Chapter 51

The Curse and the Sea

Without using wind magic, Peder walked among the horde of zombies.

They moved eastward together, slowly, as if on a pilgrimage.

They passed by the Happiness Base, then the Garden Base, and finally the West Mountain Base.

These once-thriving, though aging, communities were now in ruins. The outer walls were damaged, and many buildings were heavily wrecked. The West Mountain Base had been burned into a charred wasteland.

Someone had probably set a fire there in an attempt to fend off the zombies.

As they passed by, the embers were still smoldering. A zombie, missing half of its body, struggled to crawl out from beneath a broken beam. At first, it gaped its mouth wide open, like a predator hunting for prey. However, after a moment, its steps halted, its mouth slowly closed, and a peaceful expression returned to its face before it, too, joined the eastward procession.

Witnessing this, Peder felt a renewed sense of calm.

Juan was still there. Although he hadn’t spoken in a long time, he was still there.

And so, they continued heading east.

The fire at the West Mountain Base was extinguished by the snowfall that came shortly after.

At first, it was a light snowfall, like the rain Peder had seen when he first came to this place. But soon, the “raindrops” grew larger, turning into a thick, heavy snow.

Though unaffected by the cold, the zombie army’s pace slowed.

Meanwhile, Peder felt terribly cold. His winter coat had been mostly destroyed in the last fierce battle, and as soon as the heavy snow began to fall, he shivered intensely.

Yet he said nothing, not even pausing. He continued walking alongside the zombies.

By nightfall, Peder’s face was flushed from the cold, his eyelashes weighed down by snowflakes. Exhausted, starving, and on the verge of collapse, he stumbled, nearly falling into the snow — until a male zombie at his side caught him.

The zombie helped him sit down on the ground and then stood still. The other zombies also stopped moving.

They surrounded Peder, shielding him from the oncoming wind and snow. Then, one of the zombies handed him a lighter.

Lighting it, Peder looked around at the zombies.

It was only then he realized that all of them were watching him.

Under the firelight, their blood-stained faces looked a bit terrifying, especially as they all stared at him intently…

But —

With a faint smile at the zombies around him, Peder murmured softly, “Thank you, Juan.”

Then, with his frozen hands, he summoned a handful of Julian grass, set it alight, and conjured a Kaka fruit and some Brin greens to eat.

With warmth in his belly and the fire before him, he felt much better. Seeing that the zombies had no intention of leaving, he leaned against the nearest zombie’s leg and fell asleep.

As he slept, the zombies stood like silent guards — like a dense grove of trees — shielding him from the wind and snow, watching over him until he woke fully rested.

Then, they continued on their journey.

From that day forward, Peder was able to eat three meals a day, and at night, he had time to sleep.

During the hours they didn’t rest, they used all their time on the road.

Along the way, they passed the ruins of a massive city, crossed a gigantic crater flattened by an unknown weapon, and walked by a volcano that still erupted to this day.

They saw not a single living person, nor much plant life.

So, during rest breaks, Peder would casually summon some plants.

He planted a field of pink-and-blue Pandera flowers on the city ruins, grew Kaka fruit and Julian grass in the crater, and at the foot of the volcano, he planted many Brin greens on the ash-covered ground. Noticing the ash that still fell occasionally, he circled the vegetables with a ring of Komira flowers to protect them.

The zombies silently watched him carry out these tasks, without a word.

On the seventh day of their journey, zombies began to fall one by one.

Already in poor condition, and after enduring the bitter cold and intense heat, their bodies started to decay.

This added a new daily task for Peder: burying the bodies.

The earth magic he’d recently learned came in handy. With a soft chant, a rectangular pit would appear in the ground. Though his magic book claimed this spell was designed as a travel tub for bathing, Peder thought it seemed far more fitting for burials.

After burying a body, he would plant a random cluster of flowers on each grave.

The seventh day wasn’t too bad, but by the eighth day, the number of fallen bodies increased dramatically, forcing him to spend nearly the entire day laying them to rest.

By the tenth day, most of the zombies were already in the ground, and with only a few remaining, their pace quickened once more.

When the last zombie in the group had fallen and been buried, Juan returned to Anan’s body and finally spoke again—

“It hurts…”

Peder, who had been carrying Juan on his back the whole time, froze, then hurriedly set him down. Overwhelmed with relief, he embraced Juan. After realizing what Juan had said, he frowned with concern.

“Does it really hurt that much? I knew there had to be a reason you hadn’t spoken for so many days.”

