“……………………”
Lunaritia found herself back in the original black world … the spirit world of the Demon King. The shard in front of her repeatedly showed the scenery she had just seen, and her fingertips touching them were slightly warm.
“……………………”
Gently picking up the shard, Lunaritia held it to her chest with all her heart.
She could not blame the Heroe for banishing Ed. At first, he tried to persuade him gently, then gradually became stricter, and eventually resorted to violence to expel him. However, to those who didn’t know the circumstances, one could say that his actions were actually quite patient.
In the final tragedy, if Ed had desperately tried to escape from the demonic beast, the hero’s help would have surely arrived in time. However, Ed didn’t do so and didn’t put up a futile resistance, thinking “Now I can finally go home”. Moreover, Ed wasn’t a small child; he was already a fully grown adult by the standards of that world. Making the hero responsible for the life and death of someone who had followed him without permission was, in fact, arrogant.
Ed, on the other hand, seems to be the one who should be blamed for taking advantage of the Hero’s kindness and forcing himself to tag along with the Hero. If Ed had behaved like this when they first met, She might not have traveled with him or even tried to find him.
But She knew Ed’s situation and his true intentions. How could she deny that Ed, who was created by God to be so, wishes to “go home”?
Then who is to blame? It could be argued that the god who gave Ed such a fate is the root cause, but the reason why the god did such a thing to Ed in the first place is unknown. If Ed were an unconscious danger to others, demon king capable of destroying the world, there might be those who think that this action was justified, just as one would be careful not to step on ants when walking.
There are many things that she doesn’t know or understand, so she shouldn’t be quick to label something as “evil.” However, the fact remains that Ed’s precious comrades suffered greatly, and that cannot be changed… which was why Lunaritia continued to hold the shard tightly.
“…………I have to go.”
After a short, yet long, heartfelt embrace, Lunaritia started walking again. There was another red thread extending from the shard besides herself, which was probably connected to another shard.
Thinking this, Lunaritia began to walk through the black world again, and soon after, she found a new fragment. The moment she touched it, memories of a new world flowed into her mind, and having experienced it all, Lunaritia held the second fragment carefully and treasured it in her heart.
After repeating this process about 10 times, it soon became difficult to carry around all the shard. So she spread the pieces she had picked up on the ground, and somehow felt that she could assemble them. When she tried to put the pieces together, they fit together and formed the shape of a human foot.
“I see, so this is what I have to do.”
Having found a sense of direction, Lunaritia continued to gather more shard. Strangely enough, no matter how far she progressed in assembling the pieces of Ed, they were always right there behind her when she turned around. So she followed the thread and painstakingly put each piece together while holding the painful memories close to her heart, almost to the point of breaking down.
As she assembled the 30, 50, 70, 80 shard, most of them were sights she had never seen before, but sometimes she would see another face of someone she knew.
Miguel, who respected Ed so much, “I can’t make a contract with another spirit because of you! Now get out of my sight!” cursing Ed.
Rebecca, who had gone on a great adventure together with Ed, cast a dismissive glance at him as he was thrown out of the ship, as if he was an insignificant being.
Ed’s mentor, Dalton, whom Ed respected, breathed a sigh of relief mixed with resignation as Ed disappeared from the workshop, while his close friend, Waffer, even showed a sense of joy at the absence of the clinging weakling.
Every aspect of that scene pierced Lunaritia’s heart. The way they ended up like that, and the way Ed was the cause of it all, was too painful, precisely because of the current relationship they all have.
“Ugh. ……”
Lunaritia winced as she clamped her mouth shut, feeling like she was about to overflow with feelings of nowhere to go.
Even so, she doesn’t stop her feet. She feels even joy in knowing that this is the world Ed has lived in. It’s not just lip service; they can carry the burden together. It’s the feeling of reality that enables Lunaritia to move forward and continue collecting the fragments.
Then ninety-nine pieces were assembled, and the last one was left. The fragment that filled the gap in the gaping chest was a memory of a world she had not seen before.
I want to run away right now. I’m so scared . Even so, Lunaritia continued to reach for the final shard… In the world beyond it, another version of herself was facing off against Ed.
*****
“Hey, do you still intend to come with us? Alexis has said it multiple times, but with your abilities, you can’t travel with us! Please understand already!”
“No, no, no, I know that! I know my abilities aren’t enough to travel together with you, but there’s a reason why I must travel with you no matter what….”
“So, what’s the reason?”
“That’s … a bit hard to say.”
Ed told the former Lunaritia, who raised her eyebrows and said in a resolute manner, with a troubled expression. The restrictions back then were much stricter than now, and if he tells them his circumstances, they might not seriously “banish” him….In other words, he might not be able to go back to his original world.
But that was Ed’s situation. From Lunaritia’s point of view, as long as Ed would not talk about the “reason”, the conversation was always a parallel line, and behind the two of them, Alexis was holding his head and showing a stumped expression.
“So, what do you plan to do, Tia? You’re the one who picked him up. Will you take responsibility for him?”
“Ughh… He said he doesn’t even understand common sense, even though he’s an adult. So I just thought maybe I should take care of him a little bit…”
“Gahahaha! Yeah, right. Hey, kid. You ever thought about getting away from us and going out on your own?”
“That’s ……, but you see, hey, I’m carrying the luggage and doing things like cooking, arranging accommodations, and all the other miscellaneous tasks!….”.
Ed was still insisting, but Alexis continued with a stern look on his face.
“If we need baggage handlers, we will pay them well and hire the best people. Anyone can arrange food and lodging.
You know what? You are not a specialist in anything, nor are you a jack-of-all-trades who can do everything at a certain level. You are just an incompetent worker who can only do what anyone else can do. We don’t need such a thing, and we can’t keep taking care of you forever. If you insist on following us, I can’t guarantee your safety….”
Ed gulped and asked Alexis, who glared at him with a sharp gaze.
“S-So….are you saying that you’ll kill me as a way to get rid of the trouble?”
“Ha! As a hero, there’s no way I would do something like that! I just won’t help you if you’re attacked by monsters while you’re following me around without permission, that’s all. If you understand your limits and only operate in places where you can handle the monsters yourself, then there shouldn’t be any problems with my proposal. Don’t you agree?”
“……………………”
“……, you’ve been warned. The rest is up to you.”
With that, Alexis turned his back to Ed and started walking away. Lunaritia, with a frown, and Gonzo, who remained aloof, followed after him,…. and Ed, of course, followed them.
After being told that he would only cause more trouble, Ed stopped helping with menial tasks and carrying luggage. He just followed behind Alexis and the others, but even that was tough for him, as the journey was difficult and his physical condition was not good enough. He struggled to keep up, panting heavily.
Then, it was inevitable that such an accident would happen. Despite everything, since Alexis and the others had been defeating all the monsters along the way, Ed had not been attacked for a long time. However, one day, a creature called rock insect, a type of monster, flew in at high speed from behind.
“What!?”
“LOOK OUT!”
Exhausted,…… even if he had been in good shape, the speed of the flying insect called a “Rock Insect” that attacked Ed was beyond his ability to react. However, just before the rock insect hit Ed’s head, Lunaritia pushed him out of the way and he fell to the ground.
“Ughhhh….!?”
Ed, whose body was hit hard, looked up and saw Lunaritia lying on the ground with blood pouring from her shoulder.