As Mom and Dad disappeared, a luxurious door appeared in front of me. Does this mean that I have to go through here?
Mom said that there was still one more ordeal left, so I’m sure that this isn’t the goal…… I wonder what kind of ordeal awaits me next?
Taking a deep breath in front of the door, I gathered my resolve and opened it.
[……What is this?]
I opened the door, wondering what kind of severe ordeal awaits me, and how harsh of a place I would be moving to but…… in the scenery I arrived in…… there wasn’t anything stopping me at all that I kind of felt like it was anticlimactic.There is only one road that goes straight ahead, and everything else is just grassland that goes on and on until it reaches the horizon……
Tilting my head, when the door closed after I entered…… The door disappeared as if it had never existed in the first place, and all that remained was the blue sky, the grass on the roadside, and the single road before me.
When I looked back, I only saw the same grasslands and the same road…… Does this mean I should go on this road?
There was a part of me that wondered if I really was supposed to go through this path, but deciding that I should just go straight down the path prepared for me, I started walking.
I wonder how far I walked? All of my gear except for my watch, clothes and shoes seemed to have disappeared as soon as I entered this space, so I have no idea what time it was…… but I think I’ve been walking for a few hours.
(T/N: I translated exactly as what the novel says. He has no idea what time it is. Yep, let’s ignore the watch on my hand. Yep.)
However, my body doesn’t feel fatigue, so it doesn’t seem like I could get exhausted in this space…… However, unnn. So that’s how it is…… This is “the final ordeal” huh.Even with the distance I walked, nothing has changed. A single road, the grassland with no rocks or tree, the blue sky with no clouds or sun…… a space where I don’t know how far or how long I have to keep walking to reach the end.
I guess this space itself is the ordeal for me. What I have to do is very simple…… I just need to keep walking along this straight path.
However, how many days would I have to walk? How many months? Or perhaps, how many years? I have to keep walking through this straight path with a body that doesn’t feel fatigue. In other words, it’s a test of endurance huh……
Alrighty then. No matter how many years or centuries it takes, I’ll keep you company.
I’ve received the warm feelings of lots of people…… I’ve received courage from lots of people…… I’m filled with so much love that I couldn’t carry them within my arms…… and I felt a reassuring push on my back.
That’s why, I’m already alright…… for I’m filled with conviction.
My heart———– will never be broken again.
How many days have I walked? No, I have completely lost my sense of time already, so perhaps, I’ve already been walking for a few months.
How should I say this…… It kind of feels strange. My body doesn’t get tired in this space. I also don’t feel hungry and I don’t feel sleepy.
However, I guess it should be expected, but my legs sometimes feel heavy from mental fatigue, so I have to slow down to regain my energy.
But strangely enough, my memory doesn’t seem to be deteriorating. I can still remember the conversation with Alyssa and the others as if it were just a few minutes ago. Was this really a test of my mental strength?
Well, whatever the ordeal is, there’s no point in rushing things. God only knows when this will end…… Literally speaking.
[……Let’s say, if the world were a single story……]
There was nothing else to do but think as I walked, so somehow, I decided to sing a song. It was “A Small Story”, which I learned from Illness-san and later learned that it was Kuro’s song……
I really like this song, and I think that this really fits my current situation.
I walked. I just kept on walking. I don’t know how long I’ve been walking, but I’m pretty sure it’s been years.
I feel like I sang to the point where I can be called a good singer. However, I still didn’t see the end of the road.
Feeble-hearted thoughts like how I might be going down the wrong path or how this path is never going to end but…… unnn, well, they’re that.
I’m a living, breathing human being, I whine about things and things I hesitate about. The question though is what to do after that.
No matter how far this path is, if this road leads to where Kuro and the others are…… My feet will never stop.
That’s why, I walked…… Along this path whose scenery doesn’t change at all, I walked. No matter how far, no matter how long……
Somehow, I kinda feel like continuously walking down this road with no clear path ahead is similar to life itself.
How many years has it been? my sense of time has long since disappeared, so even though I feel like I’ve been walking for decades, in reality, only a year or so may have actually just passed.
If that’s the case, is the end yet to come? However, I don’t know if it’s because of the space I’m in, but I don’t feel like I’ve matured mentally…… No, well, I’m just walking after all, so I don’t really think that would make me more mature or anything like that……
I thought for a moment that I could be calm and refined like Ozma-san, but I don’t feel like I’m going to become like him anytime soon. I wonder if it has a lot to do with our life experiences and such things?
And as I continued to walk endlessly like this…… Some kind of idea popped up within your mind. I wonder what everyone else felt when they were in this situation?
For example, Isis-san…… It may actually be longer than I think, but she has lived through the thousand years after the Treaty of Friendship was signed, holding onto great loneliness within her heart.
