...A fleeting tale, brilliant as the radiance of a star.
This is a story of love and hope.
But I, a third soul who merely followed the pilgrimage of the original Solomon, never managed to truly step onto the journey of Romani Archaman, the journey of being human.
At the same time I won the Holy Grail War and witnessed the end of human history, my clairvoyance should have closed. And yet the place where I continued to exist was not Chaldea, the institution that safeguarded the continuation of human order, but another world filled with inherited dreams and exhilarating adventures: the highest land in the story of One Piece, the Red Line.
The real Solomon asked only one thing in exchange for handing everything over.
He wanted to become a human being, no different from anyone else.
He said that if I promised him that alone, he would gladly entrust all that belonged to Solomon to me, the one who knew his "past," "present," and "future."
But even now, I still had not properly kept the one and only promise I made with Solomon.
World Noble. Celestial Dragon.
The living gods who rule the world of One Piece.
The Celestial Dragons, myself included, possess a status in this world little different from that of gods.
Even if I alone declared myself human and cast aside the position of a Celestial Dragon, the people of this world would still see me not as a "human," but as a "foolish god who abandoned divinity."
Donquixote Homing, who tried to become human before I did, and Mjosgard of that same Donquixote family both failed to be accepted as complete human beings. The former was treated by those who hated him as a powerless god fallen to earth and subjected to private vengeance, while the latter was executed as a disgrace to godhood rather than as a human being.
In the end, neither of them was truly acknowledged for having abandoned godhood.
Though Mjosgard is still alive for now, he continues to say dangerously reckless things even now, and the Holy Knights are watching him closely. The future awaiting him is by no means kind.
So then, what should I do?
Even with all the knowledge possessed by Solomon, the King of Wisdom, I honestly do not know.
The true mastermind of this world wants to keep me, a wielder of the extraordinary power called Magecraft, bound to the Holy Land no matter the cost.
The most dangerous being in this world, the one with the greatest power, is doing everything possible to stop me from becoming human, and I do not even have a proper plan for how to become one.
There is only one thing I know for certain.
Everyone seeks a god in me, but ever since I became Solomon, I have never once given up on being human, and even after crossing into another world, I am still striving to become a true human being.
Even so, in the past, the present, and the future alike, I will never find a perfect answer on Solomon’s pilgrimage.
As I said before, this is not a matter that can be solved through ordinary forms of power like wisdom or authority.
I sought revelation many times, but on this subject, He never answers.
The words of God I hear through [Revelation B] amount only to a simple instruction: always perform small acts of kindness, like a single drop of water falling into the great sea.
Like now.
I do not dare doubt His words.
But I do not know.
Sometimes I even find myself rebelliously wondering how much help such a trivial good deed could possibly be in becoming human.
Still. Even so.
Whether it is the current me, or the original Solomon, or Romani Archaman, there is one thing I can say with certainty.
Solomon could never simply walk past a pitiful girl whose soul had been shattered by gods.
Because that is the one path forever pursued by the one who wishes to become the human called Solomon.
I did not think about what would come after.
Solomon threw himself into it with everything he had.
His embrace was not merely an embrace, but an attempt at comfort broad enough to reach the wounded soul called Boa Hancock.
"I’m sorry."
As Hancock convulsed and choked out ragged sobs, Solomon offered her a sincere apology.
He did not know how much comfort it could possibly bring now, to a soul already torn to pieces and stripped of its dignity. Even so, Solomon believed that as one member of the false gods known as the Celestial Dragons, even if he could not speak for their whole kind, it was still absolutely necessary to deliver a voice of atonement to the victim for their atrocities.
There was no miracle.
Miracles are permitted only to gods. To one who claims to be an ordinary human, no such unreal miracle would ever be granted.
For a brief moment, Hancock’s body regained its reason.
And it realized the disgust of having this loathsome human male, one she would not have minded chewing to death, dare lay hands on her body.
"Don’t touch me!"
Even though she could have used far greater force, Hancock shoved Solomon away almost like an ordinary woman.
Solomon, whose body fell under the sturdy Caster type no different from an ordinary person in physical ability, could not withstand the strength in Hancock’s arms, strength forged through endless training, and was sent flying into the wall.
"Ow..."
"You bastard...!!!"
With rage ruling both body and mind, Hancock failed to notice it.
The horrific trauma that had dominated her until just moments ago had already sunk heavily into the depths of her heart.
Her depleted Haki began to recover, and little by little Hancock was once more able to display the full power worthy of the Pirate Empress.
Having barely accepted "I must not kill him" as her psychological bottom line, Hancock began kicking Solomon viciously. As though seizing this chance to vent all the resentment she had long suffered at the hands of the Celestial Dragons, she beat him mercilessly.
