"Thank you, Fairy Princess. With this divine sword you have given me, I will surely defeat the Black Dragon and return peace to this world."
After a pause, she said, "Yes. If it's you, you'll 'surely' achieve that. Be careful on your journey."
This was a tale from several thousand years ago.
At the time, the Black Dragon King had driven humanity to the brink of collapse, and a hero had risen up to defeat the Black Dragon along with his friends whom he'd forged a strong, solid bond with. Asia had given the hero legendary equipment, taught him the Black Dragon's weak point, and sent him off. She'd done this while knowing that he would never come back, that this was a journey of death.
After seeing the hero's party off, Asia covered her face.
At first, she was silent. "It's so stupid," she then said. "Why does no one question it…? Even though things go way too smoothly for them…"
A weak point on the Black Dragon? Don't make me laugh. There's no such thing, because she's really a divine beast created by the Goddess to govern the world. She's an arbitrator. Just like my main body, she's an agent of divinity.
There's no way a human could win against that. The Goddess made humans so they wouldn't be able to win. Even if they fought seriously, the outcome was already decided. But they'll probably win. That's how the script is written, after all. The Black Dragon will be defeated, and then in a couple hundred or thousand of years—whenever the Goddess deems it necessary—the Black Dragon will change her name and form and once again appear to drive humanity into the depths of despair. Humanity doesn't know. No one does.
All of the evil villains from the past who were spoken of in legends were actually the same person. She was even the God of Destruction all the way back when humans had just branched off from the angels, whom Ozma and his wife—the first hero—had traded their life to eliminate. She was also the Ten-Tailed Beast, the enemy from when the beastmans had just been born, and the world was steeped in a chaotic war. Not to mention the immortal black witch who had run on a rampage with her monsters.
And now she's named her the Black Dragon Fafnir. Next time she'll just have another name, humanity will be none the wiser, and I'll take part in this farce once again. I'll pretend I'm an ally of humanity, but I'll be the reaper, spreading the poison called hope and sending them off to their deaths. That's the true identity of the Fairy Princess. It seems like things are split into two sides, but they're actually the same.
So, yes… I can't help but be fed up.
For a moment, she was quiet, then said, "So stupid… Why do they… look at me with such straightforward eyes, like they truly trust me…? Come on, doubt me…! Figure out that it's weird! It's obvious if you just think about it a little! You only ever see weak monsters and other enemies so you can grow stronger bit by bit, and you're only given stuff to help you follow that curve…! And then there's me, some random fishy woman who claims to know the weak point of the big bad villain…?! Now matter how you think about it, it's weird, right?!" She paused. "Please, just doubt me… Don't let me fool you…"
Up until now, Asia had sent off heroes many times—over and over and over and over and over again. She had led them with a smile, gifted them weapons, given them advice, and tested them with trials to become stronger. Every time, she had been reminded that their hearts, which wished for peace in the world, were undoubtedly straight and true; they were worthy of being called heroes.
There had once been a young man who claimed to love the world—he had never been able to see the peaceful world he loved so much. There had once been a swordsman who said that he could become as strong as necessary to protect his loved ones—when the world had regained its peace, he was dead along with the people whom he'd loved. There had been a very nice man who'd once said that he wanted to show children a peaceful world as he laughed heartily—he had never even been able to see those children's faces. There had once been a kind swordswoman who went on a journey to her death, despite her gender, in order to ensure the futures of the people precious to her—she hadn't even left any bones behind.
All of them had been sent to their deaths by Asia.
The world regained peace as the script dictated, and the heroes who had died so magnificently were given a fitting send-off.
There was a long silence.
"I can't… take it anymore…"
Asia's beautiful face scrunched up, and she covered her face with her hands as she crumpled to her knees.
Their trusting gazes hurt. Their words of thanks hurt. The way they look as they talk of a peaceful future… It's so bright… and so sad…
How many heroes with bright futures ahead of them have I watched die? They, of all people, should have been the ones to enjoy the world at peace, so why do they all have to die? Their lives are short anyway. Even the longer-lived races only live several thousand years… Why can't they be allowed to spend their remaining years happily as a reward for a hard fight?
Asia had always wondered this, but the Goddess didn't like leaving people who were too powerful unchecked. That was why "she" would always deal the heroes a fatal blow and purposefully lose.
I'm sure the one I just sent off today won't be coming back either. He'll never reunite with his lover, who he said was waiting for him.
I always pray that they never come, but the Goddess, who I have to pray to, doesn't want it to be that way. So they will always come, as their fates dictate. Should I just not help them? No, they wouldn't have come here in the first place if their resolve was so half-hearted as to let my refusal end their journey. If I did that, they would just die fruitlessly after challenging her, and someone else close to them would inherit the curse that is the hero's title. Should I just tell them the truth? No. Doing so will just shorten their lives.
The Goddess will never allow anyone who knows the truth to live.
"How long is this going to go on…? How many times do I have to trick them…? How many more times will I have to kill these children…? Answer me… Goddess…"
I can't take it anymore.
Asia's spirit was at the breaking point. Her work was something she didn't want to do; it was like stomping on a flower that was heroically trying to bloom in the middle of a wasteland. Asia had done this continuously, repeating it many tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of times, even while loving every life that was born and admiring their brightness, even while desperately trying to survive.
While watching people as many generations rolled on, Asia eventually began to love humanity almost like they were her own children. She wanted to protect them. She wanted to hold them. She wanted to save them from this hell. However, reality forced her to do the exact opposite. She was nothing more than the grim reaper who drove them further into hell. She was the scum who had to stomp out the flower.
After a silence, she said, "I should never have gained a sense of self."
How much easier would it have been to just stay as an avatar? To simply be a normal spirit that's just controlled by the main body, able to get by without feeling anything painful…
Asia drew the knife she had for self-protection and put it to her throat.
Yeah… I can just disappear. I shouldn't exist.
However, her hand was stopped by her sister, her other half. "Asia, stop!"
Asia silently tried to shake off her sister's hand. "Let go of me, Irina ."
"No. I won't."
Irina held Asia firmly. Asia lacked enough vigor that she was convinced that if she didn't, she would disappear. As Irina slowly soothed her sister, she couldn't help but curse the Goddess.
Oh Goddess. Oh omniscient, omnipotent Goddess Yggdra. Why do you treat us this way? Asia is not the kind of girl who would be able to withstand this role. She's far too kind to continue doing this.
We should have been switched. I want to switch with her, but that can't be. The heroes always come looking for the Fairy Princess. I'm sure the Goddess has done something to feed them information. And if they look for my sister, she'll answer, because she knows that if she doesn't, things will only get worse.
In the end, I'm just the chaff, a by-product of birthing the sublime being that is the Fairy Princess. I'm just a failure of a fairy who can do nothing but fight. I'm nothing but a defective product pushed out first in order to give birth to something superior.
But Asia can no longer handle this. She's at her limit. As things stand, she'll break. Even if I spend long years slowly healing the wounds in her heart, they'll only be reopened along with new, fresh ones.
Like that, the cycle of healing and reopening wounds, then healing and reopening wounds again eventually resulted in wounds so deep they could never be fully healed. Her guilt would never disappear. It just kept piling up at the bottom of her heart. It would all have been fine if she was irresponsible enough to just forget about it or if she was rational enough to be able to chase it all the way to the edges of her memory. But Asia couldn't do that, and she broke little by little.
That was why Irina prayed. She prayed for someone… anyone. She prayed for the appearance of someone who could truly destroy this hell, who could tear apart even the Goddess's Script. She prayed, even while harboring resignation and certainty that no such person existed.