The banquet held to welcome Ludger carried on in a cheerful atmosphere late into the night.
A group of people sitting together at a table, chatting as they enjoyed lavish and delicious food—such a scene was something Ludger was not familiar with.
If he had to put it into words, it felt like something out of an old fairy tale illustration.
A family gathered together on Christmas, spending a joyful holiday—that type of image.
Ludger had never once imagined that he would one day find himself in a similar situation.
At most, he had thought of himself as the sort of unwanted outsider who simply gazed at such warm households from the other side of a window.
Inside, there was a fireplace, a Christmas tree, delicious dishes, and boxes of gifts stacked high.
And within that space dwelled people’s happiness, laughter, and warm love.
But the outside was not like that.
There, the world was barren and unbearably harsh.
Falling snow, carried by a skin-tearing chill, piled up pathetically on lonely shoulders.
A cruel world where not a single hand reached out to you.
Ludger believed that such a place was the road he had walked—and perhaps the road he might continue to walk in the future.
Perhaps that was why.
The current situation did not feel real to him at all.
Facing these people, speaking with them, responding to them, eating delicious food—
All of it felt like a dream.
‘How ironic. In dreams I perceive reality clearly, yet when seeing reality, I think it is a dream.’
People always pursue happiness.
They wish for greater joy and amusement with every passing moment.
A better life, a better tomorrow.
The most basic human desire.
Materially and emotionally, pursuing greater abundance was so natural that it felt foolish even to explain it.
But ironically, when the happiness one desperately longed for is finally given—
humans begin by doubting it.
The longer and harsher one’s life has been, the stronger that tendency becomes.
Those who have always lived struggling have no choice but to adapt to such a life.
Misfortune becomes the expected, natural order.
So when sudden happiness appears, they doubt it—and reject it.
They convince themselves that such a thing could never come to them, yet at the same time they crave happiness.
Wishing for an illusion to become real, yet treating the real thing as an illusion.
Truly contradictory.
And that was what humans were.
‘This is the scenery I wished for. Not a dream, but a reality that has truly come to be.’
Even as he repeated those words to himself, the anxiety lingering in one corner of his heart did not disappear.
Ludger quietly observed his inner self.
There, he saw a boy.
A boy who looked exactly like himself in childhood—
hostile toward the world, suspicious of everything, exhausted by life.
The boy said nothing.
He simply stood still, staring at Ludger.
Yet in that piercing gaze, countless emotions were hidden.
His eyes asked:
Are you really allowed to be this happy?
Perhaps it wasn’t even a question.
Perhaps it was a demand, an interrogation.
Ludger could not answer the boy.
As if bewitched by something, he could only hold that gaze.
Another version of himself residing in his inner world.
The boy who embodied that anxiety—
his name was Heathcliff.
* * *
“Teacher?”
Ludger snapped back to reality at the voice calling him.
When he turned his head, he found Sedina looking up at him with a puzzled expression.
He checked his surroundings.
He was no longer in the humble banquet hall—
but standing on the balcony of the room he was staying in for the night.
He had been quietly standing there, letting the cool night breeze wash over him.
Right. The banquet was over.
Now he was alone with Sedina.
“Are you okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well... even during dinner earlier, how should I say this... You looked a little unfocused.”
He hadn’t shown it outwardly, yet Sedina had still sensed it.
“It’s nothing. It’s just... this is my first time in a situation like this, so I’m not used to it.”
“You weren’t uncomfortable or anything, right?”
“Of course not. If anything, it was hospitality far too generous for me. I feel nothing but gratitude.”
Ludger looked beyond the balcony.
Beneath the tall spire, the full view of the capital unfolded before him.
Lights glowing here and there illuminated the city with a dreamlike aura.
When he looked toward the World Tree, countless fireflies gathered around it, scattering beautiful light.
It looked like a Milky Way that had descended to earth.
“You’re really sure you’re alright?”
Ludger had been about to say yes—
but the moment he met Sedina’s eyes, his words caught in his throat.
Sedina’s gaze, steady and unwavering upon him, held nothing but worry.
After a moment of thought, Ludger slowly opened his mouth.
“Perhaps... there might be a little something.”
It was his first time confessing such feelings to someone.
Sedina quietly waited for whatever he had to say.
“The world has become peaceful. And everyone I once knew has found happiness.
Of course, it’s absurd for me to judge their happiness, but at least from where I stand, they seem truly content.”
Ludger brushed his hand over the balcony railing.
The rough, sturdy texture of the World Tree wood was vivid beneath his fingertips—
a sensation he had not experienced in the past three years.
“And when I meet them and share in those moments of happiness, I find myself thinking... am I really allowed to feel this way?”
Humans seek happiness.
That was true for Ludger as well.
But when the happiness he awaited finally arrived, it felt as though someone behind him shouted:
Do you really deserve that?
The path Ludger had walked.
Everything he had done.
Even if none of it was evil—
it was not righteous, either.
Even if his final goal had brought freedom to the world,
more people saw him as a monster than a savior.
Ludger did not deny it.
Even if most of those he killed were villains,
he had still taken lives.
But what weighed on him the most—
was the presence of Heathcliff within him.
His comrades said he had saved them.
Ludger himself believed he too had achieved some form of salvation by fulfilling his goal.
But there was one person in that world who was never granted salvation.
Heathcliff.
That child who would be remembered forever as the Demon King.
He had received no salvation whatsoever.
The world believed the Demon King Heathcliff was dead—
but in truth, he remained alive, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) buried within Ludger’s heart like a thorn, rooted deep.
Whenever Ludger reached for peace or happiness,
that thorn reminded him of the pain.
Do not forget what you’ve done.
You do not deserve this.
“Perhaps... wandering around meeting people like this is nothing but an act of escape.
