episode_0052

I killed the girl with my own hands. But the nightmare wasn’t over yet.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh…” The boy was walking towards me, making a grotesque sound.

“…So, you wanted to be a knight.” My monologue flowed softly in the alleyway.

There was no one there to hear my words and respond.

“You often swung your sword and frequently took care of it. Back then, I just thought you did it to protect the girl.”

But I didn’t stop talking to myself.

“I know nothing of your dreams, or your names, nothing at all.”

*How pathetic,* I muttered softly.

“If you had received this sword, would you have been happy? No, if it were you, you would have shyly thanked me. And you would have cherished the sword.”

I held the knife stained with the girl’s blood. My hands were trembling.

“It was originally a sword I bought to gift to you.”

I gently stroked the girl and stood up. My legs were shaking uncontrollably.

“With the sword I bought to gift you, I end up killing both of you.”

But my resolve did not waver. The moment I killed the girl, I became a sinner to both of you.

“Aah-ugh-ugh!” The boy lunged at me with a sword. He just charged blindly. It was easy to dodge.

*Thud.* But I didn’t. I was stabbed by the boy’s swinging sword.

*Tight grip.* And I embraced the boy.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh!” The boy struggled to break free, but he couldn’t escape.

“I’m sorry.” While hugging the boy, I stabbed his back with my sword.

“Ugh-ugh-aaah-aaah-aaah!”

“You see, I intended to take off my mask and simply enter the academy if only I had the skill to get in.”

“Ugh-ugh-ugh.”

“Knowing the future, I thought I could achieve the ending I wanted just by speaking. How idiotic, isn’t it?”

“Ugh…ugh-ugh-ugh.”

“Now, I’ve decided to cast aside such idiotic thoughts. I’ll kill all those necromancers who made you like this.”

“Ugh…ugh.”

“It’s fine if you curse me from the heavens. Just bear with me until I utterly kill the ones who made you like this.”

“………” The sound vanished.

*Clink!* The dagger the boy was holding fell to the floor.

I picked up the boy’s unmoving corpse and carefully laid him beside the girl.

“With this money, you could have escaped the alleyway.” A pouch filled with money was in my hand.

“With this money, you could have bought a normal house in the village.” I spoke to the unmoving children.

“With this money, you could have gone to school, and you could have learned to wield a sword.” I spoke to the children, from whom no warmth emanated.

“With this money, you could have worried about the future instead of the present.” Even though I knew the children couldn’t hear me, I spoke to them.

“But… now it’s useless.” I knew it was pointless, but I didn’t stop talking.

“You, coming home after school, and you, after finishing sword practice, eating together in a proper home, not this alleyway, at a proper table, not on this floor, such a…”

A tear fell onto the children’s faces.

“Even if you fought when you grew older, I’m sure you’d quickly make up. I dreamed of such a future, watching you grow so diligently…”

Another tear fell onto the children’s faces.

“I dreamed of such a future.”

The children I could no longer see. A future I could never dream of again.

“If I were to take off my mask, I wanted to show it to you first.”

I didn’t take off my mask. Tears fell.

*Tight grip.* I clutched the corpses of the already dead children and screamed.

*Crackle, crackle.* Suddenly, with a strange sound, everything disappeared. From the trash on the alley floor to the sun in the sky. Everything was crumbling away.

“Ah.” Finally, when even the children disappeared, I realized. That I was in a dream. At first, I was aware it was a dream, but at some point, I stopped being aware of it.

“Haa…” How long had I slept today? The time that passed when I woke up from a nightmare was different every time. Sometimes an hour had passed, and sometimes not even five minutes. Still, I wished that much time had passed. Because there was no way I could fall asleep again anyway. I couldn’t comfortably go back to sleep after such a nightmare. I couldn’t sleep thinking that Mordor would be alive and breathing even as I slept.

. . . .

Johanna couldn’t understand the current situation. How Loki knew where the information guild was. How he knew the name of the old man who seemed to be a guild member. She couldn’t understand any of it.

Her confusion remained even after that.

*Thud!* The money in the pouch Loki took out. Even for her, a duchess, it was a considerable amount. She wondered where Loki had gotten such money, but she didn’t ask. At this moment, Loki didn’t even seem to notice her presence. As if being chased by something, as if frightened by something. He was only looking straight ahead. She wanted to help, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t say anything, so she said nothing. She didn’t know what action would be helpful, so she remained still.

“Hmm, with this much money…” But the old man didn’t flinch even after seeing the money. They were merchants. Buying and selling information.

“That’s enough.” The killing intent Loki was emitting suddenly vanished. But for some reason, the old man bowed his head.

“What information do you desire?” The old man’s face was trembling with fear.

“Last night, a child was sold to those with a skull emblem. I want information about their location.”

“Please wait a moment.” The old man asked for Loki’s understanding, then went into the kitchen. After a very short time. The old man came out of the kitchen.

“We don’t know much about those with the skull emblem ourselves, but we’ve recently received information that children in the slums are disappearing.”

“Their location.” Loki urged for the information he wanted to hear.

“There are three suspected locations where they might be.” The old man took out a map and pointed to the three places. Loki looked at the places the old man pointed to and opened his mouth.

“Among them, which place can hide dozens of people and not be discovered even if loud noises are made?”

“Then there is only one place left.” The old man pointed to one of the three places with his hand.

“Good work.” Loki said that and left the information guild. Johanna also followed him out of the information guild.

*Swish, swish.* As expected, Loki was running towards the location the old man had indicated. This time too, she climbed onto the roof and chased after Loki.

“…………..” Loki’s feet stopped after arriving at the location the old man had indicated. Johanna instinctively covered her nose. A disgusting stench had assailed her nostrils. The place the old man pointed to was the empire’s sewers.

Contrary to her expectation that he would enter the sewers without hesitation, Loki turned around and looked at her before entering the sewers.

“Johanna.” And he called her name. It was a different way of addressing her than usual. He called her Johanna, not “senior.” It was a different voice than usual. He spoke in a low voice, not a playful one. It was a different atmosphere than usual. It was filled with killing intent, not a relaxed aura.

“Yes.” However, the person in front of her was Loki. That alone was enough reason to stay by his side.

“I hope my guess is wrong. But if, by any chance, my guess is correct, this place will surely be filled with terrible things.”

“Who exactly are the people inside?” Who exactly were they that could make Loki, who was always so full of confidence, so frightened?

“…Necromancers.” She was startled to hear Loki’s words.

“But they were annihilated a long time ago, weren’t they?” Necromancers were such evil beings that they were even taught about in the academy. Yes, that was a story from the past. Necromancers had long since been annihilated and disappeared.

“Necromancers will be in here. If you get caught, terrible things will happen to you. So, Johanna, you wait here or go back to the academy.”

Johanna realized why Loki had told her everything. To prevent her from going in. He wanted her to be afraid and not come. That’s why he told her there were necromancers.

“Then what about you?” If he got caught, it wouldn’t be just her who would suffer terrible things.

“I… have something I must do with my own hands.” *I must do it with my own hands.* The voice that followed was quiet, but loud enough for Johanna to hear.

“You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?” She didn’t know why, but Loki, who knew her so well, would probably know what she was going to say.

“Haa… Of course, you won’t go back. Well, that’s what I fell for about you.”

“…Huh?” What did he say? Loki spoke as if what he had just said was nothing at all.

“If you’re going in, just promise me two things.”

“………………..” Her head felt dizzy from what she had just heard.

“First, never leave my side.”

But her mind cleared when she heard the second condition.

“Second, if your life is in danger, abandon me and run away.”