161. The Beginning (3)
He died.
The Apostle who had lived with me, who remembered me, met his death.
And by his own hand, no less.
"Rest now, Jun-woo. I'll bring you back soon..."
Minerva sent her tears down the cliff where Lee Jun-woo had fallen.
Then she turned her head toward the direction of the scream that had just rung out.
There stood the Thief in a state of shock.
Hare stood motionless.
"You're too late, Thief. Your uncle has already departed."
"Why... why did uncle..."
"He couldn't keep rolling. He was too wounded and worn down."
"N-no... Why would uncle... l-leave us behind...? Y-you pushed him to his death..."
Hare drew a dagger from her bosom, tears streaming down her face.
Minerva watched her and thought to herself.
*...Her eyes have completely lost it. To think this Thief will have to defeat the Demon King in an even worse state than this.*
Good thing I didn't show Jun-woo this.
"I'll kill you... I'm going to kill you... A-and then I'll... b-bring uncle back..."
Minerva shouted to stop Hare, who was approaching with her whole body trembling.
"Wait, Thief. I'm the Goddess who was helping Jun-woo—"
"Y-you're lying... I saw everything...? Y-you pushed uncle with your hand... You killed him..."
"...This is bad."
Hare showed no signs of stopping.
And even if she knew the truth, she had no intention of stopping.
*It's all... all that woman's fault... Whoever she is, she didn't stop uncle... It's the same as killing him...*
It's absolutely not my fault.
"My beloved uncle absolutely didn't die because of my fault..."
Because Hare's mind was doing its best to deflect the arrow elsewhere to keep her from going insane.
Dominated by her unconscious, Hare couldn't stop her actions.
Not without someone else's help.
"D-die...!!"
"Stop, Hare."
Thud—
Luna grabbed Hare's arm and stopped her.
"That person really is the Goddess."
"Y-you're lying... How would you know that...? A-are you taking that woman's side...?"
"...What did you just say?"
Absurd words.
Luna pressed down hard on Hare's shoulder with her hand, suppressing her anger as much as possible.
With bloodshot eyes from holding back tears, Luna glared at Hare.
"You think you're the only one who liked uncle...? You think you're the only one in shock...? Even if I'm the Hero, I'm still human, you know...?"
Don't speak carelessly.
I'm holding back too.
Luna released the shoulder she was gripping and threw Hare to the ground.
Hare lay on the ground, covering her face and bursting into tears.
She cried so miserably that she could barely breathe.
"...Just cry there. I'm going to go talk with the Goddess."
The Holy Sword said the key to resolving this situation lay with the Goddess.
Luna walked toward Minerva, hiding her accumulated emotions in her heart.
She had many things she wanted to say to the Goddess.
"...Why did you let uncle die?"
"I have no reason to tell you why when you don't understand. It's complicated."
"..."
Luna placed her hand on her heart and drew out the brightly glowing Holy Sword.
"...The Holy Sword said it could revive uncle. Is that true?"
Luna had witnessed uncle falling.
Her heart felt like it was falling into hell, and she tried to jump down the cliff to save him.
But at that moment, the Holy Sword stopped Luna's action and said:
—It's alright, Hero. If you try hard enough, you can save that man. Repeat endless deaths and turn back time.
However.
Because it was clearly different from the Holy Sword's usual voice when speaking to her.
Luna couldn't leap to her death.
*...Why couldn't I die? Time would turn back... Were my feelings for uncle only that much?*
And she found herself utterly disgusted for not jumping.
Minerva cut off Luna's thoughts and said:
"No, you can't save Jun-woo no matter what you do."
"Then what did the Holy Sword say? Did the Holy Sword lie to me?"
"I told you through Jun-woo. Don't trust the Holy Sword so much."
"Why... why not...?"
"The Holy Sword is a Hero Party that failed to defeat the Demon King."
Minerva spoke matter-of-factly.
However, Luna's thoughts stopped for a moment upon hearing Minerva's words.
*The Holy Sword is a Hero Party...? Wh-what does that mean... Does that mean we'll become a Holy Sword too if we fail to defeat the Demon King...?*
Luna felt a chill run through her.
Minerva seemed to have more to say to her, but closed her mouth and looked down the cliff.
"Let's talk about that later and bring up Jun-woo's bod... body first. We don't have time. We need to return quickly."
