“Ena…?”
At first, I couldn’t believe it.
No, maybe I didn’t want to believe it.
“Is something wrong?”
“…Soma?”
My companions gave me suspicious looks when I suddenly called out on my own, but I didn’t have the余裕 to pay them any mind.
After all, it was Ena contacting me at this exact timing.
It was as if, truly…
(No…)
A “Communication Ring” is an item that allows you to talk with registered contacts for three minutes.
It wasn’t strange for Ena, who possessed one, to contact me.
Even the timing could be explained away as mere coincidence.
I forced myself to think that way, trying to regain my composure.
“Ena? Is it you, Ena?”
It couldn’t be helped that my voice still wavered slightly.
In response to my words,
“H-Yes! It’s Ena.
That voice, it’s Soma-san, isn’t it?
Um, well, it’s been a while.
I’m… happy… to hear your voice again…”
A voice choked with emotion replied.
Her voice was filled with pure joy at being able to speak with me, and didn’t sound like she was in any danger.
In the first place, if Ena were in the Rysmis Wastes, she wouldn’t be able to communicate like this.
Ena’s Train Mode only occurred around Ramur, and unless she came to the Capital City, further leveling up was practically impossible.
The current Ena was no more than a slightly fast Level 70 Adventurer. If she were dropped into the Rysmis Wastes, where agile quadrupedal beasts were common, she would likely be killed within a minute.
It must have been some kind of misunderstanding.
I thought that, but still, I opened my mouth to confirm,
“Ena, you are…”
“Yes! What is it, Soma-san!”
Her unusually bright voice made the words I was about to say lose their momentum.
“…No. Why didn’t you contact me sooner?”
My mouth moved on its own, and I ended up asking a meaningless question.
“Ah, about that…”
Ena’s tone held a hint of embarrassment.
“B-but, I made a promise, didn’t I?”
“What promise?”
“This ring. I promised… ‘I’ll cherish it forever’.”
The moment I heard those words, I felt as if I’d been struck on the head.
It was true that she cherished my trivial gift, but more than that, I realized the other meaning behind those words.
The “Communication Ring” that Ena swore to “cherish forever” loses its effect and breaks after three minutes of use.
The fact that she was using it now meant…
A premonition of the worst sent a burning sensation down my throat.
Still, I managed to force the words out.
“Ena. Answer me honestly.”
“Y-Yes!”
It took courage to say the next words.
But I couldn’t leave things ambiguous any longer.
Withstanding the pain that surged in my chest, I finally uttered the decisive words.
“You’re in the Rysmis Wastes right now, aren’t you?”
“Ah!?”
Her reaction was dramatic.
It was more than enough to confirm my suspicion.
But once the words were out, they couldn’t be retracted.
“I’m at the Monolith in the Capital City right now.
I heard from the merchants who fled that you were on the Magic-Sealed Ship that crashed.”
Faced with my words that struck the core of the issue,
“N-No! I’m in Ramur!
I just contacted Soma-san from Ramur Town because I missed you…”
Ena desperately denied it.
However, her flustered reaction already proved my words to be true.
“That’s a lie.”
When I repeated my accusation, Ena had no answer.
Instead, what came was…
“…I’m sorry.”
Those words held no meaning for me.
“I’m sorry for breaking my promise.
The letter said not to come, but I just really wanted to see you, but… like this…”
“That doesn’t matter!!”
Before I knew it, I was shouting.
“Promises and agreements, they don’t matter anymore!
What matters is that you survive right now!!”
“Soma… san…”
Hearing Ena’s frightened voice after I yelled without regard for my surroundings, I calmed down a little.
I brought up information about the Rysmis Wastes in my mind.
I thought about countermeasures that would allow Ena to survive.
“Ena, listen closely.
It’s true that the enemies in Rysmis are strong and fast.
Even if you try to flee from the monsters there, you won’t be able to escape on flat ground.
But, there’s a safe zone there.”
Yes, there was a safe zone.
So it would be fine.
I continued speaking, trying to dispel my anxiety.
“Climb a tree.
