episode_0018

Late night.

In the empty corridor, faint footsteps echoed.

Leo stood by the window in the west corridor of the mansion.

Staring at the dark forest visible beyond the window, he quietly swallowed his breath.

By tomorrow, he had to leave.

For the academy.

That, to Sierra,

he had to say.

But the words wouldn’t come out.

Just thinking about it made his chest ache heavily.

‘How should I say it.’

‘What kind of face will she make.’

What kind of face she would make,

just thinking about that made his heart throb.

“……You’ve finally returned.”

Someone’s presence was felt from the end of the corridor.

Leo reflexively turned his head.

And—swallowed his breath.

Clothes stained with red marks everywhere.

Dishevelled hair.

Finely trembling fingertips.

It was Sierra.

Covered in blood.

“Sierra!”

Leo ran to her in one breath.

Sierra was walking down the corridor, staggering, but

as Leo approached, she seemed to lose strength and fell into his arms.

“……I’m back, Master.”

Her voice was tired and faint.

Leo received her strongly with his arms, and

for a moment, his body froze.

The hot body temperature transmitted through the fabric.

And, the smell of blood.

“Where did you get this…!”

Leo quickly supported Sierra by the shoulder, and

looked around.

“The wound, where is it? Where did you get hurt?”

Sierra smiled faintly.

As if it was nothing.

She wrote on my chest with her finger.

[……I’m okay.]

[Just, a little scratched.]

“This, is just a little?”

Leo almost shouted.

But he closed his mouth.

His heart ached.

Clearly, the infiltration operation was over.

She should have been waiting in the rear.

But, why.

Why did you come back so injured.

“……No way.”

Leo realized.

She, had followed him.

Secretly.

Hiding.

And.

On a battlefield he didn’t know,

she had protected him while bleeding.

“……Stupid.”

Leo quietly exhaled a breath.

Sierra narrowed her eyes, and

looked at him.

[……Master is, unharmed, right.]

“…….”

[That’s, enough.]

For a moment.

Leo couldn’t say anything.

Sierra’s fingertips trembled slightly.

Despite that, she forced herself,

to make a very faint smile.

[I’m okay…… by tomorrow, I can smile again.]

“……Tomorrow.”

Leo slowly, wrapped his arms around her head.

Tomorrow.

He leaves this place.

Leaving her behind.

His heart felt like it would tear.

She returns covered in blood like this,

yet he, he can’t even take her with him.

“……Sierra.”

Leo carefully called her name.

“Let’s rest, for a moment.

Let’s treat the wounds first……”

“Okay.”

Sierra answered submissively.

But Leo knew.

That her heart was more deeply wounded than her body.

And.

Into that wound, soon

he would plunge a second blade.

At the end of the corridor, the mansion’s shadow stretched long.

The two of them

walked silently down the dark corridor.

And relying only on each other’s body heat,

carefully, enduring the night that felt like it would shatter.

Inside the warm room.

Only the faint light of the flickering fireplace illuminated the space.

Leo carefully laid Sierra on the sofa, and

brought the medicine box.

Bandages and herbs, and a healing stone condensed with magic power.

But nothing, could immediately wash away the blood on her.

[……I’m okay. If I just rest a little.]

Sierra tried to smile

As if truly, nothing had happened.

But Leo knew.

Her body had already reached its limit.

Her eyes were like those who forced themselves to endure.

Leo quietly reached out his hand.

The moment it touched the back of Sierra’s hand,

a small tremor was transmitted through his fingertips.

‘……This child is.’

‘How much pain was she hiding?’

‘Why, does she always try to smile like this?’

“……Sierra.”

He whispered.

Even calling her name made his chest ache.

Sierra looked at him.

Eyes weary from exhaustion, yet eyes that wouldn’t let go of him until the end.

[Master.]

She weakly reached out her hand,

and gently grabbed Leo’s sleeve.

[…Tomorrow too, will you be here?]

I.

had to make a choice then

whether to leave without a word like that day

or accept the pain before my eyes

I

decided not to make the same mistake as last time.

“No, I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Leo said in a low voice while tidying his heavy travel bag.

The words, cut off abruptly at the end of each sentence, were a decision but also a wavering.

“This evening, my father came.”

“He said since I’m old enough to go to university now, I should go to the academy.”

“I won’t be able to come here for a long time again.”

“And now, with you too, it’s goodbye again.”

[What?]

Sierra looked at him without moving a single step.

The blood-stained bandage and the not-yet-dry bloodstains were just as they were.

