Extra in a Romance Fantasy

200 – Faith

In the past, there existed a clan on the continent that could see the future.

In that clan, a child with the ability to foresee the future was born in every generation.

Why was it that a child with such abilities was born once per generation?

No one knew the reason, yet the clan did not find it strange.

They simply took the child with the ability to see the future, the ‘Child of God,’ as their leader, and lived as the ‘Child of God’ led them.

Without revealing that ability to the outside world, maintaining only minimal contact with it.

Typically, as contact with the outside world diminished, life became increasingly distant from abundance, but the clan was different.

Thanks to the power of the ‘Child of God,’ the clan was not wealthy, but neither were they impoverished; they could live their own lives.

Then one day, a child was born into the clan.

A child with the ability to see the future.

That in itself was not unusual.

It was simply the same story as always, the ‘Child of God’ of the time had been born.

However, this child was different from the other ‘Children of God.’

The abilities they possessed were vastly different.

Though they were called by the grand name of ‘Child of God,’ the futures they could see were quite limited.

It was not common for them to see the future, and even when they did, it was mostly vague and indistinct.

But this child was different.

Every day, as naturally as breathing, they could see the future, and they saw it more clearly and certainly than anyone else.

They could see what would happen tomorrow, the day after, in a week, a month, a year—so vividly it felt tangible.

The child naturally became the ‘Child of God’ of their time and the leader of the clan.

With that ability, they revitalized the clan.

They invested in ventures that could yield profits from their foresight, amassing wealth in heaps.

As a result, the clan experienced unprecedented prosperity.

Time passed.

The child became a woman.

—

The woman was treated with more reverence than any ‘Child of God’ in history.

It was only natural, given that her power had brought about an unprecedented revival for her clan, but the treatment she received was far beyond that.

The people of the clan regarded her with a devotion greater than that reserved for kings or emperors.

It was because her abilities were extraordinarily strong.

Among the many ‘Children of God’ born throughout the clan’s history, her power was so unparalleled that the clan began to believe she was not merely a ‘Child of God,’ but rather that a god had descended into the world, taking on human form.

Thus, the clan’s people began to ‘worship’ her.

As if she were truly a deity, they approached her with the utmost reverence.

That attitude, she also accepted.

She had no choice but to accept it.

She knew well that no matter what she said, their attitude would not change.

In this way, as the ‘god’ of the clan rather than a ‘Child of God,’ she lived on.

Confined within a grand mansion, meeting only the occasional visitors from her clan.

It was an incredibly stifling environment, yet she never thought to escape from it.

She understood well the dangers her abilities posed.

She understood well how perilous the outside world could be.

Thus, she lived on in her luxurious cage.

Then one day came.

As she was in the mansion like any other day, she noticed the commotion outside.

So, she sought out a member of her clan and asked what was happening.

He hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“…An outsider has entered the village. They are causing a stir, asking to be allowed into the forest and wanting to meet the clan’s leader.”

Next to the village where the clan resided, there was a forest.

A forest that the clan had managed for many years.

A place untouched by human hands, home to precious animals and plants, a location that would drive scholars from across the continent to madness.

There were some who came to the village with the intention of visiting that forest.

Thus, she nodded quietly.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been something she wouldn’t have cared about.

However, for some reason, on that day, she found herself intrigued by the commotion and the culprit behind it.

Whether it was a mere whim or destiny, she could not tell.

“I want to meet them.”

She decided to meet the outsider.

“Um… hello?”

She came to meet him.

The man who would later be called a hero, Ferdion.

*

From that meeting, she occasionally found herself meeting Ferdion.

Sometimes there was a purpose, and sometimes there was none at all.

Whenever Ferdion had business nearby, he would come to the village to see her.

And he would share with her the tales of his experiences, the adventures he had undertaken.

The more she listened to those stories, the more she faced him, the more intrigued she became by the man named Ferdion.

It was not strange.

In fact, it was perhaps only natural.

Ferdion was the only person she could not read.

Normally, the moment she faced someone, she could glean a great deal.

From their future to the past they had lived.

However, with Ferdion, she could not read his past, and it was difficult to see his future.

Sometimes glimpses of his future would appear, but curiously, they never aligned.

The future connected to him changed with every action he took.

He was the first person like that in her life, and naturally, she grew fascinated with Ferdion.

