‘Setelah itu, aku mengembara tanpa tujuan mencari peninggalan masa lalu lainnya. Tempat yang dahulu dihuni keturunan terakhir sang naga, reruntuhan perpustakaan danau yang melebur bersama puluhan ribu buku dalam bencana api, bahkan pulau di bawah laut tempat roh tertua di dunia konon bersemayam.’
Tidak ada satu pun nama yang terdengar kukenal. Kemungkinan besar itu jejak dari masa sebelum Bencana Besar, yang pernah ada pada zaman Luma, kini dilupakan semua orang.
‘Setelah mengunjungi semua tempat itu, aku sampai pada suatu kesadaran.’
‘Mereka yang tanpa henti membusukkan dan meracuni benua ini. Bahkan hal-hal busuk yang tak pernah ingin kuingat lagi pun punya awal yang luar biasa cemerlang. Begitu kau menanggalkan bagian-bagian yang dilebih-lebihkan dari legenda yang memesona itu, terungkaplah kebenaran yang ternyata sederhana.’
‘Bahkan nenek moyang para penguasa sekarang, yang telah melarikan diri dan bersembunyi di Selatan, dahulu dikenal sebagai pahlawan yang mengalahkan kematian dan menyelamatkan dunia. Asal-usul para pendeta bejat yang kini berkubang dalam kotoran adalah seseorang yang jauh lebih taat daripada siapa pun, seorang penyelamat yang bertindak demi dunia melalui suara ilahi. Jejak para pemanggil roh, yang kini hanya diingat oleh roh-roh tua, bertahan dalam kisah-kisah samar bahwa mereka pun berusaha menyelamatkan dunia—dan para naga, yang konon cukup kuat untuk menopang langit agar tidak runtuh oleh bintang jatuh, telah lenyap selamanya, hanya meninggalkan beberapa pecahan tulang dan keturunan manusia yang lemah.’
‘Mereka semua menyelamatkan dunia, lalu menyelamatkannya lagi—namun mengapa dunia terus jatuh ke dalam bahaya, berulang kali?’
‘Lalu sebenarnya apa yang mereka selamatkan?’
‘Apa gerangan yang dulu kucoba lindungi bersama sahabatku dengan sekuat tenaga?’
Sejak kembali ke masa lalu, Yuder berlari tanpa henti untuk menyelamatkan dunia dari bencana yang hanya dia ingat. Dan kini, inilah pesan terakhir yang ditinggalkan oleh penyihir agung yang pernah menempuh jalan yang sangat mirip dengannya.
Dia mengerutkan kening dan membalik halaman. Melihat halaman seberang kosong, tampaknya itulah bagian terakhir yang ditinggalkan Luma.
‘Kepada aku, yang ditinggalkan bersama pertanyaan yang dalam dan hampa, seorang roh yang kutemui di tujuan terakhirku menuturkan kisah baru.’
‘Roh itu, yang usianya mustahil ditentukan, seperti roh-roh lain, hanya menanti saat ia akan menghilang.’
‘Ia bertanya apakah aku pernah benar-benar merasakan betapa manusiawinya berbicara tentang menyelamatkan dunia. Aku tak punya jawaban.’
‘—Kami mendengar napas dunia setiap saat. Jika kau memahami bahwa ia adalah makhluk hidup, kau akan sadar betapa tak berartinya semua ini sesungguhnya. Jika seseorang mengaku menginginkan keselamatan namun terus memotong anggota tubuh tanah tempatnya hidup, membuat darahnya tak pernah berhenti mengalir, apa makna yang mungkin tersisa dari itu?’
‘Aku bertanya apa maksudnya. Roh itu tidak menjawab. Ia hanya meninggalkan satu ucapan terakhir yang keluar dari kehendaknya sendiri.’
‘—Semuanya akan terus berulang. Selama napas dunia belum berhenti, orang-orang sepertimu, yang lahir dari darah yang ditumpahkan dunia, akan terus muncul......’
Luma menulis bahwa ia tak pernah bisa berbicara dengan roh itu lagi. Lalu ia menulis ini:
‘Hanya ada satu kesimpulan yang kudapat dari perjalanan panjangku. Dunia ini terus mengulang masa kehancurannya. Mereka yang berhasil melewatinya akan dikenang dalam sejarah—kadang sebagai pendeta pertama, kadang sebagai pahlawan. Meski prosesnya tak selalu sama, jika dugaanku benar, bencana besar yang kami hentikan suatu hari akan datang lagi. Seperti yang pernah diperingatkan pendeta pertama, jika dunia diguncang oleh kejahatan, dan seperti yang dinubuatkan nabi serigala yang kembali dari kematian, jika keseimbangan rapuh yang pernah terjaga hancur sekali lagi...’
‘Fakta bahwa mereka semua meninggalkan peringatan bagi generasi mendatang terasa penting. Bahkan sahabatku meninggalkan semacam wasiat. Meski aku sendiri, yang mengirimnya kembali ke masa lalu, tidak tahu dengan jelas apa yang terjadi, mungkin sahabatku, yang benar-benar kembali dari kematian, telah melihat dan merasakan suatu rahasia tersembunyi dari dunia ini.’
