Chapter 152: Serie, I'm Going to Die
Time flowed on. Decades passed in the blink of an eye.
Rhodes and Serie had long since given up their adventuring ways and had settled into a quiet, secluded life. His body could no longer take it. With the passage of time, the vitality of his vessel had been steadily declining. It was perhaps time for him to reincarnate once more.
The elven miss, on the other hand, had not changed a bit, except for a deepening dependence on a certain audacious human. She was still as sharp-tongued as ever, but a silent, unspoken companionship had woven itself into the very air they breathed.
Rhodes was sitting in a rocking chair by the window. He looked like a young man, but his life force was a faint and flickering thing, and his face was a sickly pale. The decline had not been gradual, but a sudden, unexpected thing.
He coughed, his voice a little hoarse.
"Hey! Did you spend all night studying those dangerous grimoires again?" she said, looking up from her book, her brow furrowed in a habitual frown. Her tone was the usual feigned annoyance, but her eyes, they betrayed a flicker of a deep and genuine concern.
He slowly looked up at her, a strange resolve in his eyes. He raised a hand and, with a weak and trembling motion, beckoned her over.
Her heart skipped a beat. She put down her book and walked over to him.
"Serie," he said, his voice a whisper, "I'm going to die."
A long silence followed.
Her eyes went wide, and in their depths, she saw his weak and fragile form. He had been fine yesterday. Why did he now look as if he were at death's door? Had his human lifespan finally run its course?
"Wh-what are you talking about?" she said, a tremor in her voice. "What kind of trick are you playing now? How could you die?"
Her words caught in her throat. His life force was indeed fading. It wasn't an act. The candle of his life was about to be extinguished. The feeling of it was so real, so undeniable.
"Serie," he said, shaking his head, "a human's life has its limits. And I have reached mine."
"Impossible!"
She almost screamed the word. She took a step forward and clutched his clothes, her body trembling. Her usual arrogance was gone, replaced by a pure and simple disbelief. "You're lying! You must have a way! You've created a spell to extend your life! I know you have!" Her voice was desperate, a raw and pleading sound, and her eyes were beginning to well up with tears.
"No. Even the most powerful of spells cannot defy the laws of life. For this body... there is nothing more that can be done." It was true. The life force of this body was gone. But... he could always just make himself a new one. He just wasn't going to tell her that just yet. He wanted to see this look on her face for a little while longer. He would probably get a few light arrows to the face for it later, but it would be worth it.
"..." She was silent.
She stared at him, trying to find a lie in his eyes, but his gaze was so calm, so serene, that it shattered her last glimmer of hope.
A wave of a great and terrible despair washed over her, and she could barely breathe. Her hand, which was still clutching his clothes, was trembling, but she would not let go.
She had expected this, had rehearsed this scene in her mind a thousand times. She should be able to just let him go. But why... why couldn't she?
Seeing the pain in her eyes, he, too, began to feel a pang of guilt.
"Do you know," he said, his voice a low and gentle sound, "that in my homeland, there is a very large creature, called an 'elephant'?"
She looked at him, confused, not understanding why he was talking about such a thing at a time like this.
"And it is said that when an elephant knows that its time has come, it will quietly leave the herd and go to a secret place, to await its end." He looked down at her hand, which was still clutching his clothes. "Perhaps... I should do the same."
She understood.
He was going to leave her, to die alone, so that she would not have to see it. She wanted to stop him, to force him to stay. But the look in his eyes... it was a look that she could not deny. He had made his choice. And she... she had to respect it.
"I..."
She opened her mouth, but the words would not come.
In the end, all that came out was a small, choked sob. And she slowly, slowly, let go of her hand. She did not say another word, just stared at him.
He looked at her, at her silent, broken form, and slowly stood. "Take care... my elven miss," he said, as if with his last breath. And then he turned and walked, step by step, towards the door.
She watched him go, and she felt as if all the warmth had been sucked from the world, leaving only a cold, empty void. She couldn't stand any longer. She sank to the floor and buried her face in her hands, and the sound of her own, suppressed sobs filled the small, quiet room.
And just then...
The door opened again.
And there he was.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat. "By the way, Lady Serie, I think I forgot to tell you. I... I might have found a way to extend my life." He smiled, and then added, "A permanent way. Looks like I'll be able to walk with you for a long, long time. Shall we discuss the details?"
A dead silence.
Her crying stopped.
She looked up at him, and her eyes went from confusion, to shock, to disbelief, and finally... to a towering rage, a rage that was mixed with an overwhelming sense of shame.
"RHODES—!!!"
A roar, a roar that was filled with the power of her mana, and with it, a spear of light, a spear as thick as her own thigh, shot towards the bastard who was now standing at the door with a brilliant smile on his face.
"You vile! Shameless! Good-for-nothing scoundrel!!!"
The elven miss had completely lost it.
(End of chapter)