episode_0174

174 – Paradise Lost #2

“You are such a mess. Doban. I can’t believe that you, who were once called the Red Mane Taoist, have ended up in such a miserable situation.”

Someone spoke and Doban was awakened from his thoughts.

A tent installed in an open space in Barakan.

When I looked at the entrance, a thin man came into the tent with a sword on his waist.

“Aguiles. I have a clear mind.”

“I heard that story just a little while ago. I’ll sit down for a bit. I walked for a long time. What is that funny flower on your head instead? It’s very ugly. ”

Agiles couldn’t help but laugh as she looked at the flower crown Dovan was wearing on his head.

Was Dovan, Count of Agarpe, known as a prisoner of Lass, the Great Sin?

“Life as Lars’ prisoner won’t be easy, right?”

“Well, it’s not that bad. Isn’t it said that no parent can beat his child? Right now, I’m just thankful that we can be together like this.”

Sze-.

Doban looked at his reflection in the mirror.

It was a flower headband that did not fit the appearance of a general commanding the battlefield.

But the sight reminded me of a long time ago.

A long time ago.

This was because it looked very similar to the flower necklace or crown that my younger daughter had worked so hard to pick.

Agileth stroked her shaved chin.

“Did you know as expected?”

“Agiles, even if children forget their parents. It is said that parents cannot forget their children. I’m just happy to know that my daughter is alive.”

Doban.

He rode around the Agarpe territory with Lass, the butterfly mask, on his back.

At that time, he cried. Everyone thought it was tears of humiliation, but in fact, he was crying out of emotion.

“Your horse driving skills are the same as when you were young. It’s grown a lot now, but… When I was young, I would ride around the garden with Psyche on my back. So it was impossible not to know.”

Sze-.

Doban now folded his arms.

And I asked an old friend.

“So, Aguiles. Why did I come here when everyone was busy? If you’re going to talk about my daughter, Wilhemina and I will continue to pretend not to know.”

“I came to ask about Hyde. I’m sure you remember what Pendragon told us that day. Didn’t he ask you to protect his child?”

“… … .”

“The child you protected while stigmatizing him as a traitor is about to throw himself into the river. I don’t know what to do. If it stays like this, Hyde will be─.”

Doban remembered another old friend.

The men were close enough to betroth each other’s unborn children, and they were like brothers.

Doban wanted to die with the man who was his brother, but he could not.

━Doban. You live and protect my children. This is the child that Asha and I had. I will definitely become a better human being than anyone else. like me. So live, Doban. Bear the stigma for me.

“… … .”

At that time, the only way for the believers to survive was to surrender to the religious order.

That’s how Agarpe survived and held her breath waiting for the man to show up someday.

How many days have you lived under the stigma of betrayal?

“… Aguiles. To be honest, I don’t know if Hyde is the man we’ve been waiting for. But my daughter Psyche decided to believe him. I have no choice.”

It was Doban who laughed.

Sze-.

Doban now went outside the tent and looked at the sky.

The dazzling halo was still shining down on the world.

“It’s a shame. It’s a shame. Damn Gregory. If he had been born during his reign, he would have been a better king than anyone else.”

# # #

Lucy headed towards the rooftop.

There stood Hyde, his red robe fluttering in the wind.

“Hyde… !”

Lucy shouted as loud as she could.

The man slowly looked back.

“Lucy.”

“… … .”

Lucy wanted to meet Hyde and tell him a lot.

The moment I faced Hyde, my mouth fell shut.

It was Hyde who spoke first.

He opened his arms and spoke to Seongwangcheong and Barakhan, who were burning everywhere.

“Look at my accomplishments. In less than a month, Barakhan and the royal capital were captured. No one could have done something like this.”

It was a great thing.

But Lucy wasn’t that surprised that Hyde was capable of such great things.

Hyde could have done the job faster.

Nevertheless, the reason it took a month was…

It was because Hyde was still hesitating.

This was because a deep hesitation was still blooming in Hyde’s chest.

Lucy knew very well what that hesitation was about.

So I mustered up courage.

