Chapter 46 _ Peaceful Rest, or the Village of Despair
With the golden glow of Irrablatis fading behind us,
we once again turned north.
Our destination was Mount Iapetus,
the legendary sanctuary said to be home to the Divine Bird.
Beyond this point, the lights of civilization grew scarce.
Only a handful of villages—barely marked on old maps—
remained to connect the harsh road ahead.
“Hey, Wilfred,” I asked.
“How long until the next place we can rest?”
“…There are no more cities,” he replied.
“Only villages. And…”
He stopped walking, his expression darkening.
“To be honest, I’d rather not stop at the next one.
It’s about five days away, but whether we go or not—
that’s your call, Leader.”
“You don’t want to stop there?”
“What kind of place is it?”
“…Yurikiishik Village.
Also known as the Village of Despair.”
“The Village of… Despair?”
“Relax. It’s not dangerous—
at least, not in the usual sense,” Wilfred said quietly.
“…There’s just nothing there.
Nothing at all.”
His voice carried a damp heaviness.
The name alone unsettled me.
But as the cold grew harsher the farther north we went,
abandoning a guaranteed resting point after five days of travel
wasn’t a realistic option.
“…If our safety is assured, let’s go,” I decided.
“We need to rest when we can, or we won’t last.”
The road grew lonelier with each step northward.
Once a trade route,
it was now choked by weeds,
with barely a trace of travelers left behind.
Even through the thick winter gear we’d bought in Irrablatis,
the freezing wind cut into our skin.
Don’t look ahead.
Just focus on the next step.
Repeating that to myself,
we spent five nights sleeping under the open sky.
As dusk painted the world deep indigo,
a faint light finally appeared ahead.
We passed through a crude wooden gate
surrounding the village.
There was an inn.
A general store.
Buildings that looked like places to eat.
And yet—
“…What is this?” Iris whispered.
“This doesn’t feel like the same world as Irrablatis at all.”
The village was deathly quiet.
People were there.
But there was no sound of life.
In their eyes,
there was no trace of hope for tomorrow.
“This is where people whose dreams have been shattered end up,”
Hans said in an unusually low voice.
“…That’s what Yurikiishik is.”
“In the old tongue,” she continued,
“Yurikiishik means ‘May you rest in peace.’
Literally, it’s a village people come to… to end their lives.”
“……”
As we headed toward the inn,
we saw a massive pillar of fire rising from the central square.
Twenty… maybe thirty people
surrounded the flames,
heads bowed, praying with desperate devotion.
On a raised altar stood a man,
his hollow yet feverish chant echoing into the night.
“…What is that?” I whispered.
“Shhh,” Hans hissed,
pressing a finger to her lips.
A deep, instinctive revulsion crawled up my spine.
I quickened my pace, pushing it down.
Once inside the inn’s shared room,
we locked the door and finally exhaled.
“So?” Wilfred asked.
“Just like I said. There’s nothing here.”
“Too much nothing,” I replied.
“Iris looks terrified.”
“…Those people,” Hans said softly,
“belong to the Phoenix Cult.”
She explained quietly.
“There’s a legend in this world.
When everything reaches its end,
the Divine Bird will cleanse the world
with flames of rebirth and reset it.”
“In other words,
they believe the Divine Bird is their savior.”
“People who’ve lost everything cling to that belief,”
Wilfred added.
“…But it’s not just shattered dreams.
Anyone who’s lost hope in the world eventually comes here.
That’s Yurikiishik.”
“People who’ve lost hope…”
The words caught in my throat.
“…I think I understand,” I said slowly.
“When life treats people unfairly,
they start doubting the existence of gods.
And the last thing they cling to
is the idea of being ‘reset’…”
“…Yeah,” Iris said quietly.
“When my days felt like hell,
I hated the gods too.”
“But then Mario saved me.
And my master taught me…”
She smiled faintly.
“Now I can think that even that pain
might have been a necessary path
to who I am today.”
“Iris…”
“Hey—don’t make that face,” she said with a small laugh.
“I’m okay now.”
She smiled.
“Every person faces waves they cannot avoid,”
Frey said gently, her tone calm and instructive.
“Even I never imagined my true body
would be bound across time and space,
leaving me to wander in this form.”
“…People aren’t that strong,” she continued.
“Some can’t endure the storm long enough
for time to heal them.”
She turned her soft gaze toward Iris.
“Iris… you and I are among the luckiest.
We have companions who help us stand again.”
“To have someone extend a hand
with no expectation of reward—
that is a miracle in this world.”
“Master…”
Iris’s eyes shimmered.
The silence grew heavy.
I stood, breaking it.
“…It gives you a lot to think about,” I said.
“But for now, let’s eat and rest.”
“We leave at dawn.
We’re the ones who are going to meet that Divine Bird.”
After a simple meal,
we lay down close together and fell asleep.
Outside the window,
the prayers for the world’s end continued without pause.
May the flames they seek
become not destruction—
but a small spark of hope.
With gratitude for the miraculous bonds we had found,
I let myself sink into deep sleep.