The monsters there are mostly beast-type and can’t climb trees.
So, if you can somehow climb a tree…”
“Soma-san.”
Interrupting my words, Ena spoke with a troubled tone.
“I’m… I’m in a tree right now.
Otherwise, I couldn’t talk to you for so long…”
A faint hint of laughter.
Maybe this would work out.
I felt a little relieved.
However…
“But it’s no use.
The monsters are constantly slamming into the tree, and each time, the tree shakes… and shakes.
It probably won’t hold for much longer…”
My hope was brutally crushed.
That’s right.
In this world, unlike a game, objects like trees and rocks could also be destroyed.
The top of a tree was no longer a safe zone.
Ena, seeing me lost for words, spoke cheerfully.
“But it’s okay!
Dying is… well, it’s a little scary, but.
Just being able to hear Soma-san’s voice one last time… that’s enough…”
“Don’t say that!!”
I shouted in anger, and then I finally realized.
Her cheerful demeanor, and the lie about being in Ramur, were all to keep me from worrying.
So that I wouldn’t feel responsible for her death, or regret not being able to save her, she hid her situation and contacted me only to “talk one last time.”
Even though she might die soon, despite being so insensitive, so clingy, at the end…
“You’re an idiot.”
“Ah, haha. I think so too.”
Even Ena’s voice, which I thought was trying to be brave, was slightly trembling if I listened closely.
Of course.
It would be strange if she wasn’t afraid of dying.
(Why are you…!!)
As I was about to cry out from the overflowing emotions,
“!”
My shoulder was suddenly pulled.
It was Mitsuki.
“The person you’re talking to is Ena-san, right?
The one who was with you in Ramur.
If it’s her, I can track her.”
“But, to Rysmis…”
Mitsuki interrupted my words.
“No matter how fast we go, it will take two hours.
Don’t expect us to make it in time.”
“Then…”
“Seeing you like this, I can’t just do nothing.”
My throat tightened.
Suppressing my emotions, I bowed my head.
“…Please. I can’t move from here.”
“Leave it to me.”
With those words, Mitsuki ran off without hesitation.
I hoped she would make it in time.
But the situation was desperate.
There wasn’t much time left.
Still, to calm my wavering heart, I asked,
“…Hey, Ena.
Why did you get on the Magic-Sealed Ship?
You hated it, didn’t you?”
I had thought Ena might come by carriage because when she went to the Magic-Sealed Ship dock, she showed a strong aversion to it.
But…
“I’m sorry. That was a lie.”
“A lie…?”
Ena’s answer was concise.
“I didn’t want Soma-san to go somewhere on the Magic-Sealed Ship.
I desperately wanted to keep Soma-san here.
So…”
…Ah.
Looking back, Ena’s behavior at the time was strange.
Was she desperately trying to keep me from leaving, trying to hold me back?
“But, why go so far…?
You have companions now, don’t you?
If so…”
“That’s also thanks to Soma-san. Tiel becoming my companion is because of you.”
“Me? But…”
I hadn’t done anything.
Before I could say that, Ena spoke.
“When I was injured and brought to the treatment room, Tiel, who treated me then, told me a story.
About a man who was brought in the same way and left his staff behind.”
“That was…”
Indeed, that was me.
In the game, I had decided to give Tiel my staff, Gerunica.
So, just before leaving Ramur, I had given Tiel the staff under the guise of treatment fees.
“It was that story that led to me and Tiel becoming friends.
So, that’s also thanks to Soma-san.”
“That’s… that’s…”
It was just a coincidence, a flimsy excuse, a misconception.
Giving Tiel the staff was just sentimentality, self-gratification.
It wasn’t something I could be proud of.
Yet, Ena spoke as if I were some hero, as if she were feverish.
“Because, thanks to Soma-san, everything changed.
Thanks to Soma-san, I met Tiel.
And thanks to meeting Tiel, I even found a way to cure my mother’s illness.
Thanks to Soma-san raising my level, gathering the necessary items for it, and Tiel’s leveling up went very smoothly.
