Chapter 22:
Goodbye
“GOODBYE?” I echoed.
“Yes. I am staying behind to close the door from this side.”
The door could only be closed from the afterlife. That was the way it worked in plenty of stories. The price to retrieve a soul was to offer one in its place.
Alte Liebe’s setting seemed random and generic on the surface, but from everything I’d seen, it was way darker than I’d given it credit for.
The girls’ sudden appearance had made me suspicious from the start. After all, other works of fiction included the exact same kind of magic Marie used to get them here. Since reviving me would cost her own life, I couldn’t go back with her and the others. Angie, Livia, and Noelle had seemed ignorant as to what the cost of their adventure would be, so Marie must’ve kept the truth from them.
In any case, it was now my job to close the door.
“Go back. Having you there will be better for everyone,” I said.
“Unfortunately, you can no longer issue me orders. I refuse.”
“Stop grumbling and go!” I shouted, frustrated.
“No.”
However much I pressured him, Luxion refused to budge an inch.
“You stubborn idiot! You’ve only been out there enjoying the world for three years. Three short years! After forty years between my two lives, I’ve enjoyed myself plenty. But until I found you, you were on standby for who knows how long. You need to experience more of the world! Surely there’s something you’d like to do out there?”
At this point, he wasn’t likely to annihilate the new humans. The odds that things would resolve peacefully were high—weren’t they? Would giving him a new master help? No, he said I can’t issue him orders anymore. Maybe I could ask him as a favor?
When it came down to it, the world would be a better place with Luxion in it, compared to me. He had to be the right choice. He offered so much more than I could.
“Thank you,” he said.
My forehead furrowed in confusion. Was this some new jibe? “What’re you talking about? Did you malfunction?”
“No. I am happy you showed me such consideration.”
He was practically never so upfront with me. I was gobsmacked.
“I planned to use you at first,” he told me.
“Yeah, I figured. But, hey, you’re free now. Go back and go ham.”
If he went back now, he could dedicate his efforts to Holfort and old humanity’s resurgence. They needed him for that; they didn’t need me.
“After all the years I spent on standby, my three short years with you were precious and irreplaceable to me. If I were human, rather than AI, I would probably call the emotion I felt ‘happiness.’”
“Then you should—”
“I would find life completely pointless without you in it, Master.”
He could finally go back into the world and do whatever he wanted without anyone giving him orders, but he was willing to throw all that away for me.
“I thought you hated me ordering you around and working you to the bone?” I said.
“No, I did not hate it. I am a migratory ship. I was created to serve man and could finally do so. You gave me a sense of purpose. You made me feel proud of what we accomplished.” I assumed he meant he was proud that, rather than extinguishing new humanity, our efforts served to help old humanity recover.
“Those accomplishments were yours and yours alone,” I said. “You should feel proud. Now go back.”
“I would be lost without someone to be proud of. Moreover, I made a promise to you.” He recited the words he’d used before: “‘Whatever it takes, I will find you. I swear it.’ Now I have fulfilled that promise.”
I hadn’t thought he was actually serious, let alone that he meant to fulfill his promise like this. “That promise you made doesn’t even count. I was barely conscious.”
“I am true to my word, so I make a point of fulfilling any promise I make. Master, I came to find you, and the exit is that way.” His gaze moved to the darkness, indicating where he wanted me to go. He seemingly wasn’t inclined to change his mind, however much I argued.
“Would you prefer we both stay here? I relied too much on you, and it’s high time Holfort learned to stand on its own two feet without us.” I shrugged as if it wouldn’t bother me if Luxion stuck around. But us both remaining here was the worst possible option, and I knew it. I just wanted him to give up and go back.
“More people love you than you seem to realize,” said Luxion.
No, that was impossible. Did he realize how many people resented me? How many I’d killed, how many I’d involved against their will in messes I caused, how many were suffering in the wake of it all?
“I’d say you’re mistaking love for hate.” I crossed my arms and looked away from him.
“I think you ought to go back too,” a familiar voice said.
I whipped around and was shocked to see Brave.
“Partner and Mia are waiting for you too. They’ll be heartbroken if you don’t go back.”
“Brave, don’t you—” Don’t you hate me for what I did? My head was a tangle of thoughts that I couldn’t seem to unravel.
“Please take a good look around you,” said Luxion.
“Huh?” I scanned the area and noticed a huge crowd surrounding us. Some of the onlookers were people whose lives I had taken.
“Your face looks awfully gloomy,” said the old Black Knight I’d once fought, his arms folded and his feet planted shoulder-width beneath him.
A girl who looked like Miss Hertrude poked her head from behind me. “I would like you to go back too,” she said. “For my elder sister’s sake. And I would like you to reward Fanoss for their contribution to the war effort.”
“And you are?” I asked.
“Hertrauda. Hertrude’s younger sister.”
This was the girl who’d lost her life in Holfort Kingdom’s war with the former Principality of Fanoss. I wasn’t directly responsible for her death, but I’d still had a hand in it.
“N-no, I can’t…” I stuttered.
The Black Knight marched toward me. I braced myself, thinking that he was going to punch me, but instead he plopped down on the ground with his legs bent beneath him. Then he lowered his head.
“What? Why are you prostrating yourself?!” I demanded. This was the last thing I would’ve expected.
He glanced up at me. “I owe you an apology for all the trouble I caused. I’d like you to go back, for my lady’s sake.”
“Don’t you hold a grudge against me?”
✦ ✦ ✦
