.jpg)
IBP 186
Epilogue 3 Seventeen, Coco
The three-year monster war had come to an end.
The navymen who had set sail with Caligo defeated the magical beasts clinging to the warships.
The sailors transferred from the <Crystal>, which had become a tattered rag of a ship, to the sailing vessel <Bacon>.
In essence, the entire voyage had finally concluded.
The ship Caligo was on, the <Bacon>, was scheduled to follow the route back to the home country.
With a solemn heart, Caligo entered the cabin of the hull. He sat at the built-in desk and picked up his pen.
‘I need to tell Coco that I’m returning.’
...He couldn't even imagine how Coco, now seventeen, would react to his letter.
‘Will she be jumping for joy? Or will she have an awkward expression?’
His mind became a chaotic mess.
Perhaps the space he occupied in Coco's heart had diminished significantly.
After indulging in such unfortunate imaginings for a moment, he let out a short, helpless sigh.
Then, he suddenly felt a commotion behind him. Turning around, he saw his roommate, Rainy, appearing with a mountain of luggage.
“Whoa, Caligo. What are you doing? Writing a letter? To that fiancée?”
“Yeah.”
“You're truly devoted...”
“Well, I guess so.”
“But why did you even board the ship? Leaving behind a girl you cherish that much.”
There were two reasons.
First, it was to become a strong man befitting for Coco. Instead of the weakness of relying on shadow ability or spirit beasts, he wanted to become a great man who had undergone military training and conquered the sea.
Second, he didn't want to remain just a childhood friend who played house or ball games together. He wanted to show her a completely changed version of himself.
He judged that time and distance were necessary to be perceived not just as a friend with a light flutter of excitement, but as more of a man.
However, he had no intention of sharing such trivial details with his roommate.
“...For now, it's not something I need to tell you.”
After lightly ignoring his roommate, he chewed on the end of his pen before finally managing to write the words.
[Hello, Coco.
Happy 17th birthday.
I heard you're having your debutante ball; your partner will obviously be me, right?
...I'm sending this letter because I'm worried you might have already decided on a partner.
Coco, I want to see you soon.]
Beneath the simple yet cringeworthy phrase ‘I want to see you soon,’ he rolled his pen.
“Is it a bit too burdensome...?”
...But rather than it being just comfortable, he hoped she would feel a bit of that burden.
That was his honest feeling.
In the end, Caligo couldn't bring himself to cross out the sentence ‘I want to see you soon.’ He simply put down the pen with a complicated expression. Then, Rainy, who had been lounging behind him, perked up his ears and spoke.
“What's burdensome?”
“It's nothing.”
“Come to think of it, you sure have a lot of secrets.”
His roommate, Rainy, said.
He was a foreign noble and a former archer. A noble with a ferocious temperament who loved slicing through all sorts of magical beasts that rampaged in the sea.
Caligo smiled thinly as he set down the pen.
With a sharper jawline, deeper eyes, and a melancholic expression to boot.
His face was far more mature than it had been seven years ago.
Pouting his lips, Rainy spoke with eyes flashing like a sparrow.
“Ah, speaking of which...! Since you mentioned good news, it reminded me. Did you know? The Crystal ship we were on reportedly shipwrecked during a night voyage. Luckily, there were no casualties, but if we were unlucky, we could have been drowned too. Ah, goosebumps...”
“That means the navy is safe. Then I'd appreciate it if you'd stop making such a fuss.”
“Hmm, how should I put this... well, I feel like you'd survive even if the ship shipwrecked.”
In his joy of returning, Caligo completely forgot about the shipwrecked vessel.
And so, he did not know.
That a false report had reached the home country stating that the ship he was on was the Crystal.
* * *
The day just after my seventeenth birthday.
After returning from patrolling the empire with my puppy friends as usual, I received a letter from Caligo via Jjek-jjeki.
It said that Caligo would be returning soon.
Overjoyed, I told everyone happily during dinner.
“Sister, Brother, Dad! I got a letter from Caligo!”
“Huh?”
“Caligo is coming back soon!”
I smiled brightly, clutching my thumping heart. But why were my family members looking at me with such stiff, frozen expressions?
“What is it? Why do you all have those faces?”
“Huh? O-o-oh, it's nothing.”
“Ruth, that's suspicious.”
I looked at my family, puzzled. But Ruth didn't act silly as usual. He just kept pretending to be preoccupied.
“...Anyway, I'll see Caligo soon. Caligo will be so surprised to see how much I've grown, right?”
The last time he saw me, I was fourteen-year-old Coco, but now I'm seventeen-year-old Coco.
‘Caligo must be incredibly curious about me too, right?’
My heart was already fluttering with excitement.
“He said he'll arrive at the port tomorrow. Ah... when he comes, I want to brag about how much Coco has grown. Sister, I'm over 150cm now, right?”
“Yeah, you are.”
