Epilogue
Atop the deck of the flagship Noah, Yuuto stretched out his arms as he looked up at the clear blue sky.
“Ah, what a great day to set sail,” he remarked.
Despite the war against the Flame Clan having ended, a mountain of tasks had still yet remained. Day after day, Yuuto had been so embroiled in work that the months went by in a flash. Before he knew it, it had already been half a year since the Second Battle of Glaðsheimr.
A number of things had occurred in that span of time. For instance, they’d managed to smoothly emigrate five ships’ worth of refugees to the New World. However, the nearby natives of the land, likely eyeing the immigrants’ bountiful food supply, banded together to stage an attack, causing a conflict to break out. At the same time, back on Yggdrasil, the nomads to the north noticed that Utgarðar’s defenses were growing thin and had chosen to invade. And if that wasn’t enough, a war had broken out between the immigrants over the order in which they would embark—their dissatisfaction from living in tents for so long having finally reached a boiling point. As for the immigrants that had made it to the New World, many were disillusioned by the gap between reality and the ideal paradise they’d hoped for, leaving Fagrahvél and Jörgen to handle their rapidly spreading unhappiness.
All sorts of other things happened as well—yes, truly all sorts. Still, he was able to feel happy from the bottom of his heart that this day had finally arrived—as well as a bit forlorn.
“So, this is goodbye to Yggdrasil at last.”
Looking down on the now-abandoned harbor, Yuuto smiled wistfully. Nearly all the voyages to the New World had already departed, and the final one was getting ready to leave port. After this, he would never return to Yggdrasil again—when that thought crossed his mind, he felt tears well up in his eyes. He’d experienced countless painful hardships during his time in this land. Back when he’d just arrived, everything had especially sucked. He’d hated Felicia, he’d cursed his fate, and he’d especially loathed his own frivolousness. He’d never regretted anything as much as when he’d lost Loptr and Fárbauti. Even afterward, he’d felt crushing sadness at losing countless other people precious to him through the horrors of the wars he’d led them into.
With those complicated emotions swirling around in his mind—
“Father, what’s wrong?” Sigrún asked him, having noticed the strange expression on his face.
“Rún, let’s leave him be. He’s probably got a lot on his mind right now,” Felicia replied.
“I suppose you’re right.” Sigrún agreed, and left it at that.
“Father, we’ve finished loading all the refugees on board,” Kris informed him.
“Yo Yuuto, preparations for departure are all done!” Ingrid yelled up from the dock.
“The wind’s looking good today!” Al said gleefully.
“Give the signal, Daddy!” demanded an overexcited Nozomu.
“Ah! Master Nozomu, please sit still!” Ephy, getting a little flustered, pleaded to the young boy.
“Time to go, Yuu-kun.”
His family, the most precious people of all to him, were right here. If Yuuto had never come to Yggdrasil, he never would’ve gotten to meet them. He found himself thinking, in the end, that he was glad he’d come. Parting with the comrades of his who’d passed away had been tough, but now he was happy from the bottom of his heart that he’d met each and every one of them. With a rush of mingled emotions, Yuuto raised his voice.
“Right then! Raise the sails! We’re heading out!”
To be continued...
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