Maydare Volume 6 Chapter 12 - Reminiscence (7) ~A Story that Began from Unrequited Love~

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I was standing in the wilderness that spread north of the Great Lake of Stars.

I was here because I heard that Torc, the Black Demon King, was killed in this place.

However, hundreds of demon and human corpses were piled on top of each other on the battlefield.

Broken arrows and bloody swords were sticking out of corpses here and there like grave markers.

There were traces of magic everywhere, and the burnt remains of demons and bodies of humans with unnaturally missing parts, were pitilessly lying around. 

I searched through the stench of death, the smoke, and the lingering scent of magic.

Though I searched until nightfall, I couldn’t find anything related to Torc the Black Demon King.

“Torc…”

But, thinking about it carefully, there was no way that a magician like Torc, who was even called the Black Demon King, could be defeated and killed by humans so easily.

The rumor that the Black Demon King was killed was probably a manipulated story part of some information warfare or falsified by Torc’s side.

After the school island was created—I hadn’t been able to see Torc for two years.

It would be natural for my feelings to change if I hadn’t been able to see him for so long, but I still couldn’t forget my love for him.

I fell in love for the first time with the person who came to see me in the Salt Forest. If I could see him once again, I wanted to honestly convey my feelings, even if he wouldn’t accept them.

It wasn’t like I wanted to be his one and only.

I didn’t want anything in return.

If I couldn’t become “one” of the Black Demon King’s many family members, I wanted to at least be of some use to him. I was glad that he died quietly and alone, protecting what he wanted to protect.

I want to see him.

But I couldn’t see him no matter where I go.

“...?”

That was when it happened.

I felt a strange presence in the starry sky that covered this battlefield.

When I looked up, I saw a countless number of stars emitting strangely strong light.

“Eh…”

In the blink of an eye, those stars turned into meteors and flew across the deep blue night sky, creating a band of light that resembled the shape of this world. It was the first time that I saw a meteor shower like this.

Just now, the fog covering the Great Lake had cleared. The countless meteors reflected in the vast lake looked beautiful. Ah, I wonder if that was why it was called the Great Lake of Stars.

I felt like a strangely clear sound was reverberating throughout the area. 

I kept my eyes wide open, watching this beautiful yet horrifying scene as I followed the stars’ destination.

Why did I feel so anxious?

Somehow, I felt like this world was declaring war on me.

As the meteor shower flew by, I hugged my body, taking a protective stance.

After a while, the shower subsided and the night sky returned to its usual calm.

“...Is it over?”

I didn’t know what was going on, but before I knew it, I had broken out in a cold sweat.

I stood up with unsteady steps, but then…

“!?”

Feeling a tug on the hem of my robe from behind, I suddenly turned around. This was a battlefield. You don’t know who was going to attack you.

“...Huh?”

However, unexpectedly, the one standing behind me was a young boy.

He looked to be about ten years old. Maybe even younger.

“Are you the Scarlet Witch, Makirié?”

Beautiful blond hair and garnet eyes…

The boy with unfriendly sharp eyes asked me that question.

This child had an air of inhumanity about him that gave me chills. 

He had a strange appearance that one didn’t see very often, but I didn’t know how to explain it. There was something like a dagger at his hip.

Why would there be a young child in a place like this?

“W-What are you doing? What do you want…!”

I heard that children were thrown behind enemy lines on the battlefield and made to perform suicide attacks with the knowledge that they would lose their lives. Was this boy one of them?

His gaze was so sharp and emotionless that I couldn’t help but think that would be the case.

I continued to be wary of him, but he looked up at me, held something out, and said something unexpected.

“I’ve always wanted to meet you.”

He was holding out a single wild flower to me.

It was a pretty white flower. It might have bloomed on the battlefield, and it was drooping slightly. I felt like I’ve seen it before.

I slowly widened my eyes.

Because that flower and those words were so pure that it touched my heart.

I was a little confused, but the boy’s eyes were so emotionless and stagnant that I thought they looked like the pools of blood on this battlefield.

But I felt that there was a bottomless loneliness about them, and they strongly drew my interest.

“Where are your parents?”

“...I don’t have any.”

“What about siblings or relatives?”

“...I don’t have any.”

“Then why do you want to meet me? I’m pretty sure this is the first time we’ve met.”

The boy didn’t answer. He simply looked at me and held out the white flower.

I bent down and accepted the flower.

Then, I looked at him and asked another important question.

“...What’s your name?”

“I…don’t have a name.”

“I see. Then, I’ll give you a name. As a special thank you for this flower.”

Maybe this was just a whim of the Scarlet Witch.

But surely this was a crossroads of fate.

In this world of salvation, this was actually the first blessing given to everyone.

I gave this child a name.

“Okay then, your name is Kanon.”

At that time, I still didn’t know.

The reason why this child approached me.

The fact that he would later become our “reaper.”

