I stood still in the frozen flow of time, quietly staring at Ludger Cherish.
He reached out a hand toward me with an expression of disbelief, and the sight of it was so ridiculous that I almost burst into laughter.
“What’s this?”
I couldn’t hold back the smirk that rose to my lips.
“So you can make that kind of face too, huh.”
A guy who seemed like he’d live his whole life cool and collected — and yet here he was, looking like that.
It wasn’t strange that he could make such an expression. What was strange ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) was that I was the one it was directed at.
“Maybe I was the one who only ever saw you the way I wanted to see you.”
Arrogant, conceited, rude.
That might have been the image Ludger gave off from the outside, but in truth, he wasn’t like that at all.
I knew his real personality.
From the day we met, twelve years ago.
I slowly turned around and walked out of the laboratory.
Entering Rine’s room, I checked her sleeping face.
Her peaceful expression overlapped with the face of the woman I once loved.
Because of that—
I was able to find the last bit of courage and resolve I needed.
“Let’s go. Even if I don’t know how long it will take, time is on my side.”
I stepped outside the hideout.
I had been prepared for this, having vaguely imagined that such a day might come someday.
When I slung the portable backpack over my shoulders — stuffed with rations and all sorts of supplies — a groan escaped me without thinking.
If I had known it would be this heavy, I would’ve left a few things behind.
But it was too late for that now. I decided to just endure it.
Everything in there was something I’d need sooner or later.
When I came outside, Isla Machia was a complete wreck.
Many of the island’s systems had stopped functioning, and people were panicking. All around, traces of destruction and collapse could be seen from the battle’s aftermath.
Still, with time, this too would return to normal.
No, perhaps it would develop into something even greater than before.
That’s what time always does.
And within that flow of time, human will would never be broken.
I kept walking.
Crossing shattered roads, stepping over fallen lampposts.
Eventually, I reached the outermost part of the island — a small external dock connected to the first floor.
Of course, it wasn’t the official dock for entering or leaving the island. It was farther away, small enough that even calling it a dock was questionable.
It was the kind of place where fishermen might come to cast their lines, or where someone might secretly sneak onto the island.
And—
Rustle.
It was also one of the few places on the island where sand could be felt underfoot.
Of course, there was no real sound.
Time had stopped, so sound had stopped too.
The noise existed only inside my head when my shoes sank into the sand.
“Where was it again?”
Somewhere nearby, I had hidden a small boat.
Just in case I ever needed to escape the island — like if debt collectors were chasing me — it was my personal rabbit hole.
“Ah. There it is.”
It didn’t take long to find it.
It was covered by a camouflage tarp, so no one would notice unless they knew where to look — but since I knew it was there, it wasn’t hard.
As I approached the boat, I stopped.
There were bloodstains nearby.
The trail led right to the small dock where the boat was hidden.
With my face stiffening slightly, I walked closer.
When I saw the man lying there, my emotions twisted into something indescribable.
“What were you trying to do, coming all the way here?”
It was Nikolai.
One arm was gone below the shoulder, the other leg shredded as if torn apart by something’s teeth.
Like a beast had bitten through it.
Even in that state, Nikolai hadn’t died immediately. He had dragged himself here, bleeding all the way, desperate to live.
But his luck had run out here.
He died with his eyes wide open.
“For someone who lived so high and mighty, this is how it ends — dying miserably in some forgotten dock no one will ever visit.”
Just from the wounds and the blood, I could imagine the agony he’d endured before dying.
Considering everything he had done, it seemed like a fitting end.
Bleeding out in a deserted place, dying a lonely, wretched death.
A perfect end for a villain.
I stepped past Nikolai’s corpse and climbed into the boat.
It wasn’t the kind powered by an engine or screw propeller.
Engines don’t work in frozen time.
This one moved only by hand — with oars.
“Ugh. Damn, this is exhausting.”
Grumbling, I rowed anyway.
The sea in the stopped world was utterly still.
There was no resistance at all when I rowed.
The boat glided smoothly over the motionless surface, like a sled.
Looking at the fixed ocean, it almost seemed less like water and more like a vast blue jelly.
Still, I wasn’t insane enough to try walking on it.
Once, I’d stopped time and tried stepping on the water — and promptly sank straight through.
That was when I learned something valuable: even when time stops, water is still water.
It was possible to cross by throwing planks ahead and stepping on them, but collecting each one afterward was exhausting.
Too much trouble.
If the sea were moving normally, my clumsy rowing wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere. But in this frozen world, things were different.
A single push sent the boat skimming swiftly across the smooth surface.
“How far is it to the mainland?”
I had no idea.
I’d never sailed before.
Was this even considered sailing?
Whatever it was, if I just kept rowing, I’d reach land eventually.
As for direction— well, if I kept at it long enough, I’d hit the continent sooner or later.
That first night, I curled up in the boat and slept in brief snatches.
The next day, I rowed again.
I didn’t know how long it would take. There was nothing around me but endless sea.
I slept under the motionless stars and woke to row again, the sea reflecting the unmoving night sky so perfectly that I couldn’t tell whether I was on the ocean or among the stars.
Two weeks passed.
At last, I saw a pillar of light in the distance.
Realizing it was a lighthouse frozen in time, I rowed harder.
After so long surviving on jerky, the sight of land filled me with joy.
I slung my pack over my shoulder and stepped onto the shore.