Her fingertips trembled, and in her red eyes, emotions on the verge of bursting were pooling.

“……I have to go now.”

With those words, Leo put the last item in his bag.

Seeing his resolute back, Sierra felt despair vibrating through her whole body.

“Sierra.” “I… can’t be here.” “You know that too.”

In the cool air of dawn, only the two of them stood facing each other in the living room.

[Don’t run away.]

Sierra spoke first.

Her voice was low and soft, but beneath it was a mixture of uncontrollable anger and desperation.

Leo didn’t answer and simply glared at her.

An empty gaze. But in the depths, he was also wavering.

“You…”

Leo slowly opened his mouth.

“Did you, genuinely believe I would stay by your side?”

At those words, Sierra’s expression twisted.

[I believed.]

“You wanted to believe. You know that.”

She slowly approached.

The sound that quietly echoed each time her bare feet touched the floor.

Leo took a step back, but Sierra kept approaching.

“But what you believed was an illusion.”

At Leo’s words, Sierra’s hand flashed.

She stretched out her hand towards him—and clutched his lapel.

[Don’t talk about illusions!]

As the lapel was pulled, Leo’s body was pulled forward.

He instinctively grabbed her wrist.

Friction occurred between the two.

Rough breathing. Entwined wrists. Eyes that wouldn’t let go of each other.

[You made it, this illusion.]

Sierra wrote, grinding her teeth

[You made me believe in Master, didn’t you. And yet why, why are you suddenly trying to abandon me?]

“I’m not trying to abandon you.”

Leo said with force.

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“Lie.”

Sierra whispered.

Those words were sharp like a dagger.

“If you want to protect me, you have to be next to me. Leaving me is abandoning me.”

Desperately, she added strength to her hand.

The lapel was pulled harder, and Leo had no choice but to look straight at her.

“Sierra.”

He took a deep breath.

“You are now… trying to tie me down.”

At those words, Sierra’s hand flinched for a moment, but soon strength returned.

[Yes. I will tie you down. So Master can’t leave my side.]

Suddenly, Leo roughly pulled her wrist away.

Sierra lost her balance and staggered a step.

“I am free.”

Leo said coldly.

“I don’t belong to anyone. Not to you, not to anyone.”

[Freedom?]

Sierra let out a scoffing laugh.

And she approached again, this time pushing his chest hard with her palm.

Thud.

Leo was pushed back a step.

His chest ached with a sharp pain. But he didn’t blink.

[Freedom? While saying that, do you know what you did?]

[You made me lean on you, made me look at you, made me cling to you, and in the end… you tried to abandon me alone.]

Her fingertips trembled.

Tears were welling up in her eyes. But Sierra didn’t cry.

Instead, she smiled. A smile that was too twisted, too painful.

[Is this the freedom you gave me? Just abandoning me?]

“…”

Leo was speechless.

Sierra’s expression was more genuine than anyone else’s.

[So…]

She whispered lowly.

[Master must hurt too.]

At that moment, Sierra pushed him once more.

Now, it was not simple anger, but a movement close to a scream.

Leo hit the wall directly.

He gritted his teeth at the impact transmitted to his back, but Sierra didn’t stop.

[I don’t want to be the only one hurting.]

Sierra approached.

Her red eyes pierced him.

[Master must hurt too.]

[Like me.]

[Like being abandoned.]

[Like being left alone.]

Her fingertips touched Leo’s cheek.

A soft but cold touch.

Her fingertips were trembling.

Leo, without realizing it, closed his eyes.

But at that moment.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Sierra screamed.

It was a shout that broke the midnight silence, squeezed out with all her strength.

[I don’t know!! I don’t want to know!!]

[Why, why are you trying to run away from me again!!]

Leo paused for a moment, but eventually slowly turned around.

Their eyes met.

“……I want to protect you.”

“That’s why I’m leaving.”

[Don’t lie!]

[If you want to protect me, you should be by my side!]

[Why, why are you leaving me alone again!!]

The hand stained with blood trembled, grasping at the air.

Thick tears were already flowing from Sierra’s eyes.

Leo tightly closed his eyes.

“If I’m next to you…… I’ll end up hurting you more.”

“I…” “I don’t want to draw you in like this.”

Sierra shook her head violently.

[I’m okay!!]

[Even if I get hurt, even if it hurts, even if I die, it’s okay!]

[As long as Master is by my side……!]

[…..Don’t leave me alone.]

She blocked him while staggering.

With her blood-covered body.

