We found him straight away. Next to no effort. I didn’t even have to use what little mana I had left, it was that easy. The moment we crossed the ravine and entered the flame-blackened forest, there, in the shadow cast by the charred remains of a great tree, we found Geese lying on the ground. His whole body was charred dark by terrible burns. When I’d cast Flashover, it had burnt the forest and him with it. When I first saw him, I thought he was dead. He was so still he looked like a black boulder. But luckily Ruijerd had found him first, and he’d used his third eye to probe further. Geese wasn’t dead.
“Geese,” I said.
“Hey, boss.”
He wasn’t dead, but it was clear he would be soon, and I wasn’t about to heal him. I was here to do the opposite…although I didn’t want to finish him off straight away, either.
“Heh heh. Water magic, earth magic, the Magic Armor… I thought up ways to counter all of ’em, only for this to be what gets me. Didn’t know you had a knack for fire magic too, boss. Never once saw you use it.”
Geese had all sorts of items on him. He wore a blue vest with a brown band around his middle and something that looked like chainmail. It was hard to tell now, when they were practically burnt to a crisp, but they were presumably precautions against all kinds of magic. I guessed it hadn’t been the Fighting God Armor’s power that allowed him to survive Electric back in the Third City of Heirulil.
“And now you’re here, boss, which I reckon must mean my final plan fizzled…” Geese’s scorched cheeks twisted. His final plan? I guess that depended on whether sending Badigadi out alone counted as a “plan.”
“If any of ’em, the Sword God or the North God, the Ogre God, the Abyssal King…if there’d been just one more, things might’ve been different… None of ’em listened to me, y’know.”
“Well, none of them were the best listeners,” I replied. Geese seemed half delirious.
“Hah, you’re one to talk. Eris, Atofe. That Ghislaine I see over there? You’re surrounded by folks who don’t know how to listen, yerself.”
“Yeah, well… I guess I was lucky.”
“Nah, that ain’t it. It’s ’cause you did things the right way. Told ’em what was goin’ on, won their trust, and then worked hard to make honest allies of ’em all. And that’s why, when push came to shove, they listened right and followed your orders right.”
He might’ve had a point. Atofe and the Ogre God, who I’d only joined forces with because I’d had to at the time, hardly listened to me at all. Sandor and Dohga were exceptions, but Ariel fit the pattern. If I hadn’t been able to build trust with everyone, there would have been more who refused to listen to me.
“Turns out just twistin’ things to make a reason to fight, scroungin’ people together, stirring ’em up, then sneakin’ around nudging ’em behind their backs just doesn’t work…”
Neither the Sword God nor the North God had followed Geese’s instructions. At the end of the day, they put their own interests first. That was why I was alive.
“I thought I knew what was what, but I was wrong. Still, I thought I’d pull it off somehow. Only then it turned out someone was even less clued in than me.” Geese laughed. “The Man-God, y’know. He was throwin’ a real tantrum a little while ago. ‘Why?! Why?! It’s all your fault! Ya stupid ape!’” Geese flashed a careless, mocking smile. “I mean, what’d he expect? Who’s gonna lend an honest hand to a bastard who tricks and sneers at the folks that work their hardest for him?”
“Then…does that mean you cut corners too, Geese?”
“Is that what you think, eh? Was it that easy for you? I gave it my all, I’ll have you know.” Geese coughed and something black like soot trickled from his mouth. “See, Badigadi and I, we’re unusually softhearted. Who else’d help out a guy who screams at his allies for bein’ useless even now? Softies is who.”
The black soot we saw now was like a representation of Geese’s soul. I could tell he was growing weaker.
“Thing is, though, boss, even after all that, the Man-God saved me. Yeah, he did some nasty stuff to me too, but when you add it all up, he saved me.”
When I didn’t say anything, Geese went on. “You wouldn’t get that, eh, boss? You can do anythin’, go anywhere in the world, all on your own. You wouldn’t get what it’s like when you just can’t do nothin’.”
