Ending Maker Episode 464
SS #38 2 years later, each one’s day (5)
#8 The Girl, the Master, and the Warrior of the Sun
It was now a thing of the past, more than twenty years ago.
But Lena could still clearly remember the events of that day.
The day I finished all the classes at the Gray Tower in three years after studying hard with the hope of returning to my teacher as soon as possible and headed home.
Lena smiled, anticipating the teacher’s praise that her Lena was the best, and wiggled her fingers, thinking of Landius, who must have become even more handsome over the past three years. Then, she blinked in surprise at the carriage suddenly stopping.
What’s going on?
Why did the carriage stop?
Did the wheel get caught somewhere?
If the coachman asks for help, I must help him with magic.
The case was rejected, saying it was okay.
Instead, I will definitely tell you the teacher’s name.
Although he is already known as a great teacher, the more good words he can say, the better.
Having made up her mind, Lena held tightly to the cane her master had given her when she left for the Gray Tower, and waited for the coachman to open the carriage door.
But when the carriage door opened.
The story Lena heard was completely different.
* * *
At first I couldn’t believe it.
I knew that the coachman had no reason to lie, but not only the coachman, but also the soldiers in the border area and even the peddlers who had gone to Paragon and returned were all saying the same thing-
Still, I couldn’t believe it.
I didn’t want to believe it.
The Paragon Kingdom has fallen.
It became a world of monsters.
The villages near the border are overflowing with undead such as zombies and skeletons, and the sound of demonic spells and people’s cries can be heard every day from the royal palace.
When we arrived at the village near the border.
Lena, who had burned the horde of zombies rushing toward her with a wall of flames, lay on the ground and vomited.
It wasn’t the first time it had been put into practice.
It wasn’t the first time I’d smelled a burning corpse.
But it was the first time that someone I knew had risen from the dead, and that I had burned that person.
We weren’t close.
Just a village I stopped by on my way to the Gray Tower, and people I greeted as I passed by.
The owner of the inn where I stayed for a day and the maid who was particularly kind.
“Haa… … Haa… … .”
The border guards of the Kingdom of Seilun, who had come together to assess the situation, advised them to return together.
It seemed like they were planning to first block the border and wait for instructions from the king.
It was a valid and reasonable story.
But Lena shook her head.
Instead of returning with the border guards, I walked towards the royal capital of the Paragon Kingdom, my trembling hands gripping my staff tightly.
Because the teacher will be there.
Master.
Master.
Her vision was blurry from the tears that had flowed down her face, but Lena couldn’t pay any attention to that.
The sight before my eyes made me do that.
A black wind blew under the gray sky.
And far away, on the hilltop of the Paragon Kingdom, where the royal capital could be seen from afar, black flames were rising.
* * *
-Lena, you are clearly a genius.
I don’t really think so.
I just liked being praised by my teacher, so I just worked a little harder.
-Go to the Gray Tower. You’ll get more specialized lessons there than you would from me.
I don’t want to go.
I don’t want to leave my teacher and go to an unknown place and stay there for several years.
I like the Paragon Kingdom.
I want to be in the royal capital where Master and Landius are.
-I am a great wizard, but I am not a great teacher.
no.
Master, you are the best teacher.
There can be no better teacher than you.
-So, Lena, go.
no, I do not want.
I don’t want to go.
But I couldn’t say that.
I couldn’t refuse to go to the teacher who spoke with a gentle smile.
So I nodded.
He said he would go and smile as much as he could.
Actually, I didn’t want to go, but I wanted to stay by the master’s side.
It was okay.
Yeah, it was okay.
Because the teacher was truly pleased.
Because you spoke while patting my head.
-Yes, our Lena. My proud disciple. My… … –
Lena opened her eyes.
It was a dream.
Memories of the night three years ago when I heard that it would be a good idea to go to the Gray Tower.
The Master’s smile was gentle, and the warmth of the fireplace was warm, but reality was not so.
It was a cold night.
Not only was his face stained with sweat, ash, and tears, but his body was also sticky with sweat that had dripped down from every part of his body.
But I couldn’t even feel that kind of discomfort properly.
