141 – Soldier (7)
“…What?”
Lillia looked down at the piece of paper at her feet with a sullen attitude. Common cheap stationery with a slightly yellowish color. Neighbors were not useful.
She didn’t particularly want to see it. Because it’s a letter I don’t know who sent it? It wasn’t. She didn’t have reason to be suspicious.
Just. She just didn’t want to do anything. Like a flower in that meadow, I just wanted to be still. Even if the whole body gets sick and rots.
But is it because the night breeze was pleasant? Could it be because the petals bathed in moonlight were beautiful?
“Annoying…”
She finally grumbled and picked up her stationery. She seems to have increased her capriciousness after hanging out with Iba. Lilia smiled. My appearance was very funny.
What is it that has no desire to live on a subject that has barely shaken off a single curiosity? The seed is dead, but the master is truly selfish…
She looked around her stationery, frowning.
Befitting a clunky stationery, there were no special decorations and the contents were light. Rather than a letter, it felt more like feathers from birds or dandelion seeds blown by the wind.
Who sent it? She opened the letter with such doubts.
It was a letter from an unknown sender, and someone’s evil blood magic might be hovering inside. But now it was too much trouble to pick up the wand and check the contents for danger.
Fortunately, there were no traps like blood magic. Instead, it was written in thick and thick blood, as if a person’s resentment or lingering feelings were branded. It was crooked, crude, and clunky.
A simple sentence in a familiar handwriting.
“…What is it?”
As she read the contents of her letter, Lilia’s hands trembled. Her paper wrinkled as if she had lightly stepped on her fallen leaves.
“What… Really…”
Dude. Pop. Tears fell like rain in the letter. The sound of the trembling paper was somewhat similar to the sound of heavy rain. A puddle-like scenery that smeared as it met hardened blood and reflected the sunlight began to decorate the letters.
[I am still alive.]
It rained with no sign of stopping on the letters written like that. The sorrow washed away the blood.
It was the rain that would make the sunlight shine, and soon it would make the rainbow bloom.
Lillia jumped up and ran away as if possessed.
**
The scenery inside the World Tree was not that unfamiliar. This was no proof that I was nature-friendly. Among the spaces I know, there was a space similar to this one.
“…A dream?”
Yes, my dream. The dream that I couldn’t dream a few times after coming here, but every time I had it, I couldn’t dream it properly. It resembled that empty landscape, so I muttered involuntarily.
“Unfortunately, it’s not a dream…”
The word that I thought would not come back came with a message.
Following the horse, I followed the road and found an old man sitting there. She was a grumpy old man. He was a sick and old man who resembled a bonsai on the verge of death. Still, strangely, I couldn’t feel any sympathy. It wasn’t that I was close to a beast, not a human, but it was clear that everyone would be like that.
He was old, yet mysterious.
“Who are you?”
“Who are you?”
A philosophical question about how to define me. Even I, myself, couldn’t say exactly what I was, but I cut out one of the pieces that made up me and laid it in front of him.
“He’s someone who has abandoned loved ones because of responsibilities.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“That’s what they call it.”
The old man looked at me and asked again.
“Why did that idiot come to this noble place?”
“To fulfill my responsibilities.”
“Was it important enough to leave loved ones behind?”
I laughed.
“Otherwise, I might go through everything, but it’s important, then.”
The old man nodded his head.
“Now that I’ve introduced myself, it’s your turn. Nusch?”
“What do I look like?”
The identity of the old man. I had something in mind beforehand. It was a cliché idea.
“The World Tree…”
“I think I would be very disappointed if I thought of an obvious answer like the personality of the world tree…”
She closed her mouth.
‘I’ll be disappointed when I saw it…’
I mumbled inwardly for no reason and glared at the old man.
“So what?”
The old man quietly tinkered with his beard.
“Have you left your brain empty by playing too fast? Think for yourself.”
It’s annoying. I couldn’t kick the old man, so I stayed still. However, I was too angry to stay still, so I sat down to make eye contact with the old man. The lifeless gaze of the cross-legged old man stung me.
