Chapter 94 – Later Story – Erica
The world died last week. The dragons pouring down from the sky announced an eternal end to this land.
But i’m still alive And my mother too. It seems that forcibly taking the rebellious mother and quickly evacuating to the port helped in some way.
I don’t know if I can call this alive. I managed to shake it off to survive, but my mom still…
…
You haven’t accepted anything yet. Even the death of the world. And father’s death too.
“Erika.”
“Your mother.”
“Has the sun not risen yet…?”
“No.”
The sun has already risen. You can’t see it because it’s covered in dust.
Could it be because of the flames spewed by the dragons? Ashes and dust cover the sun, making it as dark as night during the day. After the fall, the concept of a clear sky seems to have been completely castrated in this world.
If this continues, plants and animals will soon die. And I, too, will slowly die with them. It was clear that if God did not shine another light on the world, everyone’s destiny would follow the same path.
I didn’t want to imagine the end yet. Even so, if you close your eyes for a moment, that future will appear clearly in front of your eyes.
Of course, Mom doesn’t see that future yet. So she always poured out dreamy stories to me.
“It’s already morning. Hurry up and get her dad. Mom prepared a delicious soup today.”
“Dad isn’t here. He must be somewhere far away.”
“Really? Then you must have gone to Mr. Merriwood’s house. You’re very busy these days with business matters. But it’s getting late, so why don’t you hurry up and pick me up?”
“I don’t even know where his house is.”
“It’s right next door, so you’ll be able to find it right away. No, wouldn’t it be rude to suddenly visit in the middle of the night?”
“…”
His illness was getting progressively worse. She has to admit now that her mother has already gone mad. There was not a single story that was true in the conversation that crossed the time.
Still, I raised my head and looked out the window. It wasn’t that she wanted to check out the empty next door to do her mother’s favor.
Rather, it was to look at the horizon beyond.
As the daylight in the sky turned black, the once blue sea was also immersed in shadow. In the absence of any hope, strong waves crashed into each other. Every time that happened, water droplets splashed and I had a strange hope when I saw it.
Maybe someone will come from over there.
Wouldn’t a ship with white sails be heading this way?
Even though I know that the possibility converges to 0, I kept looking that way. Then, it seemed that a mirage in the shape of a ship was twinkling near the horizon.
It was a kind of mental masturbation. The brain, unable to withstand the tightening reality, creates fantasies on its own. It didn’t make me feel any better, but it didn’t make it worse either.
And when I thought about it, I sometimes unfolded my crooked logic and made up the possibility that the boat would come without realizing it.
Maybe the ships of the departed survivors will come here. It was a huge port in its own right, and it was located in the middle of the continent, so it was a perfect place for wanderers on the sea. To find survivors. Or you could stop by once to scrape off any remaining supplies.
Or perhaps His Majesty’s rescue ship will suddenly arrive. The spokesman for the imperial family was in despair a long time ago, but His Majesty was an upright man. He could have sent your ship afloat to take care of the Empire’s people until the end.
At least there was a possibility that the pirate ship of the bad guys would come. Just like in the academy, there will be bad guys on the continent. The villains who survived to the end might come here with the intention of getting something out of it.
Of course, if you get on such a boat, you will suffer even more humiliation than when you were on the island.
But then at least this solitude could be washed away.
This despair-like loneliness of going towards a predestined death with a mother who killed her father.
“Erika…?”
“…”
At that moment, my mother brought me back to reality. Only then did I turn her head to look at her mother. The scars from Hetzling that day and the scars from the trip. And an indelible mental pain seeped through the closed eyelids.
“It’s too hot. Did you turn the heating on?”
“…Yes. Just a moment.”
“Ah, so you did. Then it’s fine. Mom doesn’t care as long as you’re fine.”
“Thank you, Mom.”
I naturally lied to the faint smile. At one time, she was the mother she loved more than anyone else, but after that day, she never felt grateful. Mom took a lot out of me that day.
And maybe soon, her mother’s own life might also be taken.
I sighed inwardly and touched her mother’s forehead. Even considering the temperature raised by the dragon, the fever was too high. It was so serious that it felt like it wasn’t human body temperature anymore.
