Mahou Sensou:Volume 1 Epilogue
Epilogue[edit]
A sky full of stars shone above their heads in such a way that even the Milky Way, which was normally not possible to see from the real Tokyo, was perfectly visible from that place. There, Aiba Tsuganashi sheathed his saber in his belt, and as he lowered his white-gloved hands, he looked coldly at a man slumped on the ground. That already crestfallen man was immediately forced by some kind of magical power to raise his face, and although he was in utter distress, he showed no signs of giving in to adversity. However, he couldn't help but show a pained expression when he suddenly had to draw some blood that rushed out of his mouth as if he had burst something inside him.
Tsuganashi illuminated the face of that man who was pale, with the help of some spheres of light that floated around him. Standing on a platform, Tsuganashi turned to look at another man dressed in a long trench coat, who was sitting on some bleachers in the distance. This man, whose name was Washizu Kippei, and as if he had received some kind of indication, he stood up immediately. He began to walk towards them as the man was tormented on the open-air stage inside Shakuji Park. Then he pointed to the sky cheerfully and said:
"Watch..."
standing still, Washizu looked up at the night sky.
"In this world where ordinary humans have disappeared, things that were already beautiful are even more beautiful and have regained their original value. Don't you think it is a sin to prevent this from happening?"
Tsuganashi remained silent. However, that dying man answered:
"The world that you <Trailers> want to forge, is founded on the massacre of many innocents. Tell me what is beautiful about that?"
That man speaks as if he were spitting.
"Difference of opinion..." Washizu replied, while adjusting the hem of his trench coat and pushing his glasses up his nose with his middle finger.
At first glance, he looked like a simple salaried man in his early thirties. However his eyes seen through the glass of his glasses, glowed with a deep crimson color. Washizu stepped onto the stage and stood next to Tsuganashi as he looked at the prostrate man. This man was completely covered with ice up to his neck and the only thing he had free was his head.
"Artificial and unnatural things must be eliminated by nature. However, sometimes there are things that nature cannot turn back. Like Plastics, Harmful Substances, Nuclear Materials and above all, Ordinary Humans... Yes, above all them... they reproduce like cockroaches and that is why they have become difficult to exterminate."
After having said that, Washizu put his hands in his coat pockets and without stopping smiling, he added:
"Just as this world that was destroyed by Ryuusenji Kazuma did, the living world also has the right to be beautifully reborn don't you think?"
The prostrate man, distorted his face at Washizu's attitude and replied:
"You are a disgrace to wizards. You are not capable of coexisting with ordinary humans, because you only look after your own welfare. You only base everything on your own self-centeredness."
"And, you say that you people of <Wizard's Breath>, renounce your interests and choose to run away and hide, to live in the shadows just for the welfare of ordinary humans? Haaa... that's ridiculous. If you really think that's the way things are, it's because you're stupid or because you're a blind man who doesn't want to see reality."
At that moment, Washizu, without taking his hands out of his pockets, made the man's body rise up just by looking at him. The man's eyes became wet and filled with tears.
"AAAAAAAaaaaaaaa!!!"
"Since your eyes can't see anything, I think you will no longer need them."
"Aaah... aaah.... aaaaaaaah...!"
The man's eyes began to melt into a white liquid that trickled down his cheeks as he screamed in agony. He struggled to move but most of his body was still immobilized and covered with the ice generated by Tsuganashi's magic.
"This is horrible. Those who are on the side of ordinary humans are not worthy to inherit this world."
Washizu having stopped laughing, looked at the man with contempt.
"Kill him..."
Tsuganashi nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"No, Stop... no.... don't do it.... aaaa...!!!"
Tsuganashi had no need to use his sword for the job. The man began to beg for mercy, but Tsuganashi was not moved in the least. His memories had been altered to make him a perfect ally of the <Ghost Trailers> and therefore, to him, all <Wizard's Breath> wizards were now enemies to be annihilated. Suddenly, light blue particles began to flutter over the surface of his white gloves.
"No, pleaaaaaaaaase....!!!"
The ice that reached up to the man's neck, began to advance to completely cover his body up to his head while making a noise as if he were a living being. The ice covered his mouth and filled his eye sockets leaving a pair of black dimples and the man in complete silence. The ice would probably not melt until the next morning and doing it had been effortless for Tsuganashi.
When Tsuganashi came down from the stage to meet Washizu who had come down earlier, he found him sitting on one of the wooden benches, contemplating the starry sky.
"Kippei-san, I'm done." Tsuganashi said.
But hearing his voice, Washizu simply patted the surface of the bench, urging him to sit next to him. Tsuganashi agreed without further ado, and after sitting down beside him, he also set about observing the variety of stars displayed throughout the length and breadth of the firmament. The milky way that could be seen from there, could no longer be seen from the night sky that was in the original world. It dissolved the accompanying spheres of light and all the surroundings were filled with the pure light emanating from the stars and all that horrible panorama ended up sinking into the darkness of the night.
Washizu was deep in thought. Whether he was meditating on the information obtained from some <Wizard's Breath>'s wizars or just thinking about the future, it was something totally alien and unknown to Tsuganashi. It was impossible for anyone to know what was going on in Washizu's mind. He was a guy who did not beat around the bush and would kill anyone, simply because he was bored.
"How boring..." Washizu Kippei muttered.
Even knowing that <Wizard's Breath> had captured three wizars in his charge, that was all he had to say. Tsuganashi, at that moment, began to reminisce about that girl he ran into at the subway station under the same night sky.
He had been told that this girl, who for some reason called him "Nii-san", was an intermediate level wizard, belonging to <Wizard's Breath>. Tsuganashi made up his mind at that moment, that the next time they met, he would freeze her like a statue just as he had just done with the man from a moment ago. According to him, in contrast to the image of that bloody man, she would be a beautiful piece of art. As he imagined in his head that this moment would come, a merciless smile was drawn on Tsuganashi's face.
Translator's Notes and References[edit]
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