And then, a few days quickly passed.
A funeral was held in the cemetery on the west side of the city.
The choir sang, the citizens wept, and cannons fired into the sky...
Two new graves received empty coffins.
The announced casualties were two.
Zenis.
And Mikhail.
Mikhail had been declared a casualty at his own request. Given that returning home meant certain death, he intended to use a feigned death to escape the eyes of his homeland.
"..."
Standing on a distant hill, Mikhail gazed quietly at the grave bearing his name. In front of the young knight's grave, soldiers from the Vermillion Kingdom, who had come with him, were sobbing.
"What will you do now, Mikhail?"
Standing next to him, I quietly asked as we both looked upon the scene. Mikhail grimaced and lowered his head.
"...As you said before."
"Eh?"
What had I said before?
"Anger."
Mikhail looked at his own grave with steady, unflinching eyes.
"All this time, I have been angry at myself. At myself for making mistakes, for causing the deaths of my subordinates, for missing the one chance I had as a crown prince."
"..."
"I still despise and find myself pathetic for failing. But now, I've realized."
Mikhail clenched his fist and lifted it to his chest.
"Mistakes are not the target of anger. They are subjects of learning... And the direction of anger should not be at myself. That would only devour me from within."
"Then what will you direct your anger towards?"
"Monsters."
Mikhail's scarlet eyes turned northward with an immediate response.
"And... the system of my homeland that has driven me to act so desperately."
"..."
"Prince Ash, I intend to return to my homeland."
I widened my eyes in surprise. Mikhail nodded.
"With this funeral, they'll think I'm dead back home. So, I can sneak in unnoticed."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
The Vermillion Kingdom does not forgive failed royalty.
If Mikhail's survival is discovered, he will be stripped of all Griffin blood flowing in his veins and killed. That's why this fake funeral was arranged.
But Mikhail's resolve was firm.
"The only chance to change my country is now."
"..."
"To stop using people for live experiments, not administering magic forcibly, not breeding them against their will... A country where even artificially enhanced humans like me are treated as people."
Mikhail's face, though haggard, showed a determined smile.
"A country that gives even the failed ones a chance to rise again. The only chance to change is now."
"...Right."
In the face of his strong will, I finally nodded quietly.
It would be good to fight together on the monster front from now on. But that's not something I can force.
This boy before me is also a prince.
The master of his fate and the captain of his soul. He has the right to live as he wishes.
Whatever awaits him at the end.
"And... I have as many as five fiancées waiting for me."
"What?"
"I can't let them experience widowhood before we've even had our wedding, can I?"
Mikhail threw a joke and chuckled. I opened my eyes wide and then burst into laughter.
Mikhail, having made his joke, seemed a bit embarrassed and kept stroking his nose.
"...I've realized something here. It's not just my own life that's at stake."
Mikhail turned away from the funeral site and surveyed the entire landscape of Crossroad.
"The lives of my dead subordinates. The lives of all my brothers who had to die before me because they were considered failures. And..."
A slight bashfulness mixed into Mikhail's smile.
"The lives of all the good people of Crossroad who tried to save me, even though they had nothing to do with me, I owe them."
"..."
"So, don't worry. I won't die."
Mikhail, as if he had prepared beforehand, slung a backpack over his shoulder and extended his hand to me.
"I'll return, filled with anger."
I silently took his hand. And said,
"Good luck."
"To you too. And to Crossroad as well. May fortune be with you."
After a firm handshake, Mikhail turned around without hesitation.
In the forest in front of Mikhail, a young Griffin was tied up. It was the Griffin that had been taken to the forward base during the last defense and had been declared a casualty along with him.
Whoosh!
As Mikhail mounted, the Griffin spread its wings and soared into the sky, quickly disappearing into the distant heavens.
"..."
As I quietly watched Mikhail's receding figure, someone approached from the side.
"...He's gone."
"Dearmudin."
It was the grand mage with a long white beard fluttering.
Watching the funeral scene, the grand mage stroked his beard and chuckled.
"It's been a while since we had a defense without any casualties, I thought it would be this time, but two fake deaths... Is this really okay?"
"Hosting a funeral for two people to save two lives... In that sense, isn't it a good event?"
"Ha, ridiculous."
After a moment of silence, Dearmudin blurted out.
"But what's more ridiculous is... your words, calling me still young. I haven't heard anything as absurd as that in decades."
"..."
"And nothing as pleasant as that in decades, either."
I glanced at Dearmudin. With his hands clasped behind his back, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Seeing that there are still so many things I haven't experienced after living this long... perhaps, as you said, it's not yet my time to die."
"When is it ever the right time to die?"
If there really is such a thing, it would be after living a long life, lying in a warm bed, proudly reflecting on one's past life... Dying peacefully like that might be the right time.
‘But not now.’
Now is the time for all of us, every person in the world...
Too young to die.
So my people, do not die.
No.
I will not let you die.
I will show that we can prevent the end of the world.
"Prince Ash."
"Speak."
"Thank you."
Dearmudin, who suddenly offered his thanks, turned around abruptly.
"I will scatter my remaining 'youth' here, without sparing any."
The Grand Sorcerer disappeared with quick steps. Staring blankly at his retreating figure, I muttered to myself.
"...A misconception?"
Somehow, that grandfather seemed a bit embarrassed...
"Senior!"
Just then, Evangeline called out to me, jumping up from the bottom of the hill. I looked in her direction, and Evangeline urgently gestured.
"It's time for your speech! Please come soon!"
