Maydare Volume 6 Chapter 16 - Reminiscence (11) ~The Meaning of Anemones~

I finally caught up with the latest release...and it only took a year more or less!

When I first started this translation during the pandemic (which feels like a lifetime ago) out of boredom I didn't expect to get so into it haha.

Idk when the next volume is coming but I think there will be a new volume this year...probably. See ya then!

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Dear Black Demon King,

No, since this will be my last letter, let me change it to “To my dear friend Torc.”

First of all, by the time this letter reaches you, I will no longer be in this world.

Even though I was called the <White Sage> who knew everything, I didn’t understand anything about this world.

The Holy Land had continued to lie to me.

The Black Demon, the Scarlet Witch, and the White Sage. Great magicians who were called by titles of color, will be one day killed by the golden-haired god of death.

That was the “law of the world” that the Holy Land hid from me, that couldn’t be overturned.

I’m sure you’ve thought about it at least once. Why do we possess extraordinary magical power and can use spells that no one else can do?

The reasons for this are all at the roots of the World Tree in the Holy Land.

Apparently, great magicians like us are reincarnations of the gods who created this world.

The ten gods of the creation myth handed down in the Holy Land.

In short, there are ten people called “great magicians” in this world, and each of them are randomly reincarnated into different eras and advanced the chess pieces of history in this world called Maydare.

Because we possess nonstandard magical powers, we can’t die easily.

If nothing happens, we will continue to live without growing old.

I have no awareness of it at all, but if I told that we were the reincarnations of the gods, our monstrous magical powers and lifespan that feels like an eternity without aging make sense.

So we needed someone who could kill us, and that was the role of the golden-haired reaper. I dare to call him a reaper, not a Savior.

Our remains are enshrined at the base of the World Tree, and it absorbs the magical power left in our remains, which eventually permeates the ground around the world. That’s how this world is protected.

When I saw the empty coffin that was prepared for me, I realized everything and came to terms with it.

So, I’m sure that you won’t be able to escape death either.

That reaper had been given the power and authority by this world to kill us.

I want to leave it up to you, Torc, to decide whether or not to talk to Makirié about this.

Since we both love and cherish Makirié as someone important to us, we wanted to keep her from getting involved in the war, and as a result, we ended up severely hurting her and rejecting her and pushing her away.

She must have wanted to tell us that she will lend us her strength.

The scariest thing for her was probably being alone.

She was looking forward to the days at magic school more than any of us…

Even if the man who was most important to her were to kill her one day, the mother-son relationship that existed between them is certainly real and solid.

That man probably wanted to kill Makirié first, so he decided to gain her trust.

You and I both know that if someone wants to kill the three of us, they would consider Makirié’s magic to be the most troublesome. She possesses the greatest destructive power in her blood, surpassing even our magic.

But I guess he couldn’t kill her.

He probably didn’t want to kill her because he loved her.

I find something human in that, and I somewhat feel a little bit of sympathy for the reaper, even though I’m about to be killed.

Kanon. It’s a very good name.

The name Makirié gave him seemed to have been very important to him.

Lastly, I apologize for not being able to fulfill my promise with you two. 

My spirits will forever protect the spells we devised on that school.

I believe that we will someday meet again in that place.

〇 

My name is Makirié Lucia Twilight.

I flew through the sky unsteadily on my broom and landed on the shores of the Great Lake of Stars just now. It was an unstable flight because I could only use magic in fits and spurts, but I was glad I was able to make it this far.

And I was glad I remembered this place.

There was no way I would ever forget the place where I met that child.

“The fog…has cleared up.”

To my surprise, the area around the Great Lake of Stars, which was always covered with a dense fog, was shockingly clear. There was no wind, and the blue sky was reflected in the undisturbed surface of the lake like a mirror.

Somehow, the scenery didn’t feel like anything from this world. It was beautiful yet lonely, and somehow frightening.

Come to think of it, the meteor shower from that day was reflected on the surface of this lake. It was so beautiful that I felt like I had been thrown into the night sky.

“Makirié.”

A voice called my name from the side.

It sounded like Kanon’s voice.

I turned around and saw him standing there.

“Thanks for coming, Makirié,” he said in a simple tone of voice.

“I told you I wouldn’t forgive you.”

“...”

“So, Kanon, I’ve come to punish you,” I said with a fearless smile.

Then, Kanon also smiled awkwardly.

Right now, he was the Kanon I knew so very well.

Kanon, who had been with me for the past ten years and was as dear to me as if he were my own flesh and blood.

We conversed simply, just like how we did some time ago.

“It’s easy to see when we’re in a bright place, but you look a little haggard. Are you eating and sleeping properly?”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Oh, are you saying that I’m getting old? You’re still as cheeky as ever.”

“I never said that. You’re as beautiful as ever.”

“...”

The way how he casually said the things that made me happy was no different than before either.

“I’m surprised. I never thought there were days when the fog lifts on this lake.”

“...The only one who can lift this fog is me.”

