episode_0011

Serin’s new form soared with tremendous propulsion. I reached out to catch her in the air, but she hid the bloodied side and I held her with my other hand.

“Wow, Lian, you’re really strong. You can support yourself with just one hand.”

“How…”

How did we get here? How did she break in through the window? Questions flooded my mind, but seeing her smiling calmly, I let them all go.

Just in case I was projecting a delusion, I glanced towards the window, where a long rope was swaying back and forth, dancing.

At first, chills ran down my spine.

“Serin… No way.”

“Oh, stop, Lian. You’re not thinking that, right? Definitely not. Trust me?”

Can I trust her?

I filtered through Serin’s explanations without missing a word.

There must be a sturdy hook at the end of the rope firmly fixed to the outer wall. Right above my window.

It was definitely not something that could be prepared and executed in a short amount of time. Therefore, inevitably, Serin had finished all the work before being threatened with assassination.

“Serin didn’t come here because of an assassination threat…”

The assassins must have been baffled. Because when they reached her room with sharpened knives, the target had already hidden away. Serin hadn’t predicted the assassination, nor was she sensitive to sounds.

She simply… executed the dawn raid to see my true face.

“Excuse me, but I’m feeling fear for the first time in my life.”

“Oh my! You really are. I came to save you, my baby kitten.”

She declared in a low, hushed voice. With each bewildering statement, my mind went blank. She casually jumped down to the floor, facing the assassins.

“Step back. You’ll get hurt.”

“Who’s going to get hurt? Do you even know who I am?”

“Serin.”

“I understand your concern since it’s our first meeting. If I hadn’t taken a sip of alcohol, there wouldn’t have been anything to worry about, right?”

She took a stance. No weapons. Loading weight on her back foot and lightly bending her front knee, it was a combat posture.

“Watch closely, Lian. This is what I wanted to show you.”

In an instant, like a wild horse, her lower body bounced and leaped elastically. Then, like a whirligig in the air, Serin twisted her body and unleashed a violent kick on one of the unsuspecting assassins.

Whish!

The spinning kick hit the target right in the throat. The man stumbled, blood dripping from his mouth as he crashed into the wall.

Thunk!

“Did you see that 540-degree back kick? How about that, are you going to mock this too?”

“Ah!”

“Oh, surprise attack.”

Thud!

Immediately, Serin struck down another assassin with a heel kick to the forehead.

“What’s wrong with you? Just standing there. Is this too crude for you? This person is unbelievable.”

“You’re beautiful. Very much so.”

“What?”

…

Suddenly, Serin rushed towards me in a bizarre manner, like a child demanding an answer while bouncing around. The juxtaposition of her playful behavior and the seriousness of the situation created a sense of dissonance.

“Tell me again, Lian. What am I like? Should I tell you the truth, our baby kitten?”

‘Madness… is this?’

Undoubtedly, it was clear madness. If she wasn’t the owner of this madness, who else could be, prancing around this scene like a child in a playground.

Those who have endured a difficult childhood sometimes suffer from madness. It was quite common to see children like Roderick, who had been nurtured in madness since childhood, receiving fresh fish from the royal palace and taking on hundreds of tasks.

“Poor soul…”

“Yes?”

“…I’m sorry, Serin. I will trust you with this.”

Crack.

I didn’t want to show that I sympathized with Serin. If it were revealed, she would surely despise me even more. Therefore, I made a firm decision.

“What, what did you say?”

“When the bell rings… again…!”

I ran. I ran away from Serin, not wanting to face the madness born from her sorrow.

“Liaaaaan!!!”

I couldn’t hear it. I had to turn away. Only for her.

‘Even if you call me a coward, I will accept it willingly.’

Far away, the desperate cries caught up to me, but I forcefully shook them off.

The sound of bones breaking. The wailing of the hired hands. Serin’s enraged expression.

I have never felt so helpless before. My inability to fully accept her madness…

As long as I can’t remove this disgusting mask, nothing will change.

“Was it so difficult to say it again?!!!”

I tightly closed my eyes.

◇

The air in the current Marquis’s mansion was filled with a stifling humidity. The men standing like statues in the corridors were emitting heat with all their might. I found the hired hands coming out of Serin’s room making a commotion.

“Damn it!”

“What the hell is that guy!”

