Chapter 28 (223): The Meaning of the Dead Is Given by the Living
[Seeing Hikigaya lying unconscious, everyone was overwhelmed with worry. But now wasn't the time to stop.]
[Because they understood Hikigaya's feelings, they were even more concerned about Rem's situation. At the same time, watching Hikigaya through the screen, someone couldn't help but feel regret.]
["I should've brought the injured to our territory instead. A plan like this, charging straight into danger, my brain must've been flooded back then."]
[Crusch: "No... even then, the result would've been the same. We couldn't step into another lord's domain. In the end, we still would've walked this path."]
[Priscilla: "Since when did I need concern from a fool like you? No matter who the enemy is, I'll crush them all the same."]
[Al: "Normally I'd agree with the princess, but… to drag Her Highness into danger in broad daylight, just who is our opponent?"]
[Wilhelm: "Wild guesses are useless now. What matters most is the one variable, only Hikigaya may be able to change the situation."]
[Felix: "But right now, he hasn't even woken up yet..."]
[Ram: "Don't worry. With Lady Beatrice here, everything will be fine."]
[Roswaal: "How increasingly interesting… I'm more and more eager to see what you'll do next."]
When Hikigaya opened his eyes again, his body felt strangely light.
The familiar scent rushed into his nose, and as his consciousness returned, he instinctively sat up.
Seeing him finally awake, Beatrice sighed softly.
"Awake?"
"Beatrice… how long has it been?"
Looking at how he was still forcing himself, Beatrice frowned and returned to her desk.
"I don't know what kept you going this fast, but it's already been two hours. Normally, after exhaustion like that, a person wouldn't wake up for at least two days and nights."
Hikigaya gave a helpless bitter smile.
He still hadn't finished what he needed to do.
"Thanks for treating me."
As he spoke, he tried to stand, but his body swayed and collapsed again.
Seeing him refuse to listen, Beatrice's anger flared even more.
She turned away, clearly upset, yet still said: "Didn't I already tell you? Your body is extremely weak right now. Even if you've woken up, there's no way you can move properly."
"But…"
"There's no 'but'…"
Rem's smile from the past reflected in his heart. It was something nothing in the world could replace or substitute, so, he absolutely could not lose her.
And he absolutely could not stand by and do nothing here.
If everything ended, then it truly would be too late.
As long as he held onto that belief, Hikigaya could stand up.
Supporting himself against the bookshelf beside him, he slowly climbed up from the floor step by step.
Beatrice: "If you want to leave, then leave. But once you step out that door, Betty won't care about you anymore."
Hikigaya: "No… I'm not leaving here."
"I'm leaving together with you."
"What did you say? Why?"
The unexpected answer left Beatrice completely stunned. But soon, she stared straight at Hikigaya again, and a trace of pain appeared in her eyes.
Hikigaya: "I've been curious for a long time now. Why have you always stayed here…"
"From the first moment I saw you, I noticed two things that absolutely don't go well together. One is this forbidden library full of books that can never be finished, and the other is you, Beatrice, the little guardian spirit."
"Not only do you look young, your heart hasn't matured either. You clearly long for the outside world, yet you try your best to suppress that feeling. I understand that far too well."
"It's like a frog at the bottom of a well, trapped inside a birdcage."
Beatrice still hadn't fully processed his words, but her face twisted in anger as she shouted: "What do you know about Betty?! You're just talking nonsense on your own!"
"Betty's mission was never something people like you could understand!"
Hikigaya walked toward her step by step and said: "Yeah, everything I said is just my own guess. I don't really understand you."
"But I do know this, whether it was back at the mansion, or your expectations toward Puck, all those things reflect your true feelings."
"You know it too. Eyes don't lie."
He finally reached her and gently opened the identical Gospel she always kept.
But inside, there was nothing.
Hikigaya took out the Gospel he had taken from Sloth. He still couldn't read the words inside, but according to Mimi before his last death, they were commands descended from the Witch, follow them, and you'd find the path forward.
But, Beatrice's Gospel had nothing at all.
'Whether it's the Gospel or everything in front of me… aren't they all false?'
'This is something I can't accept.'
Beatrice stared in disbelief. "How do you have that book?"
Hikigaya: "It's not mine. I'm not even qualified to possess something like this."
"But that only makes me more certain."
"You've already stopped receiving guidance from the Gospel. So why are you still staying here?"
Beatrice: "You don't understand Betty at all!"
Hikigaya: "Some things can't be understood just by saying them. But expecting others to understand without ever speaking is nothing but arrogance."
"The listener's recklessness. The speaker's self-importance."
Beatrice: "I… Betty… has waited here for four hundred years… four hundred years…"
"From ignorance, to hope… and finally to disappointment, until even all confidence was lost."
"Now Betty doesn't care anymore. Everything… none of it matters anymore."
Hikigaya: "But when you saw me for the first time, hope ignited again, didn't it?"
"That burning gaze, no matter how brief it was, I'm sure of it. That was expectation."
"I would never mistake it."
Beatrice tried to argue, but found that aside from denial, she could do nothing.
"Betty never hoped for you! You're just a human!"
"Even if you live long, it's only a hundred years at most!"
