CH 617

"Are you really leaving? Today?"

"Yes."

"It seems a bit sudden, but... I guess there's nothing we can do."

Ellen didn't have much in the way of belongings. When she had come to this place, she had only brought a single cage containing a cat.

So, when returning to the allied forces' base, she would simply go back in her everyday clothes, without anything else to take with her.

"The snow has just stopped…"

Louise couldn't help but feel bitter at Ellen's decision to leave right after the terrible snowstorm had ceased and the weather had improved.

She had come back for a break, only to get involved in some strange incidents, which ultimately left her feeling even more burdened.

The Demon King had seized control of the Holy Knights and the Five Great Religions.

And there was nothing they could do about it.

In this rapidly changing era, there were no purely good factions; they had to choose the ones that could survive.

Something drastic was about to happen, and it would undoubtedly lead to countless bloodshed.

Dark clouds loomed over the empire's future, and it was now time for everyone to make a choice.

Ironically, the allied forces' base seemed more peaceful than the imperial capital, and it was a way to avoid getting involved in any more ominous incidents. This was especially true for Ellen.

If they couldn't make a choice, it was better to go somewhere out of sight.

There were only unsolvable problems.

No one knew how these matters would eventually be resolved.

If the empire fell and the Demon King took its place,

What fate awaited Ellen, who should have been the Demon King's adversary?

And what position should Heinrich take?

No one had the answer.

Everyone was doing something, fearing the future. While everyone agreed that the Gate Incident must end, the actions they took while hoping for that made the aftermath even more frightening.

Was it truly right to turn the world into hell for the sake of a single absolute goal?

If so, what would become of the world after achieving that absolute goal?

Ellen believed that staying in the imperial capital was more dangerous.

That's why she was leaving.

But she had been thinking about it for a long time.

"Take good care of the cat when I'm gone."

"…I will."

However, the cat, which suddenly stopped appearing at some point, was nowhere to be found when she wanted to give it a final touch before leaving.

In the end, without seeing the cat, Ellen entrusted Heinrich with its care and left.

For some reason, she felt an instinctual premonition that it might have disappeared entirely.

She had always felt that even if they were together, it would eventually leave.

Like she had always felt that way about someone.

She didn't know why, but she believed that there was nothing she could do if it suddenly vanished.

They had briefly spent time together, passing by each other, and she simply wished they would cross paths again someday.

It was a shame not to say goodbye.

In the end,

Ellen couldn't be overly attached to something so small.

"I'm leaving."

With the farewells from Louise and Heinrich, Ellen quietly left the temple dormitory.

Watching Ellen's retreating figure, Louise spoke.

"It seems like it's time for us to leave as well."

"It seems that's what we must do."

—---

It was true that danger lurked everywhere in the world, but at that moment, the imperial capital had undoubtedly become the most perilous place in some sense.

The heavy snowfall that had been coming down ceased, as if it had all been a lie, and melted away in an instant. Although the snow had piled up for a long time, it took only a few days for it to melt completely. The weather continued to be unusually warm, to the point where one might wonder if it was too warm.

Ellen walked along the streets of the temple, where the snow had melted. There was not much to do at the alliance's garrison, but in the capital, she learned too many things she didn't need to know. If the goal was to fight anyway, she would rather have lived in ignorance.

She thought it was better to spend this winter knowing nothing than to lose her way amidst difficult and hard-to-decide matters. How long could she hold onto her seemingly fragile will? What would become of the world?

If she couldn't go anywhere, if she was being forcibly dragged along some path as if drawn by something, then she no longer wanted to see any path. If the ship was bound to sink someday, should it be abandoned? The empire, as well as her own consciousness. All she was doing was holding onto things that would eventually crumble.

While ending the Gate incident was the most pressing task at hand, everyone was already thinking about what would happen afterward. The Holy Knights, the empire, and countless other groups were undoubtedly considering the situation after the incident in their minds.

One by one.

Louise von Schwarz learned that the Holy Knights, a major pillar of the alliance, had fallen into the Demon King's clutches. What would happen if the strongest vassal state, Kernstadt, sided with the Demon King as well? With two of its main pillars gone, the empire could no longer be called an empire. The other vassal states would also inevitably face a crossroads of choice the moment this issue became clear.

Which side should they join?

The empire had already lost its legitimacy, and the Demon King was the mastermind behind the Gate incident. Both factions were groups that should disappear, but there was no other massive force to emerge and replace them. What if the empire became isolated? The empire had an undead army it could use even if it lost everything. There was a more powerful army than ever before.