“Ugh…”

It was somewhat unexpected. The men, all wearing the uniforms provided by the Marquis, were braver than expected. Their willingness to charge forward without fear of death was quite impressive. For a moment, I hesitated, not because my feet were tied, but because I spared their lives.

‘It’s a strange feeling…’

Just a brief encounter with Serin made me lose my will to kill. She might kill them in her madness, but… at least I had a slight hesitation.

“Ugh!”

A cross-shaped corridor leading to the stairs. A mercenary hiding in the corner suddenly attacked me with a shout.

At the right moment, the blade that was about to strike my forehead flashed with deadly intent.

Swish…

A black cloud with a faint physical force slowed down the speed of the blade. In my confusion at the mysterious power, I kicked the man’s groin with a boot.

Crack!

“Ugh! Damn, you…!!!”

“Cruel bastard…!”

The men bent over slightly, trying to sell me out. But having grown up hearing all kinds of insults since childhood, I was unfazed.

As I smoothly climbed the stairs, a sharp spear flew through the air. I caught the trembling spear and returned it to its owner. It was pure coincidence that it pierced the man’s groin.

“Surround and capture him, you fools!”

“Uwooo!”

As soon as the order was given, the burly mercenaries surrounded me in a circle. Gasping for breath, they rushed in and grabbed my arms and legs. The faces of the men, intoxicated with a sense of accomplishment, twisted for a moment.

“This is ridiculous…!”

I raised my right leg and kicked the wall with all my strength. The same with my left leg.

Thud, thud!

And the rest of my arms effortlessly twisted the body parts within reach with brute force.

“Aaargh!”

“Damn it… Is that human really right? Does this make sense?”

The sense of injustice boiled over in a lament that echoed through the mansion.

With such a commotion, even the mansion’s servants would have noticed.

Yet the fact that they were nowhere to be seen meant that they had wisely chosen to stay hidden and pray for the situation to end. In a place where there were no allies, it was a prudent choice.

However, the Viscount was different. While they lacked the bait to lure out hidden servants and persecute them, the Viscount, as the center of the mansion, was worth the effort.

That was why I had come running to the mansion to find the Viscount.

“You, you…! What are all these people doing…!”

The heiress. Unable to provide an answer, I broke through the last guard blocking the Viscount’s bedroom and opened the door.

Creak!

As the door opened, a strong wind blew in through the open window.

Bang!

The door closed with a loud noise as the air rushed through, louder than necessary. Startled by the sound, a man who had revealed his true face overnight furrowed his brow. It might have been a threat in Rud’s own way. Regardless, I firmly closed the door behind me, locking it securely.

Click.

The heavy sound of the latch woke up the silence.

I then surveyed the Viscount’s bedroom.

“You…!”

The Viscount called out to me. Beneath his sorrowful gaze, a glimmer of hope flickered. Embarrassed by his own appearance, he quickly averted his eyes.

“Ugh.”

The torn and bruised Schmitz dress and the bruised left cheek hinted at his actions. The faint handprint on his wrist and the dried tear stains were no different.

However, judging by Rud’s disheveled appearance, it seemed that the worst-case scenario had barely been avoided.

“Heh.”

Rud, pulling away from the Viscount, let out a groan. He glared at me as if I were his enemy, then suddenly changed his attitude and smiled broadly.

“Wow, all the members of our mercenary band are gathered here, and you managed to break through? You’re not just an ordinary guy, huh?”

He nodded as if expecting some kind of reaction from me. When I remained silent, Rud spoke as if shaking his head in disappointment.

“Let me make a proposal.”

Thud. He casually sat on the edge of the Viscount’s bed.

“Just pretend you don’t know once. I’m not that greedy. Just 20%. That’s all I ask. I’ll give you the remaining 80%.”

Rud’s eyes rolled back and forth towards the Viscount. It was a negotiation to plunder and distribute her wealth.

“…!”

The Viscount’s shoulders tensed as she listened. She suppressed a whimper, as if feeling sick to her stomach.

Her hard-earned fortune, saved through countless temptations and frugality. Negotiating with Rud as if her treasure were his own must have made her feel helpless.

And the man who had harbored feelings for her for a long time was the one pressuring her.

It was only natural that the Viscount would crumble.

“…”

I closed the gap with a vow. Rud took it as a kind of affirmation and smiled broadly. In contrast, the Viscount embraced despair, hunching over like an armadillo.

“Haha… is the deal done?”

He reached out his hand without hesitation.