“Did you f*cking old man… Know me?”
Not equal. The opponent knows me, but I don’t know the opponent. An imbalance of information always leads to discrimination. Inadvertently, with an inferiority complex, I glared at my opponent.
Still, he did not feel any vitality or happiness in life.
“If you guess it right, I’ll tell you a very good story.”
I’m not curious at all. Still, there is a coming, so I’ll have to adjust it.
I put my chin on my chin and thought for a while. This place would be great for other people’s meditation, but not for me. There is no sound of blades of grass rustling in the wind, no tickling shadows that change with the time of day, and no cries of grass insects that can be heard from time to time. Nothing changes.
Around the time the path of thought shifted to expressing dissatisfaction in an empty space.
Suddenly, I remembered a letter.
“Resonance…?”
The teacher of a prophet suffering from a genius disease who was said to be a man, which is rare in a world where all the main characters are women. The man who sent me a letter.
“I don’t know what that is, but stupid, if that’s your definition of me, then that’s right.”
“Wow…”
With admiration, a false laugh rose up.
“Oh tsk… It took me so long just to get one of these right.”
The old man clicked his tongue and scolded me, but he didn’t really care. He was insulting, but he’s a weak old man, so I can’t help it if I get senile sometimes.
“So, old man, why are you here?”
“Look… I’ll talk about that later, and I’ll tell you something good for you first.”
The old man loosened his cross-legged seat and sat down in a comfortable position. His gaze flashed like a bobber on a fishing line. It caught me, and on the contrary, I straightened my posture.
Are you satisfied with the attitude of listening? The old man, the teacher of the most prophet, started talking in earnest with a chuckle.
“Why did you come to this world? I’ll tell you that story.”
“…That sounds good to me, right?”
No matter how you think about it, it’s an interesting story, but I didn’t have a hunch that it would be a good story.
**
Lilia ran for a while. Her legs trembled as she got a big load after a long time, but she ran with enough force that she forgot even that. Her destination was the cathedral of Ilios. Perhaps because it was dawn, there were few people who came every day to see the face of the candidate for the hero.
Without paying attention to anyone, Lillia stormed through the cathedral’s gates and entered them.
In her letter, not at her right time, a person’s figure greeted her.
“…I knew you would come.”
“Hey, hey… Hey…”
Lilia made her way towards her with her legs staggering. Now that she realized the state of her own stamina, her legs were wobbly.
“You saw this… Aww!”
I lost my balance on my weak leg and fell spectacularly. Stella, who was in front of her, was able to stop it enough, but instead of stopping it, she only smiled.
“Why did you run? Where did you leave the broom?”
“What? A broom? Ah. That’s right. Yes… There was that…”
Why did you run like this? Lillia, suddenly embarrassed, stood up and grabbed her chair, covering her face. The legs were still not functioning properly.
“It could be a bit… Urgent…”
I was so happy that I couldn’t think of her rational thoughts. The news that her letter brought was terribly lovely, and I couldn’t stand it because I was looking forward to sharing this news.
“Yes. It’s worth it.”
Stella acknowledged with a nod of his head. Tears welled up in her eyes again. But she didn’t want to see her crying in front of Lilia, so she held back.
I was lonely. Her heart was more empty than she could have imagined.
‘I wonder if Iba felt like this when I lost myself.’
She was madly regretful that she had left him before. I regretted giving him this much pain and sorrow. But if either of them had to leave first, Stella would choose her without hesitation.
I know after experiencing it. She knows because she gets to know him. Life without him would be so empty and terrible.
The starless night lasted every day. It was a winter without sunlight, a flower garden full of rotting flowers, and a dried-up lake. It didn’t make any sense. It was a full world, but it was empty. Nothing about her meant anything to her.
But, holding on to hope again like this. Seeing even insubstantial possibilities made me feel like my perspective had changed again.
“…Will you find it?”
“You’re talking obvious.”
How, no one asked. I don’t know how. Would try it once. As if that meaning had worked, everyone’s eyes lit up. The will flared up. It was like sunlight shining on diseased leaves.
