After leaving Babel Tower, Riveria looked at Ais hurrying anxiously back toward the Familia residence, then glanced at the faint smile on the boy's face beside her. She felt as though she had learned something today.
It still all felt a little unbelievable.
Before this, everyone had suddenly pushed the responsibility of looking after a child onto her shoulders, and as an unmarried young woman, she had been completely at a loss. But after seeing how Xi'en handled things today, she had gained a new insight:
When dealing with children, sometimes you had to change your way of thinking.
Looking at the boy again, she felt a little embarrassed.
"Thank you. We put you through so much trouble, and this should have been our responsibility…"
"It's fine. After all, I'm the one who brought her out in the first place, and she came to find me. There was no way I could just ignore it. More importantly, what about you? Being suddenly saddled with a problem child like that can't have been easy, right?"
Hearing the concern in his voice, Riveria felt a warm current run through her heart. Her body seemed to grow strangely hot.
What was wrong with her?
They had been through life and death together. They should have reached the point where they could entrust their backs to one another as comrades. So why did she still become so abnormal every time she faced him?
In her innocence, she had thought that perhaps a deeper sort of feeling could replace the impulses that left her so flustered and ashamed. But what she did not understand was that emotions were unreasonable things. They could not simply be swapped out. If anything, they only grew deeper.
"A-apart from certain aspects that are a bit headache-inducing, it's been all right…"
"If you ever need anything, just come to me. If there's something I can do, I'll help."
The elven princess fell silent again.
Suddenly, she realized something.
So many of the boy's actions seemed… unreasonable, in a way. Just like this time—why had he been so proactive in helping Ais? Could it really be just because he was the one who had brought that child out? That didn't seem right…
"What is it?"
Seeing the confusion on the elf's face, Xi'en asked with a light smile. He thought perhaps something about the arrangement had been inappropriate.
"Why… are you willing to help Ais so much? Your time should be very precious."
Faced with that question, Xi'en first froze for a moment. Then the corners of his mouth curved upward. Instead of answering directly, he raised his head and looked at the sky.
There, beneath that primal blue expanse, everything in the world seemed so calm.
All one could feel was hope.
"…What do you think of the Three Great Quests?"
"Huh? …The ultimate goal of adventurers?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question, the elf girl answered instinctively. It was the most fundamental thought in her heart, and also the thought in the hearts of most adventurers in this city—though people rarely spoke of it openly anymore.
Now that the two great Familias had already failed, that goal had gradually become, more or less, a distant ideal that almost no one believed could be achieved.
Xi'en did not comment on her answer, only continued.
"Then do you think the final one—the Black Dragon that not even the combined strength of the two great Familias could defeat—is the sort of enemy that any single Familia today could overcome on its own?"
The elven princess was stunned.
She had never considered that question before.
In that instant, it felt as though some hidden door inside her had suddenly opened, and her thoughts followed the path Xi'en wanted them to take.
As she followed that line of reasoning, she began to grasp a certain terrifying possibility.
A possibility that lay at the very heart of the boy's thoughts.
If that were really true—
"You mean… could it be…?"
Watching the adventurers around them going about their daily lives, Xi'en seemed to be looking not merely at them, but at the fate waiting behind them.
And at the city's original reason for existing.
"As far as I'm concerned, as long as the Black Dragon exists, all adventurers are bound together by destiny. That is a threat we are fated to face, and one we have no choice but to face."
So that's it? His goal from the very beginning was that Black Dragon that even the two great Familias could not defeat? That was despair itself. How could he even dare?
No… that isn't right. Thinking like that is what's correct. Since when did we start treating the slaying of the Black Dragon as some impossible dream destined to fail?
Her thoughts churned violently, like a frog content in the bottom of a well suddenly being forced to look up at the sky. The chains of habitual thinking snapped apart in that instant.
But that was not the end.
Just as the girl was still reeling from Xi'en's grand and seemingly unrealistic ambition, he casually dropped another bombshell.
His expression remained almost offhand.
"And besides, have you ever thought about why the two great Familias were originally capable of continuing to build their strength for quite a while longer, and yet were suddenly so anxious to resolve the Three Great Quests?"
"Was it really just for the sake of a reputation that would endure for generations?"
"They had already earned that kind of everlasting glory after defeating Behemoth and Leviathan, hadn't they? Then why would they still pour so much effort into challenging the Black Dragon?"
Xi'en's abrupt shift left the elf girl nearly unable to think.
It wasn't just the possibility she had already guessed… there was more?
"…Because…"
Riveria could not answer.
Or rather, through Xi'en's words, she had arrived at a possibility so absurd she could hardly bring herself to believe it.
And yet his reasoning forced her to confront it, to push open that door leading to the truth.
Xi'en said it aloud.
"My guess is that they were running out of time… If I'm right, that Black Dragon is probably going to break through the ancient seal and ravage the world again before long. Otherwise, there's no way to explain why the two Familias that had ruled for a thousand years would suddenly do something like that…"
Xi'en spoke the truth in the form of a reasonable deduction.
After all, following the trajectory of the original story, Bell would eventually lead everyone to fight the Black Dragon. And with Bell's personality—always reacting passively when major events forced his hand—the battle against the Dragon would most likely be something they were compelled into rather than something they chose.
If that was the case, then Xi'en could think of no explanation other than the Black Dragon once again threatening the world.
Fortunately, there was still time.
And for him, there was plenty of it.
Xi'en's words struck Riveria like a heavy hammer to the chest.
If this was true, then the end of the world was coming soon?
What kind of absurd joke was that?
The elf unconsciously stopped walking. Her body wavered, as if all strength had suddenly been drained from it.
She stared hard into the boy's eyes beside her.