“...”

“Makirié, I want you to follow me.”

Kanon started walking on the surface of the water.

He was stepping on the water surface as calmly as if he was walking on normal ground. 

But every time he took a step, ripples spread out. This sight felt very mystical somehow.

As for me, I gingerly placed my foot on the water surface. I was very careful, testing it over and over again. Ah, I think I can step on it normally.

“That’s right. You can’t swim,” Kanon smiled wryly as he watched me. “You won’t drown here. In fact, even I can’t go all the way to the bottom.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is the center of the world. A reservoir of magical power second only to the Holy Land. However, this place might be even more important.”

Kanon walked ahead for a while, and I followed him. When we reached the middle of the lake, which reflected the blue sky, he turned to face me.

“Welcome to the border of the world.”

Kanon and I stared at each other.

My slightly dubious expression was reflected in his eyes.

“The border of the world?”

“The border between worlds is a place where you can go back and forth between this world and another world. The Savior from another world is summoned through this place.”

If you stayed near this place, it would disturb your magical power and cause discomfort.

I had tried to fly over this area with my broom several times, but my flight always became unstable.

Maybe it was because this was a special place, the “border between worlds.”

“Now that I think about it…I heard that there are many people who have gone missing on this lake. That’s why you aren’t supposed to go near it. I guess that was what everyone living in this world was told.”

“Yeah. I’m sure those people must have crossed the border and gone to a different world. Or, maybe they are forever wandering in the spaces between worlds.”

Then, Kanon dropped his voice to a whisper, as though telling a secret.

“The gods who created Maydare hid something very important on the border of this world.”

“They hid something important…what was it?”

“The law of the world.”

Kanon looked up at the sky.

The sky of this world that was blue as far as the eye could see.

“The ten gods who created this world once started a war that was so intense that it completely destroyed this world. It’s a famous myth. The war is called the ‘Giganto Magiriva.’”

A war…between gods…

I’ve read and re-read the letter Yunocis wrote to Torc many times, but I still couldn’t believe it.

Great magicians like us were the reincarnations of the gods who once created this world.

“The gods reflected on their actions, and when they recreated the world, they bound it with all kinds of laws. To prevent anyone from changing those laws, they hid them in a place where no one could reach. That is this place.”

Kanon pointed to the surface of the water where we were standing.

“It’s down there, Makirié. The ‘laws of the world’ are there.”

“...”

I still didn’t really understand what Kanon was talking about.

But, I knew that he was appealing to me, or asking me for something.

“Hey, tell me, Kanon. How did we end up in this mess?”

I didn’t know how to ask about this situation.

Both Yunocis and Torc were killed. I was sure that this man would kill me as well.

But I didn’t know who or what to blame.

Kanon pulled out his golden dagger from its sheath.

The moment he pulled it out, a chill ran through my entire body.

That dagger was something that could kill us.

“You probably already know this, but my job is to kill the great magicians who bear colored names. It’s one of the laws of the world that had been set down since time immemorial.”

“Why? Is it because we’re a hindrance to the world?”

“...Not exactly. The power of the great magicians who bear colored names is nothing more than a powerful medicine for the world. If it’s only a little, it can have a positive influence that advanced history. However, because they didn’t die, they reign in this world for a long time. If it continues, your existences invariably creates bad courses of events.”

“...”

“Just like how the Country of Demons founded by the Black Demon King was the origin of the Great Magic War. Or how each country tried to seize the magic school created by the White Sage…” Kanon whispered while staring at the golden dagger, but then he suddenly looked up and looked at me again with his garnet eyes.

“The Scarlet Witch Makirié. The children born to you and the Black Demon King will surely have a great influence on the history of the world in the future.”

“...Don’t tell me you intend to kill those children as well?” I asked him in a low voice. But he shook his head.

“No. The only remaining person I need to kill in this era is you,” Kanon’s calm words gradually became heated. “On the contrary, I want to ask you that question, Makirié. Why do I have to kill you?”

I slowly widened my eyes.

Kanon had a very pained expression on his face.

“No matter how we meet, it’s heartrending to kill you. Whether you appear as an enemy or get close to me as an ally, I have to kill you in the end. No matter how many times you’re reborn and I have to watch over your lives, I will kill you without fail. This will repeat over and over again for hundreds and thousands of years. You were the ones who foisted this role on me…”

“...Kanon…”

“I continue to stand in this world in order to fulfill my promise to Magiriva.”

Magiriva…?

Suddenly, a vision of someone who looked like me, someone I shouldn’t have know, flashed through my mind.

“No, that’s not it. That’s not what I wanted to say…” Kanon shook his head vigorously and put his hand to his face.

He didn’t blink. Multitude shadows of death were reflected in the depths of his eyes.

This was the heartfelt wish of a man who continued to kill his emotions in order to uphold an ancient promise.

“I really don’t want to kill anyone…!”

Don’t forget this.

Don’t forget this.

I felt like I once told myself those words.

