178 177. Toward the light.txt (1/2)

I spill my voice out as if to confirm it.

'Well, wait, Palinkron ....... What do you mean ......

It's like I said. With my power, I can revive Aikawa Yotaki. Then the boy's long battle will be over.

'No, but ......, that can't be ......, that can't be .......'

You can. I'll make it work for the boy. I'll return to the world with Yotaki, who is more important than life, and spend the rest of my life as Aikawa Uzumi. That would be the best happiness for the boy, right?　I'm going to make it happen.

Palinclone was trying to help me, just like the friends of yesteryear.

It was a conversation that I didn't think we had been killing each other just a moment ago.

'We can't go back to the world right away, but we'll get that ready for you at some point. So, until then, please wait quietly in the unpopulated, narrow-minded land. Alone.

Without me, Palinclone goes on with his story on his own.

But the story is not a bad one for me. So I can't think of stopping it.

On the contrary, I let out a flirtatious voice as if I were clinging to a straw.

”Ho, really--?

Yeah, that's true.

'It's a lie ....... There's no way you can revive someone that easily. That's exactly what I need to do, I need to go to the 'deepest' part of the labyrinth--

”But I did manage to 're-birth' Hein. You've already met him.

It's a story I've been wanting from the back of my throat, and yet I can't accept it because of the story that has suddenly fallen and sprung up. I was suspicious, and Palinkron continued to explain to me.

'But that's ......, he said it was different. Rastiara and the others said it wasn't, too.

'Well, those guys would say that. But did you really think that after talking to that one?　That memory, that personality, that talk, that way of life, how could you say it wasn't Hein in the face of that?　Boy, what did you think?

When I first met Hailey, the first thing I thought of was Mr. Hein's face.

And I also felt that he was lying when he insisted that it wasn't Mr. Hein. The last time I saw her, I was under the illusion that she was the second coming of Ms. Hein.

It's a good thing that you're not the only one.

It was in front of a respected knight .......

It's true that there are some impurities mixed in. But that's definitely Hein Helvilleshain. I've succeeded in reviving Hine. And I'm confident that this time I'll be able to give him a more complete revival.

Palinclone assured him.

There was no sign of anxiety there at all.

Heili is the one who 're-born' Mr. Hein, and from now on, Yotaki will be 're-born'. That's just a definite matter.

''Ah, ah, ......, ah, .......''

I let out what sounded like a sob.

Suddenly, the words are unspoken in hope.

My body is trembling before the happy ending. It's not the unpleasant trembling I was experiencing earlier.

But I'm sure it's not something I can take in for granted so easily. I frantically make up words to confirm the conditions for a happy ending.

'So, but 'I' isn't 'Aikawa Uzumi' and 'Yotaki' isn't my sister ......'

When the time comes for me to get close to happiness, I become a bit of a coward.

Seeing me, Palingkulon smiled at me.

''I just told you. But the boy will still help Yotaki, right?　Hey, I'm sure Yotaki Aikawa thinks you're his brother. After all, that's just the way it is.

I see myself in ”Dimension”.

Certainly, if it's as I remember it, it's the same figure as ”Aikawa Uzumi”. Even I made a mistake myself, so even if it's my own sister, there's a high probability of making a mistake.

But that's too--......

'Does that make you feel guilty?　Then let's revive the Aikawa brothers and sisters together. The boy can call himself ”Christ” and see to it that the unfortunate Aikawa siblings become happy. This brother and sister's happiness is the boy's mission, right?　You will be greatly appreciated, won't you?　Even if we see it through, it's still a happy ending for the boy. The point is, as long as it ends, that's all that matters, right?

I immediately came up with an alternative.

An alternative that knows my character well. There's no denying it.

'Sure, I do, but ......'

'Of course, then you can invite the young lady and the masters behind you to join us. The boy should be happy, along with his friends. Then, this time, everyone will be happy, and everyone will be happy in the grand scheme of things.

'What?　Oh, um, yeah, ......

I had been disappointed that Maria was behind me.

I felt a little guilty as I remembered my friends' presence.

And my anxiety about the remaining problems grew.

Palinclone was sensitive to the subtleties of this small anxiety and was quick to add.

'Don't worry, I'll take down the Apostle Sith and save the girl called Dia. If anyone dies from now on, I will bring them back to life. So don't worry about anything else.

