7. A Man called Barha Zetta

I didn’t have a family when I started to aware if things around me.

When I realized it, I’d learned how to live alone.

I didn’t remember the human face that raised me from a baby until I started to understand what was going on around me.

All I remember was that ‘that person’ was a man and that he gave me the minimum knowledge about how to live.

I’d lived alone in this countryside, without a house or work. The source of income was the accumulation of boring wrongdoing. Considering my condemnation of sins so far, it could be said that the prison life for the past year was a natural result.

I never thought my life was unhappy. After all, I didn’t know if my life was good or bad. I didn’t know what it could be called as a happy life or unhappy life.

Every day, earnestly killing boredom.

I didn’t like to be bored.

11 months ago, when I was saving that girl from the lord’s son, it was not an act of justice.

But at that time, I thought it would be interesting to help her. That’s it.

I was really excited when I entered the prison. I thought something would happen… something would change.

I’m such a trash.

‘The environment was bad.’

or

‘My natural-born talent was bad.’

No such excuse was allowed.

There was more freedom in this world more than anyone could thought.

And what made feel like I was crippled… was that freedom.

Humans could walk on any path if they try to walk. There were too many turning point too. What did people think when there saw many paths in front of them?

They would think,

‘It’s annoying’.

Then they would say,

‘I don’t know which path is safe.’ 

or

‘I don’t know which path is fun.’

So, people chose the easy path they could think. 

Chose a road with footprints… The footprints of parents, the footprints of teachers, the footprints of friends, the footprints of a stranger――

You stepped into the easy path that someone has pioneered and was guided unknowingly. By the time you noticed, the path was straight, and the path you had followed to was already in the point where it was too long to turn back, and so you were lazy to turn back.

I didn’t like to go straight, so I always stopped in front of myriad possibilities.

Hey old man.

Soon, I will be prepared.

Be prepared to step into my own path from the path with your footprints.

Old man.

You taught me a lot in this short period of time.

Therefore, I have a word that I must say. Well, it’s embarrassing to say it face to face.

———————————————————————

As soon as I returned to the prison accompanied by the guard, the old man put down his brush.

The guard put me inside the prison cell, locked it, and left. I called out to the old man’s back.

“How are you doing?”

“―― not bad”

The old man looked sideways and looked at me leaning against the wall.

“It was long…”

That word wasn’t something for me.

“79 years was a long time… Pursuing a dream, leaving home, meeting a teacher… Became a Sealer and threw myself into the days of adventure. “

I was sure that memories were flashing back in the old man’s brain.

It was different from when he taught me about the outside world.

He spoke slowly while remembering the joy, sadness, and all of positive and negative emotions.

“I met a friend who I could share everything, and also a woman I loved dearly… I had many encounters. There were many farewells too… overcoming all of them, I, am here now. “

“Are there any regrets?”

“Yes, but more than that I’m actually feel satisfied… If I were to give a score to my life, I think it’s 80 out of 100. “

Still, it’s not 100 points.

Of course. There can be no 100 points in the life of a human being who entered the prison at the end.

But, the 20 points that were missing are infinitely large.

“If I were to give a point to my life, I would say 20 points… Well, until I came here, I got 0 points.”

Before I knew it, my voice was trembling.

The feeling of approaching ‘Time’ was transmitted from the old man’s back.

“Twenty points was given by you… You gave me a dream. “

It was less than half a year.

However, the thing that the old man gave me in that short time was big.

“That’s why that 20 points, the thing that left unfinished by you, old man―― I’ll do something about it.”

The old man made a troubled face, but then he smiled with that face.

“Could I leave it to you? Seal…”

“Yeah”

The old man stretched his back and squeaked his neck.

And with a deliberate voice,

“Hmm… My shoulders are stiff…”

Seriously, he’s bad at acting.

“Shall I massage your shoulder?”

I rushed to the old man and massaged the shoulders.

Alternately, I weakened my strength as much as possible.

“Seal…. I have one present for you.”

“Present?”

“That’s right”

I looked around, but there was nothing that could be called a gift.

“In the outside world, without a family name, there would be various shortcoming.”

“That’s… right.”

“So, I’ll give you a name… Actually, the name Barha Zetta is the name I succeeded from the previous generation of Sealer… For generation, it’s passed to the main line of Sealer.”

Huh? That means that Barha-Zetta’s name… to me?

“But you’re still inexperienced, an amateur…Therefore, I’ll give only half the name.”

“Yeah, yeah, I thought that would be the case.”

“Hahaha!… Don’t be like that. After all, you’re able to be called ‘Amateur’ in just half a year ―― You can be proud of it.”

The old man dropped his eyelids and called my full name.

“Seal. From tomorrow, I will allow you to call yourself, Seal Zetta.”

