701 – 8. Will (75)
“I will protect everything…” “Not just your sister, but everyone.”
“…… Is it real? Without throwing anything away?”
I grit my teeth again.
It was not a decision so light as to be said casually. Wasn’t I also agonized and agonized countless times, and was already so exhausted that I gave up on this path?
Nevertheless.
“Impossible, even if it is?”
As a question I had never heard before penetrated my heart, I lowered my head.
All kinds of memories mix together like firecrackers in my mind.
The day I first received the letter and sparred with Seria.
Seria followed me around, Celine argued with Seria, met senior Elsie, met senior Delphine, fought the demon beast, and defeated senior Delphine.
After saving Emma, I went to the orphanage, met Mr. Gilford, and learned about diffraction.
He fought, saved the saint, rescued the orphans, and when asked why he did that, he said something.
Immanuel.
Sien, Mitram, my hometown, the corpse giant, Leah’s secret, the north was cold.
Elf, Leoric, Yurdina, bread and dagger.
Seongguk, Yuren’s betrayal, my sister and Mr. Reynolds. The ‘saint’ I met for the first time was so strong. So much so that I thought there was no way she could win.
And then the great witch came, and ‘me’ from the future, Elsie senior, the end of the vampires.
Celine.
Leto.
B.
Are you sure it was the wrong path? All of this.
Ned asks me again.
“Fire, possible… even if…… ?”
I think of Ceria’s crying.
My junior received the pendant and smiled happier than anyone else.
Emma lived. Elsie chose her own destiny, Delphine became the head of the family of Jurdina, the saint regained her name, and the ‘I’ from her future shared her final life with her sister-in-law.
You won’t lose anything.
It was impossible. Didn’t I lose Leto for being stubborn?
Nevertheless, if you ask me again.
Yes, even though it is impossible.
If you ask me if I really need to walk that path.
“…… Okay.”
Before I knew it, I was spewing out such a dull voice.
“Even if it is impossible, it is absolutely necessary.”
Ned’s eyelids slowly close. The young friend had a relieved face.
Without even the slightest doubt.
“I will continue to suffer countless losses. There will be many times when you cry and regret it… It hurts and is hard, so I want to quit everything. I want to give up! But, but… ….”
The voices he spoke out at random were disorganized and disorganized.
So it was sincere.
I felt Ned’s breathing subside and I gave his arm more strength.
“I will protect you.”
A young life was dying in my arms.
“Because I am ‘Ian Perkus.'”
My eyes were so hot that I couldn’t open them. Nevertheless, I say it again to Ned.
No, he told me.
“After all, a great knight…… !”
“Because I don’t lie.”
The sound of Ned’s breathing becomes faint as if he is falling asleep.
In the end, I hugged Ned without saying a word.
“I’m glad.”
This is a will.
“Because Master Ian is the best knight I know… ….”
And a promise.
My starting line, which must be kept at all costs.
I carefully put down Ned’s body only after he had completely stopped breathing. In the midst of these two contradictory hells, the burning village and the raging snowstorm, only the boy had a perfect smile on his face.
It was right after that.
With the sound of something unfolding, a shadow appears behind me. The snowflakes and harsh winds that had been hitting my body stopped.
I slowly got up without even looking back.
I felt like I knew who it was. Because there was only one friend in my entire life who was good enough to open an umbrella and block the wind, rain, and snowstorms.
“Leto.”
When we met again, we had nothing to say. He just tilted his umbrella to protect me from the snowstorm.
So I had to ask again.
“Why did you bet on me?”
He still doesn’t say anything.
“I-I’m not as great of a guy as you think…” I’m nothing without you! I still see it now, losing you… You just ran away after pathetically dragging your feet! But, are you telling me to walk my own path? Are you asking for the world?! Celine…… !”
“So.”
Just one word.
As always, Leto blocked my argument with a short rebuttal.
“Was I wrong?”
Heh, heh.
As I burst out laughing, I realized this desperately.
Leto was right.
I tried pressing my eyelids with two fingers, but the hot tears in my eyes did not cool down.
“Why me?”
This was a question I thought about every day after hearing Leto’s will.
“How could you trust me so much? I couldn’t even believe myself…….”
“Ian.”
