A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

It was all over. Dove knelt quietly on the ground, his eyes tightly shut.

It was noisy all around, with the calls of seabirds and the sound of waves crashing on the shore.

As for the taste, I can only say it's very strange.

Dove disliked the fishy smell of the sea mixed with the smell of blood.

Everything around him was terrifying, because Dove, with his eyes closed, had no idea what was happening.

The ground would shake from time to time, causing Dove's heart to tremble.

Mr. Bray is fighting, Redip is fighting.

This is probably the aftermath of their battle.

Doffin was worried that she might be affected, but she listened to Bray's advice—to run around, not to do anything reckless, and not to open her eyes.

He waited anxiously, hoping Mr. Bray would say he could open his eyes.

A long time has passed; the battle between Bray and Redip on the island has been over for quite some time.

Despite the fierce battle, Dove never heard Mr. Bray scream once.

He didn't even scream out in pain.

There was no shout, the kind of roar that normal people use to bolster their courage and morale during a fight.

What she heard most clearly were the roars of beasts. She should have been afraid of those sounds, but strangely enough, Dove did not feel any fear of them.

Dove waited and waited, wondering what would happen to Mr. Bray in the end... and what would happen to Redip in the end?

Redup longed for death, but Doffin did not want such a tragic ending.

Even if there's only a one in ten million chance, she's willing to pray to God.

Let the ending be better, even just a little bit better.

He would cure Redip's illness and then let Redip continue to be with him.

Love? No, Dove's feelings for Redup were not that kind of flutter.

Family ties? No, Dove's feelings for Redup were much stronger than that.

All she wanted was to be able to look at Redip and listen to him talk forever.

She prayed, praying to everything she could.

Then, everything became unusually quiet, and the tremors stopped.

No one told Dove, but she already knew the battle was over.

However, Mr. Bray did not ask him to open his eyes.

Why is this happening...? Dove suddenly felt a sense of fear.

Her petite body was trembling.

However, he casually patted her head with one hand, which calmed her down.

Very cold hands, wet hands.

It's not a human's hand, because you can feel something like scales or armor on it.

Dove was startled and wanted to open his eyes, but hesitated for a moment.

Then, he removed his hand from her head.

Just as Dove was feeling down, he stroked her lovely face.

The large hand touched Dove's skin directly, allowing Dove to feel more clearly the coldness of the hand, as well as its roughness and sharp edges.

This is absolutely not a human being, Dove was absolutely certain, but the feeling that came from that hand was so familiar that Dove couldn't help but start to shed tears.

She gripped her skirt tightly with her little hands, stubbornly refusing to cry out.

She opened her eyes.

Bray once said that at some point she would know whether or not to open her eyes.

Even though Bray didn't say anything, Doffin already knew to open his eyes.

What Dove saw was not the fisherman in simple linen clothes, but a grotesque monster.

Yet it was this very monster that struggled to raise its hand with its cracked body and gently stroke the girl's face.

With such a terrifying arm, how can one be careful not to hurt the girl?

It was Reddeep, Dove was certain it was Reddeep.

There was no crying, but the tears flowed even more fiercely.

Dove pursed her lips, not wiping away her tears, and then stared intently at the monster in front of her.

No, it was looking at the man in front of her.

The person who is best to me is right in front of me now.

Although they look different, Reddip is still Reddip.

Redip wanted to open his mouth, but hesitated and ultimately did not open his hideous, bloody maw.

He simply gave a very gentle look.

"Redip..." After Doffin opened his mouth, he could no longer hide his sobs.

The crying became uncontrollable and echoed throughout the island.

“Redip, you’re Redip...right, you’re Redip.” Doffin cried out, trying to get confirmation from the other person.

But Redup didn't say anything; he just watched the girl silently.

The gloom in the sky dissipated, and the sunlight shone on Dove and Redup.

The world of my mind has seen the dawn... The bright sunlight in the sky can finally shine on the earth.

"..." Redip nodded silently.

Then, the girl threw herself into the arms of the monster in the eyes of the world.

The light on earth all comes from the distant sky.

My current mood stems from fragments of memories from the past.