At the same time, she was captivated by the extraordinary adventures he recounted and the myriad wonders of the outside world.

And one day, she finally found herself thinking.

That she wanted to follow Ferdion.

That she wanted to watch over him by his side.

That she wanted to embark on various adventures with him.

But that was a wish that could not be fulfilled.

For she was fated never to leave this place.

She knew well what would happen if her abilities were revealed.

She was curious about the outside world, yet terrified.

And she feared causing trouble for him, Ferdion.

And she feared being rejected by him.

—

Therefore, she decided to quietly bury that wind deep within her heart.

However, it seemed she was not very skilled at hiding it.

“Shall we go together?”

One day, he asked her that.

To that question, she nodded her head up and down far too easily.

Thus, the bird left its cage.

*

The woman who had followed Ferdion out of her clan embarked on many adventures with him.

She stopped the rampage of the guardian created by the great sorcerer of the past, solved a mysterious plague, and defeated a monstrous creature of considerable size.

She faced countless adventures and encountered numerous crises.

As she adventured with him, spending time together,

She came to understand.

The joy of life.

The joy of walking alongside someone.

By Ferdion’s side, she was undoubtedly happy.

She wished and wished for that happiness to last forever.

Yet, that wish did not come true.

With the opening of the ‘door,’ that happiness came to an end.

Suddenly, as the ‘door’ opened and the sky darkened, ‘it’ set foot in this world.

Ferdion and his companions recognized the danger of ‘it’ and engaged in battle.

And, after a fierce struggle, they drove ‘it’ out of this world.

However, as a price for that,

He, Ferdion, died.

Amidst the excruciating sense of loss, as if her heart had been torn out, she saw.

The calamity that would rise again in the future.

A calamity that would surely bring about the world’s destruction.

Even seeing that future, she could not choose to cut it off in advance.

For ‘it,’ the ‘king,’ had left behind a golden decree and curse that hindered her and her companions before returning.

In the end, all she and the remaining companions could do was prepare for the impending calamity.

Among those preparations, the most important was to find Ferdion’s soul.

The soul of Ferdion, who had perished in the battle against the ‘King,’ could not remain in this world.

Perhaps it was due to the ‘Gate’ that the space had become unstable; his soul had flown away to another realm.

She had to find his soul.

For it was the only way to prevent the impending disaster.

Thus, she and her companions began their search for the world to which Ferdion’s soul had fled.

Using a tool that their companion Berhavil, the greatest magician of the continent, had to locate his soul.

It was a painstaking task.

There were countless realms, and there was not a single clue as to which world his soul had gone to.

In other words, it was as difficult as finding a single grain of sand in a vast desert.

Naturally, it took a long time.

A year passed, then three years, ten years, and fifty years.

As time went on, her companions began to age.

Though they were all superhumans beyond the realm of humans, even they could not escape the passage of time.

Only the woman remained free from the flow of time.

It was because she had deeply connected herself to the ‘Source,’ knowing that the task would take a long time.

She was born with a connection deeper than anyone else.

She knew where her abilities came from, and she also knew how to wield them.

Through that, she overcame the limitations of her lifespan.

In exchange for escaping aging, she had to watch.

Watch as her companions grew old.

And as they died.

When nearly a hundred years had passed, one companion died, and as if that was the beginning, her companions began to die one by one.

Each left behind words asking her to take care of things.

As time flowed, the woman found herself alone.

Alone, she continued to wander in search of his soul.

Without entangling herself with anyone, she remained solitary.

She could not converse with anyone, nor could she build any relationships.

It was because she was deeply connected to the Source.

As the price for escaping her lifespan, she had become bound.

She could no longer easily interfere in the affairs of the world.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t interfere at all, but there were limits.

Thus, she had to leave some room to breathe.

She had to build a foundation to resist the calamity that would someday come.

So, she wandered alone in search of Ferdion’s soul.

Time flowed once more.

A year passed, then ten years, fifty years, and a hundred years.

She spent a time so long it was hard to count, all alone.

Only searching for Ferdion’s soul.

It was agonizing.

It felt as if she might go mad.

The disease of loneliness gnawed at her heart and mind.

Yet, no matter how painful it was, she couldn’t stop.

To protect this world, she had to find him.

Only Ferdion could prevent the calamity that would return.

And above all, she wanted to see him again.