There was no fear in them at all.
Why could he say something like that and remain so calm?
Was he lying to her?
"T-these are just your guesses, aren't they?"
Xi'en smiled faintly. Then he raised his hand and stared at it for a moment.
"Yes. But I'm not willing to gamble on that sliver of luck. Rather than praying that such a calamity never descends upon the world again and destroys everything I care about, I'd rather choose to speed up my own growth and kill it before that day comes."
As though he intended to seize every possible chance, Xi'en slowly clenched his hand into a fist.
"So you chose to help Ais because…"
Xi'en smiled, then looked at the elven princess with grave seriousness.
"She's the same as you. That little girl has the potential to become one of the members of the team I envision. You could say this is… an investment."
Riveria's heart shook violently.
For the first time, she sensed true desire and ambition from the boy who usually seemed so warm and approachable.
Only…
His ambition was far too vast.
So while the rest of us were still tangled up in internal struggles and petty calculations, you were already looking this far ahead?
In this era, when Familias still competed against one another, he had already stepped far in front of everyone else.
It was not that he lacked desire. Rather, beneath that immense ideal, the barriers between Familias had become so trivial to him that he had discarded them without hesitation.
Now she finally understood.
Why he had fought so desperately during expeditions that did not belong to his own Familia.
Why he had made those choices when the city faced destruction.
Everything—everything—had been for the sake of rapidly increasing his own strength, and also for the sake of preserving as safe an environment as possible, so that the people who might one day walk beside him would have enough time to grow.
And among those people…
were them as well.
What was even more terrifying was that such thoughts had already taken root when he had still been a mere beginner.
It was not that growing stronger had tempered his will.
It was that his unwavering will had continuously granted him the power to grow stronger.
"Hero…"
There was no other word Riveria could use to describe the boy before her.
If someone else had said such things, she might have only been impressed by their foresight.
But Xi'en was different.
He possessed not only that kind of will, but also the strength and talent that gave him a real chance of making it happen.
Like the greatest heroes of old, in his eyes, that impossible dream—the dream of restoring peace to the world—was their true mission.
Someone like him…
Riveria's emotions surged uncontrollably.
It felt as though she had finally grasped something.
Why had she left her homeland in the first place?
Was it not precisely because she had not wanted to be bound forever by that unchanging place and its endless rules?
What she had longed for was adventure.
Adventure with an uncertain road ahead, yet one where her own heart could remain clear.
The days of traveling in a party after leaving home had given her a glimpse of that feeling, but it had still not been the thing she truly sought.
Though she always appeared calm, deep down she was in fact an extremely emotional elf.
What she truly pursued were the heroic tales from the picture books she had read as a child.
Even if she could not become the one and only "sun," it would still be enough for her to follow in its wake—to witness its path, and to lend her strength to it.
She had seen a trace of that quality in Finn, which was why she had become his friend.
But it was not enough.
Finn did possess a wisdom beyond the reach of ordinary people—perhaps unmatched in all of Orario.
But he did not possess the power to overturn despair itself.
The role that suited him best was that of commander, or strategist.
But now, the feeling inside her was even stronger.
The ambition Xi'en had just revealed, together with the power engraved into his very being—a power she herself had felt—left her intoxicated.
Feeling the unnatural pounding in her chest, the girl finally realized, belatedly, just how deeply she had been influenced by him without ever noticing.
So she really did have those feelings for him.
What was she supposed to do now?
Loki, tell me…
No.
No one could ever be allowed to know about this.
Then the strange sensation returned to her body once again, despite the fact that she had not even felt that power just now—
And in that instant, she became wet.
Only then did she fully realize what had happened.
Her face flushed scarlet. Her body trembled.
And then, almost covering her face, she fled.
Watching her suddenly run off without even saying goodbye, Xi'en slowly raised two question marks in his mind.
Maybe she went after Ais…
Not thinking too much of it, the boy headed back toward his own Familia, wondering whether at last no one would come disturb his daily life again.
Of course, Xi'en had no idea what the elven princess had actually been thinking.
If he did, he would probably burst out laughing.
He was nowhere near as lofty as she imagined.
He simply knew more than others, and from that information had found something he could do—and wanted to do.
As for the Black Dragon, the only reason he had decided to kill it was because its existence threatened the land where the people he cared about lived.
Others saw it as an absolute calamity, an unbeatable disaster.
But in his eyes, it was merely a particularly powerful monster.
What, was it supposed to break through the limits of the planet itself?
For someone like him, who possessed power beyond the common sense of this world, killing it was only a matter of time.
His goal from beginning to end had been very simple:
He wanted the family and friends around him to live peacefully, happily, and freely.
After returning to the Familia residence, Xi'en intended to continue working on the spirit medicine he had left unfinished earlier.
But at the door, he found his own goddess waiting there.
"Lady Astrea? Is something the matter?"
If it were not important, Astrea would never come to his workshop in person. Since she had gone so far as to wait at the entrance, then it had to be something serious.
With that thought, Xi'en immediately prepared to listen carefully.
Hearing the familiar voice suddenly come from behind her, Astrea froze. Then she turned around, looking at Xi'en with confusion.
"Hm? So you weren't inside? I was wondering why no one answered when I knocked…"
"I had a small matter to deal with outside. Fortunately, it worked out."
Xi'en did not elaborate. Since it concerned the little girl's privacy, it was better to respect that.
The goddess did not press further. After a brief pause, she finally explained why she had come to find him so urgently.
"I see. I was wondering how you suddenly appeared behind me and gave me such a fright. Never mind, let's get to the important part. The reason I came looking for you in such a hurry is simple…"
"A few days from now, at the Denatus, I intend to take you with me."
....
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