WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 154: At Winter's End (3)

──────

Kyle wandered through memories as hazy as a dream. After fully accepting Prisia's mana, which had slept within the Dragon Heart, it felt as though his body had slipped beyond his control. It was clearly his body, yet it did not feel like his own.

What's happening?

Am I... dying?

Strangely, he felt no fear. He had prepared himself for death long ago. If anything, he felt relieved. Behind the deep guilt and self-loathing that the lives of those who had died for him had all been wasted, a sense of liberation he had kept tightly buried until now wrapped around his entire body and made him feel weak.

Death comes for everyone in the end.

The only difference is whether it arrives sooner or later.

With that realization, his heart gradually settled. Perhaps he had wanted peaceful rest for a long time. Not a life lived because he could not die, not sleepless nights bound by revenge. He had wanted only a silent rest.

Is that really true?

Or are you trying to run away from reality?

"Don't worry, Kyle."

"Everything will be all right. If it's hard, you can rest. If that's what you want. Nothing more..."

Cecilia's voice suddenly echoed faintly in the center of his mind. Through his heavily dulled senses, Kyle heard the sound of a single wave.

Saaaaa...

At first, it sounded like rustling leaves. It could have been the wind sweeping through a green field. Kyle slowly opened his eyes. Bright sunlight filtered down in scattered dots through the branches spreading overhead like a net.

"Is this heaven...?"

"Heaven, my ass. Where does a fool who lost so pathetically think he's going?"

That was when a familiar voice came from beside him. Kyle quickly raised his upper body and turned toward the sound.

"Commander..."

"Sleep well?"

Rowen sat there, his ash-gray hair tied back like a tail. Kyle turned his gaze forward. Only then did the scenery around him come into view.

The Caldra Mountains, faintly visible in the distance.

Baldheim, the largest city in the north and its capital, nestled at the foot of the mountains.

A warm hill with a large tree, one Kyle, Rowen, and the others often climbed, where the entire view stretched out before them.

It was a place filled with memories for Kyle, one he had seen again and again in his dreams.

"Am I... dead?"

Kyle asked without turning around, staring blankly ahead. A snicker answered him at once.

"How should I know?"

"What kind of...?"

"If you think you want to live, you live. If you think you want to die, you die."

Kyle reflexively frowned at the vague answer. At least to him, this situation made no clear sense.

It isn't just a dream or a flashback?

And it definitely isn't heaven?

Then what is it? It was too vivid to be a dream recalling the past. Even the words leaving his mouth and his own will felt this clear. As Kyle failed to hide his confusion, Rowen's voice reached his ears again.

"What did you think of Cassius?"

"Duke Mortein..."

"He was strong, wasn't he?"

After moving his lips a few times, Kyle slowly nodded. Cassius Mortein, the head of House Mortein and current Commander of the Celestial Knights, was undeniably strong. Neither the Kyle of today nor Kyle in his prime could have defeated him. There was a reason he was known as the greatest knight alive on the continent.

"What about you, Commander?"

"Hm?"

"What did you think?"

Kyle glanced at Rowen as he asked. Rowen pondered for a moment before answering as though it were nothing.

"As for me... I lost. You know that, don't you? If I'd won, that bastard never would have met you."

It was the answer Kyle had expected, so he turned away without a word. Back then, Rowen had remained alone in certain death so the knights caught in the trap could escape. Izra's Thorn had also been devouring his body at the time. He likely had not even been able to use a quarter of his usual mana. It had been a battle he could not have won from the beginning.

"There were sword marks on Duke Mortein's helmet and neck."

"Oh, that?"

"You did that, didn't you?"

Rowen gave a light nod.

"I did get one good hit in at the end. But I couldn't finish it. If it hadn't been for that damned Thorn, I would've cut right through him."

He spoke with a hint of regret. Then, without warning, he turned to Kyle and asked in return.

"What about you, Kyle?"

"I..."

"Did you land a hit?"

Kyle could not answer at once. He remembered Cassius's helmet splitting in half and falling away, along with his frost-covered armor. He remembered the black greatsword wrapped in red Sword Aura that had pierced his chest.

Cassius's personal sword form, which had carved through the world as though dividing it apart.

And the illusion containing Kyle's past, painted over it.

"You said that to create something of your own, I had to reveal what was inside me. Memories I couldn't forget. Recollections. Sorrow. Even wounds that would never fade for the rest of my life. You said I had to bring out everything that made me who I am."

Yet it had not reached him in the end. Kyle's past had failed to cut through Cassius's sword.

"It didn't reach him. I got close, but I still couldn't win."

"..."

"I still think about it. What if I had been stronger? What if I hadn't wasted those three years? Would things have been different if the form of my personal magic had been something that moved forward, rather than reflecting on the past?"

They were all meaningless assumptions now. Kyle had lost the battle that had put their lives on the line, and Cassius had won. The result had already been decided. It could not be changed.

"I..."

Kyle could not continue for a while. He simply sat beside Rowen, taking in the green fields spreading beneath the hill and the vast view of Baldheim. The occasional breeze, and the sound of waves brushing against his ears.

"Is it hard?"

Rowen's sudden question struck deeply at Kyle's heart. Kyle lowered his eyes, unable to find an answer.

"If it's hard, you can rest. No one will blame you."

His gentle voice was unbearably sweet.

"Do you remember what I told you at the end?"

"..."

"I told you to live for yourself. I didn't tell you to live for us. I always taught you that. Sometimes, you need to be a little selfish. Because you aren't a tool."

For some reason, Kyle remembered when he had first gone north. When he had fallen into an isekai and fled to the north, struggling desperately to survive. It had been Yurian and Rowen who had offered a hand to Kyle when he stood at death's door. Kyle still could not forget that memory. He never had.

