“...Fire Keeper?”
“Hehe. At last, I hear the voice of the Ashen One.”
I stared at her in a daze. Someone who was supposed to exist only within the world of Dark Souls 3 had appeared right in front of me.
“Thanks, Hieta! Thanks to you, Rinne came back!”
“Ah, no... It wasn’t me...”
Itsuka-kun thanked me, but I hadn't been the one to solve this. The Fire Keeper had done everything. Without her, this would have been a failure.
Still, it made sense. The Fire Keeper was the one who dealt with souls; that was why I had to seek her out whenever I wanted to raise my stats.
Naturally, this had only worked because she was here.
“No, that is not true. If not for the Ashen One, it would have failed. You created the basic framework with souls.”
Her words left me feeling awkward. I had only built the framework; she had essentially handled everything else.
“I-I’m not sure who you are, but thank you for helping us.”
Itsuka-kun bowed deeply to the Fire Keeper, offering his sincere gratitude.
“I am grateful as well.”
Rinne also shifted her unsteady body to offer her thanks.
“So, Hiki. Who is she?”
I blinked. *Ah, right. These people don’t know the Fire Keeper.*
At the commander’s question, I struggled with how to introduce her.
If I simply said, “Oh, she’s someone from a game,” they’d think I had completely lost my mind.
I quickly racked my brain and spoke.
“This person... holds the position of ‘Fire Keeper.’”
“Fire Keeper?”
“Yes. Itsuka-kun, you should remember. You heard what I said before, when Tonomachi-kun told me to pick out some clothes.”
At my words, Itsuka-kun thought for a moment, then slapped his fist into his palm.
“Ah! You mean the person you said was like a shrine maiden?”
“Yes. That’s her.”
“I see...”
Itsuka-kun nodded, appearing satisfied.
“But where is this place?”
The Fire Keeper tilted her head, curious about her surroundings.
Seeing her like this for the first time, I let out a small laugh and answered, “Hmm... For now, I think we should get out of here.”
Because the building was disappearing.
Crash!
We managed to scramble out before the structure completely vanished. Once outside, I looked back and realized the building we had been in was Shin-Tengu Tower.
“Whew... So this was Rinne’s angel?”
“Yeah... I’m sorry, everyone.”
Rinne bowed her head and apologized, clearly feeling that she had caused everyone too much trouble.
“I’m fine!”
“...Me too.”
“I’m okay as well.”
“I’m fine too...”
“Same here, I guess~?”
The others, including Itsuka-kun, readily forgave her. I did not.
“Rinne. I haven’t forgiven you.”
“Hieta?”
“Yeah... I understand.”
“So, I’m going to punish you.”
“Hey! Hiki! What are you doing? Don't ruin the mood—!”
“Live happily from now on.”
As we left the area, I had already been thinking about this. The appearance of the Fire Keeper was one thing, but Rinne starting a new life was another.
One thing I had learned from Itsuka-kun and Rinne’s conversation was that Rinne had only ever wished for Itsuka-kun’s happiness.
So, I gave her a goal under the guise of a punishment.
“That’s not a punishment...”
Rinne smiled through her tears. Beside me, the Fire Keeper was smiling too.
“As I thought, the Ashen One is a kind person.”
At that strange remark, I protested.
“Me? I’m not really a kind person...”
“If the one who silently linked the fire for a world on the verge of extinction isn’t kind, then who could be?”
I had only done it because I wanted to go home. I thought that if I saw the ending, I could return.
If I had known I couldn’t go back, I might have given up long ago.
“So, where is this place?”
The question came around again. Honestly, I didn’t know how to explain it either.
How was I supposed to explain that this was an entirely different world?
While I was pondering, one thing came to mind.
“First, please take this.”
When I handed the Fire Keeper the item, everyone around us looked horrified.
Yoshinon even covered Yoshino’s eyes.
The reason was simple: I had given her the Fire Keeper's Eyes. Handing someone a pair of eyeballs was, admittedly, a shocking sight.
“This is... Does the Ashen One desire a world without fire?”
Her line was different from the game. In the game, you use the eyes without being asked, but here she was questioning me.
It felt like proof that the woman in front of me was no longer just a character in a game, but a real, living person.
“No, that’s not it. I’m just asking you to trust me and use them.”
It was, in a way, an unreasonable request. For a Fire Keeper to take the eyes was against the rules.
“...I understand. It is the first request you have ever made of me, Ashen One.”
And the Fire Keeper accepted.
I had asked, but I still couldn’t understand why she agreed so readily.
I could only feel a sense of relief.
“Woooow...”
When she removed the tiara she had been wearing, Itsuka-kun and a few others let out low murmurs. Even to me, her beauty was enough to stand alongside the spirits.
“I-I can see...”
I didn’t know how she had perceived the world before, but I could tell she loved the sight she saw now that her vision had returned.
Tears began to flow from her eyes.
“So this is what the Ashen One looks like...”
“Yes. This is what I look like.”
Even while crying, the Fire Keeper stared at my face as if trying to burn my image into her memory. I looked back at her, but I quickly became embarrassed and turned away.
“Hehe. You’re quite shy.”
“W-well, isn’t that obvious? If a beautiful woman is staring at me, who wouldn’t be embarrassed?”
As I said that, I sneaked another glance at her; her cheeks were slightly flushed.
“Th-that’s... the first time anyone has ever said something like that...”
The Fire Keeper fidgeted with her fingers as she made her excuse, and it was incredibly adorable.
“S-so, where is this place?”
Quickly changing the subject, she looked at me again. I couldn’t help but snort a laugh.
“This is a world where fire does not exist.”
“Fire... does not exist?”
“Yes. A world different from the one we lived in. A world where the First Flame never existed in the first place. In other words, here you don’t have to sacrifice your happiness for the sake of linking the fire.”
“Ah... ahh...”
I didn’t know how many years she had suffered. I only knew that she had been bound by her duty to link the fire.
I had spoken thinking she might have given up her own happiness because of that duty, and it seemed to hit home, as fresh tears spilled from her eyes.
“R-really...?”
“Yes. Really. At least here, you can chase your own happiness.”
At those words, she threw herself into my arms and sobbed. All I could do was pat her head to reassure her.
“...Is he really unconscious?”
“...How is he pulling fox tricks so naturally~?”
“『Oh no, Yoshino! A powerful rival has appeared!』”
I could hear some weird comments in the background, but I ignored them.
Fox tricks, rivals—whatever. It was all nonsense I couldn’t understand.
...Or maybe I just didn’t want to understand it.
“The Ashen One... is truly a kind person.”
The Fire Keeper smiled softly, stating it as if it were an absolute fact.
“I’m not kind. I’m just tired and trying to get home.”
That was all I wanted to say, but the words didn’t seem to reach her at all.
Instead, she only looked at me with a gentle expression, as if she had already decided exactly who I was.
And somehow, that was even more embarrassing.
“Anyway, I guess this really is a different world.”
I looked around again and muttered to myself.
There was no bonfire. No souls. No fire to link.
Just a world that had never needed any of those things in the first place.
For some reason, that made my chest feel strangely light.
Maybe this time, I really could live a little more normally.
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