TCMED 14

Chapter 14

The village of Risis, adjacent to Mapel.

Knights of the Empire surrounded the pitch-black forest that separated the village from the contaminated zone, waiting for something to approach. A stifling tension, so thick it made their palms sweat against their weapons, hung in the air.

*Thud.*

At that moment, a small presence intruded upon the silence so profound that even breaths were inaudible.

*Thud.*

The sound rang out again. It was infinitely light for a sound supposedly made by the demonic beast that would bring about the end of the world.

Yes, that was…

*Thud.*

*Sssshhhh…*

The sound of human footsteps. Accompanying it was the noise of something heavy being dragged across the dirt floor. The unknown presence drew nearer and nearer.

When the sound of someone swallowing dryly pricked at the ears of everyone on edge—

“…”

A foot emerged from the dark forest that had swallowed all the midday sunlight. Soon, a man appeared, casting a long shadow.

From his blood-soaked body, the only thing that held color, his blue irises, turned toward the knights surrounding the accursed city. At that moment when all were overwhelmed by his aura, he threw what he had been dragging before them.

“…!”

It was the severed head of the End—the one that had half-destroyed an entire city and dozens of villages.

A silence as if time had stopped.

*”In the lowest place of the age of despair, a hero shall come.”*

A dignified voice cut through the silence. The one who walked out leisurely, crossing before the knights, was the Crown Prince of the Baros Empire.

“That was a prophecy made about five years ago by the now-deceased Saintess.”

The man’s blue eyes and the Crown Prince’s black eyes met in the air.

“Knights, lower your weapons.”

The corner of the Crown Prince’s mouth twisted up.

“To witness the oracle with my own two eyes—should I call it an honor?”

“…”

“Name.”

“Ethan.”

At the brief reply, the Crown Prince raised an eyebrow and nodded indifferently.

“Very well, Ethan. I have a glorious proposal for you.”

“…”

“Join me.”

“And what would I gain from that?”

“Haha.”

The Crown Prince slowly resumed his steps. Passing the severed head of the End, he came to stand toe-to-toe with Ethan. Stopping his guards with a single gesture, he asked, his voice small but arrogant.

“What do you want?”

Ethan, who had been quietly regarding the Crown Prince, raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

*Click.*

A sound barrier enveloped the two along with the clear sound.

“The restoration of Mapel.”

The word ‘restoration’ contained many things. Among them, the Crown Prince quickly caught that the greatest was the reproach toward the imperial family who had isolated Mapel.

Staring at Ethan with a piercingly cold gaze, he murmured lowly.

“…I promise. Once everything is over, I shall grant your wish.”

The sentence ended with a slightly cracked voice.

After a long silence, Ethan knelt on one knee at the Crown Prince’s feet.

“I greet His Highness the Crown Prince.”

After arriving at the Great Temple in Ion’s arms, I spent a week holed up in the small room he had provided. For about four days, I simply cried. Only after crying that much was I able to prepare myself to adapt to the grief.

After that, I contemplated my life going forward. Because living while knowing the future of this world, my own mistakes, and everything else, was the responsibility I had to bear.

It still hurt a lot, but that wasn’t a problem for me. Even after losing everything, simply managing to live on was what I did best, even in my past life.

What mattered was the question of *how* to live.

I decided not to set overly specific goals or to become overly resolute. Those two things were the traps I was most prone to falling into right now, and the very pitfalls I absolutely had to avoid in order to live long.

I would live slowly, sometimes doing nothing, but steadily and persistently. I think that suits a life of mourning best.

Now I was ready to leave this room.

“…Thetis.”

“Ion.”

The place I was in was the private prayer room attached to the Saint’s chamber. The owner of this room, and my one and only friend, approached me as soon as the door opened.

“Thetis…”

“Why do you keep calling me?”

Actually, I knew why this liar was acting this way. He just couldn’t bring himself to ask if I was okay.