“Seal, Zetta …”

I got a name with only three letters, only three letters. [TN: why it’s only three letter? Because in Japanese it is ‘ゼッタ’, it’s three letters.]

It wouldn’t become money… it was only at most… three letters.

Still ――

It’s bad.

I’m felling happy more than I expected.

―― I was recognized.

I felt that I was truly recognized.

I tightened my facial muscles tightly.

It was somehow embarrassing if I knew that I was really happy to receive the name.

“Haaah-, I’m glad… At the very end, I’m able to pass over… this name.”

Then… the power returned to my fist suddenly weakened.

“Old man …”

The end was approaching.

It was transmitted through while I was massaging the shoulders.

“Seal”

“……what is it?”

The old man laughed with satisfaction.

Then, dropped the eyelids and said something silly.

“You’re getting better at massaging, huh.”

Somehow, I could hear a cutting sound.

“Right? I never massaged anyone’s shoulder, so I practiced… I sneak up in the middle of the night and massaging your shoulder … “

” ―――”

“Old man…It’s too early to go to bed. There are three hours left until the lights off.”

“――――”

“That’s right, old man…I came up with a new way to use Sealing Technique. I’ll show it to you later. “

“――――”

“Hey, old man… Are you listening?”

“――――”

There was no power returned to my fist.

“Master…”

I squeezed out my voice in an empty room.

“Thank you very much.”

One month left until my release.

Barha Zetta died at the end of spring when the cherry blossoms were falling.

———————— Barha Zetta POV ————————

I was a sealer.

So far, I had sealed a number of great evils. In particular, I had sealed immortals, the one who could come back to life by rebirth, and those who cannot be defeated by proper means.

<MAJIN> and <JINMA> were afraid of me, I was called as the ‘Natural Enemies’. [TN: The Kanji of the word itself can be tl-ed as ‘The one who sent you to heaven’, but the author chose for it to be read as ‘Natural Enemies’, so yeah…]

I was sure this was also one of their schemes.

One day, when I visited the laboratory, strange corpses were lined up.

Most were related to the Knights, including the wife of the Knights.

Then I heard well-organized footsteps come to my direction at the same time… At that moment, I immediately instinctively could tell that I was trapped.

A platoon led by the knight captain was furious when he saw me and the corpse.

――So, I was sentenced to death by a curse.

Killed by curse was said to be painful.

The meaning would be close to burning at the stake. It was a punishment that causes as much suffering as possible before killed.

I was engraved with a curse.

I thought that I would be thrown into the prison of the imperial capital, but I was transferred to the prison in the countryside by my friend, Pearl.

『”I believe in you!”』

My wife was screaming until the end to the false accusations.

『”Unforgivable. I will never forgive Grandpa…! 』

My granddaughter was crying and screaming at me with a grudge and left.

I couldn’t do anything. I appealed for innocence, but everything was failed.

Perhaps there was a <MAJIN> in the upper ranks of the Knights. <MAJIN> was different from <JINMA>, and its appearance was not so different from human. So, it was not impossible to get into human society.

I told Adolphos and Pearl about that, but from their standing, both would be difficult to reach it.

I was lost.

I was defeated by a monster for the first time.

Among <MAJIN> and <JINMA>, those who boast extraordinary power that have eaten tens of thousands of humans and monsters was called, <MATEI>. [TN: <MATEI> or could be tl-ed as <Demon Emperor>]

I had repelled many <MATEI>. I didn’t feel like losing in a head-to-head battle.

But, they finally noticed. That to kill human, they could just use human.

I will die soon. 

I was about to die, so I was prepared for it.

The regret I had was what happens to all of the <MATEI> that I have sealed up until now. If they came back, the ‘World Core’ would be disturbed and the ecosystem would be affected. The living beings without intelligent such as plants and monsters will be particularly affected.

I need it. The one who succeeds me …

I needed a person who was qualified to become a sealer.

Speaking of talent alone, up until this point there was one.

Niamh… She had Yellow Mana and prominent at handling Blue Mana. She was perfect for a Sealer who required to be dexterous at Mana Manipulation.

However, I felt darkness in her.

The same darkness as my younger brother who became a <MAJIN>, a long time ago…

If the Sealing Technique fall into the hands of <MATEI>, the world would end.

That was why, I couldn’t pass over the Sealing Technique to her.

So now, what should I do?

Who should I entrust this power to?

What kind of person do I want to be my disciple?

I don’t know.

I wish I could not care so much about the world after I died.

But unfortunately, I love this world.

Please…. someone… Is there really no one?

Is there really no one out there who deserves to inherit my power?

『”Come here. come quickly.”』

When I arrived at the prison in countryside where I was taken to, I thought that this might be what called as ‘Fate’.

The boy had a demeanor that made him feel weak from his whole body.

