"Jack, I don't want to die.""I'm sorry.""Jack, I want to see you smile again.""I'm sorry.""Jack, would you come with me?""Corsen...I'm so sorry.""Chopper-san!", my voice called him back to the now. I had been silently watching him sitting like that in front of the tombstone. I barely had it in me to hold out any longer than this."Chopper-san", I walked closer to him, "We should get going."He had been sitting like a kid in front of whoever's grave that was. The one worded Corsen wasn't enough for me to know if that person was even human to begin with."Chopper-san, should we stop to rest?", I asked him further along the way. We had been silent for far too long."No, let's just go see Lady already."He replied briefly. I don't know how, despite our wounds we made it back so early.The sun was throwing it's first rays on Mercae clock tower when we made it back to the church. As always, it was misty and foggy around the green mound where the cave-like-church was.Opening the door,
"I believe people cannot stand the idea of not being noticed. They don't realize so often that the race is over. Seraph, have you ever walked in the middle of the road in bright daylight?""Eh?...No...""That's instinct. Even if you were left blindfolded on a road, you would instinctively walk towards a side. That's what's drilled into us. But real freedom is in the middle, where you are exposed and vulnerable. On all sides, there's a world, unknown to you but also fully known by you. It's beautiful, don't you agree Seraph?""Lady...isn't it lonely, though, on this road to freedom?" ******************I have been going around the capital a lot these days. Sight does many chores around town, all on Lady's orders of course and he asked me if I wanted to tag along. I think he'd been wanting to take my mind off of Chopper. Every time I train with his blade, I can't help but wonder what he's up to now.Deli had been helping me train.
"Lady, do you think people are better at making laws than building logics?""What, Seraph? That's a sudden thought, isn't it? Well I think, people aren't any good either way. Even if they make laws full of logic, when they can't uphold laws like that then why make them in the first place? Maybe, they aren't so logical after all.""But people shouldn't be allowed to do whatever they want, right?""And why not? If they can do something, then they should do that. Aren't we born free? Then if freedom isn't about doing whatever, what's the point of it?""You say that, Lady but isn't it true that you follow some laws as well?""Perhaps more so than anyone else. But then when did I say I'm free?" ************"Deli-san, what...is this?""Seraph, if you keep freaking out at every single thing, people are going to think you are country bumpkin.""But...I am a country bumpkin."Deli sighed, "Well, do you have to show it?""But what a
"Deli, shouldn't we check with the orphanage before getting a room? I mean, we should confirm before settling down if-""Chopper is never wrong so we don't have to confirm", Deli replied as she proceeded to check in with the old lady at reception.I wonder if what she said was true. People are dying every day on the border of Ildia. I heard after we had left Ildia that Halen was never recovered. Its people were either captured or killed, though some managed to flee to the capital. I had believed that Halen's destruction was a mistake and the yoke of it fell on both Chopper and me and yet...how can Deli be so confident about Chopper?"Let's go out after we've settled in", Deli proposed as we were putting our luggage in our room.Surprisingly, I wasn't bothered by the fact that she booked a single bedroom.Considering, I had bought nothing with me, except for a coat, I don't suppose there was much for me to do with a room either. Deli had carried a briefcase which now rested on the bed,
I found myself in the middle of the most dazzling place I had seen in my entire life. I can't say it was beautiful but it was blindingly bright. Everyone was dressed in sleek tuxedos and silky gowns that sprawled and fluttered around as they moved. Nevertheless, they were never stepped upon, not even during one of the dances. This was the discipline that Deli had called "utterly meaningless and boring". I stood like a pillar of stone in the middle of that hall. Truthfully, I couldn't tell left from right in that place and had no idea where I should go.I think I got mistaken for a waiter once or twice. I hadn't realized Deli put her fur coat on me before she left. If it weren't for that, I'd have been denied entry into such a place. The saving grace is that the coat was black and perhaps not as fancy as the other ladies had on in Dernière. I picked up a drink from one of the waiters who gave me a surprised look but retained his silence. I don't know what kind of drink it was. I hadn't
"I didn't want to get married. And I was never happy. But when he wasn't here anymore, life sure got sad all of a sudden. I wonder why that is. Why am I so sad?" **************Deli and I went to the orphanage which was in a secluded and more peaceful area than all of Versailles. In fact, it was on the outskirts of Versailles and there weren't a lot of convenient ways to get there. We practically had to cross a whole forest before we got to that place. I was surprised to see that it wasn't a run-down place like I had been imagining. The orphanage was called Gouttes de Vie and it was breathtakingly beautiful. I haven't been mesmerized by any building in all of Versailles as much as I was taken aback by Gouttes. Deli and I stepped out of our car which we had rented earlier this morning and stood facing the magnificent, moderately-sized orphanage. Unlike me, Deli wasn't surprised at all. I concluded she had seen this place b
"You are such a lovely guy, I couldn't just hold it in", a lustrous voice echoed in the darkness of that scarlet room."What...what are you doing...a...?""It's alright. It won't cost you much. I've been holding myself back for far too long. I can't afford to dry up like this or my beauty will..."A figure moved into vision."Amelia...?", the figure which was almost naked had bared its fangs, and was about to dig in.It growled in a low voice as its face moved closer. But just before it could thrust its teeth in, something stopped it."Deli...?!"She grabbed Amelia's neck and flung her aside as if she was a doll."Keep your filthy mug off him, ghoul!"She surely wasn't pleased though it was hard to discern what kind of look she had on her face."Ghoul...?", Amelia spat a gob of blood on her side and tried to stand up, "Who the hell are you?!"She flung forward like a beast to attack Deli who stood as calm as ever. Amelia grabbed hold of her, thrusting her claws into her arms and paws
"Why do you think you ended up like this?""...""So you don't have an answer? Or is it that the answer is too hard for you to say? If you hadn't been so full of yourself, you could have saved everything. Well, you are my daughter, after all, we are just the same. Always thinking we know everything, that's in our blood. And this pride isn't something to be resented either. After all you and I...we are living for one singular goal, aren't we? I know...you understand, don't you? And that's why no matter what comes, we have to keep fighting, for our lives and for our children too." ****************Even though I now had the horse with me, I had no idea where to go. I kept going at a steady pace in an arbitrary direction, under the assumption that I had the horse's reins in my hands. Little did I know it was going where it pleased without any regard for me. I wonder why I didn't realize it but it kept on running until w