Those memories were so beautiful, so beautiful that the girl wanted to pick up her atlas and recount them bit by bit.

Besides memories, the girl also wanted to recount her distant, endless dreams.

But all of this, like a bubble, is on the verge of collapse.

"Don't go, don't go, Redup!" Doffin cried out, pleading with the fisherman.

The fisherman will always grant her all her wishes, as he always has, and he will always have.

Unfortunately, fishermen are not omnipotent; there are things in this world that even demigods cannot accomplish.

No, there are far too many things that God cannot do.

Redup shook his head stiffly, shattering the girl's illusions.

He could lie, but he doesn't want to.

He desperately tried to suppress his own collapse, wanting to see the girl's face.

Nothing has changed, she's very healthy... but she cried too much.

You can't cry so hard, or your voice will become hoarse.

"..." Doffin held onto Redip tightly, afraid that if she let go, Redip would disappear without a trace.

She kept praying that the person in front of her wouldn't disappear, wouldn't disappear.

But she still noticed that Redip's body was turning into dust little by little.

"No... It's only been a few years, and I haven't even traveled the whole world with you yet."

"You were the one who found me, so why are you leaving me now?"

Redip heard his own cries for help on the vast beach and then saved himself.

It was Redup sitting on the straw mat that made Doffin feel the tenderness of the world.

The light is so bright now, yet it is this very light that heralds the end of a beautiful dream.

The girl was in excruciating pain deep inside, and even crying couldn't express her sorrow.

If crying could bring Redup back, she'd cry as much as she wanted, so... Redup, don't go.

"Don't go, I'll do anything, so please don't go..."

"Don't cry." A hoarse voice sounded in Dove's ear.

The familiar voice made Dove raise his head in a daze.

But when I looked up, I could see nothing but countless specks of ash scattered in the air. Dawn had broken in my mental world, which meant the battle was over.

Without the support of his mental imagery, Bray fell face down.

It hurt terribly, but Bray didn't even have the strength to groan.

When you are so weak that you can't even scream when you are in excruciating pain.

Bray struggled to turn over and pulled the medicine from his pouch.

Most of the medicine was broken during the fight, and it was scattered all over the waist pouch.

However, there were still one or two small bottles of medicine that were intact.

"Cough cough..." Bray choked on his own medicine because he was drinking it incorrectly.

However, after drinking the potion, Bray felt that his life was saved.

Of course, the wound did not disappear. The medicine had a strong effect on stimulating vitality, but we still needed to find someone to treat it.

Otherwise, there would be no need for healing spells; potions would be enough to save countless adventurers, and the adventurer mortality rate wouldn't be so high.

“The commission failed,” Bray muttered to himself, looking at the slightly glaring sunlight.

That's right, Bray's request failed.

Redip asked him to kill him before he turned into a monster, but Bray, that useless adventurer, failed to do so.

Bray killed a monster that still retained some semblance of humanity, not a human being.

Therefore, his request failed.

"Ugh... I'm so useless." Bray, having regained his strength, immediately mocked himself.

"—Because you're a useless Master," the girl said.

Bray breathed a sigh of relief, surprisingly finding that the girl's words weren't actually sarcastic.

"It's not your fault," the girl said after a pause.

Bray didn't reply, but simply adjusted his posture and looked at the blue-haired girl.

He wanted to know how the girl was doing now.

So what he saw was not a crying girl, but a girl sitting on the ground, gazing at the sea.

Bray couldn't see the girl's face clearly from his angle, but he could vaguely see tear stains on her cheeks.

She must have had a good cry, but now she's unusually quiet after crying, not at all like a girl who has lost her dearest loved one.

However, this is only what it seems; who can truly know what the girl's actual state of mind is?

The girl was the only one who knew.

Dove was oblivious to Bray's gaze; she simply stared at the azure sea.

Her eyes were very red; she had been crying earlier.

However, although she was still a little choked up, she stopped crying.

Because Redup's last words were "Don't cry," she didn't continue crying.

Obedient and strong, she's heartbreaking.

One ray of light in the world of Dove has vanished.