Chapter 305 : Super Weed

Fwoosh!

As soon as I saw the crimson flame forming in Scarlet's palm, I quickly retreated and hid behind Miho.

Then, I peeked my head out from behind her and protested.

"Why! You said you would answer anything!"

"...I certainly did."

Scarlet glared at me with eyes that seemed to be sparking with fire.

"There were so many important questions I could have answered. And all you ask is how old I am?"

"I was really curious! Isn't it my freedom to ask whatever question I want!"

Flinch!

As soon as I met Scarlet's gaze, which looked like it would eat me alive, I quickly pulled my head back in like a turtle.

"..."

I could feel Miho's gaze, which was looking at me with pity.

But I didn't give up and continued to protest while hiding.

"Are you planning on not paying the promised reward to the mercenary who came back after saving the world? Didn't you say that all those who don't pay their rewards on time should be burned to a crisp!"

Miho glanced back at me, who was hiding behind her.

"You're really something else. You knew Scarlet's personality, and you still wanted to ask that?"

"I asked because I knew. Do you think she would have answered if it wasn't now?"

"Hmm. That's true. How wise."

"That's me."

Scarlet let out a deep sigh and scattered the flames she had been holding in her hands.

"Alright, come here."

"Are you going to burn me?"

"I won't burn you."

"Really?"

"I said so."

But when I still hesitated,

"Come out."

Miho's tails dragged me out.

I had no choice but to come out from behind Miho and meet Scarlet's gaze.

"You know what my origin is. And you're still curious?"

I answered with a voice that did not waver.

"Yes."

"..."

Scarlet sighed.

"I... have lived for a very long time."

It seemed she was going to talk.

I exchanged a glance with Miho.

"Born from ashes. I have watched the spring rain fall, the forest turn green, the leaves fall, and the first snow come... countless times."

"How many times have you watched..."

"Well... I stopped counting at some point, so it's not exact. But I think I've seen it more than five thousand times."

"F-five thousand...?"

My mind went blank at the number that far exceeded my expectations.

"Then... five thousand years old?"

Scarlet answered with a face that was now half-resigned.

"At least five thousand years old. In reality, it's probably far more than five thousand."

My jaw dropped.

How long was a dragon's lifespan?

When I looked to the side, Miho's mouth was also wide open.

"Why are you surprised? Didn't you know?"

"I didn't know it was that much. I've lived long enough to be called a legendary being, but to think it was that much..."

Scarlet looked at me.

"Is that a sufficient answer?"

"Uh, yes."

"Then, the second question."

I swallowed my surprise, and then, after thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.

"That time, in the rain. You said you gave up something for me. You said I would be surprised if I knew what you gave up."

"I did."

"What did you give up?"

Scarlet stared at me and then said bluntly.

"Immortality."

My mind went blank for a moment.

Did I hear that right?

Immortality? The immortality of not dying forever?

"Immortality...?"

Suddenly, Istradel's words came to mind.

—Dragons are immortal unless something special happens.

"For me... you gave up immortality?"

"Yes. The balance must be maintained. To gain one thing, you must give up another."

"Do you have any regrets?"

"None."

Scarlet's expression was truly one of relief, without a single regret.

"...Why?"

Crack.

My hand tightened.

What had I done to deserve such a price?

"We are all beings who are running towards death. Everyone is bound to reach the end someday. It's just a matter of whether you reach the finish line quickly or not."

"..."

"I just made a slightly different choice."

"What choice?"

"Will I spend a lonely and desolate rest of my life after all my loved ones have left, and then meet an empty death? Or will I make it a great journey?"

Scarlet smiled brightly.

"I chose a great death."

I was at a loss for words for a moment, and then I barely managed to ask.

"How much... is left?"

"Well. Assuming the world doesn't end, enough to live with you guys, bickering and fighting, and then meet death without any regrets on the same day?"

"..."

"Is that an answer?"

"...I think so."

A strange light appeared in Scarlet's eyes.

"That expression. It's very satisfying. It was worth the wait."

"You have a bad taste."

Scarlet chuckled, as if she found something so amusing.

"The last question."

'The last question...'

As I traveled through the various time periods of the past, the question that had been constantly on my mind came out of my mouth.

"Am I... a created being?"