It’s been three days since I entered the Paragon Kingdom.
The survivors could not be found.
All I could encounter on my way here were monsters and corpses that had risen from the dead.
Why is Lena herself going to the royal road?
To meet the master.
Because the teacher will be there.
But is that really true?
With this much chaos happening, wouldn’t the Master have taken refuge?
The master was a great magician.
That’s also very wonderful.
So, no matter what kind of trouble came, there was a high possibility that he would be safe.
Perhaps he escaped the capital early with the royal family.
Yes, after going to the Kingdom of Seilun, you might be worried that your reckless disciple has gone astray.
Maybe you’ll take risks again to find yourself.
So it is right to go back now.
That’s logically correct.
Lena gritted her teeth and shook her head at the rationalization forming in her head.
It didn’t make sense.
It was a cowardly excuse made out of fear and dread.
The Master was never the type of person to run away alone.
It is much more likely that he is fighting to protect the people in the royal capital at this very moment.
So I had to go to the royal capital.
I had to help the teacher.
It was poor logic.
If we were to consider the possibility, my first thought would be higher.
But still, Lena got up from her seat and adjusted her grip on her cane.
I was hungry because I hadn’t had a proper meal for several days, and my head was dizzy because I had been casting magic without sleeping properly, but I didn’t stop walking.
A strong magical scent was felt nearby.
Common sense would have told her that she should have avoided it, but Lena instead took steps toward the scent.
Why is that?
Is it to subdue the powerful demon and return the situation to normal even a little?
Or is it just trying to ensure that any survivors who might be hiding somewhere are at least a little bit safe?
If not that-
plural.
Master’s revenge.
Revenge of the Paragon Kingdom.
Lena broke off her thoughts.
I didn’t think about it.
And I had a feeling.
The sight of zombies retreating to the side to open a path instead of rushing towards you.
To the familiar scent of magic that grows stronger and stronger.
I knew it.
That the Master is never a person who runs away.
Until the very end, he was someone who would save people even if it meant sacrificing himself.
The reason why I decided to head this way.
The reason why tears poured down without warning.
“Hey, me.”
The teacher was smiling.
With a half-rotten face.
While engulfed in a magical power.
* * *
“Lena, you’ve grown up so deliciously.”
I’ve wanted to rape you for a long time.
I sent it to the Gray Tower because I could no longer suppress my desires.
But I shouldn’t have sent it.
If I had known it would grow up to be this delicious.
It was nonsense.
The teacher didn’t think of such things.
“I actually hated you. That’s why I kicked you out to the Gray Tower.”
Your talent is so dazzling.
I can’t stand being so jealous of that talent.
It was a lie.
The master was a great great wizard.
If you were jealous of talent from the beginning, it would have been normal to not let them learn magic.
It didn’t make sense to send him to the Gray Tower to learn more.
“Do you really think so? If I really cared for you, why did I let you go? Why did I do that when I knew you didn’t want to go? The truth is, I hated you, Lena. It’s disgusting to breathe the same air as you.”
It was a lie.
It was all a lie.
But even though I knew it in my head, I felt like my heart was going to break.
It was the teacher’s face.
It was the teacher’s voice.
and.
And this situation itself.
The zombies are coming.
Following the orders of the Master who had become a lich, the lions continued to swarm Lena herself.
The master passed away.
You have become undead.
He became the devil’s lackey, killing countless people and then raising them up again.
The magic power wasn’t gathered properly.
My hands and feet were dizzy, and the spell was just swirling around in my mouth, not coming out as a voice.
At some point my knees buckled.
The ghoul jumped over the wall of flames and pushed Lena’s upper body down.
In an instant, zombies gathered.
I couldn’t create magic, so I just pushed the zombies away with my magical power, but it only lasted for a little while.
Lena fell again, and this time she couldn’t get up.
Master.
Maybe it was a planned ending.
No, it was clear that he must have known to some extent.
But still, I couldn’t stop.
Because I had to see the teacher.
Teacher.
A teacher who is truly like a father to me.
“Yes, then just die now, my hated disciple.”
