Dark Fantasy Normalized

72 – Farewell (?)

Light temporarily returned to the man’s eyes.

The first thing the man did, barely regaining consciousness, was to resign himself and despair.

“This is… no good. I have one final request. Kill me. Before I lose myself completely.”

He who looked upon the threshold of the seventh level was truly a warrior.

Countless battlefields and brushes with death, none could break the man’s will.

And yet, he, with a pristine body, without a single wound, lay upon the bed, accepting his end so readily.

Utterly hollow, yet utterly clear.

Such was the end of one addicted to a murky truth.

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Indeed, it was the herb used as a material for the Dark Elves’ elixirs.

The noble felt the fiery energy boiling within him.

The noble thought.

With this power, the wall that blocked him would no longer be a problem.

And so, a day passed, then two, and then fifteen.

“Hot… Hot…!”

The noble writhed, consumed by the fierce fire that seemed to devour his own body.

The unrefined fire would not subside.

Rather, it grew ever more intense.

Until it had completely burned the man away.

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The vassals reminisced on the old lord’s majestic appearance.

“Do you seek to test me? Very well. I accept your challenge. You insignificant creature.”

At the time, no one considered it arrogance.

The lord was the master of the blue magic tower and the head of a great family, and it was merely a low-ranking demon.

And one year passed since then.

Ruin befell the once prosperous land.

The eyes of the lord, who had possessed wisdom and bravery, were now filled with turbidity.

All of this happened because a great wizard had accepted a mere fraction of a low-ranking demon’s power.

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“…Master?”

“Huh?”

“Are you… alright?”

Near the end of breakfast.

Katria asked Lysir carefully.

“…Wait a sec! Now that I think about it-“

“…!”

“Your hairstyle seems different than usual, too!?”

“?”

“No, I misspoke. It’s your makeup!”

“?”

“No, that’s not it either, the bread tastes…!”

“…”

“Damn it. Was I only ever this useless? Sorry, Tia. What did I miss?”

“It’s nothing like that. I was just wondering if there was anything else bothering you-“

“Bothering me, huh? Let’s see. If I had to say something, maybe they could cut back on the bread and add a bit more meat?”

Lots of bread, not much meat.

That was all the discomfort Lysir, addicted to the murky truth, having consumed four hundred lotus, and being eroded by the power of Verndandes, felt now.

Katria finally felt the unease.

Lysir’s outward state seemed too fine.

Like nothing had happened.

Like some kind of reason had resolved all the issues.

“The meat, you say!? I understand! From tomorrow- no, from dinner tonight, I’ll definitely make sure to focus on that!”

Katria said, full of vigor.

It was the most natural display of her usual bright maid self.

Her heart was racing.

Perhaps, a miracle had happened without her even realizing it, fueled by hope.

“Cough…!”

However, that hope was immediately denied.

Lysir, trying to say something, covered his mouth with his hand and coughed.

“Master!?”

Rishir lowered the hand that had stifled his cough.

His palm was stained a dark, bloody red.

***

Yesterday.

After the sparring match with Meltas, Rishir had spent a chaotic time.

A burst of erratic vision magic had led him to check his body, and it turned out all sorts of things had accumulated within him.

Rishir had spent the night gathering all those things, completely mastering them as his own.

He had manipulated mana until he was satisfied.

As a result, mana backlash and overload had followed.

Not to a level that was truly concerning.

Ever since his near-death experience with mana overload in the past, he had drastically lowered his limit.

It was, comparatively, a minor symptom akin to muscle soreness.

‘Then what is this?’

Rishir stared at the blood that dyed his hand crimson.

‘Hmm?’

He then realized the strange foreign feeling he’d been having in his body since yesterday had disappeared.

‘Come to think of it, they said the Azure Breath has the effect of expelling bodily waste.’

Rishir made that rough guess.

Surprisingly, it was a conclusion close to the truth.

Verdandes.

The remnants of a once-powerful demon that had dominated the desert region, were now waste, being expelled from his body.

Rishir felt a pleasant exhilaration and spoke.

***

“It’s okay. It’s nothing, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

He conjured a soft smile.

With blood still smeared on his lips.

Katria, unconsciously, stared at his face.

Thus, she observed his features more carefully than before.

And then things she hadn’t noticed before began to come into view.

Namely, the clear signs of exhaustion.

“Ah…”

Katria realized.

That he seemed unfazed wasn’t because he was truly okay.

It was just that he was pretending not to be, which was why it looked that way.

“…”

In a way, it was obvious.

How could he be okay?

Even at this very moment, his mind and body were surely being consumed.

Katria felt a deep self-loathing.

Remembering her own self, just moments before, denying that obvious fact and escaping from reality.

“Tia…?!”

