Now, because of all I’d been through, I could definitely say this: it was a good thing I had lost to Alioth and the others. If I hadn’t, I probably would have become a second Alovenus by now.
A peaceful world had no need of me as a king. In fact, it would be actively bad. That was the conclusion I’d reached after leaving this world once and gaining knowledge from Earth.
“By the way, Miss Lufas, what do you plan to do with the devilfolk?” Dina questioned.
“Ah, them... Well, apparently, there really is no way to transform them from a magic spell into true living beings. I mean, if she could have done that in the first place, the Goddess would never have gone through the trouble of bringing in subjects from Earth.”
In response to Dina’s question, I answered with a harsh bit of news for the devilfolk. As expected, they would not be able to become truly alive. It once seemed like it might have been possible, but given that the Goddess Alovenus couldn’t find a way, it could be considered basically impossible at this point.
However, this was something I’d predicted would happen. Alovenus had gone through the trouble of bringing in organisms from Earth instead of making them herself, after all. If she could have used magic to make true life, then there would have been no need for her to do this, and Mizgarz would have had a much wider variety of creatures.
But bad news wasn’t all I had.
“There was no method to transform the devilfolk from a magic spell to true life... But, that’s not the end of it. It would be easy to change the nature of the magic.”
“Nature?”
“Yes. Originally, the devilfolk were an attack spell fired at humanity...” Lufas trailed off. “But I had Alovenus change the nature of the spell, and now they’ve lost the instinct driving them to attack people. It seems that the devilfolk also have a pseudosoul, so apparently, it is possible for them to install that into a baby yet to be born and create avatars that way.”
To be honest, I was a little surprised at that. I would never have expected Alovenus to prepare such an emergency measure.
When I’d asked for more detail, I found out that it wasn’t actually meant to be used as such. Alovenus just figured it would be too much trouble to have to create them again, so she prepared a way to repurpose them beforehand. She’d made it to give herself a shortcut, treating the devilfolk as something akin to recyclable plastic.
After that line of questioning, Alovenus had seemed surprised as she asked me, “Huh? You didn’t realize this? I believe I should have summoned a devilfolk named Mars to fight you when I possessed Pollux before...”
Now that I think about it, she’s right.
Argonautai was a skill that needed a soul to summon, and it was true that Pollux had indeed once summoned that weirdo Mars. I didn’t pay much attention back then. I see though. That was my mistake. I never thought that an answer would have already been shown to me back then.
So, of the devilfolk, Mercurius, who had died in Draupnir, had already been summoned back as a heroic spirit and was currently speaking to Terra. However, while there were those who would come back, there were also those who wouldn’t.
I stopped looking out at the morning view and returned my gaze to the deck of the Argo. There stood Alioth, Dubhe, Phecda, and Mizar. A little farther away stood Benetnasch, Megrez, and Merak—the living members—watching over us. Just by seeing this, I understood their decision.
For a moment, I was quiet. “You’re all leaving, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” said Alioth. “We talked about it, and in the end, it didn’t feel right to cling to the living world like this.”
“We’re just bear shadows of the pawst who should already be gone. We decided to bear ourselves graciously and leave,” said Dubhe.
“Hey, Dubhe, your tic.”
“Whoops. I medvedev’ed a mistake. There’s no need to mind it. It doesn’t warrant such a big re-arctos.”
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
Alioth and Dubhe acting as a comedic duo like that was a nostalgic sight. They said that even death couldn’t cure idiots, and it seemed that the adage was true. Somehow, that made me strangely happy, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Our adventure is already over,” stated Phecda, seeming calm. “We don’t want to get in the way of the younger generation.”
“If I stayed, there’d be two of me, so going back to my grave would be best,” Mizar said, making it seem as if he were doing something as casual as going home.
What an impatient bunch, I thought. Nothing bad would happen if they decided to enjoy life a little while longer, given that they were already back and everything, and if something bad did happen, I could just complain to the Goddess. But it was their decision, and also probably their way of making things right, so I decided to see them off instead of throwing a fit about it. It’s going to feel a little lonely around here though.
“I managed to see you make it through to the end, after all. I don’t have any lingering attachments left,” said Alioth.
“I got to fight with you as a friend again at the end. That’s more than enough for me,” Mizar admitted.
Alioth and Mizar spoke as if a great weight had been lifted off of them. They must have really regretted that silly mistake from the past all this time. Since I’d kind of driven them to it, their regret seemed kind of misplaced, but it was great that they seemed satisfied.
“I...see... Then, at the very least, have a drink with me before you go,” I said.
I snapped my fingers, and Libra swiftly handed everyone a glass and poured wine into them. One of her arms should have been on the moon with Scorpius, but for some reason, she currently had both attached at the moment. I spied a mass-produced Libra a little farther away who was missing an arm and staring accusingly at Libra and instantly realized that she’d probably seized it. Make sure you return it later.
Anyway, this is going to be the last toast I’ll raise with them.
The Seven Heroes all clinked their glasses against mine when I raised it, reminding me of all the time we’d spent together as if it were yesterday.
I wonder how long it’s been since the last time I looked upon all seven of them as we shared drinks together and felt so at peace. In truth, I want to talk with them a little longer, but dragging things out will only make it worse, won’t it?
I was quiet, then said, “Well then. Alioth, Dubhe, Phecda, and Mizar, we will probably never meet again.”
This would be our final farewell. I knew that this universe had an afterlife, but it would be a long time before I went there. I was sure that by the time it happened, Alioth and the others would no longer be around. They would probably have reincarnated already and be living their new lives.
Souls had a cycle to them. I didn’t know how it was on Earth, but that was how things were on Mizgarz. Thinking about it, this was only natural. The Goddess was lazy enough to try to repurpose the devilfolk. There was no way she would go through the trouble of creating new souls. That useless Goddess had even been reusing souls this entire time to populate Mizgarz. Give your shortcuts a rest!
So of course, they would no longer be Alioth, or anyone else I knew, once they were reincarnated. In other words, even if we did meet again in another life, we would not recognize each other.
“To our past together.”
“And to our permanent parting.”
We toasted.
With that, I downed all the wine in my glass in one gulp.
Long conversations were unnecessary when reminiscing about the past. One glass was enough. This last toast, washing away all the bad blood between us, was more than enough... I was content.
I swallowed down all the swirling memories in my mind along with my wine, and then Alioth, Mizar, Phecda, and Dubhe left.
A lot happened, but I can still say this about all of you. I’m glad I met you all. I’m glad I was able to meet you and go on adventures with you. I think that from the bottom of my heart. It feels kind of strange to be saying this to people who are already dead, but... Safe journey to you.