No. 354
I stared at Neriad, who sat down.
“You hate people.”
“……"
“That’s why there was no ‘Person’ in your beliefs. Right?"
Neriad's expression hardened.
“That is the reason you chose Mina. I had the same beliefs as her, and in fact, I was a child who despaired of people like you.”
I used to live with Mina as her sister, so before she came to this world, I had a vague idea of how she lived.
I struggled with Mina and she was disappointed with the man, and she wanted to believe her nonetheless.
Mina said that the kid repeated the phrase ‘for people’ as her habit was, perhaps because she was brainwashing herself.
I was desperate for the people in that world, so I longed for a new person to protect me, and I put a mask of goodness and justice on my dark and bare face to make a place for me.
Like the Neriad, where hatred for humans was raging under the skin of belief.
Neriad bowed his head and muttered.
“……-sy.”
“……”
"Noisy!"
I proceeded with caution, one step at a time.
The eyes of the family followed behind my backs. Their gazes were shattered and scattered in the shadows. Behind the exceptionally sharp fragments, ancient memories permeated.
[Where have you been until this time! How can you make me worry so much!]
Neriad harshly scolded the ancient LeBlaine who returned late at night.
A small boy who cried silently while stroking the hair of the sleeping child.
[If something happens to you, I can't live.]
Those words whispered in a very tired voice.
[Look, LeBlaine. 20,000 people over that river. There will be an orphanage. Children like you can grow up under Serga-sama's protection without starving!]
A boy excited to hold his little sister's hand.
The boy who defrosts an open ship in a stranger's land and gives it to his sister without any regrets.
[Where is yours, brother?]
[I'm not hungry.]
[But my brother also starved for three days…]
[I'm fine. It's for my sister.]
A skinny boy who was caught stealing bread from a shop and was beaten hard, but never put the bread away for him because his younger sister was waiting.
The child who drank a lot of river water from behind his sleeping sister and hugged his hungry stomach.
[My sister hasn't eaten anything the whole time. Please share the milk. Please save my sister. Help me……]
He was too young to hug a newborn baby wrapped in a blanket and desperately sympathize with him...…
“Neriad.”
“……”
Neriad looked at me with his knees bent in front of me.
Exhausted, he looked very dwarf even though he was more than a span taller than me.
Something swelled in my chest. The ancient memories engraved in my soul, just as I cried bitterly at that time.
I struggled to hold back my tears and covered Neriad's cheek.
“You have suffered.”
“……”
“I know how hard you worked alone.”
“……Who are you?”
Neriad asked blankly.
His eyes clouded. The way he looked at me wasn't the way he looked at his younger sister.
“I am LeBlaine.”
“……”
“A grown-up who knows how to overcome pain, which you don’t have to protect.”
I hugged Neriad and whispered softly.
At this time, I'm not your sister, not the little child you have to protect, I'm just LeBlaine.
"Ha ha ha……”
Neriad laughed momentarily.
"Is it. Wasn't that kid here?"
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I said with a trembling voice.
“You can rest now.”
A small crack sounded in my ear.
A mighty person who could not be harmed by any cutting tools collapses just by hugging him.
I whispered over and over again with my forehead resting on his head.
'I'm fine now.'
'I'm fine.'
'So you'll be fine too.'
The whispers did not stop until the sky turned red and dusk fell.
The moment the sun completely passed over the ridge, the enemy within me completely turned to dust and scattered.
I hugged the scattered remnants of God on my knees and cried for a long time.
A warm hand rested on my shoulder while I was crying.
When I turned my head, I saw.
“LeBlaine.”
It was dad.
Behind him were Johann, Henry, and Ishaq with worried expressions on their faces.
A light twinkled from afar. People from all over the place ran towards me.
Aunt, Chairman, Seria, Zachari and Wale, Viscount Dubos and Veronica, and Godfather, Emulyn and Tree, Cecilia, Dahlia and Linda, Yuni, and Leah.
There was a lot of concern in the eyes of everyone who looked at me.
“LeBlaine……”
Dad frowned a few times, like someone who didn't know what to say, then bent his knees and made eye contact with me.
The wind blew.
My hair, which had always been neatly groomed since I was adopted, was messed up like the days when I couldn't meet them.
