episode_0146

“……”

Kristin stood silently in the empty hallway. The confident demeanor she had just moments ago while persuading Erik was nowhere to be seen—replaced instead by a chilling stillness as her lips parted.

“I know you’ve been listening. Why don’t you come out already?”

“Hmph.”

The space, which should have been empty, twisted unnaturally, and from within it, Elia stepped forward.

“Isn’t this a bit beneath the future emperor? Using a grand mage’s magic for something so trivial?”

“I’m not here to joke. Let’s get to the point.”

“The point?”

“Don’t play dumb. I’m talking about what you just said. What were you thinking, spouting such nonsense?”

“Nonsense? That’s harsh, sis. You heard everything, didn’t you? The secrets Oppa was hiding, how he really feels about us. After hearing all that, do you still think I’m wrong?”

“I’m asking why. Why you deliberately lured me here. Was it truly necessary to go this far—”

Crackle—

Elia clenched her fist in the air. In response, the same strange distortion that had preceded her appearance rippled in the palm of her hand before fading away.

“To the point of resorting to cheap tricks like this?”

“Hehe. I had to use a little force. But can you blame me? Someone as paranoid as you would’ve never followed me otherwise.”

“I asked why.”

“Well, call it petty revenge? After all, you never told us a single word about the guild leader, did you? Do you have any idea how shocked I was when Oppa suddenly confessed to them? If the rest of us hadn’t covered for him, what were you even thinking?”

“Erik needs allies. If he doesn’t have someone to trust at his back, he’ll collapse before anything else.”

“Then aren’t we agreeing on the same thing?”

“Do you really believe that?”

“Oppa agreed with me in the end, didn’t he?”

“If you consider that agreement, then your head must be stuffed full of flowers.”

—

Minutes earlier, Erik had been gripping Kristin’s collar with force. Given the disparity in strength between them, such an outburst was nothing more than a mouse screeching at a lion—yet Erik wasn’t rational enough to realize it.

“Say it again. What did you just say?”

“Why are you so angry? I’m just stating the obvious. The farther Oppa distances himself from us, the better. Remember when he was wandering alone outside after the Fairchild incident? There’s no good in any of us getting tangled with him. And honestly, Oppa proved that himself in the most spectacular way, didn’t he?”

“So this is the brilliant solution you came up with? This childish answer from the heir of Grave Manor? Just because you can’t understand why someone behaves a certain way, you refuse to believe in them at all?”

“If it sounds like I’m dismissing you, then I apologize. Think of this as my personal safety net. I’ve met plenty of people too, just like you. But none of them—not a single one—were like you, Oppa. Someone who stakes something beyond their own life to move forward. Even that guild leader ultimately offered help within the bounds of not compromising their own position.”

“You just haven’t met the right people yet.”

“Maybe. But the fact remains—I haven’t. So isn’t it only natural for me to question why someone like you behaves the way you do?”

“Tch!”

Erik yanked his hand away violently. Kristin casually brushed off her clothes before extending her hand toward him.

“What’s this? You suddenly want to make up?”

“No. I’m asking for your trust. Like I said, I don’t believe in pure goodwill. Consider this a symbolic promise, if you will.”

“What about Luciella? Or Cecilia? Ask them.”

“Are you serious? You know what kind of people they are!”

Kristin was certain she understood them better than Erik himself. Though it filled her with guilt to recall, the bond formed between the girls during their journey without Erik—it belonged in a different category altogether.

“The prophecy that the purest and noblest would be chosen by the Holy Sword? I don’t believe it. Nor do I trust that the Saintess is chosen solely for her piety.”

“……”

Erik didn’t answer, but his silence spoke volumes.

“Compared to you, I must seem like an ugly, distrustful creature. But I want to understand. Why do you keep trying to help us? And when I gave you a perfectly reasonable answer, you reacted like this.”

“Now I get why you wanted to talk outside. If we’d had this conversation in there, I would’ve punched you first. Maybe I shouldn’t have even bothered.”

“Don’t feel too guilty. I was going to tell you anyway, even if you hadn’t asked.”

Kristin wanted an answer. A reason why Erik would pour his soul into helping traitors like them—people who couldn’t even recognize kindness when they saw it.

No one had ever shown her that pure benevolence could exist. And she hadn’t matured enough to accept even the smallest act of goodwill with a reason.

Rescued from the hell of street life and thrown into the battlefield before she could finish her academy training, Kristin divided people into allies and enemies—nothing in between.

If anything, precisely because she knew the depths of suffering better than anyone, she clung desperately to what little she had. And yet, Erik defied all comprehension.

Unlike others, his actions revealed no discernible motive—save for the absurd declaration of “world peace” he once uttered. Beyond that, Kristin knew nothing about Erik Grave. His prophecies all sounded dubious, and so she kept her distance.

But now, with all truths laid bare—now that she stood on the same starting line as him—she could finally arrive at her own answer.

One that was exactly the opposite of what Erik wanted.

Her conclusion was this:

“We were never equals to you in the first place, were we? Just convenient tools—marching forward when you say so, growing stronger at your command. That’s why you kept correcting us when we strayed. Because without us, you can’t defeat the Demon King. Right?”

Not because they were precious to him. Not because he cared for them.

Because they were necessary.

Like vital cogs in the continent’s great machine. And Erik, who understood its workings, would naturally maintain each part meticulously—because he, too, needed the machine to keep running.

Thinking of it that way, the enigma of his devotion unraveled neatly.

“Because you need us. No—that’s not it. I didn’t help you just because—”

In the end, Erik could muster no retort. He turned and fled instead. Knowing full well he couldn’t answer, Kristin let him go. There would be plenty of chances later—forcing his sincerity out was only a matter of time.

Once she confirmed Erik had truly vanished, Kristin finally called Elia back into the open.

—

“I never took Erik for such a calculating man. You know as well as I do that he’s not that rational.”

“In my head, yes. I know he’s not that cold. And even if he didn’t agree completely, he couldn’t deny some truth in what I said. Yeah, I know.”

“Then why provoke him like that? That’ll only push him away. If he turns his back on us—or worse, acts exactly as you described—we’re left with the worst possible outcome—”

“I know. Trust me, I do. But think about it. If Oppa keeps sacrificing himself for us, the moment he no longer needs us—we’re discarded. I can’t accept that. I won’t just sit back.”

“Is that all the resolve you had?”

“Who do you think taught me to act like this? Neither Cecil nor Luci would step up on their own. So I’ll be Oppa’s shackles. At least until he convinces me otherwise, he’ll stay by our side.”

Elia’s response was sharp.

“How pathetic. That’s nothing more than leeching off his goodwill.”