Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 24. The Path of Change
Walking through the streets of Constal, the great city of trade, the city of wealth, an unreachable achievement that was reached, The Holy land. Gray, Soku, and Rosemary go through each store they find somewhat interesting. They buy food, watch the dancers' extravagant shows, and listen to the music, it’s an experience that you couldn’t dream of. Gray and Rosemary buy clothes to better fit their area. Gray purchases a long-sleeved white shirt, which has arms that puff out, being tied down with cuffs by the wrist. Dark black boots, a brown belt with a silver buckle lazily laid across his side, one black glove, and a black vest with red roses on it, a design that is home to the country of Valatrocitus. He also purchases black gloves, thinly crafted black slacks, and a black shoulder cloak with a red interior. It’s not exactly Gothic, not completely black, no tears, and not extremely over-designed, but neither are the clothes around them.
Constal stands very far from Valatrocitus’ capital in terms of both clothing and design. Walgonia’s Capital was split into districts or sections, not by walls but by wealth, and the fact was pushed by the placement of its castle right in the middle. Brick houses, tiled roofs, and a mix of dirt and brick roads, it is what most will call generic. Athens's capital was much smaller, being built in almost a U shape, with its tower-like castle right in the back. It didn’t have much style, but its use of columns and white stones gave it some sort of flare, but it was simply unremarkable. The strength of Athens, the will of Walgonia, and the almost voluptuous Valatrocitus. Walgonia is big, using its land for mainly farmland, not having any great cities, because they don’t need any. Athens was small, but its people had the desire, a desire for strength. But that wasn’t all that kept it alive, it was the use of Dragon stone, a rare material that was abundant in the core of the island, they were able to trade their way to victory. But they never grew stronger due to the fact they were in a loop, they had too many people and too little land to feed it, so they traded their metals for food, creating a tightly-knit relationship with Walgonia.
Though the main group has yet to travel to Ravoria, the other two Ever biomes the inner workings of the Ever-forest, or any of the other two continents, for where they have been, it’s been an experience. So they all feel that Valatrocitus stands out greatly, it’s built with flavor and style, a style that its king is letting fall. The idea that Valatrocitus would even exist is a mystery. The Guard Fog, filled with monsters, lies right on the border, then right outside of it is the capital, the first city traveled to is its heart. Then to its left is an enormous forest filled with even more beasts, and to its right is the great city of Constal. And miles behind the capital, past the other villages, towns, and farms, is the Ever-Desert, a wasteland that rivals the size of all the Capital cities put together.
Almost locked a country, surrounded by enemies, with only enough space to call itself great. After looking in multiple stores, Rosemary finds a dress that Gray and she feel is worth buying. A shade of black that matches Rosemary’s golden hair and blue eyes almost unnervingly. Then to further match her hair, the golden cuffs, black gloves with golden fingers, golden corset, long black boots with golden seams, and as a gift purchased by Gray, a long golden necklace with a small yin and yang symbol on it. While she’s extremely happy with Gray’s gift, giving him a great big hug and a large kiss on his lips, Gray was more surprised in the fact that some how the same yin and yang symbol made it's way into this world. grossing Soku out. Gray then realizes that Soku hasn’t bought anything, she’s just been following them the whole time.
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Gray: “Hey Soku, why don’t you buy something’? You’ve been wearing that coat for the past few months, I know you feel bad for that old brown one getting’ destroyed but that was months ago.”
Soku: “Ugh, I don’t feel like it. This coat is comfortable, these boots are broken in, and this undershirt is whatever.”
Rosemary: “Come on, be adventurous.”
Soku: “Mmmm…nope. Can we go home now, it’s like nine at night.”
Gray: “No way! The nightlife’s picking up, Edward and the others should be coming out now.”
Rosemary: “We probably should go meet them though.”
Soku lets out a long sigh, stretching her arms.
Soku: “You guys just wanna do date stuff, and I don’t wanna be some third wheel. I’ll go with them and tell them that you guys wanted to be alone.”
Gray: “Uh, I guess that works.”
Rosemary: “OH MY GOSH!”
Rosemary grabs Gray’s hand as she begins running through the crowded streets, putting her mask on at the same time the citizens begin to, which leads to Gray putting his mask on. Rosemary, with her cat mask, and Gray with his white skull mask, dressed in the clothing of Constal, look as if they truly belong there. Gray is put into a trance of wonder by Rosemary, her growth is staggering. All of them have changed greatly in the past year, but seemingly Rosemary has changed the most. Gray still has an almost nonexistent understanding of himself, he knows what he wants, what he likes, and why he likes them, but still, it’s as if he can’t get himself to do it. He’s unknowingly forcing himself to follow the ideals he put upon himself a year ago, the day Musashi and Kioshi died, the day Arthur had been named king, the day Gray got his third chance at life.
The idea he lives for others, with nothing for himself, is a truly sad way of living. Edward has lost so much it’s tragic, no mother, father, uncle, cousin, step-father, grand-father, absolutely nothing. But Moro, his goal, the thing he needed to kill, was finally killed. The only thing keeping him going, an end-game achievement that he thought was going to be his peak, the true meaning of his existence, to kill what killed his first chance at life, and he did it. But he did it far, far too early. For months he’s been living with a whole within him, no goal, absolutely nothing to work for. He hasn’t even achieved his white hair, the thing that Helsings should achieve by the time they’re eighteen. The awakening that allows the full use of eternal mana, the achievement that rids the self of the warrior's spirit, something that’s still banging on Edward’s psyche. A tall man with a big sword is how Edward truly sees Edward.
Soku has had a much slower mental change, which is extremely strange due to all the events that have transpired in such a short time. The death of her sister in such a horrific way, the loss of the long hair she’s had since she woke up at what feels like the beginning of her life, the loss of her home, her coat, everything she’s held dear. But instead of trying to grow, get angry, and get sad, she’s tried to remain the same. Acting as if nothing’s happened, letting it go down, being what you’ve always been, and never trying to grow, is what Soku seems to think is correct. But even if she would deny it, she has changed. She’s grown a bit nicer to Gray, actually attached to him in some way, like a true friend, even if she’d say he was an idiotic clown in the body of a man-child. But out of all of them, Rosemary, the woman who was raised in war. Being beaten down by her family and forced to witness horrors that would make adults shiver to their core, she’s remained a good person. She’s kind, she asks if you’re okay, and she tries to do things that would make her uncomfortable to push past her insecurities. Going from a quiet, insecure, sad person, to an ambitious, energetic adventurer that helps the people around her truly be better, using Gray’s happy-go-lucky attitude to push her forward.
Out of all of them, she’s truly become something of wonder, and Gray knows this, it’s why he loves her so much. Because he feels that she’s truly better than himself, that she can do what he wants to do but with nothing holding her back, but that’s where he’d be wrong. She has all these things that should have stopped her, but it hasn’t, not due to some superpower or inexhaustible will, but because she tries. They all try to an extent but doing and thinking are different things. Even if they’d either not believe it or not want to believe it, they have truly changed for the better, or have been put in situations where they can change.
End of Chapter Twenty-four