He says that Palinkron will take back Dear and everything else.

Surely, if that happens, all the troubles I had will be gone.

'Yes. ......'

Reluctantly I nodded.

'You don't have to think about it anymore. The more you think about it, the more you will suffer. It's best for the boy to end his life in peace and happiness in a distant land where neither continents nor labyrinths matter. ......

It was a new 'path' that was too convenient.

I had no other choice but to accept that Palinkulon's words.

It's the words I've always wanted and the 'other way' I've always wanted.

I heard it at the worst possible time and in the worst possible way. There are only two people here, me and Palinkulon. So there's no way to resist or be strong.

It just seemed that it was a story that only benefited me and not Palinclone at all. What little thought I had left to form the words of the question.

'But you want to fight me, don't you ......?'

You've done enough fighting. You can't fight anymore, can you?　Then I won't ask you to do anything. I'm going to find my next enemy.

With that, Palinclone reached out to me, who was on his knees and crying.

I feel like I'm making sense. The only thing I could do was take it at face value, as I didn't have the energy to think about anything else.

-- Palinclone will give you a reward.

He says that he recognizes my efforts to fight in the other world to this day and will give me compensation for that.

I fall for that temptation. Like a newborn baby wandering around looking for its parents.

'Oh, Palinclone ....... I am, I am .......

With both knees propped up, I try to reach out my trembling hands.

Little by little, Palinkulon's hand and mine draw closer.

When our hands are connected, my story will end.

The story of the labyrinth - or rather, the story of exposing the truth of the world - in order to return to my world will end.

But...

”--No (・・・・・)

A dignified voice passed through the wilderness of heavy rain that seemed to copy my mind.

The world where I was alone with Palinkulon was broken and a third party intervened.

With an illusion that the haze that covered the world had cleared, the owner of the voice appeared.

A soft wind blows.

A girl with silver hair appears, taking off her transparent wind robe.

Behind her, there is also a boy with golden hair hanging down.

I knew the names of those two people.

It's Heili and Ryner.

Two new 'wedges', two new opponents that must be strengthened, have come.

Naturally, I stop extending my hand.

'If you take that hand, Palinkron wins, boy. The fight is not over yet. You must not give in to temptation.'

Heili stops me with a stern tone when she shows up.

Putting down the liner, Heili walks over to me, her silver hair fluttering in the air.

Me and Palinclone are surprised by the sudden intervention of a third party. So we couldn't answer or move immediately.

Haili leaves the stunned Palinclone in a daze and takes my hand and makes me stand up. Then he urged me to move away from Palinclone.

I manage to move my flailing legs and stumble to my feet.

Heili speaks to Palinkron.

'You are still very good at bringing people down, Palinkron. But it's a sign of cowardice that you only get bossy when you have the upper hand.

......, why are you here?

Palinclone lets out a shudder. It's a rare sight for him to be so calm and collected.

It can be seen from his expression that Hailey's appearance was completely out of calculation.

That's as it should be. As a ”Jewelculus”, she shouldn't be here. There is no way she can be here.

Of course, at this moment, Hailey's body is still melting. It seems that the wind magic is neutralizing the effects of the World Consecration Formation, but even so, it's far from perfect. It's a slow and steady approach to death. If they continue to stay here, they will suffer the same fate as the soldiers not long ago.

However, Haili doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all, even though the particles of magic power are dissipating from her body.

''Go back now!　It's going to take you down!　Why are you here!

Palinclone pays his hand to the side and tries to send Hailey away.

I felt the same way as Palinclone.

'Heili ......, or, body, you're melting ......!　Why are you here ......!

Before we parted at the fort, I told him to get out of here.

'I'm sorry. I was going to come to the 'center' from the beginning. ...... Hmmm. But Maria's fire made me break out in a cold sweat. If we weren't knights of the wind, we would have been in danger.

Heili talks about how he is dying here, as if he is laughing at the fact that he is dying here.

She had no intention of running away from the beginning. Certainly, if I recall the story of the fort, he didn't nod at my words to run away. But I didn't expect him to show up at this time.

'Hine's brother!　Take that fool away now!　It's not too late for your magic.　This time all of your brother will be lost!

Leaving Hailey, who just smiles and doesn't try to run away at all, Palinkron calls out to Ryner.

