The Man’s 101st Bad Ending

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There weren’t many things to enjoy in the north.

Even festivals merely involved roasting the meat of beasts or pitching tents to sleep for a night while singing.

Adele’s gaze turned towards the light filling the surroundings.

Lanterns and light bulbs created by magic. Along with the torches people carried.

Even the alleys between buildings were bright.

When flames burn, shadows are bound to form.

But light that filled everything without gaps, wasn’t it quite convenient?

She was not accustomed to such things, having never attended festivals, let alone the Full Moon Festival.

“I don’t. You probably know too, but this is my first time at the Full Moon Festival.”

“That may be so… but why me of all people?”

“Because I decided so.”

Of course, she had no interest in festivals and such. Adele looked at the man grumbling beside her.

He was completely different from the rumors.

From what she had heard in the rumors, she thought he would be dull and boring, but could someone who showed such an unruly attitude towards her be called weak?

She had felt it when they met last time too, but he was quite an interesting man.

There were few who piqued her interest, but Robert Taylor…

He fulfilled those conditions quite splendidly.

‘What would Lothos say if he saw this?’

She had spoken a bit harshly, but she had no real intention of taking him to the north.

She had only thought of intimidating him, asking why he hadn’t come when she sought him out.

But far from being intimidated, he showed signs of trying to slip away, saying he was busy… so she felt a little rebellious, that was all.

The result was the current situation. Adele chuckled at Robert, whose face was clearly filled with discontent.

Did he dislike it that much? Usually, people would be busy forcing a smile when she was beside them.

She had expected this reaction, but…

Now that it really happened, she felt strangely displeased.

Should she tease him a bit? But there was no need to go out of her way to do that.

Since this was her first time at such a festival, it wouldn’t be bad to look around this Full Moon Festival now.

Adele, who had been looking at Robert, shifted her gaze to the tower rising high into the sky.

What was that again? She didn’t come to the capital often, so it was difficult to remember each building.

As she furrowed her brow, Robert, who noticed her expression, opened his mouth.

“That’s the Moon Tower. It’s where the saint lives.”

“Aha, the saint lived there? I thought she lived in the cathedral.”

“It’s not wrong, since the cathedral is right below the Moon Tower. But isn’t the saint a special existence?”

A special existence, Adele narrowed her eyes as she looked at the Moon Tower stretching high towards the sky.

What was so special about living in such a stuffy place?

She had met her a few times, but she was not a woman whose personality matched well with her.

If a person is too kind, they become sick.

Sometimes they should move as their heart desires.

But the way that woman lived… was merely living as it was set.

It was strange to accept that as good, but those who showered the saint with endless praise were also strange.

She was a woman who suited pity rather than admiration.

The woman called the saint.

“Have you ever seen the saint?”

“Yes, I have.”

“…You have?”

Adele asked back, surprised that Robert answered readily when she was sure he would say he hadn’t.

Robert also had no reason to hide that fact.

That she occasionally went out for volunteer work was something people in the know were aware of.

Feeling awkward for no reason, Adele coughed and pouted her lips.

It was difficult even for her to meet the saint personally, so when did he meet her?

But it was too ambiguous a relationship to inquire about that.

Robert looked at Adele with a strange expression as she shook her head a few times, as if shaking off her thoughts.

“You have an insolent expression. Is it strange to shake my head?”

“I just thought you were a peculiar person.”

Adele smiled wryly at Robert, who didn’t back down a single word.

Why were the rumors about this man so bad?

It seemed like someone was deliberately spreading malicious rumors.

Even when meeting him directly, he wasn’t so bad, but just hearing the rumors, one might think he was the worst scoundrel under the heavens.

Whenever she looked at Robert, her gaze always turned to those eyes.

Her eyes were also blue, but the essence was different.

Robert’s eyes were only shining blue without any reason.

Didn’t they not even reflect any emotion, making it impossible to glimpse into him?

It was quite different from hiding one’s emotions oneself.

It seemed that they no longer reflected through his eyes because they had already worn out enough.

But how could a man of merely twenty years have gone through such things?

So whenever she saw this man, she always felt a strange emotion she didn’t usually feel.

Should she call it a sense of kinship or a feeling of déjà vu?

As if… she had met him somewhere before.

She felt a sense of crisis that he would crumble just like this if left alone.

Even though he seemed really fine in the moments he was grumbling beside her.

“…Do you have something to say to me?”

At that question, Adele laughed for a moment, then shook her head in denial.

She couldn’t say she had the urge to always watch over him.

So she said something else.

Come to the north, so I can hear your story.

Although she was blatantly rejected.

“I just looked at you for a moment. Because you haven’t changed.”

“I see.”

Why did it feel like he would disappear like the wind if she didn’t keep her eyes on him?

The feeling that had always told her the right answer felt quite strange today.

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When she kept whining, I bought her a skewer to shut her up, and Adele quickly quieted down, munching on it.

Looking around here and there, this festival must have been quite novel to her.

Well, she had only been in the north, so this large-scale festival must have been a first for her.

Although it was said to be held throughout the empire, the north followed its own way of holding festivals.

…In other words, it followed the way of the barbarian tribes.

Catching wild beasts to offer as sacrifices and performing rituals in front of burning fires.

Naturally, coming to the city after seeing only that, her eyes had to widen in surprise.

Explaining one by one the things she didn’t know, and putting in my mouth the things she bought for me to eat, before I knew it, the time had approached midnight.

