New Year's Eve

[52 years before the death of the hero Himmel]

Galan could hardly remember how they had spent the last winter.

It seems like a lot has been done, yet it also seems like nothing has been done at all.

Half of everyone's life is spent in boredom, but you can call it boring, but you can't say it's meaningless.

Perhaps one day in the future, what you once took for granted or even found "boring" will become a memory that can never be replicated.

For some people, even knowing this might not evoke any particular thoughts.

But for Galan at least, every minute of the past has been incredibly meaningful.

"Galan!"

A snowball the size of a sandbag exploded near Galan's ear as he was momentarily stunned, the biting cold instantly drawing his attention back.

"Wow! You even launched a sneak attack!"

"Pah! It was clearly you Galan, who suddenly stood there in a daze, and you have the nerve to accuse me!"

In response to Galan's accusations, Lia retorted angrily.

The two were locked in a fierce battle, but in the heat of the moment, he looked at the sky where light snow was falling, and suddenly became motionless as if he had lost his soul.

Lia, who was still pondering how to completely defeat him, was also stunned by his appearance.

It's not that it's strange that Galan would go AFK midway through a "battle".

It was because these kinds of blank stares had occurred so frequently lately that even Lia noticed something was amiss.

"Galan, tell me the truth, are you hiding something from me?"

Seeing that Galan was still not fully conscious after being hit by her snowball, Lia felt a little worried.

If this had happened a year ago, Galan certainly wouldn't have reacted this way.

Something must have happened to him, otherwise he wouldn't be like this...

"Huh?... No, how could such a thing happen... Lia, you're overthinking it."

Lia?"

Seeing that Galan still wouldn't tell her the truth, Lia became quite angry.

He immediately turned away, not wanting to see Galan's face again.

Galan was very familiar with Lia's usual way of getting angry, and knew that she would get angry because she felt that Lydia had not told her the truth.

Even if we take a step back, it's still Lia showing concern for him, which makes Galan happy regardless.

"Okay, okay, let's go back and talk about it. You'll catch a cold if you stand outside like this without moving."

"Ugh!"

Ignoring how Lia struggled and fidgeted in his arms, Galan grabbed her and rushed into the house.

Now the two are sharing a room, so Galan has exchanged the two small single rooms in the Inn for a larger double room.

Because the boss saw that the two of them were practically settling down here, she gave them the best room in the Inn and even gave them a small discount.

This can be considered a benefit for those who have lived here for a long time.

Once inside, Galan carried Lia to bed and then added some firewood to the fireplace.

After piling the extra wood back into its original spot, he sat down on the floor near the fireplace without a care in the world.

Fortunately, the fire in the fireplace wasn't extinguished when we went out for a snowball fight, and I could still clearly feel the residual warmth on the ground as I sat down.

So... what's been going on with you lately?

Lia looked at her toes with a somewhat forlorn expression, wondering why Galan wouldn't open up to her.

It's disheartening that Galan, who taught him these things, can't even do them now.

"Sigh... Actually, if I could... I really wouldn't want you to know about this... but that's just wishful thinking on my part. After all, you'd find out sooner or later anyway."

Galan, who had been facing away from herself, suddenly turned around and stretched out her hands to Lia.

Earlier, when she saw him constantly bringing his hands closer to the fire, Lia thought Galan was because his hands were too cold from the snowball fight and he wanted to warm them up.

However, upon seeing those almost transparent hands and the arms beneath the sleeves, all of Lia's previous assumptions crumbled, leaving only this silent space.

"No... that's not real... you're disappearing? Why!?"

It was as if the scene just now had greatly stimulated Lia, and she was now unusually bursting with such strong emotions.

The last time he saw such intense emotions in Lia was when she first tried to take revenge on the Demons who massacred the village.

"Anyway, for various reasons, I don't know when I'll disappear, so I've been thinking about a way out... well, I haven't come up with anything yet. Although leaving it like this isn't a problem either."

"Hey! What's with that expression?"

Galan, who had originally intended to recount the events in detail, immediately fell silent upon seeing Lia's slightly moist eyes.

He knew he must have said something wrong again to upset the other person so much.

But I was just thinking about whether or not to tell her about it. Besides, I would disappear when the time came anyway, so it didn't really matter whether I cared or not.

"You... do you... want to just leave me here like this? I haven't even had a chance to properly... get to know you..."

Seeing this scene, Galan was already somewhat at a loss, became even more anxious.

"That's not what I meant at all! Besides, it sounds more like you're cursing me to die young!"

"There's no point in talking about it now—the reason I'm here is simply due to an accident. When the time comes, I will definitely return to the future no matter what. So, things like my body disappearing are just the prelude to the magic fading away."

"Back to the future? You're someone who came back from the future?"

"Yes."

"So... what will our relationship be in the future?"

"A closer relationship than we have now."

Seeing that Galan answered her seemingly without hesitation, Lia was momentarily at a loss for what expression to wear.

"So... how did we meet?"

"Well... I'm a little embarrassed about that... It's okay to talk about it later. The more important thing right now is to soothe my crybaby."

Without the slightest embarrassment, Galan picked up Lia and crawled into bed, where the two embraced tightly.

"Then swear! What you just said wasn't a lie!"