Begitukah? Yuder juga pernah kembali dari kematian, tapi ia belum merasakan sesuatu yang sehebat itu—setidaknya belum.
Meski begitu, mungkin seiring waktu hal itu bisa berubah. Yuder memastikan dirinya mengukir bagian itu dengan jelas dan dalam di benaknya.
‘Kini aku tahu apa yang harus kulakukan. Setelah menghentikan bencana terbesar, aku harus sekali lagi menempuh jalan sumpah yang hanya dibagi antara sahabatku dan aku pada malam perayaan yang sederhana itu.’
‘Saat itu, dalam keadaan mabuk, aku berkata aku tidak tahu apa yang akan kulakukan jika ini bukan akhirnya. Aku bahkan bergumam bahwa mungkin membangun tembok adalah satu-satunya cara untuk merasa aman. Sahabatku tidak menertawakan kelemahanku. Sebaliknya, ia menuturkan sebuah kisah—legenda tentang bangsa yang dahulu besar, yang membangun tembok tinggi untuk melindungi diri dari ancaman mengerikan yang mungkin muncul suatu hari.’
‘Jadi kami memutuskan untuk membangun benteng baru, sebuah tembok yang aman, di tempat di mana paling banyak orang tewas. Semata-mata karena kami takut pada masa depan yang belum tiba.’
‘Dahulu, bagiku itu hanya ketakutan akan masa depan yang tak pasti—tapi kalau kupikir sekarang, sahabatku sudah punya keyakinan tertentu saat itu. Sebuah kepastian yang tak bisa kupahami, seolah melampaui segalanya.’
‘Kini, aku merasakan kepastian yang sama seperti yang dulu dimiliki sahabatku. Dengan kekuatan yang ia lindungi dan tinggalkan untukku, aku ingin melanjutkan kehendaknya dan mencegah bencana besar lain yang mungkin terulang di masa depan.’
‘Tapi hidup manusia singkat dan terbatas. Sehebat apa pun seseorang, ia tak bisa mempertahankan kehendaknya melewati seratus tahun. Mungkin itulah sebabnya pahlawan baru harus selalu muncul—sebabnya peringatan para pahlawan sebelumnya menjadi kabur. Saat aku mati, aku bahkan tak akan bisa memastikan apakah pikiranku benar, dan meski pahlawan lain muncul, aku tak akan pernah bisa bertemu dengannya.’
‘Tapi aku tidak berniat menyerah. Begitu selesai menulis ini, aku akan berangkat dalam perjalanan baru untuk menemukan cara menyelesaikannya.’
‘Demi hal-hal yang ingin kulindungi bersama sahabatku. Demi buah kecilku.’
‘Menuju masa depan yang tak dikenal......’
Sisanya kosong. Untuk berjaga-jaga, Yuder memeriksa sampai halaman terakhir sebelum menutup sampulnya.
Isinya begitu tak terduga sampai kepalanya berputar. Rasanya lebih melelahkan daripada sehari penuh latihan berat. Saat ia mengembuskan napas, bahu di belakangnya—pria yang menopang punggungnya—bereaksi.
‘After that, I wandered aimlessly in search of other relics of the past. The place where the last descendant of the dragon had once lived, the ruins of the lake library that melted away along with tens of thousands of books during the disaster of fire, even the island beneath the sea where the oldest spirit in the world was said to dwell.’
There wasn’t a single name that sounded familiar. They were likely traces of a time before the Great Cataclysm, once existing in Luma’s era, now forgotten by all.
‘After visiting all those places, I came to a realization.’
‘Those who endlessly rotted and sickened this continent. Even those foul things I never wished to recall again had beginnings that were incredibly brilliant. Once you strip away the embellished parts of those dazzling legends, a surprisingly simple truth emerges.’
‘Even the ancestors of those in power now, who have fled and hidden in the South, were once known as heroes who overcame death and saved the world. The origin of the corrupt priests who now wallow in filth was someone more devout than anyone else, a savior who acted for the world through the voice of the divine. The traces of spirit-summoners, now remembered only by aged spirits, live on in faint stories that they, too, tried to save the world—and the dragons, said to be powerful enough to support the sky against falling stars, have disappeared forever, leaving behind only a few bone fragments and weak human descendants.’
‘They all saved the world, and saved it again—and yet, why does the world keep falling into danger, over and over again?’
‘Then what exactly was it that they saved?’
‘What were the things my friend and I tried so hard to protect?’
Since returning to the past, Yuder had been running nonstop to save the world from the calamity that only he remembered. And now, this was the final message left behind by the great mage who had walked a path much like his own.
He furrowed his brow and turned the page. Seeing the opposite page blank, it seemed this was the last of what Luma had left behind.
‘To me, who was left with a deep and empty question, a spirit I met at my final destination told a new story.’
‘That spirit, whose age was impossible to determine, like other spirits, was only awaiting the moment it would fade away.’
