"To live out my life peacefully, without any ripples or uncertainty?"
The boy smiled. "What you're saying sounds a little like the [Eternity] the Shogun pursues!"
"But I don't want a life without uncertainty!"
Ei froze at his words.
No ripples, no uncertainty-that was her understanding of Eternity, and what she pursued.
In wanting the boy to live his whole life without ripples or uncertainty, she was actually wishing for him to live within the Eternity as she understood it.
She did not want to lose someone she could finally talk to. She wanted him to remain under Eternity's protection.
Yet the boy declared that he did not like living without uncertainty.
He was implying that he did not like Eternity.
From that moment onward, Ei's ideals and the boy's came into conflict.
"Why? Living safely, without having to lose anything-what's wrong with that?"
"Humans live for barely a hundred years. Why not cherish yourself during the limited time you have?"
Ei looked at the boy and challenged him.
The boy merely smiled in response.
"Because I'm an adventurer!"
"It's precisely because humans live for barely a hundred years that we should shine as brightly as we can before we die!"
"It's precisely because our time is limited that we should go farther within that time and leave something of our own in this world!"
The boy still wore a radiant smile, but his gaze remained resolute!
He looked at Ei and said, "It's precisely because our time is so short that I want to pursue that momentary light!"
"Pursue... momentary light?"
His words reminded Ei of something her sister had told her-[Just pursue it, even if it is only a momentary light!]
Why had this boy said something so similar to her sister's words?
As she looked at the