761. [Side Story] Brand new day (3)
Before the knock on the door, all kinds of negative thoughts appeared in Chain’s mind.
Will his wife be angry when she sees him back? Will his daughter be cold, unlike in the letter? Will his son-in-law, who is meeting him for the first time, be uncomfortable with him? Will he be kicked out without even seeing his grandchild’s face…. The worst situations imaginable are happening one after another
. Chain’s mind was covered.
As he was the head of the family who was not faithful to his family, the fear rose in a specific way and tightened his throat.
“….”
But Chain finally let out a breath, mustered up his courage, and knocked on the door.
Because I already saw the end of the world on that front.
I wanted to apologize for what I had to apologize for before it was too late, and… I wanted to see the faces of the precious people who were still alive, at least once. Knock
knock and
after what felt like eons, there was a knock on the door.
“yes! Let’s go~!”
The door opened with a young woman’s voice.
The eyes of the young woman who opened the door were wide open. Chain stuttered, not recognizing the other person right away, but the woman recognized him right away.
“dad!”
“…Kate?”
My daughter, whom I see for the first time in 10 years, is already an adult and has grown tremendously.
My daughter, who looked a little awkward but smiled brightly, gestured into the house.
“It was hard to come this far. It’s cold outside. Come inside quickly. hurry!”
“Oh, that’s over there…”
Unable to take a step, my daughter dragged Chain, who hesitated, by her sleeve and pulled her into the house. Chain entered the house hesitantly.
There was one sturdy man in the house who was carrying a pile of firewood. Kate tapped the young man on the shoulder and said:
“egg! Say hello. “It’s my dad.”
“what? Huh…! Hello, my father-in-law!”
The young man who dropped the pile of firewood on the floor greeted me in a frozen manner.
“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot from Kate! It’s called Al! Ah, please take care of me in the future!”
“….”
Chain, who was as stiff as the young man, spoke in a trembling voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“yes? “What are you talking about?”
“Because I couldn’t be there for you at the wedding…”
“Oh no! I really feel sorry for Kate. “I was born as an orphan and didn’t have a lot of money saved up, so I couldn’t have a proper wedding…”
“No. “If only I had saved up the money…”
“Oh no! We will work harder from now on…” While
the son-in-law and father-in-law, who met for the first time, kept groveling and saying sorry to each other,
“Mom, Mom! “Daddy’s here!”
Kate shouted as she ran towards the kitchen connected to the living room.
“….”
My wife was standing in front of the kitchen stove with her back to me.
Despite the news that her husband had arrived, she remained silently stirring the ladle in the pot. Chain, who was approaching his wife while looking at her back, stopped at a distance on his crutches.
“…Hanna.”
When I carefully called my wife’s name, she stopped stirring and opened her mouth in a brusque voice.
“I heard the news. “I heard you were fighting at the Crossroads all this time?”
“uh? Ugh…”
“I was wondering which front you were working as a mercenary on, but was it the infamous monster front?”
In my wife’s voice, there are layers of sadness and joy and sorrow.
“Well, anyway… I didn’t fight to enrich other kings or nobles, but to save the world.”
There was a faint sense of pride in it.
My wife’s face, which glanced back and smiled, was lined with wrinkles, but it looked just like I remembered.
“I heard you’re cool like that.”
“….”
It was only then that Chain realized the true nature of the favor he had for his daughter, son-in-law, and wife.
Because everyone knows that the people of the World Defense Front fight to save the world.
Because everyone now knows that the world is maintained because of those who sacrificed their lives there.
Chain, who fights a great battle and retires, is also a person worthy of respect.
Everyone knew.
Chain himself was the only one who didn’t know.
“Why are you looking at me like that? “Are you afraid that you won’t be able to treat the hero who saved the world to a meal?”
“B-but…”
Chain stuttered.
“I… I’ve been gone for 10 years…”
“Hi, I knew from the first time I saw you that there’s no way a wizard would stay in the family.”
My wife, holding the pot handle with both hands and lifting it with a clicking sound, turned around.
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel any resentment, but if you were as shameless as before, I would have gotten angry. “I can’t even get angry when you look like a downcast old dog.”
“….”
“Come and sit at the table, Mr. Wanderlust Warlock. It’s New Year’s, so should I have a bowl of meatball stew? “Let’s talk later.”
My wife brought a large pot to the table. The table already had a tablecloth and silverware laid out on it.
The son-in-law who came from the side supported Chain, who was still hesitant.
Chain sat in a chair, his crutches next to him, and looked blankly at the table where hot food was being prepared. My wife quietly poured Chain’s share of stew into a large bowl.
“Oh, before you eat, Dad!”
My daughter ran into the inner room and came out holding something very small wrapped in a blanket.
“You should say hello to your grandchildren too!”
“…!”
My daughter carefully showed me the little life in her arms.
The child was sleeping soundly under the blanket. The small, feeble sound of breathing could not be heard unless one listened closely.
At that moment, in that young, innocent child’s face, Chain somehow saw the faces of his colleagues who had fallen first.
For another child, for this world, and for this child… The
eternally sleeping faces of my comrades who died fighting passed before my eyes.
“….”
Chain, who was crying with a lump in his throat, eventually smiled slowly and whispered softly.
“Happy New Year, baby.”
All the fights so far. All the struggles to protect the world.
I realize that it was so meaningful.
“Next year and the year after that. Good luck, baby….”
***
Crossroads.
Junior’s room.
Thump thump! Thump thump thump!
