episode_0070

Thud—

“What in the…why…”

As I knelt and sank to the ground in front of the door, the bouquet I held in one hand tumbled onto the dirt, covered in dust.

But unaware that I had dropped the bouquet, I simply stared inside the cabin with a bewildered expression.

He wasn’t there.

The person I longed to see.

The person who had been waiting for me here.

The person who had exchanged letters with me, who had forgiven me.

“Agape…”

The countless letters I had sent to the cabin were nowhere to be seen. Only the lingering scent of memories remained inside, and the most important person was gone.

Gone without a trace.

My indigo eyes reflected only the inside of the dirty cabin, thick with accumulated dust and appearing untouched by human hands for a long time, and began to tremble more and more violently.

And naturally, I recalled the memory of that day 15 years ago when I knelt and begged before the Light Prophet.

Fifteen years ago.

Thud—

That day, just like today, I had knelt like this.

Piteously begging for mercy, my head bowed before him.

“What is this farce?”

“…I heard the Imperial Family is going to kill Agape.”

“So you’ve heard.”

“Save Agape.”

“Hmm…”

“You promised! You said you’d let Agape live while I subjugate the death legions!”

“Yes, that was the agreement. But you see—”

He slowly approached me, his steps deliberate.

“It seems our Sir Kara has remembered the terms of the promise a little incorrectly.”

“What…what do you mean?”

“Do you still not understand what I’m saying? Not only did that fellow leave the city and search for you, but he even drew his sword on the eldest son of Impurity. And when Astolfo, who tried to assassinate a hero, aimed his spear at that fellow, you sided with the criminal.”

*Do you not understand what my words mean? I am saying that you, who vowed to fulfill your duties as a hero, momentarily abandoned that duty by blocking a hero’s spear that sought righteous judgment and defending a criminal.*

“That’s preposter—”

It was a ridiculous sophistry. At that time, Astolfo had genuinely intended to kill Agape, and to save Agape, I had no choice but to block his spear. But… This hateful prophet was now telling me that since I had prevented Astolfo from killing Agape with my own hands, I had partially broken the promise, and therefore he also had no obligation to protect Agape. Hearing that, I gritted my teeth and glared at Lucas.

“Don’t be absurd!”

“Do you think this is absurd? As the Light Prophet and an authoritative administrator, do you think I am playing games with a solemn oath made on my divinity?”

“What else are you doing if not that right now?!”

“In terms of content, I am saying that you are the one who violated the contract.”

The tone that had changed in an instant carried the weight of an administrator, not his usual frivolity. My body stiffened upon hearing his words. When I lifted my head, I saw a face wearing a pristine white mask staring coldly down at me through the gradually falling drizzle.

“If you wanted him to live, I, who had promised to guarantee his life, should have saved him instead. Not you stepping forward and blocking Astolfo’s spear.”

“You just stood there and watched until Agape almost died!”

I still remember. Lucas’s appearance when Astolfo’s spear was plunged into Agape’s left shoulder, and then when Astolfo aimed his spear at Agape, he stood there with his arms crossed, watching us as if it were some clown show. At that time, it seemed as if he wouldn’t mind even Agape’s death, regardless of any ‘promise.’ He just stood there, silently watching, without even holding the Book of Sustenance he had equipped at his waist.

“Is it because I wasn’t holding the Book of Sustenance? Astolfo is nothing more than a leashed dog who would obey with a single gesture from me. You couldn’t possibly have not known that.”

“Don’t spout nonsense.”

Grind—!

“You intended to just stand there and watch, as if it would be amusing even if Agape died.”

“Hmm…”

“Or—”

Or. As I was about to continue speaking, a thought flashed through my mind, stopping me mid-sentence and freezing me in place. And then.

“No way…”

With trembling eyes, I looked up at him again.

“Everything, up to this point, you had intended…?”

“……”

He said nothing. Instead.

Grin— The prominent, clown-like features protruding beside his masked face were so blatant that I could discern his expression. He was smiling.