Lena closed her eyes.
And then suddenly I remembered something from my childhood.
When I was captured and taken to the goblin lair.
When I faced despair there.
One person naturally came to mind.
Even in the midst of the pain of having my shoulder bitten by a ghoul and my arm eaten by a zombie, I remembered a person’s face.
And at that very moment.
In a dark vision filled only with despair.
The sun has risen.
* * *
It was the back of a man.
But it didn’t seem that way to Lena.
It was light.
The darker the darkness, the deeper the night, the more clearly a single flash of light shines.
Landius charged.
He cut through the zombies and skeletons that were rushing towards him with the Golden Sun Sword and charged towards his master – the archmage who had become a lich.
“Lena.”
Lena blinked at the familiar voice.
A white-haired beauty appeared.
He was pouring potions to heal Lena’s wounds.
Kamael.
Landius’s best friend.
A swordsman of the Royal Guard who inherited the blood of the Paragon royal family.
“It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”
It wasn’t a cold, cynical remark.
It was a voice filled with awkward affection.
Kamael carefully held Lena, who was lying limp, in his arms.
It gave a little bit of warmth.
Lena looked straight ahead while being held in Kamael’s arms.
Landius was fighting with his master.
“Lena, it’ll be okay. So just wait.”
After saying that, Kamael carefully released Lena from his arms.
He looked at her weakly collapsing again with pity, then turned around and rushed towards Bardo.
Lena watched their fight while crying.
No, I couldn’t watch.
I crouched down, closing my eyes tightly and covering my ears with both hands.
And how much time has passed?
Lena raised her head at the awkward but affectionate touch.
Kamael appeared.
I saw Landius standing over there and my master lying at his feet.
Lena stood up unsteadily.
No, I couldn’t tell if it had risen on its own or if Kamael had raised it.
But I took a step forward.
I approached the teacher.
The Master’s eyes, from which the light had disappeared, moved.
The Master opened his mouth again, and Lena unconsciously raised her hand again and covered her ears.
Because I was scared.
It’s so sad to hear those painful words again.
Hearing such outrageous lies in the Master’s voice.
But at that very moment, Kamael shook his head.
I carefully removed Lena’s hand that was covering my ear.
And Lena could hear.
The weak, yet affectionate voice of the teacher continued.
“Re… … Me… … .”
“Our Lena… … will come back… … .”
“I have to go out to pick up… … her.”
“We… … Lena… … .”
“Are you eating well…?”
“Staying up late and studying all the time… isn’t that right…?”
“Lena’s favorite things, cheese, cake… … .”
“A new… … cane for Lena. Pretty… … clothes… … .”
The false life that had been inhabiting Bardo Einsberg was fading away.
His gray eyes could no longer contain anything,
His ears could no longer hear anything.
To begin with, he couldn’t even maintain his sanity.
“Our… … me… … beloved… … disciple… … … one and only… … our… … daughter… … .”
A faint smile appeared on Bardo Einsberg’s face.
It was a gentle, warm, and affectionate smile.
Lena collapsed on the spot.
I burst into sad tears as I was held in my teacher’s cold arms.
* * *
Lena raised her head.
My eyes turned red as old memories suddenly came to mind, but I tried to swallow them.
Landius and Kamael.
The sun that always saved him and his most precious friend in the world.
A truly special person who shared warmth with me when I was going through the hardest times and let me hear my teacher’s last words.
‘So, I’m going to wake up.’
Because it was our Kamael.
Because I don’t want a strange woman to come and get me.
Of course, if she’s a really good woman, that’s fine.
I hope Kamael is happy too.
If Fran had heard from the side, she would have shook her head and said it was overprotective obsession, but he wasn’t there, and Lena was serious in her own way.
Because both Landius and Kamael were truly precious people.
“Whew, let’s go.”
Lena took a deep breath and turned around.
I smiled again at the sight of Landius, Fran, and Belkian through the window.
#9 The patient spirit and its master
There were very few survivors from the Magic Kingdom of Magellan.
Secondly, it was a disaster that was difficult for survivors to survive, and it was nearly a thousand years ago that Magellan was still alive.
