Epilogue: Crossroads

“Hah,” I said while collapsing to the ground in relief. “It took you way too long…”

“Saga? Wait, Saga!”

Darkness took me.

When I opened my eyes next, I found them gazing up at a dark sky strewn with stars.

“…Mana?” I muttered, recalling the last words I heard.

It took a few moments before the familiar figure stepped into my sight and kneeled by my side.

“Saga! Are you awake? Do you feel fine? Finally… I was so worried,” said the witch. I could even see tears in her eyes. “I tried healing you, but you wouldn’t…”

I groaned and somehow rose to a sitting position. “Did we… win?”

Mana did not answer, but her eyes strayed in a certain direction. Following them, I could see a corpse sprawled in the darkness.

Three was lying there, dead without a doubt.

I made sure of it myself.

Mana bit her lips. “Yes, we won,” she said heavily.

It was an odd victory, recalling those final moments—when I stabbed him, my eyes burned not with the need to slay my foe, but rather got rekindled at seeing Mana arrive to inflict the final blow, just as planned.

Was this the thing called happiness? I had a feeling I was still far from really understanding my own emotions.

As for the victory itself, it was nothing more than a trick.

“I-I’m sorry it took me a while…” mumbled Mana as if recalling my complaint from before. “It was really scary and as I hid nearby and saw you getting hurt, I almost forgot my duty…”

“But you got it done,” I said.

“…Yes.”

It was very simple. We’d pretend Mana ran away, I’d keep Three busy and get his focus on me so Mana could teleport herself for a surprise attack to finish the job.

Just a simple strike of mogage while he was occupied. It wasn’t a complex strategy at all.

I knew I was entrusting Mana with a lot, especially because she’d never struck a living being. Even so, I fully trusted her.

And so we beat Three, the tyrant of Avallux.

And so we beat C, a boy who went wrong.

I still had no idea about Kai, but considering the fact the corpse was right there, Three probably was dead for good.

Did I do the right thing?

“Haaah, I’m beat,” said Mana, suddenly lying down next to me.

“Hah, you’re beat? I did all the fighting here,” I joked in monotone.

Mana actually giggled. So she probably understood it was a joke.

For a while we just remained lying there, watching the stars. I couldn’t see any traces of fires nearby or otherwise and no beasts dared to intrude on us. There was just me, Mana, Tarisha and the endless stars above.

I knew nothing about astronomy, but did the stars of Avallux differ from those of Earth? They must have, but I couldn’t tell.

“What are we going to do?” asked Mana all of a sudden.

“…About what?”

“Should we check up on those villagers?”

Justified or not, I didn’t really feel like going back to them after their betrayal. Hopefully they got out from the situation alright.

“I want nothing to do with them anymore,” I mumbled.

“I see.”

We remained silent for a while still. It was probably already late, but despite my pain and my fatigue, I remained awake.

“Do you know,” Mana said suddenly, “what they say about the Crossroads?”

“Hmm?”

“The Crossroads of the Worlds. Many a legend appeared about both heroes and villains wandering in from other worlds… or getting summoned. Some call it a place of meetings and partings. They also call it the Crossroads of Destiny—or the Crossroads of Decisions.”

“Decisions,” I repeated.

Mana looked right into my eyes, her face sad but smiling.

“What will you do now, Saga?” she asked. “Should I just send you back to your world?”

I looked back into her eyes that were clear and sparkling even under the starlight, and thought.

Going back to my world? What would I gain from that?

Back to a life without any meaning.

Back to a lonely existence.

Back to a world where I was being constantly watched to make sure I wouldn’t misuse my powers. And that was only if they didn’t decide to silence me at some point. I noticed people following me on more than one occasion, as if waiting for me to slip up.

“I have nothing there,” I said dryly. “Nothing at all.”

Mana wore a sad smile. “I know what you mean. I feel the same way about this world. …You wouldn’t want to stay here, by any chance, right?”

“Hah, no.”

“Thought so.”

Mana’s eyes were so gentle. They were filled with warmth, but never flames of any kind—if anything, only with tears. I started thinking.

We were at the Crossroads of Decisions. Her eyes were telling me to make a decision.

Usually, I wouldn’t even think about something like that, let alone vocalize it. But I knew what I wanted.

“Mana, will you come with me?”

Her eyes slightly widened. “Where?”

“I don’t know. I don’t particularly care, either. As long as it’s not here,” I said. “Somewhere else.”

“Yes! I will.”

What a relief.

I didn’t know whether we’d stay together from now on. It was possible that at some point even Mana would tire of me and abandon me. Plus, there was supposedly that thing about being automatically sent back to my original world at some point.

But for now, I was glad she stuck with me.

—A long time passed in my relief and pain. The stars vanished and the sun emerged again, revealing the half-burnt Harko Forest.

I was far from being recovered, not to mention deathly tired, but the new sun energized me. No, it was probably Mana’s presence that did this.

We helped each other and understood each other. What else could I ask for?

Now we stood side by side at the promised location, looking at each other.

“Are you ready?” she asked me.

“Yes.”

Nodding, Mana reached ahead—and a large door materialized. It was somehow different from all the others I’d seen Mana create in both size and make.

Oh, right, it resembled the very first one I stepped through.

“Just so you know, while I could send you back to your own world… if I do it like this, I have no idea where this door will lead.”

“That’s fine,” I said.

“Mhm. It’s time for the two of us to go on a real adventure!”

“Two of us? Hah, don’t forget about Tarisha.”

Mana giggled. “Of course not, sorry. The three of us, then.”

I hesitated just a little more, but as Mana pushed open the door, she grabbed my hand and pulled me again. Holding Mana’s gentle fingers in one hand and Tarisha in the other, I passed through into the unknown.