5
Crumbling away.
Peeling away.
Fading.
Everything gleaming in the distance.
Everything gleamed so much in the distance.
The words exchanged in that dreamlike white world came to an end.
Was it real, fake, or some daydream?
Either way…
“—Shaula.”
A bit of carapace on the sand turned to dust.
And it didn’t stop there. It spread to every piece. The severed tail, the severed pincer, the legs held down by demon beasts, and the head that Natsuki Subaru was cradling. They all…
Subaru tried to gather the bits of the fading being he held in his arms.
“…I suppose she completed her role,” Beatrice said softly.
That adorable spirit watched sadly as the demon beast—no, the fellow artificial spirit like her—crumbled away after sacrificing herself so much to fulfill her role.
Subaru’s mind refused to understand what Beatrice was saying. But he did understand it at an instinctual level. This wasn’t death. This was the inescapable result of her role as the Pleiades Watchtower’s star guardian. Today was a day that was bound to come at some point.
“Then…if we…”
If they hadn’t come, would she still have been here? Would she have continued waiting here forever for someone who was never going to return…?
“…Subaru, you, of all people, should know that question is an insult to her.”
“ ”
“And regret is not what you should feel.”
The knight spoke, having already sheathed his sword and readjusted his bloody and sand-covered clothes.
It was cold, but he was entirely correct.
Gritting his teeth, hiding how much he hated how right Julius was, Subaru sighed deeply.
And he hugged the woman who had been all alone for so long even harder.
The woman who had been left behind, who had lived so long without anyone around.
At her side, seeing her off.
Subaru, Beatrice, Julius, Meili were there as the woman who had been alone passed among friends.
“But I would’ve been just as happy even if it was only you, Master.”
Tears welled in his eyes and spilled over as she made that charmless remark.
The demon beast’s fangs gently traced the drops trickling slowly down his cheek. Those fangs that were sharp and looked like they could break anything, moved so gently, so as not to hurt Subaru, who was easier to hurt than anyone there. Endearingly, gently, kindly…
And…
“…Ah…”
The feeling from inside his arms disappeared.
The scorpion’s carapace became undone, crumbling away, turning to dust. The black dust scattered across the sands.
Subaru raised his voice.
“Shaula…”
“Yes, Master?”
“Shaula…Shaula…Shaula…”
“You rang, Master?”
“Shaula, Shaula…”
“Mrgh, I don’t know what to do with all this love!”
Closing his eyes, he heard her voice answering him.
And yet she was nowhere anymore.
“…Ah…”
Kneeling in the sand, Subaru tore at the ground.
Someone’s voice reached his ears. He didn’t know who, and he couldn’t bring himself to check. But, drawn by it, he looked up, and his eyes widened.
The desert was covered in black dust. It trembled slightly, and something crawled out. It was a small creature that could fit in the palm of his hand. Scraping at the sand with its two pincers, it used its tail to deftly pull its body out of the sand. A little creature with a red carapace…
It moved toward Subaru kneeling on the ground and leaned against his sandy hand.
It was just a touch, but it felt like a vestige of her charm…
Crumbling away.
Peeling away.
Fading.
Everything gleaming in the distance.
Everything gleamed so much in the distance.
—And it’s because you were there.
“Four hundred years is just like the day after tomorrow.”
“…Since I loved you the whole time I was waiting, too.”
“Hey, Master. Someday…”
“Someday, come visit me again.”
“Next time, you wait for me. I want to be chased, for once.”
“This is really, really important, Master. Promise me.”
“Next time, don’t forget me.”
“I love you, Master.”
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