Chapter 360: Epilogue (3) Part 2

#10. Cabin in Winter

Whooooooosh—

Ria was climbing the ridgeline of a snowy winter mountain peak, where a harsh, frigid cold was raging. As an adventurer who had received a request from the Empress, and as a player seeking an answer to her own questions, she wandered in search of the villain of the age.

“... There it is,” Ria muttered.

And at last, having reached the highest and roughest peak of the mountains in Freyden, Ria looked down and sighed with relief, grateful that the man had not fled any farther.

“Where?!”

Then, someone in heavy furs rushed toward Ria, their eyes fixed on her line of sight, and let out a shout.

"Where! Where are you talking about?!"

With such an impatient nature, she was the current Head of the Family of Yukline, and publicly, she was Yeriel—a national hero of the Empire who saw through Deculein’s evil and exposed him.

"I can't see properly!"

Yeriel, who was always calm and collected—and was sometimes even said to have no emotion—was now in a state of excitement. It was a sight that could make anyone on the continent fall over in shock, but she cared nothing for such propriety.

“Where?! I mean, where?!” Yeriel continued.

"Miss Ria, I can't see anything either~!"

Beside Yeriel stood Ellie, the hero of the Scarletborn and a savior who had been a tremendous help in the search for Deculein.

Had it not been for her talent, it would have taken an eternity to climb this malicious mountain, which is also a renowned magical space,

Ria thought.

“It's over there. The cabin's chimney is sticking out a little bit,” Ria said, pointing at the cabin.

The cabin was buried under the snow at the foot of the mountain peak and was barely visible, but something that looked like a chimney was, in any case, poking up from it.

“

Oh! Oh!

Yes, there it is—I can see it, I can see it!” Yeriel exclaimed, her wide eyes locked on the spot as she bit her nails, a rush of excitement making her breathe hard. “Let’s go, then! What are you waiting for?!”

A hand grabbed Yeriel, who was thrashing and about to rush out, a hand that held her in place so she couldn't move a single step.

“... What? Why? Let go of me,” Yeriel said, glaring at Ria, the owner of the hand that had grabbed her.

“Lord Yeriel, would you mind... waiting for just a little while longer?” Ria said, shaking her head at Yeriel’s chilling glare.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Yeriel blinked blankly for a moment, unable to understand Ria’s words or what was wrong with this adventurer.

What kind of nonsense is this—being told to wait here by some mere adventurer who is neither Deculein’s family nor anything else?

Yeriel thought.

“... What for?” Yeriel asked, her curiosity completely innocent.

Ria was so flabbergasted that she couldn’t even be angry, left at a loss for words and, in her shock, strangely curious about the reason for her confusion.

"Well..." Ria replied, scratching the back of her neck with an apologetic look. "I just have something I'd like to say to him, just the two of us."

"What nonsense.

Hah

, who do you think you are? I want to be alone with him, too—"

Then, Yeriel’s anger flared up a moment too late.

The moment Yeriel’s eyes, nose, and mouth sharpened like spikes, as she was about to snap at Ria...

"Miss Yeriel?" Ellie interrupted, approaching with a gentle smile and linking arms with Yeriel. "Just let her go. It won't take long, will it, Miss Ria? Right?"

Ellie held Yeriel in a tight grip and gestured to Ria with her eyes.

“Yes. It won’t even take five—no, ten—minutes. I’ll come out as soon as I’m finished,” Ria replied, nodding quickly.

“Wait—“

“Go ahead and do it. After all, we practically found the Professor because of Miss Ria, right~?” Ellie said.

"... I mean, what's wrong with both of you?" Yeriel said, looking back and forth between Ellie and Ria.

To Yeriel, Deculein’s sister, the entire situation was absurd and unfair, yet these two bitches were strangely serious, their faces making it clear they wouldn’t listen to her tantrums, and in this desolate mountain with no human in sight, she knew she couldn’t beat them no matter how much she thought about it.

“... Hurry, and finish as soon as possible,” Yeriel continued, grinding her teeth.

“Yes, thank you. Thank you, Lord Yeriel,” Ria replied with a bow.

"That’s enough, hurry. You have five minutes, no, three. Finish in three minutes. If Deculein isn't there, you will be responsible."

“Okay!”

"Enough talking, just go!"

Immediately, Ria sprinted, leaping from the mountain ridge and advancing as if gliding at a superhuman speed until she reached the cabin door.

“

Hoo...

”

Because the moment was far more nerve-wracking than she had expected, Ria took a deep breath, glanced back at Yeriel who was glaring at her, and began to count the meager three minutes she had been given.

Creeeeeak—

Ria opened the wooden door of the cabin.

Crackle— Crackle—

The first thing she felt was the cozy warmth of a bonfire.

Crackle— Crackle—

The sound of flames crackling was heard.

Then...

“You are here.”

At the sound of the voice of a noble who was as dignified and imposing as ever, Ria placed a hand on her pounding heart and turned to look in the direction.

“Deculein...” Ria muttered.

Deculein was sitting in a rocking chair near the bonfire, staring at her with his usual relaxed expression, as if he had known she would come.

