I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 823

As night passed, and the dawn broke in the distance, the party that seemed like it would never end was over. The snores of those who had fallen asleep could be heard throughout the city.

“It’s a nice sight.”

“Indeed it is.”

Two elderly people, who had been watching the city swept up in the farewell festival all night, were talking. They were guests who had visited from the Lake Kingdom with Ariel.

The old couple, known as the Sword Demon and Spear Demon.

The Lake Kingdom delegation was scheduled to depart early in the morning, so they had packed all their belongings and were sitting on the carriage they had arrived in.

“Now that our curse is over, should we try playing around like that?”

“Goodness… Now that we have no eternal life, and no strength to wield a sword or spear, let’s take it easy.”

The old couple, leaning their heads against each other, quietly observed the scenery of Crossroad. More precisely, they were watching Ariel, who had been constantly talking and meeting with various kings all night. They were watching from afar.

“……”

“……”

In fact, there was another reason why the Sword Demon and Spear Demon had visited Crossroad this time.

Ash had promised to give them his gold coins in the past, but instead, he made another promise: to relocate the residents of the bottom village outside the Lake Kingdom, to officially divide land within the Empire and allow them to start anew there, ensuring they no longer had to live as slaves in the Lake Kingdom.

As village chiefs, the two naturally intended to follow Ash’s proposal. However…

“She’s very diligent, Princess.”

“Indeed she is…”

Ariel, who had returned, was trying her best to repair the Lake Kingdom. She was busy meeting with kings to somehow gain foreign support, and she achieved meaningful results. The Lake Kingdom succeeded in establishing diplomatic relations with a considerable number of countries.

Even before coming to Crossroad, in the Lake Kingdom, Ariel took the lead in resolving the chaos while also carrying out radical reforms.

The Lake Kingdom originally divided social status based on whether one could use magic. Those who could use magic were classified as citizens, and those who could not were classified as non-citizens, creating an extreme social divide.

But now that magic had disappeared, the Lake Kingdom no longer had any justification for maintaining the existing social system. Ariel aimed to gradually abolish the existing social system and reorganize the country’s system to treat those who honestly worked with their bodies fairly and without discrimination.

The existing Lake Kingdom royalty and nobles strongly opposed it, but Ariel pushed forward with determination. She believed that it was a path that must be taken to rebuild the country that had sunk to the bottom of the dried-up lake.

Although they had not yet escaped the distant past, under Ariel’s leadership, the Lake Kingdom was struggling to adapt to the modern world.

“……”

“……”

Originally, the Sword Demon and Spear Demon were planning to meet with Prince Ash this time to discuss the timing and method of leaving the Lake Kingdom. However, now… they wanted to trust Ariel.

“Sword Demon, Spear Demon!”

A voice reached the ears of the old couple, who were lost in thought. When the Sword Demon and Spear Demon raised their heads, the Crown Prince of Everblack, with a smile, was waving his hand and walking towards them.

The Sword Demon and Spear Demon exchanged glances. It was time to make a decision.

***

“The proposal that the Prince gave us before,” the Sword Demon and Spear Demon spoke politely to me as they approached. “We’d like to call it off.”

“Huh?!”

I was taken aback. I had already scouted out suitable land within the Empire to help the bottom village start anew, as they had helped me several times. I was even planning to give them the land documents here.

“In the Lake Kingdom, with our Princess…” The Sword Demon and Spear Demon smiled awkwardly. “We’ve become eager to rebuild the country from the bottom once again.”

“We’re used to suffering, after all.”

“……”

I looked towards Crossroad with the Sword Demon and Spear Demon. Ariel, who had finished the meetings with the kings all night, was wiping her forehead with a tired look and coming out this way.

I nodded to the two of them. “It must have been a difficult decision, thank you. Sword Demon, Spear Demon. If you two are there, it will be a great strength for Ariel.”

“We’re just old folks with no strength now…”

“For people who have been separated for a long time to become one, they must be able to listen to each other. And you two will be able to play that role.”

I smiled at the Sword Demon and Spear Demon. “Please take care of Ariel and the Lake Kingdom. I’ll visit often too.”

I put the land documents I was holding into my pocket and tried to take out a gold coin certificate instead. “Then, since the relocation is canceled. Instead, how about the gold coins we originally promised…”

“That’s alright too.”

The Sword Demon politely refused. “If you really want to give it, it would be good if you could add that gold to the support for the Lake Kingdom.”

“And, this too…” The Spear Demon pointed to the cart behind the carriage they had arrived in. “Would you use it for the Lake Kingdom?”

There were several old boxes loaded on the cart, and when I opened them…

“…This is.”

Inside were the old gold coins that they had collected for hundreds of years in the bottom village.

“It’s useless, gold that we just scraped together as a substitute for the purpose of life…” “We hope it can be used for the future of the country.”

“……”

Originally, they would have used even these gold coins for their new start. But after seeing Ariel, they were trying to pour all their assets and opportunities into the new future of the country.

