Rain poured steadily from the dark, overcast sky, washing over the silent sanctuary of the dead.
Rows of gravestones stretched across the silent cemetery, separated by old trees whose branches swayed gently beneath the storm.
After the Graveyard Dimension incident, the government had recovered the bodies of the forty-three victims.
They now rested here, buried side by side beneath the same rain-soaked earth.
But among those graves... one stood apart.
The forty-fourth.
A young woman stood before it, trembling. Her friend silently held an umbrella over both of them, but it did little to shield her from the rain—or hide her tears.
Sara Jane covered her mouth with both hands as quiet sobs escaped her.
The sound of the rain should have drowned everything else. Instead... her grief echoed louder.
Not far away, hidden behind the trunk of an old tree, someone watched in silence.
Zekai. He remained motionless, careful not to reveal his presence. His gaze never left Sara.
He had no right to stand beside her. No right to comfort her. No right to tell her what had really happened.
He could only watch.
He could only watch her world fracture from the shadows.
Slowly, he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. A memory surfaced.
"Mr. Zekai!"
Aron stood beside him, unable to hide the excitement on his face.
"Her name is Sara Jane." A wide smile spread across his face.
"She's really cute... you know."
He shyly intertwined both index fingers together, grinning like a child.
"I still can't believe she actually accepted me."
Zekai barely looked at him.
"...Good for you." He walked away as if it meant nothing.
But after leaving... a small smile had unknowingly appeared on his own face.
'So... you finally found someone.'
The warm memory dissolved as quickly as it had come.
Back in the present...
Sara continued crying.
Her friend gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and slowly led her away beneath the umbrella.
They walked past the very tree where Zekai stood hidden.
Sara never noticed him. Her eyes remained fixed on the ground. Her world had become too heavy to notice anyone else.
Only after she disappeared into the rain did Zekai finally step away from the tree. His footsteps were slow.
Each step toward Aron's grave felt impossibly heavy, as though every meter stretched into years.
The rain continued falling, but he couldn't hear it anymore.
The wind... the thunder... the rustling trees... everything around him faded into silence.
When he finally stopped before the gravestone... his eyes widened.
There it was.
Aron Lexi
His name was carved neatly into the stone.
Zekai knew the truth.
Aron's body wasn't beneath this grave. But pain cared little for facts.
But that knowledge brought him no comfort. The grief crushing his chest remained exactly the same.
Slowly... he dropped to his knees. His fingers tightened against his own chest.
"...I'm sorry." His voice trembled.
"I'm truly sorry, Aron."
"I had the power of the Arcana running through my veins... and I still couldn't save you."
His breathing became uneven. Without thinking, he swept the bouquet of flowers from the top of the gravestone.
They scattered across the wet ground.
"This... ...none of this is real."
"I left you alone..."
"I abandoned you in that hell."
For the first time in years—Zekai cried.
Tears mixed with the rain as they rolled down his face.
"Yet here I am... still wandering this world like a living corpse." A single tear landed upon Aron's gravestone.
"...Don't forgive me."
His voice had become little more than a whisper.
"I know you're still alive."
"I don't care where you are."
"I'll find you. No matter what."
He slowly rose to his feet. His fists clenched tightly.
"Whether you're alive..."
"...or trapped somewhere beyond death..."
"I swear... I'll bring you back."
"Whether it leads to life... or to death."
Silence answered him.
Then—
BOOM!
Lightning split the dark sky.
A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
"Hey, mister."
Zekai spun around instantly.
Standing behind him was a young man around his age. The next flash of lightning illuminated his face.
His eyes gleamed beneath the storm.
For several long seconds... neither of them spoke.
The young man studied him for a long moment.
Then, without a trace of excitement, he quietly extended his hand through the rain.
"Hey. I'm Hira Kinsin."
The name struck Zekai immediately.
"...Hira?" Without realizing it, he accepted the handshake.
"I'm Zekai Krystan."
For the first time—Hira's expression froze.
"...Zekai?" He looked at him in silence, as though searching through years of forgotten memories.
"So it really is you."
"The last time I saw you..."
"...we were just kids."
Zekai's expression softened for only a moment.
"...Yeah."
"It's been a long time."
"We both grew up."
The rain continued falling between them.
Years had passed since their childhood in Thyra Covenant Nation.
Once... they had been inseparable friends.
Then life had driven them onto different paths.
Neither of them had imagined that, after so many years apart, the person who would bring them together again... would be Aron.
Yet there they stood.
Not reunited by celebration.
But by a grave.
Hira slowly waved a hand through the rain.
"...Life has a cruel way of bringing people back together." After a brief silence, he looked toward Aron's grave.
"So... how did you know Aron?"
Zekai lowered his eyes.
"He was..."
"...a good friend." He paused.
"...A younger brother."
Hira's smile disappeared.
"I'm sorry."
"...Yeah." Hira lowered his eyes.
"He had that kind of heart. He was always special to everyone."
"I never thought..."
"...someone so young would end up like this."
He looked quietly at the gravestone.
"In the end... he died alone."
"Like an orphan."
Zekai immediately frowned.
"...What?"
"He had a grandfather. Northan."
Hira slowly shook his head.
"No."
"He was an orphan from birth."
"He grew up in our orphanage."
"Northan wasn't family."
"He simply gave Aron a job."
"He loved him like his own grandson..."
...but they weren't related by blood."
Hira folded his umbrella and looked silently toward the rain-filled sky.
"The truth is... he never had anyone."
Those words struck Zekai harder than any wound he had suffered inside Chamber Twelve. His expression slowly darkened.
'No... Why...?'
His fist tightened.
'Why did everything have to happen to him?'
Hira noticed the distant look in his eyes.
"...Zekai? Are you alright?"
"...Zekai?"
He blinked several times before finally returning to reality.
"...Ah. I'm... fine."
Hira smiled sadly.
"Don't carry everything by yourself."
"Sometimes..."
"...this is simply fate."
They stood in silence for another moment.
Hira reached into his coat and pulled out a simple business card.
"If you ever need anything..."
He held it out.
After a brief hesitation, Zekai accepted it.
"...Thanks."
He slipped the card into the inside pocket of his coat without looking at it.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then—
Finally—Zekai turned away.
"...See you again."
Without waiting for an answer... he disappeared into the rain.
✦ End of Chapter 49 — The Weight of the Living ✦