Apocalypse Dark Elf Style -Magical Tribes Reincarnated in the Modern World - 20 - Chapter 3.5 - Is There An Answer To This Case (End)

†

I was too surprised that I was not able to make a sound.

Ah, I guessed it was true after all, I thought.

It was just the day before yesterday, but yet it feels like a long time ago.

During daytime, it was an ordinary school building. Yet that point signaled for an end.

Like water overflowing from a dam.

There was no particular reason, just the simple logic that 『there』 was the end point.

The divergence from the world, my motivation to continue lying, broke down.

I turned down the invitations to karaoke from my classmates and went home.

Even though I finished seeing my favorite manga and movie without worrying about anyone else, even though I was truly satisfied with the content, the headache that lingered in the center of my consciousness did not subside.

No matter what distractions I tried, I couldn’t get back to the boundaries that I had once crossed.

If this only diversion still hurts, there’s no way around it. Let’s turn to something else.

I felt so much pain that I could only think of one option to escape it.

I drank the appropriate amount medicine I had stored there with water.

After that, if I felt sleepy, I can go to bed.

And I will never wake up again.

However, I somehow felt like I was being suffocated in this room.

If this was to end, I wanted it to be somewhere with fresh air, not in this cage-like room.

“Nothing, it was just a normal day.”

“Un.”

Sheena just listened to my words and nodded.

Really, it’s nothing, just the usual, ordinary routine. But that is why… I thought that 『this would last forever』.

I comprehend it deep within my soul.

That’s why─ I couldn’t stand it.

I was in despair.

I covered my face with one hand. I’m not sure why my lower body lost strength and I slumped to the floor.

“… Haha. I see, I guess that’s right.  To think that I just barely realized it, that I’m different. After all─ it was the end. I ended it myself.”

“Well, to be honest, right after I jumped on you and knocked you to the ground, I thought, 『Huh? You’re dead?』. Was it possible that I was actually the one who stabbed you?”

“It doesn’t matter. I wanted to end it, of my own volition. And this is the result.”

I looked up at her and exhaled in belief.

An existence that has changed the world as I see. The colors she brought to this black and white world.

Encountering her felt like a miracle, and my wish to be with her.

It’s certainly there. Right in front of me. However.

Tears unintentionally began to spill. I, myself, did not know why.

Was this misery, delight, relief, or sadness?

“… It’s not until after the end that I get what I want for the very first time. How ironic─”

Unexpectedly, something gentle was pressed against my face. The faint scent of earth and wood.

Sheena held my head tightly as I kneeled on the ground.

“What are you crying for? I have no idea what this means. But─ as my partner, I can’t overlook to see you weeping. Let me comfort you.”

Because my head was wrapped by her arms, I couldn’t see Sheena’s face. Only her voice could be heard.

“I mean, you’re even dumber than I thought. You probably lived your whole life so that you could die for this moment. If it’s too hard for you, at least run away. Every time I was in a new land, I always kept running away.”

Then, a sigh escaped from her lips.

“Those who can’t escape usually end up dying on their own. That’s what happened to everyone I know and with whom I’ve worked. That’s why there’s no need to worry. When you die, you die, and so you didn’t have a choice yourself.”

She said that line without emotions, but at the same time it also sounded like a gentle way of telling the truth.

“… I have experienced escaping a couple of times. It might be that I’m the one who died because I couldn’t escape.”

“I see. Then, I guess it can’t be helped.”

She easily nodded her head as an affirmation. That unemotional tone was typical of her.

Ah, maybe I am indeed an idiot. Even now, I don’t even know if I regretted my actions.

And yet, the part of me that had been consciously trying not to think about it, just being informed of the consequences of my actions, was so frustrating. And this frustration was being comforted by her.

“And also, one more thing stupid. I don’t know, but if you’re getting what you wanted now, isn’t that fine? When you’re having fun, enjoy it to the fullest. It would be a waste to think about anything else.”

The person who I wanted to meet the most said to me.

Her words was similar to the body warmth of last night which came directly from her.

I was shaken up, but I tried to reorganize myself based on that.

That’s right. Even though I knew that he had not endured a lonely battle, but I have been defeated to my unsightly appearance.

I don’t want to throw away the value that she has given me. It’s inexcusable, it’s cruel, but I don’t want to let go of the fact that it was a necessary path to meet her.

“I guess so. What I’ve been looking for is already in front of me. The circumstance that I was in was the most crucial thing. That’s why─ I guess I should have said thank you first and foremost. The only reason for why I’m still here is because of Sheena’s help…”

“Ah, I’m not sure if I helped you or not though? I just saw that you suddenly stopped moving and thought it would be fun to see what you had to say, so I just went ahead and made you my partner.”

It was a lighthearted dialogue, but I knew she was being honest.

“─But I guarantee you that.”

“Guarantee?”

Her hand loosened, and I was finally allowed to lift my face from her bosom.