"You've found me at last," Deculein said with a smile.

His appearance was no different from the Deculein of the past, yet Ria could tell, for she clearly felt that something about him was different... that his life was now nearing its end.

“You are on your way to dying,” Ria said, her bluntness bordering on rudeness.

“What is the use of saying what everyone already knows?” Deculein replied, merely raising an eyebrow.

"I've read the diary."

The diary was the notebook that Deculein had given to Ria before the destruction of the continent.

“... Is that so?” Deculein replied, with an air of indifference.

“I read it over and over again,” Ria said, taking out the diary from inside her robes, an object so worn from being read that it was stained with her fingerprints. “But there wasn’t anything of note.”

The contents of the diary were nothing special—only fabricated evidence Deculein had made himself to prove his own misdeeds, and that was all it really was.

There was no other meaning in it, nothing at all. I was made to feel like a fool for worrying so much about what was inside of it. But there was nothing there...

"But for some reason, it feels like this is something that happened a long time ago."

However, it was late, but Ria had finally realized that it was a hint.

"Someone gave me a letter like this once before."

It was a long time ago—before we were dating, even before we knew how we felt about each other. He gave me a letter, not with a real message, but with his thoughts and feelings from that day. No, it was less a letter than a diary,

Ria thought.

“Back then, I used to worry about the same thing—what was the hidden meaning in this letter? I would stare at it for hours every day.”

But in the end, there was no hidden meaning in that letter—of course.

“But in the end, the letter had no meaning, because he only sent it to mess with me.”

It was a joke—nothing but his mischievous prank.

“

Heh

,” Deculein murmured, a mischievous, boyish laugh slipping out with his smile.

Ria’s eyes sharpened into a glare.

“Indeed, there was no special hidden meaning in that diary. However, it could have been used as evidence to prove my crime.”

"... Do you not regret it?" Ria asked.

"About what?” Deculein inquired, his face alight with laughter.

"Dying here like this."

“... I’m unsure whether I merely have no regret, or if I was designed to be without it,” Deculein said, smiling at Ria as if she were charming.

Ria was confused as to whose voice she was hearing, as Deculein’s voice had become suddenly gentle.

Is he Kim Woo-Jin, or Deculein, right now?

Ria thought.

“However, this death does not fear me.”

Ria paused for a moment.

"I've got a ticket," Ria said.

I don't have enough time to wait for a better moment. The promised three minutes will be over soon, and I won't be able to be with him alone anymore.

“... A ticket?” Deculein repeated.

In response to Deculein’s question, Ria pulled a sheet of paper from her inner pocket, the final reward for the main quest—smaller than her palm, yet to her it was the ticket she had desperately longed for, the one that would send her back to the real world.

“You can survive it with this,” Ria said.

With today’s encounter, Ria was convinced that the man looking at her right now was undoubtedly Kim Woo-Jin.

"If you go back, then—”

“Ah-Ra.”

However, Deculein calmly cut Ria’s words short.

"That is for you," Deculein continued.

Deculein stopped Ria mid-sentence, telling her it was for her.

“... Why?”

“

Hmm

, would you come over here for a moment? I find that my body won't move,” Deculein said with a smile, gesturing to Ria even as he felt his heartbeat slowly coming to a stop.

Ria approached Deculein, and as she drew near, he whispered to her.

“Because I loved you.”

The words were a simple, unadorned declaration that he had loved her, and for some reason, they brought her a sense of sadness.

“Because there would be no meaning in me being there by myself,” Deculein continued.

Is this supposed to bring me comfort? Probably—but a comfort that offers none at all,

Ria thought.

“... Hey,” Ria said, her voice trembling as she looked at this twisted love of hers and placed a hand on his cheek, feeling a sense of bitterness and sympathy all at once. “You were my world.”

“No,” Deculein replied, shaking his head.

Ria’s eyes narrowed into a glare once again, yet a corner of her heart was tinged with warmth.

He’s really... really trying to ruin the mood right up to the end...

“Your world is everything you see, everything you hear, everything you feel, and everything you meet,” Deculein continued, tilting his face to rest his forehead against hers. “It’s not some mere thing like me—you know that.”

The warmth held within Deculein’s voice spread throughout Ria's body.

Crackle, crackle.

It settled in Ria’s heart and mind and blazed up like a bonfire.

“And...”

At that moment, exactly one hundred and eighty seconds were counted inside Yoo Ah-Ra’s head.

“Take care,” Deculein concluded.

Creeeak—

The moment the promised three minutes were over, the women who appeared from the opening door were Yeriel and Ellie.

“... Brother!” Yeriel shouted.

The moment Yeriel saw Deculein, she ran to him, buried herself in his rocking chair, and sobbed, pouring all her emotions into the most fundamental of cries, without a single word or expression.

Watching Yeriel's reaction, Ria stepped back for a moment.

“... Miss Sylvia is on her way here as well,” Ellie said, giving Ria a slight smile and a gentle press on the shoulder.

Without a word, Ria nodded.