"Hmm?"

It was an unexpected question, and Scarlet tilted her head.

"What do you mean?"

"Istradel said so. That I am a sword forged by the gods to defeat the Evil God. Then... was everything about me arranged according to the gods' intentions?"

The chilly night air brushed against my cheek.

"Losing my parents and being born in a dirty back alley, being betrayed and losing Tina, falling off a cliff, surviving by desperately cutting down my enemies... was it all, part of a pre-arranged plan?"

My tone grew increasingly heated.

"Was I just a part of fate? My actions, words, thoughts, even my trivial habits. Was I just a meticulously crafted puppet? Was I... really?"

No matter how much I struggled, the result would not have changed?

All of that, the trials I had gone through, was it just a way to sharpen the sword?

"My struggle to survive! My fierce life where death brushed past me at every moment! Was it just a play with a written script!"

Even at this very moment.

The thought that I might be just reciting a pre-determined line.

It was driving me crazy.

"Heok! Heok!"

The things I had thought were my life were denying me.

Was I not the master?

Was I just a puppet controlled by fate?

Even this, according to the gods' intentions...

SLAP!

My vision flashed, and my head turned to the side.

My cheek burned.

"Ashuban."

Scarlet's frosty voice was heard.

"Look at me."

I slowly turned my head and met her clear, green eyes.

"You are not a puppet."

Scarlet looked into my eyes and said in a gentle tone.

"The gods have been watching for a long time. Literally, for over five thousand years. And then, they finally found you."

"..."

"You are not a puppet, but a chosen being. By the gods who are so picky."

"Why? Why did they choose someone like me? A dirty vagrant?"

"Because you shone so brightly. To the point where they had no choice but to choose you."

"That's the most dazzling bullshit I've ever heard."

Scarlet smiled gently.

"The brightest light is the light in the darkness. Have you heard that somewhere before?"

"...I don't know."

"Authenticity is the accumulation of uniqueness."

"Pardon?"

"It's true that you're entangled in fate. But how you accept that fate, how you overcome it, and with what attitude you overcome it."

"..."

"There is no one who has broken through fate like you. Your actions caught the eyes of the gods, and so you were finally chosen by the gods."

"..."

"The cause and effect are a little different. To define you, you are not a 'designed being', but a 'naturally occurring outlaw', or a 'super weed that grew out of nowhere on the side of the road'."

"...A super weed?"

Miho, who had been watching blankly from the side, stared at me.

"It suits you somehow. A super weed."

Scarlet laughed out loud.

As I listened to her laughter, I rolled my cooled head and asked.

"Then what about that prophecy?"

"Hmm?"

"The prophecies that the gods had been spouting about what I would do. The Hero of Light was just spouting them out."

"Ah, there was a misunderstanding. The gods are beings who can freely come and go between the past and the future. We should not judge the gods rashly from our perspective. It will only lead to more misunderstandings."

"Mmm..."

Scarlet patted my shoulder as I was lost in thought.

I bent my legs to meet her eyes.

"Ashuban."

"Yes, Big Sister."

"You are the sharpest sword chosen by the gods. There has never been a sword so fierce and sharp."

"..."

"There were thousands of candidates, but they all failed to overcome the trials and broke. Among them, there were also those who the gods had intended to raise from the beginning, just as you thought. But they were no different."

"...I see."

"You are special. I'm not just saying this."

Scarlet looked at my face as if she were examining it, and then smiled with satisfaction.

"I didn't know Ashuban would be having such existential worries. It feels like just yesterday when you were running around. You've grown."

I could hear the Heavenly Demon clicking his tongue.

[You must be doing well. To be spouting such unfunny nonsense so seriously.]

"..."

[Would you have had such useless fantasies when a sharp blade was at your throat? Life is life, what else is there?]

Ah, how embarrassing.

A wave of shame washed over me, and I covered my face with my hands.

Come to think of it, it was like a child's tantrum.

I could hear Miho's voice from the side.

"Ashuban. Your ears are red."

"Shut up."

I could hear Scarlet's gentle laughter.

A hand with a warm heat came and slowly removed my hands that were covering my face, and green eyes that held the mystery of the beginning of time looked at me.

"Make a face that I can be reassured by. The face you made while cutting down the trials that fate had given you."

