Gold: The Borderland - Episode 10: What You Choose, What You Protect - Your Voice

Gold: The Borderland

Episode 10: What You Choose, What You Protect - Your Voice

The morning at Tenkoukan was quiet.

Tenkoukan is a place that does not belong entirely to any one country.

It was built to stand at the edge of the world and watch over everything.

Noah had been summoned and was heading to the top floor.

Light streaming in from the high windows slowly illuminated the white floor.

He opened the door.

Atlas was standing there.

He was looking out the window.

He looked the same as he always had.

However, he looked just a little bit more peaceful somehow.

"You've come."

Noah stood silently beside him.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

It was a quiet moment.

Eventually, Atlas opened his mouth to speak.

"I am stepping down from Gold."

Noah turned his gaze toward him.

He was not surprised.

I had been feeling that way for a while.

"...Is that you, Yulia?"

Atlas smiles faintly.

"I thought I had kept it hidden."

Beyond the window, the Moon Kingdom was visible.

The silver light is swaying quietly.

"I have watched over the world for a long time."

"I thought only of supporting the world."

"But..."

He pauses for a moment.

"I have found something I want to protect."

Noah listened in silence.

"A life spent protecting one person isn't so bad."

The scenes Noah had witnessed until now floated into his mind.

Ray and Shell.

The two of them, holding their newborn child, crying because they truly didn't want to let go.

Mirea.

Her smile changed little by little as she thought of someone.

The old man he met in the Moon Kingdom.

He had said until the very end that he wanted to see his daughter.

The Land of Water.

The Land of Fire.

The Land of Forests.

The Land of Light.

The Land of the Moon.

Everyone lived in different places.

But they were the same.

Everyone had something they wanted to protect.

Atlas says quietly.

"Noah"

"Starting today, you will inherit the Gold authority."

It was in that moment.

The record stone in the center of the mansion begins to glow faintly.

Gold.

The color I saw that day, my own color.

The color of the border.

"What would you choose?"

Noah thought for a moment.

It wasn't a long time.

The answer had already been decided.

"I am issuing my first order."

Atlas listened in silence.

Noah looked straight ahead.

And then he spoke.

"Children should be raised by their parents."

The air grew still.

"I will keep the ritual of fifteen."

"I will also keep the ritual of twenty."

"I will not deny aptitudes or roles."

"However."

Noah continued.

"People should be able to choose their own way of life."

Silence.

After a while, Atlas gave a small laugh.

"…I see."

That was all.

And that was enough.

Just one thing.

"From here on, it is predicted that there will be areas where education does not reach."

"I would like to ask you to take on the position of Special Contract Advisor for Gold. It only needs to be occasionally. I want you to be in Gold when it matters most."

Please, do not push yourself too hard.

Fifteen years later.

Tenkoukan.

The Ceremony of Fifteen was taking place.

Noah watched quietly from the recording seats on the upper level.

The first generation to be raised by their own parents.

The atmosphere was a little different from the old days.

Some were smiling.

Some were nervous.

Some were waving to their parents.

Watching such a scene, he felt a strange sensation.

It was a scene that we never had in the past.

And then, a young girl reached out her hand toward the stone.

It happened the moment she touched it.

The recording stone shook.

White.

Silver.

Pale gold.

The color would not settle.

The hall was filled with a buzz of excitement.

Beep. Beep.

The recording device stops and reboots.

Noah stands up quietly.

It was the place where he used to be.

Before long, characters appeared on the recording board.

[Undetermined]

Noah smiled quietly.

"...I see."

The twentieth ritual was taking place.

The first generation raised by their parents was being assigned to their permanent posts.

Children were running in front of the bakery.

Laughter mingled with the wind.

Someone falls.

Someone cries.

Someone laughs.

In the past, there were no children in this town.

That is different now.

Their voices were overflowing throughout the town.

An old woman, holding her grandchild's hand, is choosing bread.

"You look happy."

Noah muttered that, smiling slightly.

That was when it happened.

"Lord Noah!"

He turned around.

A girl was standing there.

Her long hair was swaying in the wind.

On her chest was a small golden emblem.

"I have been assigned here starting today."

The girl smiled.

"I am Karena."

"I am an assistant Gold officer and a general observation aide."

Noah was silent for a few seconds.

"...I haven't heard about this."

"I just told you."

"I received my badge from Lord Atlas."

A messenger came running up behind her.

"Lady Karena, you must not go out on your own. Lord Noah, Lady Karena is quite active, but she does not always keep her promises."

"I wanted to greet Lord Noah."

"Lady Karena, please return."

A new educational period had been established for the first generation raised by parents.

It was the new Gold education system created by Noah.

"I'm going to look around the city a little more before I head back."

"Understood, Lord Noah. What shall we do, Lady Karena?"

"Ah. It's fine. I'll take her back with me."

"Yay! Can we go see the bakery?"

"Lady Karena..."

The messenger left, unable to hide their troubled expression.

It was on the way back.

A familiar voice called out from behind.

"Hey!"

It was Ray.

Shell was by his side as well.

Both of them had aged a little.

"Come to think of it."

Shell looked at Karena.

"Do you know the meaning of your name?"

Karena tilted her head.

"Noah was the one who gave you that name."

The air stood still.

Karena looks at Noah slowly.

"...Huh?"

"Wait."

"Why are you saying that?"

Ray laughs.

Shell was also smiling, which was rare.

Karena smiled quietly.

"Wait! I want to know what that means! But before that, how do you know Noah?"

When the four of them are together, Noah laughs innocently.

The wind blew.

The laughter of children can be heard.

Someone is thinking of someone else, calling their name.

"Karena."

That name was given by Noah.

By one who once stood at the border of the world.

By one who was never given a formal name by anyone.

Now, they have bestowed a name upon someone else.

Karena.

There is an old legend.

-Karena-

In the language passed down since ancient times in the Moon Kingdom, it means one who connects the light.

One who belongs nowhere completely, yet continues to connect someone to someone else.

Noah gave her a name, pouring that wish into it.

That those who stand on the border do not choose the light, but connect it.

Gold.

Forest, water, fire, moon, light.

One who belongs nowhere, and has seen everything.

Noah wished.

Not to be an existence that separates people.

But to be an existence that connects one person to another.

With that thought in mind, Noah gave her a name.

"Karena."

The wind blows.

The laughter of children echoed through the town.

"Noah!"

Karena, running ahead, waves her hand vigorously.

Noah narrowed his eyes just a little.

He remembers the day he held that newborn child.

A white cloth.

A small hand.

A small fingertip that reached out gently toward my own finger.

It was a soft hand, one that felt like it might break.

For some reason, I still remember that warmth even now.

I didn't understand it back then.

But I felt like I understood it a little better now.

Perhaps the desire to protect something had started back then.

Belonging to nowhere.

Being no one.

Even when I heard I had received the badge, it still didn't feel real.

But now, watching the figure walking ahead of me, I felt like I understood a little bit.

There is a child I gave a name to.

They were small and crying.

Now, here, there is a scene I want to protect.

Those who stand on the border do not choose the light.

They connect the light.

Noah smiled faintly.

I see.

That small life was...

The child I gave a name to was...

It was Gold.


Karena.

You... you were Gold.

Beyond the sky, the morning light was spreading quietly.

Gold: The Borderland

(Episode 10 End)

"Gold: The Borderland" A quiet castle. The remaining sound.

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