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“You did it.”

Daphne muttered in disbelief. The chunks of ice seemed to crack and shatter on their own. Mountains of ice crumbled into hills, which crumbled into rocks, which crumbled into pebbles, which crumbled into dust. It was as if it could not support its own mass and collapsed. The Meteor lost its glow, and the Hero’s light replaced it. Elroy’s wings trembled as he stood still, staring at the wreckage for what seemed like an eternity.

Daphne reached out to him. You could touch the light, but you can’t catch it. Elroy kept moving forward, not taking a step back. That’s why she wanted to stand beside him. Daphne clenched her fists and bit her lip. To do that, she had to…

“Recall.”

Daphne halted the spell. The golden tube to her heart melted away. With a flesh-melting pain, her senses returned to normal. She closed her eyes and felt the seven Circles of her heart. They hadn’t been destroyed but strengthened.

Only Seven?

I’ll get Eight soon and Nine someday. For the Hero.

“…Good.”

She knew what she had to do. Daphne clenched her fists and resolved herself. Elroy spread his wings, and he was by her side in the blink of an eye.

“It will snow like crazy when the spell is released.”

With a gesture of his chin, Elroy pointed to the remains of the Meteor. It was still shattering into smaller pieces. The shattering ice was like fireworks, dust scattering like sparks.

“It must be quite a sight when it snows in the middle of summer.”

“I suppose so. A block of ice that big would be enough to cover the entire kingdom in a blanket of snow.”

Elroy narrowed his eyes. There was a hint of fatigue in his voice. Daphne turned her gaze to his face. She could barely make it out because of the light, but his complexion didn’t look good, and his breathing was ragged and uneven. Elroy was pretending to be okay. Daphne gently took his hand.

“You pushed yourself too hard.”

Elroy smiled bitterly. He realized there was no point in denying it, his pulse faint under Daphne’s fingertips. Elroy shrugged.

“It was an unstoppable Disaster, and you’re not in a position to scold me for doing too much when you were willing to risk your life to maintain the spell.”

Daphne’s face flushed red. Her head hung low, and Elroy patted it.

“Well…I guess, but you were doing your best as well.”

Elroy giggled. Daphne grimaced at his laughter and scooted closer to him. One hand in his, one around his waist, she buried her face in his chest. This was Daphne, the one Elroy cared for. He smiled, pleased with her response.

“What were you thinking, anyway, jumping into this mess?”

Elroy’s armor muffled Daphne’s words.

“Three years.”

Daphne said in a sighing voice. Elroy didn’t respond. She looked up, eyebrows drawn together, and scowled.

“We’ll be trapped for three years. The entrance to the Boundary is completely closed, and the only way to get out of here is to wait for it to collapse naturally….”

,

Daphne said, clutching the hem of Elroy’s clothes. She smiled wryly because that meant three years of being alone with Elroy in a world with no one else.

“That…We have to wait! Three years, yup! We have to wait. It’s a shame, but what choice do we have!”

“I have a way.”

Elroy said, looking at Daphne. She stared back, somewhat annoyed.

“…How?”

“Like this.”

Elroy casually drew his Holy Sword and raised his arm. Suddenly, Daphne realized what he meant. Daphne flung her arms up in the air and rushed toward him. She held down his right arm before he could swing it.

“W-wait a minute! D-don’t you think it would be better if you recover a bit first?”

Daphne saw the mischievous grin on Elroy’s face, her cheeks puffing up like a balloon. He laughed as he returned the sword to its sheath.

“Come to think of it, I was hoping to take a few days off…”

“…You’re too mean.”

Daphne muttered and took Elroy’s hand. Their fingers slowly intertwined, and Daphne felt Elroy’s cold hands.

She wanted to be the one to give him warmth.

“Just two days, then.”

Daphne said, tugging Elroy closer.

Daphne looked at Elroy. She was by his side now. Daphne closed her eyes and hugged Elroy. His armor was hard. She tightened her arms around his waist so he could feel a bitter warmer.

***

Night had fallen, and the Capital’s streets were lit. It was post-war cleanup time. A time for families to check on each other and for the wounded to receive proper medical attention. In any conflict-ridden area, celebrating another successful day would be in order. But for the Capital, which had never seen war, the mood was not cheerful. Instead of celebrating the light, they feared the shadows.

“Move them this way, and be careful not to bump into others!”

“Gather them in a corner; we can burn them later!”

