“They? Ah, you mean with their allies inside the castle? You place too much blind faith in Aikawa Kanami. Even if their allies joined them now, it would be meaningless. It’s decided by the laws of the world that Aikawa Kanami cannot defeat Aikawa Hitaki. Do you really think a miracle could happen?”
“It’s precisely because we break through such laws head-on that we are human. Though the Essence Thieves were chosen from the weak-hearted, they were once human. They hold the potential to break through anything. Unlike us, the Degraded Imitations...”
Called a fake, the sharp-tongued Apostle Sith fell silent. Perhaps there was something in Nosfy’s words that left her unable to argue back.
As the conversation trailed off, Nosfy bowed and offered her farewell. “I must be excused now, as time is short.”
“Yes, you should return to your place.” Sith watched her go. Her expression made it clear that she found the thought of further conversation with Nosfy unpleasant.
Finally, Nosy left her parting words for me. Her expression was gentler than I had ever seen it, yet simultaneously pained. “Farewell, Lorde, my worthy adversary and my dear, dear Demon Queen friend. There is no need for worry. It is all right. For you are no longer a queen but a kindhearted human who deserves reward...”
“Nosfy...? But...wait...”
“Connection.” Nosfy didn’t answer. Instead, she created a shining gate nearby and stepped through it. It was clearly the dimensional magic used for long-distance travel. Her figure vanished, and the shining gate disappeared too.
“How could she...?” I cursed at my departed friend’s back. When there was no Kanami, Nosfy was calm. She’d even showed me, her friend, her pained expression. I felt like I was starting to understand little by little. Nosfy was similar to me. “Ugh. But this is bad. The cold is making my body...”
Even if I understood Nosfy’s inner state now, there was nothing I could do about it. When I tried to move my limbs, only the strength of an infant remained. Nosfy’s encouragement had certainly warmed my heart a little. But that warmth would be stolen again too in mere seconds.
“My eyelids feel heavy... If this continues...”
Unable to endure it, I finally closed my eyes. From the frigid, pure-white world, I fell into a warm, pitch-black one. The sensation in my limbs vanished as my body collapsed onto the ground. I was enveloped in a soft feeling, like plunging into a plush bed. Even though my mind knew it was the feel of snow, it was an irresistible temptation.
Wrapped in warm snow, my entire body drifted toward sleep. Then, as if urging sleep, instinct showed me a dream before my eyelids closed. It was a memory I’d desperately recalled just days before. A precious treasure I’d managed to salvage thanks to Kanami.
It was of the former Viaysia: warm sunlight, vast grasslands, two children running across them, and an old couple watching over them. It was truly a warm memory of family. Those children’s names were Titee and Ide.
“Ah... Yes... I still have something I must tell Ide... I cannot collapse until I see my brother...”
Consciousness faded. But the thought of Ide alone refused to leave my mind.
Ide... My most precious little brother. Since I’d finally escaped Floor Sixty-Six, I was able to recall the memories of my time spent with him. I remembered it like it was yesterday. So much had happened.
As a little white-haired child, Ide had followed me around constantly. Despite being a boy, he couldn’t walk very fast, and he was always out of breath. But he never once complained. I wonder if that was because he was stubborn. His body grew bigger at the same time as his stubbornness.
I remembered getting unreasonably angry with Ide for being too close behind me, calling him insolent and bratty. Yet he had silently followed me all along, despite my unreasonable behavior. Whether playing in the grasslands, by the river, or in the mountains, he was always right beside me. Not a single day passed without him. When I tried to catch the river’s master, when I went to see the flying dragon, when I ventured out to the northern town—he was always with me.
We were always, always together.
It had been fun... Childhood had been truly joyful. Having him there had made me so happy.
But what about Ide? I thought he’d smiled. I thought he’d smiled softly behind me... I thought.
Ah, my heart felt cold. It was so cold, so cold, and this bad feeling just wouldn’t stop. Back then, little me had been so spoiled and selfish. Ide, dragged around by such a foolish sister, might not have actually enjoyed it. Maybe I’d only thought he was laughing with me. Maybe deep down, he’d never wanted to be little me’s little brother...
