episode_0042

As I was supporting him, I couldn’t see Sorshei’s face.

It would be difficult to see unless you forcefully turn your head.

I deliberately avoided eye contact.

“Me, I was a peddler… When the village made pigments, I traveled around the southern part of the country as a representative and sold them.”

“Pigment? What color was it?”

“Purple···.”

purple?

It’s a pretty rare color. It is also a color that I have never seen before, to the point where I sometimes forget about it. I have never seen purple used as a pigment before. At one time, purple pigment was very rare on Earth.

Thanks to this, it was once called the ‘emperor’s color’.

“It’s a rare color. It must have been quite expensive, but I thought that color was only found in flowers.”

“Our village is the only one that can make proper purple pigment.”

Even though he was a ghost, I could hear pride in Sorshei’s voice.

“So, what happened?”

“I traveled all over the South with my daughter.”

Oh, Sorshei said that Julias killed his daughter.

If you do this well, you might be able to ask.

“Your daughter?”

“I was quite debauched when I was young… One day while we were playing and drinking, a woman I used to live with got sick and left a child with me, saying she was my daughter before she died.”

“Oh my.”

I don’t think it’s something to say to a young child.

It’s not like you really want to understand it either.

Of course, I’m by no means saying that Sorshay is a normal person, but the look in Sorshay’s eyes when he talked to me was faint.

“At first, she didn’t even seem like my daughter. It was literally a child that I wasn’t even sure was mine. Not knowing that his mother was seriously ill, he looked up at me and asked where his mother was. I tried to throw it away right away, but no one would accept it and I was the only one who looked at it like trash…”

Even so, I accepted it.

Just for that reason. Sorchei meant that the fundamental nature of a person was never evil.

“Then, did you accept him as your child?”

“That’s right. I think we all have the same feelings about raising children. I wondered why my father didn’t abandon me, but now that I’ve raised him, I understand.”

Hehehe! Laughter broke out.

“I guess you had some fun when you were young?”

“We played a lot. You can’t even imagine.”

Sorshei also laughed.

“The more the child who didn’t know his father grew, the more he took my heart. In the end, the center of my life suddenly became my child. It doesn’t matter whether my blood flows or not.”

Two people came to mind.

If I had lived with them, would they have loved me like Sorshei even if they knew that I was not their child?

······It’s self-compromise.

This is a feeling that should never be substituted.

“Still, raising a child must not have been easy?”

“That’s right. I never thought raising a child would cost that much money. The mouths you eat increase in arithmetic progression, but money goes out in geometric progression! When I saw my empty money bag, I thought, ‘Ah, that’s really messed up.’ I wanted to.”

Sorshei and I giggled and laughed.

Only Jules looked down at me with a look of incomprehension. If I had been able to join in on this conversation, I would have had a smile on my face too.

At the same time, I was feeling it.

The fact that the more Sorshei smiles, the lighter he becomes. I could feel it intuitively. I don’t know what Sorshei is, but what I’m doing is right.

“So I started peddling. I also wanted to be confident in front of my child.”

If you’re so strapped that you need money, you can’t even start working.

Peddlers buy goods and sell them in other villages, so they need a lot of extra money. And that too in plenty.

“Didn’t it cost a lot of money when you started peddling?”

Sorshei nods.

“That’s right. It was my last chance to play and eat in town. My father was the village chief. I was provided with two horses and a carriage.”

“Wow, your father is really big.”

In the south, even sidewalks have grass growing up to people’s thighs unless they are on major roads. Public security is at a low level and the means of transportation are also abysmal. You wouldn’t know it if there were horses, but wild horses don’t even live in the South.

All horses are purchased from Horus, and centaurs are occasionally brought in if not needed long-term, but they work for wages.

That’s how expensive horses are.

Taking my daughter with me on a peddler meant that I had no one to take care of her. Even this person’s father, the village chief.

No matter how much he played around and said he was not good at benevolence, wasn’t he that close to the villagers?

“Why didn’t you leave your daughter in the village?”

“Because my father was a person who valued purebloods.”

blood? What does it mean? Do elves have pure blood?

In any case, Sorshei’s emotions were quite stable, unlike when he was in prison.

“But how did you end up here?”

“My daughter wanted it. Purple pigment is rare and popular, so she begged me to introduce it to Lamia. If you ride a carriage, you can’t go to wetlands where the wheels get swollen.”

I asked him how he ended up in prison, but it turns out he had been here before. Could it be that he was really kidnapped?

“I was heading towards the smoothest road possible, but the carriage wheel ended up falling into a ditch. Even though I tried for several days, I couldn’t get it out in the end.”

“How did you do it? You can’t leave the carriage behind, right?”

Sorshei nods.

“That’s right. I would have done the same if my daughter hadn’t collapsed. While I wasn’t looking, my daughter collapsed after drinking water from the purifier. My body was hot like boiling.”

Even if you say it’s a southern purifier, it crudely filters out sediments with sand or charcoal, but doesn’t filter out everything inside. You drank something bad.