Maybe today will be the day. It was the day I had been waiting for and the day I wanted to avoid.
For that moment, which was named the day to let go, I packed my backpack in a corner of the house.
“Let’s go… Day.”
A poorly made name feels a bit cruel. It is all the more so because it was built with reason, not emotion. I tried to talk calmly, but in fact, I wasn’t ready yet.
Ready to leave.
Ready to accept.
Ready to be alone like that forever.
In fact, nothing is right.
To pretend to be calm, I first put a name on it.
“Erika…”
“…”
My mother’s voice trembled slightly. At that moment, I turned away without an answer. Is it because there is something bothering me?
There’s absolutely no reason for that.
Maybe it’s because she just doesn’t want to see her mother’s pale face. If you look at it still, it resembles me so much that I feel like I’m stealing a glimpse of a hopeless future in advance. I’d be like that too It feels like fate is screaming.
But it’s even scarier that it doesn’t happen that way. I don’t face death with a calm face like my mother, but I might be burned or covered in blood and eaten by swarms of flies.
So maybe we should look more closely. This might be the last chance to engrave such a peaceful face into your eyes.
Only then did I call her mother and turn her head away.
“Mom…”
“…”
But no answer came. I stared blankly at her and put her hands on her lap. The only thing that could be heard between the stopped breathing was the belated sound of dust.
“…”
The moment I had been waiting for came so quickly. I wasn’t even sure when it was. Whether the heart stopped 5 minutes ago, 1 minute ago, or just 1 second ago. The fact that I hadn’t noticed earlier stung my heart.
Even so, the mother’s face was calm. And my heart was also strangely calm. At this moment, it felt like I should do what I was supposed to do rather than put another word on it.
So I went straight to the wall and put my backpack on my back. As the heavy weight clung to her shoulders, she felt that the moment had arrived.
I slowly stood up from my seat and bowed my head as if in silence. And the last word I couldn’t say before was blown into the wind.
“I’ll go now. Mom.”
“…”
Of course there was no answer. So I didn’t even wait. The day to let go came, so it was clear what I had to do.
Going away
I carefully pushed the door open with that right in my heart.
“Ha…”
The scenery outside, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, was shabby as expected. The wind roams the air alone. The earthen floor crumbles helplessly. The reverberation of the ashes continued to pass through my nose.
I began to take one step toward that broken world. The direction to go was clear as the aura of death came over me from all sides.
It was the sea, of course. The beach where I tasted hope and felt happiness for the last time. I headed there without thinking, hoping that the same thing would happen again this time.
I was worried that I would get tired while going because it was too far, but fortunately the sea was closer than I thought. Before the frayed soles could fall off, the grains of sand dug in between them. I crumbled all the grains under my feet and exhaled deeply.
“Whoa…”
And naturally, I looked over the horizon. In the crashing waves, there was only one thing I wanted to confirm.
Does the existence of the mirage that I dreamed of in the house really exist?
I just wanted to check that out.
I couldn’t give it too much time. Because in this world, you don’t know what will happen to me tomorrow. There was only three days’ worth of food left in the backpack.
So, I decided to wait just one day. I didn’t even have the energy to throw out hope anymore.
I thought so, but I couldn’t sit still and wait. As if something really was coming. A strange feeling was still welling up in his heart.
“…No.”
I shook my head to myself to calm my needlessly swollen chest. Until now, my delusion has never come true. It was clear that this time too.
Nevertheless, the eye wandered the horizon in search of hope. Then, when I noticed something rising in the middle, I unknowingly clenched my fists.
At first, I thought it was an illusion, but something was clearly appearing. Something that slowly raises its head at the far end of the sea. No matter how many times I rubbed my eyes and checked again, it was unmistakably true. Unlike the mirages I had seen so far, it had a definite shape.
Besides, the tip is shiny. Like a sail reflecting sunlight. Scattering pure white light, it is approaching the world. Even though I knew it didn’t mean much, I approached step by step and desperately spied on its shape.
