[Short Story Collection - Flower Crown] Episode 25: 'Retelling (Part 2)'
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Retelling (Part 2) - Salim -
The moment the page opened the darkness, the contours of the world slowly began to melt away.
Sound vanished, light receded, and only the heavy, sinking air remained.
Something like black mist seeped out from the gaps in the bookshelves.
It was neither cold nor hot.
It was as if the 'untold thoughts' had been breathed back to life.
"...Salim."
Grage's voice dropped low.
Can you feel it? That scent from back then... rain, mud, and blood.
I can almost hear his voice.
I nodded slowly.
It was neither a memory nor a recreation.
It was simply, truly—Fail's presence, alive.
At that moment, a wind blew from the depths of the library.
Gently, as if calling to us.
The black mist parted, and a single path emerged.
Beyond it, a faint light was glowing.
"...Can you see it?"
Grage answered my question.
Fail's book... it's trying to make us move forward.
I looked down at the book I held to my chest.
The blue cover felt warm, somehow.
It even seemed as if the book itself wanted to tell its story.
Deep in the darkness—
The fireplace opened its mouth to the basement.
Stone stairs.
The path leading down into the basement was just sunk in blackness.
Salim. The basement is calling us... No, is it Fail who is calling?
I nodded slightly.
“The words Fail left behind. Won't you tell me them, too?”
“...I suppose so.”
When Grage answered that way, the book glowed dully.
I turned the page as if prompted by the book.
“This is...”
I stopped my hand at Grage's words.
“Is this... Fail's final words?”
“Yes. Those were the last words I heard.”
I was waiting for a chance to die. I lived my life putting on a brave front...
To my home, to my wife... to my children...
I hated that version of myself. I wanted to throw it all away and run...
The battlefield was always overflowing with death.
Thankfully, my sense of death became numb.
But... if I don't blame someone else, I'm no good.
In the end... I saved you. You, who were a slave.
That is my 'justice.' ...That will be conveyed to the country, to my home, and to my family.
As a man of beautiful justice, I can live on among people.
I want you to... forgive me for having lived while harboring such weakness...
And for forcing you to carry that burden.
Those words were weak, and—all too cruel.
Grage remained silent, his gaze cast downward.
“But, Grage.”
“...What is it?”
“Can you really say that those words are the truth?”
“What do you mean?”
“I wonder why. I can hear Fail's feelings saying, 'I want to live.'”
After those words, a silence fell for a while.
Not for Fail's sake.
...For our own sake.
“Let's go.”
When I said that, Grage also started walking without hesitation.
We stood before the stairs and took just one breath.
And then, we slowly descended into the darkness.
Holding the book, I went to search for the continuation of the story.
The wind was still there.
Quietly, yet surely—it was guiding us.
<<To be continued>>