The men shouted. Nella sat atop the steeple and looked down. People moved about. She watched them and sighed. It wasn’t over yet. People began to work, tired of waiting for the Hero, but Nella still held hope. She looked up and gazed at the twinkling stars.

“You damned Hero, making me wait like this.”

Nella cursed. Her unanswered cry scattered across the sky. The wind picked up. She took a long breath. The night air was wet, and clouds were gathering above.

“…At least you did it right.”

Nella heard the stomping feet trying to climb to the top of the tower, but she had blocked the entrance. The wizards, who had seemed intent on forcing their way to talk to her only an hour ago, fell silent when they heard Nella screaming at them. She wanted to be alone; she didn’t want anyone to see her sitting there, waiting. Nella stomped her foot on the floor and pouted.

“Waiting is not my strong suit, so hurry up!”

Still, this time, she decided to trust and wait. Elroy would defeat the Meteor, save Daphne, and return. Nella stared at the sky where they had disappeared.

“…Fine, I’ll wait.”

Sitting up on the hard floor, Nella blinked away the tears that formed after she yawned. ‘I won’t fall asleep. So hurry back so I can head to bed.’ Nella clenched her fists.

The moon passed, and the commotion beneath the steeple slowly died down. The lights stayed on, and people wandered about, albeit quietly. Some people were fainting with fatigue, while others refused to let go of their weapons, determined to keep their guard up.

“…How cute.”

It didn’t occur to her to go and help. That was Nella. Once she’s done her part, she would close her eyes. The only thing that filled her mind was the missing Archwizard and Hero.

“Don’t take too long.”

One by one, the stars disappeared beyond the veil of night, and the sky turned blue. Light pierced through from the east. The sun that barely peeked through the mountains eventually blazed high in the sky

It moved overhead, and the light became pale. The colors of the Capital were shown in all its glory as the clouds above. It was bustling once more as people roamed the streets. Nella waited. The blood of the battlefield the day before was washed out by the short rain shower. Eventually, the sky turned orange again, then violet as the stars showed themselves again. Nella waited.

Then dawn came.

The sun rose into the sky.

Nella waited.

Suddenly, a crackling sound came from behind her. She frowned as a small crack appeared, revealing the void. It grew slowly and then exploded open. ‘Did the Meteor escape? Did Elroy fail to defeat it?’

No.

Nella knew none of those were true. As much as she hated to admit it, the Hero was a man of his word.

“…Why are you so late?”

Nella said as she watched Elroy emerge from the void. Behind him, Daphne slowly followed. Elroy smirked and shrugged.

“I found her.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Nella responded in her usual confrontational tone, but a smile kept tugging at the corners of her mouth. ‘I don’t want to smile at this guy, and I don’t want to give him a reaction he’ll be proud of.’ Nella used her hands to keep her lips down, but it didn’t help at all.

“Why are you making weird faces?”

“Shut up.”

Nella, barely able to keep her face straight, shifted her gaze to the person behind Elroy. Her companion, who had walked into the Boundary ready to throw her life away, emerged with a newfound brazenness.

“…What happened to you?”

“Oh, are you unhappy that I did what you couldn’t while you had to worry about me?”

“Shut up. I wasn’t waiting for you.”

Nella frowned, and Daphne gave her a sly smile.

“Then were you waiting for Elroy?”

“I wasn’t waiting for either of you!”

Nella snapped back, her voice relaxed. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but Nella found the attitude annoying for some reason. Something had changed in Daphne.

“So, what were you waiting for?”

At Daphne’s question, Nella blushed and turned to Elroy.

“The Meteor. What happened to it? You didn’t just leave it there and escape, did you?”

At Nella’s question, Elroy chuckled. Nella pursed her lips.

“The Meteor…”

“…Go on.”

Elroy pointed at the city behind her.

“That’s it.”

Nella’s eyes widened as she watched the glowing particles that sensitively began to rain down on the kingdom. Another rumbling sound came from beneath the steeple.

“Sixth Disaster. Defeated.”

It was summer, yet snow began to fall in torrents.

Nella looked at the snowflakes on her hand and laughed in disbelief.

“What the hell.”

Then she rolled over onto her back and laughed harder, relieved.

The crack in the sky scattered Meteor fragments like snowflakes.

Translator’s Corner

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Did you guys enjoy the first half of the chapter? I took a lot of liberty to change the dialogue to ensure the highest likelihood of diabetes.

-Ruminas