That was probably why things had turned out the way they had. Because of me, he’d become the chancellor instead of my little brother.
Chancellor Ide...
He’d gained power that didn’t suit him, fulfilled dreams that didn’t suit him, wore clothes that didn’t suit him, wore glasses that didn’t suit him, did things that didn’t suit him. It was all as if to accuse me of my foolishness.
“Ah, ahh, aaah...”
It might be over now. My heart was frozen, filled with inexplicable anxiety and an unbearable loneliness. I longed for human warmth, yet when I reached out, there was no one there. I was alone in a dark dream. My little brother wasn’t here. Neither Kanami or Nosfy were here.
Though no one was here, I felt only the overwhelming magic of the Sovereign Queen Lorde. Only the legendary queen who’d once deceived my childish self stood before me. Though I’d thought I had cast her aside, she clung to me as an enemy until the very end, as if forcing me to atone for my sins. In the end, the only one left wasn’t a friend or family—it was the Sovereign Queen Lorde.
That fact nearly broke my heart. I couldn’t... My heart was breaking... Someone...help me... Kanamin... Nosfy... Beth... Grandpa Vohlz... Everyone in the North... Ah... Gramps... Grams...
“Ide...”
My little brother’s name.
The meaning behind that name was simple. It had been borrowed from a name appearing in the tale of the Sovereign King Lorde from a thousand years ago. Well, to be precise, it had been passed down as the name of one of my forest friends who’d borrowed it. But honestly, it didn’t really matter.
No, it didn’t matter. Because either way, the meaning behind that name was singular. Meaning was always singular.
I wanted him to stay by my side. That was the wish behind the name. That’s why I’d called my little brother “Ide.” Come to think of it, I felt like I hadn’t seen his face in ages. Since coming to the surface, I’d spoken with him, but we’d never seen each other face-to-face. Every time, we’d talked from afar, separated by something.
Maybe that was why I felt it more strongly. I wanted to see him, even just once. I wanted to see Ide one last time. After all, I hadn’t seen my little brother in over a thousand years. He was such an important, important family member, yet I hadn’t been able to see him.
I’d kept tumbling down through hell, crying out over and over again, until I’d finally made it this far. Since I’d come back... Just one last time. Just one last time would be enough. I wanted to see him... But in this cold darkness, my consciousness drifted away, and I couldn’t think of anything anymore. All I felt now was the coldness in my heart.
Cold. Cold, cold, cold. The cold stopped me. Everything stopped. Life stopped.
I felt like I was freezing to death. But before I died, I wanted to see him somehow. I wanted to see Ide. I wanted to see my little brother.
I wanted to see him, I wanted to see him, I wanted to see him, I wanted to see him...
I wanted to see him.
I was just on the brink of falling back into the abyss.
“TIIITEEE!!!”
Warm magic suddenly surged through my entire body. No, warm was an understatement—it was hot. A magic that felt like it was burning and boiling filled me.
That heat abruptly pulled my consciousness, which had been drifting away, back. My thoughts, which had been frozen, began to move again.
“Huh? Eh? Wha...?” I’d thought I’d just heard something. A very important voice, in my ear...
Somehow, my eyelids, which had felt so heavy, had grown light. Thanks to that, I could finally bring the white royal capital into view. And there, before my wide-open eyes, stood the back of a man I didn’t remember.
His clothes were ragged and torn. The limbs peeking from his cuffs were covered in blue bruises and scrapes. He had a broad back that had surely weathered fierce battles. From the branches and leaves sprouting from his neck, I instantly recognized him as a dryad.
Furthermore, seeing white, long hair draped over those branches and leaves, I realized this back was the one I had been searching for.
Ide...?
I realized Ide stood before me and nearly froze in shock. For a moment, I thought it was a hallucination, but the demonic power radiating from the Essence Thief before me was unmistakable. Ide was here. He’d escaped that castle and stood before me, alone.
Which meant... Could I dare to hope? After a thousand years, my brother—once trapped by his position as the nation’s chancellor—had finally returned. We siblings had at last been reunited. We could rejoice at seeing each other’s faces. Could I place my hopes on this back?