“Inhale!”

Pop-!

A beautiful halo bloomed behind Lucy’s head.

Lucy stood before Hyde as a king.

Lucy could see that Hyde’s heart was broken like a mosaic.

It seemed like a puzzle with missing pieces.

“Hyde. I know what you want. You’re thinking of going to my father Gregory, right? But, Hyde, I don’t want to let you go.”

Kuuuk-.

Lucy clenched her fists.

Lucy wanted to help Hyde, but she also wanted to hinder him.

The reason was simple.

Are you losing “? Emotions and memories-. You’re losing the most precious things to Hyde. Hyde, your heart is already broken into pieces like a puzzle.”

“Really?”

“In such a situation, if it touches the axis of rotation, it will truly disappear.”

“Lucy. It’s something you have to try to know. and me. I feel really good right now. Now I finally feel like I was born. I can feel the wind on my face. As if I had taken off the mask I had been wearing for a long time.”

Sze-.

Hyde looked at the world again.

The wind blowing over the burning fire was hot.

“… Hyde.”

Lucy couldn’t hold it back and cried loudly.

Lucy liked Hyde.

Because he was a good and wonderful man.

If she let this man go like this, the person she loved would truly disappear from the world.

but-.

Even if I didn’t let him go like this, the man would disappear someday.

So Lucy made her choice.

“If you want to go to my father Gregory, you have to go to Paradise Lost. There really might be a little hope there. Even a little hope… !”

“I see. It’s paradise lost.”

Sze-.

The man looked up at the sky.

And then I started walking again.

As he was about to go down the stairs, the woman in the butterfly mask trembled.

“Hyde. There really isn’t much left now.”

“Yes. Now it’s really just one step.”

“… … .”

Lars in the butterfly mask kept his mouth shut.

Because I heard the conversation with Lucy, I knew that if this one step was taken, Hyde might really disappear.

There was a lot I wanted to say, but-.

Psyche decided to remain silent.

No matter what he said, he couldn’t break this man’s will.

Still, I couldn’t cheer.

So what I chose was silence.

In that silence, the man spoke.

“Thank you.”

# # #

“If it’s Paradise Lost, I know about it. My ancient ancestor, Baltimere, dug a deep hole in Sodomy and the land nearby!”

Viscount Coffs, a platinum chair.

He talked about what he knew about Paradise Lost.

“Sodomy at that time was even greater. Taeju’s citadel and its vicinity depicted on this map were all part of the huge city of Sodomy.”

The Baltimere family once dug deep into the ground a long time ago.

After hearing that a fearsome “devil” was sleeping underground, they attempted to excavate it.

It is said that they unearthed a ‘great malice’ deep underground, and from then on, everyone in the vicinity of Sodomy went crazy and the Voltemir family also fell.

At that time, people called the excavated ruins “Paradise Lost,” but now, a long time later, it has become just a legend or a myth.

“It looks like that place really existed. The stories of my ancestors were real.”

Viscount Coffs was impressed.

Soon Ezekiel, the 52nd baptist, trembled.

“When you heard that there was a devil underground, why did you try to excavate it? I heard that the ancestors of the Baltimere family were faithful believers… .”

Everyone was silent.

I decided to briefly respond to this story.

“If you can prove the existence of the devil, you can also prove the existence of God. At that time, the head of the Baltimere family probably wanted to find God by facing the devil.”

If devils and ghosts really exist, the probability that the God we believe in also really exists increases greatly.

So, people may be instinctively fascinated by stories about devils and ghosts.

Something surreal.

They probably want to confirm the great afterlife that exists beyond death.

“After the earth shaking two years ago, a huge crack appeared in the ground near Taeman’s Fortress. In ancient times, it was also the territory of sodomy. You can go down that deep crack.”

There must be a door to the axis of rotation there that Gregory was unable to hide.

People were happy.

However, Hans spoke in a calm yet slightly worried tone as he placed the card on the map.

“Troops began to gather near the old Taiman Citadel. There is information that the Platinum Wizard Thorin and Saint Milione were also seen there.”