703 – 8. Last Words (77)
“Your image is deformed.”
It was something I had already heard countless times.
The girl with reddish-brown hair, who had already grown to her early to mid-teens, was leading the way with her back behind her. It looked as if he had just gone for a walk around the neighborhood, and I was completely dumbfounded as I followed behind him without saying a word.
Why?
There is nothing to see from this girl anymore. Although I had said something about it being a ‘contract’ before, it was an issue in which my intention had not been involved in the slightest. There was no friendship deep enough between us to honor the agreement we had arbitrarily made.
But, look.
I was following the girl now. Just like walking through all kinds of danger in a swamp, relying on intuition for no reason.
Even while I was in trouble, the girl continued to talk.
“Well, it has to be that way. Your image isn’t entirely yours; you just stole someone else’s vision, right? “Even the original had problems because they were trying to force Vision into it at random, so it’s even more strange that something has gone wrong with your body now.”
“I don’t have time, so tell me briefly.”
Only then did the girl’s chattering voice stop.
I feel a little hurt seeing her pout, but it’s none of my business.
I didn’t know what was going on outside. I don’t know how many people may be in danger even now.
There was no more time to waste.
Just as I was wondering if she should turn away even now.
“But what if you could make that image completely yours?”
The novel nonsense stopped me in my tracks.
The girl was still looking at me with a suspicious smile. Before she knew it, she looked back and slightly lowered her upper body.
At best, I just thought that a bad boy was planning a bad prank.
“Think carefully about the memories you have had so far.”
Naturally, a few names come to mind.
Gilford, Uren, Reynold, Leoric, Ned.
Those who were once my enemies or colleagues.
Or, there were people who were both. I didn’t know why they appeared in front of me.
Suddenly this thought occurred to me.
They are all the ones who met death by my hands. Also, whether it was long or short, weren’t these relationships that we had seen the inside of?
One more important fact.
I was partly responsible for their deaths. Didn’t the weight of that guilt wear me down, knock me down, and eventually bring me to my knees and prevent me from moving forward?
It was a foolish decision.
Their deaths were the reason I had to get up from the ground.
But the girl seemed to know another reason.
“That was the broken part of your image.”
“The broken part?”
“Yes, should I say that it is a part that has collapsed due to wear and tear? “To begin with, the intensity of your imagery wasn’t that high, and it was scattered sporadically, so it was easy to get hurt.”
To put it simply, it is the limit of expediency.
When I heard that addition, a scene came to mind. When dealing with Yuren, I couldn’t use Auror. Did Yuren say it was because he had no confidence in me?
Originally, it was a situation that was difficult to understand. Imagery is a landscape of the mind that has already hardened into an image strong enough to distort the laws of reality. There wasn’t much chance of it collapsing.
But, as I said before, my image was deformed. Furthermore, the despair I experienced over the past few days was not unusual.
The feeling as if the beliefs I had maintained my entire life were being uprooted.
It was also because I overworked my mind, which was already a mess. The more fundamental reason was that I borrowed too much power that did not fit my topic.
It was not completely cured. In the first place, the despair I felt had an incidental effect on my imagery, and my imagery had already been damaged long before that.
Nevertheless, it was true that the relationships I met unconsciously helped me.
At least you won’t have to get lost in the future.
No, actually, it might be more than that.
It was around the time when my reminiscence finally reached Leto.
“Thanks to you, we were able to take temporary measures. In fact, your image was unstable even before it was damaged… I was able to improve that using this opportunity. But, it’s still not enough!”
Clap, the girl declared, clapping her hands together.
“You still haven’t been able to fix one of the fundamental fragments that make up your mental image, right?”
“What is that?”
“That man.”
A word thrown out with a gloomy smile.
No specific name came up, but I immediately remembered someone. A man who always muttered in a dry voice with tired eyes.
He looked exactly like me.
It had to be that way. Because he was ‘me’.
“Are you confident that you fully understand that man?”
“What if I understand?”
“It will be a great help in stabilizing your broken state of mind.”
The girl smiles. Without even a single doubt, believing that I would accept the deal.
“Well, what do you think? This is a good deal…….”
“That’s enough.”
I flinch.
The confident girl’s body freezes. The only change from her smiling face was the quivering corners of her mouth.
