NOVEL NEXT Chapter 60
[Ronan!]
“Suddenly, what…?”
I jolted up in surprise. Stella and Pina… they are sleeping.
No, it looks more like… fainting? Passing out, maybe?
Even the magical restraints I had tied them with are completely undone. Their clothes… are changed into my pajamas.
What on earth… is this situation?
[Ah, ahhh… Aah! Finally!]
The light aura snuggling in my arms, rubbing its cheek on my chest… I looked at the squirrel enveloped in this light.
“…What, what are you?”
[It’s me!! It’s me!]
I frowned and carefully grasped the chattering squirrel with both hands.
A talking squirrel.
And it knows my name, my past life!
And… I sense a strangely familiar power.
It doesn’t look like an ordinary animal.
Of course. A talking squirrel couldn’t be a normal animal. So then, what on earth is going on?
Should I kill it? Should I spare it? What is it?
Killing it wouldn’t be a huge problem, I guess.
“Who are you to know me?”
[Flora!]
“Flora?”
[Yep! That’s my real name! The name ‘Sparkle’ is what ‘you’ gave me!]
“…Sparkle?”
My mouth dropped open.
“Ba, Sparkle? Is that you?”
[Kyaahahahaha! Look at your expression! You do remember me! Ahhh… I’ve missed you. Really…]
“This is insane… Are you really Sparkle?”
[Yes! I’m Sparkle! Do you know how much I wanted to talk to you?!]
“…Oh my God.”
Sparkle.
The child of the World Tree, barely rescued from the fallen Beastman land 400 years ago. So, a spirit.
Back then, we couldn’t even communicate properly; it was just like a dust floating in the air.
But now…
“Why do you look like that?”
[What?! Is that what you should be saying right now?! I actually want to ask! Ronan, why do you look like that?]
“No, damn it. I mean, I…”
How should I explain this?
Where should I even start?
Should I start from when I died?
While I was lost in thought, Sparkle kept chattering on.
[Did you develop some weird hobby over 400 years? No way. Ronan, I’ve hardly seen any male like you, so manly, turned into… a cute girl now. Even your hair is cherry blossom colored, just like Arisa’s. Oh my god!]
“Sparkle, I can easily blow you up and kill you in one go, you know? So, if you keep yapping nonsense, it’ll be bad news.”
[My goodness… Your filthy mouth hasn’t changed a bit.]
The squirrel stared blankly with its mouth open.
That look was funny, yet ridiculous.
Also, I felt a strange mood… I was recognized as my past self.
“Ugh, I… yeah. I think I’ve reincarnated.”
[Reincarnated…?]
“Yeah. My current name is Eliaernes Eustetia.”
[…What?]
“Eustetia. The descendant of Arisa.”
[Descendant of Arisa? No way… That can’t be…!]
“I thought the same countless times. But it happened. Anyway, how did you recognize me?”
[I can’t possibly not recognize Ronan’s soul. Although maybe you are a little weakened now… but anyway, it’s definitely Ronan’s soul.]
“Soul?”
[Yes. Ronan. Your soul is… how should I say… well, very hot, fierce, and scary… Such a distinctive soul, so easy to recognize. Frankly, Paulo, Luna, Kaloso, Arisa, they all have their quirks, but with you, it’s just different. Hehe.]
“I might have been a rough and fiery guy.”
That aside, it seems my soul was recognized.
It means my soul is the same as in my past life.
Sure enough, nothing has changed. I am Ronan.
Ronan Luzarack, and Eliaernes Eustetia.
My thoughts were not delusional.
I wasn’t an insane chimpanzee.
Both me and Sparkle know that fact, and for some reason, I couldn’t help but smile.
“By the way, Sparkle, where the hell have you been chasing after me?”
[Huh? I wasn’t chasing after Ronan!]
“Then?”
[I was inside Pina’s body all this time!]
“…Huh?”
[Didn’t Pina tell you? She’s a child blessed by the World Tree! That’s why I could approach her after persuading her so much!]
“This is… what the hell…”
A Beastman blessed by the World Tree.
That means…
It speaks of royal blood among the Beastmen.
That squirrel sprawled out on the bed is a royal Beastman.
The Beastman king’s role is different from an ordinary king.
It’s not a position that’s revered among Beastmen; it must be chosen by the World Tree, which truly protects them.
That’s why they can see spirits, handle them, and finally, communicate with the World Tree.
But.
Why does such a king…
“What on earth happened to make you look like that?”
[What do you mean ‘look like that’? There’s nothing I couldn’t say to this child.]
Smack. The squirrel’s tiny fist hit my lips.
[I can explain a lot, but I think it’s better if you hear it from Pina later. She will tell you everything one day!]
After saying that, Sparkle made a pretend gloomy face and watched me carefully.
[But, reincarnation… How did this happen? Ronan… did you really die?]
“Did I really die? What does that even mean?”
[… So it really happened because of ‘that’?]
“No. It’s not because of ‘that.’ It was just…”
I was about to explain how I died, but I shut my mouth instead, rubbing my sore chest.
It’s quite… embarrassing and shameful to say I died while trying to protect Arisa…
“I just died in a fight. But what do you mean asking if I really died?”
[At the end, when the Demon King was sealed, Ronan was said to be absent… The World Tree told me that. So… I was hoping you hadn’t really died.]
Tears filled Sparkle’s eyes.
[You’ve been so willful, violent, eccentric, hot-headed, irritable, always angry, cursing, hitting, rough, with a terrible temper, a total jerk, a psycho, the type to swing first… but…]
“Damn it.”
