Chapter 4

02. Titi and Eon (2)

[The Saintess passes away after delivering the prophecy: “In the age of despair, the hero shall appear from the lowest place…” The position of the next Oracle remains vacant.]

I first read that article when I was about fifteen.

The phrase in the Saintess’s prophecy, “from the lowest place,” was the title of the novel I hadn’t managed to finish reading in my previous life.

Thanks to that article, I realized there were less than five or six years left before the story of the novel would begin.

“Tetis! Honestly, what am I going to do with you? You skipped worship again. Where have you been this time?”

“I’m sorry…”

Around that time, I was completely lost.

The memories of my previous life…

The memories of being reincarnated…

And now, memories of a future that had become certain.

Everything was tangled together inside one mind.

Every moment I breathed, I felt like I didn’t belong anywhere.

The confusion suffocated me, and more than once I wanted to run away.

Perhaps it was only natural that, the second time I became fifteen years old, I grew a little rebellious.

And that was the year I met Eon.

He was the young apprentice of an elderly monk who had been sent from the Church’s headquarters.

Back then, his hair was a light wheat color.

I still remembered his oversized monk’s robe hanging awkwardly from his thin frame.

It had been a little shabby, too.

Before his divine power awakened, he had been like a stray cat that had never grown used to people.

After the first time our eyes met from a distance, while I was climbing over the temple wall, that quiet, bookish boy kept lingering around me.

Even now, I wasn’t entirely sure why.

Maybe someone who had spent his whole life inside the temple had simply found it shocking to see someone running away during worship.

Whatever the reason…

I never did anything to him.

Yet every time we met, the distance between us grew a little shorter.

One day, he finally erased even the tiny distance he had always kept and spoke to me first.

“…What are you doing?”

I looked up at Eon, who was standing beside me while I leaned against a wooden pillar.

The sunlight made me squint.

“Skipping out.”

“You shouldn’t do that.”

His voice was unusually serious.

Watching that skinny little boy try to sound like an adult made me laugh.

“Why not?”

“You’ll be punished someday.”

“‘Someday’? When’s that?”

Faced with my question, Eon pressed his lips together and thought hard.

After a long silence, he finally answered, much less confidently than before.

“…After you die, I guess.”

After you die.

Because I remembered my own reincarnation, even though it hadn’t been by choice, his words didn’t really affect me.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

It was a weekend afternoon, while worship was probably still in progress.

I wondered briefly why the apprentice monk was here instead.

The answer came quickly.

Looking at him standing there so stubbornly, I patted the empty space beside me.

“Want to skip together?”

His eyes immediately widened.

His round green eyes darted around uncertainly.

I had to bite back a laugh.

He worried his lips for a while before finally answering.

“…Yeah.”

“Then come here.”

I spread out my handkerchief for him.

Seeing him immediately sit down made me burst into laughter.

That…

…was our very first conversation.

* * *

I was quietly watching the scenery pass by outside the carriage window when I spotted Maximus.

I waved at him.

Maximus let out a cheerful neigh.

I smiled at the sight.

Just then, I felt someone gently take my hand.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Max… I mean, my horse looked at me.”

That’s right.

At the moment, I was riding to the capital in Eon’s carriage.

It seemed he’d become an even higher-ranking priest than I’d imagined.

Once again, I found myself looking at his robes.

How much must he have gone through to earn those robes?

Within the Church of Mitev, there was one trial every priest had to complete.

The Pilgrim’s Path.

Every few years, a route would open to Fabula, the southern continent.

Any monk who wished to become a priest had to make the pilgrimage along that road.

Normally, the Southern Hemisphere was battered endlessly by typhoons and violent seas, making it impossible for people to enter.

Those walking the Pilgrim’s Path had to fight through storms and crashing waves just to reach the continent of Fabula.

Losing companions who had been walking beside them moments earlier was an all too common occurrence.

Even so, they undertook the journey for one reason.

To receive divine power from Mitev.

Anyone who completed the arduous pilgrimage, whether they received a little divine power or a great deal, returned as a priest.

Eon had also left on that pilgrimage the year after we met.

He was fifteen.

It was a snowy night, the first snowfall of winter.

Staring blankly up at the sky where snowflakes drifted down like stars, Eon quietly spoke.

“Titi.”

“Yeah?”

“Why can’t I look forward to what’s waiting at the end?”

It sounded less like a question…

…and more like quiet self-mockery.

Even if it had been a genuine question, I probably couldn’t have answered.

Back then, my own heart had been too exhausted to look forward to tomorrow.