Even the long-lived elves had a hard time lasting five hundred years.
Even the high elf royalty had a lifespan limited to a thousand years.
That’s why Magellan’s survivors were extremely rare.
Even the children of a fallen nation who were born after the effective destruction of the Magellan Kingdom.
How many of those Magellan survivors participated in the Artificial Spirit King Project?
And among them, what are the chances that there are still survivors who participated in the Snow Queen Project?
The odds were slim.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was almost impossible.
But it was a miracle because, as someone once said, miracles happen.
‘In the first place, an ordinary survivor would not have made a place like this.’
Because it would have been awkward if we had just met each other.
But that wasn’t the case.
Because it wasn’t an encounter with such an ordinary survivor.
The incarnation of the Holy Nation of Eudelia and the Pope himself stepped forward.
He mobilized the Grand Swordmasters of the Empire and made room for the Queen of the Eternal Forest.
“Now, Melissa. I promised, right?”
Cordelia spoke in a boastful tone, but Melissa could not answer.
But Cordelia understood Melissa like that.
He smiled and handed the bracelet to the elf sitting next to Elune.
“It’s Melissa.”
At Cordelia’s words, the elf accepted the bracelet with trembling hands.
And he spoke carefully, his voice a mixture of regret and joy.
“… … Melissa. It’s me. Do you remember?”
I couldn’t hear your voice because I had let go of the bracelet.
But Cordelia seemed to know what Melissa’s voice would have sounded like, what she would have said.
So Cordelia quietly stepped back.
He stood next to Uther, and Uther held Cordelia’s hand tightly.
It was to share the joy of being Melissa’s best friend and always by her side with Cordelia.
[It went really well. Really.]
Velencia spoke with a tearful voice, and Uder nodded.
Cordelia laughed and wiped away her tears.
[Can you please leave for a moment?]
So that we can talk a little more comfortably.
At Velencia’s suggestion, Cordelia winked at Queen Lyca, and Uder grabbed Elune’s hand, who was sitting blankly, and made her stand up.
And then, Uther and Cordelia, who had come out onto the large balcony attached to the Queen’s room, raised their heads again and looked up at the sky.
It was a night sky full of stars.
And there were those from afar who looked up at the sky in the same way.
“The moon is pretty.”
“I know.”
“It’s a beautiful night.”
Red Wind, Kirara, and Sara looked out the window and smiled.
“Brother, look at the moon.”
“You’re pretty. You look like Yuri.”
“What are they saying now?”
Vivian’s face crumpled at the sight of Yuria and Eugene clinging to each other and whispering, but Regina couldn’t say anything in response.
That’s because I was sitting closely next to Elwin, looking up at the night sky.
But Vivian wasn’t all sad.
“It’s okay, sis. You’re much prettier.”
“Ahem, what else is this guy embarrassed about?”
Even though she was entering puberty, Vivian pretended not to know and smiled pleasantly at Walter’s words, who was still kind and upright.
And back to Regina.
“pretty.”
She smiled brightly, purely amazed by the night sky, and the Fairy Queens who had gathered there did the same.
They each looked up at the night sky with elegant smiles, each holding a piece of high-quality fairy chocolate from the sacred kingdom of Eudellia in their mouths.
“Wow, did you just see a shooting star?”
“I saw it.”
“Did you make a wish?”
“… … I begged.”
“Oh, hurry. What did you wish for?”
“… … It’s a secret.”
“Subtract.”
Natasha giggled and looked up at the night sky again, and so did Kamael.
The same was true for the Paragon heroes who were watching the two from afar.
The night was deepening.
Count Bayer and Count Chase sat down at the table, and Edward and Sylvia, Gale and Adelia, Ember and Aiden each took their own seats and began dinner.
Baylun’s mascot, the rough snowball, also walked to the table and sat down.
“Is Vivian late again?”
“Are you going to be late?”
“Hmm, you’re saying it’s late?”
When Caesar suddenly let out a soft voice and hugged Lucas’ left arm, Scarlett giggled and hugged Lucas’ right arm.
Even though they had been married for more than ten years and had eleven children, Lucas still blushed.