“This Full Moon Festival isn’t as bad as I thought. Maybe I’ll do it like this later too.”

“I think it would be better than offering beasts as sacrifices. Isn’t it a bit gloomy?”

“The old fogeys will have to listen to me well. They can’t kill me just because they don’t like it.”

It was a natural thing to say, but Adele seemed quite displeased with it.

Come to think of it, it was the same when I was by her side.

Although Adele’s influence as the Grand Duchess of the North was strong, her authority didn’t extend to all the tribes in the frontier.

So once or twice a year, we would go out together to subjugate them.

Now that I think about it, I wonder how I endured those forced marches.

It wasn’t just one tribe, but she would stir up dozens at a time.

No matter how much she lived as she pleased… I think it would be difficult even if I did it now.

“Is today’s event already over? I thought it would last until dawn, but it only goes until midnight.”

“People need to sleep too. By the way, when do you plan to return, Grand Duchess?”

“Whenever I feel like it.”

“…I thought you would say that.”

We could part ways after midnight.

With that thought in mind, as I was about to move, Adele pointed to one side and opened her mouth.

Following the direction of her finger, I saw a large crowd of people gathered there.

Given that location, there was only one possibility. It was one of the few famous spots of this Full Moon Festival where the fireworks display would soon begin.

“What are fireworks?”

I bought a sparkler and handed it to Adele, who genuinely seemed to have no idea.

“If you light the end, you’ll know. Just don’t hold it too close.”

“Hmm. Aha.”

Sizzle-

After trying to light it a few times, Adele’s eyes sparkled as she lit the end.

As the bright red sparks crackled and burned, a red line began to be drawn on the pitch-black curtain where there was nothing.

As her hand moved, as her heart desired.

Adele, who seemed to be seeing this for the first time, swung it around several times with fascination, then muttered while gazing at the sparks.

“So this is what bursts in the sky.”

“It will be much more spectacular. Incomparably so.”

“I guess I’ll have to see this before I go. But where are you trying to go?”

As I tried to slip away, Adele’s eyes narrowed, sensing my intention.

I had tried to leave now to do my own thing.

I felt I had to stay here until she disappeared first.

Looking at Adele with a slightly dissatisfied expression for a moment, I opened my mouth with a slight hope.

“If I just leave like this, your feelings will be the same as before, right?”

“Yes, I’ll be disappointed. I’ll remember it for a long time and torment you.”

“I don’t recall you saying you would torment me before.”

“I’m doing it because I’m displeased. A man who tries to leave a weak woman behind first.”

Seeing Adele not yielding a single word, I felt like my head was throbbing.

Since I had already taken on the role of a nanny, I had no choice.

Thinking I would just watch this fireworks display, I stood beside her, and Adele smiled softly and patted my shoulder.

“Yes, that’s better.”

“It will probably burst soon. Probably… when the moon is fully revealed from the clouds.”

Come to think of it, I had never leisurely watched this fireworks display either.

The clouds, clinging like fog, slightly obscured the moonlight, enveloping this area.

As the clouds moved, the light flowing through the gaps seemed to be dancing.

When was the last time I simply watched this scene with a relaxed mind on a night when the moonlight danced?

“You don’t look well. Did you recall a bad memory?”

“Something like that… It’s nothing much.”

Whenever this full moon rose, something always happened that determined my fate.

It was also at this dawn that I saved the alchemist Jay, and whenever I died in my past life, such a large moon always rose.

People might say this moon was simply beautiful, but for me, this night… was not a good thing.

So I couldn’t even see this brilliant light as merely pretty.

As always, I remained silent, quietly gazing at the moon that rose without a word.

Before long, the clouds parted, and a complete moon was revealed in their place.

People’s exclamations were brief. Soon, fireworks began to shoot towards the sky from somewhere, making a thunderous sound.

Whoosh-

Drawing colorful trajectories, they reached the center of the moon and emitted a dazzling light once again.

During the Full Moon Festival, it was not easy to see stars. So these fireworks were humans’ attempt to imitate the moon with their own power.

Bursting, bursting, and bursting again, the lights began to draw countless constellations like stars.

Turning my head, I saw Adele blankly looking at the sky.

What imagination would she have, seeing the various lights reflecting in her eyes and becoming a star again?

For me, it was now a light without any meaning, but for her in this turn, it would be quite an impressive scene.

Perhaps it was the same for me.

Things that had never happened in my previous lives were happening one after another, so those fireworks could be called a signal flare.

This time was different.

I had built a personal friendship with the saint whom I had never met, and Adele had come to the Full Moon Festival for the sole reason of me.

‘This time is different.’

I could clearly see the difference.

Despite going through countless lives, I had never experienced this before, so I cherished the hope, even if small, that I could fulfill my wish this time.

I didn’t know the probability of it being fulfilled, but I could at least make a wish, couldn’t I?

The fireworks went out, and silence settled over the square once again. Gazing at the extinguished fireworks, Adele muttered softly.

“…It’s pretty.”

As she said, the start of this Full Moon Festival was more beautiful than ever.

It was only natural.

How many times had I seen this beginning? The beginning had never been distorted even once.

However, when that moon was veiled by clouds again…

People were unaware that the darkness would begin to squirm again.

Darkness that only I knew.

Because it was my job to step on that shadow, I could not smile at Adele like that.

Wasn’t it natural?

Soon, it would be dawn.

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