episode_0026

In the mountains on the border between the Holy Eimor Empire and the Beicher Kingdom.

There was someone there who avoided meeting people and lived alone.

A muscular middle-aged man with unkempt white hair and a long beard.

Ericsson.

Although it was impossible to see his facial expression due to his beard and hair covering most of his face, he was a man with distinctive golden eyes.

As a result of some kind of incident, Erikson built a cabin in the mountains and lived in harmony with nature.

Erics had a set routine.

Wake up at dawn, do health exercises and practice.

This was Ericsson’s routine every day.

however-.

Even though it was barely time to wake up, Erickson’s eyes opened. Then, I picked up the sword left on the bedside table and began to be wary of my surroundings.

‘Someone is approaching. robbery? No, not a robber-.’

The presence was very faint.

Even as Erickson thought about the identity of the presence, he did not let down his guard.

And before long-.

The presence knocked on the door of Erickson’s cabin.

Knock-. Knock-.

A weak knocking sound. It sounded really weak.

It felt like I was just knocking on the door, not checking to see if anyone was there.

Erickson remained alert and approached the door.

and-.

I opened the door.

Then in front of the door -.

A soaked, wounded boy lay in front of him. Upon discovering this, Ericsson was filled with bewilderment.

A boy who suddenly got hurt in the mountains like this.

It was a very unexpected guest.

Erickson looked around again, but there was no one except the boy.

That means that the sign just now was clearly made by the boy in front of me. Therefore, Erickson was alert and checked the boy’s condition.

“It’s really serious.”

The boy was so badly injured that he would die if left like this.

Erikson was worried.

What to do with this boy?

Erickson was definitely not a good scholar. I knew that myself.

so that-.

“Even if this boy dies, it won’t be anything to do with me.”

I didn’t want to care whether this boy died or not.

however-.

The faint sound of a boy breathing.

I could vaguely hear words in that breathing sound.

“ too, please help me.”

I wish I hadn’t heard it.

Even if you are not a good person.

He was not so evil that he ignored the words of the boy in front of him who begged him to save his life.

Erickson opened a drawer in the corner of the room. Then he took out a bottle decorated with gold.

The bottle was a high-quality healing potion that said ordinary people would die and not survive even if they woke up.

Erickson sighed deeply.

“If you can’t get better with this, it’s your fate, and if you do get better… .”

Erickson sprinkled about half of the advanced healing potion on the boy’s body and put the remaining half into his mouth.

“You should be my worker until I pay for this potion.”

This is not a value that is in good faith.

Ericsson decided to consider it as a price paid. After such a simple treatment.

Erickson lifted the boy up onto his back and laid him down on his bed.

“… I did something uncharacteristic of myself. Did I, without realizing it, overlap this boy with that child? .”

Although he slightly regretted his choice, Erickson began to take upon himself the responsibility of taking care of the boy.

.

.

.

A week had passed since Erickson cared for the boy.

“I get to see this with my own eyes… It’s really amazing.”

The boy’s condition improved significantly.

however-.

A strange change began to occur in the boy. Every day, my hair began to turn white.

Ericsson had heard of this.

When you get stressed out, your hair turns white, like it’s been bleached.

They say they knew, but-.

Seeing this with my own eyes was truly amazing.

Meanwhile-.

“What on earth drove this boy away?”

I was curious about what kind of stress the boy was under to end up like this.

This is because my hair was bleached.

Erickson had many things he wanted to ask the boy.

Since I saved him, I decided I had the right to know that much. Of course, even if there was a story, I had no intention of helping with it.

“Anyway, I hope I wake up quickly.”

Erickson’s back started to hurt from sleeping on the bare floor because the boy had taken over his bed.

***

My whole body hurts. It felt like I had been beaten non-stop all day.

I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore.

Stop it now.

The moment I was about to shout like that.

Both eyes opened.

Unfamiliar ceiling-.

Why am I here?

“You finally woke up.”

