When we finished combining the men's shoes with the clothes, the sun was setting behind the mountain. It was the first time since I started my work as a maid that I spent an afternoon where I wasn't doing any work and, yet strangely, this seemed more exhausting than quietly cleaning. Maybe I had gotten more used to the maid's life than I thought.
"Do you want something?"
We were on our way to the park just behind the busy street, with me half-dragging my tired body. Rue suddenly opened his mouth and pointed somewhere. My eyes followed the direction he was pointing and found a colorful ice cream truck. "Will you buy it for me?"
Was he suddenly doing me a favor? That sounded suspicious. "It's more effective when the carrot and the stick are given together. Traditionally, while training dogs, they learn quite fast if you give them snacks in between."
Are you saying I'm a dog? But for the free favor, maybe it wasn't bad to become a dog for a very short time. When I nodded cautiously, Rue pointed with his chin at a bench at the park entrance. "Sit down quietly and wait." After that, Rue headed straight for the ice cream truck.
It would be the first time I've eaten this. This was an unexpected development. Now that I thought about it, there was a personnel office near here. Hmm, it had already been a long time since I was homeless and lived here in this park. Looking through the interior of the park, my gaze stopped at a spacious cemetery.
Was there a cemetery here? I didn't notice since I only came here at night. It was a cemetery in the middle of such a large city, so it must be a national cemetery. The landscape and the grass were carefully trimmed and colorful flowers bloomed everywhere, so the sadness that usually accompanied a cemetery was nowhere to be found. I scanned the hat resting on the nearest grave. It was a hat belonging to the Magic Union.
The name of the area was engraved with clear script on the stone plaque in front of the bridge connecting the park and the national cemetery. Midwinterre National Peace Cemetery. I walked there as if I were possessed.
When I reached the bridge, hundreds and thousands of graves appeared in front of me. Engraved on the vertical tombstones were the names of those who had fallen, along with nameless graves. Many people used to live in Midwinterre. And died. This city in the north was far from the front line, which is why I thought they would ignore the war. I couldn't say anything seeing them point out my arrogance.
"Is there a grave here for people whose names I couldn't get during the war?" At the moment I crossed the bridge, wrapped in a strange feeling and took my first step into the national peace cemetery—
"Hey!" A shrill sound of waves passed. The smell of blood filled my nose. I was so familiar with the smell that I reflexively turned my back. I couldn't see anything.
There was no longer a big park here, nor the ice cream truck beyond, nor Rue's back, as he was supposed to pay for the ice cream in front of him. All that was in its place were burnt ruins, corpses, the shaking ground, and soldiers running forward with gritted teeth. What was this?
"Hey, where are you looking?" Someone roughly shook my shoulder, as if they were in a hurry. The face of a man appeared before my trembling view. There was fear and anger toward death on his face, stained with blood and dust. "What are you doing? Pull yourself together! You'll die if you lose focus!"
Oh yes. This was the battlefield. We were at war. I moved my head to regain my senses. Was it because I hadn't slept well in the last few days? I think I had fallen into a fleeting dream while standing for a moment. Up to now, it seemed the dream belonged to a different world, but now I couldn't even remember what it was. What an interesting experience.
"Mephisto's devil army broke through from the east. There are too many: we have to give up this city. Evacuate the residents!"
"And you?"
"I'm going to the castle. I heard elderly people who have trouble moving are treated there."
"Okay, you take the lead. I'll cover you."
The ground shook hard. It was a sign that the enemy was approaching fast. We ran toward the castle on the city's highest plains. "Find a cart! If there are too many elderly people there, we can't afford to take them in one by one."
"The lord of the castle was managing a fairly large farmland, so there must be a cart somewhere around here..." At that moment, a wave of dust hit us.
It was a long-range wave attack by a formative demon. There was dust everywhere when the indiscriminate attack fell to the ground. I felt a sharp pain in my back, but that was it. Fortunately, I didn't get hurt too much. "Cough!" But that wasn't the case for the soldier I was moving with.
"Eh, you..."
"Ah! My legs, my legs...!" One leg had been amputated and the other was in poor condition.
"For God's sake." Coincidentally, I couldn't afford to stop the bleeding right now. I quickly held the man's arm and shouted. "Wake up! It's no time to lose focus. Grab my neck and I'll help you."
"No..." A breath soaked in fear reached my ears. He pushed my arm away and spoke: "It's okay... just leave me behind. Instead, just tell my last words to my mother..."
"Don't talk nonsense! Tell her yourself when the war is over."
"Stop. I can't even feel my left leg anymore... I can't move, I'll only be a burden. Now listen, my name and my hometown are..."
"Didn't you hear me? Tell her yourself when the war is over!"
In the middle of the confusion a cold voice emerged. "No, Daisy. The war is over."
What do you mean Daisy? Was it this man's name? Although I believed it was quite an improper name, I struggled as I lifted him up. "Yes, one day it will end! But that day is not today. Get up, my friend. First, let's look for the cart. Wait here..."
"There is no cart here. There is no sanctuary, no demon legion, and no elders you must save."
Something was wrong. I looked back at the man. The man had stopped. There was no dust floating around us, no shaking ground, no screams, no wailing, nothing to be heard. In a space where time seemed to have stopped, someone told me.
"The war is over. Now come back."
"It... finished?"
"Yes, nobody is going to die. See? The only thing dying now is your ice cream I have in my hand."
I looked everywhere, but I couldn't see the owner of the voice. I wondered what had happened. "That's a relief, now she's a bit stable. I think talking to her has been effective. This young lady... was she part of the allied forces?"
What I heard this time was a relatively older voice. I looked at the man I was supporting. His body was decomposing very slowly and gradually. Like a sandcastle crumbling among the waves. "I have often seen war veterans like this young lady. Uff, it's sad. It's an irreversible tragedy. I can't believe the same heroes who achieved peace have to suffer even after achieving it."
An invisible force gently lowered my arm. Standing without understanding, I could feel the warmth of the hand stroking my head. "Let's go back now. It is better that you rest well."
Who was the owner of this voice? The question didn't last long. The world flashed as my body became heavier and I felt a dull thud.
When I opened my eyes again, what I saw in front of me was an unfamiliar landscape. It was already dark outside. However, the moon outside the window was so big and bright that I could see the whole room illuminated. My whole body was tired. ...the last thing I heard was Rue's voice. This isn't a strange place, right?
At the moment I looked toward the window with those thoughts, a familiar panoramic view caught my eye. The Weatherwoods mansion was visible right under the bright full moon. That meant... "The water is over there."
This was the Eachus mansion. And it was Rue, the new owner of this mansion, who was sitting in a chair in a dark corner of the room, reading. Isn't it uncomfortable to read in such a dark place? Although my five senses were extremely sharp and developed, I still resisted doing so. However, it wasn't the first time Rue had done something strange, so I drank water first.
I recognized that I felt dehydrated only after the water entered my mouth. While my head cleared, I remembered the moments until just before I fainted. The horribly realistic hallucinations I had in the national peace cemetery. I wasn't just dreaming. I couldn't distinguish the difference between illusion and reality.
I slowly put down the glass. My hands were shaking so much I thought I'd drop it. Just by looking back, my palms were soaked with cold sweat and I felt chills. I felt completely vulnerable. This sensation of not being able to control one's own body was deeply unpleasant. In the last part of the war, I hadn't experienced instinctive fear like this. Why was this happening now?
"...thank you for your help."