◇
The moment the scenery in front of me changed, the rich scent of grass and trees spread through the air.
"…This place…"
This location brought a sense of nostalgia, yet the view was far removed from my memories.
"It's the place where the Dawn Village once stood."
Shion told me about this location.
"..."
My hometown, destroyed by the church ten years ago.
Weeds had overgrown the collapsed buildings and the once-paved roads.
This place, which had once been filled with people's voices and the sounds of daily life, now held only the sound of the wind rustling through the grass and trees.
"Sorry… Did you not want to come here…?"
Shion looked at me, who remained silent, and asked hesitantly.
"…No, that's not it. I knew I had to come here someday. But something about it scared me, so I kept finding reasons to avoid it."
"…I see."
Following Shion's suggestion, I took a step forward.
We walked without speaking, eventually arriving at a place where many crude graves stood.
These were the graves that Oliver and I had made.
"Orun, why don't you greet your parents and everyone from the village?"
"Yeah, you're right."
I walked up in front of the graves, then dropped to one knee.
"Um… Dad, Mom, everyone. I'm home. Sorry it took me ten years to come back."
Standing before them, memories of all the things I had experienced up until today flashed through my mind like a rapid succession of images.
"There's so much I want to say, but the other day I settled things with Belia. In the end, Philly got in the way again, though."
I had thought that coming here would stir up strong emotions, whether good or bad.
But now that I was actually facing them, I found myself able to confront them with a surprisingly calm heart.
"You know, I had a dream since I was little. I was scared of how everyone would react if I told them, so I never said it out loud—but I wanted to go to the outside world. I wanted to see with my own eyes what the world has become after hundreds of years without people."
I revealed the dream I had only ever confided in Shion.
I used to be too scared to say it, but now I wish I had told them back then.
They might have laughed at me. They might have been exasperated. They might have gotten angry. Even so, I should have said it.
Because now, no matter what I say, there is no response.
Regret really does follow you no matter what.
"I know that to go to the outside world, I have to destroy the wall of laws. If I did that in the current state, most humans would die. So I'm going to resolve this problem. I don't want the world I was born and raised in to disappear either."
I stated my current goal in front of everyone.
I hoped they were cheering me on from heaven.
"I'll come again next time when I set out for the outside world. See you later, everyone."
After finishing my greetings to everyone, I slowly stood up and turned to face Shion, who had been watching over me from behind.
"Are you done?"
"Yeah. Shion, thank you for bringing me here."
"W-what's with the sudden seriousness? This wasn't a big deal at all."
When I expressed my heartfelt gratitude, Shion's face turned red and she seemed flustered.
"Hey, there's one more place I want to go. Will you come with me?"
I asked Shion, who was fanning her face with her hand.
"Huh? A place you want to go? Yeah, of course!"
With Shion's approval, I began walking toward our destination.
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The place I brought Shion to was deep inside a forest near the Dawn Village.
When I reached the destination, I stopped walking.
From an outsider's perspective, it was just an ordinary spot in the forest.
"This place…"
But Shion seemed to realize what it was.
"Yeah. It's the place where we made our promise that day. Hey, Shion… can I ask you for one more thing?"
Even without me saying anything specific, Shion understood.
She nodded with a bright smile on her face.
"Yeah! Leave it to me!"
Shion lightly extended her hand forward and activated her magic.
The last time she had shown me this, she had only just learned special-grade magic and it had taken time to activate, but now she completed the spell in an instant.
"—Blizzard of Extreme Cold and Ice."
The scenery around us transformed completely.
A silver world made of frost spread out before our eyes.
"Hmm, I think I did it better than last time."
Shion murmured with satisfaction as she looked at the silver world.
"…It really is beautiful."
The honest thought slipped out.
We had been through so much since that day.
My childhood spent in the Dawn Village, the ten years after forming an explorers' party with Oliver and Luna, and this past year after joining the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky.
So many things had happened.
As I murmured, Shion smiled and agreed.
"Yeah. The days we've lived through are nothing like what we could have imagined back then. …If I had told myself from that day, 'In ten-odd years, you're going to try to kill Orun,' I definitely wouldn't have believed it."
"It was the incident on the 30th floor of the southern Great Labyrinth last year, right? Back then I was shocked that someone so strong existed. I really could have died there."
"At that time I thought Orun was already dead, so whenever I felt even a trace of his presence, I forced those feelings down. But when I saw the jet-black magical power Orun controlled, I was certain it was him, and my emotions became a complete mess—happiness and all sorts of other feelings mixed together."
"Even though I had lost my memories, the moment I saw Shion's face, I was overwhelmed by an indescribable emotion. If my memories had returned at that moment, I probably would have felt just as chaotic as Shion did."
"…The next time we met was in the otherworld, right? Back then I was truly in despair. If Shion hadn't been there, I wouldn't have been able to stand back up, and even if I had returned, the church would have ravaged everything just the same. I was saved by Shion. Even earlier today, you scolded me when my vision had narrowed. I've come to realize it again and again. To me, Shion is a special existence."
"W-wait! Seriously, wait…!"
As I bared my true feelings, Shion turned bright red and tried to stop my words.
"..."
I waited for her next words as she looked down in silence.
She looked up at me with moist eyes.
"Hey… if you're going to correct me, now's the time…? If you keep going like this, I'm going to take your words literally, you know?"
Shion asked with a trembling voice.
"You can take them literally. —I like you, Shion."
I hadn't planned to say it yet.
But as I recalled everything that had happened while standing in the place where we had made our promise, I couldn't hold back my feelings any longer.
A single tear rolled down Shion's cheek.
"…Really?"
"It's true. The one I cherish the most is only you, Shion."
"I know you're not the kind of person who would say something like this lightly. But words alone aren't enough to put me at ease. …So please, make me feel secure."
Shion looked up at me with trembling eyes.
Without saying anything, I stepped closer and brought my face near hers.
I touched my lips to Shion's closed eyes.
For a brief moment, our time seemed to stop, and it felt as if our hearts were connected.
When I slowly pulled away, Shion wore a deep, happy smile.
"I'm so happy I might die…"
"That would be a problem. I want you to stay by my side from now on. Besides, we still have our promise to go to the outside world together."
"…Yeah, that's right. From now on, right?"
"Yes. There are still so many things I need to do and must do. For now, I'll focus on those, but I also want to create enough happy memories with you that we can laugh about the ten years we were apart when we become grandparents."
"I'll help too. When we become grandparents, I want us to look back on those memories as good ones. For that, we definitely need a happy ending!"
"Yeah. And for that, first we have to…"
"Reclaim the Kyokuto region, right?"
"That's right. The Kyokuto region holds the core of the laws—the Phoenix Shrine. For my own goals, I want to secure that as soon as possible. Besides, reclaiming the Kyokuto region is Fuuka and Hart's long-cherished wish. This is also for the two of them, who have helped me so much until now. I'm going to take it back with everything I have."
"I'll go with you too! Fuuka is my best friend. Besides, if it's necessary to fulfill my 'promise' with Orun, there's no reason for me not to go!"
"Yeah, I'm counting on you."
"Mm! Leave it to me!"
For my own goals, to fulfill my promise with Shion, and to grant my comrades' long-cherished wish, I will continue to fight with everything I have.
Right now, almost everyone living in this world recognizes me as an enemy of the world.
Looking only at the situation, I am at a considerable disadvantage.
But strangely, I don't feel like I will lose.
I have strong comrades, starting with Shion.
Because I am not alone.
The sunlight streaming through a break in the clouds illuminated the silver world.
We looked at each other's faces, laughed together, and once again brought our faces closer without either of us initiating it.