Chapter 184: Ludwig’s Fate
This story takes place before Zetto has yet to meet his end.
Rei, the hero, and Hubert, the sage, have arrived at a place where countless pasts and futures are connected by a single line.
As they stepped into it, they could see a previously invisible “village” along with a forest that exuded a mysterious atmosphere.
The landscape of the village, which blended so well with nature, gave off the impression that it belonged to elves, but the village in front of them was none other than the village of the Ludwig clan.
“…It doesn’t look like anything has changed.”
Rei, who had just entered the village, clutched the back of her head and spat out a dull voice.
“As expected… No massacre.”
This is followed by the assessment of the sage Hubert, who looks around.
“Well, it doesn’t seem to be any different, except that there are no survivors.”
“Still, it’s not like there aren’t any.”
Rei nods faintly at Hubert’s words.
Aizel Ludwig, the supposed last survivor of the Ludwig clan, then one Zetto is willing to die to protect.
Though she was still too weak to help, the hero wondered the cause and effect of these mysterious events.
They had come to the village of the Ludwig clan to find out the truth.
The hero sensed that if they came here, they might find out something.
Rei and Hubert had some connection to the Ludwig clan and knew their secrets so without a word, Hubert agreed with Rei.
The look in the hero’s eyes now was the same as before.
The hero he knew was a good-natured fool with a strong curiosity that led him to do innocent and sometimes foolish things, but a hero’s intuition was something that even Hubert could never ignore.
A Hero’s instincts were far beyond the comprehension of the Sage who had spent his life seeking knowledge of the world.
Hubert reasoned that there must be some sort of fate at work here. After all, in his eyes, the maiden was a “hero” with the power to save the world.
What’s more, in this case, her reasoning wasn’t exactly flimsy.
There was an empty village with no sign of life but there was no battle.
The Ludwig clan, who were said to know the past and the future, seemed to have disappeared from the world.
At the same time, a girl, believed to be the last survivor of the clan, surfaced, and Zetto said she was being targeted by demons.
As a bonus…
“The last time I was here, there was at least a little bit of life…”
Rei peered through a window into a dusty house.
…The hero had memories of a previous life.
It was a matter of speculation that the visions of the Ludwig clan they knew had been written.
Rei continued to walk as they had a destination in mind.
“Do you remember, Hubert, the giant door we saw, the one I tried to open, but Grandfather, the head of the clan, stopped me?”
“I did. Cerys gave you a slap on the wrist for being such a nuisance.”
“Then, he whispered something to me.”
“What?”
“It’s not time yet.”
“Hmm…”
“So I thought that when I returned from killing the Demon King, it would open, even if I didn’t know what was inside.”
That was Rei’s judgment, but alas, the Hero never returned after defeating the Demon King.
The Hero could not escape his bonds but he did return.
Not as Leon, but as Rei.
They passed the altar of the Ludwig clan and came to a giant door in the cave.
“…I wonder if this is the time.”
Rei’s voice echoes through the cavern as she looks at the door.
“That seems plausible, by the way… Someone’s been here before.”
The crystal ball embedded in the door, acting as a lock, was smeared with red blood.
“Not that long ago.”
Hubert said, looking at the bloodstains on the crystal.
Then Rei asked.
“Who could it be?”
“It’s obvious. If there’s another human who could have gotten in here…”
“Aizel Ludwig…”
At the sound of Rei’s voice, Hubert, who has been examining the crystal ball, nods slightly.
“Alas, it seems she was unable to open this door.”
“Why is that, if she’s truly a Ludwig, she should have been able to open it?”
“It’s an old structure, but there are signs of it being sealed relatively recently, so she wasn’t allowed in.”
“Then…I suppose it’s my turn.”
With those words, Rei approached the door and reached for the crystal ball.
“…Well.”
But the crystal ball was out of her reach. Try as she might, she could never reach it with her short stature.
“…I guess they weren’t expecting you to be as tall as you are now?”
Hubert stifled a laugh and lifted Rei up.
“……”
Being lifted by Hubert, Rei stopped looking at him and focused on the crystal ball once more.
