episode_0006

The journey to a distant place was always rough.

Alan, who tried to avoid drawing attention as much as possible and rode on a shabby baggage cart, often encountered bandits.

Of course, the bandits never harmed Alan’s cart, but his heart remained heavy as ever.

“Thank you. If you hadn’t ridden in our cart, I wonder what would have happened…”

“It was nothing.”

The groom, who repeated his thanks, climbed back onto the driver’s seat to pull the cart again, and the cart started creaking and moving once more.

…

Inside the continuously shaking cart, Alan closed his eyes tightly.

He was accustomed to this level of shaking, but his heart was still heavy.

“Am I doing the right thing?”

Suddenly, a question popped into Alan’s mind and grew larger.

“You must serve the Hero Party diligently as a member. But in the final battle… you will have to kill a hero with your own hands.”

“I’m sorry, my son…”

Alan slowly recalled his past memories.

When he first possessed this world… honestly, it wasn’t bad.

Although lacking in many conveniences compared to his past life, a world with magic was intriguing.

Moreover, the body he possessed was the heir of a prestigious noble family in the empire.

With talent in swordsmanship and nobility, he could live a comfortable life anywhere.

Until one night, before the lord called him.

The joy he had experienced so far crumbled in just a moment.

Pleasure turned into despair along with the curse’s torment that gripped his heart, and the satisfaction of being born into a good household turned into a curse.

He vividly remembered the lord’s expression, which he could not face or avoid.

“It’s all in the past.”

If there were memories that were only painful to recall, it was best not to recall them, but memories were like mischievous fairies, popping up at unwanted moments.

Creak- Creak-

Still inside the swaying cart, Alan tried to sleep to stop recalling memories.

It took quite a long time for him to fall asleep.

***

“…”

“Priest? Do you know why Irene is acting like that?”

“…I also do not know the contents of the letter.”

After reading the letter, Irene continued to ponder over it with a vacant expression.

Initially, Jenny and the priest thought it would take a while due to the somewhat shocking content, but watching Irene stare at the letter for an hour raised some concerns.

“What’s in it that’s making her like this? Can I read it too?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

Although Jenny wanted to say something, she yielded quietly to Irene’s demeanor.

‘What’s going on? What could be in that letter?’

Having pushed Jenny away like that, Irene once again focused her gaze on the letter.

After reading the same letter repeatedly, dozens of times.

She completely understood the contents of the letter.

However, that didn’t mean all doubts were dispelled.

“…”

“Hero? Why all of a sudden… cough!”

“Hey! Why are you suddenly like that!”

Jenny quickly got up from her seat and shouted.

As Irene, with a terrifying face never seen before, grabbed the priest by the collar.

“Cough… Let go first and then speak…”

“Is this letter really written by Alan?”

“Cough… Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“I swear by my life.”

*Splash*

“Cough! Cough!”

The priest would not lie even if it meant betraying the name given by the Lord.

Moreover, there was no reason to do so.

Finally, Aileen released her grip on the priest’s collar, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

“Aileen. Let me read the letter too.”

“Jenny.”

“I think I should read it too to understand the situation. We are comrades.”

“… ”

Without a word, Aileen handed the letter to Jenny.

“Gulp.”

Jenny’s heart raced with tension as well.

What could be written in the letter that made Aileen so angry?

[To Aileen, a dear warrior and comrade from Allen]

The first line contained ordinary content.

However, as Jenny continued reading, her expression grew increasingly serious.

[Aileen, by the time you read this letter, I will probably have departed somewhere.

After being struck down by the Four Kings’ blow, I woke up to learn that you had defeated the Demon King.

I was truly delighted. It was finally the moment our goal was achieved.

I wasn’t sad that I couldn’t be there. The thought that you finally did it came to me first.

But, Aileen.

I deceived you. No, I have been deceiving you.

I… was cursed by the Demon King.

To make a long story short… our entire family was turned into puppets under the Demon King’s curse.

One night, upon hearing that the head of the family called for me, I headed to the hidden basement of the mansion, where the Demon King was present with the head.

The Demon King cursed my heart, and the command was simple.

Earn the trust as a member of the Hero Party, then kill the hero in the final battle against the Demon King.

After that, I joined the Hero Party and spent time eating and adventuring with you all.

