episode_0020

000

“──.”

A silence so heavy it was suffocating.

Guildmaster Luti Sions’ office, located within the Adventurer’s Guild.

The sunlight streaming in from the window behind the desk was bright and warm, befitting the now-balmy spring days.

Even so, it was too weak a light to melt the air within the office.

Albein, a fair-haired youth with a pallid face, raised a hand to his forehead and writhed.

“Huh…?”

A voice of bewilderment leaked from his lips.

And rightly so. What was that the woman sitting before him had just told him?

“Didn’t things go as you wished? Hero Albein.”

A scrap of red parchment lay before her, a portion of a cancelled request.

The wanted criminal had been successfully apprehended, and order restored to the city and the Guild.

A portion of a back alley building had been destroyed in the process, and there had been complaints from residents of the area…

But the Guild traitor who had threatened the city, ‘Magic Swordsman Kleon’, had been subjugated.

While Hero Albein had been passed out in a disgraceful manner.

Albein clenched his fist so hard his palm bled, a ‘grinding’ sound emanating from his teeth.

“Who was it! Which bastard stole my credit!”

It was clearly his accomplishment.

The woman he had seen at the hideout of the assassin group ‘Fangs of the Curtain’, who had used magic.

Now that he thought about it, that woman, whose appearance had resembled Kleon’s in some way, was Kleon himself.

Therefore, Albein thought. He was the one who had contributed the most to Kleon’s death.

In his fight with Kleon, Kleon had unknowingly taken damage, revealing an opening…

Which another adventurer had finished off…

Thinking that far, Albein was weighed down by a shred of conscience that denied that it was his own delusion.

He should have been the one to kill Kleon and become the hero of the city.

If that had happened, Kuon, Rila, Sasha, and even ‘Galla’, who had suddenly vanished, would all have been his.

Even the woman in the red uniform who had said that had disappeared from the city.

Contact was always initiated from her side.

Had she left, disappointed in him because someone other than Albein had completed the request?

“…Kleon’s corpse?”

“The body below the neck is missing—the head was collected by the Academy. Along with the magic sword.”

At Luti’s answer, Albein slammed his fist down on the desk.

The documents on the desk scattered, and Luti narrowed her brows and looked up at the man behaving violently.

“Don’t you think you’re being rather rude?”

“Rude…? You should be showing respect to the hero of the city…! If I hadn’t requested the wanted notice, all the women in the town would have been violated by Kleon by now…! That’s the kind of guy he is.”

Albein thrust his face into hers, his eyes showing rage and madness.

Luti’s patience was reaching its limit.

“You are not the hero of the city. There was no proof for your self-serving testimony.”

“What does that matter! He’s a magic swordsman! If he had grown in power, he would have ended up hating and subjugating people!”

His voice grew louder and louder.

A nonsensical argument.

Luti was growing weary of talking with Albein.

“In the first place… you’re an accomplice too! You started the wanted notice after hearing my testimony… Ah. That’s right, that woman’s gone, but. What position are you in to say anything to me?”

Luti was silent at that statement.

Albein became emboldened and slapped the cheek of the presumptuous woman who had defied him.

That was the trigger.

Luti’s body froze to the point where she stopped breathing.

Albein took it as Luti’s fear and continued speaking.

“And… don’t forget that I know a secret that you absolutely don’t want to be exposed!”

At Albein’s words, the temperature in the entire room slowly dropped.

An extreme chill that swallowed even the sunlight streaming in from outside.

Perhaps sensing that something was wrong, Albein looked at Luti.

“Wh, what did you do. Magic? You shouldn’t be able to attack me.”

“As you say. We are ordered not to attack humans.”

Luti’s eyes became vertically slit pupils.

The room had become cold because of the cold air emanating from her deep breaths.

“But that doesn’t mean… that we exist as slaves. We are permitted to use force in order to protect ourselves.”

Pink scales sprouted from her neck.

Albein doubted his eyes.

Was the woman before him not human?

“Knowing about the secret in such a half-baked way was your downfall… Thanks to your thoughtless actions… I can kill you…”

“Ki, kill? Me? The Guild’s hope and the city’s hero… this Hero Albein?”