And so, I was able to truly cure my mother’s illness…”
The last piece clicked into place within me.
(Ah, I see…)
I had thought Ena wouldn’t come to the Capital City with her sick mother.
But Ena, too, would naturally have character events.
Since I hadn’t made Ena a companion in the game, I had never experienced that event.
However, if Ena had a sick mother, it was plausible that her character event would involve curing that illness.
The fact that Ena, partnered with Tiel, was adventuring so desperately was likely to complete that event and cure her mother’s illness.
But, one of the reasons she rushed so much was probably…
“Tiel and I were talking.
Once my mother recovered, we’d go to the Capital City together and visit Soma-san.
…But then, Tiel gave me money when my mother got better.
She told me to use this money to ride the Magic-Sealed Ship and go see Soma-san ahead of time.”
Tiel must have known that Ena wanted to see me more than she wanted to see herself.
So, perhaps to make Ena happy, she secretly saved up enough for a single Magic-Sealed Ship fare.
It was a beautiful story, one that should have been met with joy, but…
(Damn it! Why! How did it turn out like this!)
I cursed providence, but I also bore part of the responsibility.
I had anticipated that Ena might follow me.
Yet, knowing that possibility, I did nothing.
(Why did I leave Ena to this point without doing anything!)
Though I was ashamed of my own ignorance now, this was no time for regret.
If I left it like this, Ena would surely die.
(Die? Ena?)
The sheer impact of the words I conjured made me held my breath.
That girl who worried about being alone, who bothered me with her incessant noise…
The one who clung to me, made mistakes, but always smiled brightly, was going to die?
—I couldn’t accept it.
But time, flowing on, was cruel and merciless.
Not long from now, perhaps in a few tens of seconds, it would all be over.
The ring’s effect would expire, Ena would be killed, and I would never see that smile again.
(There has to be a way!)
So, as always, I thought.
A move to turn the tide.
A way to avoid losing anything, a means that required no sacrifice.
(Is there anything, anything?)
I thought. I thought, I thought, I thought.
Terrain conditions, bug exploits, monster traits, event status.
I scanned all the information, searching for the best move.
But, but, however…
(—Impossible.)
Ena, Ena was in a field far from the Capital City.
Reaching there in a few minutes was impossible, even with a Magic-Sealed Ship.
“No human can live without losing anything.”
Raiden’s words, now, pierced my heart with immense pain.
What should have been mere sounds, now assailed me with tangible weight.
“I can’t reach out to everyone in this world.”
Mitsuki’s words, which should have held such warmth, now stood before me as a cold, hard fact.
The limitations of the individual.
No matter how excellent a person, they couldn’t stop all the tragedies in the world.
By the time I learned of the situation, it was already a lost cause.
The path to a happy ending had long since been cut off by the time I heard Ena’s name.
(Impossible. Yes, it’s impossible.)
That’s what I realized.
And so, I… gave up.
I gave up.
“Soma-san? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Giving up on thinking.
Giving up on resisting this situation.
“Say something! Please say something!
It’s the end, you know?
I won’t be able to talk to you anymore…”
If you are alive, you will lose something.
Sacrifice is unavoidable.
“P-Please, Soma-san!
I don’t want… I don’t want an ending like this.
Being alone even when I die…”
It was unavoidable, and with my power, it was something I couldn’t prevent.
“Please, don’t abandon me!
If Soma-san abandons me, I… I have nothing…”
Even so, Ena’s voice reached my ears as I fell into despair.
Her trembling voice, her pleading tone, struck my ears.
“Soma-san. Please, please…”
But even that gradually grew weaker.
“…I’m sorry.”
And in the end, only those weak words remained.
“I was a nuisance until the end, wasn’t I?
But, please let me say this one thing.”
As if blocking out her faint voice from my consciousness, I…
“Soma-san. Thank you… for everything…”
closed my eyes.
And then, I slowly opened my eyes.
—I had made up my mind.
Flipping aside all thoughts of priority, acceptance, and other things I couldn’t do.
No matter how much I thought about it, this conclusion wouldn’t change.
