ALL NOVEL Chapter 111
As I stood in front of the door, I couldn’t help but let out a snicker.
Five petals engraved on the door. It’s shaped like a cherry blossom. The design was very, very rough.
It wasn’t carved with a knife, but rather scratched with fingers, so it couldn’t help but be crude.
Still, it was somewhat intricate. You could feel the effort put into it.
“If they openly carve the Eustetia emblem like this… even thieves that didn’t exist before would probably appear. Truly foolish.”
Giggle – As I mumbled while staring at the door, Pina looked at me with a puzzled expression.
I asked her, glancing at her.
“Do you know what this is?”
Shake shake
“What do you think that emblem is?”
Pina, who had been looking around, crouched down and drew something on the ground with a swish swish.
[The emblem of the Eustetia Duchy… isn’t it?]
“That’s right. It’s the emblem of Eustetia. So, who do you think engraved this emblem?”
[I don’t know.]
“Arisa. Arisa Eustetia.”
Pina’s brown eyes shook.
[Are you referring to the Hero, Lady Arisa?]
“Yeah, that’s right.”
[Then what’s inside? Is it her treasure?]
Arisa’s treasure, huh…
No, wait.
“It’s not Arisa’s treasure.”
I shook my head.
“It’s all mine.”
“Yikes.”
Pina gasped in surprise. I lifted her up.
Then I stared directly into her wide, sparkling eyes.
“Pina.”
Head tilt?
“Do you… know well about the Heroes from 400 years ago?”
Nod nod.
With her eyes sparkling, Pina nodded again and sat down to write on the ground.
[I know very well. I’ve seen fairy tales, novels, plays, and musicals about the Heroes at least five times each. I love their stories.]
“Uh-huh. Well then… uh, who was your favorite among those Hero parties?”
Pina didn’t hesitate at all.
[I like Arisa Eustetia the most!]
…Well, that makes sense. Because that… chimpanzee, after all… left the most behind among us, and the name Eustetia is still… like this.
And it remains as a duchy.
Yeah, it makes enough sense…
“Uh… really? Then who’s next?”
[Luna Sacred Pranecia is my second favorite!]
…Luna’s a saint, so I get that. Sure.
“…And next?”
[Paulo Humble Prandis is my third favorite!]
“What the hell.”
“Yikes!”
I also sat down, grabbing Pina’s shoulders with both hands.
“What about Ronan? Ronan Luzarack?”
Pina, shaking from fear, moved her fingers to write on the ground with a scribble scribble.
[Ronan Luzarack is scary.]
[And personally, I don’t really like him.]
“What the fuck?”
“Yikes… Yikes… Yikes…”
“Why is he scary? You’ve never even met him.”
She shook her head. I had no idea what was wrong with her, and it was already too late.
I grabbed Pina’s wrist and brought her closer to the ground.
“Answer me.”
Her trembling fingers weaved a haphazardly written response.
[I’ve heard many stories about how scary he is.]
Stories about how scary he is?
“Did the spirits say that?”
Pina’s eyes widened. After a moment, she wrapped her delicate arms around her head, curling up.
“Look up. I won’t eat you.”
Tremble tremble-
“If you don’t look up now, I really will eat you!”
Jump! Pina raised her head, with tears brimming in her eyes.
“Why are you so scared?”
[I heard that if people find out I can see spirits, bad things will happen to me.]
“So you thought I would do something bad to you? That’s disappointing. I thought we were friends, but it seems I was wrong?”
[It’s not that! It’s just a habit!]
The last part was so scribbled that I couldn’t read it, but I could feel Pina’s urgent feelings.
“Anyway, tell me. Did the spirits really say that?”
[How did you know I could talk to spirits?]
“I met Flora.”
Head tilt?
Oh right, Pina probably doesn’t know who Flora is.
“Uh, that… what was that thing called? Uh… Fl- Fl, fl something? Whatever, you know, the glittering squirrel.”
At the mention of ‘squirrel’, Pina shivered violently and leaned her face closer.
Whimpering- She moved her lips so fast I couldn’t catch what she was saying.
“What did you say?”
Only then did Pina realize she was too excited, took a deep breath, and wrote on the ground.
[Did you meet the Light Spirit?]
“What’s this Light Spirit? Well… if the Light Spirit you’re talking about is that squirrel, then yes, I met her.”
[Can I ask what you talked about?]
“Well…”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t reveal that content.
But I could say this much.
“The Light Spirit… asked me to make you a bit tougher.”
[Stronger…?]
“Yeah. She wanted me to toughen you up so you wouldn’t get bullied.”
[That gentle Light Spirit said that?]
Gentle? That lazy little squirrel?
How should I take that?
…Should I protect Pina’s innocent heart?
Maybe it’d be better.
“…Uh, no, she spoke a bit more gently than that. She said to take good care of you.”
A bright smile that I’ve never seen on Pina’s face appeared. I feel like I did a good job keeping her innocence intact.
“Anyway, now answer me. Why is Ronan scary? What did the spirits say exactly?”
