Novel "The Three-Color Dango's Journey with a Child" 2-8

The temple corridor was so narrow and cramped that it seemed tight for the tall Ren, and it was a struggle for visitors to even pass each other. The stone walls of the corridor were covered in thick moss and were damp and moist.
Since there was only one stone-paved path, there was no chance of getting lost.

On the way, Trey heard two women who passed by them whispering to each other,
“...Hey, that was amazing, wasn't it...!”
“...It really was!”
Trey heard them say.

The sound of flowing water had been audible for a while, but it was gradually getting louder. It was as intense as a waterfall.

“Be careful not to slip, especially you, Mint.”
“Okay.”

Mint was looking in various directions as she walked.
“Oh, a pixie.”
“Oh, a transparent butterfly.”
She would find things that Trey couldn't see and wave her hand at them.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The deepest part of the temple where the Blue Dragon's sacrifice is enshrined. The moment they stepped into the space that had suddenly opened up from the narrow corridor they had been walking through—a place so high the ceiling was invisible—Mint's mouth fell open in a perfect circle, and Trey's eyes widened.
Only Ren remained expressionless.

At the back of the large space, an ice pillar towered from the floor against the wall. Or rather than a pillar, it looked like a single mural. On that wall, water droplets, small fish, and bubbles could be seen as if they were about to start moving at any moment, and in the center stood a woman with long hair.

Her light blue hair drifted as if in waves, swaying longer than her ankles in gentle ripples. Yet, it never moved. Because it looked like it was about to move but didn't, it also looked like a realistic painting. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were softly clasped in front of her chest. Trey found himself drawn to the woman's beauty and her pure white dress. The fabric shimmered, illuminated by the pale light from the ceiling.

She was beautiful.

Without saying a word (even Mint), Trey and Mint wandered toward the ice pillar. Like moths drawn to a flame.

—So her hair, her skin, her body... they are fading away like this...

Ren, glaring at the ice pillar, stood with his hands on his hips, staring intently at the sacrifice... at Harp. About ten years had passed since Harp became the sacrifice, and Ren had visited this place once, though he had hesitated. Seeing Harp, who could no longer even speak, was terrifying. He had thought that if he saw her, he might collapse to his knees and never be able to stand up again.

—Her hair and body back then were much more vivid...

Dragons with immense magical power become the Four Great Sacrifices. A ritual is performed in a space called the Sacrifice Pillar, and like the Harp they were looking at now, the "time" of that moment stops. Then, the sacrifice's magical power is used endlessly to support the people. The water, which was also a crystallization of Harp's magical power, flowed from bottom to top in this space. On the walls other than the one with the ice pillar, water constantly flowed toward the heavens, and this strange sight, defying gravity, represented the overwhelming greatness of the sacrifice.

Ren noticed a figure in the corner of the ice pillar wall.
They were huddled over, wearing a black robe.
Perhaps they were just kneeling on the ground offering a prayer.

—I need to gather some information...

Ren approached the figure in the black robe...

***

"Why must Harp be the sacrifice?"

Long ago, under a sky full of stars, they had once sat huddled together on a small island, talking. Ren was still young back then. Though, being a dragon, even "young" meant he had lived for an impossible number of years for a human.

"Well, are you against it, Ren?"

Harp asked, smiling leisurely beside Ren. Her deep blue eyes, framed by fluffy eyelashes, seemed to find amusement in Ren's words rather than reproach.

"Against it, you say... Well, if you've decided on this, Harp, I have nothing to say..."
"Right? You're so kind, Ren. You respect my feelings."

Harp said this and looked up at the sky.
There was little time left until the ritual of sacrifice. That day was the last time they would meet.

If Harp became the sacrifice, it would last for a hundred years, but if another Blue Dragon became the sacrifice, they would have to be replaced in fifty or sixty years. Someone else's name would simply be carved into the stone monument, that was all.

"...I feel like if I said I wouldn't be the sacrifice, I would never be able to forgive myself while someone else was serving as the sacrifice."
"Harp, there's no need for you to blame yourself... I understand how you feel, but..."
"Yes... that's true... I could say 'I won't do it'..."

In truth, she wanted to stay by Ren's side.
In truth, she wanted to keep flying through the sky with Ren.

Those feelings were her own. What was being asked of her was not that, but something for the sake of humans, for the sake of greater happiness. To have the Blue Dragon worshipped, for the future of their kind.

"Hey, Ren."
"What is it?"
"Do you think this world will really get better?"

Harp always wished for it.

"Please, oh please, may everyone's hearts be at peace."

She had traveled the skies of the world with Harp. They never landed in towns where humans lived, but whenever they flew leisurely through the sky, children who saw them would have their eyes sparkle and shout, "Look! There's a red and blue dragon!"

"I don't know."

Ren, having shifted from his massive Red Dragon form into his human guise with milky-pink hair, sat on the sandy beach beside Harp, not even wearing his red deer leather armor.

"I don't know, but... I intend to continue my journey in this form from now on, so that Harp's wish may come true."

Harp laughed softly, a small giggle.
As she laughed, a single tear spilled and fell.

"...I'm sorry, Ren. I won't be able to... be with you..."

The final words could not be spun. It is impossible to put true feelings into words. With the truth kept hidden until the very last moment, there is nothing to do but give one's all to the task only one can perform. There is no room for hesitation.

Ren gently pulled the sobbing Harp into an embrace.

Wrapping up Harp's mission, the wishes for the world, and the hope to leave behind for future generations—everything in its entirety—Ren cherished this final meeting.

The starry sky was watching.
Those stars, too, were merely flickers from far, far away.
The world is in constant flux.

A quietly lapping sandy beach.

Two shadows merged into one.

(To be continued)

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