Three Trials, Three Dreams

“Was that… a dream?”

Crying and collapsed, Jonah found himself, to his surprise, curled up on the bed in his room in the Langheim household.

Only—something was clearly different from usual.

“Huh…? Wh-why!?”

The pain and suffering that had tormented him so much because of Mana Overabundance were gone.

Of course.

“I can move… I can walk…!”

Without needing manipulation by 【Marionette】, Jonah got off the bed, stood normally, and walked.

“Ah… aahhh…”

Tears overflowed from Jonah’s eyes as he hugged his body, trembling with joy.

For eleven years since his birth, the thing that had tormented him had vanished entirely upon waking, and he could be ordinary.

At that moment.

“Jonah!”

The door burst open and his mother Marta rushed in. Behind her was the Duke of Langheim.

They wore expressions of worry from the bottom of their hearts—ones he’d never seen before.

“U-um…”

“Ah, Jonah. You must have had a scary dream…”

Marta gently embraced the bewildered Jonah.

Her long black hair brushed his nose, making Jonah feel slightly ticklish.

“Phew… Really, it’s good there’s nothing wrong.”

Saying that, the Duke of Langheim sat beside them and gently stroked Jonah’s head—there was the ideal father figure Jonah had long yearned for.

“Father, um, why are you worrying about me…?”

Jonah looked down slightly and asked the Duke of Langheim.

In his life until now, he’d never been noticed and had been branded a useless person, so he couldn’t bring himself to believe the father figure before him.

The Duke of Langheim exchanged a glance with Marta and then—

“Jonah. You are the heir to the Langheim family… no, you are our precious son. Of course we’re worried.”

He smiled gently and stroked Jonah’s head again.

Those large hands were very warm, and the eyes watching him were full of affection for Jonah.

“Is that so…? Eh, heh heh…”

Overwhelmed with happiness, Jonah’s face crumpled.

The warmth he’d longed for and the happiness of a family were here.

Then.

“Well, well, isn’t that nice. It seems you’ve finally gotten what you wanted so badly.”

A woman’s voice, laced with sarcasm, reached Jonah’s ears—no, his head.

It was the annoying voice that had mocked Jonah repeatedly on his journey after leaving the Langheim household.

“How about it? This place seems fit to end the little life you have left…”

“Shut up!”

“…!?”
“…!?”

Pushing the Duke of Langheim and Marta aside, Jonah clenched his fists and shouted.

Sadness, regret, and chagrin oozed from his youthful face.

“Jonah, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“Yeah. Are you still unwell somewhere…?”

With confused expressions, the two tried to come closer to Jonah but—

“Really… it’s cruel…”

Large tears streamed from his dark eyes as Jonah let out words of bitter resentment.

Yes… Jonah had known from the start that this could not possibly be a mere dream.

He only wanted, just a little while longer, to cling to that impossible dream.

“…Is that so? Well then, that’s fine.”

The woman left a voice that sounded somewhat relieved yet on the verge of tears, and it was no longer heard.

At the same time, as if by agreement, the Duke of Langheim and Marta vanished from before Jonah, and the scenery changed.

It was.

‘Huh…? Is this… me…?’

Jonah lay on a small bed.

His face was pale, his body gaunt, barely able to breathe properly.

Surrounding him were Marguerite, Marquis Hagenberg, Günther, Carlo, Aurora, Priscilla, Titancia, Quylindra, the Fairy King Oberon, Henrik, Kuu, Patricia, Fafnir, Duke Lanberg, and Tommaso.

Besides them, many people Jonah had never met stood there.

“Was the journey up to this point enjoyable?”

A beautiful woman in a black robe who had appeared among the people surrounding Jonah gently stroked his black hair and asked kindly.

Jonah recognized that voice.

“Eh, heh heh… yeah.”

“Is that so? Then that’s good.”

Breathing heavily, Jonah did his best to show a smile.

The woman returned his smile in response.

“Ugh… this is too much…”

“…It’s frustrating.”

Marguerite sobbed, and the people around them lamented and grieved.

The scene looked as if they were saying their final farewells.

‘Ah… I see…’

Jonah understood.

That this was the final moment that would soon come.

“Did you get cold feet, perhaps? Yes, this is your end.”

The woman’s voice, which had been silent until then, was heard again.

Those words seemed to taunt Jonah, to encourage him, and to test his resolve.

“You’re scared, aren’t you? It’s painful, right? It’s sad, right?”

The woman whispered softly.

Even including their exchanges during the journey, Jonah couldn’t understand the woman’s intention.

But.

“…No.”

Jonah simply shook his head quietly.

“Why is that? You’ll face this in nine months, you know.”

“Because I realized I’m not alone.”

In the life before he set out, Jonah the useless was needed by no one and was merely breathing.

But now.

Around the dying Jonah stood Marguerite, Carlo, and the others.

People he’d met on the journey with whom he’d shared a connection.

Even those here now whom this Jonah doesn’t know will surely be met during the journey to come and become close to him.

“So I’m not afraid. It’s not painful. I’m not sad.”

Jonah stared into the void and declared firmly.

Though this scene is meant to invite fear of death in the viewer, for Jonah it became a form of salvation.

“It’s okay now. I will see this journey through to the end.”

“…Alright, alright. I hope that really is the case.”

Said half in exasperation but with a faint hint of pleasure, the woman’s voice faded once more.

Then.

“…!? Where is this…”

Jonah rubbed his eyes at the sudden sight of a spiral staircase leading deep beneath the Mage Tower and a wall carved with ancient script blocking the way.

“If I’ve returned to the original place, that means what just happened were the ‘Three Trials’ and I was able to overcome them, right…?”

The only difference from before he touched the wall was that Jonah was now below it—meaning he’d passed beyond the blocking wall.

If so, there’s no doubt he had successfully passed the ‘Three Trials.’

“Y-yes! What about Mr. Tommaso and Mr. Felipe!?”

He panicked and looked around thinking of the two, but unfortunately they were not here.

All that remained was a sphere of light Felipe had activated with magic, hovering.

“Which means the two of them must still be undergoing the ‘Three Trials’, right…?”

Jonah sat on the stairs and pondered.

The ‘Three Trials’ inscribed in the ancient characters on the wall.

Considering the series of strange events just now, they likely referred to ‘the past,’ ‘the present,’ and ‘the future.’

To show the one undergoing the trials reality, dreams and ideals that could not occur in reality, the approaching fear of death, and perhaps destinies that either could have happened or might happen.

“…I guess I should thank that woman.”

To be honest, in the dream he saw during the ‘Three Trials,’ Jonah had thought he wouldn’t mind continuing to rely on his mother who was alive and the father who acknowledged him as family.

Ironically, it was that woman’s voice that pulled him back to reality, even as his chest felt like it would be torn apart by grief.

“I hope both of them are safe…”

Jonah stared at the towering wall and muttered softly.