This is a fleeting recollection.
"I am a weapon. Something you need not judge. Thus, I can remain by your side for eternity—"
A voice reaches me. Gentle, serene, it caresses my ears.
"Fool."
A familiar voice responds.
"Listen well. That… is called—"
Words that shine like stars to him.
This is a memory from a distant past.
The king who declared himself absolute acknowledged one as his equal.
A weapon crafted by the gods. The supreme clay figure. The Chain of Heaven, returning the wedge to its place.
They clashed like a storm, blades flashing, only to forge an unbreakable bond thereafter.
The golden king and the serene green beauty.
From then on, their days raced by.
They soared through the heavens, roamed the earth, ventured to the underworld, danced through cities and towns. Like children, they reveled in their freedom.
"Since you came, my treasury's been in chaos! Squandering my wealth—you've given me a foolish habit!"
"But I've dusted off your cobwebs, haven't I?"
"You dare! Fine, to the next battlefield!"
The king laughed, and he smiled.
Like meteors, like birds in flight, like lions charging across the plains, they shone, celebrating life itself.
Then came the day he declared a new task.
"Come with me."
"What?"
"We're off to vanquish all the evils of the world. Prepare yourself—it'll be a long journey."
I was stunned. Him, the tyrant who oppressed his people, who harmed them, now aiming to purge the world's evils?
"No surprise there. Otherwise, calamity would starve the people."
"You're doing this? You, who torments them?"
"Hmph, bold words. But it's no mystery. Protecting this star's future civilization is my duty."
"—"
"There are many ways to protect. Guarding alone isn't enough. Sometimes, a north wind is needed."
Oh, I see. So he's chosen…
"You've chosen to judge. To decide."
To see, to determine, to advance what holds value into the future.
That was the law he set for himself.
"Hmph, don't make a fuss about it, fool."
"Heh, and yet… pfft."
"What?"
"Calling you a north wind? Too cute. A storm, a cataclysm—that's more like it. Oh, it's hilarious."
"A figure of speech. Forget it. Stop laughing, or I'll leave you behind!"
"Heh, haha, sorry, sorry."
And so, he vanquished the world's evils. Beasts, dragons, countless malevolent forces—he scattered them, judging the world.
Among them was a monster with a maiden's heart—a friend known to the Chain of Heaven.
"What's that?"
"A crown. A fitting tribute."
A crown woven of flowers.
"Why did she wear that crown?" I murmured, almost to myself.
"A pure heart rejoices in a single adornment."
The golden king said only that before returning to the city.
The king and he shone brighter than anything on earth, brighter than any star in the heavens.
Their radiance was so brilliant that even the gods couldn't ignore it. The world gazed upon them, singing their praises.
Then, a goddess fell in love with the shining king.
"Oh, Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh—"
Inanna, the heavenly mistress, also called Ishtar.
Goddess of beauty and fertility, protector of cities and prosperity in Mesopotamia.
A goddess of many loves, who claimed countless hearts, Ishtar sought Gilgamesh's love as a matter of course.
"I will love you. Like the blessings of heaven, like the bounty of the earth, like the riches of the mountains, like the breeze that caresses your cheek, like the stars that light the world—I will love all of you."
An offer so sweet it could bring any Mesopotamian man to the peak of bliss, an irresistible temptation.
But—
"Begone, vile woman."
"What?"
The king's rejection was absolute.
"How many men have you toyed with? How many have you devoured, and been devoured by? A filthy, semen-stained harlot, covered in grime. I've no use for a whore. Return to Tiamat's mud."
"Wh—What—"
"I said begone. Don't equate me with your petty men. You shame the gods."
"What… what… to Inanna, the heavenly mistress, you dare—!"
"That's how it is."
The green beauty smiled, mocking.
"Rejected, huh, harlot goddess?"
"—!!!"
"You should retire the 'goddess of love' title. Pity the followers who'd end up like you."
"…Gilgamesh… Enkidu—!!"
"See you, 'heartbroken' goddess."
Her pride shattered, Ishtar wept to her father, Anu.
"Father, punish Gilgamesh. He insulted me, called me a vile woman, a wretched hag who toys with and ruins men—"
"My daughter, Inanna, isn't that all true…?"
