Chapter 138 The end of a long journey [2]

Chapter 138 The end of a long journey [2]

"Cough...! Cough!"

My chest ached.

Holding onto my mouth, blood dripped down from the gaps of my fingers. Updated from n0velb(i)n.c(o)/m

Every part of me ached.

".....It's so beautiful."

"The scenery. It has changed so much."

I could hear the voices of the members of the first subjugation squad beside me. They were staring at the scenery with brilliant gazes.

"Was that tree there before?"

"No, it wasn't."

"And what about that rock?"

"How would I know?"

"This waterfall?"

"It was."

They just wouldn't stop talking.

I stared at them while holding onto my chest.

"Cough...!"

The fight had been a hard one. We didn't manage to kill the Hellhounds, but that had never been our goal to begin with.

We just wanted to get out of there.

To...

Get back home.

"Onward to Ellnor...! Hahaha."

Tud, Tud—!

The ground shook slightly. Turning around, I stared at the army of zombies following us from behind.

"You couldn't send them back...?"

"No."

Aurelia shook her head.

"I don't have enough mana."

".....That's fair."

She had been one of the most active in the last battle. It wasn't easy to hold back the Terror Ranked Hellhound. It was in fact a miracle for her to have been able to hold on after the last spell.

"What are you going to do once we go back?"

"....."

Aurelia didn't answer immediately.

In that brief moment of silence, I noticed that everyone was looking at her.

Eventually, the words did leave her mouth.

"I don't know. I never really thought about it."

"You didn't...?"

"I thought I'd be stuck here forever."

Strangely, Aurelia's steps seemed light as she walked.

".....I do have a little brother though. I wonder how he's doing. I remember telling him to keep count of the amount of time I would be gone for. Is he still keeping count?"

"Pftt, as if. He probably stopped counting a week in."

Daphne placed her hand over Aurelia's.

"You're such an adorable little thing. Even after so much time passed, you're still the same."

"Stop."

Aurelia brushed Daphne's hand away.

"Hehe, look at this cutie~"

Daphne ended up hugging Aurelia tightly as she struggled under her embrace.

"Ugh...!"

"Hahaha! Let me join!"

"No!"

"Akh!"

"Hur. Hur."

I stood to watch the scene with a smile. They looked like a family. A happy family of four.

"What about you...?"

And then, their attention turned to me.

"What are you going to do?"

".....What am I going to do?"

I wonder about that.

"Probably go back to the Academy."

Everyone besides Leon probably thought I was dead. But would they even care if I was dead...? I could still recall the faces of a few, but to what extent did they care?

"Haha."

I really didn't know.

"I also want to go back home."

"Oh, right. You're quite young yourself. I didn't really take note of it considering our situation."

Liam walked around me, closely patting my body in the process.

"Wow, what muscles."

"Did you say muscles...?"

"Crap! Stop him! He's going to—"

It was too late. Shoving Liam aside, Gork started patting my body all over.

"Wow! They're some developed muscles! I couldn't tell before, but you have some talent."

Smack—!

His thick hand smacked against my back, and I winced in pain.

"Ukh!"

"Hur! Hur! When you come to visit me, I'll make sure to teach you how to develop your muscles further."

"Stop it! Can't you see he's injured?"

"Cough...!"

Coughing, I glared at Gork who awkwardly turned his head.

"Uh, yeah."

"Anyways~"

Daphne turned to look at me.

"You're welcome to visit us anytime."

"Haha, yeah. Come visit us. Our journey is about to end, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't see each other again."

"There's no need to be so reserved. We still haven't taught you a thing. Only Aurelia had that pleasure."

Seeing them look at me like that, I could only shake my head.

"....Fine."

I was planning on visiting regardless.

"Come now! Our journey is almost over!"

"Let's go back...!"

Punching the air, Gork and the rest rushed ahead.

I stared at their back for a moment before shaking my head.

These guys...

They were such children.

Our journey continued.

The scenery continued to change.

Sometimes we'd stop to observe it. I had seen the scenery before, but it had been with different people.

"That's another new thing."

It was nice to see them enjoying the journey.

".....I wish this journey lasts longer."

Aurelia smiled beneath the hood as she spoke.

"It's so pretty..."

The wind blew, and her hood fluttered.

"Julien."

My gaze met with hers.

In that moment, I could see a change in her.

For once, her cold facade seemed to melt ever so slightly.

"It had been so long since I'd seen the outside world. I used to take it for granted, but..."

The wind blew again.

Her hood fluttered further.

".....I didn't know it was so pretty."

Right.

I turned my head to stare in the direction of where she was looking at.

