior was because I was following that advice.
Then I told him how it seemed that the Man-God and Dragon God were
enemies. I told him that my conversations with the Man-God were vague and
I was probably forgetting a lot of details, but I narrated it all as broadly as I
could.
"The Man-God and the Dragon God…the Seven Gods of old… It's all
so sudden, it's hard to believe," said Ruijerd.
"I bet."
"But there are parts that make sense." After he said that, Ruijerd went
silent. The air was dominated by the crackling sound of the fire as it burned.
The shadows it created danced around, etching themselves upon the face of
one old warrior. Thanks to his genetics, Ruijerd looked quite young, but there
was something in his expression that hinted at a battle-torn history.
Suddenly I remembered that, in my last dream, the Man-God and I had talked a bit about Ruijerd's curse. "By the way, Mister Ruijerd. About the
bad reputation of the Superd tribe…apparently, that's a curse."
"…What?"
"To be precise, it was a curse placed on Laplace, which he transferred
to your spears, which then rubbed off onto the entire Superd tribe. Or so the
Man-God said."
"I see…so it's a curse…" I'd shared that info with him thinking it
would be good news, but Ruijerd just scowled and fell into thought. "I've
never heard of transferring a curse before, but if it's Laplace we're talking
about, it's possible. He was able to do anything."
I didn't know much about curses, so Ruijerd was probably more
knowledgeable about them than me. He seemed to consider it a while longer,
but in the end, he just let out a weak laugh. "If it's a curse, then there's no
way to fix it."
"There isn't?" I asked.
"No. They're called curses because there's no way to lift them. I've
never heard of a curse that affects an entire tribe before, but…if that's what a
god said, then it's probably true."
He let out a laugh of self-derision, as if to say everything he'd done up
until now had been for naught. It might have been just the lighting, but it
seemed like there were tears at the edges of his eyes.
"But…" I started.
"What is it?"
"The Man-God said that unlike ordinary curses, this one is fading as
time passes."
"What?"
"He also said that it still remains in you, Mister Ruijerd, but you've
severely reduced it by cutting your hair."
"Are you serious?!"
He shouted it so suddenly that Eris rolled over in her sleep, mumbling,
"Mm…" This was probably a conversation I should have had with her as
well, but… Oh well, I could do it again when she woke up.
"Yeah. He said that right now what remains is just traces of the curse
and the initial prejudices that it created. The Superd tribe's reputation can
recover slowly but surely, depending on how hard you work from here on
out."
"I see…that makes sense…"
"But that's just what the Man-God said," I added. "Even if you trust
what he says, it might be best to take it with a grain of salt. We should
continue to be as cautious we've been so far."
"I know. Still, hearing that was enough for me." Ruijerd went silent
again. It wasn't just the lighting that was making it appear that way anymore.
He had tears streaming down his face.
"Well then, it's about time I got to bed."
"Yeah."
I pretended not to see his tears. Our Ruijerd was a reliable warrior and
a strong man who didn't cry.
***
A month passed after that. We didn't visit the capital, but just followed
a narrow route farther and farther north. We passed through many small
farming villages, and saw wheat fields spread out before us and watermills
off to the side as we continued on our way.
We didn't gather information. We just headed north with as much
speed as we could muster. We figured we'd catch up on everything once we
reached the refugee camp, but even more importantly, we were almost there
already. We just wanted to reach our destination as quickly as possible.
Finally, we arrived in the Fittoa Region, which was now empty. Even
in places where there had once been traces of civilization, there was now
nothing at all. There were no wheat fields, no fields of Vatirus flowers, no
watermills, no livestock buildings. Grass was all that spread out before us—a
field of it that stretched far and wide. The scene created a sense of emptiness, one that we cradled deep inside us as we arrived at the current (and only) city
in the Fittoa Region: the refugee camp. Our final destination.
It was just before we reached the entrance that Ruijerd stopped the
carriage.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Ruijerd descended from the driver's seat. I looked around, thinking
perhaps some monster had appeared, but saw no enemies. Ruijerd came to
the back of the carriage and said, "This is where I take my leave."
"What?" I raised my voice in shock at his sudden declaration.
Eris' eyes also went wide. "W-wait just a second!"
We nearly toppled out of the carriage as we stood to face Ruijerd. This
was too fast. We'd just arrived at the refugee camp. No, we were just a step
away. "Can't you at least rest a day—no, just walk into the town with us, at
least?"
"Yeah, I mean—" Eris started.
"Unnecessary." Ruijerd's words were curt as he looked at us. "The two
of you are both warriors now. You don't need my protection."
Eris went quiet when he said that. To be honest, I'd actually forgotten
that the only reason Ruijerd had stuck with us this long was to see us back to
our home, and that once we'd arrived there, we'd be saying goodbye. I
thought we'd always be together.
"Mister Ruijerd…" I started, then hesitated. If I tried to stop him,
would he stay with us? In retrospect, I'd caused him enormous trouble. It was
true that he'd brought his share of problems with him, but I'd shown him far
more of my pathetic weaknesses. Despite that, here he was acknowledging
me as a warrior. I couldn't ask any more of him.
"If you hadn't been with us," I said, "I'm sure we wouldn't have made
it this far in three years."
"No, I'm sure you could have done it."
"That's not true. I'm too careless about some things, so we would have
fallen afoul of something along the way, I think."
"As long as you're able to recognize that, you're fine."
There were numerous occasions on which I found myself at my wits'
end, such as when I was taken captive in Shirone. If Ruijerd hadn't been with
us, I would have probably panicked even further.