Placing her hand on the crystal, Rei converted her mana, her strength as a hero, into the power of light and fed it into the crystal.
-Keeeeeeeee!!!
The crystal ball sucked in the pure white light.
-Crackle!
-Crunch, crunch, crunch…
The cave rumbles loudly, and the crystal ball embedded in the door spins and the door begins to open.
“Just in case…they…predicted my reincarnation?”
Rei grumbles, dusting off her palms.
“I guess they did…”
The massive doors opened and Hubert took in the sight inside.
It was a dark hall, devoid of light that was filled with massive headstones but Rei rushed over.
“Words…?”
The tombstones were inscribed with countless letters that glowed with light.
“Records. The beginning and end of the Ludwig clan…”
Hubert took a quick look at the tombstone and immediately recognized what it said.
“Interesting, but I don’t think there’s much point in looking into the past right now…”
Soon, Hubert is in the air, reading the tombstones in order, until he comes to the last one.
“Here, there’s our story.”
“What, what is it?”
Rei’s eyes sparkle with curiosity.
“I finally succeeded in guiding the group of Hero Leon to the village where the clan lives… The seeds we planted this time will be deeply rooted… All for the sake of the bridle…”
“…Ha, we didn’t find them…They led you to it?”
“So it seems.”
Rei sighs in despair while Hubert scrolls down quickly after reading the sentence that said that Leon, the hero, had died in battle against the demon king.
It was too much to read through hundreds of years of records but as he descended, one sentence caught his eye.
“Is this the end…?”
In front of him was the last record of the Ludwig clan, as there would be no more records after that.
It was a sentence he could see at Rei’s eye level, so they read it together.
“…After a long time of labor, the clan’s destiny has come.”
This fate is inevitable and it had been foretold long ago.
Death is at hand, and we are powerless against it.
It has taken some sacrifice but we have found the only way to keep the clan alive.
We have decided to risk everything on the child of the task.
The child with a fate so terrible and so unspeakably harsh that she will have to endure much pain in the future but at the end of it all, she will be reunited with the only one who can break the terrible ‘yoke’ that ails this world, and break the clan’s ‘curse’.
It is a destiny and a task inscribed in the name of Ludwig.
To accomplish this, the lives of the entire clan must be sacrificed, but we have accepted.
None of us objected.
Why did Ludwig exist?
“Now that I know why…”
Rei’s voice trembled at the last sentence.
“He is the only one who can break the chains…”
“I think I know who they mean.”
“Well, it’s plainly written.”
Bridles aside, the man was the only one who could break the clan’s curse.
“Hmm…”
Folding her arms and pondering, Rei remembered the blind man with the bandages over his eyes who had found her…who had rescued her.
***
As I approached the light, I saw a pure white space.
The word “holy” came to mind, and in that white space was a table.
The woman at the table spoke to me.
“Please have a seat.”
It was the same sweet voice that had echoed in my head before and the woman’s appearance was indescribably beautiful.
I wondered if she was even human.
It didn’t seem like it was my eyes that were wrong since I thought I knew what this discrepancy was.
I sat back in my chair and asked.
“Are you… a ‘god’…?”
The woman smiles faintly at my question.
“…Yes, that’s what I’m called.”
She doesn’t deny that she is a transcendent being called God.
“Does that tell you anything about who I am?”
The woman asks, pouring tea into a mug.
God is God, but what’s her name?
Well, piecing together the information so far, I can only think of one.
“Ms. Heneryes…is that you?”
The woman smiles at my answer.
“I’m afraid I don’t remember much about you.”
“Memory… I’ve never seen you before…”
She doesn’t even look like a statue.
“…Well, I’ll save the explanation for later.”
The woman sets down her teapot and continues.
“Let me formally introduce myself. I am Heneryes, the goddess who presides over this world.”
I had an encounter with Heneryes, one of the goddesses of this world so I had to assume she had prepared me for this but I wonder what she wants to tell me.
I don’t know what it is right now, but it’s on my mind.
“……”
Heneryes turned to look at me and smiled a very bitter smile.