Irium

"Let me test how much of a man you have become in all these years."

"…"

"So, what do you say? How about a duel between father and son?" He asks as if it really is a question.

"It"s your realm. I can"t deny your wish, can I?" I ask.

"Well, unfortunately for you, Irium, you can"t." He says and takes a long breath.

And so it is decided that the two of us, father and son, will fight a duel against each other?

"What would be the rules of this little duel of ours?" I ask.

"How about we both go all out?" He suggests.

"Are you kidding? You are an experienced mage and I don"t even know anything about magic. Going all out will be completely unfair towards me." I say, with a bit of a scowl.

"That"s true." He only smiles in return as he says so, "But you were willing to go against people far more powerful than me to save that woman, were you not?"

He points in the stands, at the woman (or Angel) sitting in the stands. I don"t think there"s any point in telling who that Angel is. Beside her is a human mage I know very well. And beside the two of them, at a little distance, is the second-in-command of this realm.

"Saving her – that is my responsibility."

"Oh come on! You saying that even after taking to Priscina"s AI makes it sound lame." He tells me so.

"…" Well, it"s true. When Priscina"s AI broke a dam inside my head and let my real feeling show, my answers to her questions changed. And my answer to her "Roswaisa?" had changed from "responsibility" to "wife".

But what does that mean? Have I accepted her as my wife? Is that why I am so desperate to save her? Is it not my guilty conscience of having my plan getting her killed that is driving me but love? I don"t think so. I feel nothing inside of me that I have never felt before, and love definitely is something I have never felt before.

"Well, looks like you took it more seriously than I thought you would." My father says in a mocking voice and then asks, "So then, do you agree to the rule for the duel – go all out?"

Surprisingly, my conscience tells me I"ll be fine and that I should agree to his condition. And well, one of the few people in the world that I respect told me to follow my conscience, so that"s what I will do.

"Yes, I am fine with it." I say as I look directly at my opponent for the duel, and he looks directly at me.

"Alright then, the duel only ends when one of us dies or gives up." He says.

And despite what you would expect me to say, my answer is, "That"s fine with me."

*****

"Did he just say he is fine with it?" I ask, confused as to why.

"He most certainly did, Roswaisa." Trevor says with a smile.

"But … why? Why is he agreeing to something like this?" I can"t bring myself to understand anything that is going on anymore. First of all, Irium will be fighting his father. Second, he will be fighting him to death. Third, he is at a great disadvantage.

From an emotional standpoint as well as from a logical standpoint, this doesn"t make any sense at all.

"Danny, why is Irium agreeing to this?" I ask as I turn to him, hoping he could answer. But,

"I don"t know." His gaze downcast, he answers me in a sad voice. "I can"t get what"s going through their heads right now. But, I do understand that … that …"

"That what?" I press him for an answer because of my inability to calm myself.

"I do understand that the doctor, or rather, Kaylith … he would tell you the secret to mastering Absolute Frost Requiem if Irium agrees to his whimsies. If that happens and you are able to master Absolute Frost Requiem, then you will be stronger and be capable of beating Aknin Vielos. That would fulfill our purpose for coming here."

That"s something, but still, how can that purpose of his be more valuable to him than his life?

"You really don"t get it, do you?" Trevor asks.

I look at him, hoping for an answer and he sighs as he gives it to me,

"That kid has accepted the bond that fate had forced on him. So, he finds it to be a duty to save you, even if it means to give us his own life in the process." Trevor claims so.

"Yeah, that might be right." And Danny supports his claim.

But I don"t get it. What did I ever do for him to go so far? What did I ever do to make his accept whatever bond Trevor is talking about? What did I ever do to deserve this?

"Roswaisa," Danny calls out my name and says, "From your face, I can tell what you are thinking. So let me clear something up for you."

He does really seem to understand what I am thinking, and so he continues, "It"s less about you, and more about him."

"Huh?" I … kinda understand what he is saying. But, I would hope for my understanding to be wrong.

"Irium, innately, is incapable of accepting the norms." Danny says, "He can put up facades if he needs to but, on a deeper level, he has always hated norms."

"…"

"He is someone who can see the bad in the n.o.blest person and the good in the most heinous one. He is someone who can have an open-mind to everything, despite the circ.u.mstances. And because that is so, he sees people, regardless of the race, for who they are. And so, he understands that every life in the world is precious."

"…"

"That realization has cost him a lot so he tries to distract himself from the society again and again to make sure thoughts related to that don"t come into his head but, when it comes down to it, he can"t let people"s lives be wasted. He may be able to live with someone dying outside his knowledge, but someone he knows dying, he can"t accept it."

"…"

"You are someone he has a connection to, and your unfortunate demise in the future may have forced him to accept that connection, as a tribute to your future self. And so, as a person who can"t let people die in front of his eyes anyway, how can he let someone he has connection to him stay dead if he has a chance to save them?"

"…"

"…"

He doesn"t say anything past that, leaving me to repeat everything he just said again and again, only to come to the conclusion that, "He is less of a human and more of an Angel."

"Yes, you might be right." Danny says with a grim look.

"Hah!" Trevor sighs and yells, "Alright then, if the two duelists have prepared enough, it"s time for the duel to start."

*****