Epilogue: Thus Performers Gather on Stage

1740 26.04.921—

Deep in the countryside of Haradin...

A young girl calling herself the Saint appeared from inside Fianna.

“Uh-oh... This can’t be good,” said Daian.

“I never expected to meet you here,” said Blitzdonner.

Daian “The Sorcerer” Fortuner was the most famous brain on the continent of Europea. And Erich “The Crimson Hawk” Blitzdonner was a hero from the Great War. The faces of these two great men—brains and brawn—were tense.

“Oh dear... What’s the matter with you two? I may be cute, but there’s no need to get so jittery. Just relax.” In contrast, the Saint smiled as if enjoying herself.

“Does this mean you were manipulating us the whole time?” Daian was grinding his teeth in frustration, which was rare for him.

The Saint had used Wiltia’s secret maneuvering with Noa and the ancient heritage Genitz had discovered to create this situation. She had gathered everyone who knew what was inside the Door, or who was trying to find out, so she could attack them all at once.

“Now I know why the Augustan soldiers who were here disappeared. They didn’t pull out. You eliminated them. Am I right?”

“Yep! You got it!” The Saint answered Daian’s question cheerfully.

“I diced them up finer than grains of sand, so they returned to dust. Yes, this land will give bloom to abundant flowers.” Her voice was beautiful. And from that beautiful voice she almost sang the bloody words.

“Just like with me!!” Glaring at her, Blitzdonner spoke roughly.

The Saint had appeared before Blitzdonner early in the Great War when he was called a hero for his bravery and military success. And immediately after she appeared, his beloved Hunter Unit Sharlahart had ceased functioning. When he crawled from the cockpit, the Saint had used some kind of power to sever all four of his limbs in a flash. The Saint was the reason Blitzdonner now relied on mechanical arms and legs.

“Yes, I lopped off their hands and feet, just as I did to you, turning them into caterpillars. They were adorable as they wriggled around. Then I carefully crushed them one by one.” The Saint’s voice was like birdsong. “Back then, August’s foundation was still very weak. It was so weak that you were able to halt the advance of the front line singlehandedly. That’s why I confronted you.”

“How brazen of you! But why did you disappear without finishing me off?”

“Well...” Then the Saint’s charming smile clouded slightly.

“... someone annoying got in the way.”

“.........?”

Someone annoying... Who? Neither Blitzdonner nor Daian knew. And the two instinctively sensed that the Saint no longer wanted to answer any questions.

“Well, shall we get started?”

She never intended to have a conversation with them. She was like a small child playing with a doll. They had spoken of their own accord, and she had simply responded.

“Hey, Daian... When I give the sign, run like mad.” Blitzdonner’s body tensed as he spoke. “My mission is to protect you, so I will do all I can.” Nonetheless, he had a good idea of how this would end. Even using everything he had, he couldn’t hold the Saint for more than one minute.

“Aw, gimme a break. I don’t have much strength, and I suck at exercise!” Even if Blitzdonner sacrificed his life in the effort, he would only extend Daian’s life by a minute and a few seconds.

“Then may I escape by myself? If I’m lucky, I just might make it.”

“Don’t even think about it. I’d be lonely!” As Blitzdonner prepared to run, Daian clung to him.

“Argh! We’re totally cornered! I’m imagining the faces of my family!”

“Your family? Oh, right. You have a son.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Well, about that... there are circumstances.” Daian was chuckling.

“Aw, I don’t wanna die! Argh!!”

Just when Blitzdonner thought there was nothing left to do, Daian pulled something from his inside pocket. “What a coincidence, I don’t want to die either, so...”

It looked like some kind of tag. It wasn’t regular paper. It was parchment with a code of unknown letters in red dye.

“What’s that?!” When the Saint saw it, her face showed surprise.

“Right now, I’ll stoop to anything!” Daian tossed the tag into the air. Before disappearing, it traced lines of light in the air. From the light, which sketched the same code that was written on the tag, stepped a human form.

“You...!”

A bewitchingly beautiful woman with black hair and black eyes appeared. It was Hanussen, the Royal Sage.

Hanussen was spoken of like a figure from a fairy tale and had a private contract with the public office of the Principality of Wiltia, which treated her as an honored guest. She was also believed to be a magician who had disappeared long ago.

“Oh dear... Is this right, Sorcerer? With this, I can repay everything I owe you?” Hanussen spoke as if her presence was trivial.

She owed Daian a number of personal debts. And she had promised to grant his wishes to repay what she owed. During the recent rebellion, she had helped Lud and his comrades. This was done at Daian’s instigation, so he had used one of his wishes.

“I don’t care as long as I live!”

This would be his last wish. According to rumor, there was almost nothing Hanussen couldn’t do, and Daian would try to get out of this pinch with her help one last time.

