episode_0025

Hella seemed to have forgotten her memories about that man. As if a part of her memory had been precisely cut out with scissors.

It didn’t seem like a lie. Even if I didn’t know, ‘Rain Grey’ had the insight to discern that much.

There wasn’t even any effect of magical actions like spells or curses.

At the same time, the sense of uncanny strangeness I felt from her could never be explained without some kind of power or intervention.

What on earth was it?

I didn’t know. That’s why it felt even more futile.

A single clue that might have provided an answer in this world was cut off so meaninglessly.

“……I thought I’d heard enough of the notorious reputation of the 《Black Serpent》 to be sick of it. But in reality, it’s far beyond imagination.”

Hella laughed, unconcerned.

“It’s a relief I didn’t make enemies of you. ─Truly.”

“……”

As she laughed, I could feel that she was desperately suppressing her fear in front of us.

The image of a frog desperately hiding its weakness, praying not to be eaten, and feigning composure in front of a snake. It was a sight I had seen and would continue to see to the point of being sick of it.

So, I turned my back without another word. My business here was over. I had no more business with her. It would be better for everyone if I quietly left now.

As I turned, beyond the horizon lay an endless landscape of destruction and ruins. Along with the dead and their corpses. I silently gazed at the scene for a moment, then pulled out a cigarette from my pocket and put it in my mouth.

Just then, as I was about to light it, something flashed through my mind.

“Finally, there’s one more thing I want to ask.”

So I turned back and asked Hella.

“What kind of memo is written in this ?”

“Huh?”

At that question, Hella tilted her head.

“A memo, you say? ─What are you suddenly talking about?”

“……No, it’s nothing.”

The answer that followed. That was enough.

The clue was there.

I mumbled as if it were nothing. Then I continued my halted steps.

Aria and Alice silently followed behind me. As if crossing a post-apocalyptic world, shattered into ruins and sunken.

Like wandering through a labyrinth with no exit, leading to an unknown destination.

*

I remember the first time I killed a person with my own hands.

That event is still an unforgettable memory. I felt fear and guilt. However, it was far from the days of suffering from a sense of sin, torment, and spending every night in nightmares, as one might commonly imagine.

It was etched into my memory, but that was all. The next time was easier, and the time after that was even easier. That’s why I vaguely realized.

That a part of what constitutes me now is, in a sense, also the ‘real Rain Grey’.

And that the boundary between the two was blurry and indistinct like the dawn sky, unable to be cleanly cut and divided like a cake.

Except for one thing: Rain Grey’s memories, thoroughly overlaid with darkness.

What lay dormant within his memories? In a living, breathing world, not a game, for what purpose did he form the 《Black Serpent》 and what did he aim to achieve?

I don’t know. Nevertheless, I will find out, sooner or later.

At the end where the clues to the mystery I am chasing entwine and connect.

─Now, the placed on the table in our hotel suite was also one of them.

I had Aria and Alice leave the room. To avoid any potential suspicion. After all, it wasn’t strange for me to give them orders.

When the time comes, the rest of the silent 《Black Serpent》 subordinates will be no exception.

*Rustle.*

As I placed my hand on the hardcover of the Necromancy Grimoire, just about to turn it, I realized it wasn’t covered in sheepskin, but human flesh. I lightly frowned and turned the page.

With a *rustle*, I turned the page and skimmed the contents written in the grimoire.

Magic isn’t instantly acquired with a *poof* like in a real game.

However, each strange, squiggly character and formula, though unknown to me, flowed into my mind with a bizarre clarity of understanding. Even those characters weren’t of this era’s language.

It was an ancient language.

The mysterious ancient empire that once flourished but suddenly vanished one day, a common trope often appearing in RPGs.

As a side note, those who can read ancient languages are extremely rare on the continent, and it is set that they can be treated with respect anywhere they go.

‘Guess I won’t starve anywhere.’

At the end of that thought, I immediately stopped reading the . Knowing I could read and understand it was enough.

As a side note, when I read a grimoire that couldn’t be acquired in-game, the following message popped up.

“※ Notification: This grimoire is too difficult for you to understand!”

A message that appears when your class doesn’t match, or your job level, stats, etc., are insufficient.

It wasn’t me now. I was easily and fluently understanding the contents of the , even the ancient language. That was enough.

