In the helicopter, Karuda felt like she was watching the end of the world. The royal capital lit on fire by the dragons and currently burning: Seiroad. While you could say there was a very faint gladness about the situation, fragments of the meteorites directly hit the town.

“…In this place that is beyond h.e.l.l, there is nothing left for us.”

Without thinking, she whispered. It was a complaint. Usually, it might be something that wouldn’t come out of a knight’s mouth. However, she said it as there was someone there who could take it.

“Surely there’s something here.”

The young man who came here from a different world far away answered without hesitation.

“Like what, exactly?”

Kuze thought for a bit, then said with a wry smile.

“The future, perhaps…”

“Can there be a revival from how it is now?”

“Sure there can be. My country was also like this in the past.”

“My country doesn’t have the strength yours does, Kuze-dono. With our main avenue of trade, Seiroad, like this, all we have left is our breeding of Argentavis and what little good agriculture we have.”

Karuda said in a mood of self-derision.

“It was about 70 years ago now, but my country which had only agriculture going for it arose from a condition of burned fields in only a little time.”

“Eh?”

Karuda thought, shocked. She couldn’t imagine a country with as much power as Kuze’s group ever falling to such a state.

“You just need to fix what is broken. Don’t you just have to live enough for those who have died? Ah, this is from the note of my now-deceased great-grandfather who fought in the Pacific War, though.”

Karuda squinted her eyes.

“Live enough…”

“Eh, those who have died won’t return. For those who won’t return, what we can do for them surely isn’t limited to crying.”

“That… May be true…”

Karuda put her face to Kuze’s shoulder. It’s warm, she thought. I want to fawn on this warmth, she thought. If she lost this now, she probably would never get it again.

“Kuze-dono,”

“Yes?”

“I’m worn out, so for just a little while… Would you let me rest here?”

“I don’t mind. Ah…”

She gently nestled up to him. Like a lover, no, like a wife. She didn’t get it, her lifelong happiness. Even if just a little, she wanted that little bit of the life she wanted, and she put her hand on top of Kuze’s camo glove. [1]

She acted like she didn’t see anyone else. However, no one from her country was there, so she continued in this manner.

Kuze wondered if there was some word of ridicule due to the situation by others, but as he was the commander, it didn’t seem anyone would do that. Kuze focused a bit on her long hair and smelled its sweet scent as he got a little carried away in it, and he felt a huge relief.

That is, in this mad world of war, he protected a life that is unmistakably irreplaceable. Resting her face on the nape of his neck, the hair hid her quiet tears.

“Thank you… I will try to live again, I think…”

Kuze wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Along with the sound of the engine and the burning town below, he could faintly hear her crying voice. It was terrible background noise. But, in its own twisted way, it was beautiful, this hymn to the living.

The future will not end. People will live. Even in this parallel world, that won’t change.

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[1] Editor note: IKEMEN DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Hmmph~