Junior, who had been reading a book that did not catch his attention, was startled by a sudden and harsh knocking sound and turned to look at the door.
“what?”
Thump thump thump! Thump thump thump!
As the harsh knocking continued to ring, Junior hurriedly walked to the door and opened it carefully.
And the person standing outside the door…
“Ha ha ha ha…!”
“Lord Hecate?”
It was Hecate.
She looked exactly like she had dressed up and went out on a date with Lucas. Junior blinked.
“Didn’t you go out on a date with Sir Lucas? Why already…”
“I, I, I…”
Hecate, who had been stuttering, shouted with a very flushed face.
“I kicked Lucas…!”
Junior, not understanding the context, blinked.
“yes yes?”
“It means that I kicked that arrogant bastard. Can you believe it? Well, strictly speaking, that guy kicked her, but…”
Hecate, who was rambling, suddenly seemed to have lost strength in her legs and stumbled. Junior urgently helped Hecate and made her sit on the chair next to the table.
Hecate briefly explained what happened on today’s date.
Since I lost everything, I decided to be born again.
For that purpose, she decided to completely let go of Lucas, her first love and mainstay.
“That’s why my chest feels cool, but it’s so cool… It feels like there’s a hole in my chest. “A hole bigger than my body…”
Hecate covered her face with both hands and took a breath.
Junior filled a mug with warm honey tea and placed it in front of her.
For a moment, nothing moved in the room except the sound of the fireplace crackling and burning firewood and the faint, peaceful scent rising from the honey tea.
After a long silence.
“…I still don’t know where I should go or what I can become.”
Hecate slowly removed her hand from her face and spoke in a watery voice.
“But… I will go anywhere and become anything. I will no longer be afraid of new ‘where’ or ‘what’.”
“….”
“If you keep trying like that, you’ll find it someday. “What do I really want to do in this world?”
Junior nodded towards Hecate, who was speaking incoherently.
“You will find it. “Definitely.”
“….”
Hecate, who was looking at Junior with red eyes, lowered her eyes.
“But is it true what you said then, Junior?”
“huh? “What kind of words?”
“Later, when you build a resort with a swimming pool and live in retirement, you said I could come visit you…”
Hecate’s voice trembled.
“You gave me permission to visit your dreams as a guest. Is it true?”
“of course. “I will open the door whenever Lord Hecate comes.”
Junior shrugged his shoulders humorously.
“Instead, when Lord Hecate finds the dream, she must let me know. “Because I also want to go to Lord Hecate’s dreams.”
“great. So, did you make a promise to each other?”
“We promised each other.”
The conversation stopped.
In the peaceful silence that followed, the two women quietly looked at each other.
The valley of history dug between them was still too deep to be filled, but for the first time, Hecate quietly looked into Junior’s eyes without paying attention to the valley of silver circles.
There was a person there who was just like him, wounded and bleeding, but still trying to walk toward his dream.
Also at the same time.
There was an ordinary young man who wanted to become friends with the person in front of him.
Hecate laughed without realizing it.
“excuse me. “Junior.”
“yes?”
“Do you remember a few days ago when you stretched out your hand as if to shake my hand?”
“Uh… did I do that?”
“I did. He says he will be with you no matter what funny or absurd things happen. So let’s live together. He said he wanted to be friends with me. “By saying so.”
Junior’s cheeks heated up.
“Oh, right. I remembered. That’s right… Oh, I’m sorry. “What kind of juju…”
“But at that time, the monster came out and was running away in the air, so I couldn’t catch its hand.”
This time Hecate stuttered as if she was embarrassed.
But now she didn’t hesitate.
“Perhaps one more time… could you please shake that hand for me again?”
“….”
Junior looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled brightly.
“sure. However much.”
While the fireplace in the room made the sound of firewood cooking and the scent of honey evaporating from a teacup warmed the air, white snow was piling up silently outside the window.
The two slowly extended their hands toward each other as if to shake hands, without even knowing who would go first.
Soon, their fingers carefully grasped each other.
Just like building a bridge over a cliff of a thousand miles for the first time…
very slowly. Very gently.
***
Crossroads. Central square.
Here, on the first day of the new year, citizens and soldiers come out to enjoy the peaceful afternoon air.
“….”
Evangeline was sitting on a bench in the corner of the square with her chin resting on her face, her lips poking out with a very troubled expression.
“It’s unfair… It’s unfair…”
Evangeline kept babbling in a voice deeply filled with resentment and resentment.
“I can’t live like this because I’m so unfair and angry… How can I resolve this resentment?…”
Citizens, frightened by the aura of negativity pouring from Evangeline, moved out of the way, shedding a cold sweat. Regardless, Evangeline continued to spread the black air.
It was then.
“What are you doing?”
“…?”
When Evangeline heard a familiar voice, she turned around and saw a familiar knight in blond hair standing there.
The prince’s bodyguard, dressed in neat civilian clothes.
It was Lucas.
Evangeline snorted with a humming sound, then looked forward again and babbled.
“For those of you who went on a date with a good-looking guy and a pretty girl today, pay no mind~ I’ve set a rare record in the world of 0 confessions and 1 time, so I’m going to have to growl all day today.”
“Haha, that’s a funny story.”
Lucas laughed out loud. Evangeline glared with pierced eyes.
“Is this funny, man?”
“I’m not making fun of you, I’m just curious.”
Lucas walked over to Evangeline and sat down next to her.
“Because I’m also in the first round with 0 confessions.”