After that, I quickly flipped through the pages, looking for the ‘memo’ Hella spoke of.

Something she no longer even remembered, yet something she wished with all her being would not fall into the hands of this nation’s military.

Even Colonel Hydra seemed unaware of what the book truly concealed, despite having obtained it earlier. Was it something that an ordinary colonel shouldn’t know?

Or perhaps… like Hella, did he forget his memories after seeing it?

As expected, even searching the book thoroughly, it wasn’t easily visible. It must have been hidden somewhere.

“ .”

Finding it wasn’t difficult. What a mage hides and finds is purely determined by their rank as a mage. And I, at least, had never seen a mage capable of contending with Rain Grey’s rank. Nor did I know of any.

As expected, like illuminating it with a fluorescent detector, a peculiar shimmer of magic emanating from within the grimoire emitted an unmistakable light.

A clue leading to one of the protagonists of the past.

Even this country, the Duchy of Germania, coveted that clue and desired to obtain it. What on earth could be gained from it?

─He who remembers heroes can wind a thread around us.

As I opened the page, the following words were written in magic.

─Fighting monsters for humanity, abandoning humanity to fight monsters, and having abandoned humanity, the reason to fight for humanity disappears.

─Heroes become monsters, and monsters once again devour humans.

─Until someone appears to fight monsters for humanity.

“……”

─Father, why did you raise me as a hero?

I silently read the content. It wasn’t long. The words were too metaphorical and elusive to be considered information.

I only knew that it hinted at the fate of the protagonists, including the ‘heroic myths’ of this world.

Other than that, I couldn’t understand the meaning of any of these words. This was a clue?

I let out a hollow laugh and closed the book.

A short while after closing it. Aria and Alice returned as dusk settled outside the hotel window.

“Commander!! Ugh, it was hard being apart! I wanted to see you quickly!”

“Alice, really, be respectful in front of the Commander-nim.”

Alice, who didn’t hide her emotions and acted spoiled; Aria, who smiled and gently chided Alice.

The two smiled openly as soon as they saw me. Who were those smiles for?

I didn’t know. In this situation where I had lost my way forward, their smiles were strangely comforting and reassuring.

So, I didn’t bother to hide the content revealed through in the grimoire.

“─This is.”

“It’s the memo written in the grimoire.”

“……”

As expected, Aria seemed to know something. Just as I was about to listen to her next words.

“……On the way here, we encountered a comrade staying in this city.”

“Who is it?”

“──it’s.”

Unexpected words followed. One of my subordinates was in this city.

Indeed, it wasn’t strange for there to be other serpents besides us in the capital of the Duchy of Germania.

“From what I hear, they’re with a new child who wishes to join the 《Black Serpent》.”

Even a new recruit applicant was with them.

*

There was a saintess wandering the ruined streets.

Saintess Jeanne, who had barely escaped imperial territory and reached the Duchy, showing no mercy in the face of the swords of her pursuers.

Beyond the border, the streets that immediately unfolded were already overlaid with the shadow of the Serpent, from which there was no escape anywhere.

The 《Black Serpent》 had passed through here.

That man, he had passed through here.

Upon realizing that fact, she became aware of her own heart’s strange desire to draw closer to the Serpent.

“……*Gasp*.”

Furthermore, unable to hide her increasingly worsening injuries, Jeanne leaned her back against a pile of broken stones by the roadside and lay down.

“─Your wound.”

A voice reached Jeanne, who was closing her eyes. Was it her pursuer? Had she come all this way, only to be unable to escape even here? It couldn’t be. Not until she heard the answer from that man again.

Jeanne, clad in a bloodstained and dirtied black coat, opened her eyes. Taking a stance as if to draw her sword at any moment.

“Your wound is deep.”

But there, unexpectedly, was a familiar face.

There was a memory of fighting alongside her in a time when Jeanne shone far more nobly than now. Even that righteousness, which didn’t pass by others’ wounds without concern, was familiar.

At the same time, the beautifully shining nobility and purity of that era were nowhere to be found in her.

Just like in herself now.

“Alina……?”

“I never imagined I’d meet Saintess-nim here.”

Realizing neither of them was in a position to talk about the other, Jeanne smiled.

Alina, the Swordsman Princess, whose party was annihilated by the 《Black Serpent》 and who went missing.

There was a female swordsman wandering in the same shadow of the Serpent.