“Didn’t Lamia make the medicine?”

“I thought that too. I ran four hours carrying my daughter to ask for treatment for her, but Lamia demanded payment first!”

Sorshei’s voice, which interrupted me, began to contain passion. It was natural that Lamia demanded compensation. Because they’re not volunteering.

Since Sorshei’s anger was not directed at me, he continued speaking calmly.

“If you’re a peddler, you carry money, right?”

“No, they didn’t take money! The Lamia wanted purple pigment right away!”

···what?

I don’t understand. The currency used in the Yunaira Alliance is the common currency of Southern Ain. Reject that and want pigment? I must have left everything in the carriage in the first place, so how do I ask for the purple pigment?

“When I returned to the carriage, all the pigments were gone! So meticulously, the thieves even stole the horse and ran away, and my life ended there!”

It’s a bitch.

Sorshei’s voice became more intense.

“But even though my life was shattered, my reason for living did not end. I gave away all the money I had, stuck my head in the mud, and begged. Please save my daughter! Lamia decided to treat my daughter, but—!”

Sorshei gritted his teeth, blood flowed from his gums, and his eyes became shiny.

And soon bloody tears started flowing from the corners of my eyes.

“He suffered convulsions while receiving treatment and died painfully! Looking at me! In front of me! I couldn’t do anything! Damn witch Julias blamed it on me…!”

I glanced at Jules and saw that he was looking at me like he was looking at me like a crazy person. I can’t afford to sympathize with those eyes right now. There was blood on his clothes, but he didn’t show it.

For that reason, Sorshei was a little scary right now.

“Then did Julia imprison Mr. Sorshei here to cover up the incident?”

“No. After being reported by the villagers, he was taken to Ymir’s grave. Because pigments and horses were too expensive to end up in my father’s line.”

How can life fall apart in one fell swoop like that? If it were me, would I have come to my senses? ······And why are all my predictions wrong? I was afraid that reality was worse than imagination.

“He was taken away and tortured. Even if I told the truth, I was tortured. And in the end, he was sentenced to death and came here. But─── the Lamia I saw while being transported here was wearing bright purple clothes─!”

Fuck!

“···It looks very dog-like.”

“Now I even doubt that my daughter fell! No matter how dirty the water is, there’s no way you’ll faint right away just by drinking it—?! Not only did Julia steal my things and kill my daughter, but he also imprisoned me in this prison───!!!”

Is it because I mentioned Julia’s name?

I couldn’t answer Jules’ eyes asking for an explanation. This is not something I should say to Jules. A job is a job, but if you feel trustworthy, there is a possibility that you will turn everything upside down due to your personality.

If that happens, things will get too big.

Would it even be accepted in the first place? Looking at Jules’ face looking at me now, I don’t think that will ever happen. These were the words of a ghost to begin with. If Julias himself denies it, there is no way.

I still don’t know.

Could it be that this is just a hallucination I see? Even if it wasn’t a hallucination, how should I defend this person, and how should I interrogate Julia?

No matter what I say, Julia has never been like that. It is obvious that if you say even one word, it will be ignored. We finally reached the cave entrance.

“······I want to see my daughter again.”

“Where is your daughter buried?”

“Village…next to…next to my wife…”

“Do you remember the road?”

Sorshei’s steps slowed down. I think I gained a little weight── What is it? Why don’t you follow me?

“I will take you to the end too── Sorshay?”

“gam that dog of the world dirty They…?!”

His eyes are dark red, just like when he saw Julia.

That burning gaze was directed outside the cave.

What he saw in his eyes were Lamia wearing purple clothes.

[Do not wake your spirit carelessly.]

“─────────?!!!”

I got goosebumps.

what?! Where are you talking about?!

“Keuuch─?!”

I can’t move my body under Sorshei’s weight…!

Moreover, since I was supporting Sorshay, I had no time to look around.

“Jul! Is there anyone around?!”

“What? There is no one around.”

“Rami───.”

Shoot…!

A wind blows past me like a cave crying.

After the wind passed by, the weight on my shoulders became lighter enough that I could feel it. I can’t let go of my ominous imagination.

You shouldn’t turn your head, but your head turns.

Turn your head───.

“Sorshei···?”

······Why is Sorshei’s head missing?

Tuk!

Something fell and fell.

A head that has been distorted in an ugly way and is shedding tears of blood. The neck rolls down the slope of the cave.

···Is that Sorshei’s head? I can’t understand the situation.

The head followed the flowing water into the lake where Lamia was cooling off. ······First, I have to pick up the head… but it is difficult to put down the headless body of Sorshei that I am supporting…

What the fuck────?!

“Who are you…?!”

“Sihyeon?”

“What kind of fucking crazy person are you ────?!!!”

dump!

Sorshei’s body lost its shape and began to crumble into powder. The hair that has flowed down melts like cotton candy soaked in water.

Sorshei’s blood stains on his shoulder also began to slowly disappear. As if it never happened in the first place. The body of this innocent, good person melted and permeated me in my arms.