At those words, Luti burst into laughter.

The high-pitched laughter echoed in the office, making one wonder if this was the same girl who was normally called ‘Wind of Happiness’.

“Don’t get cocky, you little brat… There are countless heroes on this continent. There are any number of guys who can replace the likes of you…”

Blades of wind that felt like they were tearing at his skin floated around her.

Even though it was just air, one could tell how much magical power it contained, the black-pink magic flowing over it like fresh blood.

“Kuh…oooo…aaaaagh!”

Albein was seized by the terror of knowing that he would surely be killed.

One step, two steps.

He retreated.

Then, without even looking back, he ran out of the office.

“Hoo~”

Luti, who had watched the scene with satisfaction, sighed and shuddered.

“Ugh, so cold.”

As if nothing had happened, she opened the office window to take in the warm air from outside.

As the documents on the desk flew into the air from the incoming wind, Luti exclaimed, “Whoa!” and tried to grab the pile.

001

Adventurers in the Guild watched Albein run away disgracefully.

Their attention was already focused less on the dead Kleon and more on how to earn a living for the day.

A hero who had broken into an assassin group unrelated to Kleon on his own, lost consciousness,

and had his achievements stolen in the meantime was not something they cared about.

Albein staggered toward his comrade ‘Kuon’s lodging.

To be sure, he had failed to defeat Kleon.

But it was a fact that Kleon had died.

If it was Kuon, who had been with him since before he became an adventurer, she would use Kleon’s death as an opportunity to clear her mind.

And return to his side.

That was what he was thinking.

“… …”

Until he saw her packing her belongings and leaving her lodging.

“Ku…on…?”

“…Albein.”

Kuon averted her eyes, as if she didn’t want to meet Albein.

The rejection he felt from her weighed heavily on Albein’s mind.

He approached her with faltering steps.

“You… where are you going?”

“…I don’t know.”

At that ambiguous answer, Albein reached out and tried to grab Kuon’s arm.

Then, Kuon pulled her body back, trying to escape Albein’s grasp.

“No, hey… I don’t know? What kind of nonsense is that…?”

As if disbelieving and at a loss,

Kuon herself felt pain in her heart from that gaze that looked at her.

She tried to turn her body away, if only to avoid eye contact.

“Don’t tell me, it’s because Kleon died? Is that why? Just because of that!?”

“…Just because of that?”

Words that were spoken without thinking, with only the desire to hold onto the woman who was trying to leave.

That one phrase completely severed the last bit of affection that Kuon had for him.

“I. I was held by Kleon.”

“… …”

Albein’s mind became muddled.

The meaning of what she was saying did not properly reach him.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he didn’t want to understand.

“I wasn’t forced. I asked him to.”

“Wh, what… what are you saying? Why would you do such a thing…”

In that instant, Albein remembered what he had done.

That day. The day Kleon had cowardly ambushed him and taken Kuon away.

A foolish act in which he had been unable to control himself due to anger.

He had tried to violate Kuon with his own hands.

But, Kuon had refused.

Yet that Kuon, had been held by Kleon. She had mingled her body with his.

He was not allowed… but Kleon was okay?

Albein brought his hand to the sword at his waist.

It was an instant.

The sword that had been trained to protect people and cut down monsters was drawn and swung toward the one he cherished most.

An irreversible atrocity revealed its fangs toward Kuon.

The next moment.

“Rose Tangle!”

Rose vines that sprung up from the ground bound Albein’s arms and sword.

The holy sword stopped before Kuon, barely managing to protect her.

“Albein! Are you crazy!?”

The one who had stopped Albein was the red-haired mage.

The genius mage girl, Rila Flamewatch, who had adventured with him just like Kuon.

She stood with her staff pointed at Albein, her face filled with shock.

Seeing that she was also carrying luggage on her back, Albein grimaced.

“That woman has been brainwashed by Kleon! Rila!”

He then spat out words that were convenient for him once again.

There was no way Kuon would betray him in her right mind.

There was no way she would commit the sin of mingling her body with Kleon.

He judged others based on his own standards.