The flag of the torn Neriad Bridge, leaning obliquely on the side of the ruined temple, swayed, and golden wine fluttered under the flag.
As if my mother was standing there.
She seemed to be talking...
[Look at it. Are you happy?]
And.
I reached out to my dad.
"Please hug me."
“……”
Dad hugged me, and I said with a messed-up smile.
“Okay, Duke.”
[Duke.]
Like that childhood.
Then Dad said,
“……Okay."
I know.
How much trouble did this blunt father, who never said he liked, even gave me an answer.
How much love was put in it.
Ishak chuckled and said,
“What is it, yes it is.”
Henry folded his arms and nodded his head.
“You are not an easy person to express your affection for.”
John smiled sweetly, with the same face as his father.
Even when the old disappears, the new remains. I have a family left.
The last remaining energy of Neriad died completely.
By the way.
Bang-!
The sky shook with a roar.
The light seeped into the darkness of the night, and the door opened.
People looked at the door of light that had come to the royal family with a surprised expression.
I too stiffened up and looked at the door of light.
A voice came into my ear.
[You still have something precious left.]
It was my mother's voice.
The moment the remnants of the four riads piled up on my lap flew into the gate of light, someone's face appeared in my mind.
[LeBlaine.]
A man with brilliant blonde hair with a strong back.
My lungs froze for a moment. Soon after, Etwal lit up hotly and I burst out of breath.
“LeBlaine?”
Dad looked at me.
"Ah…..."
I covered my mouth with both hands.
‘How could I have forgotten?’
How foolish I am, it's you.
“……Adrian!”
I jumped up.
As I frantically approached the door of the light, Dad hurriedly grabbed my hand.
"What's up."
“I have to go there. The boy is waiting.”
"What?"
"He's a foolish person, and if you don't find him, he'll be curled up forever."
"What……”
“So I have to go!”
Wale and Veronica hurriedly stopped me.
Wale said,
“Sounds stupid! The power emanating from that door is incredible. You never know what will be happen if you go in!”
Veronica nodded her head.
"Miss, I've felt a power similar to mine. The incident that made me stop growing old. You might end up with a broken body like me for the rest of your life!”
“I still have to go.”
“Young Lady!”
Stefano, Emulyn's father, said to me.
“I know that. If you are a priest, you cannot know. That is the ‘End’.”
"End……?”
“The passage of this space that appeared in the ‘New Era’ when the god Serga disappeared and Neriad took the place of God.”
“……”
“You won’t be able to get away with it. Do you want to go without knowing?”
“……”
“No one knows what lies at the end of that passage. It could be this world, it could be the past, it could be the future, just like Mina did.”
“……”
“But the biggest problem is that you can’t come back.”
Emulyn looked at Stefano with a puzzled look.
My family was also very hardened.
Stefano grabbed my shoulder.
“It is a passageway made by God. The god Serga consumed all his power just by blocking Neriad's power, and Neriad disappeared. Who can open that passage again?”
“……I know."
I felt it instinctively.
That if you leave that passage, you may not be able to come back.
I said,
“But I think this is my last chance. This is the last chance my mother gave me and Neriad for my brother.”
I caught my family.
“Trust me. I will be back.”
“……”
“When have I ever let you down?”
The brothers shouted with hardened faces. In particular, Ishak was very excited.
"Nonsense! Never allow it! What are you doing Get LeBlaine! Even if you can't get to that door-"
“Go.”
"Father!"
Ishaq let out a shout, and Henry also looked at his dad with a hardened face.
Dad took off Ishak's hand and looked at me.
“I believe in you.”
“……”
“It’s a parent’s job to believe.”
Dad hugged me and said,
“Promise me. I will come back safely.”
“……Okay."
I hugged my dad and swore. Henry and Ishaq still seemed opposed, but they bit their lip as John grabbed them and shook his head.
I stood at the door and looked at everyone.
And I said,
“I will go.”
Safely.
So I went inside the door.
* * *
When I open my eyes again...…
My hands like maple leaves.
The short arms that look like sausages are connected.
“Igo Moya! (What is this!)"
I had become a child.
And what I saw.
“Ma'am, I think the baby has woken up.”
…… Reina?
It was Leah's older sister, Reina.
adrianπππ
ReplyDeleteThe cliffhangerπ’π’
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update!!!