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Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (Light Novel) - Volume 5, Prologue II: —Yet We Cannot Return to the Past
Volume 5, Prologue II: —Yet We Cannot Return to the Past
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Someone’s ideals.
Someone’s dream.
Someone’s love.
Someone’s joy.
They all entrusted those to him. They all wanted him to answer their feelings. They all wanted him to take those in his hands. But one day he realized that was impossible. No, he realized that everything was impossible.
He couldn’t do it yet. He couldn’t manage to do it yet.
Not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet…
But he continued to respond to their endless, heavy greed, and to those ideals…
He continued to respond, as if mad…
Not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet, not yet… he said.
---
At present Sion was exceedingly busy revising laws.
There were all sorts of things he had to settle regarding Estabul now when the nobility were still controlling their protests.
Really, there was a mountain of things that needed done.
Claugh and Noa had gone to Estabul’s territory to look for capable people, and Calne and Eslina were busy with this and that too… so nobody visited Sion’s personal office at all.
Sion, being Sion, hadn’t slept much at all for several days, choosing to instead pour over unresolved issues…
Sion sighed in his empty office. He pressed a hand to his pounding head. “This is pretty bad. If I don’t sleep soon… then I won’t be very efficient…”
Sion leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. It was white. Pure white. The whole room was simple and white. Everywhere else in the castle was far too ornate, so he couldn’t relax. He closed his eyes.
If he weren’t alone, and someone were here with him…
“Fiole would yell at me again, huh…”
Even though his eyes were closed, he couldn’t sleep. Whenever he closed them he suddenly thought of matters that desperately needed his attention, one after another.
His number one concern was the activity of other countries.
Froaude hadn’t returned from Runa yet. He was only supposed to go there for an audience with the king, but…
Had something bad happened? Or did he learn something important?
That wasn’t all. The turbulent atmosphere in neighboring Nelpha hadn’t disappeared. He’d received information that nobles there planned on a revolution. The reason was that other countries were building their militaries while Nelpha’s king refused to do the same. The Nelphan nobility didn’t want Nelpha to be the only country left unguarded.
Nelpha’s nobility was different from Roland’s… They were truly putting their country first, so they wanted a revolution.
But…
“…If there was a Nelphan revolution, then the king would change and our countries’ good relations would go back to a blank state…”
And if that happened, then eventually…
Sion opened his eyes and stared back up at the ceiling. It was a pure white ceiling that made one feel somewhat empty. It was becoming darker and darker as the time ticked along. The sun was already beginning to set. Sion looked out the window.
“…I should turn the lights out soon,” Sion mumbled. But he didn’t move. He just looked back up at the ceiling of this dark and simple room.
“I wonder if we’ll eventually end up fighting Runa and Nelpha,” Sion said to himself, his voice dark and emotionless.
He knew that nobody wanted that. People would die if they went to war. Many, many people…
Sion was making every effort to avoid war. That was why he let Froaude go to threaten Runa… and why he built up good relations with Nelpha.
He intended on throwing all his power into this. But the world denied that wish of his.
People would be killed. People would be killed, it said.
Someone once spoke of a world with no war where everyone could grow up smiling. He took those ideals on his shoulders and fought with all his strength.
And then he said that he wanted a world where no one lost anything, where it was okay to just nap all day… He took that dream on his shoulders and fought with all his strength.
Love, happiness, hope… Everyone wanted him to give them those things.
They all entrusted those to him. They all wanted him to answer their feelings. They all wanted him to take those in his hands. But one day he realized that was impossible. No, he realized that everything was impossible.
Despair expanded across the horizon. But he didn’t stop fighting.
He should still be able to. He believed.
He should still be capable of it. He prayed.
Still, still, still, still…
But he continued to respond to their endless, heavy greed, and to those ideals…
He continued to respond, as if mad…
Still, still, still, still, still, still, still, still, still, still, still, still…
Even if it caused the destruction of the world itself, he still…
Because he made a promise. Because he promised him…
Even if their methods were different, he couldn’t lose.
He reached his hand out towards the dim light illuminating the ceiling. The sun had already fallen completely below the horizon.
“I have to turn the lights out,” Sion mumbled a second time.
---
The scene returns to the mansion of a Runan noble. Ryner and the others were still there.
