Beginning Beyond The Horizon

The night wind blew a warm breeze through Yul, and he and Kazan walked towards the palace gate. When the father and son arrived at the palace gate, they met Abrafo and Bong, who also had just arrived.

Abrafo looked at Yul and said, "Hey, where is my godson?"

Kazan chuckled and said, "My grandson is with his grandmother. She won't let him out of the house for fear that he will get sick."

Abrafo shook his head and said, "Tsk... tsk... tsk... I have foreseen that my godson will be spoiled."

"General Bayarmaa," a minister said, walking to greet Kazan. "Palace guard Bayarmaa. Hey... captain Chuma... I'm so lucky to see you here." He pointed at the two women behind him. "Oh, this is my wife and this is my daughter." He looked at Abrafo. "Captain Chuma, if you have time, I would like to talk to you alone."

Bong glared at the minister and asked, "About what?"

The minister looked at Bong and said, "This is a private matter and cannot be disclosed here."

Bong scoffed and said, "If your private matter doesn't include marriage then we will go, but if your private matter included marriage, then forget it." He glared at Abrafo angrily. "Am I right?"

Kazan knew that the longer they stood outside talking, sooner or later Abrafo and Bong would fight, so he decided to interrupt the conversation between the minister and Abrafo, and said, "Don't keep your highness waiting." The minister and the minister's family walked into the palace gate together with Kazan.

Abrafo looked at Bong and said, "You should be polite. If I knew you were going to show this attitude, I wouldn't have brought you here."

Bong gritted his teeth, grabbed Abrafo by the collar and said, "If you dare to offend me, I will launch a war against Tanzang." He pushed Abrafo away and walked into the palace, leaving Abrafo and Yul behind.

Yul chuckled and said, "You better watch your back. He is being serious this time."

Abrafo and Yul began to walk through the palace gate. "Tell me about it," Abrafo complained. "You know, these days, I'm like a dog in my own home. No one can say anything, not even myself. Every time I want to say something, he threatens me with war. Our losses have not been recovered, and if a war breaks out, it is likely that Lixin and his subordinates will be the ones leading the troops to attack us. Lixin and his subordinates are bloodthirsty and fearless soldiers."

Yul said with a smile, "I suggest you listen to him. No matter what, he is a prince of a kingdom, and his military strength is almost the same as ours."

In the main hall, the ministers were chatting happily while eating, listening to U-ri read the stories recorded in the Book of Life. Everyone in the hall paid no attention to anyone or anything, instead focusing all their attention on U-ri.

Yul sat there, listening quietly without speaking or interrupting, as U-ri continued to read and explain. Normally he wouldn't mind participating in such activities, but tonight he felt a little suffocated while sitting and eating among many ministers and officials. He slowly stood up and walked out of the grand dinner.

After U-ri read the last page of the journey, Jawara said, "Let us drink a toast to mage Hajime, who sacrificed himself to save everyone. When the capital is cleared, we will build a shrine in memory of mage Hajime."

Standing outside the grand banquet hall, feeling the cool breeze blowing on his face, Yul sighed, wondering if he had been away for too long and was not used to this atmosphere, or maybe he was not used to sit alone without Hajime's sitting beside him. Yul took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"I knew I would fine you here," Abrafo said hanging Yul a small bottle of wine.

Yul took the bottle and asked, "Why are you outside instead of inside?"

Abrafo smiled and said, "Well, maybe I'm not used to it anymore." He looked at Yul's gloomy face. "Missing Hajime?" He sighed. "I miss him too." He took a sip of wine from the bottle in his hand. He looked at Yul again. "You don't believe Hajime will be resurrected this time?"

Yul sighed and said sadly, "How could he?" He took a big sip of wine. "He won't come back to life, not this time." He sighed and took another sip of wine. "A mage can only rift through space and time twice and their life. The first time Hajime rift through time and space was in Dreake City, and the second time was yesterday." He looked up at the full moon. "The moon in the city is not as beautiful and bright as the moon in the vast night sky in the wilderness."

Abrafo looked up and said, "I agree. I've seen better moons."

Yul sighed and said, "Some people's love stories begin with love at first sight, some people's love stories begin with the simple word 'I love you', but for some people..." He took a sip of wine. "But for some people..." he corrected himself. "But for Hajime and me, our story begins beyond the horizon, far from here."

Abrafo sighed and said with a smile, "I seem to know it already." He raised the bottle towards the full moon. "To Hajime, who found true love and broke the curse that imprisoned him." He drank his wine. "I wonder what Hajime was thinking when he decided to sacrifice himself."

Yul looked at Abrafo and said, "I wish I knew."

Yul continued to drink with Abrafo, but deep down in his heart, he asked himself the same question countless times.

At that time, Hajime thought that the moment he entered Eldrys's mouth, he will feel excruciate pain as Eldrys chewed him, but he didn't feel anything. He felt as light as a feather blowing in the wind, but at the same time, he still felt like he was falling into the abyss. The sounds around him were not clear, as if he was underwater, and when he decided to go with the flow, the sound he hated most suddenly came back to him, and when he tried to listen to the hateful sound to make sure he heard It was wrong, but the voice of hatred was getting clearer and clearer. Not only the voices that he hated, but also the voices of the people around him became clearer and clearer. Then he realized he was back in his own universe.

He understood that after Xian's body was destroyed by Eldrys, his soul no longer had a place to stay. Now he was back to the starting point, but his heart was still worried about the person he loved currently sailing across the River of Sorrow full of vengeful souls. Just as Hajime was about to open his mouth, he heard many people talking, then heard a "click", and then the sound of the respirator could no longer be heard. Then he felt someone reach down his throat and pull out his entire esophagus. Hajime began to make gargling sounds, and his body began to twitch for several minutes before he was able to take short, weak, small shallow breaths. 

"Hajime, the time has come," Hajime heard the voice of a woman as gentle as an angel ringing in his ears. "What is your wish?"

Hajime murmured happily, "My one wish..." Hajime slowly opened his eyes and saw the vague respirator in front of him. He heard a long beep from the heart monitor and knew his moment had come and he had to make a quick decision before taking his last breath. He blinked again, and the ventilator slowly disappeared from his sight. His eyelids slowly lowered, and he closed his eyes. Hajime smiled and whispered, "May my loved ones, cross the River of Sorrow safely." Just as he took his last breath, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

In the ward, the doctor saw two nurses with tears in their eyes, looking down at Hajime sadly.

Seeing a young man lying in front of him who was still alive and was about to take his last breath, the middle-aged doctor was filled with mixed emotions. He feels guilty every time he has to pull a patient off the ventilator, but no matter how sad he is, no matter how sorry he is for the patient, he can't prevent death because death come naturally. Looking at Hajime, he felt even more sad because he had been taking care of Hajime for three years, but he still had to do what he had trained to do. He watched Hajime take his last breath. He waited for three full minutes before exhaled. He looked at the clock hanging on the white wall and said, "The time of death is 12:03 P.M."

A nursed said, "Hinode-kun's mother wants him to be taken to a funeral home as soon as he is pronounced dead." 

The middle-aged doctor looked at the nurses standing beside the young man with tears in his eyes and said, "Just follow the family's wishes and prepare Hinode-kun for his final journey."

When two nurses put a new hospital gown on Hajime's dead body, the older nurse who had cared for Hajime more than the other nurses said sadly, "Poor child, his mother didn't prepare decent clothes for him." She grabbed Hajime's hand and squeeze it gently. "Hindoe-kun, don't be afraid, you will not walk this journey alone, because Jesus sent his angels to accompany you to the gate of heaven." She reached out and covered Hajime's dead body with a white sheet.