I’d learned that the first king was awful in a way that was different than I’d initially expected. I’d even learned about the regrets he’d harbored. Though I’d learned about what sort of man this king, who continued to act like one in the Kingdom of Twilight, was, it didn’t have any effect on our plans to save my left side.
I had a good idea of what kind of regrets the hero had when he was alive, but that didn’t change the fact that there was nothing we could do. We were at a complete dead end. The three of us climbed into a carriage to leave the palace, and I continued racking my brain for ideas.
For now, we were headed to the Dolkness estate in the Royal Capital. I loved traveling on foot, but with the left side of my body not moving, it was a pain to walk around.
A soft, sweet scent filled the carriage, and Patrick and I were talking, both dejected.
“We’re at a total dead end... What should we do?”
“We might have not gotten any results, but we knew it was a long shot. There’s no point in being disappointed.”
“It would be nice if we at least had a way to communicate with the Kingdom of Twilight.”
“Your left side is definitely the wild card. It would be nice if she could make a move somehow.”
I guess we’ll just have to wait. Patrick and I both sighed at the same time.
Silence took over the carriage. I had no desire for small talk, and Patrick probably felt the same. As for Eleanora...
Wait. Why is Eleanora quiet? It was unnatural for her, a girl who was always reliably in high spirits, to not participate in our conversation. I looked over and saw her fervently reading something. Each time she flipped through the pages enthusiastically, the scent wafted over.
Did she bring a book with her? Also, it’s rare that she’s reading at all.
“Lady Eleanora, what do you have there?”
Eleanora looked up, beaming with an innocent smile as she showed off the black notebook. “I was curious, so I brought it with me!”
Ah, her carefree smile is so bright. I had no doubt that crime would disappear from this world if all of humanity looked as pure and innocent as she did. Still, our dear Eleanora has taken a confidential document belonging to the kingdom without permission. She’s totally guilty.
“You can’t do that! Why did you take it?!”
“It had a wonderful scent, and the writing inside was also lovely... I just couldn’t help myself.”
“You couldn’t help yourself...?”
“I’m sorry. I did it on a whim.”
She sounds like someone who just got arrested. It seemed that the person we had thought was the last person we should allow into the archives was in fact someone we shouldn’t have let in. This is bad. Ronald’s probably noticed by now. I hope he’ll let us off easy since the culprit is his younger sister.
“Come on, give that to me. We’re returning it right away.”
“Just a little more! Just let me have it for a little longer!”
I did my best to pull the notebook from a whining Eleanora with only my right hand, but I ended up dropping it. The impact made the pages flip to the final page. I was forced to reunite with the nonsensical entries.
“Ugh, he’s so annoying! Also, I saw that girl for the first time in a while, and she was split in half! I was so surprised!!!”
“I hate that he’s called ‘Hero.’”
“He tricked Yumi-Yumi! I need to show her what he’s really like!”
“I won’t let you destroy the Kingdom of Valschein! I won’t let you leave Twilight!”
Huh? The Kingdom of Twilight? The very thing I was after was written there. I thought I might be hallucinating, so I looked over at Patrick. He was also staring at the notebook in disbelief.
“Patrick, is this...?”
“There’ve been changes from when we last saw it. ‘Surprised’ should’ve been the last word written.”
“Right? Also, it mentions the Kingdom of Twilight.”
When did these entries get added? Also, why does the writer know about the Kingdom of Twilight? I turned to interrogate Eleanora, the only person who could’ve added to the entries.
“Did you write in this notebook, Lady Eleanora?”
“I didn’t. This adorable penmanship is the owner’s.”
Eleanora wouldn’t lie. If she had added onto the entries, she would’ve unabashedly admitted it too. On top of that, just as she had pointed out, the distinct, rounded penmanship matched the text that was already in the notebook. The only possible answer was that the words had shown up on their own.
As if to validate my unbelievable theory, a new set of words appeared on the page.
“Yumi-Yumi is on my side now! Yay!”
I can’t believe this... I suddenly had an idea, and scribbled something into the notebook.
“Is Yumiella Dolkness there?”
“What?! Mr. Notebook is talking to me? Yumi-Yumi is right next to me!”
Wow, this girl is really friendly. Okay then, if that’s the case...
“Please tell her this: ‘The left side is a small fry that’d lose to the right side.’”
