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Chapter 236

With his brows drooping like a drenched puppy, he wore a pitiful expression that made me feel troubled—but then he smiled warmly.

"Just kidding. Actually, there's a place I'd like to go with you, Tia. Will you come with me?"

Without warning, Enlirsian smoothly steered the conversation back on track with a gentle smile.

"I think it might be the best gift I can give you—so I really want to take you there."

"Hmm……"

To be honest, I wasn't eager.

After yesterday's events, it was obvious the world outside the Tower would be buzzing.

But as if he'd already anticipated my concerns, he drove the point home.

"Don't worry too much. It's a place where no one will disturb us."

It seemed like the first time Enlirsian had ever asked me so earnestly, so I reluctantly nodded. He immediately took my wrist and cast a teleportation spell.

In the blink of an eye, the scenery changed. As I looked around, my brow furrowed instantly.

"Where…… is this?"

The sky was hidden by the dense canopy of towering trees, and the faint light filtering through the leaves, combined with an eerie silence, stirred an unsettling discomfort.

"We have to walk a bit. This way."

Ignoring my puzzled reaction, Enlirsian took the lead.

As I followed him through the pathless thicket, the deeper we ventured, the thicker the fog grew. A chilling sensation crept up my spine, and I couldn't hold back any longer.

"Enlil, something feels wrong."

"We're almost there. Hang in there, Tia."

He answered without looking back.

Though anxiety washed over me, I trusted he would never put me in danger—so I pressed on with heavy steps.

Just then—

The thick fog that had blocked my view parted like a lie, and the dense forest vanished in an instant.

Instead, before me stretched an endless, vast, and peaceful plain.

"We've finally arrived."

"Now, can you explain exactly where you've brought me?"

Only then did Enlirsian reveal the details.

The forest we'd just passed through was a place where Ereshkigal, during the golden age of magical civilization, had layered powerful barriers.

"The locals call it the Cursed Forest."

It was a forbidden zone where anyone who entered would lose their way—and inexplicably find themselves back at the entrance. Strange rumors abounded—that a great weapon capable of conquering the world was sealed there, or that a wealthy lord had hidden all his treasure—but the truth was different, he added.

"This is Rashu's grave."

A wave of nostalgia washed over me.

The woman Khepri had loved, and who had been like a parent to Ereshkigal.

And the one whose existence had set the stage for me to come to this world—Rashu.

Standing where she rested, I naturally thought of Ereshkigal.

"Actually, I wanted to bring you here sooner, but the barriers made it difficult."

Even Ninishina knew its location but had been blocked by Ereshkigal's barrier, so she'd never set foot there again. As I listened, a question suddenly occurred to me.

"……Did you break the barrier?"

"No, I found a way to enter without destroying it. It took quite some effort."

By passing through the gaps without damaging the barrier, he had managed to set foot here without defiling Ereshkigal's traces.

He spoke casually, but I could only imagine how long he must have spent scouring ancient texts and calculating mana to give me this gift.

In the middle of the plain, he pointed to a small, raised grave marker and whispered softly.

"Tia. Would you like to build a grave for Lady Ereshkigal here?"

"But Lady Ereshkigal left no remains."

Recalling that besides the large egg she had suddenly placed in my arms on the way back from the underworld, there was nothing left to remember her by, I grew melancholic. But Enlirsian did not relent.

"I've heard that a grave isn't just a place to bury the dead—it's a place for the living to sort out their feelings."

He explained that understanding death with the mind and accepting it with the heart were different, and that the living needed a physical space to remember those who had departed. Then, glancing at me, he trailed off slowly.

"Besides, I thought that here, Lady Ereshkigal might feel a little less lonely……"

His words finally made me realize my own foolishness.

My stubborn selfishness—not wanting to turn the time I'd shared with her into a closed chapter of the past—had outweighed my wish for her peace.

Seeing him think of Ereshkigal more than I did, I felt a wave of shame.

"……Thank you, Enlil. Truly. This is the best gift I could ever receive."

"And this."

As I swallowed the tears welling up and thanked him, Enlirsian handed me a bouquet of white hyacinths—as if to say it wasn't over yet.

"Even if we can't build a proper grave today, why not share the words you couldn't say to Lady Ereshkigal here?"

"……"

"Sometimes, just putting your feelings into words can lighten the heart."

As always, he was silently holding my grief.

His sincerity—searching through harsh ancient ruins, deciphering barriers, and even giving me this chance to say goodbye—moved me deeply.

Following his suggestion, I placed the white hyacinth bouquet beside Rashu's grave and spoke.

"Lady Ereshkigal, I……"

When I close my eyes, it's still so vivid.

Her face—holding onto me, her voice trembling, genuinely worried that my choice might be escapism, that I might become a wanderer belonging to no world.