“Albein… you, really…”

Kuon and Rila looked at such an Albein with despairing eyes.

Much of their trust in him had disappeared over the past few days.

They also understood that he had gone too far.

But he was once a comrade they had entrusted their hearts to… and a man they had loved.

They had wanted to return him to his original state, even if they had to borrow Kleon’s power.

To that end, they thought that harsh shock was necessary.

Even if they couldn’t return to their previous relationship, it was a necessary defeat for Albein.

But Albein’s obstinacy was not something that could be summed up as ‘going too far’.

It was madness. Self-intoxication from positive emotions amplified by the holy sword.

Of course, his thinking would not change, and he would only deny reality forever.

He thought that if he realized that he had ‘lost’, and had negative thoughts,

the power of the holy sword would leave him.

“Listen, Rila! Kuon, that woman, mingled her body with Kleon!”

“… …”

The two were silent at those words.

Only Albein, with his wandering eyes, was telling Rila his story as if making excuses.

“I mean, if this woman regains her senses, she’ll commit suicide out of shame. I’d rather give her peace with my own hands…”

Rila, as if she didn’t want to hear any more disgusting words, denied Albein’s words.

Then Albein let out a groan, “Kuh…”, and grimaced once more.

“Oh. And. It’s not just Kuon who had sex with Kleon. Me and Sasha too. We’ve already done it with him.”

“Ri, Rila!”

It was Kuon who reacted to Rila’s revelation.

Albein himself, on the other hand, seemed to be shocked and dropped his sword.

Not only Rila, but even Sasha? When? She had never shown any sign of it—

“You’re a fool. There’s no way you, who doesn’t properly see others, could know about people’s changes.”

At those words from Rila, Albein tore at his hair.

“A fool… you say…? You’re the fools… You’re the stupid ones…!”

“Why Kleon and not me! He’s weak, useless, and was kicked out of the party because he was a burden!”

“All he knows how to do is cowardly attack from behind, deceive people, and violate them, that’s all that trash knows!”

“A mad criminal who carries around a sword with a disgusting power…! That’s Kleon…!”

Albein, grabbing and pulling at his face uglily, screamed.

Then. Rila grabbed Kuon’s hand and pulled her to her side.

Looking down at the unmoving Albein, she spat out in a cold voice.

“That’s all you.”

…Rila turned her body away as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

And, Kuon followed behind her.

Albein raised his head and shouted at the two.

“Wait! Rila! Where are you going!”

“I’m going back to the Academy. Kuon too. It’d be dangerous for her to be alone if a guy like you keeps clinging to her…”

Rila turned to look at Albein.

There was no longer any connection to Albein left in those eyes.

Albein, unable to accept the hatred for himself contained in Rila’s red eyes, could only writhe in place until the magic was released.

002

How much time had passed? The early spring weather was constantly changing.

Even if the sky was clear without a single cloud in the morning and afternoon, it was the nature of spring days for disasters to occur due to sudden rain.

When water began to fall, one drop, two drops, from the gloomy, cloudy sky.

One or two people reluctantly took refuge indoors.

But there were also those who could not do so.

For example, the fair-haired youth who had been left abandoned on the street, unable to escape the magic even after struggling for a long time.

As he lay with his strength completely drained, his body drooping.

There was someone who approached him and handed him an umbrella.

“… …”

Albein quietly raised his head.

There, he saw the figure of a woman wrapped in a robe, ‘Galla’.

“Hehe… SM play on the street, how interesting.”

Galla’s voice was far too sweet to Albein, who was trapped in despair.

When she brought her finger to the vines, a black flame arose and burned only the vines.

When the vines fell to the ground along with the flame that would not go out even in the rain, Galla walked away, leaving the umbrella behind.

Albein raised his head for a moment and looked at Galla, then opened his mouth.

“J, just a moment… Ms. Galla…”

He called out to Galla in a voice like an abandoned puppy.

Galla quietly looked at him with her usual gentle eyes.

Although it was different in direction from Kuon’s.

“I… I broke up with everyone in the party… If it’s okay with you… can we talk a little…”

A story that was a mess of cause and effect, even by his own reckoning.

But Galla, unlike the girls like Kuon and Rila who didn’t understand him.