The next moment, the world trembled. There was no sound nor was there any shaking, but the world had definitely trembled. I couldn’t explain why or what had caused it, but the skin on the right side of my body felt that the world was going to end. In that moment, I was the most aware of the fact that I was paralyzed on my left side than I’d been all day.
I wasn’t mistaken. Patrick and Eleanora both gulped as well. The horse whinnied, and I held my breath as the driver panicked, trying to calm down the violent horse.
Something was happening.
Something so ominous that it desecrated natural order was nearby. I only remembered to take a breath when I heard Patrick’s voice.
“Let’s just head outside for now,” he said.
In this situation, where there was no information—let alone details—where I, Yumiella Dolkness, felt fear, Patrick was the first to make a move. I looked closely and saw that he was trembling as well. In fact, his voice was shaking when he spoke earlier. Even though I was the most powerful person in the world, I would lose to Patrick in bravery.
Is Eleanora okay? I was so taken aback that I’d forgotten about the girl who I should’ve been most worried about. I used the courage I got from Patrick and spoke. “Are you all right, Lady Eleanora?”
“All I can do is accept it... There’s nothing I can do about it.”
It seemed that she had given up. We were in a situation similar to being stuck in a plane that was definitely going to crash, where panic was expected, but people could be surprisingly composed.
People only panicked when there was at least a sliver of chance of surviving as long as you ran quickly. When there was nowhere to run and you had no chance of survival, in situations without even a speck of hope, people became composed—that was the kind of composure Eleanora had.
Of us three, the most to least composed were Eleanora, Patrick, then me. This was probably because Patrick and I were the only ones who could find a ray of hope in this thing that was happening.
It was unsettling how silent things had become outside of the carriage, and I cautiously stepped outside. We scanned our surroundings, looking for the cause of this situation, but we couldn’t find anything. It felt like the air of despair had cast a thin veil across the entire world.
The first to notice it was Eleanora. She pointed up at the sky and shouted, “The sky! Up in the sky!”
“What is that...?”
It floated in the air, high above the thin clouds. It looked so high up that I couldn’t tell if it was in the sky or out in space. Wings sprouted from its back. This was an example of an extremely rare phenomenon in which magical energy—which was typically fluid, colorless, and shapeless—took a well-defined and solid form.
The six black wings on only its left side undulated, continuously changing shape as they grew larger. The wings themselves were visible from a much greater distance than the human-shaped entity in the center was.
It had a ring floating above its head. The ring, black as the undulating wings, multiplied itself several times over into a pattern of concentric circles that looked a bit like Saturn’s rings.
It was much too evil to be called an angel, but much too divine to call a devil. Still, calling it a god would be sacrilege.
The people of the Royal Capital looked up at it. When it had last manifested, they had only seen the aftereffects, so it was their first time seeing it for themselves. They just stared as its wings spread and its halo expanded ever outward.
No one was running—they instinctively knew that it was pointless to run, and they clung to this single clear fact in a maelstrom of incomprehensible circumstances. No one screamed; there was no value in expelling precious air from their lungs or in raising their voices. No one spoke; everyone felt the same horror, so there was no need to put their thoughts into words. No one prepared a will; it was clear that the people they would leave behind were going to disappear as well. No one fought the futility of such an action requiring no explanation.
It wasn’t despair—resignation was closer to what they felt. No matter what action they might take, it would ultimately be pointless, and they had no choice but to accept the reality before them.
The area around it fell completely silent. As the residents of the Royal Capital watched, it grew larger with every passing second. Its black wings and halo spread as if they intended to cover the skies of the whole world...
The black wings and the halo were observable from every corner of the globe. Unrest had spread throughout the world. Those who had the knowledge or the wisdom to understand the nature of what it might be were dragged at once into the depths of despair.
Then, Patrick and Eleanora, who were diminutive in comparison to it, both sighed.
“Oh, it’s just Yumiella.”
“It is Yumiella indeed.”
No? I’m right here?
“What? What’s going on?”
“Wow, it really is Yumiella,” Eleanora said once more.
“It’s only her left half, so there’s no doubt about it.”
Can someone explain it to me? I don’t really like it when the other characters have a mysterious conversation and the main character is left out of it.
I was still in full crisis mode, but all their nervousness seemed to have dissipated. Maybe they got so scared of that thing that they’ve gone crazy? If that’s the case, I’m going to start crying.