Sitting before the empty plot with no headstone, I poured out all the words I'd wanted to say to Ereshkigal.

"I'm living happily every single day. And I've never once regretted the choices I've made."

I paused to catch my breath and gazed into the empty air.

Now, the name 'Tia' felt like it fit my soul more firmly than 'Kim Ji-an'.

"Thanks to you, I could change. Just as my parents wished, I'm living freely—truly by my own will."

My voice trembled slightly, but my tone was firmer than ever.

"So please, don't feel sorry. Don't worry that leaving me in this world made me a wanderer. Let go of all of it. Alright?"

The heavy stone that had been pressing on my heart felt a little lighter.

"Let's go. Thank you so much, Enlil."

After taking a moment to compose myself, I rubbed my still-swollen eyes and slowly rose.

"Already?"

Though the sense of loss hadn't completely faded, this was enough for now.

So I habitually grasped the rocket pendant and said,

"Yeah. We'll have to come back anyway to set up the headstone. And if I want to, I can come anytime."

The pendant, infused with a gentle warmth, was actually something Osiris had given me—after shaking his head at my stubborn insistence on never letting the egg leave my side, he'd tossed it to me so I could move around more freely.

It was a subspace bag large enough to hold an egg the size of an ostrich's, and its inner walls were engraved with fine mana circuits that maintained an optimal temperature—a sophisticated incubator.

"Next time, let's bring Ishtar too."

At that very moment, the docile rocket suddenly forced itself open, and the egg popped out.

It was the first time something like this had happened—but there was no time to be surprised.

Because from within the egg, I could feel a small but clear signal.

Crack—!

The sound of cracking was only the beginning.

Through the web-like fissures spreading across the shell, a silver-grey light seeped out.

Crinkle, crackle.

I held my breath, my gaze fixed on the egg's transformation.

Every time a piece of shell fell away, my heart pounded fiercely. At last, pushing through the final fragments, a small life emerged.

Still-damp fuzz, and tiny forepaws reaching instinctively toward me. The creature's wet eyelids twitched as it slowly opened its eyes.

A moment of silence.

Meeting those black, bean-like eyes, my tension melted away, and a hollow smile spread across my lips.

The being that had emerged from the shell bore a striking resemblance to someone I had missed so dearly.

At the same time, Ereshkigal's parting words brushed through my ears.

For reference, it is absolutely not me—so don't get your hopes up.

"Kyiiing!"

The grief I had barely managed to calm surged again—so I hurriedly covered my face with trembling hands.

"Hic……. Hngh……."

"Kyuu. Kyuuuu."

The newborn raccoon, seeing me suddenly burst into tears, seemed utterly bewildered.

That expression was oddly endearing, so I forced a smile and brought out my old playful tone.

"……Do you have a name?"

An indescribable emotion rose hotly in my throat, but I managed to get the first words out.

The tiny creature, as if on that day long ago, shook its head lightly.

Its low, kyii cry felt as familiar and painful as if we'd met just yesterday.

"Shall I give you one?"

"Kyin!"

I deliberately rattled off a series of ridiculous names, as I used to. My words trembled in the air as I held back tears that felt ready to spill at the slightest touch.

"Brownie?"

"Kyii!"

It shook its head in annoyance—and at that, the tears I'd been holding back finally spilled out along with a laugh.

"Tree? Choco? Or Mocha?"

"Kyii! Kyii!"

Nothing had changed.

Those familiar reactions, disgusted by my terrible naming sense, seemed to piece together the fragments of my broken heart one by one.

This playful exchange was so precious that I carefully reached out and stroked the raccoon's soft fur.

"What about Walnut?"

"Kyii!"

Through the constant rejections, I pretended to ponder seriously with my arms crossed—while wiping away the tears streaming down my cheeks.

And at last, a name lodged deep in my heart rose to my lips.

Littleraccoon—the beginning of my clumsy affection, an abbreviation of the brightest time I shared with Lady Ereshkigal.

With tear-filled eyes, I gazed at the little one and whispered—with the saddest and happiest voice I had:

"……Lira."

At that name, the raccoon chirped—kyin!—and leaped into my arms.

"Tia, are you alright?"

Enlirsian, who had been quietly watching, asked with a worried tone.

He seemed concerned that I might see her in this child and fail to let go.

"Yes. I know for certain—this child is not Lady Ereshkigal."

Yet I gave the same name to this newborn life precisely so I could move past her shadow.

Not as a fragment to fill my past, but as a partner who would walk with me through the future.

"I'm counting on you from now on, Lira."

"Kyiiing!"

At that short cry—filled with a conviction deeper than any grand vow—I knew instinctively.

The story that would unfold from now on would be a first chapter—filled with unknowns no one had ever seen—and it would be ours alone.

<I'm Just an Extra, but the Divine Beasts Are Obsessed With Me>

                                               **— The End —**

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