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Chapter 42 Part 3 – Reinforcements. When the souls of the living and the dead intersect. Farewell …… and ……

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Aquilegia

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The smell from the blood spurts filled the air.
Gallam’s body was being scraped from the inside and it was shrinking little by little.
Even so, the demon dog Gallam did not give up.
The light in his remaining eye has not yet faded even at this point.
Rather, it shone even more brilliantly than before.
Gallam’s tenacity was heartbreakingly fierce, as he resisted the collapse of his body and the whirlpool, and tried to compensate for its own fading life force with its dogged determination to get to us.
However, its three semicircular canals were destroyed and its nerves and muscles were torn to pieces.
Its body was completely broken.
Moreover, he is trapped in the large whirlpool.
Even that demon dog Gallam could not even swim properly in it and could only make a lot of water splashes.
As the demon dog Gallam struggled to stay afloat, it was finally swallowed into the whirlpool.
Still, its gaze continued to follow us.

「….. Let’s go. He’s done for.」

Seraphy was about to make the boat leave the scene, but he was stopped by Bradd.
The small boat stopped at a position that was not affected by the whirlpool.
Bradd sat down on the bow of the boat, faced the demon dog Gallam, and spoke quietly to it.

「….. I can no longer move another step. You made me realize that there is always someone better than you in the world. I couldn’t have beaten you all by myself ……」

Bradd and the demon dog Gallam’s gazes intertwined in mid-air.

「….. Although I’ll never forgive you for what you did …. but I’ll never forget how strong you are. And one day, I’ll become strong enough to surpass you …. and I’ll tell people that the demon dog Gallam was the greatest enemy of my lifetime …. There is a meaning to your life. So, be at ease now.」

The gaze of the demon dog Gallam sneered as it heard Bradd’s words.
Its mouth distorted and its fangs peeked out.
Its body trembled then all its remaining blood spurted out from its whole body.
A phantom slowly emerged from the blood mist.
This is ….. the illusion technique Blood Sakura Butterfly …..

「….. It’s okay. Don’t worry. This is probably different …….」

Bradd said to us as we braced ourselves.
The ruby on my chest was shining brightly, as if in agreement with Bradd’s muttering.
Despite its wicked appearance, I certainly could not feel any killing intent from the current demon dog Gallam.

Amidst the dancing petals of blood, I could see puppies munching on their mother’s milk.

….. This is the memory of the demon dog Gallam’s childhood ….?

The Ruby of God’s Eye gently lights up a bright flame.
The ruby’s power made us able to see the demon dog Gallam’s memories.

A puppy that was weaker than his other siblings was often starved of milk.
Even so, his affectionate mother always waited to feed him when his siblings went to sleep.
The memory of slumbering in the warmth of his gentle mother, who he loved the most in the world.
The milk that splashed on his face was licked off by the mother.
The pampered puppy’s chest was full of happiness.

….. The happiness did not last forever. The relationship between mother and child came to an end in a cruel way.
The mercilessly swung down cane and angry shouts cruelly shattered their happiness.

「Eat!! Eat it!! How can you become a demon dog if you can’t even eat your mother’s meat!!」

Worried about his missing mother, the puppy, who was sniffing and searching frantically for her, was forced to see the bloody mass of meat. It smelled of his mother, whom he loved so much. He could tell by the smell that she had been worried about himself right up until the moment she was killed. The puppy clenched his teeth and resisted swallowing, but the lump of meat was pushed into his mouth relentlessly. No matter how much he tried to spit it out, it kept coming back again and again.

The screaming puppy’s heart was broken beyond recognition with despair and hatred.
All that was left was a monster called a 「talent」.
We stared at the memory silently.

This is ….. the source of this monster’s hatred ……!!

I somehow felt like I understood why the demon dog Gallam was so obsessed with taking the lives of children to the point that it couldn’t be explained that it was just because he was commanded to do so.

「….. I see, you ….. what you really wanted was …..」

The demon dog Gallam no longer responded to Bradd’s words.
The monster that tormented us disappeared forever into the swirling water, with an evil sneer on his face until the very end. However, his appearance looked terribly sad to me.