Then, little by little, the whole picture began to come into view. The tip is rounded, and the periphery glows. The waves roll over the rising buoyancy and soon fall into it. It scatters deep blue light…
…
“…Ah.”
That was the moon A button that always embroiders the night sky when the time comes. As the moon rose completely in the air, the horizon was once again plunged into a long darkness. There was nothing coming from beyond.
When the short-lived hope disappeared, the clenched fist naturally loosened. A faint pain stung his palm along with the hot sweat. It seemed that he had clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails dug in.
Still, I did not despair. Instead, he said to himself:
“Are you okay.”
It wasn’t a hypocritical statement. Are you okay. It’s really good Erica. I’m glad it’s the moon.
What floated over the horizon was not a dragon’s snout.
With that thought in mind, I now have a rough idea of what to do. There was no reason to wait overnight waiting for hope that would never come. I didn’t know if it would be better to throw it away when there was still energy left in the body.
So I moved on again. This time, the destination was the same. That cold, dark sea.
Going deeper this time.
“Ugh…”
A faint moan flowed out as the cold sea water touched the soles of his feet. But that was only for a moment, and once you got used to it, it couldn’t be warmer than this. It was a bit lukewarm, but it was much better than being immersed in the heat of dragons.
The embrace of the sea, embraced for the first time, was much warmer than I expected.
“Ha…”
The further we went, the deeper the sea got. I didn’t even take a few steps, but the water rose up to my thighs and half of my body was submerged in the sea. The surface of the water lapping around my belly button hit me with soft waves.
“Haaa…”
After walking a little further, the water surface came up to the bottom of my chest. Now it’s starting to get a little harder to breathe. When I took a deep breath and was about to take another step, my body stopped without realizing it.
For no other reason, it was because of the premonition that this would be the last step. The sea here gets very deep when you cross a certain line.
It was only now to say goodbye.
“Sigh…”
But my throat was blocked and I couldn’t speak. Instead, I looked at the horizon once again. If the world didn’t want to say goodbye to me, now was the only chance. If a ship was sent from the other side even now, this step could have been reversed.
Of course, that never happened. The only thing shining from beyond was the twinkling starlight. Still, it was the most beautiful scenery to put in the last sight.
“…Okay, I get it.”
It was a word he said without even thinking about it. And carefully closed my eyes. The darkness of the sea rushed before my eyes.
Now was the time to really embrace him. I opened my mouth to say goodbye. And he brought out the word he had prepared countless times.
“Not…”
“Erika…?”
“Huh?”
But then someone called my name. I wondered if it was hallucinations, but I also heard footsteps. Only then did I slowly look back.
Then the figure of a girl came into view. There was no one but solitude by her side as she approached with a backpack like me. I was taken aback by the unexpected encounter and froze as I looked back.
“Erika…Is that right?”
“…”
“You… You’re right.”
The girl knew me And I remembered those eyes too. There was no way I could forget those gray eyes that I often met at the academy and even after destruction.
…
Ash.
But as I recall, there had to be one more person by my side. Her younger brother who never fell for the academy to get to that point. But now she was alone. She was walking along the beach alone with no one around.
I wondered why. I wanted to open my mouth and ask.
Ash. Where did ed go?
“Erika…”
“…”
You had to get out of the water to ask that question. At best, I had to postpone the final decision a little longer.
And we have to face tomorrow again. In that case, I could really be burned, or I could be covered in blood and bitten by swarms of flies. If you want to sleep peacefully, you must not slip out of the bosom of the sea.
The trouble deepened. Then, all of a sudden, a smile broke out. Really, don’t even joke.
Forcing me to make a choice until the end.
Did you always stand at the moment of choice like this?
It was only now that I realized how difficult it was. But you must have had to bring out the answer every moment. This time it was only my turn.
So I raised my head again. I still don’t know what the answer is. Esh was still standing there waiting for my answer.
But I didn’t look straight at her. As if staring into her gray eyes, she peered coyly beyond them. I awkwardly opened my mouth after casting an ambiguous gaze for a while.
And he sent a greeting with no direction into the air.
Not even the world
Neither you.
…
That’s not to say hello to me.
He opened his cracked lips and spat out.
“Hi.”