But I pretended not to notice and pulled up the corners of my mouth. Seeing that, Ion bit his lower lip hard.

I pulled him over, sat him down on the sofa, and sat down beside him.

“I have something to say.”

“Anything.”

“First… I’m going to live. So you don’t have to worry about me too much.”

My voice was calmer than expected.

“But honestly, I’m still not sure how I should live.”

“Thetis.”

“Shh, let me finish. So I thought about what I have first.”

I have no hometown to return to, no house, no acquaintances in other regions. Still, there were two things I could say I possessed.

“First is you, who, annoyingly, hid the fact that you’re the Saint from me.”

“Titi, that’s—!”

“I told you to let me finish.”

“Sorry.”

I glared at him briefly, but seeing how deflated he was, I took his hand. Ion clung to it, holding it tightly.

I was silent for a moment. Still, it was a relief that this kid seemed to have chosen to remain my friend even after everything was exposed. Honestly, I was a little scared that my two things might become one. What a relief.

Swallowing a sigh of relief, I extended my other palm toward him.

“And this is the last thing…”

That day I faced the End. There was one fact I had overlooked, shocked by the loss of the villagers. It was that I had seen the End up close and still survived.

The fragmented memories had slowly recovered over the past two days. I don’t know what to call that golden light, now a clear image in my mind. It wasn’t used to enhance my body, so it’s not an aura. Magic can only be used by those born with mana channels, so that doesn’t apply to me either. It’s hard to call it divine power either, since divine power has no effect on demonic beasts, and the End definitely reacted to the light I produced.

In this world, the only powers a human can produce outside the norm are those three, and mine didn’t belong to any of them. The only clue to explain this is…

*’It must be that potion I mistakenly drank when I reincarnated.’*

I don’t know what it is or what triggered its manifestation, but it’s probably right. Its color was the same as the halos worn by the employees of the Reincarnation Bureau.

“…Look closely.”

I focused my mind and recalled the sensation from that time.

“…!”

Soon, the golden light from back then rose like a cloud above my palm. Ion’s eyes widened greatly. I waited for his reaction, a little tense.

“This is…”

But this guy had no fear and tried to touch the light, so I quickly clenched my fist and extinguished it. Ion looked at me with regret, but we had a conversation to finish. I firmly redirected his attention.

“Anyway, this is about all I have right now. I want to live helping people like myself, if possible. So, I wanted to hear the Saint’s esteemed opinion.”

At those words, those swamp-like green eyes fixed on me. Containing surprise, affection, seriousness, and a sticky, unknown emotion within them.

“…Titi, how about working at this temple? You can do the work you want here, too.”

“You know I don’t believe in Miteb, right? Is that still okay?”

“It’s fine.”

That resolute answer was the Saint’s, not Ion’s, for this once.

“Lord Miteb will understand you. Compared to the injustices committed by those who claim to believe in him wholeheartedly, that shortcoming of yours carries not even the weight of a speck of dust.”

“No, I don’t mean something so grand…”

“Besides, I will take on all your sins.”

He gradually returned to being the Ion I knew.

“So, Titi. Stay by my side.”

“…”

“No, *please* stay.”

To a friend with a face so earnest, there was only one thing I could say.

“Alright.”

Seeing Ion’s face brighten at those words, I asked him the question that had been on my mind the whole time.

“So, what should I call you now? Your Holiness? Or perhaps Lord Aion?”

I asked seriously, but Ion looked deeply shocked. He seemed restless and unable to compose himself for a while, then suddenly slumped his body and leaned into me. What’s with him?

“When we’re alone… please keep calling me Ion…”

It was embarrassing, but the warmth of the contact felt good, so I stayed still.

“…”

A little while later, I raised my arm and carefully wrapped it around his back. Ion rubbed his forehead gently against my neck. I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Ion, you know.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t die.”

The ends of my voice trembled pitifully. Ion responded by holding me tighter in his embrace. That was enough.