The eyes seen through the gaps in the jet-black bangs… That eyes of him were hungry… hungry for development.

――pure white.

This was the impression I got from the black-haired boy.

And surprisingly, the boy had no name.

My right eye could see the quality and quantity of the target’s Mana.

My left eye could see the true name of the one I see.

My left eye, which always reflected the other person’s name, could not see the boy’s name.

『”What’s your name, boy?”』

『”……Seal”』

Red , Blue , Green , Yellow. And ――Golden.

There was a Mana in him that I didn’t even know.

There were higher-ranking in each of Mana colors.

Red Mana -> Scarlet Mana.

Green Mana -> Dark Green Mana.

I knew only these two types.

I quickly realized that the boy Golden Mana was higher-ranking of Yellow Mana.

However, the Golden Mana cannot be handled by ordinary means.

I didn’t even know what kind of power it has. I judged that it was better not to touch it without knowing it.

『”What does a sealer do?』

『”Are you interested?』

『”Maybe? Just a little…?”』

After a little stimulating the boy’s curiosity, he came on board.

The curious boy reminded me of a pure white notebook.

It seemed that the person I was looking for was such a person.

The boy had a medium upper potential for the three main colors (Red, Blue, and Green). But, the Red color was a little better than others.

If the boy made an effort, he could reach out to any field, but he couldn’t reach the top level in any field. That the how he was.

Eventually the boy would be a Versatile type, but for the time being it was better to lead him into the direction of developing red Mana. The Red Mana was excellent in both offense and defense, and the Green Mana will only made him confused if he touched as of now, so I decided to postpone it.

Now, about Yellow Mana and Golden Mana… the digits were different for these two.

Both were too many for those who had not received any Magic Technique training. It was not as good as I was in my heyday, but the boy had the same amount of Yellow Mana as I was now.

Most people will surpass the total amount of Mana.

Regarding the sense of Mana Manipulation, the three main colors was about the same.

In a week, he showed off a certain amount of progress in handling Red Mana. Well, I learned magic and was able to operate it almost perfectly in a day, so it was far inferior to me. However, since I was a genius, it was difficult to use it as a standard.

I didn’t know how it was compared to other magicians. I had never taught magic from scratch, so I was the only one to compare.

Next, regarding how good he was at handling Yellow Mana…

He was definitely a genius in this regard.

He learned it in three months, even though it would take at least three years to learn even basic sealing.

『”I’m just killing time”』

When asked why he learned Sealing Technique, he replied so.

Many people had visited me in the past to learn Sealing Techniques from me. When I asked them the same question, ‘for the world,’ or ‘to be stronger,’ or ‘to protect someone.’…

Sure, all of it was a nice word.

But it didn’t touch my heart.

After all, the reason of why I learn Sealing Technique…

It was just for killing time.

It was a killing time for me to become a disciple of my teacher. I was bored since I lived in a remote village, after all there was nothing much to do, so I became a disciple after the person who happened to visit the village.

Sealing Technique was an evil technique that robbed the other party of their freedom and gave them a fixed time.

Only those who knew ‘the fear of boredom’ and ‘the fear of leisure’ could handle it.

Humans were creatures that dominated by unawareness.

There weren’t many people who could control themselves.

Hey, Seal.

We don’t want to control anyone, right?

We want to rule over our own life. right……?

『”If I were to give a point to my life, I would say 20 points… Well, until I came here, I got 0 points.”』

『”Twenty points was given by you… You gave me a dream. “』

『”That’s why that 20 points, the thing that left unfinished by you, old man―― I’ll do something about it.”』

If my life were to be written in a book, this might be the ‘Conclusion’ part.

However, the story of this world continued even after my life was completed.

Seal, perhaps my last mission was to be in the ‘introduction’ part of your life.

Yeah, I have no regrets.

At the very end, I was satisfied with my life.

As a thank you-I’ll present you this name.

“Seal. From tomorrow, I will allow you to call yourself Seal Zetta. “

“Seal, Zetta …”

The name of Seal-Zetta came to my left eye.

The true name was the thing given by your parents when you were born. 

Without his parents, he probably had lost the chance to get his true name.

But at this time, the moment Seal acknowledged the name I gave him, his true name became it.

Master… I was able pass over your name, though only half.

“You’re getting better at massaging, huh.”

Seal, thanks to you. You taught me.

That I wasn’t that free until the very end.

That my life wasn’t a boring life.

Seal, I want to say this word to at the end.

Well, it’s embarrassing to say it face to face …

『”Thank you”』

The name of my wife, the name of my son, and the name of my granddaughter disappear from my soul.

So, this is what’s called as the purification of the soul, huh…

I’m scared… the darkness is falling.

Mysteriously, no tears came out from Barha.

Barha Zetta certainly lived his life.

Goodbye world.

Until the day we meet again.