“Really… truly…….”
Gretchen was gone now.
Faust did not know whether that final sight had been an illusion or reality, but he would never be able to see his family again either.
The moment Faust realized that, he sniffled through his tears while staring at the sun.
He knew the people around him would be flustered, but the grief was far too powerful for reason to overcome.
Every emotion he had suppressed until now burst through the dam along with his tears.
“…Oh dear. You seem to have been badly shaken.”
Then Archmage—the great Archmage—smiled warmly.
Her smile was so gentle that Faust could almost forget the desolate landscape unique to the demonic region surrounding them.
“There, there. It's all right. You're all right.”
She even carefully drew the boy into her arms and patted his back.
It was an embrace he had no right to lean into, yet it was so warm and peaceful that he could not bring himself to refuse it.
Faust soaked the front of her clothes with tears.
Dark stains appeared across the folds of her robe where his eyes and nose had pressed against it.
“I-I'm… sorry.”
“Do not apologize.”
“But, hic, I……”
“Oh dear, at this rate you'll stop breathing. Before apologizing, you need to calm yourself first. Not that I want an apology in the first place.”
Even…