131 Prologue : 終焉 (1/2)

Apparently something's happened outside.

An old white hospital. In her bed in a private room, isolated from the rest of the hospital, Mirele Noah sensed it quite naturally.

There was only one small window facing the courtyard, and the sun was shining quietly into the minimally furnished room.

Millere's hospital room is a space where time seems to have stopped. Because it is so far away from the other rooms, there is no sound, and there have been times when she has felt so lonely that she has almost lost her mind.

For a girl like her, change is always welcome, no matter what.

Originally, only a minimal number of doctors and nurses visited Millere's hospital room, but the number of visits has decreased.

The quality of the food, which had been served twice a day, decreased, the frequency of their visits decreased, the dark circles under her eyes became darker, and eventually she began to smell blood.

The doctor said nothing. Mireille also said nothing.

The hospital room was completely cut off from the outside world. No information comes in, and Millere doesn't ask for it.

Their visit to Millere's room is just a job.

Perhaps it was not so good for the doctors and for Millere himself that the country where he grew up was a developed country and could afford not to leave helpless sick people to die.

No, maybe there was a reason why he didn't abandon the helpless Mirele, but that is not known to Mirele.

At first, she had tried to talk to him.

But when she saw the doctor's face tense up at the mere sight of Millere's gaze, she could no longer say anything.

The change was happening slowly but steadily.

I was curious about what had happened, but I couldn't confirm it. Of course, there was no point in checking.

Mireille would die. One year, two years, three years, I don't know, but for sure.

Something bad has happened in the outside world, that's for sure.

The rare family visits are gone. The mages and priests who used to come once every six months to check on me stopped coming. The disappearance of a mage or priest is always a bad omen.

The doctor would not feel good if he was confirmed by a half-dead person out of curiosity.

The sun is setting through the small window.

There is no clock in Mireille's hospital room. The movement of the sun is the only way to tell time.

It was almost time for dinner. She did not feel hungry. Such a function has already been lost to Mireille.

But if she didn't eat, her body would die. Death is already inevitable, but I don't have the courage to kill myself.

I have been in bed for two years. Before I knew it, my body, which at first moved as I thought, had deteriorated to the point where I could not live without assistance.

She can still barely get up, but in the near future, she won't be able to do even that, she will become a living doll.

There was no one to cheer up Millere.

No--Mirele's illness would never be cured. That's what we were told from the beginning.

So, from the time she could still walk, she was confined to an isolated room. From the very beginning, doctors, nurses, and practitioners of the almost nonexistent healing magic, all who came to see her had given up on the possibility of a cure, as if they wanted her to die.

A disease that would never heal. A fate of inescapable despair that forces even a girl just over ten to confront reality.

People call it a curse that the servants of God have no words of comfort.

At first, I couldn't believe my circumstances. Then I cursed what I'd become. But now I accept it.

Night is coming. No light is given, and even if it were, there's nothing you can do.

The sun is setting completely. But it's a full moon today, and the strong moonlight makes it easy to see.

Dinner never came. I was not sleepy. I sit up and look at the window.

Could it be that I couldn't even afford to deliver food to Mireille anymore?　Then so be it.

A dull ache inside her body, Mireille sighed.

The pain, the source of which is unknown, is getting stronger little by little. It must be the footsteps of death.

Something is happening. I wish there was a war and everything would die.

Just as I was vaguely thinking about this, I heard footsteps outside my room.

It was much later than usual, was it dinner?　For that matter, there was no sound of casters carrying the food.

The door was unlocked from the outside, and the door was released with a bang. I was too lazy to move my heavy body, but I struggled to look at it.

In walked a doctor in a worn white coat and a man wearing a white shirt.

”Mireille, you have a visitor.

”......!

It was the best-dressed young man Mireille had ever met.

He wore a jet-black velvety cloak and shiny polished leather shoes. Pure white hair that reflected the moonlight well. He wore a sword at his waist, and although Millere had never seen him before, he wondered if this was how a nobleman was supposed to look.