With that single-minded determination, she endured.

She withstood the loneliness that felt like it would drive her mad.

Reflecting on her time with him, savoring their memories.

Thus, hundreds of years passed.

Finally, she discovered the world where Ferdion’s soul resided.

It was a joy beyond measure, but there was no time to celebrate.

That was just the beginning.

Now, she had to find Ferdion’s soul and bring him into this world.

And for that, she needed the help of a wizard.

After a considerable time searching for candidates, she made her decision.

To borrow the power of a wizard named Beluid Demens.

His skills were beyond question, well-versed in spatial magic, and he had a good reputation as a grand sorcerer.

She decided to seek his assistance.

To be safe, she borrowed the power of the source and confirmed his character before approaching him with her request.

At first, Beluid reacted as if he found it hard to believe her words.

It was a natural reaction. The story was far too absurd to believe outright.

However, using the proof of the Golden Rule and the tools left by Verhabill, she was ultimately able to persuade Beluid.

Thus, she began her search for the reincarnation of Ferdion in the world called Earth.

Among the branches of the future she had read, she wove together a virtually impossible future in the form of a novel, scattering it across Earth as a tool to find him.

It served as both a means to locate him and a provision for his future.

To ensure he wouldn’t be flustered when he arrived in this world, and to provide him with knowledge he could use once he fell into this realm.

Years passed, and she and Beluid finally found Ferdion’s reincarnation, using the power of the source to resurrect him in this world.

By the side of the heroine in the novel she had written.

At that moment, she was seized by an intense urge to meet him immediately.

But she couldn’t do that.

If she did, everything she had painstakingly prepared would become tangled, and she had tasks to complete.

She had to establish a foundation to keep the ‘King’s’ minions in check.

To delay the impending disaster, to buy him time to grow.

In the end, she suppressed her desire to meet him and set off on her journey.

Entrusting the protection of the most important mountain to the reliable Beluid, she began to wander the continent.

She started to rescue those harmed by the ‘cult’ created by the ‘King’s’ minion, the ‘Master,’ and began to keep the cult in check by her own means.

In that state, time flowed once more.

A year, two years passed, and after eighteen years had gone by.

She finally faced him.

The reincarnation of Ferdion, Wade.

In the dwelling she had arranged within the academy, with Beluid’s help, in the ‘Historical Research Society’ to watch over him.

She had indeed reunited with him.

Originally, she had no intention of meeting him until everything was over.

She merely intended to observe, just in case something unforeseen occurred.

Yet, by some twist of fate, he had come to that obscure club of which even its existence was unknown, and the two unexpectedly reunited.

The moment she saw Wade, she recognized him at a glance.

That he was the reincarnation of Ferdion.

His face had changed, and he looked quite different.

But those eyes were undoubtedly Ferdion’s.

The moment she met those eyes, she found herself choked up.

Something hot surged up from her chest.

Did you know how much I wanted to see you, how long I waited?

She wanted to embrace him and speak.

But she barely held it back.

It couldn’t be like that.

It wasn’t time to say everything yet.

She didn’t want to appear strange to him, whom she met after hundreds of years.

So, holding back her tears with great effort,

she forced a smile and pretended to be calm as she said,

“Oh my, we have a guest.”

Thus, Wade became a member of the ‘Historical Research Society.’

She was able to watch Wade closely.

As she observed him from the side, she confirmed once again.

That he was the reincarnation of Ferdion.

A personality that couldn’t leave someone in distress.

Perhaps a broader concern than anyone in the world.

A talent that seemed to transcend the perception of a god of war descending directly.

…Even if he had no intention of doing so, he captured the hearts of women.

Everything was just like Ferdion.

He had not changed.

He was exactly the same as he was hundreds of years ago.

He changed the life of a woman who would have been swept away in futility, saved a woman who was about to kill and tarnish her father’s honor, and rescued a woman who was on the brink of losing everything and cursing the world.

He survived even while being pursued by the empire, overcoming the threat of death time and again.

And now, he was facing disaster, bearing the fate of humanity on his shoulders.

The woman, Lunia, knew better than anyone.

The path Ferdion, Wade had walked, the crises and trials he had faced and overcome.

That he was the one who made the impossible possible.

So.

“I believe.”

She believed.

—

That he would not give up.

And that, in the end, he would succeed.