"Alright."
Even if it's a fake funeral, we must follow the procedures.
Slowly walking down the hill, I softly hummed the poem I was to recite at the funeral.
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
***
"..."
"..."
From the gravesite further west, at the entrance of a shallow forest.
Zenis and Hannibal, squatting on a stump, quietly observed the funeral.
As Ash recited the poem, gave a speech, and Evangeline waved her arm, gunfire resounded in the air...
And the funeral ended.
As the crowd gradually dispersed, Zenis quietly watched, and Hannibal asked cautiously.
"How does it feel?"
"Eh?"
"Watching your own funeral."
"..."
Zenis looked down at the bandages still wrapped around his body.
"I don't know. Having died and come back to life several times over these few days, I can't really feel whether I'm actually dead or alive."
"..."
"What about you?"
Zenis turned to Hannibal, who widened his eyes in surprise.
"Me?"
"Do you feel like I'm your father?"
"..."
"I mean, you must know from what was said before, even if I'm not your biological father..."
Zenis awkwardly scratched his bearded chin. Hannibal smiled awkwardly too.
"Actually, I knew from the first time I saw you."
"Eh?"
"That you weren't my biological father."
Zenis's eyes widened. Hannibal explained, scratching his messy hair.
"I'm a half-breed of human and beastman... But my mother is definitely human, so my father must be a beastman."
"Ah..."
Now that he mentioned it, that was true. Zenis laughed bitterly. It was something he couldn't have hidden anyway.
"You must have known the moment you saw me."
"Yes. That's why I was more curious. Why you... considered someone completely unrelated like me as your son."
Hannibal added honestly, hesitating slightly.
"Whether you truly considered me as your son."
"..."
"And whether I can truly... consider you as my father."
Though they sat side by side.
There was still a significant emotional distance between this false father and son.
After hesitating, Zenis asked haltingly.
"Do you resent me?"
"Eh?"
"For leaving you in an orphanage, for never showing my face in your life."
"..."
"Do you resent your biological parents?"
After a long hesitation, Hannibal slowly brushed his messy hair aside, then looked directly at his father with his round eyes.
"It would be a lie to say I never resented them."
"..."
"But you must have resented me too, right? You had a hard time because of me."
Zenis hesitated too but eventually nodded honestly.
"Yes."
"Then let's call it even."
Hannibal smiled and extended a small fist.
"It's a draw, so let's not bring it up again. From now on, no more dwelling on that."
"Is that how it works?"
"Let's just do that."
Zenis chuckled and extended his fist in return.
Their fists lightly touched in the air and then fell apart.
A moment of silence followed. The two quietly watched the funeral site, now nearly cleared.
"...Dad."
"Yes?"
"The words mother left for me... When you were telling me about them before, I didn't catch them properly."
Zenis glanced at Hannibal. Hannibal seemed nervous, his leg shaking slightly.
"Could you tell me again?"
"..."
Recalling that day, Zenis slowly responded.
"...She said to sing. She claimed she was good at it."
"Singing? Ha, I'm tone-deaf. Didn't take after her in that."
"Get a job too. She wanted to work in a reputable business."
"Uh, does being a mercenary count as reputable...?"
"Travel as well. Said to wander the world, talking to people from all places."
"I've done plenty of that!"
"And..."
Delivering the last message, Zenis grinned mischievously.
"Make offerings at the temple."
Hannibal frowned.
"Did she really ask for that?"
"Ha ha ha!"
Zenis burst into laughter. Looking at Zenis with narrowed eyes, Hannibal cautiously asked.
"...Dad."
"Yes?"
"What do you want to do with your life now?"
"..."
"You can do anything now."
Zenis, or rather.
The man who was Zenis, looked towards the gravesite. Where a tombstone with his name stood.
Priest Zenis had died. Recognized posthumously for his valor, he was reinstated and his lost honor restored.
The incident from 14 years ago was completely buried, and no more assassins from the Mist Kingdom would come seeking him.
And... nothing remained.
Even if it was said that a priest's life begins and ends with nothing, starting over from scratch, burying everything beneath the grave, was a hard task.
Thus, Zenis didn't know where he should go.
Then,
"Let's find it together."
Suddenly, warmth was felt.
Startled, Zenis saw Hannibal's small hand carefully holding onto Zenis's pinky.
"We're still young."
"..."
"Let's sing together, find jobs, travel... and make offerings too."
Hannibal smiled shyly, yet brightly.
"Let's live that way."
"..."
After a long silence,
"Yeah, let's live."
Slowly, Zenis bowed his head, touching his forehead to Hannibal's.
And whispered with all the warmth he could muster.
"Let's live together, my son."
The still awkward father and son sat there for a long time.
Facing the harsh sunlight, listening to the cicadas in the distance, feeling the hot wind.
Talking about the future they would share.
Indeed, summer was beginning.
***
[STAGE 31 – CLEAR!]
[STAGE MVP – Ash(EX)]
[Level Up Characters]
- Ash(EX) plus 50 others <Expand List>
[Deceased Characters]
- None
[Injured Characters]
- Mikhail(SSR) plus 30 others <Expand List>
[Acquired Items]
- The Oldest Scarecrow Magic Core(SSR): 1
- Scarecrow Corps Magic Stones: 211
[Stage Clear Rewards Have Been Distributed. Please Check Your Inventory.]
- SSR Grade Reward Box: 1
>> Get Ready For The Next STAGE
>> [Next STAGE: Impregnable]
--TL Notes--
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