The day was coming to an end.
But I didn’t regret it.
Because when the sun sets, night comes, and the sun rises again, a new morning will begin.
The beginning of a new morning
The beginning of a new story.
Their story continues even after the perfect happy ending.
Uther and Cordelia looked at each other.
He smiled brightly.
fin
Reviews
Hello, this is Chwiryong.
The Ending Maker side story has been completed.
Since the main story is 360 episodes long… that means I wrote 104 side stories.
I’ve used a lot of side stories before, but I think Ending Maker is the first one to use this many.
So, the review will probably be a bit long… I ask for your understanding, readers.
The first planning of the Enme side story was when the main story was being serialized.
It’s already been almost 2 years, and it was around that time that the Enme webtoon project started (it’s already been released and is currently being serialized to great acclaim! It came out really, really well :D).
When the webtoon comes out, let’s serialize the side story then!
That’s why I left a little bit of bait at the end of the main story.
I wanted to write a second-part side story, not just an ordinary daily life side story.
however…
When the webtoon came out and I started writing the side story, it became difficult to write the second part of the side story that I had originally planned due to various unexpected external factors.
I’m saying this now, but I actually thought about ending the side story with the episode that went to Earth… but no matter how much I thought about it, I didn’t think that was right, so I expedited the original plan, and that’s how the Foreign News War episode came about.
But after finishing the foreign war story, I had a lot of thoughts.
It’s a side story that can’t be rewritten once it’s written, but it was really full of stories that were originally prepared.
Enmera doesn’t want to ruin the ending of the story because of external factors.
It’s already a bit crooked, but I don’t want to end it like this.
So in the end, I decided to just say the things I wanted to say.
It may be a bit irresponsible to say this, but in fact, many of the side stories after the war were stories that were close to ‘I want to see it, so I’m writing it for myself to see!’
Well, it’s embarrassing, but it’s true.
Anyway… As I continued to tell the stories I wanted to tell one by one, the number of side stories kept increasing.
This side story should have been concluded almost a month ago as originally planned, but somehow it just kept getting written.
There were many stories I wanted to write about here and there… I think it was because I wanted to be with Enmera’s story a little longer.
Actually, there are more side stories I want to write.
The reason Kamael wrote the Biltwein Heroes, the story of Fran and Velkian, who had relatively low roles among the five Paragon heroes who didn’t make much of an appearance in the side story, the story of Count Hresvelg with Vivian as the main character, Eugene and Yuria who went to Earth, Yuder and Cordelia who secretly follow Eugene and Yuria and watch them, the daily lives of Maia and Dahlia, etc…
But I felt like if I continued here, the side story would never end, so I decided to wrap it up for now.
Since the Enme webtoon is still being serialized, I think I’ll upload the remaining stories little by little whenever I get the chance, such as when a new season of the webtoon comes out…
The strength of the spin-off is that you can use it freely 😀
All the writings I have written so far are precious and each have their own meaning, but
Among them, Ending Maker is a piece that has a very special meaning to me.
If you have read several of my articles, you probably already know this,
There is one phrase that I always keep in my heart as a writer, and that I consider to be the most important.
‘A story only comes to life when there is someone to read it.’
Thank you to all the readers who brought life to the story called Ending Maker. Thank you so much.
I was able to enjoy writing the story called Ending Maker thanks to all of you who read it.
Yuder and Cordelia, Melissa and Belencia, Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee and Natasha, Landius and Lena, Kamael and Belkian and Fran, Lucas and Scarlett and Kaisa, Count Bayer and Count Chase, Maia and Dahlia, Eugene and Yuria, Regina and Erwin and Vivian, etc… … I was happy that everyone in Ending Maker was there.
I will be happy in the future too.
Father, mother, older sister,
The editor in charge who edited meticulously, Gunwoo and Hyeonseop who were always great conversation partners, and my close writers.
Thank you to Gaegrim, Jjalsoohaengja, and Pushu for the wonderful illustrations.
And DOES, who took charge of the webtoon.
Thank you all.
See you in the next work.
Have a happy day today too 😀