Sheena’s face looked down at me closely, and narrowed her eyes aggressively.

“As long as you’re partner, you can live as you are now. You may be a tree man, but you can still live like a human being. Don’t worry.”

“For a long time?” (TL to ED: Forever or For a long time?)

“For a long time. As long as Rensuke wants it.”

This was one of the desires I wanted to say this morning before I parted ways with her. There was nothing specific about it. But what was clear was that when she looked me in the eye and assured me, that brought relief to my heart.

For the time being. I know it myself. Maybe it’s just that it hasn’t fully sinked in to me the reality that I’m already dead. I guess I just pushed it to the corner of my mind. It was a sinful act of forgetting the accumulated gravity of the past, and a foolish act of not facing the uncertainty that awaited me in the future.

Even so, I was glad.

She may be a villain. Maybe even harmful to someone. And perhaps doesn’t have the common sense of this world.

However─in a situation like this, she would not lie.

For now, that’s the only thing I hold onto.

As I regained my composure and peace of mind, I suddenly felt embarrassed about the current situation. I tried to pull myself away from Sheena as naturally as possible.

“Then… from this point on, what are you going to do?”

However, it was this casual question that made me realized.

The problem had not been solved. And right now, a new problem had just started.

“Well for starters, we have to kill that woman.”

Sheena calmly said.

That’ s right ─ as far as I know. We’re the same.

I refuse to turn a blind eye.

“Hah…”

Only empty sigh escaped from my throat. What did I want to express, or what words should I say? That myself do not know.

“The enemy’s magical species’ partner. It’ll be a nuisance if we let it go freely, and if we managed to kill her, we certainly reduced its strength. For every magical species, only one partner can be contracted.”

Sheena stared at me and continued.

“I have a goal. Whether it’s the slime or other magical species, I’m going to crush them all. And I’m going to get what I want. That’s the reason why I’m here. So there is no other course of action.”

Her hand was still on my shoulder. That was the end of her explanation.

“Now that you know this, let me ask you this, Rensuke. What─ are you going to do?”

I could barely manage to produce a sound through my parched throat.

“What do you mean?”

“You and I are standing in the same place. You should already know that.  Then  let’s move on to the next step. Are you going with me or not? I need to know─ if you really want to take this step.”

Sheena faintly narrowed her eyes. She continued as if she were giving an ultimatum.

“Please, don’t lie to me. I value Rensuke’s honesty. So tell me what you really think.”

As her eyes bore into mine, Rensuke remembered the image of Yuika. It’s not just the colorless and transparent image of her that he saw in the back of the school building earlier, but also the image of her that he had seen in the classroom all his life.

She wasn’t special in any way. It’s not like we used to talk to each other a lot. She was not a friend. We never shared a laugh. Thinking of ourselves in the same position, we are no longer living beings.

However.

「──────」

For the first time, I felt a foreign object between me and Sheena as we stared at each other. It was something we couldn’t see. There was something in the mood that was decisively separating the two of us. Was it an invisible wall? Or something like a transparent membrane?

Or maybe… the difference between humans and dark elves?

The difference in their moral righteousness.

And that’s what I realize.

† (Sheena’s POV)

I intended to make the final confirmation.

But his eyes were staring up at me, followed by silence.

What does his “sigh” means?

(─Argh)

I remembered. My first and last companion. The small half-ogre girl. It’s just a memory from the past that I usually forget, just like my nightmares. But it certainly exists. The pain that forms the person I am today. And once I remembered that pain, it wasn’t just the about the small girl that was replayed. Pain. Pain. I received a lot of pain for being a dark elf.

(I do not like this… This is not enjoyable)

I whispered to myself, but the cold feeling that came up didn’t change. His eyes, full of hesitation, remained the same.

After all, is that how it ends?

As expected, dark elves and those that are not ended up as─

† (Rensuke POV)

… I noticed that her hand was separated from my shoulder.

The feeling that I had made a fatal mistake ran down my spine.

“I see. After all, for you… I’m different.”

I cannot see the expression on her face when she said those words.

By that time, she had already turned on her heel and started walking.

“Sheena…”

I hurriedly stood up and called out her name, but there was no reply.

With a light kick and leaping from the ground, I can no longer see even her back.

The touch of the hand that was stroking my head just a moment ago has vanished from my mind like an illusion, and her warmth was nowhere to be found.

Perhaps never again.

The strength left my legs again. My sense of balance was gone and the ground felt like a muddy swamp.

I shuddered with chills and fear.

An awful choice that cannot be undone.

I’m afraid that everything that I had has fallen out of my hands.

Why?

Why?

It was a foolish question. The reason was obvious. She realized it, too, and so she walked away.

It was just that the resolve I thought I had inside me amounted to only just that.

Despair and cowardice─ a weakness I could not hide.

My feet had been sewn to the spot for a long time.