It was enjoyable. But whenever I thought it was all a lie, my heart felt heavy.

You accepted me as a comrade, but I was just a puppet following the Demon King’s orders.

I attacked instead of you during the battle with the Four Kings not only to protect you but mainly for myself.

I didn’t think I could kill you, nor did I want to.

Aileen. To put it simply, I am a traitor.

A betrayer who betrayed your trust and friendship.

So, I will disappear now. I wish you hadn’t read this letter, but… I feel like I need to say these last words.

Please don’t forgive me.]

“What is this…?”

After finishing the letter, Jenny looked back at Aileen.

At the trembling warrior sitting on the ground with his head bowed as if wanting to grab the priest by the collar and demand if this was true, Jenny also wanted to shout, but her trembling hands wouldn’t calm down.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone so grim?”

“Rebecca.”

…”

When their emotions were in turmoil in front of the sacred church, Rebecca, a member of the Hero Party, arrived at the church.

She had set off with Aileen, but Aileen had hurriedly moved forward to arrive quickly, so it was natural for Rebecca to be a little late.

“…”

Silently, Aileen handed the letter to Rebecca.

“?”

Rebecca received the letter with a puzzled expression.

What could be written in the letter that caused these two to react so shockingly?

As Rebecca slowly read through the letter, her expression, unlike the previous two, was rather intriguing than shocked.

“?”

“?”

While watching Rebecca, the two of them expressed doubt, but they waited for Rebecca to finish reading the letter.

Finally, Rebecca’s reaction after reading the entire contents of the letter was…

“Hmph! Hahaha!”

It was laughter.

“…?”

“Rebecca. Are you crazy…?”

Where in the world was there something laughable in the letter that made her laugh like that?

The two of them couldn’t understand Rebecca.

After laughing for a while, Rebecca finally stopped laughing.

Then she said to the two of them,

“Is this serious atmosphere all because of such content?”

“What? Just because of this…?”

“Rebecca! Your words are harsh!”

The two who rose from their seats scolded Rebecca, but her face still bore a smile.

“Oh, fools.”

“What?!”

“Well, isn’t everything in this letter true?”

“… Yeah. It seems to be true.”

“I see. So?”

“… So?”

“That’s why they’re fools.”

Tsk. Rebecca clicked her tongue and led the two into the church.

They needed a place with no listening ears.

“Oh, Father, you said you kept Allen’s letter, right? Could you talk to us about it?”

“Huh? Oh… Yes.”

The priest, still lying on the ground with a dazed expression, brushed off the dirt, got up at Rebecca’s call, and followed her.

Finally, Rebecca, who had even soundproofed the surroundings, spoke up.

“Alright, I’ll explain it in an easy-to-understand way for these fools.”

Thud-!

“First, read the contents of the letter carefully again.”

“I’ve already reread it dozens of times… Why?”

“Firstly, Allen obeyed the command due to the demon’s curse and threat, which was to kill you, the hero, in the final battle with the demon. So, was Allen present in that final battle? Did we lose to the demon?”

“… No, we didn’t.”

“And secondly, Allen risked his life for us many times. If Allen was truly someone who would blindly follow the demon’s orders, was there a reason for him to risk his life protecting us?”

“…”

“And thirdly, I already knew that Allen was cursed from the beginning. He didn’t mention it himself, so I left it alone. At first, I was cautious, but… we’ve known Allen for more than just a day or two, haven’t we? We know what his personality is like. What kind of person he is. Everyone knows, right?”

“… What if all of that was an act?”

Rebecca chuckled as if she heard an absurd sound.

“If that were the case, wouldn’t Allen have become a renowned actor on the continent? That foolish man couldn’t possibly perform such sophisticated acting, could he?”

“That means…”

“We have no reason to hate Allen. Shouldn’t we be worried about Allen instead? Struggling with guilt alone…”

“No!”

With a thud, Aileen quickly got up from her seat, sending the chair flying far away.

Her expression clearly indicated that no one could ever accept such an assumption.

“Look at this. Aileen. You’re worried about Allen, aren’t you?”

“… Yes.”

“So, do you know what you should do?”

“What… should I do?”

“Naturally…”

Rebecca smiled mischievously at the people looking at her.

“We need to catch that fool Allen and give him a good scolding.”