I pulled the corners of my mouth.

It drew a smile along the trajectory of my life so far.

A fierce smile that resembled a wolf's.

"That's right."

Only after seeing my smile did Scarlet smile brightly.

"Then now, shall I receive the report?"

"...Yes."

I briefly reported what had happened in the first and second time periods.

And as for what had happened in the last time period, I explained it in as much detail as I could remember.

The Demon God who had become an Evil God.

The rampage of the Evil God who was born, splitting the earth.

The Evil God's steps, which had started from the western demon realm and crossed the continent to the northeast.

The fierce battle of the dragons to block him.

The desolate region in the north of the continent, where the current Maia Kingdom was, which had become the battlefield.

The Evil God who had finally met his death in front of a cliff.

But his fragments had entered a different dimension of time and space that had been torn apart in the process of the battle, and were recovering their strength.

A sign that he would soon be resurrected.

The return of the Evil God was inevitable.

The western demon realm was the place where the Evil God was born.

The misty cliff was the place where his last breath had scattered.

The sword forged by the gods.

And the one who wields it.

Scarlet listened silently.

And when the explanation was all over.

"...That's all."

"I see."

"You don't seem very surprised."

"I was surprised."

"Really?"

"Because I had already guessed to some extent."

"Hmm."

As Istradel had said, had she really finished all the preparations and sent me to get the final confirmation?

But I was still not enough.

I was not ready.

I was not sharp enough.

Not only was my skill not yet comparable to the Eight Sword Masters, but I had not even collected half of the nine colors.

According to her, the Evil God would be returning soon...

"Big Sister."

Scarlet, who had been deep in thought, raised her head.

"Yes?"

"What should I do from now on?"

"First."

"Yes."

"Rest."

"Pardon?"

Scarlet patted my shoulder affectionately.

"You've been through a lot. Even the sharpest sword needs to be oiled and wiped once in a while. For now, get some good rest."

"But, the return of the Evil God..."

"It's not going to happen tomorrow. It's only soon from the perspective of a dragon who lives a life close to eternal life, but you still have time. Don't worry."

"Ah."

At those words, the tension in my shoulders eased.

Sleepiness washed over me.

Only then did I realize how tired I was.

Come to think of it, I don't think I had rested for a single moment while I was time traveling.

"Haaam... I should go and get some sleep too."

"What did you do to be so sleepy?"

"I worked hard as a guardian."

"For how long?"

"Well. Maybe about ten minutes."

"Ten minutes. Thank you."

I was about to return to Guston's restaurant with Miho...

"Ah, Big Sister."

"Yes?"

"This."

I handed the red bead to Scarlet.

"This is...?"

"Your mother told me to give it to you."

Scarlet took the red bead with an awkward but very careful touch.

"...Mother."

I delivered Istradel's last message to her.

"She said she was sorry, and that she loved you."

"..."

I left Scarlet, who was standing there blankly with the red bead in her hand, and left with Miho.

"Was there no message for me?"

"Who are you?"

"I am Scarlet's closest friend."

"I doubt it."

"Tsk."

* * *

Chirp, chirp.

The sound of insects echoed softly, and the stars watched quietly in the night.

In front of the cliff where the night fog, which reflected the moonlight, was shimmering hazily.

"Mother... huh."

Scarlet muttered, staring at the red bead.

It was a word that didn't stick to her mouth, Scarlet thought.

"Primus Ignis Istradel."

Her name, which she had heard from Ashuban.

It meant Istradel, who held the first flame.

On the small, red bead, very complex magic formulas were drawn in tiny letters.

Looking at it, one could not help but admire the wonder of ancient magic.

Scarlet thought for a moment, and then carefully injected her magic power into the bead.

Fwoosh!

A large flame erupted.

But, it was the kind of flame that felt warm, not hot.

It grew in size and flickered here and there, and then, it formed a certain shape.

—Hello, our daughter.

Fiery red hair, and green eyes that sparkled like stars.

Scarlet could recognize her, who looked so much like her, at a glance.

"...Mother."

A beautiful single flame that had bloomed from the ashes.

Scarlet Bellucci.

She did not leave the cliff until dawn broke.

While replaying the video containing the welcome over and over again.

(End of Chapter)