The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

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With an expression more of accomplishment than satisfaction, Bright received words of praise from Warren, who stood behind him.

“Excellently done.”

“…Thank you.”

“Now, I can’t help but be curious. Why do you look like… this?”

Warren inquired about Bright’s appearance.

Normally, Bright should be inside the Key Pendant hanging from Chappie’s neck.

However, appearing with a physical body raised questions even in Warren’s mind.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Bright walked past Warren without saying a word, heading towards Chappie. As he went, he spoke to Warren,

“Oh-ho?”

As Warren followed Bright, walking behind him, the latter continued.

“Or rather, exactly because it’s you that…? Hmm!?”

“You guys done here yet?”

Another voice — not Chappie’s — echoed from behind the Violet Phoenix.

Bright had no choice but to come face to face with the unexpected surprise. After all, sitting amidst the rubble was a woman who should not have been there.

“Ferris!?”

“Yeah? What’re you all surprised for?”

“W-well, I mean… why are you…?”

Ferris appeared exactly as she had when parting ways with Asley.

However, Bright’s astonishment was not due to her appearance.

Warren, observing his surprised expression gradually turn to sadness, caught on to what was happening. Now he understood everything.

“…I see. The untethering of the soul from the body, and abnormal physical manifestation… The time you can remain in this form isn’t long, is it?”

Bright did not respond.

He just trembled visibly, looking pained as he gazed at Ferris.

It was for this reason that Ferris spoke up.

“Since we went in together, it’s only fair that we left together, Bright.”

“Once out of the crystal… you’ll… disappear…! You’ll vanish from… this world!”

“C’mon, we’ve been living for over five thousand years! Shouldn’t that be enough already?”

Ferris stuck her tongue out, prompting Bright’s face to contort.

“Why… why won’t you ever listen to me… You…!”

“If I listened to everything you said, I wouldn’t be me, would I?”

“She has a point, Bright.”

“Shut up, Chappie!”

“If I shut up here, I wouldn’t be me, now, would I?”

Chappie insisted, making Ferris chuckle softly.

“Well, you know… Unfortunately for you, Bright, there are plenty of things in this world that won’t just go your way♪”

With a hint of delight in her tone, Ferris winked.

“Heh.”

Chappie smiled at Ferris.

Bright observed their interaction, his gaze shifting between Ferris and Chappie, over and over again.

Finally, with an air of resignation, Bright relaxed his shoulders.

It was in fact not resignation, but rather a release of tension, as if the venom had been drawn from him by Chappie and Ferris.

“Good grief… you two truly are hopeless, aren’t you?”

Bright’s exasperated voice prompted Ferris and Chappie to exchange smiles.

And then, Bright approached Ferris.

It was like drawing a line between those who would live in this world and those who would not.

Chappie and Warren, Bright and Ferris — Those who would remain and those who would fade away.

The bodies of the two, now beyond restoration, began to quietly fade.

Bright and Ferris’ transparent forms, fading away together — The abnormality occurred as if it was always meant to be.

There was no regret in the faces of the two who would soon vanish.

For here, in this place, there were those who would carry on their will.

“Warren, I’d like you to pass a message to our Instructor.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Tell him… we appreciate all he has done for us.”

“That’s a rather somber message.”

“It’s fine. We’ve… always… caused… nothing but trouble for him, after all.”

“It would be better if you could tell him directly, though.”

“Hahaha… anything but that.”

Bright chuckled awkwardly, while Warren smiled.

“Chicken, make sure to take care of all your kids, all right?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Heh, you’re always so cheeky.”

“Ferris, do you not you have a message for my Father?”

“No way! It’s embarrassing!”

“All right, noted. That’s what I’ll tell him.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

In this situation, Bright said to Warren,

“You know, you really are as impressive as I expected my Sister’s descendant to be… I honestly thought I was the only one who could see through the Devil King’s magitek. As one of your ancestors, I’d like to say… I’m so proud of you.”

The disappearance of the two was imminent.

“Well then…”

“…Oh? Have you not noticed it at all?”

“…Huh?”

In the following instant, Bright’s expression turned into one of utter shock.

“I was sent here by only one person. The extracting of Gaspard, the invocation of the Devil King’s magitek — The one person who noticed those occurrences…”

Immediately after, Chappie laughed.

“…Bright, do you not remember what I said? ‘Try believing in my Father a little more’?”

“”…Huh?””

In the next moment, as if there had never been a distinction between those who would remain and those who would fade away — the Fool descended between them.

“Aww, man! First I get accused of human trafficking, then kidnapping — and now grave robbing! This sucks!”

“!?”

Despite the surprise on Bright and Ferris’ faces, Chappie shouted,

“Father! Ferris has a message for you! ‘No way! It’s embarrassing!’ is what she said!”

Warren laughed heartily while the Fool tilted his head.

Ferris and Bright were showing flabbergasted expressions… while Chappie looked proud.

The Fool, Asley, took a good look — at the state of the two.

Bright and Ferris watched as Asley carried the bodies on his shoulders.

“All right, I made it just in time.”

Immediately after, Asley’s invoked his Ultimate Limit state.

