Chapter 26: Mizuiro's Demise

「Ah... Sensei... I’m sorry... for going out of your way...」

Lying there as if buried in cushions, Light Blue spoke in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
Her half‑opened eyes were unfocused, staring into empty space.
Even without Nina’s medical knowledge, I could tell she didn’t have long.

「Light Blue...」

Not knowing what to say, I knelt and simply held her hand.
Covered in wrinkles, that dry, papery palm felt as if it might crumble at a touch.

「I... there’s one thing I have to apologize to you for, Sensei...」
「...What is it?」

I strained to catch every last word she spoke.
Her voice was so faint it seemed it would be swallowed by the sound of her breathing if I didn’t.

「My... research theme...」
「Yeah.」

I could never forget her research theme: probing magic itself, the pursuit of truth.
Indeed, had she—gifted with an endless lifespan—devoted herself to it, how much might she have contributed to civilization’s progress? But that’s nothing to apologize for...

「I... wasn’t serious about that at all.」

Huh.

「I just... wanted to say something big... Back then I was only trying to compete with Yuu‑chan...」

So that’s how it was... Now that she says it, the lofty theme yielded little, but Yuuka was born less than ten years after she entered the university, so I’d figured it couldn’t be helped...

I see... she hadn’t been serious from the start...

「I mean... you’d seen right through that, hadn’t you, Sensei...」

Light Blue let out a feeble little chuckle.
Sorry. I hadn’t noticed at all...

「...What are you saying, Light Blue? You accomplished a magnificent piece of research.」

Though inwardly quite shocked, the words flowed out of me on their own.

「Magic is the world itself. It’s something exercised with will.」

Holding Light Blue’s hand, I spoke. The words came without thought—because they were what I truly believed.

「You left your will behind and made an entire world. It’s the greatest, most precious magic there is—one neither Nina nor I have ever used.」
「...Thank... you.」

However she took it, a single tear slid from the corner of Light Blue’s eye.


Three days later, Light Blue passed as if falling asleep.


* * *


“Uwaaaaaaaah! Ugh, hik—hig—aaaaaaah!”

As the wails echoed, Light Blue’s ashes—purified by my flame—were gathered together.
Her wish was to return half here to the village, and the other half to the elves’ forest.

“Uwaaaaaaah! Uu—sniff—aaaaaaah!”
「Yuuka. Don’t lose heart, okay?」
「Yeah... I’m okay. I’d steeled myself for this long ago... and Mother went so peacefully, like she was falling asleep... I’m sure by now she’s over there being all lovey‑dovey with Father again.」

I patted brave Yuuka on the shoulder and looked to the two standing beside her.

「Ruful, Tia. I know it’s hard on you too, but...」
「Yeah...」
「I mean, yeah, it’s sad—it is—but still...」

The giant and the pixie traded a complicated look.
Well, I understood how they felt.

「Why did you have to diiiiiiie?!」

Following the way everyone’s eyes suddenly swung that way, I looked at her.
At the place where the ashes were buried, clutching the sapling serving as a marker and sobbing—Ultramarine.

I’d expected she might come, even though she was supposed to hole up in the elves’ forest and never deal with people again—so that was fine.

「...Was she close with Light Blue?」

Rin’s muttered question summed up our feelings.
Even when she’d visited before, I don’t remember them interacting particularly. Yet here Ultramarine was, crying more sadly than anyone. It left us oddly unsure what to do with our own feelings—created a mood where we couldn’t even cry.

「No, we hardly ever spoke.」

Hiccuping as she sobbed, Ultramarine still said it plainly.

「Then why are you crying?!」
「Because Light Blue was a comrade born in the same forest. Of course you’re sad when a comrade dies.」

To Tia’s jab, Ultramarine answered as if it were obvious. Faced with that utter lack of self‑doubt, we were at a loss for words.

「That’s just the kind of person Ultramarine is.」

Nina said it in exasperation... and yet, somehow, with a faint pride.

「She’s stupid, rash, insensitive, and thoughtless... but because she’s thoughtless, she’s always dead serious in her own way, and anything somebody else decided has nothing to do with her.」

Naturally, none of the other elves who chose to seclude themselves in the forest had come. It’s no exaggeration to say Light Blue had been abandoned by them. And yet Ultramarine alone was here, mourning her from the bottom of her heart.

「I think I finally understand why you’ve kept being Ultramarine’s best friend all this time.」
「Huh? Best friend? Who, me? Don’t say things that make me sound bad.」

When I said it with feeling, Nina answered as if offended. How odd...