“Very well. It makes little difference to me.” Hanussen held the palms of her hands up toward Daian and Blitzdonner. Light burst forth and washed over them.

“W-What the?! What are you trying to do?!” Blitzdonner shouted with no idea of what was happening.

“What a noisy insect you are! I don’t have time to explain. Oh, right. Imagine the face of someone you want to see. Otherwise, you’ll just dissipate into nothing!”

“Dissipate?!”

Hanussen spoke with little concern, and the next moment the two disappeared in the light.

“..................”

Before he vanished, Daian turned to smile at the Saint. He seemed to say, “You’re gonna regret letting me escape!”

—!!

The two were gone. Spatial transference magic was not part of the heritage from Europea. It was a power from a completely different system that transported the two out of danger.

“Now you’ve done it.” Only Hanussen and the Saint remained. Angry, the Saint raised her hands, but Hanussen raised her own to stop her.

“Stop. It won’t work.” Hanussen spoke as if the Saint’s attempt was ridiculous.

“I cannot kill you and you cannot kill me. We belong to different worlds.” Hanussen spoke without emotion, as if simply presenting the facts, and then used the transference magic on herself.

Was she running? Or retreating? She didn’t see it like that at all. The royal sage had finished her business here, so she left. A moment later, Hanussen’s form disappeared and only the Saint remained.

“Oh, come on...” The Saint spoke softly in her beautiful voice. “Give me a break...” Her unbelievably beautiful voice continued. “Why, of all the lowdown dirty rotten— Argh!!!” With her unbelievably, amazingly beautiful voice, she shouted her anger, resentment, hatred and curses.

“This always happens!! Things never go the way I want! That one never does what I want! They never do what I want!!!” Full of anger, she ranted and raved. “That’s why I hate... this whole world!!” Contorting her lovely face, the Saint vented her fury against reality.

1750 26.04.921—

At Tockerbrot in Organbaelz...

“This shop is a disaster zone again...” Lud’s shoulders slumped in dismay as he looked around the half-obliterated bakery.

This was the second time the shop had been destroyed. A fire had consumed the entire building, the last time, including the living space. This time the damage wasn’t that bad, but it was still a mess.

“Will the military pay for repairs?” Lud asked Sophia, who had stayed to help clean up.

“Ask Noa. I can deliver the bill.” It was a kind answer from his former superior officer.

“But...” He looked around again.

“Like I said!!! We have definitely met!”

“I do not know! I do not know anything, not even one little bit!!” Rebecca and Lillie were arguing fiercely.

Not long ago, before Rebecca developed her heart, Lillie—under orders—had knocked her into the Sephira River in Berun.

“It’s quite lively around here.” Looking around, Lud saw Hilde and Jacob. Since they were conscientious and thoughtful, they were quietly clearing away rubble. “Hey, kids. Be careful of broken glass.”

“Okay!”

At the edge of the shop, Sven was still sitting alone in confusion.

“Lud, you should go to her.” Jacob saw that Lud was at a loss with Sven in this state, so he encouraged him.

“I didn’t see anything, so...”

“Jacob... You...” Jacob was there and knew what happened. He saw Sven’s inner machinery through her pierced chest.

“If you and Sven decide that you don’t know anything and didn’t see anything, then I’ll play along. It doesn’t matter either way.” The eleven-year-old boy looked at Lud with gentle, caring eyes.

“I’m no match for you, Jacob.” Lud’s response was heartfelt as he turned to approach Sven.

What should he say? Should he say he had known for a long time? Should he say he hadn’t known? No, there were other things he could say. But the words wouldn’t come out.

“Um...” Nonetheless, he tried but his voice broke off...

“Hm?” Sophia spoke as if she noticed something.

“Huh?” Jacob spoke as if he guessed something.

“What?” Rebecca spoke as if she sensed something.

All at once, the three raised their heads. The roof of Tockerbrot had been blown away, and through the empty space, they saw two forms appear.

“Guah?!”

“Ow!”

Suddenly, light burst through and two men descended.

“Ow... ow, ow, ow! W-Where are we?!” One was a blond man in a red coat.

“I don’t know!” The other was wearing strange clothing and looked like a clown.

“Huh...?” Seeing the first man, Rebecca was as stupefied as if God were descending.

“What...?” Recognizing the face of the other man, Sophia looked more astounded than if a marching band were floating into the shop.

“Wh-Who’re they?”

“That’s...” Having no memory of either men, Lud was confused. But Sven remembered one of them, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Hey! Why if it isn’t Svelgen! What are we doing here?” The two men, transported here from faraway Haradin by spatial transference magic, were Blitzdonner the Crimson Hawk and Daian the Sorcerer.

In the history of Tockerbrot, this incident would come to be known as the Three-Day Throng of Customers. The people gathered there would soon experience the Earthshaking Nine-Days.

To be continued...