It couldn’t change.
Even if this choice led to irreversible consequences, I didn’t care.
I resolved my heart to accept any sacrifice.
There was no more time.
I didn’t know when the ring’s effect would end, or when the tree would fall.
We had no time to hesitate any longer.
So, I told her.
The words that marked the beginning.
“Ena. I have… something important to tell you.”
Those words flipped an invisible switch in Ena.
A special switch that invited destruction, same as Train Mode.
“Soma-san…?”
With a faint, weak voice, Ena still answered my words.
I couldn’t tell from her voice if it was “progressing” well.
But I believed it was going well.
Here, at the Monolith in the Capital City.
The “Communication Ring” on Ena’s finger, the one I gave her.
The conditions were met.
They had to be met.
Taking a deep, deep breath.
Pouring strength into my flagging spirit and trembling voice, I spoke.
“Listen, Ena. I…”
Though I had resolved myself, I hesitated slightly before uttering those words.
It wasn’t anxiety about what was about to happen, but a hesitation about whether I had the right to speak these words.
But…
(Even if I don’t have the right, who cares!)
That hesitation vanished before a stronger feeling.
As if putting that emotion into words.
I finally spoke the line.
“—I love you, Ena. Will you marry me?”
From afar, I felt Ena gasp for breath.
At the “Monolith,” to the “person who gave her the ring,” uttering the “keywords.”
All the conditions for the proposal event should be met.
So now, it was up to Ena’s favorability, her feelings.
The time I spent with Ena was far too short.
If this world were purely a game, it wouldn’t even be worth mentioning.
But in this world, where feelings determined stats, perhaps…
So, I just waited.
My heart pounded like crazy.
My chest felt as if it were being squeezed.
Still, I waited for her reply with a prayerful heart.
A short, long moment of silence.
Finally, Ena’s answer…
“—Yes, I will gladly!”
Her voice, trembling with a mixture of tears and joy, made me want to cry with relief.
But it wasn’t over yet.
“Will you say the vows with me?”
“Soma-san, but I…!”
Ena began to say something.
But I wouldn’t let her finish.
“It’s not for Ena. It’s because I want to say it.”
“…Yes!”
Ena, with tear-soaked but happy eyes, probably had no idea.
What awaited her at the end of this act.
She must not have imagined that she was making a choice that could potentially destroy the world.
If so, then that was fine.
I decided to push through with it, just as it was.
“Soma Sagala and…”
“Ena Trail is…”
So, we spoke the final words.
Unforgivable vows.
“Under the name of the One God Ladistus, I swear eternal love.”
The moment our words finished.
Light, both divine and ominous, descended from the sky towards the Monolith.
(—Ah, I know.)
I knew this scene.
“Congratulations! Truly, congratulations!”
Amidst a sense of intoxication and a guilty sense of accomplishment, I heard a voice from the heavens.
I knew the identity of this voice.
I knew what was about to happen.
“I shall bestow blessings upon your wonderful love.”
The “Demon King’s Blessing” event, considered the worst in the game.
Celebration and curse, good intentions and ill will inverted.
A curse of time-frozen death that transformed a beloved person into an inanimate statue.
“As the kin of the One God who resides in this land, Lord Evil God Diz-Aster, and as this Doombringer Demon King!”
The Demon King’s declaration, born of infinite sadism and joy towards the pitiful and foolish victim.
But that declaration, to me now,…
“—I shall grant the bride the blessing of immortality.”
Was, correctly, a word of blessing.
That day.
The kingdom’s most important figures were cursed by the sudden shower of lightning.
The Hero of Light, Alex; the head knight, Spark Hawk; the elusive Jane; the immortal Raiden.
They, who should have shone the brightest and lived the most vibrantly, were turned into statues, neither allowed to live nor die, by the Demon Lord’s Curse.
Among the list of dozens of victims were people I knew well: Tiel Lentia, found at the Ramur treatment room, Jessica Cretia, who belonged to the Royal Knights’ Order, and…
—Ena Trail, an Adventurer found on a tree in the Rysmis Wastes.