Tears naturally fell down my face. I couldn’t bear to watch Kanon suffer anymore.

No one wanted to see their child suffer like this.

“Hey, Kanon. What should I do to help you?”

“...”

“Tell me. How can I save you?”

Whether I was killed here or not, it would definitely cause him an untold amount of pain.

Even if I didn’t fully understand everything, I knew that much.

Kanon was being kept under the control of the world’s laws, with no way to escape.

He was not allowed to escape.

What choice should I make so that Kanon wouldn’t suffer?

“Makirié. Will you save me?” Kanon slowly raised his head and spoke, his face distorted with pain. “If that’s the case, then destroy the laws of the world. Only you can do this.”

“...What…”

“The name of this world…weren’t you the one who named it Maydare?”

Maydare, the world of salvation.

Who was this story meant to save?

Kanon shook his head repeatedly and covered his face in anguish.

“But I know that won’t come true in this lifetime. You have to use all the laws against them, and continue to take the necessary steps for…three hundred, five hundred years without making any mistakes, and then we will finally get there…after several reincarnations.”

“...”

“Just how many times will I have to kill you in order for that to happen…?”

“I don’t care.”

Kanon looked up, shocked.

I was reflected in Kanon’s garnet eyes, and I too had him imprinted in my sea-blue eyes.

So that someday, somewhere, I would always be able to remember this child.

“Makirié…?”

I approached him step by step.

“I don’t care how many times I’m killed by you. As long as you are happy wherever you end up, that’s fine.”

Kanon once said something similar to me.

Every single word that Kanon gave me had meaning, and they were all my treasures. 

I finally understood that now.

“Kanon. Do you know what anemones mean in the language of flowers?”

“...”

“You were the one who taught me about it.”

Kanon.

My child, the most precious person in the world, who I named.

I reached out and hugged him.

“I love you.”

Originally, that referred to an unrequited love.

If so, then whose story began from unrequited love?

Kanon hardened his gaze, but he still lifted his golden dagger and was about to stab me in the back. I also got close to him with that intention.

However, he dropped his hand holding the dagger and spoke in a trembling voice as though begging for help.

“I can’t do it, Makirié. I can’t kill you.”

“...”

“You’re the only one I don’t want to kill…”

I took a few steps away from Kanon.

By that time, I already had his dagger in my hand.

Kanon widened his eyes, and he stared at me unblinkingly.

At me, who was pointing the dagger at my chest.

“Makirié…wait…wait…!”

Before his outstretched hand touched me.

Without hesitation, I plunged the dagger into my chest.

The warm blood overflowing from my heart flowed down the golden blade and permeated the border of this world.

“Makirié!!!!”

Maki rie luci ah

Eat the crimson apple

Tear it apart with your rusty sword

On the first day of the fifth moon

You will destroy the world―――

We were enveloped in a scarlet light.

This was the Scarlet Witch’s command magic that would consume the center of the world in flames.

This would be the great spell that would lead people to call me the worst witch in the world.

The large explosion, fueled by the witch’s blood, took away all sound, color, and water, burning the area with scorching flames. It would become a land of death later called the Witch’s Pupil. 

What a great sin I committed.

But that didn’t I mean I hated this world or Kanon.

I just didn’t want to force that suffering child to kill me.

I didn’t want to force my child to go through such a cruel thing.

Even though I intended to end everything, I never doubted that there would be a next era.

So, don’t forget.

If I’m reborn in the next era, I will save Kanon.

Don’t you forget about that, Makia.

***

Click.

There was a sound in the back of my mind, like a switch had been flipped. I woke up from my long sleep.

The branches and leaves of the World Tree were swaying and rubbing against each other.

Good morning. Good morning. Congratulations.

You’ve completed your return safely.

“...”

The refreshing smell of greenery in the morning and the gentle sunlight filtering through the trees.

I woke up slowly and looked back at the nine coffins.

I had a very long dream.

Of a story I shouldn’t have forgotten.

“I…”

I held my head in my hands and clutched my hair until it hurt, my body shaking violently.

Slowly, slowly, slowly…my breathing and mind were disturbed by the emotions that were surging and spreading within me.

“I did…such a terrible thing…”

Terrible. Terrible.

“Why did I…do something like that to Kanon!”

Kanon. Kanon.

I was the one who gave that child that name. Me. It was me!

Why. Why.

How did he feel when he killed us on that rooftop?

How did he feel when he reunited with me in this world?

Why did I forget “Kanon”, who I loved like my own flesh and blood, for such a long time!?

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Kanon was the most important person in the world to me. I told him that.

I wanted to remember this someday, in the distant future. That child had definitely been crying.

Don’t forget this.

Don’t forget this.

I told myself that over and over again.

I don’t care how many times I’m killed by you. As long as you’re happy wherever you end up, that’s fine.

I love you.

If I am reborn, I will save Kanon―――

I forgot that wish, that vow, everything, and enjoyed my new life.

I was the worst person in the world.

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