The Judgment of Scarl

After Count Krintos surrendered, Io and the others sat huddled on their knees in the same posture, as if in great shock. After a simple dinner in the room, Scarl decided to reveal the truth.

“Both of you, sit here.”

Io sits to the left and right of Scarl, who is at the head of the table.

They look at each other and frown as if they don’t like each other.

“From now on, I will begin the test to determine the real Io.”

At the word ‘test’, both of them look at Scarl with bewildered faces.

“Wait a minute!”

“Weren’t we supposed to do it tomorrow?!”

Scarl frowns slightly at the two people with the same expression.

He lets out a small sigh and then takes out the straightforward method to deal with them.

“Io.”

“”Yes.””

“Have you ever heard of One Thousand and One Nights?”

“”No.””

“It’s simple. I’m going to tell you a story, and you just have to listen and tell me the correct answer.”

The two Io’s show a nonchalant reaction.

“The correct answer? Okay.”

“I understand. Go ahead.”

Scarl starts his story with a dry cough.

“There was a man. A man named Nart, who deserved to be called human trash. He was born a nobleman and lived a dissolute life. There was no particular reason. Since he was an orphan who had lost his parents at a young age, there was no one in the backwater territory to stop his wandering. So he never knew how wrong his actions were for the rest of his life.”

Scarl moistens his throat with water he had prepared in advance and continues the story.

“He began to go astray after meeting a girl. The girl, who was grinding grain in a mill, was so strong that he didn’t think she was his age, so he wanted to talk to her. That’s how Nart became curious about Diana.”

That’s how Baron Scarl Bernatore first met Luna.

“After talking to her, the two had something in common. They were both orphans. Diana was worried about making a living right away, but she wasn’t pessimistic about her situation. Nart became curious about her daily life of grinding grain and returning home, so he secretly followed her.”

Scarl, realizing that he was not a descendant of the Hero, fell into deep thought.

Whether he should live diligently as his parents told him to, or not.

How he should live, whether he could continue to live with the name Bernatore.

Wandering around the territory in search of the answer, Scarl met a blonde, blue-eyed girl at a mill one day.

Luna carried a heavy bag of flour on her head without making a sound and entered an old house. Inside, glimpsed through the opaque window, was a younger sister he hadn’t mentioned in the story.

‘To live with her younger sister at a younger age than me, as a woman.’

“Sister! Can I eat the flour now?!”

“No, Flare. Just wait a little bit. I’ll bake you some bread.”

“I’m hungry! But why is there so much flour today? Sister. Did you steal it from somewhere?”

It was a pure question from Flare, but Luna’s scolding was fierce.

“Who did you hear that from?! Flare! Come here! You need to be punished! Stealing is bad!”

“No! No! I di-didn’t do anything wrong, Sister!”

“Don’t ever say that again. Does your sister look like someone who would steal grain?! This is what I got for working honestly! Of course, the kind young master paid for the mill…”

The word ‘young master’ becomes a thorn in Scarl’s throat.

“Young master? Sister. Did you meet the young master?”

“Yeah. Baron Bernatore had a son, you remember?”

“I don’t know! Baron? Who’s that?”

“He’s the gracious person who protects our territory. It was definitely Scarl I saw at the festival last time. But why was he pretending to be a commoner…”

“So. Did the young master give you the flour?”

“That’s right. He’s a kind person.”

“Wow! Young master is the best!”

“Let’s offer a prayer of thanks.”

“Okay!”

The sisters were warm and strong from a young age.

On the other hand, Scarl’s heart was racing like crazy when he returned to the Bernatore mansion.

As if he had seen something wrong, ominously.

“Th-thank you. Scarl, older brother.”

Luna felt burdened that Baron Scarl Bernatore kept doing things for her and her sister without asking for anything in return since they met at the mill.

“Take this too.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, oppa!”

It was only burdensome for him to care so much about an orphan like her.

‘I have nothing to give Scarl, older brother.’

On the way home.

“Sister. Why is that oppa so nice to us?”

“I don’t know.”

But Luna thought it was really convenient to be able to receive freshly baked bread with just a smile.

That day was the same as usual.

Scarl, who had called her to the mill, had bread in his left hand as always.

The only difference was that he was bowing his head in the deep shade, so she couldn’t see his expression?

“Luna.”

“Yes. Scarl, older brother.”

Scarl, who used to treat her gently, was no longer there.

“You’ve been taking it for free every time.”

“Is that so? Wh-why…?”

“Why are you trying to receive bread with your head held high when you’re just a lowly commoner?”

It was the first time she had heard such words.

Luna thought that Scarl seemed to be possessed by something at that time.

“Kneel.”

She thought it was a joke.

“S-Scarl, older brother? It’s not funny.”

“Funny? Hey. I’ll give you bread. Kneel. Right now.”

After that, Scarl’s tyranny worsened.

He beats, harasses, and torments the territory residents, and takes away what they have.

He touches women, and damages the territory residents’ livestock and crops, causing financial losses.

Trash. Trash Scarl.

Without knowing that he was being called that behind his back, he lived with a vile sense of superiority at the sight of the territory residents trembling in front of him, the trashy bastard.

It’s already been two days since Scarl went on a business trip.