“…Ariel really has good people as her citizens.”

I smiled and nodded to the Sword Demon and Spear Demon. “In the name of the Bringer Duchy and the Everblack Empire, I will not spare any humanitarian aid for the reconstruction of the Lake Kingdom.”

The Sword Demon and Spear Demon, who smiled back, slowly stepped back. “The Princess is coming. Then, you two highnesses can talk again.”

“My wife and I will be having a date over there.”

At the same time as the Sword Demon and Spear Demon moved out of the way, Ariel, who had walked out of Crossroad, came this way.

“Ash!”

“Ariel.”

Ariel, who had been in meetings with the kings until this time when she had to depart for the Lake Kingdom, looked tired. But there was a sense of accomplishment on her face, as if she had achieved something.

Ariel smiled and asked me, “Did you have fun all night?”

“Thanks to you.”

“Congratulations on your successful proposal. You two look like a good couple.”

“Haha. I’ll send you an invitation when we have the wedding. You have to come?”

“Of course. How could I miss your wedding?”

After briefly exchanging wedding stories like that, I took out the item I was going to give to Ariel before she left and carefully handed it to her. “Here, take it.”

“This is…?”

I nodded to Ariel, who was surprised to receive it. “It’s the royal scepter of the Lake Kingdom.”

It was the royal scepter that symbolized the Lake Kingdom’s royal authority, which Knight Bringer had left here in Crossroad when he died. After that, the Demon King returned to the Destruction Game and all authority was revoked, and now that magic had disappeared, no power remained.

Because it was such an old item and had been contaminated by nightmares for so long, once the darkness had completely faded, the body had become twisted and cracks had formed… I had it repaired over the past few days.

Since it was the royal scepter that Ariel would be using in the future, the repairman had carefully fixed it with all his heart.

“…Thank you.”

Ariel smiled faintly as she received the royal scepter. “This royal scepter is like our national treasure. I will use it well.”

“I look forward to seeing you wield it 멋지게 [admirably].”

“By the way… it looks like new. I don’t know who the repairman is, but they’re really skilled.”

After staring at the carefully repaired scepter, “For some reason…” Ariel slowly lowered her lake-like eyes. “Holding this royal scepter, my heart… aches again.”

“……”

“Ash. Tell me.” Ariel looked at me with a desperate face. “Really… do you not know what I’ve forgotten either?”

“……”

“What on earth have I forgotten that makes my heart feel so constricted… really, do you not know?”

After hesitating for a moment, “Yeah,” I answered. “I’m sorry. I don’t know either. The cause of the sense of loss you’re feeling…”

“…I see.”

Ariel, who had pressed her lips together and looked down at the royal scepter for a while longer, closed her eyes tightly and then smiled at me again. “Thank you for fixing the royal scepter and giving it to me, Ash. And… I hope we can meet again soon.”

***

Ariel, the Sword Demon, the Spear Demon, and the people of the Lake Kingdom left. After watching them move away to the south… I slowly turned around and climbed the southern wall that had been destroyed after the final battle.

As I carefully headed towards the edge of the wall, stepping on the collapsed stairs… “……” A gray man was seen slumped against the wall, as if he had collapsed. The hole in his chest was bigger than before, and he was scattering white particles from the ends of his body… Aider was slowly dying.

I stopped in front of the Director and took a long breath. “Ariel said thank you. She said it looked like new. She said the repairman was skilled.”

Then Aider smiled weakly. “Is that so… That’s… a relief…”

“……”

Originally, Aider had left a little of his life to be used to fulfill my ‘wish’. But Salome fulfilled that wish instead, and Aider’s life was extended by that much. And, Aider used those last few days… to repair Ariel’s royal scepter.

Because he was the only one in the world who remembered the complete original form of that royal scepter. Just like when he used to tie a new ribbon in her hair. With a devoted touch, stitch by stitch. Removing the nightmares and contamination, repairing the broken decorations, and grafting the jewels. And he didn’t even deliver it himself, but had me deliver it instead.

“Are you really going to end it like this?” When I asked, feeling sorry, Aider nodded. “I don’t want to make her remaining life painful.”

“……”

“Sometimes, the fact that you shared your heart with someone can remain as pain…” The tips of his fingers and toes slowly began to turn into particles of light. “Originally, my life was as good as over the moment I betrayed the Outer Gods… The fact that I was able to hold on until now is a miracle in itself.”

“……”

“I was happy that I was able to repair the royal scepter that she will use for the rest of her life… and that I was able to see her one last time, even from afar.”

After hesitating for a moment, I carefully asked, “…Why did you go this far?” I asked Aider again, who was raising his gray eyes that had lost focus. “Why did you go this far… trying to save Ariel, while turning back time countless times and continuing a fight you couldn’t win?”

Then, a faint smile formed on Aider’s parched lips. “Because her one word back then… made me live as a human.” As if reminiscing about a shining moment that was deeply engraved in his life, Aider’s eyes became distant.