If it was her, who possessed the composure of an adult… she might listen to his story.

She might acknowledge him.

That was what he thought as he clung to her.

Galla looked at such an Albein for a moment, then raised the corners of her lips and smiled.

“Then… shall we go somewhere for a bit?”

Seduced by such a Galla, Albein nodded and followed after her.

She walked slowly, one step ahead of Albein.

Enjoying even the falling rain, the raindrops that flowed down through her hair.

Bounced off of her bulging hips and chest.

Albein, walking behind and looking at that figure, felt a surge of lust for it.

“Albein, can you drink alcohol?”

Whether she knew what he was thinking or not. Galla asked Albein in a pure voice.

“…Yes. I’m an adult, at least.”

Quietly answering Galla’s question, Albein was somehow looking for an opportunity.

Even if it was just one person, he wanted to make a woman who had not been touched by Kleon his own.

A conjurer from another land, who appeared from who knows where.

A woman with a body that enticed men.

No matter what happened, he could make her take responsibility as well.

Thinking that, he saw the woman before him as the perfect prey.

-While Albein was spreading his wings of delusion and imagination.

He did not realize where Galla was leading him.

He also didn’t particularly care about the identity of the bottle she was holding.

He just quietly followed behind her, and the place they arrived at was a place he remembered.

“Sasha~!”

“Ah, Ms. Galla!”

And the one that Galla waved her hand and called out to was a woman with orange hair.

Standing in the same place where rain was falling, with an umbrella, in front of the ruined, collapsed building.

One could see the flowers held in her hand.

White chrysanthemums, symbolizing ‘remembrance’.

Albein recalled it from his faint memories.

The place where the assassin group Fangs of the Curtain’s hideout had been located.

The place where he and Kleon had fought… no, it was not a situation that could be called a fight. It was a one-sided crush.

As Albein frowned while recalling such unpleasant memories.

Sasha also saw Albein and cowered, turning to look at Galla.

“Why is Mr. Albein here…”

“Hmm… because he was acting pitiful. I’m just going to make him understand his place a little.”

Galla answered Sasha with her finger on her chin.

Hearing those words, Albein felt as if he had been struck in the head with a hammer.

“Ms. Galla…?”

As he said that, he called out the name of the woman who had shown him kindness.

Galla did not respond to that call, but instead handed the bottle of liquid to Sasha.

Sasha poured the alcohol into a bottle, placed it in front of the rubble of the building, and laid down the chrysanthemums.

“Hey, Sasha… what are you doing… who’s there…”

“There is someone. Definitely here.”

Was it trash from the assassin group? Or the dead Kleon? Either way, it was a good thing.

This woman had already betrayed him and was shaking her hips in front of Kleon, the slutty prostitute.

He didn’t want to talk to such a woman.

More than that, he hadn’t properly heard Galla’s words.

When Sasha, who had finished her prayer, turned to look at Albein, the mark of the hunter floated in her eyes.

That mark, which was not the usual color but a slightly darker color, gave off a mystical atmosphere.

“The hunter’s mark can also trace the trajectory of souls.”

Her mark, which had been activated just recently when she was attacked by the Eye Magic User, was stronger than before.

Thanks to that, she now had the power to even chase after the traces of souls left in this world.

And, she had recently.

Discovered the traces of a soul remaining in this place.

The soul of an old assassin who had defiled the honor of his sword by trying to assassinate a man woven from ‘evil’.

When she consulted Galla about this, Galla taught her a ritual so that the soul could leave this world.

Albein did not know who it was.

But. Instinctively, he realized that he was involved.

He knew that there had been an attempt to assassinate ‘Kleon’.

And, that in the process, the assassin who had failed his mission had sacrificed his own life as a price.

In the end, he had thought that he was just assassin trash anyway.

The remains of the ruins. Even though there was no light due to the clouds, the shadow remained in that place.

The shadow kept growing and growing.

Finally, it turned into a shapeless blade and approached Albein.

The speed was not fast at all. Rather, it was trembling as if it would disappear at any moment.

Even so, that hatred of the soul that was approaching him with murderous intent was echoing in Albein’s soul as well.