[I won’t send you.]

[Absolutely won’t send you.]

[If you’re going…… knock me down and go.]

[Even if I collapse, even if I break, it’s okay.]

[So, be by my side.]

At that moment, Leo swallowed his breath.

For just a moment, he almost reached out his hand to her.

But ultimately, he—

“Get lost, don’t presumptuously block my way.”

“What, some beggar brat picked up from the streets is trying to decide my future?”

“Isn’t that right? Vermin.”

He spat it out coldly, cruelly.

Even then, he believed.

That this was for her.

Firmly, without wavering.

“If you’re done talking, get out.”

I couldn’t do anything.

I was frozen just like that.

It was an old habit.

Whenever Leo said harsh words to me

Whenever he said I wasn’t needed

I couldn’t do anything.

Because my world had abandoned me

Because I was just a vermin picked up from the streets

Just for that moment, it felt like returning to my essence.

That he wasn’t someone who used such harsh words

And that it was a lie, I knew, but

I couldn’t resist.

My heart

felt like it was collapsing.

But—

“Ha!”

Now I am no longer your toy

A strange laughter leaked out somewhere.

Finding its source was not difficult

‘Hahahaha’

“Sierra”

And then she started laughing like crazy.

“Ahahahahahahahaha!”

She was crying while laughing, with her mouth wide open.

“Are you crazy, Sierra.”

Leo frowned with an uncomfortable expression.

“That’s enough.”

—

“Ha–”

“You stop it, Leo”

Breaking the silence, words directly pierced into his mind.

What was more shocking than those rude words was

the fact that she could speak.

“What…?, How can you speak no why didn’t you tell me…”

Feeling something strange at that moment

Leo realized belatedly.

“…Telepathy magic.”

Her mouth wasn’t moving at all.

“Since when could you use it, Sierra.”

“No, since when could you use magic.”

“It should be a realm unreachable by a vermin of low birth like you.”

Considering her origin, it was impossible.

At that moment—

“A world without magic inheritance, equal for all.”

That phrase. He mistook it as hearing his own voice.

“Oh my, wasn’t that what Master always shouted?”

“No, one of the 12 leaders of the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, Leo Heavenfield”

It felt like his heart was sinking

Hearing those words

For a moment, I doubted my ears

‘How… on earth did Sierra… know that’

That I belonged to the Dark Side of the Moon was known from the previous battle, and

That fact itself wasn’t important

The era when one could be punished merely for belonging to the Dark Side of the Moon had passed, and

It would be enough to say that I was forced to join due to threats from the Dark Side of the Moon

But the fact that I was one of the 12 Cores was different.

The ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ was not just an anti-government organization.

At its center were just twelve individuals—people called the ’12 Cores’ by the world.

With magic power and intelligence comparable to a continent-level disaster each, they moved like shadows, their names and faces unknown.

They were at once the spark of war, and a decisive piece that could shatter world order.

The 12 Cores were not simple commanders.

Each with unique ideologies, philosophies, and special magic attributes, they were the practical core that designed and moved the entire organization’s ideology.

In rumours circulating like legends, it was said that one of them could stop time, another could manipulate will, and another could awaken the dead.

These were the symbols of the ‘Dark Side of the Moon’.

The very existence of the 12 was the core of the resistance, the blade executing the great cause, and the crack itself symbolizing the fissure in the Empire’s order.

However, knowing how terrifying that symbol was, only a tiny number within the organization knew the identities of the 12.

The Empire knew this fact.

No, they knew but didn’t want to believe it.

But the moment one of these beings revealed themselves even once, the Empire immediately entered the highest level of disaster response.

Measures that hadn’t been used in practice for decades, such as the ‘Full Magic Sealing Order’, ‘Deployment of Emperor’s Direct Special Task Force’, and ‘Underground Cult Purge Operation’, were activated just by the shadow of the 12.

Their very existence was a taboo, and at the same time, proof of the limits of the Empire’s authority.

Thus, the facts about their existence were naturally kept secret, and

the Dark Side of the Moon was putting tremendous effort into maintaining security.

To the extent that they didn’t even know each other’s names

But Sierra knew that fact

The problem wasn’t just that my name was known.

Knowing one already meant that Sierra also knew the identities of the remaining 12 Cores.

At that moment

“Follow me.”

Cold sweat trickled down my cheeks, and my body was frozen, unable to move.

And

“Follow me.”

Her face was smiling, but at that smile, my body was trembling like crazy.

I no longer had a choice and simply nodded my head.