“……Ha.”

After a brief silence, I involuntarily gasped in surprise.

“You…you’re a monster. A monster in human skin.”

“I admit it. Our Impurity family has a rather poisonous side in these matters. But didn’t you, who knew our family well, expect it to be this much?”

*If you knew we were a family cursed with a genius for political maneuvering but driven mad by a lust for power, you should have anticipated it would be this extreme.*

Grin. He looked down at me with a twisted smile.

“Anyway, even if I am the true power of Impurity and have recently been gaining actual authority among the administrators, it is extremely difficult to overturn Emperor Shahlnu’s decision. Whether we like it or not, no matter how much influence the Prophet and Impurity wield on the continent, the Emperor possesses ‘power’ that surpasses all of it.”

*To overturn a decision already made by the Emperor, I too would likely have to take a significant political risk. Therefore—*

Rustle.

“Offer me a price.”

“…What did you say?”

“I told you. Offer me a price. After all, you’re the one who broke the ‘promise’ first. Surely you weren’t genuinely expecting me to save that fool’s life against the Emperor without any compensation, were you?”

*So, offer me a price. If you want to save that human called Agape, whom you love so desperately.*

“……”

Whooshhhhh— At some point, the rain thickened, and the sky poured down tears, not just a drizzle, but as if wailing in sorrow.

Boom— Crashhhhhh—!!

Between the mighty roars, massive golden lightning bolts struck down, appearing like branches reaching out as if gnashing their teeth in fury.

Whooshhhhhhh—

“……”

He looked down at the silent woman. His patience reaching its limit, he sighed softly and turned his body.

“Refuse if you wish. I have nothing to lose. Well, at least after he dies, you might be able to aim a knife at my throat out of revenge.”

As if there was nothing more to discuss, Lucas walked away without hesitation.

Grab—. His footsteps halted as his soaked clothing was grabbed.

And when he turned around, he saw her, tears streaming down her face as she endured the pouring rain, clinging to his clothing.

“…Please save him.”

“What did you say? I can’t quite hear you.”

“Please, save him…”

Whooshhhhhhh—

“Agape, please save him…”

“……For some reason, your plea to ‘save him’ doesn’t sound like it’s just about saving him from the Imperial Family.”

He was right. It wasn’t simply a request to save Agape from the Imperial Family; it contained another meaning as well.

“I heard such harsh words from him.”

Her choked voice broke through the sound of the rain.

“I heard that we would never see each other again, that I was no longer precious to him…Because I heard those words from him, if I can’t clear up the misunderstanding, he won’t live long and will die… So please, just let me write a letter, saying it was a misunderstanding, that I want to apologize, so that I can at least clear up that misunderstanding…Please…”

Rub rub rub rub. Her two hands, clinging to his clothes, rubbed together as she pleaded desperately with him.

And Lucas, who had been watching her with amusement for a while, thought to himself that her posture was finally to his liking, and then spoke to me.

“Why didn’t you ask Roland, the Moon Prophet, for help by sending a letter? Why come before me and beg like this, rubbing your hands together?”

“……”

“Is that so? It seems you’ve already contacted him.”

I nodded quietly at his words.

“Roland…stopped responding after I told him what happened with Agape.”

“Oh, really. Hahaha, that fellow isn’t so easily swayed either.”

“So please…save Agape…”

The Light Prophet, watching her bow deeply and rub her hands together in supplication, finally nodded and granted my plea.

“Very well, I shall let Agape live.”

“Then—”

“However.” Unlike before, Agape will have to remain confined in Fallen for the rest of his life until the ‘promise’ ends.

“Because if he comes out of the city again and causes trouble as before, I won’t be able to do anything.”

Instead.

“Since I’ve agreed to spare his life as per the ‘promise,’ I’ll also allow you to send letters periodically—once a week to once a month—to clear up the misunderstanding and prevent him from dying of ‘lovesickness.’”

