Chapter 21
Epilog(ue)
/Location/
[Skill]
(System)
{Item}
Thoughts
He withdraws entirely.
They withdrew already.
He locks himself within their guild building.
They've barricade the monsters out, permanently.
His internal war will have to end.
The war is over.
"Shiroe-sama? Sage Regan is here to seek your audience."
He rests his back against the door, feeling the solid oak support him.
"Please convey my apologies, Akatsuki-san. I have too much paperwork to deal with now that the war is over."
There's a quiet exhale.
Only once he convinces himself that the assassin has left, does he return to his table.
But then again, with how silently she treads, I can never tell.
The table is tidy, clear.
All the paperwork is done.
He's been staying up, hasn't left the room for a while.
Maybe I should go out.
He knows that someday, he has to face the world.
Maybe later..?
But Shiroe isn't ready.
He isn't ready to face the problems that his power has directly caused.
The door knob twists, and it opens.
Regan steps through, eyes sharp, and voice mild.
"I see that you have completed your paperwork, Shiroe-dono. I have pressing issues to tell you."
This is bad-good in a peculiar sense. It's been a long time coming. Regan is a good place to start.
And he knows very well that Shiroe-dono has no valid reason to, and thus will not turn him down.
The tiny assassin steps in after him.
"Shall I remove Sage Regan, Shiroe-sama?"
As if feigning nonchalance, the Enchanter shakes his head.
"Please bring up some tea, Akatsuki-san."
She stalks off, compliant, but the way she moves expresses her unhappiness.
He gets down to business.
"Your Overskill, Shiroe-dono, is dangerous. What you did that day, was a Global-Scale Magic. By all and any poorly defined rules, you shouldn't have been able to invoke it."
"I know."
That reply is distant, off pitch.
The eyes that meet his are shielded by the reflection off his glasses.
"Have you named your Overskill, Shiroe-dono?"
"[Contract Art Ceremony]."
There's a pause, and he is almost hesitant to say what he has prepared.
"If I may congratulate you, then I will do so. For not only unlocking your Overskill, saving the life of a Lander, and neutralising one of the Six Scrapped Princesses."
He holds a hand up, before Shiroe can say anything.
"Given the ability to go back in time, placed back in that scenario, would you have let that Lander die?"
"I would have barred him from going for the training camp."
So this is the kind of person Shiroe-dono is.
"And if the same had happened? Would you let him die, knowing that you could save him?"
Regan can see the ill-disguised grief under the cold exterior.
It comes with practice.
"Shiroe-dono is not the kind of person who would sit still, and let such a thing happen. Yume-dono would not have allowed anyone placed under her charge die like that."
He cocks his head at the silent Enchanter, letting his mouth run off.
"But Shiroe-dono knows this. Shiroe-dono has heard all this. Yume-dono would have told you not to blame yourself. The only person causing grief. That of yours and everyone around you."
Is you… Now, isn't that a normal thing to say?
"Is me. I know this very well Regan-san. I have no need for you to tell me so."
His voice is almost smug, pulling words out of the Sage's mouth.
But he shakes his head.
"This is why you must hear it, Shiroe-dono. The only person causing all this grief is the Princess herself."
It's in a deceptively light tone that Regan forces the truth out into the open.
"Shiroe-dono should not think for a single moment that his grief is the greatest. How bad must Rudy-san feel, for endangering himself? How bad must Serara-san feel, for not being able to prevent Rudy-san's health from hitting zero?"
How bad Naotsugu-san must feel for not being able to be there to protect the children under his care.
How guilty and worthless the Princess must have felt to believe that a mere Lander's life was worth more than hers?
They spend just a moment in silence, trying to come to a mutual understanding.
It clicks, and something fades in Shiroe's eyes.
The Sage of Miral Lake excuses himself then, seeing himself out.
Akatsuki-san side steps, only setting the tea down on the table, before bowing.