"But Betty… Betty's life is endless!"
"In the years to come, Betty will continue to endure this loneliness!"
Hikigaya: "That's fine!"
"Humans, spirits, all living beings are ultimately lonely."
"Anyone who tries to escape loneliness only ends up even lonelier."
"So it's fine…"
If everything was wrong, then he would deny it from the very beginning.
If Beatrice was meant to follow that so-called Gospel from the start, then all he had to do was become the variable that broke it.
In his eyes, no one should live in such falsehood.
Tears finally welled up in Beatrice's eyes.
Just one more step…
Only one simple step.
"You are Betty's person… aren't you?"
"The one willing to take Betty away…"
"The one willing to become Betty's only one…"
"The one willing…"
"No. I'm not."
Boom!
A violent gust of wind instantly blasted Hikigaya away.
Luckily, he reacted fast enough and grabbed the doorknob, barely preventing himself from being blown out.
"Since you're not Betty's person, then Betty has no reason to listen to you."
"Many people in the past wanted to take Betty away."
"But none of them were that person."
"And you aren't either."
Hikigaya clung tightly to the handle.
"You're even more troublesome than I imagined! Four hundred years old and still this stubborn like a child!"
Beatrice: "Mother said…"
"Only that person…"
"Only that person could take Betty away…"
"Only that person…"
As she spoke, Beatrice tightly hugged her Gospel.
Hikigaya: "You really are a pain in the neck!"
Tears still glimmered in her eyes.
"That's right. Betty is troublesome."
"But it was you who ended the conversation."
"You admitted yourself that you're not that person."
"If you were that person, even if you lied, if you were just willing to say it, Betty would believe you."
"Yes… even knowing you were lying, Betty could only believe you."
"No. That's wrong."
"Lying is the one thing I absolutely can't accept, and absolutely can't do."
Hikigaya's voice became resolute.
The 'genuine' he always upheld would never allow him to deceive himself or others.
Beatrice: "Then there's nothing left to talk about!"
"Betty is this kind of troublesome person!"
"Even after four hundred years, Betty can't forget that promise!"
"It's over. Everything is over!"
Hikigaya: "No. It's not over."
Seeing Beatrice about to cast magic again to drive him out, Hikigaya endured the violent wind tearing at his body.
'If what Beatrice believes in is that promise from four hundred years ago…'
'If what she believes in is the Gospel that once guided everything…'
'Then I'll be the one to break it.'
'Four hundred years? Don't make me laugh.'
'That legendary person? Don't trap yourself with such vague answers.'
'Since I understand your pain, Beatrice… today I will take you out of here.'
Enduring the tearing pain throughout his body, Hikigaya forced open his damaged life gate and used the little wind magic he had left.
If he rode the wind she created, he could reach her instantly.
Just as expected, Hikigaya rushed to her at top speed.
But to Beatrice, it was nothing more than a human trick.
The gap between humans and spirits was simply too great.
With just a simple spell, she sent him flying again.
"Idiot."
But, Hikigaya's goal had finally been achieved.
He wasn't trying to grab Beatrice.
He took the Gospel she always left on the desk.
He bit his finger and used the blood to write words in the language he had learned in this world.
[Beatrice, you are to go with Hikigaya Hikigaya.]
"Since the future can't be changed?"
"Since you think your life is nothing but darkness?"
"Then I'll be the one to change it!"
"The Gospel never gave you instructions?"
"No, you were wrong from the beginning!"
"Because it was blank, it gave you endless choices!"
"Endless freedom!"
"The one controlling your life was never anyone else, it was you!"
"Beatrice, maybe that person will never come."
"But that's fine, because I'm here!"
"I'm standing right here right now!"
"And according to the Gospel, you're supposed to come with me!"
Beatrice choked up, then suddenly laughed through her tears.
"You really are an idiot."
"Betty won't just go with you like that."
Hikigaya slowly reached out his hand.
"If you won't walk with me…"
"Then I'll carry you with me."
"Come on…"
"Let's go face our battle."
"Even if human lifespans are as short as a blink to you…"
"Some things can't be measured by time."
"No matter what kind of relationship it is, if there's a memory that can't be erased, that's enough."
"Wilhelm is like that."
"And you are too, aren't you?! Beatrice!"
"We've only just begun."
"We'll stay together from now on."
"This is what you've been longing for."
For the first time, he took the initiative.
After dying again and again, he had learned,
Some things, if you don't grasp them, will disappear into the flow of time.
So you must cherish them.
You must hold on.
And never let go.
"Beatrice, let's go."
"To welcome our brand-new world."
If life can't be redone, does that mean death has no meaning?
No.
The meaning of the dead is given by the living.
It has always been that way.
Only by overcoming death,
Only by overcoming this loneliness,
Can one take that great step forward.
And in the future, it will be the same.
Throughout the river of time, countless people open this door, and countless people close it.
But at this moment, amid laughter and tears, everything finally seemed to reach its end.
Though the man before her was only a human,
When he held Beatrice's hand, she lost all her magic, unable to resist.
And so, Beatrice made her choice.
"This is the final battle."
"Let's go!"
(End of this chapter)