I didn’t know where I’d arrived — probably a small coastal village on the edge of the continent.
Far ahead, I could see the faint glow of lights.
As I drew closer, I glimpsed a family gathered warmly inside a house.
It was dawn before sunrise, yet they were already awake and eating. Country folk really were diligent.
Watching them, I felt a pang of envy at the sight of such warmth.
My eyes lingered on a little girl, about six years old.
If she hadn’t died, wouldn’t Rine have lived happily like that too?
That sudden thought made my chest ache, and I shook my head.
This wasn’t the time for sentimentality.
My destination lay in the southern jungles.
And I didn’t have much time.
I walked.
Across swamps, over cracked earth, through fields.
When I was tired, I slept. When I was hungry, I stuffed rations into my mouth and kept moving.
My feet blistered so badly I had to keep applying healing potion.
The soles of my shoes wore out, so I replaced them.
Food was never an issue.
Whenever I passed through a village, I replenished my supplies.
Of course, I didn’t pay. I was sorry for taking the food and fruit, but I had no choice.
A year passed.
I was still walking across the continent.
Maybe I’d already crossed the Empire and reached the central regions.
The sky was still full of stars.
That meant I was far from any major city.
Absentmindedly, I stroked my chin — the roughness startled me.
My beard had grown thick.
I’d always had some stubble, but now, without shaving, it hung long.
I probably looked like a beggar.
When I found a mirror, I confirmed it.
Still, at least time was stopped — no one would have to see me like this.
Three years since I’d stopped time.
At last, I found the root of Greenbelle.
“God... there’s no hell like this.”
I didn’t know how long I’d wandered the snowy mountains.
Even with time stopped, the snow and ice weren’t any less cold.
It was the middle of the night, darker and colder than ever.
I dug through snowdrifts again and again before finally finding one of the three things I sought.
When I looked at my hand holding the Greenbelle root, frostbite covered my fingers.
And yet, tears came to my eyes.
Not from pride or accomplishment—
But from the vague terror of realizing how much more of this lay ahead.
Could I really keep going? Haven’t I already done enough?
For three years, I’d lived in this frozen world, muttering to myself, with no one else to talk to.
Was this what it meant to grow old meaninglessly in an unending night?
No one would ever know what I’d done — so what meaning did it have?
Wordlessly, I stared at the root of Greenbelle, then wrapped it carefully in a thin cloth and placed it inside my coat.
Next, I would have to go somewhere completely different — the southeastern tropics.
I looked up once at the aurora shining over the snowy mountains, then began walking again.
With a lighter pack, I descended the mountains — and the continent.
Four years.
I was still walking.
Nearly a year of continuous travel. My legs were so numb I could barely feel them.
But the cold had faded, replaced by rising heat.
I could tell I’d reached the southern regions.
I’d thought it would take years to get here, but only one? Was I fast — or was the continent smaller than I imagined?
Either way, I decided not to complain and kept going.
The tropical climate meant the jungles weren’t far.
Heading from the northwest to the southeast of the continent, I eventually saw the sun rising in the far distance.
The world had stopped, but I was still moving through it.
From where the sun never rose, I walked toward where it still did.
That sight, for some reason, filled me with strength.
In a world frozen in time, I was walking from night toward morning.
Five years.
I reached the jungle and spent a long time wandering within.
I’d lost track of how much time passed — missed a few journal entries — so perhaps even longer than I thought.
I still hadn’t found the Alaure petals or the Mantanis sap.
Several times, I thought of giving up.
Maybe the snowy mountains had been better — at least it was easier to find plants there.
Here, everything was plants. I couldn’t tell one from another.
It would’ve been easier to find a needle in the desert than what I sought here.
But I wouldn’t give up.
Or maybe I simply couldn’t anymore.
Ten years.
“I found it! I finally found it!”
At last — that damned Alaure flower. Hidden deep inside a waterfall cave.
I stumbled upon it by accident while bathing, and a mix of emotions overwhelmed me — relief, exhaustion, disbelief.
All that digging and searching now felt like wasted time.
But I quickly shook off those thoughts.
It didn’t matter. I’d found it. That was enough.
Now only the Mantanis sap remained. I could find it soon.
Thirteen years.
Still no Mantanis.
I had to go deeper into the jungle.
Fifteen years.
Still nothing.
I knew it would be the hardest to find, but this was beyond reason.
Where in the world had whoever discovered it before found it?
Eighteen years.
A thought suddenly came to me.
Why am I even doing this?
The stopped world was unbearably silent, and I had lived alone within it for so long.
I could barely remember where I’d been or what I’d done.
My beard was long; my once-ivory hair had grown even longer, dull and brittle.
Wrinkles I couldn’t hide now lined my face.
I’d tried to stay youthful, but I was middle-aged now. Maybe even older.
A faint ache spread through my joints as I thought back on the past.
I couldn’t remember much anymore.
That arrogant brat’s face, my old master’s face, what had happened on the island—
All of it was fading like a distant dream, like sand washed away by the tide.
Only one thing still lingered vividly before my eyes.
Her face — the woman who had smiled at me and asked me to take care of her daughter.
That smile... I could never forget it.
Move.
After that, I stopped counting the years.
The growing wrinkles, the aching bones, the whitening hair — those told me enough time had passed.
But at last—
I found the final ingredient.