For example, Kuro…… I don’t know how old she actually is, but for tens of thousands of years, she has been searching for what she wanted since she was born.
For example, Alice…… Perhaps, for years far more than Kuro’s age, she has been living with her best friends’ last wish within her mind.
Moreover, how many years has Shiro-san lived? How many billions of years? How many trillions of years? Perhaps, it took even more time than that?
Thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, hundreds of millions of years…… Just saying it in words is quite easy. However, when I actually think about it, it’s a really tremendous amount of time.
What kind of emotions did they have when they lived those long days? I thought that if it meant walking for a long time, I’d at least know how it felt but…… hmmm.
In the end, each life is different, and it may be difficult to truly understand how another person felt.
That’s why, I try to imagine. In order to be closer to them, even if just a little bit, I want to share some of their emotions with me……
Speaking of which, in the end, what is it that Shiro-san wanted? Erasing my memory…… Is that really what Shiro-san wanted to do? No, there’s still something that bothers me regarding that matter.
Well, it looks like I still have plenty of time…… so I can take this opportunity to think about the feelings of the God who created the world……
I really don’t know how long I’ve been walking, but as long as this is an ordeal, there will be an end to it.
As I continued to walk along the unchanging scenery and path…… I suddenly saw the sea of this world beyond the horizon.
On the end of the path stands a woman with long white hair, looking at the sea with her back facing towards me. Smiling a little when I saw her, I continued walking without changing my speed.
When I finally reached behind the woman, I smiled and called out to her.
[……That was surprisingly fast. Is this the goal?]
[………………..]
[……Errr, why do you look so unhappy?]
Shiro-san, who turned around in response to my voice was, how should I say this…… She’s still as expressionless as usual, but her cheeks were puffed out, and I could tell that she was somewhat dissatisfied with something.
[……I’ll answer you in order. That’s right, this is the goal. And yes, I’m very unhappy.]
[Is it because I’ve completed the ordeal?]
[That’s not it. It’s good that you overcame the ordeal…… but I’m very unhappy that you cleared it in “almost the shortest time possible”.]
[U- Unnn?]
Putting aside how long that path is, it was just a straight path, right? When I tilted my head, not understanding what Shiro-san was trying to say, she continued, still looking somewhat dissatisfied.
[The Ordeal of Eternity…… is a path that will continue unchanged for a long time. “The goal was to keep walking for 100 years”, but I made it so that each time you stopped or took a different path, “the number of years to the goal would exponentially increase”.]
[……Fumu.]
[In addition, I made it so that if you stop, all kinds of feeble-hearted thoughts fill your mind, making it difficult for you to start walking again.]
[……That’s a nasty ordeal, isn’t it?]
Which means, if I had felt feeble-hearted or hesitated in my path, I would have been stuck in a vicious cycle.
[……And yet, you cleared it in almost the shortest time. Rather, Kaito-san really didn’t stop even once…… and I’m very dissatisfied with it.]
[……Errr, in the end, I guess I can take it that I’ve cleared the ordeal, right?]
[…………………]
I was a little taken aback by how Shiro-san sounded as if she was sulking, but even when she looked unhappy, I asked. Thereupon, after a few moments of silence, Shiro-san let out a sigh and nodded.
[……Yes. You have overcome the four ordeals that I have prepared for you…… You have won.]
After telling me this, Shiro-san lightly waved a finger and a luxurious door appeared right next to me.
[……I won’t say I’m not dissatisfied. I also won’t say that I’m not frustrated. But even so…… Splendid work, Miyama Kaito…… You have indeed defeated the God that I am.]
[………………..]
After telling me this in a voice that sounded somewhat ad, Shiro-san gave me a small smile.
[Now, it is time for you to wake up. Fill your chest with pride as you go back through that door. Back to where you belong, to the place awaiting your return……]
[……Yes.]
Nodding my head, I put my hand on the door…… But at that moment, I suddenly remembered that I still hadn’t said what I needed to say to her, so I looked back at Shiro-san and spoke.
[……Shiro-san.]
[What is it?]
[Thank you very much.]
[……………….]
At my words, Shiro-san’s eyes slightly widened before she gently smiled.
[……”Have you been able to convey the words you were once unable to convey?”]
[Yes, thanks to Shiro-san…… I had been able to firmly tell them.]
[I’m glad if that’s the case.]
[Well then, Shiro-san…… See you in that world again.]
[Yes, Kaito-san…… May your future continue to be a happy story……]
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Walking for hundred years along a straight road with no change in scenery, not knowing when it will end…… and when he finally reached the goal, the first thing he said was “It was surprisingly short”? Isn’t it possible that Kaito has already ventured into a rather inhuman realm?]
? ? ? : [Like I said, stop messing up the serious scene. Want me to dice you up and turn you to fish bait?]
Serious-senpai : [Aren’t you being a bit too mean to me!?]