They weren’t in the grand dining hall, but rather in the kitchen nearby, consuming high-class ingredients greedily instead of cooking.
“This is sooooo good! Man, I haven’t eaten anything this good in so long. I don’t wanna stop even though I’m full!” Ryner said as he continued to eat the noble’s food… no, the noble’s ingredients.
Arua and Ferris were eating all sorts of things, too.
“Aw, Aruaaa, you sure got a big appetite while I was away,” Kuku said, watching them with wide eyes.
“Huh? Really? But Kuku, you’re finally safe and I… Aaaaaaghhh, hey, Professor! That meat is mine!”
“Hah hah hah! You don’t keep a close enough eye on it so it’s mine now!” Ryner said. “See, this is training to keep it together until you can’t bear to not eat anymore. Next we’ll have a contest to see who can live with sleep deprivation for longer!”
What a conversation…
“You absolutely can’t become a stupid adult like him, Arua,” Ferris said. “Just ignore everything he says.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Don’t ‘yes ma’am’ her…”
Arua smiled. “Oh, um, by the way. There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”
Ryner’s hand stopped moving for more food, and he looked up. “Mm? What’s up?”
Arua suddenly looked serious. “Well, um, it’s about what I’m going to do from now on. I want to go with you—”
“Nope, not happening. Travelling with a kid is so much effort… Just protecting that nuisance is enough… whoa, Ferris! Don’t throw plates that still have food on them! Knives are a no-go too,” Ryner said, then turned back to Arua. “But like, I think it’d be tough for you, Kuku, and Kuku’s mom to live honestly in Runa now. How about immigrating to Roland?”
Arua’s eyes widened. “Huh? R-Roland? That’s south of here, right…?”
“Yeah. See, I know the king. I think he’ll make it so you can live.”
Arua and Kuku exchanged a glance before Arua spoke. “But I want to stay with you guys longer and get a little stronger—”
“You can get stronger in Roland,” Ryner said.
“But…”
“Hey, Arua. Do you remember why you wanted to get stronger?”
“Huh?”
“You said you wanted to get stronger so you could protect Kuku. But now you’re saying you want to leave her in Roland while you go off somewhere?”
“Well…”
Ryner smiled. “See? Go to Roland. This is how men settle down.”
Ferris nodded. “Though there are the worst kind of person possible there, too - the sort who attack women.”
“Ah, those are the men you say are good for nothing!” Kuku said.
“Mm. You remembered it well. I’ll give you a prize later.”
“Yay!”
Ryner put his head in his hands. “Ferris, I told you to stop telling kids these those things…”
“Mm? But it’s the most important life lesson, one you can find in any book - getting caught up with a worthless man is the end of a woman.”
“No, your worldview is seriously skewed… Well, whatever. We’ll get you guys to Roland soon. You can go with Iris, Ferris’ little sister, or…”
Ryner scowled. He could think of someone else, too. Someone who was perfect for bringing Arua and Kuku to Roland - a girl named Milk Callaud. She was a Taboo Hunter with Roland’s military. That asshole Sion sent her after Ryner to harass him.
A long time ago, she’d been at the same orphanage as Ryner… and now she liked to yell about how they promised to get married a long time ago while chasing him around…
“…I think it’s about time for them to show up again… They always seem to know where we’ll go next, after all…”
Though he already knew why. Sion had to be telling them. Ryner grimaced.
“That Sion really has some nerve messing with me like this… I’m gonna punch the hell out of him next time I see him. But anyway, I think we can trust them with this. Roland’s allied with Runa, so they’ll definitely be able to get you out and over there safely.”
“Hm. By ‘them’ I assume you mean that girl who you lured in with promises of marriage and then threw away when you were done.”
“I’m tellin’ you, that’s not what happened—”
Ferris ignored him completely and started telling Kuku half-truths again…
“Ugh, you’re not listening… whatever. Anyway, that’s the plan, Arua,” Ryner said and looked back to the kid. His expression was still saying that he wanted to stay with Ryner and Ferris longer… Ryner smiled wryly. “You’ve gotten pretty attached, huh? Do you really wanna go with us that badly?”
Arua nodded again and again and again. “But I can’t, can I?”