I turned my head and saw an old man with a white beard… There was this middle-aged man. His hair was also stained white, as if it had been bleached.

“Who are you?”

“That’s what I want to ask. Who the hell are you, lying down in front of someone else’s house?”

Who am I?

I thought about it.

Who am I?

It was like there was a fog in my head and I couldn’t remember anything. Who I was and what I did.

The more I tried to think of something, the more my head hurt.

however-.

One thing is clear.

Even in this foggy mind, only one word was playing over and over again.

plural.

“I must take revenge.”

“When I asked his name, he said he had to take revenge. That’s fun. Yes, revenge… , To the person who made you like that?”

“I don’t know.”

Why was I in this situation? I couldn’t even remember that.

but-.

The target of revenge was also clear.

God or cult.

I was screaming in my head that I had to get revenge on them. As if this is something that should not be forgotten.

“However, I am certain that the target of my revenge is the religious order.”

“It’s a denomination… Are you really a rebel?”

“I don’t know about that.”

I don’t remember anything.

It was just engraved in my mind that I needed revenge. I had no memory of who I was or what I did.

Just a denomination.

Only disgust for that group and hostility toward God crept up from deep within my heart.

I couldn’t even remember why I wanted revenge so much.

To my words-.

My benefactor, who I thought had saved me, sighed deeply and said.

“Revenge… . Give up.”

“Why?”

“… Because even if you do, there will be nothing left.”

The detached gaze of a benefactor.

It looked like the eyes of an old man who had gone through a prenatal crisis.

But still-.

“You can never do that. Even if I lose my life right here.”

You should never give up on revenge.

That’s what he was saying.

I don’t know who is talking. My guess is that this might be me before I lost my memory.

I spoke to my benefactor once again.

It means that you can never give up on revenge.

“I… I must take revenge. Even if there is nothing left.”

***

Ericsson.

His past had a history of revenge.

I was punished for repeating wrongdoings, and I took revenge on the person who punished me. But everything was meaningless.

After revenge, what remains is an overwhelming feeling of emptiness.

And loneliness.

In fact, Erickson’s saving the boy in front of him was almost a whim.

just-.

I wonder if my son’s appearance overlapped. It was just a wandering good deed. Of course, I made all kinds of excuses.

Anyway, it just felt like that.

But the person you saved is trying to walk the same path as you.

It felt quite funny.

Erickson said to the now gray-haired boy.

“… Rather than that, you can’t even remember the name?”

“Yes? Yeah, I don’t remember at all.”

I remember that I have to take revenge, but I can’t even remember my own name. It was really funny.

At least for revenge, there must be a story.

What this boy was trying to do was tantamount to pioneering a path that did not exist without any direction.

First of all, Ericsson decided to at least make a statement.

“If you don’t have a name, it will be inconvenient to call you.”

“Yes? yes. I guess so.”

“From now on, I will call you Aaron.”

Evan was my son’s name in the past.

Thinking about this, it was a name that came to Erickson without even realizing it.

“Aren… It seems like a good name.”

Eren smiles bitterly at the new name.

“Thank me for giving you a good name. And thank you for saving me. My name is Ericsson.”

Erickson, who was condescending about what he had done, asked Aaron.

A plan for what to do next.

“… So what do you plan to do when you get better?”

“For revenge… I guess I should leave.”

“Hmm… That’s right.”

I’m trying to walk the same path as you.

Erickson barely suppressed a sigh.

In the end, Ericsson decided to use a slightly trickier method.

“Do you know how much the medicine I used for you cost?”

“Yes? Well… .”

“It cost a lot more than you can imagine.”

“Sorry.”

Erickson smiled. It was a smile that seemed a little sinister.

“Don’t worry. Because I will take it all from you. So, try to hold off on revenge for a while. At least until you pay off all your debt to me.”

To the boy who is trying to follow the same path as himself -.

Ericsson decided to give it a chance.

A chance to forget about revenge and live a normal life.