"If you ignore my plea, I'll unleash death upon the world. I'll open the gates of the underworld, bringing all its pain and death to you and mankind—"
"…Fine, my daughter."
Thus, the towering calamity, the divine beast of punishment, Gugalanna, the Bull of Heaven, was unleashed upon the earth.
It dried rivers, shattered the land, and blotted out the sun—a harbinger of death itself.
Yet even against this divine punishment, the two stood defiant.
Atop his golden throne soaring through the sky, Gilgamesh faced the heavens.
"Hmph. That harlot ran crying to Anu. To stoop to such a beast."
"What a nuisance. We're doing this, right, friend?"
"Of course—watch my valor closely."
"Gil?"
"This may be my final stand."
"…What?"
"Let's go, friend! A beast sent by the gods? Too trifling for us—!!"
It was a storm of a battle. The heavens tore, the earth split.
In the end, the Chain of Heaven bound and strangled the Bull of Heaven, and the star's radiance cut down the calamity, shattering the gods' punishment.
"Impossible… no, no…"
"Miscalculated, heavenly mistress? He's beyond even the gods now."
"Tch—!"
"Such a shame, such a shame—if I could've caught you…"
The green beauty, dragging Gugalanna's entrails and forelimbs from its corpse, hurled them at Ishtar.
"…I'd have made you suffer the same fate as this bull—!!"
Her smile burned with rage, shaking the heavens with fury.
Ishtar's pride was shattered once more.
And this was the end.
Ishtar demanded the death of either Gilgamesh or Enkidu, for slaying a divine beast was a mortal sin.
The gods' verdict: Enkidu, who felled Humbaba, would face death.
As his friend returned to clay, the king clung to him desperately.
"I won't forgive you! I won't, Enkidu! Why must you die!? If punishment must come, it should be mine! All this is my selfishness—!!"
The king cried, his face contorted with tears and grief.
"Dreams are meant to end, friend. My dream, too, must fade as it wakes."
"Fool, fool…! You're no dream! Our time together isn't a dream! Don't die, don't die—!!"
Oh, the king weeps. Crimson eyes brimming, caked in mud, crying like a thunderstorm.
"You don't need to grieve, friend. I'm a weapon, just one of your many treasures. Countless treasures greater than me will appear. You have no reason to shed tears—"
The king shook his head, shouting it was wrong.
"You have value!! Singular value!! I declare here and now: in this world, I have but one friend! That value will never change, for eternity—!!"
"—"
"Fool."
"What?"
"To speak together, laugh together, fight together… that's neither man nor tool."
"…Then what?"
"It's called a friend, Enkidu—"
—Oh.
How sinful.
"Then who will weep for you? Who will soothe your loneliness? Who… will stand by your side…?"
I left an eternal wound upon his pride.
"Thinking of your loneliness to come, friend… I can't help but cry…"
His greatest sincerity was his solitude.
The rain ceased, and the clay figure returned to earth.
"Guh… ugh…—!!"
All that remained—
"—OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
A thunderous roar from the king, echoing like lightning.
This is a memory I show you.
A voice speaks.
I can no longer stand by his side. My story has ended.
A gentle voice.
Nameless soul, bound by strange fate, like I once was, standing by his side.
A calm, quiet voice.
Please, take care of my friend.
It speaks to my soul.
Not as a subject, not as a servant, not as a conspirator… sadly, not as a friend.
Be his one and only 'something.' Show him your unique value.
You are…
I'm watching you.
The voice fades.
I'll watch forever, what you and my friend achieve.
My consciousness fades in response.
I hope one day you gain a splendid name.
I glimpsed a serene smile.
My soul awakens. It feels like I dreamed a distant dream.
"…In… God…"
The vessel sleeps on a hammock, resting.
I won't disturb the king's rest. Reading his epic can wait for another time.
This experience feels far more precious than any epic.
The radiant yet sorrowful tale of the Wedge and Chain of Heaven.
The vessel and someone showed me a glimpse of it.
I saw something nostalgic, yet insignificant.
--+--
T/N: Although I'm an inexperienced Editor, I do have a Patreon account! Although it seems like I don't have many supporters right now, my webnovel will be released in full every day, and the advanced chapters will be uploaded to Patreon.
It may not be worth it now, but who knows, it might be different in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/Greyhounds
If you want to see it, then why not?