"While the Round Table needs you, Shiroe-dono, I believe that Yume-hime would have understood. That's why it is all the more important to me that you do not waste away. If you do so, I cannot call myself a ninja of her service."
Akatsuki has spent most of her time training, improving herself, gaining experience.
She has spent countless days, waiting for her benefactor to call upon her.
Moving in and out of worrying hazes, of her own usefulness, and of the promise that binds her to Yume-hime, she has questioned multiple things.
But her hime never binds her, promising her, that, "One day, I will call for you."
And she was told to aim to acquire her own Overskill.
No matter how hard she trained, however many raids she went on, she never felt any closer to gaining that elusive skill.
Being called upon filled her with a deep seated fear of disappointing someone who was relying on her.
Over the (Communication Link), she's assured of being strong.
So even if she does not think so, as long as there is just one person who believes in her, she's willing to give it her all.
"Akatsuki-chan. All I need of you, is your unwavering loyalty and determination."
Her Lady has her allegiance, no matter what happens.
How was she to know that that text was her last set of instructions?
Find my guild master, Enchanter Shiroe.
Please assist him in /Akihabara/.
The comma shaped jewel resting in her palm is delicate looking.
Being a plain, black colour, it looked like an innocuous trinket.
But it was one of the most durable magical foci that had been employed.
"This is Yume's {Magatama}, off her own staff."
No words are said, because as she enters into the guild register, her Princess' name is missing.
It's an acute sense of loss, and incomprehension, it has her demanding, "Why?!"
But Akatsuki is a ninja, and ninjas obey their Master, trusting that when it comes to, they will be told.
So she takes the magatama from her guild master, and requests that Tatara re-forge her a pair of blades.
"If I do so, I would have to split Lady Yume's foci into two."
She almost imagines her lady smiling at her, telling her to do as she believed.
So she nods, and Tatara takes {Sento-Byakumaru} off the shelf.
The forge is a touch colder, but Yume's magatama glows a deep purple.
The new flavour text catches both of them off guard.
For Lugrius' wrath is tempered by the respect he is accorded, the Princess' desire for revenge quenched by the relationships she has forged, and this earnest wielder's plea for strength granted through trust alone.
"Lugrius."
The short swords hum, chilling the air, seemingly pleased.
Crusty and the entire army withdraws, after a resounding victory.
His pull back itself is hasty, but the battle is won, and he is free.
His blood sings for destruction, and his mind has never declined such a desire.
Ordering Misa to tidy up what's left, he leaves on his griffin for /Akihabara/.
Their new shield is up, as directed, but Crusty still finds it lacking.
Is it any surprise to find Isaac in his waiting room, face tight?
"She's gone."
He blinks at the guild master opposite him.
"Gone? I'm not entirely sure I understand you, Isaac."
Fingers drum the edge of the table.
Crusty notes that only he is in armour.
"Yume is gone. Dead? Erased? Something along those lines. Something happened at /Choushi/, but she was presumably a Person of the Land."
Idly, he glances out the window.
"Ah. I see…"
The pounding in his head gets a tiny bit louder.
/Choushi/. Ah, I was the one who insisted that she leave the palace.
He looks at Isaac, trying to make sense of the silence.
"You're… surprisingly calm."
The fiery haired Guardian nods.
"I suspected. She was always online. She could do things when they were never options to choose. She never seemed like a computer program, but she was always very distant."
Alcohol would be good now.
Rieze brings in tea.
"You were good friends."
He nods again.
"We were."
Ah, [Manipulate] is a Nation-Scale Magic.
Even if she's no longer around to see the after effects, there isn't anyone who can call her out for what she really has done.
Completed, 07/07/16, 1.01 a.m.
Thank you for coming this way with me, I hope it was an enjoyable one.
I should have a SAO sequel to this soon, but it will only call back to it, it'll be fairly standalone.
So until we meet again, thank you for everything,
Kayo-San
Hope you got the pun in the chapter title :)