‘It asked me if I had ever truly felt how human it is to speak of saving the world. I had no answer.’
‘—We hear the world’s breath every moment. If you understand that it is a living being, you’ll realize how meaningless all of this truly is. If one claims to desire salvation and yet continues to cut the limbs of the land they live on, to make the blood never stop flowing, what meaning could that possibly hold?’
‘I asked what that meant. The spirit gave no answer. It merely left one final, self-willed remark.’
‘—It will continue to repeat. As long as the world’s breath doesn’t cease, those like you, born from the blood the world has shed, will keep appearing......’
Luma wrote that he was never able to speak to the spirit again. And then he wrote this:
‘There is only one conclusion I gained through my long journey. This world continues to repeat its periods of destruction. Those who overcome it become remembered in history—sometimes as the first priest, sometimes as a hero. Though the process may not always be the same, if I’m right, the great calamity we stopped will one day come again. As the first priest once warned, if the world is shaken by evil, and as the prophet of the wolf who returned from death foretold, if the fragile balance once maintained is shattered once more...’
‘The fact that they all left behind warnings to future generations feels significant. Even my friend left behind such a testament. Though even I, who sent him back to the past, do not know clearly what happened, perhaps my friend, who truly returned from death, saw and felt some hidden secret of this world.’
Is that so? Yuder too had returned from death, but he had felt nothing so tremendous—not yet.
Still, perhaps with time, that might change. Yuder made sure to carve that part clearly and deeply into his mind.
‘I now know what I must do. After stopping the greatest calamity, I must once again follow the path of the vow shared only between my friend and me on that modest night of celebration.’
‘At the time, drunk, I said I didn’t know what I would do if this wasn’t the end. I even murmured that perhaps building a wall would be the only way to feel safe. My friend did not mock my weakness. Instead, he told me a story—a legend of a once-great nation that had built a high wall to protect against a monstrous threat that might appear one day.’
‘So we decided to build a new fortress, a safe wall, at the place where the greatest number of people had fallen. Simply because we were afraid of a future that had not yet arrived.’
‘Back then, to me, it was merely fear of an uncertain future—but now that I think about it, my friend already had a certain conviction at that time. An incomprehensible certainty that seemed to transcend everything.’
‘Now, I feel the same certainty my friend once had. With the power he protected and left for me, I want to carry on his will and prevent another great calamity that may repeat in the future.’
‘But human life is short and limited. No matter how great a person may be, they cannot sustain their will beyond a hundred years. Perhaps that is why a new hero must always appear—why the warnings of previous heroes become diluted. When I die, I won’t even be able to confirm if my thoughts were right, and even if another hero appears, I will never be able to meet them.’
‘But I have no intention of giving up. The moment I finish writing this, I will depart on a new journey to find a way to resolve it.’
‘For the things my friend and I wanted to protect. For the sake of my small fruit.’
‘Toward an unknown future......’
The rest was blank. Yuder, just in case, checked to the very last page before closing the cover.
The content was so unexpected that his mind spun. It felt more exhausting than a full day of intense training. As he let out a sigh, the shoulder behind him—the man supporting his back—reacted.
"Was there something unpleasant? Your expression darkened."
The man turned his head and asked gently. Yuder looked into his clear face and sighed again.
"Did you manage to gain anything useful?"
It meant his head hurt too much to explain what he had just read. Kishiar, perceptive as always, read the signal perfectly and smiled, playing along.
"Hmm. I gained quite a bit. I found out that my beloved used to really like milk made with spring flowers when he was little. So much so that he went down into the city three times beyond the mountains just to get more."
A faint memory stirred in Yuder’s mind—some drink he used to have often as a child.
"Ah... Yes. My grandfather used to buy Rembo and often made Remprit with it."
"So it’s called Remprit. What does it taste like?"
"Think of it as milk with a tart fruit flavor. Though in my memory, it seemed my grandfather liked it even more than I did."
"There’s even a record of him buying charcoal pens and paper to teach you writing. But a few months later, it all disappeared, so..."
"Hmm, yes. I wasn’t exactly a child who studied diligently."
He answered honestly, and Kishiar burst into laughter.
"I wasn’t a diligent student either. We would’ve gotten along just fine from a young age."
"But you like books, don’t you?"
"Reading books and studying are different things. I always skipped class and got punished, while His Majesty my brother never missed a single one. One time, we both fell into a frozen lake in winter, and while I used that as an excuse to sneak off to Zone 2, His Majesty dragged himself—feverish and soaked—to the classroom ahead of the teacher, lugging a stack of books, only to collapse from the heat, causing the attendants who saw him to faint on the spot..."
Kishiar’s stories of his troublemaking prince days were far more entertaining than Yuder’s own childhood tales. Immersed in them, Yuder forgot his headache and his swirling thoughts. When he came to, Kishiar’s mischievously smiling red eyes were [N O V E L I G H T] right in front of him.
‘Ah.’
"Feeling better now?"
"...Yes."
"Good. Then will you tell me now? What made you wear that expression?"
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