Luna looked at the empty space in the office and recalled her first meeting with Scarl.

“He was so kind back then too.”

It was only sweet at the beginning and the end.

After he changed, he only obsessed over her and tormented her for a long time.

The painful memories are diluted in the Fountain of Oblivion, but they are never forgotten.

“…Let’s see how long you can endure.”

As if possessed by something, he kept testing her limits.

“There was a time when I was struggling and suffering because of you.”

Now she knows.

How much he cares about her.

If the person you love expresses their feelings in the wrong way, you can change the other side of yourself.

If she could go back to the past, she would go to him and hug him.

And she would whisper in his ear like this.

“Scarl. It’s not your fault. Look at me. Trust me. Don’t look anywhere else.”

If we had done that, we would have been a little faster…

Bang!

“Sister! You were wearing the Hero’s clothes?”

“Flare?”

“It’s a call from your senior! Haimon! Top priority!”

An urgent call from Scarl.

“Let’s go right away!”

“…Nart asked Diana. How to avoid and ignore the cruel reality. If it wasn’t painful. How she could be so bright.”

‘I’ don’t know the correct answer to Scarl’s question.

I don’t know why he started to go astray and wander.

All I know is a part of Flare and Luna’s memories.

He must have been annoyed by the sight of Luna and Flare, who were orphans but didn’t show any pain and were dazzling to anyone who saw them. And he must have coveted the immature Luna more than the talented Flare.

Scarl’s autobiographical story continued until dawn.

The real Io, as well as Samigina, who had transformed into Io, didn’t know how to react to the confession that was close to their own story.

“…So?”

According to his words, the human in front of him can never be called a Hero. Rather, he is closer to human trash.

“As time passed, Scarl wanted to atone for his family and his woman. But you can’t turn back time. What would Scarl have done here?”

The Io on the left accepted the inevitability of fate.

“…Shouldn’t he just live as he is? But if it were me, I would meet the woman and apologize.”

And he begs for mercy with apology and forgiveness.

The eyes of the Io on the right sparkle at the words of the left.

She seems to realize that this is the turning point.

After all, Samigina must have seen Scarl’s memories based on the story she just heard.

“You have to betray them. Revenge for the parents who deceived me! Even more hatred for the woman!”

Yes. The correct answer was definitely as the Io on the right, who Samigina had transformed into, said.

‘After that, Scarl continued to torment Luna and Flare. He was destined to die at Flare’s hands like that. But.’

Not anymore.

The reason why he brought up the past story was because of the singularity called ‘I’ that had intervened in Scarl’s life.

Scarl listens to both of them and gets up as if he has made up his mind.

“You are the truth.”

The real Io is shocked at Scarl’s words as he looks at the right.

The Scarl she saw was not as trashy as the one in the story, although he had some mischievous parts.

“…Is that really so?”

Scarl draws his sword towards the left, who is bowing her head.

“Stay still. Fake.”

I don’t know what kind of expression Samigina behind him is making right now.

Scarl’s sword falls from the sky.

Io closes her eyes tightly and shrinks her neck.

When the sword is about to split Io’s crown.

“Third Moon.”

A superhuman power acts on the tip of the sword.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

What he struck was the front, but what was cut was Samigina, who was sitting behind.

“H-how…?”

A fountain of blood gushes out from behind Scarl.

Against the red background, Scarl gently taps the real Io’s head.

“The story ends here. Io.”

“E-eh?”

Io, with a dazed expression, strokes her neck and can’t meet Scarl’s eyes in the fear of death.

Io barely regains her senses and asks.

“H-ha? H-how did you know I was the real one?”

Because you were more like ‘I’ than Scarl.

Samigina’s ability to know the truth acted as a poison.

Because the emotions of humans that demons think of are nothing more than consumables.

Isn’t it too common for humans that the answer they want to hear and the truth are different?

He doesn’t need to tell Io, so he glosses over it.

“…It’s a feeling.”

“Th-that’s a relief. Is this really the end?”

“No.”

All that remains in the place where the fake Io was is only blood.

The long trail of blood leads to the window.

What Io, who was following that gaze, faced was.

“U-um? Mr. Scarl?”

“What’s wrong?”

“That, that… something strange is looking at us.”

The bloodshot pupils of something covering the large window.

The crazy eyes roll around in front of the window and then meet Io’s eyes exactly.

[There you are. Io.]

With a wave of his hand, a part of the inner castle is torn off in an instant.

The cold night air covers Io, who is wearing pajamas.

“Kyaaaa!”

[More! More! Wail! You goddamn bitch! Because of you, I!]

Scarl calmly takes out his magic sword and aims it at Samigina, who is laughing wildly.

“Take a good look. That’s the true form of the demon Samigina.”

A disheveled white-haired witch.

One eye is large enough to cover the large window, and the other eye is almost ruined and degenerated.

Her face is full of boils, and she is a hunchback with a bent back. An ugly woman with a twisted mouth and a crooked nose.

“Samigina. You’re pathetic. Is that why you targeted Io!”

[That’s right! Scarl! What’s wrong with that? Isn’t it ‘you’ who likes pretty humans the most?]

Samigina, as if she still has questions about the death just now, vents her anger.

“You’re not worth talking to. Die.”

Scarl leaps towards Samigina.