Part 48: Episode 33: The King's Story

But something’s bothering me.
I’ve been looking as hard as I can, but I still haven’t found it.


I went to the right. If that map is correct, there should be a route to that star here somewhere…

But, where…?




Meanwhile, on the other path…





It is connecting two stars. There really isn’t any way it could not be long.

Stop pointing out how futile my complaints are!

We’re almost there, anyway. Beyond that should be--
The King’s chamber?

Nageki stares at the extravagant door at the end of the hallway and nods.

All right! Let’s get in there with a bang, take out The King with a clang, and knock down the lighthouse with a… crash!
Looks like you two cleared your half just fine.

While Nageki and I were discussing our plan of attack, a familiar bird came from behind us.

Yuuya!



We talked to Okosan, Miru and Kaku… and Dr. Iwamine! And we made lots of cracks in the shell!

Though, I still don’t think the doctor is really with us…

Two rooms, after all…
Yup. Just like on the map.
I didn’t take any shortcuts, but I’ve only been through two rooms as well. So--

But we’re just a few steps from The King!
We’re still one short. I must have missed the room somewhere… No doubt it’s the quail.
I’ll go find the last room, as quickly as I can. My mission here is to get everyone out alive, after all.
And your status as a hero of justice does give you a better chance at spot checks than either of us!
Yuuya will finish his search-and-rescue, I’ll clobber some sense into The King, and Nageki will destroy the lighthouse! It’s the perfect plan!
Try not to hurt him too badly, Miss Lourde.

He started it!

I was hoping to enjoy our reunion a little more, but we’ll have plenty of time for that after we wake up.

Don’t worry, Yuuya! Nothing can stand before Nageki and me! Ours is a march of destruction, and no tender grasses sprout in the charred trail we leave!
…Speak for yourself.
Mr. Sakazaki. Hitori is blind, and if he’s alone he may be scared. Please, help him.
Of course. Leave it to me.

And as for us… Into the hall of The King!
I opened the large door in front of us, and Nageki and I slowly entered the room behind it.



The music stops.





You invited us here, and we have come. We want to talk.

His Royal Highness, The King!


You rotten royal rapscallion! Your silly fanfare and informal greeting won’t help you now!
The King asked, why do you look so angry? The King is scared.
The King does not understand. The King does not understand. The King does not understand, and thinks he might cry.
Your Majesty. We didn’t come here to make you cry. Please, listen to what we have to say.
You won’t get anywhere talking to him, Nageki. He belongs in a mental institution! He hasn’t listened to anything we’ve said so far, anyway.
Come on, let’s beat him up already!

Miss Lourde, please!

Nageki glares at me.
I guess he’s right… Our opponent is the undead lord of a dead kingdom. Maybe if we talk for a bit we’ll find out something useful.

Who are you?
The King is The King.
I know that. And it’s not what I’m asking.



He said that this “false star” grows by attracting those souls with its light.
Were you the one who created this star?
……
If you did, why? Why do you try to trap more people here?

Safe? This place is fake! It’s a sham! This place IS the danger!
I don’t think The King is evil.
Sometimes he doesn’t seem like anything but evil!
No. The King just thinks a little differently than we do.
He’s doing all this because he thinks he’s helping people. Isn’t that right?

His idea of what’s good is too far away from ours, Nageki!
…That may be true. But I still want to figure out his motives. It’s not very likely, but if we can persuade him without using force, we should.
Tell me, Your Majesty. Where did you come from?

Everything was quiet for a long while, but slowly, The King began to tell us a story.
The music stops.








The slow ticking of a clock is heard.









Which one was it… Classics?
Or maybe German lit…
Whatever. I gave up on both of them ages ago.
……
“I don’t want to go out…”
Where did I go wrong?
Was it when I took the gap year?
Or when I settled for a safety school?
No… It must have been a long time before that.
The days go by, and I do nothing.
I wrap myself up in blankets and never go outside.
I hate myself, and I hate myself, and night is here.
I sleep until morning, sleep until noon, doze through the evening, and wake up at night.









My bed is a cocoon, protecting me.
I want to go back to the shell I hatched from.
I want to go back to when I was a yolk floating around in an egg so I can rot and die before I hatch.



Working hard has never gotten me anything.
Birds had it so much better decades ago.
They were born, ate, flew, slept, and never had to think about any of this.
I want to die.
I want to die.
I want to die.
But I don’t have the courage.
I don’t like pain, I don’t want to suffer.
Someone, help me…

And just when it was the most painful, when I had sunk so deep into my depression that I could sink no further…
The gods heard my wish, and granted it.




“Your plumage is so nice. It’s bright and cheerful, unlike mine.”
And it wasn’t just our coloration.
He was my opposite, in every way.
He was earnest, and smart.
He didn’t mumble when he talked.
But despite all that… He understood me, more than anyone else in the world.



“It’s not your fault.
Society is always telling us to do this, do that.
It’s like we’re held at gunpoint.
I hate it all, too… Just like you, right?”
He alone understood me, and I alone understood him.
We were alone, the two of us, in the world.
The time we had together was the warmest and sweetest of my life.
If only it would go on forever.
And one day, he said to me.
“Let’s make it go on forever.
Come on, let’s die together.
It won’t be scary if we’re together.”
“Are… Are you serious…?”
“Of course I am.
I’ve never lied to you, have I?”
He was kind to me right until the end.
One night he came home with a bag full of medicine.
Medicine to wash us away, without pain, forever.
“Let’s go somewhere far away.
Somewhere where we’re completely alone.
Just the two of us.
Where no one can bother us, and no one will find us.”



“Aah… I’m getting tired.
I feel so peaceful, holding your wing like this…
We should have done this a long time ago.”
“My pulse and breathing are dropping steadily…
We’re almost to the end.”
“Yes.
Just us, at the end of the world.
Time to say goodbye to this awful world, together…”
“I guess you’re right.
I was thinking it was about time I said goodbye to you.”
The music stops.


A loud heartbeat is heard.

“What……?”
I reach out.
I can’t move.
“Goodbye.
This is as far as I take you.”
“B-but, you said you’d leave this awful world behind with me…”
“Yes, what an awful world it is.
But I still have things I need to do in it.”
“N-no!
I don’t… I don’t want to die!
I don’t want to!
I don’t!!”
“It’s too late for that now.
How many times have you told me you want to die?
…You never really wanted to die, but you had to.
People like you are just a bother, hanging around complaining and getting in the way.
What an awful world.”
“I-it… It wasn’t my fault!
Why do you have to kill me?
Come on, please…
This isn’t right…!
You’re right… I never really did want to die!
It wasn’t me… It was…
Society did this to me!
It wasn’t me, it was everyone around me!”
“Society, you say?”
“Help me, please!
Call an ambulance!
Come on, please!”
“They won’t come.
This is the end of the world, and it belongs to you and me alone.”
“A-agh… I don’t… want to die…!
I’m scared… I’m scared!
I don’t… Why are you doing this to me…!?”
“You wished for death.
And I helped you to it.
That’s all there is to say.
…Ah, please try not to throw up. It will just hurt you more.”
The heartbeat fades out.