Epilogue
The memorial service was approaching its final day, showing a quiet crescendo of activity.
At the altar set up in front of the great cathedral, Maria, renowned as the supreme saint, was about to begin the prayer ceremony.
Crowds had gathered to catch even a glimpse of Maria’s figure, praised as God’s supreme artwork, and to hear even a fragment of the saint’s voice, celebrated as heavenly music.
Near the altar stood the kingdom’s key figures, led by the king.
Hero Zack was accompanied by Princess Alexia, while Sword Saint Leon was accompanied by his fiancée and her sisters.
For some reason, only Great Sage Solon was seated at the back. Beside him, the daughter of the sweets shop, dressed in proper ceremonial attire, was huddled like a small animal, trembling. This was probably at her request.
Additionally, seats had been prepared for dignitaries invited from various countries.
Naturally, Elena’s figure was also among them. She was now gazing absently at Maria, who was offering prayers. Even from one woman’s perspective, she felt something transcendent in Maria’s beauty.
Long, beautiful black hair like silk, porcelain-white skin, and mysterious black eyes. A beauty that was monstrous in its own way.
The Maria that Elena had known ten years ago had been frightening, but she felt that she had still retained a human-like approachability.
(Did she gain something during the journey to defeat the Demon Lord? Or did she cast something away?)
Maria’s prayer words echoed throughout the space. Though her voice was not particularly loud, it pleasantly struck the listeners’ ears and penetrated their hearts.
As proof of this, despite the large number of people gathered, not a single person spoke. Even the king was listening in rapture, as if intoxicated.
Probably the only ones maintaining their sanity here were the very few including Zack and the others who had been party members, plus Elena. Eventually, when Maria’s prayer ended, thunderous applause and cheers rose from the surroundings—inappropriate for such a solemn ceremony.
Maria responded modestly with an elegant smile.
After a brief pause, Maria invited people to the front of the altar, encouraging them to offer their prayers. Of course, this was part of the scheduled ceremony, with people kneeling before the altar in order starting with the king, offering brief prayers.
If anything was unscheduled, it was that the queen’s prayer, being second, lasted longer than expected, which made the minister overseeing the ceremony break into a cold sweat.
When Zack was praying, Maria had slightly dropped her transcendent attitude and directed a passionate gaze at him, but almost no one noticed this.
After the prayers of those related to the kingdom ended, it was now the turn of the visiting dignitaries.
In such cases, the order is determined by the power relations between countries and the degree of friendship with the kingdom.
Ludonia, being both a neighboring country and a powerful nation, naturally went first, but Elena had requested in advance to “go last.” Being last also held its own significance as a position, so the kingdom had agreed.
With the opportunity to see Maria up close, the dignitaries offered their prayers half-heartedly while stealing glances at the saint rather than the altar. And then, Elena’s turn came.
When Elena knelt, instead of a prayer, she whispered in a small voice:
“Maria, you killed Ludonia’s hero, didn’t you?”
Maria remained silent, keeping her smile at the corners of her mouth.
Elena continued speaking while still kneeling.
“That person was something I summoned. So I know best what he was. He wouldn’t perish from mere burns or stab wounds. He was formless in many senses. So much so that even the concept of death wasn’t firmly established for him. Certainly, when he took human form and was wounded, he might have weakened temporarily. But given time, he should have been able to recover eventually.”
Elena looked up to study Maria’s expression. There was no change—the smile remained.
“But that person was completely finished. Unable to dissolve while maintaining his form. That was your doing, wasn’t it? Even if healing was impossible for Zack, you could have done it. Your prayers aren’t magic but miracles themselves. You only needed to pray ‘let it be so.’ But you didn’t do that. Instead, you brought about his death. Isn’t that right?”
Then Maria quietly opened her mouth.
“Have you finished your prayer?”
As if she hadn’t heard anything at all.
“…I’m finished. That reaction alone is enough. You killed the hero. Because of you, he met such a terrible end…”
At Elena’s feet, as she spoke these words, there was a shadow swaying in the light of the torches. The shadow writhed and spread, taking the shape of countless serpents, and while blending with the darkness, they slithered across the stone pavement like crawling things, all attacking Maria at once.
This disturbance, being a matter of shadows on the ground, went unnoticed by anyone other than the two women.
Shadow serpents. Not monsters, but things lurking on the underside of the world.