“Because she gave me a name. Finally, I was able to live as myself, not as a nameless slave, nor as a fake prince…”

“……”

“Because the brilliant memories she gave me have kept me alive until now…” Aider swallowed hard. “That’s all.”

“……”

“By the way, Lord. When I die, no one will remember me, so there won’t be a funeral…” My accomplice wore his characteristic brazen smile. “For me, perhaps… were you thinking of reciting a poem?”

“……”

Standing straight in front of the fading Aider, a line of poetry that suddenly overlapped with his life came to mind, and I slowly recited it:

My dear, whom I loved so much,
I cannot forget you in my whole life.
Even though I know that love is not for me,
I will keep thinking of you steadily.
Now, then, be beautiful forever.

After the recitation, “…Haha. It’s very beautiful,” Aider smiled with a fading breath. “It’s a bit painful, the poem…”

In front of him, who was slowly scattering into particles of light, I stayed until the very end. “……” There was a man here. A man who was saved by a single, casual word someone had thrown, a man who was foolishly pure. So, to repay that one word, a man who defied fate and betrayed the world – a man who fought eternally. Even if no one remembers him. A man who, after sacrificing even his soul, saved his unrequited love and his world. Such a man was here.

“Be beautiful forever, my Princess…” Aider whispered in a fading voice. His blurred eyes slowly closed. And…

***

……

***

Is it an illusion?

***

Footsteps can be heard.

***

Footsteps of someone running up the wall in a hurry.

***

Aider slowly opened his eyes and looked to the side. “Haa, haa, haa…” At the end of the wall – a woman who had just run up was standing. Her dress was disheveled, the red ribbon tied in her long silver hair was undone, and she was breathing roughly without any decorum… The Princess of the Lake Kingdom.

“I don’t remember, but…!” Ariel, who was just blinking her eyes as if she couldn’t believe it, spoke while clutching her chest. “But, my heart hurts so much… it’s like there’s a hole, it’s stinging and throbbing…”

“……”

“There was someone precious, but it’s like I forcibly tore them out of my heart, so… !” After barely catching her breath, Ariel, who had raised her head, smiled. “I came in the direction where my heart hurt the most.”

With tears streaming down her large lake-like eyes, she somehow managed to smile. “I came to find you, who makes me cry just by looking at you.”

Tears quietly flowed down Aider’s gray eyes as well. “I don’t know your name. I don’t know what you were to me either…” Ariel, who had slowly approached, sat down and met Aider’s gaze. “But… for some reason, I feel like I have to ask you this.”

Ariel reached out her trembling hand and gently stroked Aider’s gray hair, looking carefully at his face. “A picnic.” With a tear-stained face, smiling, Ariel asked Aider very politely. “Would you go on a picnic with me…?”

On Aider’s tear-stained face, which had lost all vitality and was dying, “…Yes,” a clear smile flashed across his face, as if it were a lie. “Let’s go.” Shining fragments scattered. “I always, always… wanted to go on a picnic with you…”

Ariel embraced Aider, who was turning into particles of light and disappearing. “It’s the height of spring outside,” Ariel whispered, sobbing, into Aider’s ear, who could no longer see ahead and had closed his eyes. “We’ll hold hands and go to the hill in the suburbs.”

As if she could see the scene, Aider smiled happily. “There’s a zelkova tree standing far away, and the summer flowers planted around it have already bloomed in the bright weather.” Ariel’s voice was choked, but, “Look. It rained yesterday, but today it’s so clear,” she smiled brightly. “There’s a rainbow in the sky.”

The pieces of light that had fallen from Aider swirled around Ariel as if circling her, and poured into the sky… “In the sky after the rain, a rainbow as beautiful as you…” shone dazzlingly in various colors under the brightening sky.

“Like this… it’s bloomed so much…” …When I lowered my head after quietly looking at that beautiful sky, Aider had completely disappeared. Only Ariel, who was sobbing amidst the scattered, sparkling particles of light, remained in that place.

“…Ash.” After crying for a long time, Ariel, who had barely stopped crying, said to me. “I have a favor to ask.”

When I nodded, Ariel asked desperately, “When we meet next time… would you tell me? The story about this person.”

“……”

“I don’t remember, but I’m sure I loved… tell me the story of this person. Tell me.”

I nodded deeply once more. “I will.” I smiled faintly. “It’s a very long story that would take days and nights, but… I will definitely tell you.”

Amidst the fragments of light, still with a tear-stained face, Ariel hugged the royal scepter she was holding tightly to her chest, as if trying to remember the warmth of that man left in the royal scepter, in her heart.

Watching that scene, I thought. The story of a man. A man who, after sacrificing even his soul, saved his unrequited love and his world. And who, at the very end, went on a picnic to the rain-cleared zelkova hill with the person he loved. A man who had surely fulfilled his last wish. The story of such a happy fool…