"…Rudeus, I told you this before." Ruijerd's face was even more calm
than usual. "As a magician, you've already attained a kind of perfection.
Despite all the talent you possess, you still don't let it get to your head. You
should be aware of how much it means to be able to do that at your age."
I felt conflicted about the meaning of those words. Even if he called me
young, my actual age was over forty. The reason I hadn't let things go to my
head was because I still retained those memories. Although forty was
probably still considered young as far as Ruijerd was concerned.
"I…" I paused as I started to speak. I could've rattled off a list of my
weaknesses right there, but that seemed far too pathetic. I wanted to stand
before this man with my head held high. "No, I understand. Mister Ruijerd,
thank you for all you've done for us so far," I said. I started to bow, only for
him to grab me and stop me.
"Rudeus, don't bow to me."
"Why not…?" I asked.
"You may think that I've done a lot for you, but I think you've done a
lot for me. Thanks to you, I see hope that my tribe can regain its honor once
more."
"I didn't do anything. I basically wasn't able to do anything."
I'd tried to turn the name "Dead End" into something positive on the
Demon Continent, but we were never anything more than a group of
adventurers while we were there. In the Millis Continent, that name just
didn't carry the same weight. I'd meant to come up with a new strategy, but it
just kept getting pushed back, and then we'd come to the Central Continent
and I wasn't able to do anything else to help him. I liked to think everything
we'd done had some impact, but I couldn't erase the sizeable history of
oppression in the world, and I couldn't do anything about the prejudices
people held toward the Superd tribe.
"No, you did a lot. You taught me that my straightforward method of
saving children wasn't the only one out there."
"But none of my methods were very effective," I countered.
"Still, I've changed. I remember all of it. The words of that old woman
in Rikarisu City who, thanks to your schemes, said she didn't find the Superd
tribe scary. The looks on those adventurers' faces when they heard the name
'Dead End'—how they weren't frightened, but rather laughed cheerfully. The
closeness I felt to the warriors of the Doldia tribe and how they accepted me
even after I told them I was a Superd. And the Shirone soldiers, and how they
cried as they thanked me when they were reunited with their families."
The first two aside, the rest happened through Ruijerd's own efforts. I
hadn't done anything. "Those were things you did by yourself," I told him.
"No. I couldn't do anything by myself. In the four hundred years since
the war I worked alone, unable to take a single step forward. The one who
showed me that step was you, Rudeus."
"But that really happened because of the Man-God's advice."
"I don't care about some god I've never seen. The person who really
helped me was you. No matter what you think, I feel a debt of gratitude
toward you. That's why I don't want you to lower your head to me. The two
of us are equals. If you want to thank me, look me in the eyes," Ruijerd said
as he stretched an arm out toward me.
I looked him in the eyes as I reached out and gripped his hand in mine.
"I'll say it again. Thank you, Rudeus, for all you did for me."
"And the same to you. Thank you for everything you did for us."
When I squeezed his hand, I felt the strength coming from him. The
corners of my eyes started to sting. Ruijerd had accepted someone like me—
someone who was pathetic, who'd failed the entire way.
After a few moments, he pulled his hand away, and rested it on top of
Eris' head. "Eris," he said.
"…What?"
"Can I treat you as a child this one last time?"
"Fine, whatever," she answered curtly.
There was a faint smile on Ruijerd's face as he stroked her head. "Eris,
you have talent. Enough to become far, far stronger than me."
"Liar. After all, I lost to…" Her mouth curled downward into a pout.
Ruijerd chuckled and said the same words he'd always used when they
practiced. "You survived an attack in battle from a man who bears the name
of a god. You…" Understand what that means, right?
She glared at him sharply. Then at last her eyes widened with
realization. "…I understand."
"Good girl." Ruijerd patted her on the head before dropping his hand.
Eris kept the tight frown on her face and balled her hands into fists. It
looked like she was trying her best to hold in her tears. I turned my gaze
away from her and asked Ruijerd, "What are you going to do after this?"
"I don't know. For now, I intend to look for any remnants of the
Superd tribe on the Central Continent. Restoring honor to my tribe is just a
dream within a dream if I'm all by myself."
"All right then. Good luck. If I have any free time, I'll see if I can do
something to help out, too."
"…Heh. And if I have any free time, I'll see about looking for your
mother," Ruijerd said as he turned away. He didn't need to prepare for his
journey. He could make his way even if he set out with just the clothes on his
back.
Yet he suddenly stopped and turned back. "That reminds me, I need to
return this." Ruijerd removed the pendant that was hanging from around his
neck. It was the Migurd tribe pendant I'd received from Roxy. It was the only
item that tied Roxy and me together…at least, it had been.
"Please keep that with you," I told him.
"Are you sure? Isn't it important to you?"
"That's exactly why I want you to keep it."
When I said that, he nodded. It seemed he was willing to take it. "All
right then, Rudeus, Eris…let's meet again," Ruijerd said as he left the two of
us.
We'd spent so much time talking about things when he first said he'd
come with us in the beginning, and yet now, as he was leaving, everything
seemed to be happening in an instant. There was so much I wanted to say to him. So many things had happened, from the time we met on the Demon
Continent until we reached the Asura Kingdom. So many feelings that words
couldn't even describe. Like not wanting to say goodbye to our companion.
"Let's meet again."
All those feelings were wrapped up in those few words as his silhouette
receded into the distance. That's right—we just have to meet again, I told
myself. We surely would. As long as we were still alive, we'd definitely meet
again.
Eris and I watched Ruijerd go, in silence and with gratitude for
everything he'd done for us up until now, until he faded away completely.
That was how our journey reached its conclusion.