Still…

Eon looked far too fragile for me to stay silent.

I had to say something.

“Tell me what stars shine in the Southern Hemisphere.”

I wanted to tell him two things at once.

That I hoped he would find something to look forward to besides his faith.

And…

That I would be waiting for him.

That clumsy sentence was the best I could manage.

Even so, Eon understood every unspoken word.

Without saying anything, he quietly hugged me.

That was how we parted.

And after several years…

We met again.

I could still feel the warmth of his hand covering mine.

His white hair now reached below his shoulders.

His features had grown sharper and more mature.

His green eyes had become deeper, like a still swamp.

I found myself wondering about all the years my friend had spent growing up where I couldn’t see him.

“Have you been doing well?”

It was a rather belated greeting.

Eon tightened his grip on my hand.

With his free hand, he pulled the curtain across the carriage window before resting his head against my shoulder.

“…I suppose.”

“What kind of answer is that?”

I spoke as though I couldn’t believe him.

Eon laughed silently.

He felt completely different from the dignified man I’d seen with his attendants earlier.

Looking at him now…

He really hadn’t changed at all.

“Titi.”

“Have you been well?”

“I’ve been fine.”

Until the thin curtain changed from the color of the sunset to the darkness of night…

We quietly shared all the stories we’d been saving.

“After you left, I was feeling depressed. Then one of the village kids picked some hydrangeas for me… but they happened to be the exact same color as the ones you gave me back then…”

Knock. Knock.

Our conversation stopped when someone knocked on the carriage window.

“Your Hol… ahem… Lord Eon.”

“I think we’ll have to stay here for the night.”

Looking disappointed, Eon pouted slightly before whispering softly enough that no one outside could hear.

“There are too many people watching outside.”

“I think I should say goodnight now.”

“Sleep well, Titi.”

“Mm. You sleep well too.”

A gentle smile appeared on his face.

But it lasted only a moment.

As soon as the attendant knocked once more and opened the carriage door…

The strange sense of authority I’d felt from him that morning returned.

His relaxed expression disappeared, replaced by a calm, solemn face.

Whenever he was acting as a priest…

This was always the Eon everyone else saw.

“Here you are.”

“Thank you.”

Thanks to his consideration, I was given a room at the same inn.

After receiving the room key from one of his attendants, I went straight to bed.

Since I was already imposing on him enough by accepting a ride, I didn’t want to trouble him any further.

* * *

A crowded marketplace.

A peaceful beach.

The spacious courtyard of a grand mansion.

An ordinary, peaceful world.

Then…

Across that peaceful scenery appeared enormous claw marks glowing with an ominous crimson light.

In the next instant, those rifts were violently torn open.

Countless monsters poured out.

This…

…was the Rift, the greatest catastrophe in the original novel.

Everyday life was instantly dyed red.

The heavy sound of blood splattering onto the ground.

The sickening sound of flesh tearing.

Screams.

Desperate pleas.

Moans.

And then…

More screams.

I trembled as I tried to run away.

But in the end, one of the monsters found me.

Drool dripped from its mouth as it lunged toward me.

Its enormous claws instantly filled my vision.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Ah… I’m too late…

“Gasp!”

At the same moment, I jerked upright in bed.

For a few seconds, I couldn’t see anything.

My whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

I buried my face between my raised knees, desperately trying to calm myself.

Each time I blinked, my blurred vision slowly became clear.

I stared blankly as the warm morning sunlight streamed into the cozy inn room.

Gradually, my ragged breathing returned to normal.

“…Ha…”

I let go of the front of my shirt, which I’d been clutching so tightly it had nearly torn, and closed my eyes.

It was just a dream.

I got out of bed, my body drenched in cold sweat, and went into the bathroom.

Using the water the innkeeper had prepared beforehand, I washed myself.

But no matter how much I cleaned up, the uneasiness in my heart refused to fade.

Perhaps that was only natural.

What I’d seen in my dream…

…was the future of this world from the novel.

Monsters already existed now.

But they were still confined to specific habitats.

Ordinary people rarely encountered them.

That wouldn’t remain true for much longer.

Before long, Rifts would begin appearing randomly all across the Empire.

The entire world would descend into chaos.

I had no magic.

No aura.

Not even extraordinary muscles.

When that day came…

I wasn’t sure whether I could survive.

Feeling a little depressed, I finished getting ready.

As soon as I stepped out of the inn, I saw the temple members busily preparing to continue their journey.

Standing alone in the middle of them with quiet dignity…

…was Eon.