“Hi, ick…!”

He raised an unsightly voice.

Albein inadvertently clung to Galla, who was next to him.

“G, get away! What did I do wrong! You’re just trash who failed your mission…!”

He did not reflect at all.

It was all Kleon’s fault that this was happening to him.

“G, Ms. Galla. You’re a conjurer, right? Then, you know something about souls, right?”

“Hmm~ if you ask me that. Sorry. I’m not a conjurer.”

The moment Galla said that, her robe was decomposed by magic and scattered into the air.

When her robe, which had been hidden until now, revealed what was underneath.

Albein realized that she was not only not a ‘conjurer’, but not even a ‘human’.

“A, a demon…”

“…Hehe. So you call me that too. Well, fine.”

When ‘Galla’, no, Galatea, revealed her true form, Sasha frowned slightly and looked at the two.

Even in the meantime, the soul’s blade was slowly approaching Albein.

“I really hate you, Albein.”

“… …!?”

Albein was unable to properly come to his senses due to the dark emotions that suddenly crashed into him.

“Clinging to Kleon only when it was convenient for you. And treating him as an obstacle and chasing him away as soon as you gained power yourself…”

“Intoxicated by the power of the holy sword, forgetting all of your original good intentions…”

“Defiling that sword with malice, even tearing apart the soul that barely remained… a ‘misfit’.”

“I hate you as a human… but as a soul, which is a demon’s staple food… you look so delicious.”

“Because we, like ‘evil’ souls.”

Her face contorted.

Her eyes were like crescent moons. Her mouth smiled, revealing her teeth.

It was definitely not human.

The one in front of him was not a human.

It was a demon. A demon that craved human souls.

And, this woman had also spoken ‘Kleon’s name.

“Mr. Albein!”

The moment Sasha shouted that, the black blade was swung, aiming for Albein’s neck.

Albein snapped to his senses and moved his body, but he was wounded by the blade that grazed his shoulder.

“Kuaaagh!”

“Such an exaggeration… you’ve received worse injuries than that before.”

When Galatea said that and tried to bring her finger to the wound, Albein quickly moved away from her.

“…Why, why why why why why!!”

Soaked from head to toe by the rain.

Bleeding blood and sweat, Albein glared at Galatea.

“Ah. Why am I siding with Kleon, you ask?”

“… …”

Then, Galatea smiled as if it was obvious and began to speak.

“Well, because I belong to Kleon. From head to toe. Inside and out. From birth to death. Body and soul are all… his alone.”

“─Damn yooouuu!!!”

Albein’s holy sword was drawn once again.

This time, for its original purpose. To cut down demons.

But. His sword, blurred by fear, could not possibly reach Galatea.

Rather, on the contrary-

An arrow that flew in changed the trajectory of the holy sword.

The bow that Sasha held in her hand was smaller than usual.

But even so, it was enough to hinder Albein.

Albein looked at Sasha with a fiendish face, but Sasha swallowed hard and spoke calmly.

“…Mr. Albein. You have committed numerous sins until now. And have defiled your soul. I can see that now.”

She sadly lowered the arm holding the bow and sprinkled the remaining alcohol on the ground.

Then, the shadow slowly shrank and eventually disappeared.

“That soul is dyed so black that it can no longer be purified. Even the connection with the holy sword is hanging by a thread…”

Albein retreated as if he didn’t want to hear.

“─If by some chance. You want to be forgiven… pay for your sins. The only way to save your own soul is to do that…”

“Don’t… don’t order me around!!!!”

As she said that, she reached out her hand and pointed it at Sasha.

Magic power concentrated at the end of his left hand, which was different from usual-

“Saint Ray!”

A golden flash appeared as if it were lightning, and went straight to Sasha’s shoulder-

Clang-

But it didn’t pierce through.

Galatea, who had disappeared somewhere, was there.

Instead, she came down on top of the ruins.

Protecting Sasha was a beautiful sword.

And the one holding it was.

“… … How, could you…”

A black-haired, black-eyed magic swordsman.

“Kleon…”

“…Albein. It’s time to end this. The ending that suits you… is isolation.”