Chapter 221 - <Final Chapter>
"And that's the end of the story."
The old man said with a gentle smile, patting the two small heads lined up before him.
Inside the warmly burning fireplace, the logs crackled, sending up warm sparks. The large pile of firewood he had added before starting his story had burned down considerably, becoming small.
"Grandpa, what happened to Ritz and Anna after that?"
The children asked innocently, gathered around the old man's rocking chair. The eyes of the children, not yet ten years old, sparkled with anticipation.
"Let's see... they're probably still traveling somewhere even now."
With that, the old man gazed out the window. Snowflakes were fluttering down, faintly illuminating the darkness of the night.
"Where did you put the treasure you got from God?"
At the children's question, the old man's eyes narrowed.
"I've kept it somewhere safe. It's my precious treasure, after all."
There was no Science or machinery in the old man's story.
In his tale, the companions reached God, met Anna's parents there, and returned home with a wonderful treasure as a souvenir.
It was a pure and exciting adventure story.
The children all loved the old man's thrilling, yet gentle and warm tales.
At the end of the story, which was told over many, many days, the children would always ask, "What happened to Ritz and Anna?" And the old man would always answer.
'They're still living happily ever after.'
"Come now, children, it's time for bed."
The door opened and a man in his mid-forties appeared. He greatly resembled the old man in his youth, but he had chosen a completely different profession. He was a man who held a key position in the kingdom's defense. The old man had three sons, but not a single one had followed in his footsteps.
Living together in this house were the old man and his wife, and this son's family. The eldest son was a gentle father to five children, and despite his military profession, he had a calm disposition. His temperament resembled not the old man or his wife, but the person for whom he was named.
"Your mother is waiting."
"Okay!"
The children answered cheerfully and ran out of the room. Only the old man and his son remained.
"Telling that story again, Father?"
He nodded back at his son, who wore a gentle smile.
"Yes. The children kept asking for it."
He quietly closed his eyes, and memories of those days would surface and then fade away. It had been a fulfilling life. And a rather busy one.
Having overcome that time, aged, and retired to a leisurely life, what always returned to him in vivid color were the nostalgic memories of that time.
As the old man leaned back in his rocking chair, his son added a new log to the fireplace.
"I wonder where they are now."
The son said as he stood up.
"Who knows."
"Has it been ten years since they last showed up?"
"...Yes. Only ten years."
To them, it was no more than a single year's time. The old man smiled serenely and quietly. The hair that had once shone like gold was now completely white, but his blue eyes remained the same.
"The youngest ones haven't met them yet, have they?"
"That's right. Anna will surely be delighted."
He remembered his conversation with Ark. Because he had bombarded Ark with questions back then, he knew that the chances of Anna, with her unique birth, and Ritz, who carried the blood of the Clans of Light and Darkness, having a child were practically zero.
Anna knew this too, which was why she doted on the old man's children as if they were her own. Among them, the one she doted on the most was his eldest son, who stood before him now. She had even lived with them for several years in place of his wife, who was not skilled at childcare.
"Edy."
He called his son by his nickname.
"What is it?"
His real name was Edward, and he had his wife's features. His second son was Shasta, and his youngest was Alster. He had wanted to give his youngest the first name instead of the surname, but the man himself had absolutely forbidden it, saying it felt like he had died.
"It seems to have started snowing. Make sure the children don't catch a cold."
"Yes. I know."
With that, Edward stood by the window.
"Shall I close the curtains?"
"No, it's fine."
The old man shook his head slowly. He always left one pane of the glass window facing the terrace uncurtained. It was because visitors always arrived from there.
Knowing this, Edward smiled, said goodnight, and left the room.
Once again in the quiet room, the old man let out a deep sigh. In the silent room, where only the sound of the burning fire in the hearth could be heard, it seemed as if he could even hear the sound of the snow falling on the ground. He leaned forward and coughed quietly, then sighed.