I did get it. Or at least, I thought I did. I understood what it was like not to be able to do what everyone else could. Geese was…me. Me as I’d been long ago, only there was one difference. Back then, I hadn’t even tried. When I came up against a wall, I just ran away. Geese, on the other hand, really didn’t have the ability. In this world dominated by monsters and violence, the most important power was the power to fight, and he didn’t have it. He’d learned how to do everything else, but he couldn’t survive.
“No, Geese, you’re wrong…” I could say he was wrong, but no more than that. I couldn’t say that I understood. I didn’t want to give him an answer. All I could do was deny it.
“Heh. Hey, Rudeus. If you’re gonna tell me I’m wrong, take some pride in it. You won, y’know? Ya beat me. The world says it’s winners who get to be right and losers are wrong. So stand up straight and tell me, ‘That’s wrong, Geese. That ain’t how it is.’ Then, see, you go on and give me a lecture, seein’ as I’m about to die. ‘Ya shoulda done it like this, ya shoulda stuck with me and never gone over to the Man-God.’ That sorta thing.” With that, the strength seemed to go out of him, and he said, his face empty, “Me, Badigadi, and the Abyssal King are all gone. The Man-God’s got no one left who’ll go outta their way to help him out. He lost. Ain’t no one left in this world who can mess with Rudeus Greyrat. In fact, he said himself that if this was a dud, there’d be nothin’ he could do to ya. So I reckon he’ll quiet down, at least ’til you take him out. Count on it: He’ll be sneakin’ about behind the scenes, though.”
“You’re joking, right?” I said, butting in without thinking. Geese didn’t smile.
“If that’s how ya wanna think, I ain’t gonna stop you. I’m only guessing that he’ll quiet down, no more. Go on wavin’ that ‘Down with the Man-God!’ flag if you like. It’ll be bad for him but not for you, eh?”
I wasn’t laughing either.
“Hey, now, what’s the glum look for? You’re Paul’s son, aren’t ya? Paul’d look a bit more cheerful if he were around. Maybe not right before he died, though. He really got older while I wasn’t lookin’… But anyways, take some pride in this already! Rejoice a bit, even if it don’t last. How d’ya think I feel when you don’t? Makes me look like a real moron, after I went all over the world gettin’ the Sword God and the North God and the Ogre God to join me, then getting ’em fired up like, ‘Let’s take him down!’ only for it to all fall to pieces. All ’cause I couldn’t control ’em. At the end I took a risk and sent Badi. Look where that got me. At least remember me as a strong opponent, yeah? That’s how I wanna be remembered.” Before I knew it, Geese was crying. Tears were streaming down his soot-stained face. When I saw that, I knew for sure that he hadn’t held anything back.
“Okay. You were strong, Geese. True, I’m standing here now, but if just one thing had gone awry, I’m pretty sure our places would be reversed. This was the hardest, most brutal fight of my life.”
“Heh… Heh heh. Cheers, Rudeus.”
He had been strong, all right. It had taken me a year to defeat him. For a whole year, I’d prepared…not to mention everything I’d brought to the fight that had been built up over a much longer period. No one could call him weak after all that.
“Geese.” Suddenly, Ghislaine stepped forward. She looked down at Geese. Her bangs hid her face so that I couldn’t read her expression.
“Hey, Ghislaine. Been a while.”
“It has.”
“I’m headin’ on.”
“Yes. Say hello to Paul for me.”
“Gotcha… Maybe, when it’s your time, we can get a drink. I wanna see Paul get drunk again, then stickin’ his face into ya chest and makin’ Zenith sulk…”
“Zenith won’t be going anywhere for a while yet. My time will probably come first.”
“Heh, yeah, I know… Anyway…’til we all…meet…ag…”
Geese fell still. Just like that, something in him was suddenly gone, even though he hadn’t finished talking.
Ghislaine’s ears twitched, then her tail drooped. “He’s dead,” she said.
Dead. Geese was dead.