Always, I Will Return to Your Side

It felt so real...

That was Kas's impression on the fifth day after returning home. His wife, Sereya, was a little haughty and fierce, but she'd taken over almost everything around the house. Apart from the small matter of not knowing how to cook, she was practically the perfect wife.

His daughter, Luna, was adorable and innocent. She spent every day following Golden-Branch Giant Antlered Deer Angeli around, gathering mushrooms and nuts in the woods, and even made a beautiful flower crown for her grumpy old dad on the way home.

Everyone in the tribe respected him. They believed that after Gona's death, only Kas of the Zagwell Clan could become War Chief.

And when Kas easily stopped a charging Woolly Rhino with one hand, he realized that the dream was so real it could simulate the strength he'd have ten years from now.

There were only two strange things: the cheat in his mind, and his weapon.

The cheat had stopped working. He knew exactly why. Dreams lacked inspiration, because everything was unfolding according to a preset script.

Even though he could calmly analyze things within the dream, that didn't mean his unconscious mind could come up with the same thoughts. He was dreaming while fully conscious.

Sitting on the steps outside his house, Kas picked up the long sword beside him.

The sword was 1.3 meters long, making it only a hand-and-a-half sword to him. An old woman's inscription was burned into the crossguard: Born Bound.

Its pommel was carved in the shape of a fire-breathing dragon's head. It was the weapon of his grandfather, Elliott Dragon-Slayer: Fire-Slayer.

According to Seneya, the weapon came from an adventure the two of them had shared, when they found the legendary sword lost by their clan in the Rikasa Basin.

As for the battle-axe forged from Radel, "Luna," it seemed that it had never existed.

"Black Ember Tribe... Baize." Kas murmured. He'd already guessed at the flaw in the dream, but... he was still hesitating.

Everything was illusory—even his own consciousness was controlled by a terrifying devil. That meant everything could be questioned.

Doubt everything, then use one thing known to be true as a foundation to break the illusion. This was Descartes' First Meditation.

Sacred Number Theory: no matter how many illusions muddled one's thoughts and distorted the rules, basic mathematical principles that existed prior to experience couldn't be tampered with. One plus two must equal the ascent of contradiction, the number of dissolution: three.

Sacred Number Theory, which defined reality, was like the red pill in The Matrix. Let reason follow the numbers through the First Meditation, and the illusory external world could be dispelled.

But if Kas was willing to accept ten blank years of memories, he could obtain most of what he wanted without lifting a finger.

Fame, wealth, strength, family... The dream was so real that he didn't even want to think about anything else.

The more he saw the haughty, clingy Seneya and the adorable, innocent little Luna, the more he believed this was reality...

Just as Lady of Death had said: what you see is what you believe, and what you believe is what you see.

Of course, Kas wasn't some reckless fool, and no one was chasing him around the world, trying to trick him. He wasn't in the position of a victim.

He was simply beginning to understand why the Rishiman People had such a strange attitude toward dreams and prophecies. They really were hard to tell apart.

"You've got something on your mind, kid." Iron Bone came floating back, wobbling. A delicate flower crown sat atop his cracked, pitch-black skull, making his once-imposing, terrifying appearance look downright comical.

"Yeah... I'm wondering when this dream should end. For us, reality and dreams seem like the same thing."

"After all this time, are you still fixated on Blackheart's daughter's death?"

"So, did I go question Lady of Death back then?"

"Of course. You provoked Lady of Death like an idiot. It took a lot of effort to call your soul back."

"Then here's the problem. Lady of Death... my slave, Isidore, who didn't know Rishiman traditions—if he hadn't worn the Mask of the Departed, who brought my soul back?"

Kas let out a low laugh. He didn't deny that the dream was so real it seemed perfect, but some of the details were still too rough.

"At the time, only Seneya and Isidore could have worn the Mask of the Departed. If Seneya had worn it to summon your soul, she would have died. But she's still alive, while Isidore died on the way back to the tribe."

"This seems like a flaw you failed to fill in. Because he didn't understand Rishiman traditions, you couldn't simulate someone who hadn't been influenced by the culture of the Sorrow Mountains."

The corners of Iron Bone Morse's mouth lifted in a subtle smile. He spoke mysteriously. "It seems you're still unwilling to believe that the dream is a prophecy."

"I can't deny that the dream revealed a lot to me and strengthened my resolve to break Seneya's curse. But now I'm leaving."

"Even if it means leaving your wife and daughter behind?"

"They..." Kas shook his head, his tone firm as his hand curled into a fist. "I'll see them as they are now in the future."

"You're starting to believe Tina's death was rooted in honor."

Kas fell silent. He really was wavering, beginning to think the reason for that girl's death was more complicated than he'd imagined.

Honor, dreams, and prophecy—an attack from all three directions was enough to make her do something that seemed crazy and incomprehensible to ordinary people.

By ordinary people, he meant the version of himself who hadn't yet experienced the dream.

He raised his head and heard the distant wind howl past his ears. Isidore's mournful, drawn-out voice called the departed spirits away, back to their original world.

"My lifelong companion, proud seed, sorrowful child.

When I sing of the suffering you endured, come close..."

Kas sighed and began calculating with Sacred Number Theory. Even if this was a dream, he didn't have the courage to face Seneya and Luna. He planned to leave quietly.

Luna, holding a flower crown, suddenly appeared through the gate in the fence. Her innocent eyes widened as she hurried over to Kas on her chubby little legs.

She was losing her baby teeth. She was so cute when she laughed, and her gap-toothed smile always made Kas's heart skip a beat.

She stood in front of Kas and held up the flower crown she'd just made. "Dad, are you leaving?"

Kas nodded and picked up his daughter again, letting her touch his fiery red hair.

"Yes, Dad's leaving. Will Luna be sad?"

"I will, but you'll definitely come back, right?" After placing the flower crown on Dad's head, Luna wrapped her arms around Kas's neck, just as Seneya had said.

He was dreaming. He had an incredibly adorable, thoughtful daughter.

"Mm. I'll definitely come back... to see you and Seneya."

Kas felt his eyes grow wet as he felt the warmth of Luna's little hand stroking the back of his head.

She was a thoughtful girl. For the first time, he felt that love needed no reason.

"Kas, don't push yourself. You're just too foolish, always fixating on things I can't understand." Seneya came out of the house and wrapped her arms around her husband from behind. Her tenderness seemed to swallow him once more.

She didn't try to stop him. She didn't even cry. Yet this peaceful scene left Kas sinking deep into the dream and the prophecy. He was willing to pay any price to make it real.

But wasn't this exactly what Lady of Death had said? For the Rishiman People, honor, dreams, and prophecy were all the same thing.

He couldn't understand what most Rishiman People considered honorable, but a happy, complete family was the highest honor...

This dream was a truly deadly weapon.

Kas gently eased Luna's arms from around his neck, then wiped the tears from his daughter's face with his thick fingers. In the gentlest voice of his life, he said, "There, there. Dad will come back. Just think of it as a dream. You'll see Dad again before long."

He turned and looked into Seneya's crimson eyes. She nervously avoided her husband's sorrowful gaze and said with disdain, "Then hurry up and go. Just pretend the family never had you, you muttering little dog. I can raise Luna into a fine girl all by myself."

Kas lowered his head. Just as when he'd first awakened, Seneya had demanded a bite from him. He deeply kissed the Werewolf Lady he'd never truly understood before.

The Werewolf Lady sobbed quietly, holding tight to the Barbarian who had saved her.

"One day, I'll return to your side..."