[I don’t remember.]
Pina’s face broke into a cold sweat.
“Pina.”
“Yikes… Yikes…”
“Even though I usually seem very gentle, quiet, nice… and patient, I’m actually not.”
Pina tilted her head.
And for a brief moment, her expression suggested she was wondering what nonsense I was talking.
…Why doesn’t she realize?
I’m living in constant patience right now.
Anyway.
“So if you don’t say it now, I’ll have to force it out of you. I know very well how to do that. So you’d better answer when I ask nicely. Why do you dislike Ronan?”
Tears began to fall from Pina’s eyes as she picked up a stone to write.
*
After deciding I would pull Flora’s ears the next time I saw her, I stood in front of the door again.
Pina stood up alongside me.
When I saw the sentence [I dislike Ronan], I almost punched something.
When I was asked [Can we enter?], I naturally replied yes.
When I was asked [Can we take out what’s inside?], I also replied yes.
Yet Pina still looked uneasy.
“Are there a lot of spirits around me?”
Nod nod
“Yeah. Then… let’s go.”
I walked, calming my unnecessarily pounding chest.
Please open. Open. Open.
So it wouldn’t be embarrassing. So it wouldn’t give me a headache.
So that all my bloody struggles wouldn’t be in vain.
With that, I took one step, then two, then three.
By the fourth step, I arrived right in front of the door.
There was… no reaction. Do I need to touch it?
I placed my hand on it. It was quiet. This can’t be happening, right?
“…Is it broken or something?”
I tried raising my mana. No response.
I placed my hand on the cherry blossom emblem. No response.
I punched it with all my strength. No response.
“Open…!”
No response. My face was getting hot.
Pina looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“What the hell. Why won’t it open? What the hell!”
At that moment.
Boom—!
A gigantic sound, an even greater tremor echoed in front of us.
“…What? Is it voice-activated?”
Leaving the stunned me behind, the door, which was releasing dreadful vibrations, slowly and steadily began to open.
Ggranddduuuummm!!—
After quite a while,
When I thought, “I’m probably going to get exposed to the whole world,”
The vibrations stopped, and a familiar scent wafted through.
In the past, it was Arisa’s scent.
Now, it was the scent of cherry blossoms.
An aroma that could only be familiar to me.
“Ah…”
I found myself smiling involuntarily.
I couldn’t tell whether that smile was bitter, a chuckle, filled with anger, or happiness.
But my body moved forward.
The moment my feet reached where that guiding aroma led me,
“Wow…”
“Yikes!”
The location changed.
Pina and I teleported to a different place.
And the place I was teleported to was somewhere I knew well. A place I had seen in a fantasy and in a letter left by Arisa.
Countless weapons were stuck into a giant rock. They weren’t rusty. They were still in good condition. How could they not be?
Heavenly Steel, Gold-Blooded Ore, Eternal Iron, Sacred Platinum, Ethereium.
Weapons made from divine materials that are still difficult to obtain, which might have disappeared from this world altogether.
And with Kaloso’s enchantment and Luna’s blessing, they must have stayed intact.
However, my gaze wasn’t on the weapons.
Pat pat-
I walked with my eyes fixed on one spot, leaving the trembling and curling Pina behind.
Passing by the weapons, now unobtainable potions, elixirs, old books, and artifacts.
I headed towards one destination.
A rock. A stupid-looking rock. Unnecessarily large, solid, and ugly rock.
A gravestone.
I stopped in front of it.
Only then could I see the writing.
Rough, coarse, but the most beautifully written.
Neat, straight, filled with care.
The writing of Arisa Eustetia.
[Ronan Luzarack]
[416.7.19 ~ 452.12.24]
There was nothing special on the gravestone.
No surprise there. We never thought to write anything on a gravestone. Naturally, there was no will.
I slowly traced it gently with my hand.
“What kind of rock is this… so… hard?”
It’s cold. Naturally, it had no warmth left.
It’s rough. Not even in a million years could I think of carving it with bare hands.
It’s heavy. I could barely imagine moving it.
“Seriously… if you’re foolish, your body suffers. No, wait, you… among us, had the best physique, so you probably didn’t suffer.”
Giggle– I chuckled softly.
I laughed like that for a while, in front of Ronan’s gravestone.
In front of my own gravestone.
Pina cautiously approached me.
“How is it?”
Head tilt?
“The graveyard… it’s quite miserable, and unremarkable. Smells bad, is damp, dark, and rough. There’s no body under the gravestone, just a name left behind.”
“But…”
“I actually, really like it.”
With sparkling eyes and a face that couldn’t comprehend why I was saying this.
“It’s a grave made by my comrade… no, my friend.”
To Pina, I said,
“This is my grave.”
I killed the most demons.
Beheaded two legion commanders.
Ran faster than anyone else.
And died like a damn idiot.
“I’m Ronan Luzarack.”
Eliaernes Eustetia.
“I am the reincarnation of Ronan Luzarack.”