While I was excited to measure my height for the first time in a while, my sister looked at me cautiously and spoke.
“U-u-um, listen.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“....”
I tilted my head and looked at her.
“Um...”
As if she couldn't bring herself to say it, my sister squeezed her eyes shut. Then, she suddenly hugged me tightly.
As if grooming my fur, she tenderly stroked my silver-thread-like hair.
“Caligo...”
“Yeah.”
“He might not come.”
At her words, I stomped my foot. I spoke while huffing like an angry puppy.
“Why? He promised he'd come this time!”
“That's...”
I had an ominous feeling that something had happened.
“...Why does everyone have such sad expressions?”
“Well...”
My family members looked at each other and then let out a sigh.
Only then did I notice the newspaper peeking out from under the table. Flustered, I pulled out the newspaper lying on the table. And...
“S-sister. What is this?”
“Well... it says the Crystal ship shipwrecked. And they say the Crystal ship is presumed to be the one Caligo was on.”
I couldn't smell a single hint of a lie from the newspaper.
I had also heard that Caligo had boarded the Crystal ship.
Still...
“That can't be true.”
“A-Amius didn't say anything either, right?”
“Well, Amius has been in hibernation for a while now...”
“....”
I felt my family exchanging pitiful glances.
But I shook my head side to side.
“Anyway, they say the Grand Duke Rivera's house has dispatched someone to verify the facts, so let's wait a bit.”
“...Huh? But sister. Caligo's ship was supposed to arrive tomorrow...?”
But I did not believe my family's words.
‘There's no way Caligo died and left me.’
I am no longer a child who thinks purely emotionally.
“I haven't heard that there's any problem with Amius's safety.”
“Eh?”
“If there were a problem with Amius, I would know immediately. Because my animal friends tell me. So it'll be fine.”
“...Ah, I-I guess so?”
My family looked relieved, as if they had been too flustered by worry to notice.
However, my sister still had a worried expression.
‘So, what I need to do now is...’
I jumped up.
“I'm still worried, so I'm going to ask my fish friends in the sea!”
And I will go to the port, just as I promised Caligo long ago.
“Caligo will definitely return, so everyone can relax.”
My sister gazed at me with a look mixed with worry.
Facing that gaze, it was inevitable that waves of anxiety crashed in my heart.
‘If something really did happen to Caligo...’
How am I supposed to live from now on?
The thought made my heart drop.
Just like the very moment I first parted from my sister.
Only then did I realize.
Caligo Rivera.
That boy had become such a massive presence in my life.
* * *
At one o'clock in the afternoon, under the bright sunlight, in front of Essent Port where Caligo was to return.
I trembled, clutching the shawl wrapped around my head.
Since a divine beast is like a symbol of the empire, a huge crowd usually followed whenever I moved around.
So this time, I wore a hood pulled low to move in secret.
Fortunately, no one recognized me, so I could move comfortably.
‘Caligo's letter said today at two o'clock, Essent Port.’
And...
I recalled Jjek-jjeki's words.
“Don't worry, Coco. I received information that Caligo's party safely transferred from the <Crystal ship> to another ship.”
“Gasp, really?”
“Yes, so I think you just need to wait at the port.”
Jjek-jjeki, seeing my delighted reaction, had spoken while stretching out his wings.
So, making a 'puuuu' sound, I watched every docking ship with hawk eyes—no, the eyes of a puppy craving a sweet potato.
‘I definitely believed Jjek-jjeki's words.’
But I had a bad feeling.
One ship came in, all the sailors disembarked, another ship came in, dropped people off on land, and left...
“He's not here...”
It was just as I was clutching my shawl gloomily.
Unlike the humans, a single mouse (the great-grandson's distant relative of The Father of Emperor of Mice), a native of the port city, who seemed to have noticed my identity, squeaked.
“The last ship is coming, Divine Beast!”
It was true!
Narrowing my eyes and looking beyond the horizon, I saw a ship coming from very far away.
I decided to pin my hopes on the large ship approaching from the distance.
However...
The ship docked, and I saw the sailors pouring out once again.
A handsome young man with red hair, a black-haired maid, a third mate with a face full of freckles... everyone disembarked from the docked ship carrying luggage.
‘Why isn't Caligo here?’
If it's not this ship, there are no other ships to return on.
Growing anxious, I craned my neck forward and looked closely at the deck.
Then, I saw a man walking out leisurely as the last person from the deck.
He was a man with a towering height that looked to be over 190cm, wearing a tight navy uniform on his sturdy build.
He had a neatly cropped buzz cut and strong, bold features.
Actually, because of the backlight, his face wasn't clearly visible.
But no matter how I looked at him, he didn't look like Caligo.
My strength vanished, and I anxiously bit my lip.
‘Then where on earth is Caligo?’
Just as I lowered my head, feeling a bit upset.
A shadow fell silently over the top of my feet.
.jpg)