“Kanon. Kanon. …Mm, this is a good name. It absolutely is. It just popped into my head before I even thought about it. That’s the proof of a good name.”

“...Kanon.”

The child repeated the name given to him.

He didn’t really complain, and he didn’t even look happy.

“Hey, where did you come from?”

“From another world that’s far away from here.”

“Another world? What a strange thing to say. Did you run away from a slaver? Or are you a war orphan? Do you have anywhere to go?”

“...No.”

“Hmm, then how about you come to my home? It’s in the middle of a forest in the countryside, but you have strange-colored eyes, like there’s magical power stored inside you. I can teach you a bit of magic. If you don’t like it there, you can just leave.”

“...Okay. That’s fine with me.”

“Are you sure? They say that the Scarlet Witch kidnaps women and children and eats them.”

“...I don’t care.”

“You don’t care, huh. Hmm, there’s no point in intimidating you, huh. Well then, shall we go?”

I said, and held out my hand.

When I did that, a small light lit up in the boy’s dull eyes.

He slowly but surely took my hand and squeezed it.

“Fufu, you’re hungry, aren’t you? You’re so skinny. When we get home, I’ll bake some bread and make pumpkin soup for you. After that, I’ll make some salt apple pie. I may not look it, but I’m pretty good at cooking.”

Who was this child? 

Why did he approach me?

At that time, I didn’t know anything, but I remember feeling a strange itchiness in my chest at the tiny warmth holding my hand.

I suppose I wanted a family.

The <Black Demon King> and <White Sage>, who had similar powers as me, had loves ones who they wouldn’t hesitate to choose when they were in a situation where they could only protect one thing.

I could never be their “one and only.”

I was all alone. I wasn’t special to anyone, unloved, unneeded…but there was nothing I could do about those things.

That was why I couldn’t leave that boy, who had no name, no relatives, and no place to return to. Because even though he said, “I wanted to see you,” he had the loneliest eyes of any child I’d ever seen. Being lonely was painful.

My beloved disciple, Kanon.

He would later be known throughout history as the <Savior of Fraxinus>.

In the end, he wouldn’t be able to kill me, but die with me…the boy Savior.

It had been about half a year since I started living with Kanon, the mysterious child I took in on the battlefield.

“Kanon! Kanon, where did you go!”

That child was always gone before I realized it.

I was the one who told him that he could leave if he didn’t like it here, but when I thought that he really had gone somewhere else, I started to feel worried and searched the forest.

As I did so, Kanon immediately returned from the depths of the forest and appeared in front of me.

“Kanon! I always tell you to give me a shout when you’re leaving the house. You make me worried!”

“...My apologies.”

“My apologies, huh.”

As usual, he spoke like an adult.

“Anyways, you’re covered in mud. What were you doing? Well, I guess that’s what boys your age are like. The Salt Forest is exciting for kids.”

I took out a handkerchief and wiped the mud from Kanon’s cheek. 

He was neither reluctant nor happy, but remained expressionless as he let me do it.

However, I noticed that he was holding a bright red flower in his hand.

“What kind of flower is that? I’ve never seen it before.”

“It’s an anemone,” Kanon muttered.

“Anemone…? Does such a bright red flower bloom in this forest?”

The plants in the Salt Forest were basically all white, weren’t they?

“They were blooming in the depths of the forest. I guess the seeds flew in from somewhere. I’ve been seeing a lot of them lately.”

“Huh, is that right? I guess I’ll go looking for them next time myself…”

While holding the anemone out to me, Kanon averted his gaze slightly to the side.

“I thought…it looked similar to your hair color.”

“Oh my, you’re giving it to me? You’re still a boy, after all~ Even you have a cute side, huh.”

It was the same situation as when we first met.

I felt somewhat happy. As I accepted the flower, I ruffled his thin blond hair and hugged him tightly. Kanon let me do as I pleased.

Kanon.

A boy with blond hair and garnet eyes who was around ten.

To put it simply, Kanon was a child who was completely unchildlike.

His way of speaking was too calm for a boy around ten, he wasn’t very expressive, and his eyes were always gloomy. He was a quiet child who spoke very little about himself, so there were still many mysteries around his origins.

However, he was a kind boy who would sometimes pick flowers for me.

“Makirié, do you know what anemones mean in the language of flowers?”

“Hmm, I don’t. Do you know?”

Kanon calmly told me the answer, still in my arms.

“I love you.”

Those words made my heart skip a beat.

Although it wasn’t something that would be spoken by a child like Kanon, his voice sounded strangely mature considering he was simply telling me the meaning of the flower, and there was a note of sadness in it.

I released Kanon from my embrace.

He lowered his gaze slightly and continued speaking in his usual indifferent tone.

“But, it’s the ‘I love you’ of a love that won’t come true.”

“...Where did you learn that? What a precocious kid you are. You surprised me.”