'It's pretty indeed.'

"How could anyone accept us in the state that we are?"

In the last moments before her death, she used [Corpse Control] on herself.

With that, she was able to remain faintly conscious.

"Had I been stronger, would all of this have been avoided?"

That day,

She lost her voice.

"Would I have been able to warn them?"

The Hellhounds never attacked her for a simple reason.

They only attacked the living.

But without her voice, she couldn't stop the subjugation squads from coming.

In the end, everyone who came died.

".....Would things have been different then?"

From the moment someone dies, their life force depletes.

To keep the Dragon sealed, she used their life force.

And with time, her strength increased.

So did the number of people that died.

"Would I have been able to send them all back to their families?"

The attacks...

They had never really been attacks.

It had just been her attempt at trying to send the dead back to their family.

"Hey, Julien."

Aurelia's voice grew faint.

"Thank you."

"....."

"Talking to you. For the past few days, I felt like I was alive again. Even if I'm just a creation through of memories that you've seen."

"....."

"You didn't hate me for being cold, right?"

I shook my head.

"No."

"That's good. I'm tired of being hated."

".....I will never hate you."

A familiar set of walls appeared in the distance.

They were tall, and grand.

"It's been so long..."

Aurelia muttered faintly.

"....Home."

In the silence,

We stepped through the gates.

Thousands of eyes stopped on us as we entered. All of us.

Standing on each side, they looked at us.

The citizens of Ellnor.

It was a scene that was reminiscent of one from a memory I had buried deep in my mind. The memory of the time when the first subjugation squad had been sent out.

But in contrast to the warm atmosphere from back then, this one felt cold.

At least, until...

Clap—

Someone clapped.

Clap, Clap—

What followed the first clap was a second, and before I knew it, the entire town had started to clap.

Clap, Clap, Clap—

Amidst the welcome of the crowd, the cold that pierced the world seemed to have shattered.

What replaced it was a comfortable warmth.

But our journey wasn't over yet.

There was still one last step.

"Stop."

Adorned in brand new clothes, Captain Travis stood in front of us. That was when we all stopped.

"..."

The clapping stopped, and silence took over the place.

Without a sound, Captain Travis stared at Aurelia.

Fiddling with the pocket watch in his hand, he took a deep breath.

"15.598,467 minutes."

His voice echoed loudly throughout the entire town.

"That's how long it took for you to come back. Not a day has passed where I didn't count each minute. Like I promised, I didn't leave. I stayed here to wait for your return..."

Despite his best attempts, his voice eventually cracked.

"....I-I stubbornly waited each day. Even as the years passed for your return. Despite everyone telling me that you had died, I knew you would return. I... I..."

Drip. Drip.

Tears started to fall down the side of his face.

"M-my sister promised me. O-f course she'd return."

Keeping his face straight, he tried his best to stop the tears from spilling.

But that proved to be an impossible task.

"I-t must've been so painful. To hold on for so long despite everyone hating you. A lot of time has passed, and we thought we had somewhat moved on, but..."

Lifting his head, he looked around.

He took in the expressions of the citizens as they looked at the familiar faces of the undead.

"S-seeing everyone return, you've finally given all of us closure. A-and for that, thank you. As the town's captain, I..."

Forcing a smile, the Captain brought his arm to his forehead in a salute.

Drip...! Drip.

As his tears stained the ground, he stared at Aurelia.

"S-sister no... Aurelia Blackwood. As the Captain in charge of Ellnor, I welcome you, and all the members of the subjugation squads back to Ellnor."

Drip.

"You can rest now. You've done your job."

"....."

In the silence that took over shortly after, I met gazes with Aurelia.

Despite knowing that she was dead, for a brief moment, I thought I saw a smile on her face.

Not just hers, but Gork's, Daphne's, and Liam's.

I didn't say anything to them and just nodded my head.

'Go.'

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The zombies at the back were the first ones to fall.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Gork, Daphne, and Liam followed shortly after that.

And lastly...

Thump!

Aurelia fell to her knees.

Without a sound, she stared into the distance.

"I can rest now...?"

Her voice yet again reached my ears.

"You can."

I replied with a smile.

"Hehe, it's a pity."

"What is...?"

"I-I wanted to enjoy the scenery for a bit longer, but..."

She looked at her brother and all the citizens of the town.

"....This is good too."

The cold returned.

It pierced at my skin.

Aurelia took one last look at the town before finally falling over.

Thump!

That day.

All members of the 255 subjugation squads returned.

At the helm of it all was Aurelia who brought them all back.

This was...

The end of a long journey.

Her journey.