Published: March 21, 2026
I turned my gaze away from Ria’s clearly hurt face and looked out at the sea again.
It was a calm, magnificent view utterly unlike the tangled mess in my heart when I remembered the past.
“…There’s just one more thing I’d like to ask. If Lord Crow could go back and redo things, and the person you lost were alive, what would you wish for that person?”
I chewed on Ria’s question and fell into thought.
If Ritter, Aria, Aoi and Luke were still alive—
“I’d want them to live long. To eat good food, sleep well, laugh a lot, and live each day satisfied.”
“...”
If that “if” had been reality and they hadn’t died that day, Ritter would probably have laughed until his belly hurt and said, “That doesn’t sound like you.”
It was such an ordinary wish—so mundane. It would never come true again, but it was what I wanted.
“And if I told you that I’ve always felt that way about you, Lord Crow, what would you do?”
“...Huh?”
Her words, which I’d never expected, slipped a sound out of my mouth.
“I want Lord Crow to be happy. To eat delicious things, to do what you like, to live each day satisfied. Even if you have only a little time left because of your lifespan. I have always wished that.”
Her strong, determined eyes pierced me.
I flinched before I even realized it.
“Why would you go that far... I’m only your godparent, you know.”
After losing my sister and my childhood friend and sinking into despair, I wandered, tracing Ritter’s travels through Beastmen territory and Human territory. Looking back now, I was probably searching for a place to die. About fifty years ago, near a mountain village in Beastmen territory, I happened to protect a pregnant woman from demonic beasts. She insisted she wanted to repay me, so I stayed in her village for a few years. A few days after we met, she—Lilia—gave birth to a little girl, and for some reason she asked me to name the child.
Being a godparent carries deeper meaning among the Beastmen than in other races. It’s guardian, surrogate parent, witness—literally the duty and responsibility to raise the child so they become a proper person and to be there to see them grow. Lilia must have asked me to do it to keep me tied to the world when I seemed ready to die. I told her over and over that I was only staying temporarily and had work piling up; I’d be leaving after a few years. But she wouldn’t listen. After several days of her persistence, I finally gave up and named the newborn girl Ria. For about ten years I remained Ria’s godparent—until Lilia was killed by demonic beasts.
When Lilia’s life was in danger, Ria and I had been in the forest collecting medicinal herbs. Lilia had gone alone to visit relatives in the neighboring village and was attacked on her way back. When I heard Lilia had died, my immediate thought was that I had to stay away from Ria. People I cared about around me died young. So I abandoned my duty as godparent and left the village without a word. I couldn’t risk losing the child too.
I assumed Ria had held a grudge against me for abandoning my role as godparent and leaving without explanation. I thought she only stayed with me now because she had followed me into the labyrinth with Akira and Amelia.
Her eyes, vivid as the sea, were fixed on me. Her cheeks were flushed like fruit.
She said she was adopted into the Lagoon family to get to know me, but I couldn’t understand what about me she wanted to know, or why. Now, finally, I understood Ria’s true feelings.
“I have always admired Lord Crow. Even now, this very moment, I love you!”
Not vague phrasing, but a blunt, Ria-like confession that made me inhale sharply.
“You don’t have to answer. Lord Crow probably doesn’t have any special feelings for a mere girl like me. …But please, allow me to stay by your side until your final moments. Let me fulfill the wishes you cannot.”
“…Do as you like.”
Defeated by those honest eyes, I managed only that single line.
Still, I felt a little saved.