He had recently fallen ill. He was already close to eighty.
He likely didn't have much longer.
Will I be able to see them one more time?
Suddenly, there was a tapping at the window. Startled, he stared out the window, but there was no one there, only swirling snow. Had the wind suddenly picked up?
Returning his gaze to the fireplace, the old man stared intently at the flames. The Salamander that used to live in this hearth was now gone.
When one gets old, one remembers the past more vividly than the future. Recent events are forgotten so quickly.
Again, a soft tapping sound. It wasn't a mistake; someone was there.
Whipping his aching body, the old man slowly stood up and opened the window leading to the terrace.
He instinctively covered his face with his hands as snow blew in and scattered. As the wind weakened, he slowly lowered his hands and saw someone standing in the snow.
"You didn't have to come out in the cold, you know?"
At the soft words, he looked at the speaker and saw a familiar red-haired woman standing there with a smile. Her well-traveled appearance was almost unchanged from the her he had just been remembering. The only difference, perhaps, was that she looked a little more mature for her age than she did in his memories.
"Right?"
She looked up at the tall, dark-haired man standing slightly behind her, as if seeking his agreement. The man, also dressed for travel, had the same cheerful expression as in his memories, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
"If we let an old man catch a cold, Edy, Shas, and Al will glare at us. You should just sit by the fireplace."
"You're as sharp-tongued as ever."
"Like my personality's gonna change in a few decades."
The same tone, the same smile.
The old man smiled.
"Welcome back, Anna, Ritz."
"We're home, Franz."
Beyond the happily smiling old man, above the fireplace illuminated by a soft light, hung a single painting of the four companions, bathed in the warm light of the room, looking happy.
After the death of Mr. Franz C. Lucina, a single painting, said to be the most beloved by the famously frugal and simple Mr. Lucina, was displayed in the royal palace's corridor of successive kings' portraits, in accordance with Mr. Lucina's own will.
The work, bearing the signature of the court painter Dill Sabatieri, was hung next to the portrait of the Hero King Edward and was carefully preserved by the royal family for a long time.
The enigmatic painting depicts four figures.
In the painting, centered around a tall, dark-haired man and a red-haired girl, a man with long, golden hair braided, laughing as if teasing the tall man, is the Hero King Edward. Positioned on the opposite side of the central pair, with his arms crossed and a look of exasperation directed at the girl, is said to be a younger version of Chancellor Lucina, who owned this painting for a long time and was feared as the 'Iron Mask' during the reign of the Valiant King Greig.
This painting is a rare composition that depicts figures far removed from legends and circulating rumors, and it is interpreted in various ways among historians.
But the identities of the central pair, before whom these two men, who were giants of the nation in both name and reality, show completely relaxed expressions, remain unknown.
On the back of this painting, the title of the work, written by Sabatieri himself, is as follows:
'The Carefree Adventurers.'
Thank you for staying with me through this long, fifteen-volume story.
This series ran for one year and eight months from the serialization of the first volume.
This series, 'The Carefree Adventurers,' was originally a fantasy series published as a doujinshi from 2002 to 2010 by 'WIND Kobo' (now active as 'Nonkiya Honpo'), with two volumes released per year.
Many of my friends were not fond of fantasy, so this story began with the aim of being enjoyable for anyone to read, without the unwritten rules of fantasy, and not so difficult that people would give up! However, readers told me things like "it's conventional" or "it's very mainstream."
I love the mainstream. At some point, I embraced it and even wrote 'Mainstream Fantasy Novel Available' on my circle cut for Comiket (^^)
But it became a work that made me, the author, think about various things like human growth, confronting loneliness, and looking forward.
It's a long, long story, but I hope that at least one thing has remained in the hearts of all of you who have read it.
Thank you so much for reading.
To all of you who read this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Oh, there's no END mark, is there?
There's still the usual bonus story (^^)
Please bear with me just a little longer m(_ _)m