All I know is one clue that he is alive. That’s all you have to do to find him. A goal that seems impossible at first glance.
However, it is romantic because it seems impossible. Stella raised the corner of his mouth, thinking that this was also an ordeal for him. This will be an effort to be with him.
“If there’s a chance of meeting you tomorrow, I’ll start to be happy today…”
“What do you mean?”
“I did a little transformation of the little prince.”
Lillia couldn’t understand what she was talking about, so she frowned. Whether she did it or not, Stella was happy imagining the words she would share with him when they met again. She laughed uncontrollably when she thought of his temperature or voice.
Memories that were painful when it was loss turned into happiness when I thought it was a reward for the journey. Even if it’s the same thing, it’s different depending on the situation. Although Stella was swayed by her emotions, she enjoyed herself without being offended.
In a world with dreams, anything can be happily changed. Stella took all his heart. He said let’s continue to imagine happiness so that the desire for this dream will not be extinguished.
Unlike her, Lilia judged her situation more calmly.
“Wouldn’t it be better to have more people?”
“Uh… That’s right…?”
Stella laughed bitterly, knowing what Lillia was talking about.
“You talk to Wiz. I’ll go with Innis.”
“…You don’t have to go…”
At that time, the door of the cathedral opened once more. Retorting that he must have already been listening behind her, she stepped inside. She had already cried for a long time while reading her letter, but there was a clear red energy in the moonlight at the corner of her eyes.
“…I don’t even need an apology. I won’t listen to objections… I’ll definitely… Definitely… Go find him…”
Stella, who had been laughing awkwardly, hardened her expression.
“What? Did you have to apologize for what you said before?”
“So… I don’t need an apology…!”
Then Stella laughed heartily and slapped Wiz on the back.
“Ah!”
“I knew it.”
As they’ve been close for over ten years, there wasn’t much difference between the two. Emotions are volatile. Stella’s resentment lasted only for a day, and Wiz had only a sense of debt to Stella from the beginning.
Now that the possibility of resolving that debt has arisen, the two have a friendship again. It was grafting that took place without a word of apology.
“Okay? Now I think you just need to bring Ennis?”
“…I know. When did you pretend to be close to Innis just because you saw him…”
Lilia replied curtly and turned her foot away. This time she was going to go by broom rather than on foot.
**
“…So, since Eva is still alive, we’re going to get her back.”
Innis was still in Ilios. However, he was still staying at a hotel he had previously booked, not at his parents’ house.
“…I see.”
Lilia still felt awkward around Innis. Their encounter is long if long, short if short. It took a long time for the deepening goal to heal as it did not take a long time to form a deep friendship.
After listening to Lillia’s explanation, Ennis nodded her head. The reason she needed an explanation was simple. Her letter to her was still unopened.
“…! Are you going too?”
Because I was resentful of Innis… Was one of the reasons.
But beyond that, one problem remained. It was a problem that Lillia couldn’t even imagine.
“But Lilia? Isn’t that a bit strange…?”
“What’s strange?”
Innis asked if he was serious about his doubts.
“She’s Eva is still alive…? She’s Eva, isn’t she never dead in the first place? Now, yeo, look here. She’s like this, she’s still alive…”
She pointed to an empty seat. An empty chair with no one sitting on it.
“Well, he’s still alive over there… Isn’t Yiva always by my side? Ahahahaha Lilia… No matter how jealous she is, trying to take her away like that is a problem… Ah, wait a minute… Look. Eva is in trouble too.”
Inis greeted the empty seat and smiled shyly.
Words and actions to an empty seat. His eyes were quite different from those of ordinary people. Eyes untied like someone on drugs. It was endlessly dark, like a moonless night.
Lilia immediately understood what Innis was talking about and what she was going through.
Houses and hallucinations.
Confusion due to mental shock.
“Innis what the… No, that’s it. Holy sh*t…”
Innis was more damaged than I could have imagined. Lillia held back her deep sigh.