“How…”

Katria’s expression was stained with pain.

“How can you… how can you smile like that…?”

Lisir, flustered, looked down at his own hands.

‘Damn it. Why are the wastes coming up? Can’t they just go down honestly.’

He assumed the maid was crying because she was shocked by his spitting up blood, so he offered her a kind smile, trying to soothe her.

“It’s alright, Tia. It’s nothing. So, don’t worry so much.”

“…!”

A flood of emotion.

The mask of a lively maid that Katria had been wearing crumbled.

To stem the tide, she covered her face with both her hands.

The way Lisir had acted was gouging her heart.

What in the world should she say to him?

-It’s alright, Tia. It’s nothing.

To him, who was so optimistic, not knowing his condition at all.

-So, don’t worry so much.

To him, who was worrying about her even in this situation.

How nice it would be…

-That’s right. It’ll be okay.

If only she could have reassured him with a smile.

But she couldn’t.

The signs of fatigue she couldn’t fully conceal, even with acting.

Coughing up blood.

Katria felt the end she had so desperately postponed closing in.

Rishir.

He wouldn’t make it past today.

She had failed to save him, after all.

In the end, she was the one who brought him to ruin.

The man who had saved her world, no less.

Pity and guilt towards Rishir.

Self-loathing and disappointment.

It all tangled together, strangling her.

She gasped for breath.

The urge to wail choked her chest.

“Tia…?”

But she had to hold back.

She didn’t deserve to cry.

She didn’t deserve to trouble him.

Then what?

What should she do now?

“…Master!”

Maid Tia lifted her head.

“Could I ask you a favor!?”

“A favor?”

“Yes! Today, I want to spend time with you, Master!”

Maid Tia said with an unusually bright smile.

“…Shall we?”

Rishir couldn’t refuse her request.

Because in her eyes, which were shining with an unusually bright smile, tears had welled up.

***

Aside from the maid sticking to my side like glue, it was an otherwise unremarkable day.

Having dealt with most of the merchant guild heads’ requests, Lysir spent his usual day at the magic tower.

Reading books, training his body, and then, just as he was about to receive a lesson from Meltas,

“Master!”

Maid Tia, fidgeting, spoke to him.

Spending the final moments of his life with ordinary routine.

Lysir didn’t know how his actions were perceived by her.

A throb!

To Tia, Lysir was a man who loved his life.

It was only natural.

“If it’s not rude, may I ask you something?”

“Yeah. What is it?”

“If today were the last day of your life, what would you do, Master?”

“…Well? I haven’t really thought about it.”

“…”

A throb!

Again, as would be expected, he wasn’t prepared to face his end.

“Then, changing the question – what is something you want to do right now?”

“…”

Why is she being like this all of a sudden?

Lysir tried to figure out Tia’s intentions.

Ever since she saw him cough up blood, her behavior had been noticeably strange.

Almost anxious, one might say.

‘Is she thinking that if something happens to me, she might be returned to slavery?’

Lysir nodded his head.

It seemed he needed to spend today calming her unstable mind.

“Tia, if you’re okay with it, would you like a tour of the magic tower?”

“…Yes! I’d like that!”

They both smiled, pleased with each other’s responses.

***

The final destination of their tower outing was a pond nestled at the edge of the mage tower grounds.

Lishir and Katria sat side-by-side on a bench, watching the pond soak in the twilight.

Katria thought.

A pleasant quiet.

Just as he’d said, a truly beautiful sight.

She wished time could stop right there.

“Tia.”

“…!”

Lishir’s voice, then.

Right.

Time doesn’t stop.

His remaining time would keep on flowing.

“Did you have… fun?”

That gaze.

Katria realized.

The reason he spent this time with her, today.

He was gifting her his time.

Not even knowing it was his own time he was giving.

In the end, she was always the one being helped, right down to the last, final moment.

The one being a burden.

“Master.”

“Yeah?”

“Today, was really fun.”

“Really? That’s good then.”

“Really, really, really… I don’t think there’ll ever be a more fun time in my life…”

“…That much? Should I start a mage tower tour business, then?”

“And, Master… how was it for you?”

Lishir smiled as brightly as he could, hoping to reassure her.

“It was fun. Fun enough to die today without regrets.”

“…!”

Throb!

Katria turned her gaze from him, looking back at the pond.

“If you’re alright with it, would you spend time with me again tomorrow?”

“Should I?”

“Tomorrow… take me outside the tower… show me Bondales…”

“Yeah. I got it.”

“…I’m happy.”

Katria smiled brightly.

Rishir carefully stroked her back.

Because tears were streaming from her brightly smiling eyes.

And so, the day came to an end.

***

“Tia. Wake up. We have to go see Bondales.”

“…”