"The Runaway Wizard" Season 2 Epilogue

"The Runaway Wizard" Season 2 Epilogue

(Epilogue)

--Speaking of the sea... it was a long time ago, but there is a scene that I still remember.

At the time, I was building a crab farm on a large sandy beach. A crab farm is a sophisticated pastime in which you build an enclosure out of sand, put crabs in it, and observe their movements. It's more fun if you put in lots of crabs, but they tend to fight, so you need to concentrate.

I saw four crabs standing together in harmony on my farm. It was unusual. They might be family or close friends.

As I gazed on with a smile, a friend of mine sitting next to me spoke with a serious look on his face. He always talks about what he wants to talk about, when he wants to talk about it.

"****... If you continue to live, you may see this beach may disappear."

"The beach? Why?"

That would be a problem. I wouldn't be able to build a crab farm. I loved this game. I was sure I would never get bored of it, even after a thousand years.

"Because the ocean will come closer. It will take thousands of years."

I looked back at the sea. Perhaps it was low tide, as the sea had receded into the distance, occasionally making its presence known with a modest splash. Could the sea, so far away, really be swallowing up this stretch of sandy beach...?

"The seaside scenery doesn't change that much, does it?"

"That's why I said it's will take thousands of years."

He had a look of exasperation on his face. Whenever I didn't understand what he was saying, he always made that face. It made me feel like he was saying, "How stupid you are," and it made me a little annoyed.

"Then, I'll come back in a few thousand years to see if it's gone. If it's a lie, I won't forgive you even if you apologize."

"Is that so? Well, since I said so, I guess I'll see it through together."

"How can you live for thousands of years? Even though you're human?"

I knew he'd been alive for nearly hundreds of years. I didn't know why. Maybe it was magic or something I didn't know about. But I had a premonition that he would probably die soon. I knew that no matter how long a person lives, there is always an end.

He began using a metal walking stick to replace his now immobile legs, and he spent most of the day sleeping. The only thing that remained the same was his mouth, which still moved fluently.

But he smiled confidently.

"You look like you don't believe me. Very well, see you here again in a few thousand years."

His decisive attitude made me lose a little confidence.

"If you come back here in a few thousand years, and we meet here, I will consider it my victory. See you, ****. There's still a long way to go, so take your time and think up a speech in defeat."

•

•

Then, a thousand years later, I went to the beach. It certainly seemed like the ocean was closer than when I had been there before. But the beach was still vast. I couldn't believe that the entire beach would disappear.

I haven't been to that beach since then. There's still a few thousand years left, as he said. And then I heard through the grapevine that he had died.

...See, I thought so.

However, I will probably visit that beach thousands of years from now. ...I will never meet him, so only one of the two conditions - "I will come to the beach thousands of years from now" and "I will meet him" - can be fulfilled. I will think about which one wins when the time comes.

★

It's been a while since I had an old dream.

In my dream, the acquaintance was walking along the beach, just as he was back then, with the same smile on his face that hadn't changed at all.

The hem of his worn-out robe dragged in the sand, and as always, he proudly recounted some trivial story.

I was next to him, nodding along without even listening to half of what he was saying.

When I opened the window, a sticky sea breeze and the sound of waves crashing came in - and it smelled the same as that time.

Well, I'm at the beach with the hero party. The first day was very fulfilling, with us building a big sandcastle and playing ball. Now, what should we do today?

Afterwards, as I listened to the sound of the waves in the distance, I somehow remembered the dream I had just had. Then, I suddenly had a good idea.

--That's right. I'll make a promise with them.

There's also a sandy beach right there. To me, a sandy beach means a promise. Since we're here, we might as well bury something there.

By the time I dig it up, if the hero and everyone else who said they wouldn't let me escape are already gone, then I can laugh and say I've won, and take it all. If there's still someone next to me, give it to them as a prize.

On a whim, I went to call the three of them. They had been grimacing in the dining room since morning, but I managed to drag them to the beach, almost by force. They were all so reluctant to move that it seemed like a thousand years would pass if I had waited.

When I insisted, "I want to see the beach while I can," the three of them burst into tears for some reason, then stood up with a look of determination on their faces.

Then, I led the way and we all came to the beach. Afterwards, there was a bit of a fuss when I said, "I want to bury our mementos together," but somehow I managed to get everyone to agree. ...Do humans lose moisture from crying so much...?

"It's probably okay around here."

The burial site was chosen to be a small sand dune, far from the shore.

The princess tilted her head and asked, "Are you sure this is the right place?", but then she looked out to sea and quickly understood. At first, the three of them looked stiff, but gradually smiles began to appear...

We all sat down on the hill and discussed what to bury there, going back and forth between the two of them.

Everyone gathers around a letter in a bottle.

The princess wrote a greeting that read, "To us in the future."

The hero wrote a somewhat carefree account of his recent situation.

The swordsman said "that's stupid," but added one more thing.

Finally, I drew a picture of the four of us leaning against each other and smiling.

"Then let's all dig it up again in a thousand years!"

When the princess said this, the hero laughed and said, "That's a good idea!", and the swordsman muttered, "...If only I could remember."

--Summer breeze. The smell of the sea.

I was confident that I was the only one who would remember the voices from that day even a thousand years from now.

★

(~1000 years later~)

Gazing at the shore, which now comes much closer than it did back then, I looked back at the spot where we had buried the bottle. The waves had come so close, and there was no trace of the sand dune where we had once sat.

The wind blowing in from the sea gently stirred up the sand. I could smell the same scent as back then. It was somehow nostalgic, and it tickled the depths of my heart.

Even now, I felt like if I called, he would answer.

I felt like if I called out to someone, they would laugh and turn around.

--Of course, there's no one there.

Still, I gently waved my hand.

But nothing came in return, just the wind blowing silently through.

Only the smell of sand and the sound of the sea gently caressed my cheeks, like a memory.

I feel like I can now understand a little bit of what an old acquaintance once said to me: "Let's meet again in a few thousand years."

--"Let's dig it up again in a thousand years."

I can still hear her voices laughing as she said that.

AN: It starts with an epilogue, but the main story begins next.