EX
Inherited Hopes
BY DAWN, the battle that had begun at midnight at the control center ended with the Isuzu Alliance’s total victory.
While the alliance members gathered on the main battlefield, Meimei remained alone at the site to the north where Glad and Zell had fought to the death.
Traces of a fierce battle were engraved in the earth. Meimei took a good look at each one until she gazed at the place where it had ended. All that remained were burned clothing, a bloody dagger, and a broken pair of glasses. Not far away were a cracked crossbow and a sword hilt with a snapped blade. Meimei recalled that hilt—it was Glad’s beloved sword.
She slowly approached and picked up the hilt, searching for the rest of the sword. The broken blade lay nearby, next to a robe covered in black soot.
“Hm. Evenly matched.”
The ash smoldering in that singed robe told Meimei that Glad had gotten the revenge he’d sought. From the fact that he hadn’t returned, and from the scene before her, she could likewise tell that both of them had fought to their last, until they were both dust.
“Liar. We never got to spar.”
Meimei sat down next to Glad’s burned robes and puffed out her cheeks, pouting, as she looked at his glasses. She then began recounting, as if speaking to a friend, her battle with the giant weapon and some of the Isuzu Alliance work she’d seen along the way.
***
“…They say there aren’t any more bad people to bully the spirits. You don’t have to worry anymore.”
The fight with the Chimera Clausen elites, the extermination of the Oni Princess who founded that evil organization… Meimei had a decent grasp of the situation based on some conversations with the people from Isuzu. After reporting to Glad, Meimei stood up and walked toward the other burned robe—the remains of Zell. “It’s coming from this direction.”
Meimei held out the rosary, releasing the spirit held within the robe: Altinea. The rosary shuddered, and pale light rose from the robe as it crumbled completely into ash. After seeing the light off, Meimei stood before the remnants of Glad once more.
“I’ll take this, along with your hopes,” Meimei said gently to the rosary Glad had treasured, an item that freed the power and souls of spirits.
Chimera Clausen may have been defeated, but the items they created lingered in the world. They still contained the trapped powers and souls of lost spirits.
Glad had told Meimei that he wanted to save all of those spirits after he got his revenge. Now that she had chosen to inherit his rosary and the hopes within, she looked up to the sky and smiled cheerfully. “Thank you. The food was delicious!”
From the moment they met until now, Glad had treated Meimei to three meals a day. She must have enjoyed them quite a bit. She screamed those parting words into the sky and began running off in the direction the rosary next indicated.
Releasing the sacrificed spirits would be no small task, but Meimei called this a part of her endless training. No doubt she’d have it done in no time.
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