I probably look completely blank and dumb right now, don’t I? My eyelids are swollen from crying, my lips chapped from biting, and my hair a total mess—I wonder if I look like the Yoo Ah-Ra of the past,

Ria thought.

“You have done well, Adventurer Ria, and it is appreciated,” Ellie continued.

However, to Ria, the words she had done well somehow sounded like game over, because whether it was victory or defeat, the game was finished.

“... Yes.”

With a somewhat confused yet also somewhat relieved expression, Ria looked at Deculein and spoke.

"You, too, have done well," Ria concluded.

#11. Time

The time of the continent flowed on, and no matter who died or who lived, human life always passed by—steadily, unchanging, always in the same way, for everything on this continent was like that.

Even if the most important human in the world existed, and even if he were to die, time would ultimately make him forgotten, and just as the giant who once ruled the continent had devolved into a legend, the destruction of the continent brought on by the last follower had all too easily become something that never happened.

Epherene was, of course, aware of that truth, for she was now the supreme archmage of the continent—a wise figure to whom any mage would turn for guidance...

Fwish—

The fishing line curved into the ocean from the shore, the bait submerged under the water, and the fishing bobber floated on its surface.

In that state, Epherene waited, not knowing whether one, two, or three years had passed since his death, or how many years it had been, as she merely fished for time.

Of course, there was no fun to be had, and Epherene had tried to get into it, in fishing, in writing, in literature, and in everything else on this continent that could be considered a hobby.

But it was anything but easy—it was far too difficult.

"Professor," Epherene muttered, her eyes on the ocean, as if talking to herself. "Professor, I think I understand now why you left."

They say that humans are human because they live together, but Epherene could find no reason to live with anyone, for the mages only looked up to her, the nobles were obsessed with formalities and decoration, and the Floating Island cared only for her research, so that everything on this continent felt meaningless to her.

"Is a great archmage spending her time doing nothing more than fishing?"

At that moment, the magnificent resonance of a dignified voice seeped into Epherene’s ears, affirming her status as the greatest on the continent, yet she remained unconcerned.

"Yes, I am fishing, nothing more," Epherene replied.

The Epherene of the past, who had merely bowed before the Empress Sophien, was no more.

"They say you haven't been to the Floating Island for years. Or was it 5 years?" Sophien said.

"... Is it 5 years? Has it really been 5 years?"

Unaware that five years had passed, Epherene found the change to be meaningless—no, she felt that she herself was strange.

“Indeed, it has been exactly 5 years since I watched Deculein's final moments from a distance. Today marks the 5th anniversary of that day.”

"

Oh...

I see," Epherene said, her head nodding without thought.

If 5 years have passed, then it must be 5 years,

Epherene thought.

“

Heh

,” Sophien murmured with a chuckle, and settled into the chair beside Epherene. “I, too, shall do some fishing.”

The two most noble people on the continent sat on small, cramped fishing chairs, a sight both precarious and strange, with no spectator present to pass the story on.

“Being too obsessed with one person isn’t an ideal state, as you already know,” Sophien continued.

Epherene laughed at Sophien’s words, saying it was just one person.

But that one person is more precious to me than everyone on this continent combined,

Epherene thought.

“I know. I think it’s a wonderful and strange thing, that everything—time, space, and people—turns out to be relative,” Epherene replied.

"And so, do you wish to see him?"

Epherene turned to Sophien without a word.

“I asked you whether you wished to see him,” Sophien continued with a chuckle.

"... Yes, I do want to see him."

Epherene clicked her tongue as she replied, finding the conversation useless and worthless, and though the fact that she remained composed even while facing the Empress made her feel proud, it also left her bored.

“Then I, myself, know the way,” Sophien said.

At that moment, at the same time as those words were said, the Empress’s fishing line curved into the surface of the water.

Splash—!

When the fishing rod splashed and ripples echoed out, Sophien looked toward the distant sea with a deep smile.

“There is a way? You're not just messing with me, are you?” Epherene asked.

“However, for that way, both you and I must make a sacrifice,” Sophien replied, shaking her head.

“Both you and I must make a sacrifice.“

Even for Epherene, who was an archmage, the meaning of Sophien's words was unclear.

"Therefore, I find that I must ask you a question."

However, there was no need for long deliberation, since Sophien herself didn’t like riddles and had no intention of wasting time.

"Would you be able to sacrifice yourself for the sake of Deculein?"

Therefore, Sophien got to the main point.

“Is that... something you even need to ask me?” Epherene replied with a smile regarding Sophien’s question about her sacrifice.

Splaaaaash—

At that moment, a fish that had taken the bait came into view.

“He told me to live my own life..."

They didn't know which of them the fish was on, but both of them gripped their fishing rods.

"But I think I understand now. For me, if I could see him again—even for a moment..."

They then both raised their fishing rods at the same time.

"I would be happy to die,” Epheren concluded.

Whrrrrr—!

The fish on the surface leaped out of the water, and a spray of water scattered in its wake.

At that moment, the water droplets scattered by the glaring sunlight revealed a new spectrum of colors, and a beautiful arc of a seven-colored rainbow shone brilliantly, rising between Epherene and Sophien as they looked at each other.