Without hesitation, I shook Rud’s hand firmly.

Clang!

With a firm grip.

“Krrrrraaaaaah!!!”

“Huh…?”

The reactions of Rud and the Viscount were opposite.

The Viscount raised his head, avoiding Rud’s body, while Rud convulsed and screamed in agony on the Viscount’s bed. Before the wailing subsided, I grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the bed.

“Kehuk, ah… Kkuuugh, ah…”

Rude glared at me. In return, I glared back at Rude. A perfectly arranged stance. Within it, Rude sat down and shouted loudly.

“Damn it! What’s there to complain about! Just because that woman and I slept together once, everything is ours? You damn idiot who can’t tell heaven from earth!”

“…”

“Why? Worried I might report you? That woman? No, absolutely not. Even if she forces herself on me, she’s such a bastard that she wouldn’t even think of telling others!”

“Rude, how could you do this to me…!”

“Did I say something wrong? Did I?”

“I sincerely considered marriage. Even if it made me look bad in front of someone important, I couldn’t abandon my person. But how could you, who did that, do this to me?”

The viscount couldn’t continue speaking and sobbed. A little more silence was needed for her to speak again.

“You, even so, are human!!!”

“You’re just blabbering. Now you’re pretending to be like that… Fine, you know nothing about a woman with an empty head.”

“Huuk… I… really…”

Rude sighed. He turned his eyes to me with a sense of resignation.

“Ugh, damn it. A disciple of justice, huh? Tried to live a little better, but what a damn world.”

I remember this face. A look of giving up on life on the surface. Yet a hidden desire for life. And if given a chance, a determination to climb up harder than anyone else.

Rude was definitely the type of person who would kill.

But that was separate from me.

I whispered quietly in Rude’s ear, sticking close to him.

“Justice is too much praise for me. If I were just, people wouldn’t be cursing me every moment.”

“What?”

“You guys don’t even have any excitement to kill me. And the viscount, while resentful, doesn’t seem to be as miserable as you.”

“Why are you talking nonsense…!”

“So I’ve been thinking all along. Why was I so frustrated?”

The clue to the answer could be found when Salso infiltrated.

Riding on Lepel, she flew towards me like a madwoman.

“I was a little surprised.”

Thud.

I plunged Rude’s shoulder. And I continued to crush the bones inside, scattering them like fragments.

“Aaahhh!!!”

“I’m starting to understand. This must be what Rodrick meant by not letting it linger.”

I easily broke Rude’s remaining shoulder and tore at the wounds. The sound of bones cracking, like breaking twigs, burned the quiet night. Rude’s brown hair, neatly swept back, danced to the rhythm.

“Ah, kyaahhh! Huh…!”

“Still, he doesn’t seem quite sane.”

Even if someone insulted me and stabbed me, I wouldn’t feel any regret. I would just think, ‘Oh, they’re saying this, or they’re dying like this,’ and brush it off.

The reason I could hate Rude was because Serin was in trouble.

Ironically, the first person I hated was another person.

“It’s time.”

I finished my work there and distanced myself from Rude.

“Now, it’s time to leave it to someone with truly strong hatred.”

I guided the Marquis’s gaze towards Lude, making him aware of his condition. As a result, a hint of confusion flickered in the Marquis’s eyes. The hesitancy in his hesitant movements revealed a sense of disappointment. However, in his tightly clenched fist, there was a thick and bitter resentment festering.

The time that followed belonged to the central figures in the blue.

I discreetly stepped aside in the Marquis’s bedroom, willingly giving them their own space.

Not long after I left, a familiar presence was sensed in the corridor. It had only been a few days since our journey began, but the familiarity had already settled in.

As she turned the corner, she smiled innocently.

“Lian!”

At that moment, the tiny speck of bitterness that lingered at the bottom of my heart completely evaporated.

“You’re not hurt at all, right? As expected, the protagonist is different.”

“I’m not alcohol.”

“Oh, well, yes. Hmm.”

She coughed awkwardly.

“Ahem, anyway. My room is still clean, would you like to come to my room first?”

“Of course. I have something to ask about why Serin came down on a rope.”

“Do you know what ‘mukbigwon’ means, Lian?”

“…”

There was still plenty of time before the day broke.

It seemed like we had quite a bit to talk about during that time.

There was only a short time left until the end of our journey.

Just two days.

Soon, the destination was close.