He slowly opened his mouth in a flat tone.
“Do you remember the old days? “When I was young, when Lia ran away from home.”
“Well, it wasn’t just once or twice… ….”
“There was an uproar because even Celine disappeared. I looked for it for several days and couldn’t find it. So everyone was half giving up, but you found it. “And on the mountain behind your mansion.”
I finally remember something.
I was like that once when I was young. Lia had just returned to the family and was having a hard time adjusting, and Celine was still not good at social skills, so she was a bit nervous.
At that time, Lia ran away from home for the first time.
The next day, Celine also disappeared out of nowhere, and the two families went into an uproar and searched for her. However, it was not found even after a few days, and I wondered if the child’s body was still alive.
I found Leah and Celine.
That day, Lia dug her hole for the first time, which was a mistake on the part of her adults, who did not know that she could dig a deep hole in such a secret place with the strength of a child. To make matters worse, Celine, who came looking for Lia, comes in and the entrance to her den collapses.
Of course, it was normal if it couldn’t be found.
The reason I was able to find them was simple. The two particularly liked the hillside full of sepia flowers on the mountain behind them, and they thought that if Lia had run away from home, she would have left a trace there.
Celine is probably with Lia.
I lived in the mountains for several days and searched through them. As I scanned and scanned the wide sepia flower field, I finally discovered some strange soil.
It’s as if it collapsed some time ago.
As a result, the two survived. And Lia started to cling to me, and Celine also opened her heart to me, which was an opportunity for her personality to change.
It was a nostalgic memory.
I was so dumbfounded that I burst out laughing.
“I just went through some hardships when I was young… ….”
“It’s not just that I went through some hardships when I was young.”
A firm denial.
I became a little dazed and finally glanced back. There, Leto was staring at me with serious eyes.
“I’m just saying this now… I was halfway to giving up at that point. It was the same for not only me but also adults. You searched so hard inside the territory, but you couldn’t find any traces, right? It would have been difficult for a young child to travel a greater distance than that… “Everyone guessed that something had happened.”
“Is that so?”
“You’re the only one who didn’t give up.”
At the same time, Leto brought out one more old memory that he had forgotten.
“Because of the promise I made to protect Leah and Celine.”
Looking back, there was a time when I was like that.
He fell in love with the heroic stories of famous knights and imitated them, saying that he would protect Celine and Lia.
Isn’t this a shameful promise?
I raised my voice slightly out of shame.
“Hey, that’s… ….”
“You saved Celine and Lia. Thanks to that little boy, soiling his entire body with dirt and even losing sleep, he searched the mountain… Everyone was losing hope. “I will only keep one promise.”
I wanted to say that it was just a minor hit.
I couldn’t say anything due to Leto’s serious expression. He just turned his head and said something coolly.
“It was a coincidence.”
“Yes, that’s right. That was stupid. Strictly speaking, it was a gamble with low odds. But, Ian… ….”
Leto trailed off slightly like that.
“I don’t gamble based on odds.”
“Then?”
“I’m betting on a miracle.”
A firm belief was evident in that unwavering tone.
In addition, a strong trust in me.
He had never said anything like this to me while he was alive.
“Probability, possibility and impossibility… Anyone can calculate that. But miracles are different. “Only those who believe in that slim probability can see a miracle.”
“Then you might lose everything?”
“Yes.”
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In the end, I burst out laughing and covered my eyes with my right hand.
What a dog.
“Ian, you are my miracle.”
If you say so much, how can you be a friend and cry?
One step.
I take steps. Perhaps the path ahead might be more difficult and painful than this.
The weight of your steps will not be the same as before.
Nevertheless, I walk.
“Ian.”
I will walk away.
“It’s going to be difficult here…” Because there is probably an opponent waiting for you who is stronger than any enemy you have ever fought. To be honest, the odds are…….”
“Leto.”
Standing tall, I asked what would be my last question.
“Where do you think you would hang it?”
Then Leto remained silent for a while.
Pick, he burst out laughing. He shook his head as if he had just been punched.
“You.”
“How much?”
My close friend spoke with more confidence than ever before.
“…… Entire!”
That was enough.
I kicked the ground and started running.
Far, far. Where I need to go.
The end of puberty was approaching.