Doing so trapped the arcane energy that had been maintaining the pair’s astral bodies.

This was to forcibly supply their bodies with energy, preventing their dispersal. 

Asley, was able to perform this feat due to harboring immense arcane energy that neither Warren nor Chappie could match.

Below the two with dumbfounded expressions, two bodies were placed — their very own physical bodies.

“I didn’t have time to clean off the dirt. Sorry about that.”

“What… how…?”

Bright finally managed to get a few words out.

“Hmm? Well, I asked Chappie about where he buried you two, used Space-Time Transmission to go back and unearth your graves, carried both of you out, and used Space-Time Transmission again to bring you here!”

Asley raised his thumb, grinning smugly.

But neither Bright nor Ferris remembered any of it happening — they had no memory of Asley asking Chappie about the location of the graves.

It should not have been possible, considering Bright and Ferris had always been with Chappie.

Confused beyond words, they could only look at Chappie.

“What? I did say neither I nor Ferris could stop you, but that doesn’t mean he can’t, does it?”

“H-hey, that’s not what that was supposed to mean!”

“That’s right! This is… I mean, what is even happening anymore…?”

“Hmm… hmm… Aha! Is that it, Bright? Boy, you can be so clueless about some things sometimes.”

Shaking his head, Chappie sighed in exasperation and continued,

“Do you not know of the Telepathic Call magecraft?”

Asley and Chappie had been quietly working together.

Warren had only come here at Asley’s request.

Because he did not know when exactly Bright and Ferris would disappear, Asley had asked Warren to plan the process of finishing off Lucifer, the weakened Devil King… 

And that was why Warren chose to withdraw from the scene right now. As he set up the Teleportation circle, he said to Asley,

“Asley, my ancestor has a message for you.”

“Wah–!? Wait, no–“

Bright’s attempt to stop him failed to reach Warren.

Even another Black Emperor was not enough to stop a Black Emperor.

“He appreciates all you have done for them.”

Immediately after, Chappie burst into laughter.

Bright’s face turned bright red.

“What are you saying, Warren? That’s… um, that’s supposed to be my line, isn’t it?”

“Oh? No, I don’t so. Now this is quite unexpected…”

“I’ve caused nothing but trouble for Bright and Ferris… all this time.”

“…!!”

Seeing Asley chuckling shyly, Warren chuckled softly.

And then they…

“As expected of the mentor and his disciple. You two are so alike.”

With a smile, Warren started fading away on the Teleportation Spell Circle.

“But forming a mentor-disciple relationship means, no matter how close you get, you’re still mentor and disciple. In other words, you can’t become just friends. That position of honor, I will never surrender to anyone… even to an ancestor of mine.”

With those parting words, Warren returned to T’oued.

Asley tilted his head, pondering Warren’s words.

Bright and Ferris shed tears.

The gentle words of their mentor, and his imposing presence — those they heard with their ears, and felt with their bodies.

Like Warren, Chappie was no longer present in this place.

He had taken the Violet Phoenixes and soared into the vast sky.

Seeing the contorted, wrinkled expressions of the two, Asley could not help but laugh.

“Haha… it’s just like old times, isn’t it?”

The trio who had once decided to part ways, now reunited.

“But we all must live properly. Enjoy every moment till the end.”

Asley held the small astral bodies of the two and whispered into their ears.

Until their bodies and souls were completely melded, the two never stopped crying.

The miracle was brought about by their mental state — yet, for them, it was not a miracle but rather a rare occurrence.

“What… is this…?”

“Instructor, what did you do?”

“No, I didn’t do anything. It’s just that the time your souls were away from your bodies was extremely long, so… they got used to looking like THIS, and your physical bodies ended up being by your souls instead. Isn’t that fine, though? It’s like you’re young again!”

Asley returned Bright and Ferris’ souls to their bodies.

However, Bright and Ferris’s appearances… remained as children.

No, that’s not the issue here! Why did you do this to us!?”

“No, no, I’m telling you it’s not my fault! If you spend five thousand years as a disembodied soul, that’s bound to happen!”

“No, no, no! When I became a soul, I didn’t even look like this!!”

“No, no, no, no! The soul that came out to finish off Lucifer would obviously end up like this!!”

“No, no, no, no, no! What kind of logic is that!? I took that form to minimize arcane energy consumption!”

“Huh? Then why did Ferris come out from the Crystal in a childish form too?”

Upon hearing Asley’s question, Bright stopped dead in his tracks.

“Come to think of it… why, indeed? And why aren’t you angry about this, Ferris?”

Bright said, turning to Asley, then to Ferris.

“I mean, isn’t this fine? Fresh, youthful skin of my early teens — it’s the best!”

With gleeful delight, Ferris poked her own cheeks.

Indeed, when Ferris emerged from the crystal, she had taken on the form of her childhood.

It was not to conserve arcane energy, nor was it to match Bright.

It was simply the unending desire… of a woman.

“Yeah, I’m gonna say it again… THIS! IS! THE BEST!!”

With a firmly clenched fist, Ferris shouted loudly.

And to Ferris’s delight… naturally, both Asley and, of course, Bright…

“”Hahaha…””

…Could only manage dry laughter.

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