It seemed like I had no idea that I would come out like this.
“I don’t know about you, but I can do it too.”
“No, how?!”
On a rare occasion, the sight of a girl jumping up and down as if she couldn’t believe anything was quite funny.
You’ve been making fun of me all this time.
It would be a mistake to think that I am now the same as I was then.
“Leto has temporarily corrected his image through a ‘contract,’ but it is still not enough.”
“Well, you need my help…” … !”
“But there’s no way Leto did that without any planning.”
Because he was my best advisor.
The girl’s face suddenly turned pale, perhaps because she was hearing it for the first time.
“Well, that can’t be possible…” No matter what you do, your broken image will only be… ….”
“I’m sick of following the path that others have decided for me.”
With that, I pulled out the sword from my belt. The girl’s body trembles when she sees the bright blue blade.
It seems as if he is imagining something sinister.
Soon, I pointed my sword forward.
“aaah…… !”
“Guide me.”
The girl’s body, which was about to fall down screaming, stopped. When the mesmerized light green pupils looked at me, a laugh escaped my lips.
“What are you doing? Guide me. “To the place you wanted.”
“B-but I said I didn’t need it just now…” … ?”
“There is no need. However… ….”
I sighed and closed my eyelids for a moment.
Then two women come to mind.
Senior Elsie and the saint, but they were not the people I knew. The words they told me were still vivid in my memory.
Did I say please take care of me?
“I promised.”
The girl hesitantly got up and looked at me.
I don’t know if I’m sincere or not.
But maybe it was because she was also desperate.
The girl didn’t want to miss this opportunity. She hurriedly puffed and blew the wind, making her face turn red. Then, the particles of her light seemed to gather, and soon a crack appeared in the air.
It was roughly large enough to fit an adult male.
I couldn’t see the scenery beyond clearly, but I could feel it.
Silent speculation and enthusiasm. It was definitely a memory of a desperate moment for the man as well.
I asked before looking into that last memory.
“So, what on earth are you?”
This was a question asked from the beginning.
Who is this girl?
Who was it that appeared in the wilderness where no one was looking except for me and ‘me’ from the future, led me, and made me stand here after making me see the ties of the past?
Isn’t this a question worth thinking about?
Is it because I was holding a sword?
The girl could not give a sly answer like before. She hesitated for a long time and thought about it.
Soon, I let out a light sigh.
“You will find out soon… “I swear, for real this time.”
It didn’t seem like a lie. In fact, it was the answer she was secretly anticipating.
The woman who was the size of her fist had suddenly grown to the size of a child. Looking at the trend, the next one will probably be the last.
To be honest, I’m half sure of its identity now.
Nevertheless, I began to walk without saying anything.
Into the memories that the man was hiding and where he struggled for the last time.
The field of vision changed drastically in an instant.
My body, which had been walking confidently, was now kneeling. In the middle of the day, when the sun was scorching hot, a woman with her back to the light on a low hill was looking down at me.
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A golden dragon embroidered on a pure white cloak fluttering behind its back.
Even among the outlines that looked like shadows due to the amount of light falling on them, the pattern stood out.
The blind man’s lips are soft.
“Emma, a senior researcher of the Eternal Life School, has been judged to be an enemy of humanity. “It is unknown what tactics she used, but it is clear that she destroyed the Eternal Life School and harmed the bloodline of the imperial family.”
It is a ruling.
It was always like that. The dragon’s will is steadfast and unbreakable, especially when speaking in such a decisive tone.
There is no possibility of persuasion.
Nevertheless, while her man tried to protest, he ended up frowning at the pain stabbing inside and outside of her chest.
It was an injury suffered by a woman who had just been sentenced to death.
It wasn’t long after she was pierced through the abdomen by an unidentified means and returned with the escape scroll she had hidden in her arms just in case.
It was a body that was falling apart even without doing anything.
There was no way he could have completely recovered, and in fact, just following the princess, who had already left on her way, was a miracle.
“Detailed information is not yet available. But if she is a risk factor equivalent to her seven sins, there is no need for her to waste her time.”
“Your Highness.”
The Dragon King made up his mind to participate.
Others may not have known, but I, who was called her closest associate, knew. What will the end be like?