Whether the crumbling empire struggled or sought to slaughter those who sided with the Demon King in order to maintain its strength, war would inevitably break out again.

"..."

Ellen knew where she stood. Whether victory was assured or ruin was imminent, she would side with the empire. As the will to disappear someday would be replaced by another will desiring the death of the Demon King, it was inevitable. Therefore, she would rather remain ignorant. The path she had to take was already determined, so there was no point in learning anything else.

In the end, she was destined to become an existence no different from the undead army, swallowed up by something. Although she could run away now when someone urged her to fight, eventually, she would lose even that ability. Whether she liked it or not, whether someone forced her or not, she was destined to become an opponent someday.

So, Ellen returned to the alliance's garrison, avoiding the atmosphere of division and chaos that enveloped the capital. The only goodness was there. The single, absolute goodness of ending the Gate incident.

—---

Thus, as Ellen walked along the snow-melted street, she reached the entrance of the temple.

There were still no people passing by.

But there, though no people were present, there was one small animal.

"Ah."

She saw a black cat sitting hunched in the sunlight that streamed down onto a nearby bench.

The cat turned its head to look at Ellen as she approached.

-Meow

Ellen walked toward the cat, which appeared to be enjoying the long-awaited sunshine on the bench.

It was a strange creature.

It would suddenly disappear somewhere, and then suddenly reappear.

When she gave up and tried to leave, thinking it wouldn't return, it would be waiting at the entrance as if it knew.

It wouldn't come when she waited.

But it would appear from somewhere when she gave up.

It was annoying, but somehow, irresistible.

Ellen squatted in front of the bench and met the cat's gaze at eye level.

They couldn't communicate.

But for some reason, Ellen always felt like they could understand each other.

As if it understood her sadness.

As if it understood her pain.

As if it felt her agony.

She thought it might be a delusion, but it didn't seem so.

Even now, like this.

It seemed like the cat was waiting for her at the entrance of the temple, knowing she was about to leave.

Did it really know, or was it just a coincidence?

Was she just attributing meaning to mere coincidences?

Yet, when coincidences piled up, they became inevitable.

The cat seemed to understand her heart too coincidentally.

"I'm leaving."

-Meow

Ellen said a simple goodbye.

Could she return?

What would the temple look like when she returned?

It was difficult to think that she could return for a good reason.

Would this small creature be safe in the face of the oncoming turmoil?

The alliance's base was dangerous, but so were the temple and the imperial capital.

Small beings were always swept away.

Just as people were swept away in the Gate incident, the fate of small beings had always been so.

But.

The small being in front of her.

An even smaller being than other small beings.

Perhaps because it was so small, when the wind blew, it blew as it pleased, and when the waves crashed, they crashed as they pleased.

Perhaps it could be safe precisely because it was so small.

Looking at the small black cat staring at her,

Recalling the moments when she found great comfort in the small being,

"Take care."

Sincerely saying that, she gently pressed her lips against the bridge of the cat's nose.

"And come back early."

-Meow

After playfully pretending to flick its forehead, Ellen headed toward the temple gate.

Having passed through the gate, Ellen looked up at the sky.

It was an early warm day, as if announcing the end of the bitterly cold winter.

But there had been so much snow.

With so much snow piled up, could one warm day melt it all?

With so much having fallen.

There must still be piles of snow in the shady places where the sunlight doesn't reach.

Who would melt the snow in the hidden, sunless places?

Ellen held the amulet still.

The amulet, which depicted the moon and the sun.

Holding it in her hand, she carefully rolled it around.

She was exhausted.

So tired and weary.

Was it time to let go?

If she was destined to fight anyway.

Would it be okay if everything ended like this?

If the evil and hatred of this world inevitably led to a situation where she had to fight.

What was the point of trying so hard to endure? No matter what she did, no matter what tricks she used, eventually, she would be forced to fight.

In that moment when she felt like giving up.

When a crack opened in her weakened heart.

Ellen's eyes sank deep.

No, had she already reached her limit long ago?

Beyond the limit of her limits, as if she had reached the critical point of her allotted time.

The sand dune of her ego was submerged beneath the rising water.

-Snap

All too easily, the leather strap of the amulet broke with a light tug.

As if it had never been precious, hanging around her neck to prevent it from falling.

As if finally freeing her from her shackles.

As if announcing the beginning of something liberated.

Ellen threw away the amulet she had been wearing like garbage and began to walk somewhere.

As if she had become something completely different from before.

As if she had become an entity unrelated to her past, Ellen left without looking back.

-...

The black cat cautiously picked up the round amulet that had fallen to the ground in its mouth and disappeared down an alley.