Ryner's body is also beginning to melt.

Since both of them are high level knights, they won't be melting off anytime soon. But it's still dangerous.

Still, Ryner remains silent and does not move.

Instead, Hailey replies.

'I will not leave this place.' --The boy taught me that. That I will not give up until the end and fight for what is important to me. So I will stay strong and fight until the end.

When I stopped being strong, Heili said he was going to be strong as if it was a guessing game.

Hearing those words, I took a step back, as if I was scared.

'Fighting for what's important ......?'

I had completely given up on all that.

I was going to drop everything and leave it to Palinkron.

But Heili was not going to allow that to happen, and he packed up on me. Heili's face contorts for a moment, but then quickly tightens up and appeals.

''Listen, boy. I can't let Palinkron resuscitate me like that.''

And I assure you that Palinkron cannot make a happy ending.

I'm speechless at that callous declaration.

Palinkron opens his big mouth too.

'Hey, what are you talking about, hey ......?'

Leaving the Palinclone, who looks out of his mind, Hailey continues to talk to me.

'Look at me here. After all, he wasn't able to revive a single friend. After all those fresh corpses.

I couldn't answer easily. Because to admit that was the same as saying that the 'other way' presented earlier would be blocked.

So it was Palinkron who answered it.

'No, wait. Wait, hey. You've been successfully revived ....... You're Hein Helvirshain, aren't you ......!

No, I'm not. I'm Heili.

Pithily, Heili denies it.

He continues to speak to chase away Palinclone, who flinches at the affirmation.

'-- You failed to revive Hine.

'I didn't fail. ......!　Resuscitation is a success. You're Hein. I defeated Reincarnation!

'If ...... then why did you throw me away after you resuscitated me?　Did you send them away to escape?

What?　No, wait. Really wait. And there's no reason for it. If there is a reason, it's a good one. Good intentions to let you do what you want with your short life span.

'You're lying. You can't have that kind of compassion.

'No, seriously, good intentions, man!　You're saying all the right things just because they're me, dude!

'Because you couldn't really watch, could you?　It must have been hard for you to face the reality that this man who was your friend, Hein, was never coming back.　So they tried to pretend that I was the end of that process and that I didn't exist.

'Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Hein, what are you talking about ......?　Can you see me with that kind of compassion ......?　No, this is before that. I didn't fail. I don't know what's different about you. You may look different, you may change gender, but your mentality is the same as Hain's: ......?

'Then did you look so sad when you first saw me ......?　When you finally got to see your friend again, you had your face contorted because you failed ......, didn't you?

'No. ....... It's not. It's the opposite. I was just sad that I succeeded then .......

'You're the one who's talking about it!　Why do you succeed and be sad!

That's--......

Palinclone finally clammed up under Hailey's angry barrage of questions.

I can see that she is confused by a situation she did not expect at all. Of course, that's me too.

'You can't revive him. No, you can't. Hence, boy, don't be fooled!　This man is trying to coax you into doing the impossible, promising you the impossible!

Then he stands in front of me and tries to protect me from the Palinkron.

My mind wavers in the face of those realistic words. I can no longer believe in the existence of a convenient happy ending.

'Wait, boy!　I'm not lying about this one!

Palinclone shouted in a panic. I tried to repair the connection between me and Palinclone, which was about to be interrupted.

No longer did the Palinclone in front of me have his typical calmness and composure.

So much so that I guess he hadn't expected Hailey's appearance. No, perhaps there was another reason for this bizarre dismay.

Palinclone is wildly persuaded to match Hailey's wielding of forceful logic.

'It's for the boy's sake that you don't recognize yourself as a Hine, isn't it!　You're trying to empower us to stand in the same situation!　No matter what memories they put into you, no matter what you remember, you wanted to show us that you are 'me'!　But that self-sacrifice, that chivalrous compassion, that misguided meddling!　For all intents and purposes, you're Hein!

I know that you want to think that, but you're wrong. But you are mistaken. I don't think I'm Hein at all.

f*ck you--!

Palinkron clicks his tongue.

He understands that a proper argument is futile, and turns his face to me, holding out his hands, indicating Hyli to appeal.

'Boy!　As you can see, I've 're-born' Hein!　At this rate, your brother's sister will be 're-born' too!