Unable to find happiness myself, I’m trying to feel it indirectly through others. A pathetic attempt.”
Even though he longed for their warmth,
whenever he actually felt it, he instinctively flinched.
Ludger let out a bitter laugh.
“Isn’t it ridiculous? A grown adult worrying over something like this.”
“Teacher.”
Sedina spoke in a firm voice, as if she had made up her mind.
“Would you sit down for a moment?”
She pointed to a chair placed on the balcony.
Ludger didn’t ask why.
Her expression was so resolute that he simply sat down as instructed.
Sedina stood in front of him, facing him.
She took a few deep breaths, hesitated—
Then suddenly—
whump.
She grabbed Ludger’s head and pulled it straight into her embrace.
Ludger’s eyes widened.
He had been about to ask what she was doing,
but Sedina spoke first.
“Don’t say anything. Just stay still.”
“......”
Ludger’s pupils slowly returned to normal.
He relaxed and remained still, just as she asked.
Sedina’s warmth touched his skin.
On the quiet balcony, the only sounds were her soft breaths and the pulsing beat of her heart.
Her heart thumped rapidly—
and strangely, it calmed his mind.
In this moment,
he could no longer feel Heathcliff’s gaze upon him.
Ludger slowly closed his eyes, quietly savoring that warmth and sound.
He felt as though he were remembering something from long ago—
a distant memory of a newborn placed in a warm cradle.
Of course, that memory was vague.
He wasn’t even sure if what he recalled was real.
But one thing was certain:
This comfort—
was more reassuring than a hundred words.
How long did the embrace last?
Sedina slowly pushed Ludger’s face away.
Ludger quietly lifted his head to look at her.
Even in the dark night, he could clearly see that Sedina’s face was bright red.
“I-I’m going to bed now.”
Leaving only that, Sedina fled the scene.
Left alone, Ludger stared blankly out at the night beyond the balcony.
A smile unconsciously tugged at his lips.
* * *
“Thank you for the hospitality. I’ll be on my way.”
The next morning.
Ludger bid farewell to Sedina, Ambella, Ella, and Vierno.
“What? Why not stay a bit longer? It’s not every day a human gets the hospitality of the Elven Kingdom, you know?”
Ambella protested with regret.
To Ambella, Ludger was a comrade with whom she had survived a grueling battle.
So she felt frustrated that she couldn’t do more for him.
“No. I’ve received plenty. Anything more would honestly make me feel burdened.”
“Well, if you insist, I guess it can’t be helped. Besides, leaving today doesn’t mean this is the last time we’ll see each other.”
“Right. If the chance comes, let’s meet again.”
Ludger exchanged farewells with all of them.
His gaze lingered on Sedina at the end,
but perhaps because of what happened last night,
Sedina couldn’t look him properly in the eyes.
“Sedina. I’ll see you next time.”
Ludger summoned Ater Nocturnus.
As the shadows swallowed Ludger’s body and he began to disappear, Sedina answered:
“Yes. Let’s definitely meet again.”
In the fading silhouette of Ludger, the last thing Sedina saw was the smile on his face.
Once he completely vanished, her mother Ella approached Sedina with a mischievous look.
“So? What happened yesterday, you and him?”
“N-no! It’s nothing like that.”
“Oh come on. Your face is bright red—clearly something happened.”
“Mm. I agree. And earlier you couldn’t even meet his eyes properly—did you perhaps make a mistake?”
Ambella added, prompting Sedina to glance desperately at Vierno for help.
“Ahem. My apologies, but... I’m also quite curious myself.”
Vierno couldn’t ignore such an appealing topic.
Even he felt compelled to wonder about the blossoming love of young people.
When Vierno also refused to save her, Sedina felt deeply betrayed.
“A-anyway! I said it’s nothing like that!”
Sedina, her face red like a tomato, shouted in frustration.
* * *
The place Ludger emerged after leaving the Elven Forest was a wind-blasted cliff at the edge of the coast.
The sky was filled with slate-gray clouds,
and the fierce wind blowing from the sea carried the scent of salt.
A massive wave crashed against the cliff with a heavy splash, dispersing into white foam—
a place where the grandeur of nature could be seen all at once.
Far from the breath of the elves,
this was the Fjorord coast in the northwest of the continent.
A place where he presumed the next person he intended to meet would be.
“Hm.”
After taking in the beautiful scenery for a moment,
Ludger slowly placed his hand on the ground.
When he let mana flow through his palm, a voice responded from deep within the earth.
A massive sound—
the kind only a being standing at the pinnacle of nature could produce.
“I need a bit of help. I’m looking for someone.”
The Lord of Earth’s element, dwelling in the deep ground, readily accepted Ludger’s request.
If the Earth Elemental Lord wished,
there was essentially no being upon the land that could escape his sight.
Uuuuuung—
A reply came immediately.
The Earth Lord had found the person Ludger sought.
“I thought it would take quite a while if he was out at sea, but seems I’m lucky.”
When Ludger asked where exactly,
the answer came as if waiting.
Initially, the distance was about 5 kilometers.
But the next answer was different.
The 5 kilometers quickly became 4.
Ludger asked if that was really true.
The Earth Lord answered:
‘Now 3 kilometers.’
Even now, the distance was shrinking.
At a speed that defied imagination.
A deep smile formed on Ludger’s lips.
“Yes. He’s not the kind to sit down and have a peaceful chat.”
Remaining distance: 1 kilometer.
Ludger immediately drew up his mana.
If he let his guard down because he thought there was still enough distance—
he would be the one struck first.
“Well then, it’s been a while. Time to stretch my body a bit.”
Moments later, an explosive sound echoed from the forest at the edge of the coastal cliff.
And then, a massive beastkin figure—
its enormous body slicing through the air—
descended toward Ludger.