Kanon didn’t answer anything in particular. Instead, he fixed his gaze on me and asked me this question.

“Makirié, have you ever been in love?”

“Huh? Ahaha! You’re asking the Scarlet Witch that? Well, it wasn’t like I’ve never been in love. It was of the unrequited sort, though.”

Still crouching down, I put my chin in my hands and recalled my first love, which still smouldered somewhere in my heart.

“To tell you the truth, on the day that I met you, I was actually going to see my first love. When I heard that he died on the battlefield, I couldn’t just stand around and do nothing. But I wasn’t able to see him. I still hear rumors about that man, so I guess he didn’t die after all. …Instead, I picked you up from the battlefield.”

“...I don’t mind being a replacement.”

“Huh?”

“As long as you don’t feel lonely anymore, that’s fine.”

“...”

I didn’t mean to imply that he was a replacement. 

However, Kanon told me this calmly.

“I think you’re a kind witch. I really love you, Makirié.”

I slowly widened my eyes in shock.

And I felt like I was about to cry a little.

Really, when was the last time someone told me, “I love you”?

I was sure that his “I love you” was similar to something you’d say to your parents or siblings, but I had lost even that kind of love a long time ago…

Kanon had a very serious and dignified gaze.

He really didn’t look like a child. But, when I thought how he might have seen through my loneliness and consoled me in his own way, I felt a deep love for this boy.

“...Ahahahahaha! You really are a precocious kid, aren’t you? Are you sure you’re not an adult on the inside? You surprised me again.”

I laughed to cover up the fact that I was about to cry, then stood up and patted down my skirt.

“Now, let’s go home.”

Then, holding Kanon’s hand, we walked back home along the sunlit path of the white forest.

There were major wars happening all over the world. They were intensifying year by year, and even the Kingdom of Ruschia was getting dragged into the vortex of this war.

However, things were still peaceful around here, and in contrast to the chaotic world, we were living very calm days.

By this time, the <Scarlet Witch’s> hut in the Salt Forest had already been modified to make it easier for me and Kanon to live there.

There were two beds and two chairs.

For tableware such as teacups, forks, knives, and plates, they were all in sets of two.

Though the interior of the house was plain, it was decorated with the colorful wildflowers that Kanon picked, and the dried flowers we made together. And everyday, it was filled with the sweet scent of apples.

“Kanon, what do you want to eat? I’ll make you something you like as thanks for the anemone.”

I asked as I placed the anemone in a small bottle and put it next to the window.

“Nothing in particular. I’ll eat anything,” Kanon said as he changed out of his muddy clothes. He was as surly as ever.

“You really don’t have any preferences, do you?”

“If…it’s made by you, then everything’s delicious.”

“...”

Hmph. What an adorable thing to say.

Was he worried that I would throw him out? Or did he simply say that because he thought it would make me happy? 

Kanon didn’t speak much, but he sometimes said things that made me happy or affirmed me. Although his face was expressionless and his eyes were a little sharp, I could tell that he cared for me from every one of his actions and words.

Even I thought that he was adorable.

After all, I was the one who named him.

I wondered if this child would one day become a great person who would do something important.

I had that kind of premonition ever since I named him.

That was why I brought him to the Salt Forest. I didn’t want him to get dragged into that horrific fighting and die in a place like that. I provided him with food, clothing, and shelter, and in exchange for doing chores around the house, I taught him as much magic as I could, and gave him the bare minimum of education.

But was there really a need for me to teach him…?

Kanon was able to handle so many things with ease that I wondered that.

From the beginning, he was able to read and write. He learned martial arts and swordsmanship from somewhere.

He was also able to use a little bit of magic from the start.

The only thing he wasn’t good at was cooking. No matter what he did, he ended up burning it, and he always failed whenever he tried making a potion that required simmering, so I think he didn’t have any aptitude for magic that used【Fire】...

He took the initiative to do the housework and gather firewood without me having to ask him to do it, and he often brought me fish, wild fowl, mushrooms, and the salt apples I loved. He also worked in the fields with me. He really was a good, praiseworthy boy who didn’t need much help.

Sometimes, he would wander out of the hut without saying anything and often came back with his clothes dirty, so I would scold him…

But, after I scolded him, I would always hug him tightly.

I remembered what my grandmother, father, and mother had done for me, and I did them all for him.

I wanted a family.

I wanted to become a mother.

To fall in love happily, to get married, and to give birth to and raise children…I didn’t think I would be able to fulfill the dreams I vaguely envisioned as a child, but…

When I met Kanon, I was still unable to forget this “youthful heart.”

By this time, I think Kanon’s presence had become so important to me that I thought I might have understood the love a mother had for her child, just a little bit.

Even if we were a strange family with no blood ties to each other, only a master-disciple relationship.

A love that wasn’t realized.

A promise that seemed unlikely to be fulfilled.

I’m sure I was the one who was healed from the pain of being alone.

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