[Even so, I thought someone like Ronan couldn’t possibly die. After all, you were Ronan Luzarack, the Fortress of Storms.]
“Fortress of Storms… Huh.”
Now that I think of it, even that demon called me Fortress of Storms before he died. Well, he probably called me that after seeing my fighting style.
“Anyway. Yeah, it seems I wasn’t there when I died…”
No, wait.
Hold on.
“Hey, Sparkle. What did you just say?”
[That willful, violent, eccentric, hot-headed, irritable, always angry, cursing, hitting, rough, terrible temper, total jerk, psycho, always swings first Ronan?]
“I’ll really break your neck.”
[Um… When sealing the Demon King, you were the only one absent?]
“Yeah, that. I was the only one absent?”
[I… don’t know. That’s just what the World Tree said.]
“What about Kaloso?”
[The World Tree didn’t mention anything about Kaloso…? Why?]
Was Kaloso also present when the Demon King was sealed?
For what purpose…?
“The fucker who killed me was Kaloso.”
Sparkle’s eyes went wide.
[Wha, what…?]
“Kaloso that bastard killed me.”
[You guys… Huh… I knew that would happen someday.]
“You knew?”
[You guys were always like, fighting to see who was stronger while gritting your teeth. Then you ended up dead, right?]
“…You think I died like that? Kaloso betrayed me.”
[…Betrayal?]
“Yeah.”
Sparkle covered its tiny mouth with its little paw.
I let out a deep sigh and explained everything that happened during my past life…
How I killed the fourth legion commander, the awakening of the Demon King, Kaloso’s betrayal, and how he tried to kill Arisa, which I protected, leading to my death, after recovering my memory at age ten.
Just a shitty story.
After hearing that, Sparkle trembled silently for a while.
“So, you don’t know anything about those guys?”
[Other… friends?]
“Yeah. So, I think… I can’t believe they’re dead. They took those great potions, each drank two elixirs, transcended humanity, and rose to the 10th Rank. Those… Those bastards couldn’t possibly be dead.”
400 years. A long time for humans.
It’s long enough for landscapes to change several times, for countless humans and their descendants to die and be born.
We are not mere humans who could die in just 400 years.
Maybe I was only temporal, but they are alive.
I’m sure of it.
[…Well, Ronan.]
“Yeah.”
[Others… I can’t say for sure.]
Sparkle raised its head and looked at me.
[But Arisa knows.]
I listened closely, keeping silent.
[Arisa… returned alone.]
“What?”
[Yes. Without Paulo, Luna, or Kaloso… she returned alone… from Gebihenum.]
“So, you met Arisa?”
[Yes… Arisa came to find me. Alone, to the place you all made for her.]
Alone?
Not Kaloso, but why not Luna and Paulo…?
[Arisa brought your weapon, everything. They briefly stopped in the land where the spirits dwell, then left a week later.]
“…My weapon?”
From the Demon Realm, Gebihenum to the Empire.
With so much equipment, on her own?
She probably couldn’t speak to horses, and even if she had, she couldn’t ride them.
Even the equipment that remained with me at that time was over ten pieces.
Then about the wagon?
No, getting on a wagon would be impossible with this terrain.
If she wanted to ride, she would have had to pass through the chaotic lands, cross the Northern Snow Mountain, and traverse the harsh fields of eternal snow.
That means, she would have had to walk for nearly a month.
Why would she foolishly do such a thing?
If it were too heavy, she could have just left some gear behind, and at least ridden a horse on the way back!
-We’ll make a fortune selling the gear after slaying the Demon King and returning to the Empire! Just selling what Ronan has could buy a whole country!
-Why sell the gear? We don’t even need to carry it back. The Emperor will splurge on us just for coming back. We could get even better gear!
-Really? Still, we should take all the equipment with us! They’re precious memories that brought us this far!
-Memories are nothing. So are you saying you’d sell my beloved weapon, which holds precious memories, to buy a country?
-Ah… now that you mention that? But I didn’t have such a wicked thought. Just… I thought it would be nice if we all had a nice place to stay… Then I guess I’ll sell my stuff instead of yours.
-What would a chimpanzee sell? Are you going to sell the bandages wrapped around your hands and your underwear? Still, that’s quite a cute thought for a chimpanzee.
-Wha, what? Ronan… do you want my underwear? Ugh… But selling it would be a bit much… I guess I’ll just give it to you. But… I should wash it first, right?
-Wash? Nah, no need. I wouldn’t take it even if you paid me!
-Gah…! Then just, um, just… just give it to me?!
-Aaaah!! Damn you!!!
Such a silly and foolish girl.
My chest grew oddly tight.
Was it from the battle with the Demon Lord?
I felt a bit dizzy and nauseous.
I set Sparkle down and sat down myself.
“So, did Arisa say anything to you? I think whatever made me reincarnate was something they did… there must have been something.”
Sparkle shook its head.
[No, she didn’t mention anything about reincarnation. Just… she said something else. That, if you ever meet Ronan, please pass it on.]
“Meet me…?”
Sparkle didn’t know I had died.
That’s likely due to that remark.
She must have thought I was alive because of that remark.
But I was dead.
That means Arisa…
She must have known I would reincarnate in the future.
I mulled this over while staring at Sparkle.
“What was the message she wanted me to deliver?”
[…Um, well…]
For a moment, Sparkle hesitated, twisting its body shyly before finally speaking up.
[She said that she didn’t get married. She’ll be a virgin for life, so don’t worry…]
“Is she crazy?”