She did not think much about what would happen afterward.
After all, aside from Elder Nyon and her own sisters, there were no witnesses at all!
"That really hurts..."
"Several of your bones must already be broken, and yet you still have the strength to speak. Celestial Dragon, you have misjudged the situation. There are no Cipher Pol agents or Marine dogs here to protect you. Why, even the Holy Knights would hardly care if a single Celestial Dragon lost his life in some wayward incident down in the lower world."
As if she had already won, Hancock proudly and savagely rattled off every one of Solomon’s supposed mistakes without end.
She even felt a thrilling pleasure in this violent act of revenge.
To look down on one of those gods from the outer seas, the ones who had always trampled her like an insect and treated her like vermin, with their positions reversed, and to scorn them in exactly the same way they had done to her.
Was this a dream?
No. This spine-tingling exhilaration told her that this was reality.
Whatever it was, she did not care.
She would pour every last drop of hatred left by the curse carved into her life onto this foolish man.
Hancock’s rampage continued.
Solomon’s body was steadily losing function, and madness had begun to show through Hancock’s thirst for revenge. Faced with a side of Hancock they had never seen before, even Gloriosa and Hancock’s sisters, who should have stopped this, were half out of their minds themselves, only stamping their feet helplessly.
"...I won’t kill you. I’ll even release the petrification on the Marine Admiral. The ruler of the Kuja is merciful. I will even respond favorably to the Government’s request for once. If you promise me just one thing, I will carry all of that out without complaint, on the honor of the Empress. Well?"
Covered in blood, Solomon slowly raised his head.
His expression seemed to say, Go on, do as you please. The venom that had just begun to fade in Hancock surged back up, and she slapped him hard enough to make a sharp smack.
"You fool. Do you not understand your position? This is the territory of the Kuja Pirates. No one here treats you like a god. So how can you still wear that expression? Is it because you’re a god and think you’ll live forever, so death does not frighten you?"
That was when it happened.
For the first time, a change appeared in the lifeless eyes of Solomon, who until now had only silently endured the blows.
"Human."
"What about human? Go on, let me hear what nonsense you’re spouting now."
"Not once in my entire life have I ever thought of myself as a god. You’re right. I’m human. Damn it. Ever since I came to this world, I’ve wanted to hear those words said properly just once."
"What?!"
Those were not words that should ever have come from a Celestial Dragon.
A declaration of humanity. A renunciation of his own divinity.
Solomon gave a bitter smile and pressed further.
"To begin with, I’m just a Caster who doesn’t even come with a Divinity skill, so all this damned talk of gods has been driving me insane. It feels like my chest just opened up. Yeah. It was really nothing special. And now I feel pathetic for having spent my whole life agonizing over something so trivial."
Boa Hancock.
Thank you.
For seeing me as human.
This time, the listless Solomon showed some will of his own.
He had not eaten a Logia Devil Fruit, and yet his wounds began to heal as if time itself were reversing, a surreal sight even by the standards of the One Piece world. Hancock found it difficult to keep her composure.
"What is this...? This is like..."
Like Magecraft, is it not?
"That is Solomon, the Mage King. The man who wielded an unknown power beyond human comprehension and stood in our way that day at God Valley. Hancock, you lost, nyon. I have seen many men in the outer seas with eyes like that. Rocks... Garp... Roger... The Mage King has eyes much like theirs. Just as love is a hurricane, once men like that reach a conclusion in their hearts, no one dares stop them."
"Tch! How did I lose?! I hit him more than he hit me! What do you mean I lost?!"
Offended that Gloriosa had arbitrarily declared her defeated, Hancock tried to kick her as she always did, but her childish act was blocked by an invisible force of Magecraft.
"Hey! What are you doing?! You dazed, fluffy chicken of a man! How dare you interfere with the rightful exercise of the Empress’s authority!!! Do you really want to die again?!"
"Mm... first of all, congratulations on getting your energy back... and Gloriosa may be a tiny old woman, but she’s my friend. So I’d appreciate it if you refrained from hitting her so casually."
Chicken... chicken... Somehow, Solomon muttered inwardly, being called a chicken hurt more than getting beaten in the open.
"Anyway, let me introduce myself properly, even if it’s late. I’m Solomon. As you said, I am unmistakably human. Just as the Only Begotten came to know Himself, thanks to you, I too have fully realized that I am human. Thank you."
Hancock only thought the Celestial Dragon was shamelessly spouting disgusting nonsense, but for some reason... the overwhelming trauma that had seized her before no longer activated.
Having regained her true self, Hancock looked Solomon straight in the eye.
Just as he said, he did not seem to be a god at all, the very thing she had feared so deeply, but an ordinary human being no different from herself.
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