They rarely manifested on the surface side, and dealing with them was no easy matter.
—However, when Maria lightly tapped the floor with her staff, light spread from that point.
The divine light, seeming like part of the ceremony, drew sighs of admiration from the audience while simultaneously swallowing the shadow serpents. It was over in an instant—a battle that wasn’t even a battle. Therefore, it too went unnoticed by anyone.
“The shadow serpents were defeated so easily… You’re the real monster, Maria.”
Elena spat out bitterly.
“That’s not correct.”
Maria denied it, her expression becoming blank.
“What isn’t? Are you saying that you, who can accomplish such things, aren’t a monster?”
“That’s not what I mean. That person’s end was not terrible. It was beautiful. No matter what anyone says.”
“How can you call it beautiful—an end where he worked hard for people’s sake, yet was hanged at the gate by those same people he protected, pelted with stones until his body was torn to pieces? You just want to think that because you killed him!”
Finally Elena raised her voice and tried to stand up, drawing the attention of those around her.
“It would have been better if we hadn’t met. If I hadn’t come to that place to save Zack, I could have overlooked it. But I did come. And before my eyes, he was on the verge of death. Bringing eternal endings is also God’s providence. Everything must have been according to God’s will. And I could not go against God’s will. However…”
A slight shadow of sadness crossed Maria’s face.
“Still, you can only see the outward appearance of things. Even so, that ending was a beautiful one. I will not allow anyone to demean it. It is in dedicating oneself for others that light exists. Even if God were to deny it, I believe this to be true. That is why heroes are noble.”
Then Maria brought her mouth close to Elena’s ear.
“…Silver-haired maiden.”
“Eh?”
“Those were that person’s final words. He didn’t say them to anyone in particular, just spoke them aloud. So I don’t know whether they held any meaning. Perhaps they were different words entirely. But that’s how they sounded to me.
‘Behold, silver-haired princess. What a beautiful city.’“
Elena’s eyes widened, and she collapsed, kneeling toward the altar.
At this sudden turn of events, Ludonia’s knight escorts turned pale, and the audience stirred with murmurs, but Maria began to speak words of prayer once again.
Not the beautiful ceremonial phrases, but God’s words that held power.
Maria’s long black hair floated gently upward. Though it had seemed long before, her black hair now appeared even longer, merging with the darkness of the night sky.
At its end, those present saw a shining star.
A star that somehow reminded them of those who had passed away.
Without knowing why, everyone naturally knelt and offered prayers to that star. Toward that light that should have held no meaning.
In the midst of this, Elena simply shed tears, gazing steadily at the star.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
Afterword
In one passage of this story, I wrote, “Perhaps it’s a beauty that holds no meaning, like the stars in the night sky,” and I think that’s what [beauty] truly is.
The stars themselves have no meaning in their shining—people arbitrarily find meaning in them or feel beauty from them.
This has been at the foundation of the series since the first volume, and I think that’s what the existence of heroes is about. It’s a bit different from “self-sacrifice”—it’s not simply a matter of risking one’s life, and there must always be [beauty] in it. Well, since what each person finds beautiful or ugly varies, it’s somewhat ambiguous.
I sometimes receive comments from readers of the first volume saying it’s “a story about effort,” but I don’t believe that effort is always rewarded—I think it more often goes unrewarded. But when asked if there was nothing there at all, that’s not the case—there’s always something that remains. Of course, it’s undoubtedly better when results accompany the effort, and since this story is, after all, a narrative, I had to provide “rewards.” But even without “rewards,” I hope there was light there.
TLNOTE:
Because of that volume 1 and 2 fan translation in this site will be removed in the near future
otherwise check the internet archive
As usual, please consider reading other novels written by Daken sensei listed below :
- Monster Meat Led Me to the Throne
- The Castle of Canaan ~ The Lost Kingdom’s Princess, the World’s Hidden Treasure, and the Grand Adventure of the Mightiest Band of Thieves Versus an Empire ~
- The Wicked Princess and 12 Eyes – The Strongest Squires and the Legendary Evil Woman, the Second Time in Her Life
- The Suspects of Necromancy
- The Exiled Merchant Saves the World with the Power of Gold (translated by my friend meerkat)
- The Last Magic (translated by my friend narwhal)
Also check out my friend Localizermeerkat for more LN translations!
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