As he disappeared, a vision of a puppy running with its tail wagging in joy emerged.
Ahead of him was the dear image of the mother dog.
The puppy pranced around his mother repeatedly with his tail wagging wildly.
Then the puppy jumped to his mother and the vision turned into countless red butterflies, melting away into the morning light that shone through the clouds.

「…… You stupid idiot. As powerful as you are, you could have saved a thousand times more lives than you killed, but you let humans distort your way of life ….! We couldn’t save you …」

Sitting on the bow of the boat, Bradd spat out in frustration.

Thus the long night has come to an end.
The three warriors squinted up at the rising sun which was becoming increasingly bright.

‘It’s just the right time for the tide and also the beginning of the morning. It’s time for us to say goodbye.’

The brown-bearded Bill nodded to the white-bearded Brian’s words.

‘It is time for us to leave. We stayed a little too long as we were fascinated by the beauty of the young lady and the struggle of the young warriors.’

‘It is a pity that we will not be able to greet the young lord, the madam, and the idiots in the Imperial Guards. Please give them my regards.’

The black-bearded Bobby laughed a little sadly.

My grown-up figure is visible to everyone on shore, but it seems that the three warriors and Joshua are only visible to the people on this little boat.

‘….. Maa, Maa, Bye bye …..’

Joshua smiled and slowly moved away from the small boat.

「….. Wait!! Joshua!! Don’t go!!」

Mary cried and clung to the boat’s edge.

「….. I was finally able to meet you again ….!! Please!! Let your mother go with you …!!」

The white-bearded Brian moved to block Mary’s hand as she reached out desperately to Joshua and shook his head .
He had a stern expression with a wrinkle in between his white eyebrows.

‘….. Those are words that should never be said …. What are you going to say to these three people who risked their lives to help you?’

At Brian’s words, Mary looked up and turned around to face us.
Brian gave a small nod.

‘Miss, I understand how hard it is for you. However. Let me tell you something as one who has died. This little boy is courageously smiling and saying goodbye to his mother. In hopes that his mother will not be worried ….. While you were grieving for him, all he was thinking about was how happy he was and how he could tell you about those feelings in order to make you, his mother, smile …… As his mother, isn’t it also part of your duty to embrace his feelings, smile, and see him off.’

The eyes that peeked out from the battle scarred face, the white beard, and the white eyebrows, became gentle like a compassionate father.

「…. Joshua … Is that true …. Did mother make you worried ….?」

Joshua came back and squeezed Mary’s outstretched fingertips.

「…. I missed you so much…. In the past, you would always …. Hold my fingers …. And laugh like this…. Instead of replying ……!!」

The white-bearded Brian smiled at the weeping Mary who was at a loss for words.

‘…. Time cannot be rewound. What is dead cannot be resurrected …. but you can keep this child alive, not in the sorrowful memories, but in the gentle and beautiful ones. That way, though you may live in different worlds, your bond will never be broken …. And if it’s you, you should be able to understand what words he wishes to hear the most from you.’

Mary refrained her sobbing and nodded repeatedly as she looked down.

‘….. Then give him your gentle smile, which he loved more than anything else, as a parting gift. I hope it will become the greatest treasure that will connect the two of you in the future ….’

At these words, Mary stood up as if she had made up her mind and held out her hands to Joshua.
She tried her best to hold back her tears and smile as best she could.

「….. Joshua, I love you …. I will always, always love you no matter how far …. we are apart …..!!」

Joshua jumped happily into Mary’s outstretched hands.

‘…… Maamaa, love you …. Byebye ……!!’

「Joshua …. Me too ….. I will always …. love you ….!! …. Forever …!! So ……!!」

With a bright smile in Mary’s arms as she hugged him tightly, Joshua disappeared into particles of light.
The light shimmered and soared into the heavens.
Mary looked up and stood there for a moment, holding her son in her arms for the last time.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she smiled.

「…. So …. I have to say goodbye to you …. Goodbye, Joshua ….. I smiled as I sent you off …. but I still couldn’t hold back my tears …. I’m sorry ….. I’m such a bad mother until the end … I’m sorry!」

The rest was inaudible as she tried to hold back her tears and got down on both knees on the boat.

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