"We don't want revenge from you. We never forced it on you."

Kyle looked at Rowen with trembling eyes.

"Do what you want."

"..."

"You can sink into eternal sleep and rest, or rise once more. The choice is yours. What will you do?"

Rowen looked directly at him with the same gentle eyes as ever. Just as he had when he brought Kyle in from the middle of winter, half-dead. Just as he had while grumbling on the outside but diligently teaching Kyle the sword. Even in his final moments, when he had thrown away his life yet worried more about Kyle than himself. He had looked at him like that then, too.

"I..."

Kyle could not easily give an answer. He only hesitated like an idiot.

If he rested like this, if he sank into the eternal sleep called death.

His body would be at peace. He would not have to suffer anymore. Yet the moment he considered making that choice, instinctive resistance rose within him. At the same time, the problems he had not resolved flooded into his mind.

There are still things I have to do. I don't want to stop here.

Not because anyone else wanted it, but entirely because he did.

Even if nothing but pain waited at the end.

Even if I had to walk down a road covered in thorns, I...

Tap.

Kyle hesitated for a long time when a large hand came down onto his head.

He stared blankly up at it. Beyond his sight, Rowen was smiling softly. Just as he had once before, he roughly tousled Kyle's black hair with his thick fingers. It was a familiar, gentle touch.

"I'll go on ahead and wait."

"Ah..."

"Come as late as you can. I might get angry if you arrive too early."

Kyle barely tried to speak. Yet the voice that escaped his throat did not reach Rowen.

The surroundings were already filling with bright light. As though this fleeting illusion had come to an end. The feel of that beloved hand resting on his head vanished. Then Rowen's form melted away completely, along with Kyle's consciousness as it rapidly rose toward the surface.

* * *

"Ha... ha..."

Kyle jerked upright as though seized by a fit. Once he came to his senses, his breathing was ragged.

"This is..."

After finally steadying his breath, Kyle cautiously looked around. The first thing he saw was the faint crimson sunset pouring through the window. Old, simple furniture filled the room. Nothing about it resembled the beloved landscape of Hailen he had just seen.

Was it a dream?

Without realizing it, Kyle touched his forehead, where sweat had soaked his hair and made it cling to his skin. What had just happened remained vivid in his mind. That was why he knew.

It was not a dream.

Kyle was certain of it. It was different from the dreams of his past memories that he sometimes had. In those dreams, Kyle could only watch traces of the past, following a mouth and body that moved on their own regardless of his will.

This time had been different. His will had clearly been there, and he had been able to speak freely. It was as though he had truly reunited with a living Rowen.

"Am I... alive?"

Kyle slowly lowered his gaze to his palm. The Brightest Star of Dawn. His left hand, where the white ring should have been, was empty.

His body was the same. The black leather coat he had always worn since obtaining it at the entrance to the Duchy of Tervan was gone. All he had were white bandages covering most of his upper body, with dark red bloodstains spreading through them. A great deal of time must have passed, because the wound where the greatsword had pierced him had healed considerably.

What happened?

A beat later, pain surged through his entire body. Kyle frowned through the agony as he tried to remember what had happened before he collapsed.

He had used personal magic to counter Cassius's sword form.

In the end, he had failed to overcome the red sword, and his chest had been pierced as he fell.

Then, as if they had arranged it beforehand, two more Wyverns descended.

In his fading consciousness, Prisia...

As his thoughts reached that point, Kyle dragged his left hand down his face as though covering it. The reality he had avoided came rushing in like a tide.

Where is the Dragon Heart?

Even when he frantically felt over his chest, wrapped tightly in bandages, he found nothing. He should have felt the pendant made from a fragment of Prisia's Dragon Heart. Yet it was gone, as if it had vanished without a trace overnight.

If I'm alive like this, does that mean the remaining two wyvern knights are dead?

Kyle looked around with confused eyes.

Then what about Elysia? Did she escape safely? Or had Duke Mortein captured her? Before that, where am I?

Kyle groaned as he tried to understand the situation, but he gained nothing. No matter how hard he tried to remember, it would not come back clearly. It was only natural. After the greatsword had pierced his chest, his consciousness had faded, leaving behind only fragmented memories as hazy as dreams.

Everything after that had been cut off as though by a blade. Even with the two wyvern knights still there, he had no idea how he had survived, or what had become of Elysia after Duke Mortein left. Just as Kyle lowered his head and let out a quiet groan, he sensed an unmistakable presence outside the room.

"Colin! Go air out the guest room!"

"Huh?"

"Check whether it's time to change the bandages too."

"That's annoying..."

"Do it quickly before dinner!"

"All right, all right. I'll do it."

It was a grumbling boy's voice. Soon after, the door to Kyle's room opened. The boy looked around the room with a bored expression, then his eyes went wide. He spotted Kyle looking at him in confusion and immediately shouted.

"M-Mom!"

"What is it now?"

"He's awake. He really woke up!"

"What?"

"I'll go get mister."

"Wait..."

"Mister! Come here for a second!"

With a loud clatter, the boy hurried out of the house, his voice growing distant. Kyle stared blankly through the open door, unable to understand what was happening.

"He woke up?"

"Yes. Really!"

"You aren't lying, are you?"

"I'm telling you, it's true!"

Not long after, the boy returned with a man. The man was nearly a head taller and far broader than an ordinary person. Kyle's black eyes shook violently when he saw him. One of the people he had wanted to see most was standing before him.

"Deputy Commander..."

"I'm telling you not to call me Deputy Commander. You're the Commander, and you're not even a squire anymore, so what does it make me if you keep calling me that?"

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried