April 10, 2031
We are leaving the city of Elhagan today.
The 10 members of [Reimei] and [Genesis], including the Pope, Arina, and Seraph, as well as adventurers and residents, came to see us off. Everyone thanks us as we leave the town covered in the thunder emblem.
After leaving the town of Elhagan, I drove the horse for about 10 minutes, and then stopped at a slightly elevated hill. Finally, Misha suggested that we look at the cityscape of Elhagan from outside.
"Of all the cities I've been to, Elhagan was the best. I've been to many cities with my mother, but I've never seen one where there was such a sense of unity..."
Misha said with deep emotion, and Karen also said,
"That's right... There aren't many towns where adventurers and residents are so unified. I guess that's all thanks to the Pope... but..."
Karen trailed off after that, but swallowed her words. Dominique has been looking at the city of Elhagan.
"Dominique... are you sure you want to stay like this?"
I asked Dominique
"What do you mean?"
“Can you just go with us to our next destination, the Duchy of Cerence?”
"Isn't there any other option? I'm 7th in the 2nd year S class at Lister Imperial School, and I'm a member of [Genesis] who belongs to the best clan called [Akatsuki]. And above all, I owe a great debt to the clan master, and I haven't been able to repay it."
Dominique answered my question as if he had prepared it in advance.
"Hey. I consider you, Dominique as a true comrade... my best friend. How about Dominique?"
"Of course, I consider Marth as my best comrade and best friend. I also respect him and he is my goal."
"Thank you...Then, as a comrade and friend, I would like to ask you one last time. Dominique, are you sure you want to stay like this? What do you want to do, Dominique?"
All the other members were holding their breath and watching me and Dominique's conversation. Sophia in particular has a very painful look on her face.
"...I... want to stay in Elhagan... I want to help the Pope... I want to reach out to the residents of the city. If I can, I want to take Hissu place. But... I also don't want to leave [Akatsuki]…”
Dominique finally revealed the feelings he had been harboring in his heart. Tears were welling up in his eyes.
"Dominique...do comradery and friendships disappear when you leave? Do you have to leave your clan when you leave?"
Dominique widened his eyes at my words.
"……What do you mean?"
He asks.
"Just because you want to stay in Elhagan doesn't mean you have to leave [Akatsuki]. If I ever get into trouble, I'll ask for your support, so I want you to come rushing to me without getting tired. Of course, the reverse is also true. If Dominique was in trouble, I want you to rely on us first. We'll definitely come to your rescue. Because Dominique is a member of [Akatsuki] and a close friend, right?
Besides, the Pope absolutely needs Dominique. The only people who can support the Pope now are his family and Dominique..."
Before I knew it, my eyes were getting warm. I really don't want to break up with Dominique. They are friends who have shared their joys and sorrows together...but I think this is the best choice for Dominique.
So I pushed Dominique forward. Not only Dominique, but everyone else also cried at my words. I'm sure everyone feels the same way I do.
"Marth...is it okay...? Are you sure...?"
Dominique must have said something like this... Although I couldn't hear Dominique's voice clearly over the tears, I nodded repeatedly and hugged him.
After everyone cried for a while and once they had calmed down, Dominique said goodbye to each of them.
"Clarisse...I want you to forgive me for what happened when we first met...I've wanted to tell you this for a long time, but I'm too embarrassed..."
When Dominique said that, Clarisse grabbed his hand.
"Yeah. It's okay...I went too far too...I'll definitely see you again..."
Clarisse's wet nostrils began to tremble again.
Next is Ellie.
"Ellie, please take care of Marth. Also... please take care of yourself..."
"...Leave it to me...Marth is everything to me...I will absolutely protect him!"
With that, they shook hands. There is no answer to "take care of yourself."
“Karen, I heard from Sophia, and I was happy to hear that you were worried about me.”
“No one wouldn't worry about Dominique in that state. Dominique...please support the Pope properly.”
Karen was worried about Pope and Dominique from the beginning. After the two shake hands firmly, Dominique stands in front of Misha.
"Misha, I was surprised that Misha passed me before I knew it. And honestly, I was disappointed. Next time we meet, I'll definitely win."
"Yeah. If you miss me, you can come back tomorrow."
Those were words typical of Misha. After shaking hands with Misha, Dominique shyly stood in front of Baron.
"Baron, I'm sorry that you have to leave [Genesis]. However, I was really happy when you invited me. Actually, I've been thinking of Baron as a rival. I'll continue to see Baron as a rival, but please take care of me."
"Ah. I also thought of Dominique as a good rival. I'm looking forward to the next time we meet."
What these two have in common is a sword and a partner...Dominique and Baron patted each other on the back, and Minerva, who was next to Baron, said Dominique
"Minerva, please take good care of Baron. To be honest, I was jealous of Baron. Having a good girl like Minerva nearby."
“Dominique also found a good person, right? I’m waiting for good news.”
Minerva said, looking at Sophia. She stopped thinking about Dominique's word 'envy' because if she dug into it, she might take it in a slightly weird way.
Dominique stood in front of Alice, who was already bursting into tears.
"Alice, listen carefully to what Marth, Clarisse, and Sophia have to say. You will definitely become a good swordsman and a holy magician. Do your best for the pride of the Diadora Holy Kingdom."
Alice trembled as she cried, unable to respond, but she jumped into Dominique's chest and sobbed. Dominique gently wrapped his arms around Alice's shoulders, comforting her, then released her and nervously approached Sophia.
“Sophia, thank you for being my emotional support. If it weren’t for you, I might not have been able to maintain my sanity right now. I will definitely repay this favor… so please wait until then? I’ll make sure to pick up Sophia and make her happy!”
Is this a proposal? Everyone holds their breath and watches. Then, an unexpected answer came back from Sophia.
"I don't like it."
Everyone froze at Sophia's words...especially Dominique, who couldn't have expected it to happen. But Sophia continued.
"I won't wait, because I'll stay with you in Elhagan."
"Eh...? What...?"
Dominique doesn't seem to understand what Sophia is saying.
"So...I'm going to give you my life, so Dominique, give your life to me too."
Th-this is a reverse proposal... Dominique hugs Sophia after receiving a reverse proposal after an unexpected rejection.
"Thank you! I'll definitely make you happy!"
His face crumpled as he hugged Sophia. Sophia is hugged by Dominique
"Marth... I also want to stay here with Dominique, is that okay? I'm really sorry for being selfish, but is it impossible for me to remain affiliated with [Akatsuki] like Dominique?"
"Of course it's OK. Sophia, please take care of Dominique."
I told Sophia and Sophia told Alice
"I'm sorry, Alice. I just can't leave Dominique alone... But Alice can get by as a member of [Reimei] even without me. Everyone... please take good care of Alice."
Dominique, who was hugging Sophia , let her go and bowed deeply to us.
When Alice went to Sophia and broke down in tears, Sophia hugged Alice and tried her best to hold back her tears.
We stayed there for a while, watching the scene.
A gentle spring rain wet everyone's cheeks.
TN : if you found something wrong just let me know
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Thank you for the bittersweet chapter
ReplyDeleteI think the 19th paragraph (starting from the bottom) has a sintax error as the present perfect doesn't go with the "right now" very well unless there is a word similar to "until" before it
Besides it, I guess it's just a bittersweet moment that honestly could be ignored/skipped and written in the next chapter as a simple "as we were parting ways and dominique was convinced to stay behind, he proposed to sophia, she accepted with the condition of staying behind alongside him" an then this whole chapter would be kind of useless (as it kind of already is since it didn't show a lot of character progression for anyone besides the couple, and the friendship between marth and dominique, which I think could have been explored better with marth helping him grieve along with the pope)
-the hermit