“Yes, it hurts a lot. The sensation of my soul burning is completely different from my body being burned,” Juan replied.

Hearing this, Peder’s heart ached even more.

But Juan had only mentioned the pain to explain his silence. He quickly moved on to thank Peder.

“Thank you for protecting me. It hurt so much at the time, and if you hadn’t held that person back, my soul would have been severely damaged.” With dark eyes fixed on Peder, Juan thanked him sincerely.

Embarrassed, Peder opened his mouth to reply but could only manage to wave his hand shyly.

Still looking at him intently, Juan continued, “That was no ordinary fire—it could burn a soul.”

“If these people had been set ablaze, it likely would have consumed their entire souls.”

“I used to wonder if souls even existed. Now that I know, I want to make sure theirs aren’t destroyed.”

“Their bodies may have died, but at the very least, I hope their souls can find peace.”

“So that’s why you stayed with these zombies instead of leaving them behind?” Peder quickly understood Juan’s intentions.

Juan nodded, looking back at the land they’d crossed. “Thank you for burying them. Their bodies will return to the earth, enriching this land. In time, this place might blossom with flowers of its own.”

Perhaps because Juan hadn’t inhabited his body to keep the zombies active these past few days, or perhaps just because time was running out, Anan’s body had already started to take on a bluish-black hue, looking worse by the moment.

Yet—

As he said these words, Juan’s silhouette overlapped in Peder’s mind with the image of him in Eden’s greenhouse, patiently explaining poetry.

Peder suddenly recalled the figure standing tall in the sunlight, his face softened by the glow, making him seem as if outlined in gold.

It was… beautiful.

“Let’s go,” Peder murmured to Juan, his head lowered.

Nodding, Juan took the first step forward, and the two continued on their journey.

After a few more days, they stopped at the edge of the sea.

The sunlight by the shore was unusually bright, blurring Juan’s outline.

Sitting on the cliff by the sea, Juan faced away from Peder. The sea breeze lifted his hair, pulling loose a strand—after so many days, Juan’s body had started to decay.

The salty ocean air masked the smell of his body. From behind, he looked as he did when they first met—beautiful.

Then—

“We’re here.” Peder heard Juan’s voice coming from ahead.

Heart pounding slightly, Peder looked at him in a daze—

And as he feared…

“This body has reached its limit. We must part ways here.”

“I saw a painting of the ocean among his belongings. Later, I heard his parents likely died in the ocean on a mission, so I thought perhaps this might be the place he’d want as his final resting place.”

Juan had seen an old map drawn by the former base leader and knew if he kept going east, he would eventually reach the sea.

From the beginning, he had wanted to walk east.

And now, he had truly made it.

No matter the world, the sea was always beautiful—Juan thought, gazing at the blue waves.

As he looked down into the water below, one of his decaying eyes fell out and dropped into the sea below.

Is the boy already eager to reunite with his parents? Juan wondered.

But he still had one thing left to say to Peder.

One important thing.

Before that, please wait for me just a little longer.

Speaking in his heart to Anan, Juan then spoke to Peder:

“We’ll have to part for now.”

“It’s only a temporary farewell.”

“From now on—”

“No matter if I’m alive or dead; no matter if my body is whole or broken; no matter if I’m human, beast, or insect, I will find you again and again. Even if I have no legs, I will crawl toward you with only my hands.”

Without looking back, Juan’s tone was deeply serious.

Hearing this, Peder, who had already sensed what was coming, asked in a trembling voice:

“Is that a vow?”

“No, it’s a curse.” Only a knight would swear an oath; dragons would only curse. And to be pursued to such an extent—it was more like a curse, wasn’t it?

Juan thought to himself.

Yet—

Completely unshaken by the curse, Peder smiled in response.

“I love this curse,” he said softly.

As he spoke, he smiled, but before he knew it, he was crying while smiling.

“Anyway, please keep the magic book safe until I return.” Saying the most important thing, Juan leaped off the cliff into the sea below without looking back.

Peder stood alone on the windswept cliffside for a long, long time.

He planted a sea of deep blue Pandera flowers at the cliff’s edge, tossing the bluest blossom into the ocean. After wiping away his tears, Peder turned away from the sea without hesitation.

The author has something to say:

“No matter if I’m alive or dead; no matter if my body is whole or broken; no matter if I’m human, beast, or insect, I will find you again and again. Even if I have no legs, I will crawl toward you (and the magic book).”

—by Juan

True or False Bricha