Chapter 68: Grey’s Choice
The blazing light was not as scorching and blinding as Grey had imagined.
Instead, it was clear and bright, carrying a faint warmth.
In the limpid firelight, Grey felt the frigid cold that had long gripped the depths of her heart being slightly dispelled.
“Rast ge-ge…”
“Don’t you want to kill me?”
She voiced the silent murmur.
“Why would I want to kill you?”
The boy’s soft whisper came from within the firelight.
“Because… I’ve brought disaster to this world, to the people around me.”
“Only by killing me can these disasters come to an end.”
“Besides, this is also repaying the lives of the old mayor, the uncles and aunts of Frostwater Town, and all those many people who died because of me…”
Grey’s voice quivered slightly.
Evil monsters were meant to be slain by righteous heroes.
It was a rule she had heard from fairytale books, from stories told by bards, again and again imprinted into her mind.
And in the past Frostwater Town, during those countless May 11ths that repeated endlessly…
One after another, the Shoreguards who hunted her down proved the truth of that law time and again.
As if it were an unbreakable fate.
“So, you think that by dying, you’ll be able to atone for those who have passed?”
“If so, then that’s truly an arrogant and base idea.”
“Arrogant enough to believe that death… is already the harshest punishment you could face.”
Rast’s voice, for some reason, now carried a chill, no longer as gentle as before.
“Death is… an arrogant idea?”
Grey’s voice held a trace of confusion and daze.
“Of course.”
Rast’s words rang out lightly.
“Within you lies a power strong enough to interfere with time, to rewrite fate.”
“It’s just that your past self had no idea about it, only able to draw it out in moments of emotional collapse, in unconscious states.”
“It’s precisely because of this power’s existence that you’ve survived each disaster, made it through unscathed until now.”
“However, the gifts of fate are fair—they always carry a price, marked in secret.”
“The disasters and contamination that came for you again and again, that took your home and the lives of those around you… the gaze and covetousness of the evil gods… these were the cost of that power.”
“So… Grey, do you understand now?”
“From the very beginning, what you’ve borne has never been just your own fate… but the weight of countless others’ destinies.”
The boy’s tone softened slightly.
“I was once in a situation much like yours—madly yearning for death, for self-destruction.”
“But later, I came to understand.”
“To naively seek death as a way to resolve everything—that’s the simplest, but also the most disgraceful, the most selfish choice.”
“To carry the weight of others’ lives and press forward… is always far harder than simply seeking death.”
Rast flipped open the cylinder of his revolver, loading a single brass-colored ordinary bullet.
Then he closed it, listening to the soft click as the round slid into place.
“To be honest, I did once have the urge to kill you—when I learned of the uncontrollable power tied to time and fate within you.”
“Even if you mean no harm subjectively, the power you hold is far too dangerous… Sacrificing one subjectively innocent person to save countless others—this is a decision a Shoreguard must make when necessary.”
“But in you, I saw a possibility.”
Rast paused for a moment.
“The contamination and disasters pose no threat to you—on the contrary, under the influence of that power called ‘fate’ within you, they may even become your aid.”
“You could’ve ignored it all, pretended nothing happened, and gone on to wander to the next place after Frostwater Town’s fall.”
“But instead, you chose to reject that path again and again.”
“You trapped yourself in the phantoms of the past, and at the same time bound the pollution of the ‘Crimson Moon’ here, never letting it spread and bring disaster to more settlements.”
“That was a choice you made from your heart, to protect strangers you had never even met.”
“Grey, do you still remember what I told you when you asked me if you could become a Shoreguard?”
Grey was slightly stunned, then recalled.
“Rast ge-ge, back then, you didn’t give me an answer.”
“You told me not to speak such words lightly before understanding what it truly means to be a Shoreguard.”
“That’s right.”
Rast gently nodded.
“But now, in you, I see the possibility.”
“The possibility of becoming a Shoreguard—not just to survive, but to protect others.”
“So, I’m willing to give you a chance.”
“A chance to choose your own future, with your own will.”
The boy’s left hand gave a light toss.
Grey reflexively reached out, and in the next moment, felt something heavy land in her palm.
That revolver, now loaded with a live bullet, had silently fallen into her hand.
Grey instinctively looked up, meeting Rast’s pitch-black eyes.
“Either continue deceiving yourself, indulging in the illusion of Frostwater Town.”
“Or see yourself as innately evil, and like the stories in books, kill yourself in the name of some imagined justice to escape it all.”
“Or… choose the hardest path of all.”
“To acknowledge your sins, your weakness and fragility… to carry the weight of those innocent lives and souls lost because of you, and move toward an uncertain future that may well be a dead end.”
“All of it depends solely on your choice.”
The revolver in her hand felt incomparably heavy, its body gleaming with a metallic moonlight.
Grey stared at the revolver, her eyes flickering between struggle and confusion.
My own… choice?
It was clearly midnight, yet the distant horizon suddenly brightened, piercing through the dim sky.
Light was flowing.
Light was converging.
Like the morning stars, fierce and clear brilliance illuminated the long night, stirring dazzling whirlpools in the heavens.
Even the distorted, writhing Crimson Moon paled beneath the torrent of light.
That radiance was so dazzling and brilliant, yet like a meteor tearing through the sky—resplendent but fleeting.
In that fleeting, breathtaking light, Grey suddenly recalled something.
Memories that had been forgotten due to too many repeated cycles.
It was of a Shoreguard named Foden—the first Shoreguard she had ever met—who seemed like nothing more than a sloppy uncle.
He didn’t have the precision or competence of later Shoreguards, nor their clear divisions of duty… instead, he seemed weak, even with a hint of unease and fear in his eyes.
His attitude toward the residents of Frostwater Town was also different from the later Shoreguards.
He didn’t conduct efficient interrogations or cold investigations… he simply chatted, even using his supernatural powers to fold little paper toys for the mayor’s children.
And when the Blood Moon appeared and he sensed something strange about Grey, that uncle named Foden didn’t try to kill her.
Foden merely patted her head.
Then turned and, controlling his unimposing armor stitched together with “Origami Magic,” walked into the crimson mist—never to return.
So, even though Grey had forgotten the memories of past cycles in the loops that followed…
Her subconscious still retained a fondness and concern for the Shoreguard organization.
And because of that fondness, she kept trying to contact the Shoreguards in every loop.
Only to fall again and again into cold and deathly despair during each hunt.
Until—
Rast appeared.
He gave Grey the same feeling as Uncle Foden.
Not like those in-between, who bore the title of Shoreguard yet only seemed to be playing the role, stopping at nothing to escape Frostwater Town.
But someone who truly lived up to the name of “Shoreguard.”
Not acting to “kill,” but to “protect” something.
So, at this very moment.
In the brilliance that raged like the morning star.
The confusion and hesitation were gone from the girl’s bright green eyes.
Grey made a decision.
For the first time since her birth, rather than drifting with the tides of fate, she made a choice from her own will.
Click.
Click.
All around Grey, the fragmented patches of time peeled away like old wall paint—cracking, shattering, and falling.
…