Ryner shrugged. “Well, travelling abroad is dangerous. And we’ve made all sorts of enemies lately too… Protecting you would be a little too hard.”
Arua looked like a kicked puppy…
Ryner smiled, truly happy. “I’m not saying that we’ll never see each other again, so don’t make that face. We’ll go back to Roland when we feel like it… so until then I’ll just tell you to enjoy yourself from afar. Become strong enough that you can protect Kuku all by yourself… and then become so strong that you can protect me—”
Then Ferris suddenly dragged Arua into her conversation with Kuku. “See, you can’t take conversations between men seriously.”
“She’s right, Arua,” Kuku said. “That man’s a pervert and a criminal, you know! Scary. You can’t go near him…”
“Huh? Really!? Professor??”
Ferris was making a proud face that screamed, ‘Ha! I won,’ that she stared at Ryner gloatingly with…
“…You believe her? You’re seriously gonna believe her just like that…? W-well, that’s fine, but… well… anyway, you guys have fun in Roland… yeah,” Ryner mumbled, on the verge of tears.
---
I hate it when people die.
I also hate killing.
I hate crying and I hate being made to cry.
What’s the feeling called when you know you can’t choose your life? When your family dies? What about when the person you love dies?
Nobody wants those things to happen, and yet this world wishes for pointless sadness, laughing all the while.
I’ve never wanted to change things. I know it’s futile. But I’ll keep being sad if things don’t change, and I don’t want to lose anything else…
This is a pain to write, but… I think it’s about time to move forward. I’ve averted my eyes from the past until now, but if it’s necessary, I’ll look at it. For the sake of making a world where nobody will lose anything anymore.
A world where that kid and Kiefer don’t have to cry, where Tyle, Tony, and Fahle don’t have to die, where Sion doesn’t have to torment himself over the state of things.
To a world where everyone smiles and it’s okay if all we do is nap.
Ryner Lute
“Ryner Lute,” Froaude whispered once he finished reading the report. “A world where nobody loses anything…”
Froaude’s eyes moved to the next document he had his subordinates assemble for him. It was a document on Milk Callaud, a girl tasked with leading a Taboo Hunter team to pursue Ryner Lute. Then his eyes moved to documents on her subordinates - Luke Stokkart, Lear Rinkal, Lach Velariore, Moe Velariore.
Among all of those names, Luke Stokkart’s was the one to be careful of. He, along with those such as Claugh Klom, assisted Sion Astal in running the revolution.
It was strange.
Luke Stokkart’s achievements were just as numerous as Claugh Klom’s. It would not be odd for him to be a marshal as well. He likely had strength that wasn’t properly conveyed on paper along, and yet he was Milk Callaud’s subordinate, sent outside the country to chase after Ryner Lute.
Actually capturing Ryner Lute was not their objective.
Obviously. They were moving based on the king’s words.
But why was it necessary for them to continue this farce?
That report, overflowing with idealism to the point that it was a meme pipe dream…
Froaude’s eyes narrowed.
“…That bond… the bond between Ryner Lute and Milk Callaud, perhaps. Perhaps it is to keep Ryner Lute from going too far from Roland… no, from Sion Astal… and so this bond, this tie was used to fasten him in place… there, Luke Stokkart plays the part of the discoverer…”
Froaude removed a dagger made from an unknown from his pocket. He’d stolen it from Sui and Kuu, assassins from Gastark. He turned it around.
“Heroic Relics… Rule Fragments…”
He turned the dagger over, rolling it around again and again.
“…To create a peaceful world with the power of these, where people never kill others…”
He turned the dagger over again and again.
“…Bonds to tie Ryner Lute in place… That is the king’s weakness… Fear of Ryner Lute parting from him…”
Again and again.
“Ryner Lute wishes for a world where nobody dies, nobody is killed, nobody is sad. An ideal world with an ideal king… and that in itself is the chain binding Sion Astal…”
Froaude tossed the dagger away, then continued to talk to himself.
“…But that will destroy His Majesty. The illusion of an ideal king that answers everyone’s hopes destroys kings as well as people… It is necessary to remove that illusion. Ryner Lute…”
Froaude stood.
“…No, I ought to start from his bonds first, shouldn’t I?”