"..."
Luna nodded at Minerva's words for now.
Her head wasn't working properly, and negative emotions were overflowing inside her.
*It's all my fault. I should have stopped uncle. I shouldn't have left uncle alone...*
It's all my fault.
Everything is all my fault.
What's the point of being a Hero if I can't even protect the precious people around me?
"I'm the idiot uncle said I was..."
Luna muttered negative words as she headed down the cliff.
Uncle's fallen body didn't look too damaged from the outside.
Rather, the problem was that blood was flowing from his most important organ—his heart.
He was no longer breathing.
"Uncle... why did you suddenly leave us...? I'll listen well from now on, so can't you come back...?"
"..."
There was no answer.
Only Luna's wailing could be heard from below the cliff.
The body with faint warmth remaining gave no response.
After crying for a long time while holding uncle, Luna carefully lifted his body and handed it to Minerva.
"...Thank you, Hero. I'll give my Apostle a proper farewell. And I'll talk to you later... so please keep your emotions in check until then."
The Goddess Minerva left only those words and departed.
Luna and Hare, left behind, felt an unbearable emptiness.
"Uncle really died...? Ha, haha... That doesn't make sense... There's no way uncle died...?"
"I saw it. Uncle is dead."
"...You're lying. There's no way the strongest person in the world died."
So Hare struggled one last time, treating it as a lie.
"When we go home, uncle will be there welcoming us... He didn't fall off the cliff, he was just going home quickly—"
"Stop saying nonsense—!!"
And Luna couldn't just watch such struggling.
Luna spoke strongly to Hare, who was muttering to herself.
"Uncle is dead—!! I saw it—! I saw him fall—! I saw him stab a needle into his heart when he died—! So what do you mean uncle is alive—!! Stop saying things that don't make sense—!!"
Face reality—!!
At Luna's anguished cry, Hare's eyes widened.
"...Why? Then why did uncle die...? Because that teacher woman did something wrong...? Or because we did something wrong...?"
"Please just stop."
"Someone must have done something wrong... for him to die...? Uncle... why did he die...?"
"..."
Luna understood Hare's heart.
She understood the desire to blame someone.
However, the weight Luna carried with the name of Hero was heavier than Hare's.
"...I'm going home first. Let's talk at home."
It's my fault.
Everything is all my fault.
Chewing on those thoughts inside, Luna walked toward home, leaving Hare behind.
"We're here, so why did you leave, uncle... Is it because I did something wrong...?"
Thinking that she was now going to a home without uncle made her steps heavier than usual.
I took my own life.
I didn't want to live, and there was no meaning in living any longer.
"..."
But.
Why didn't I want to live?
Why did I think there was no meaning in living any longer?
I couldn't find a clear answer to those thoughts.
*...Why did I do that?*
I can't remember at all.
I think I heard something about happiness or something.
Why did that person say such things to me?
*My head hurts. It's dark.*
I don't know.
Feeling a headache, I turned my head to look around.
It was dark all around, and I tried to move my body to move.
*...I can't move.*
What is this place?
What kind of place is this?
Why am I here?
As I thought about such questions and what I could do.
Creeeeak—
With the sound of something opening, light came in from above.
At the same time, a woman's voice mixed with moisture was heard.
*This voice... sounds like the person who said something about happiness back then...*
Her name... I don't know.
For now, I decided to focus on listening to her voice.
—I'm sorry for putting you in such a cramped space, Jun-woo.
Jun-woo.
So that's my name.
—To preserve your soul existing in this world, this was the only way to record you... I hope you understand...
Record?
Why is this woman saying such things to me while sobbing?
—Aina also chose to be an Apostle for your future, so it won't be bad...
Rustle—
The sound of turning pages was heard, and the woman's voice continued.
—Until the Hero Party fulfills their wish to me. Rest there for a while. I'll take you out of there soon and send you back to your original world...
After she finished speaking, water fell from the sky for a moment.
I couldn't understand what that woman was saying.
But the emotion that she was worried about and thinking of me was conveyed to me.
—So... don't worry about the Hero Party and rest comfortably... It will be a difficult path... but those children will work hard for you, okay? I used too much power, so I'll be going now...
With that small voice as the end.
Bang—
With a sound, my surroundings went dark again.
*...*
I felt like I had forgotten something important.