At his words, I bowed my head and said thank you. As if I had no pride, wagging my tail like a leashed dog. Thanking the enemy who had taken everything from me for not erasing what he had taken, while feeling intense humiliation, I kept repeating my thanks. Thank you, thank you. Under the sky pouring down heavy rain, with tears mixed with rainwater, I endlessly whispered those words.

***

Crash— Boom— Thump- thud- The old bookshelf collapsed.

“No, it can’t be…”

Thump— Thump-thump— I threw the chair aside, cleared the old table, and checked beneath it.

Crash— Thump thump— I moved aside the faded bedding and the old bed, even breaking them, to check inside.

“No, no, no…”

I overturned the food boxes piled in one corner of the cabin, already long rotted.

Wondering if Agape might be hiding inside, playing a malicious prank to surprise me.

“Please, it can’t be, tell me it’s not true…”

Holding onto the vain belief that Agape couldn’t possibly be gone, I frantically rummaged through the small cabin as if searching for a rat.

“You said he would be here, you said he was safe in his hometown…”

Like a fool, I said that again with a choked voice.

Even though I knew my trust had been betrayed, it was because of an even greater fear.

The fear that Agape might not actually be alive, but already dead.

The back of my neck grew hot, feeling a dizzying warmth as if an incandescent lightbulb were held before my eyes. My thoughts were jumbled, and I frantically searched the house like a madwoman.

“Agape, Agape…please tell me you’re here…I won’t get angry even if it’s a prank…”

And after searching and searching for a long time.

Thump- In the chaotic cabin, the sound of a book falling could be heard.

“That’s…”

It was the illustrated diary that Roland had taught me to write and had me fill.

Step. Step. Naturally, my body moved towards it. I picked up the dusty diary and brushed off the accumulated dust.

And as if under a spell, I looked at the contents of the diary.

“……”

The diary’s contents were no different from what I remembered. It contained stories and drawings of looking up at the night sky, talking with Agape, and the red scarf I had knitted myself and given him as a birthday present.

…Yes. There were times like this. As I recalled very old memories, I gazed at the diary for a moment.

“……Huh?” Kara’s body stiffened.

“The writing, why on earth…”

Certain words in the diary were disappearing. As if someone was vigorously rubbing them out with an eraser, ‘one word’ written on the old paper began to vanish, one after another.

“Why, Agape’s name…”

Agape’s name was disappearing.

Whooshhh… And the drawings of Agape, drawn from memory in the diary, also turned to dust and vanished one by one. At such a rapid pace, without me being able to react. I flailed my hands over the diary, trying to somehow stop the crayon dust, which scattered like motes, but the crayon dust that had depicted Agape completely disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place.

And then.

“……No, way…”

A single large drawing on one wall of the cabin. A picture of the three of us that I had begged Roland to get me a huge canvas for, and spent days upon days diligently drawing. [Let’s be together forever.] [Annoying but cool Roland!] [Wise and virtuous Kara!] [Beloved Agape!] That drawing and the phrases, where Roland and I held hands and smiled around Agape in the center, also…

Whooshhh… One by one, they vanished, slowly erasing Agape’s traces.

“Ah, no!” Slam— I frantically ran towards the wall and covered Agape’s drawing with my hands. Because something, a very bad premonition, had begun to creep in. Though they were just scraps of drawings and words, for some reason… I had a horrifying intuition that if I couldn’t stop these drawings and words from being erased, Agape himself would be erased from this world.

So.

“No, no, what’s happening, Agape…” I desperately covered the drawing firmly with both hands, praying that it wouldn’t be erased.

Whooshhh… With a chilling sound heard from beneath my covered hands, watercolor pigments drifted out like dust through the gaps in my fingers that I hadn’t perfectly sealed.

“Agape…”

And watching that. Thud— I felt a terrifying sensation as if Agape had been completely erased from this world, and I sank back to the ground.

Chirp— Chirp chirp— Inside the cabin in the heart of the city, now a ghost town, I heard the hollow cries of a bird heading home.

“Why…” Dazed by the inexplicable events, for a long, long time.