episode_0081

“Next is over there!! Let’s go there!!”

“Okay. I’m glad you like the night market.”

“…I like it, you bastard!”

I feel so embarrassed that I spit out sharp words. Why on earth is this happening?

Since when did it start? When you found out he was a slightly different person? Or was it from when he saved Calea?

I definitely felt like we were close friends. At some point, it became difficult to look at his face.

Excited… Excited…

Without realizing it, my heart started beating like crazy and I felt heat all over my body.

Even his smile, which felt vicious at first, now feels attractive. I couldn’t help but avert my gaze every time he smiled.

“Oh my. Are you from Venice? Nice to meet you!”

“Haha. Nice to meet you.”

And I didn’t like it. Just seeing a woman, be it human or beast, clinging to him and talking to him filled him with inexplicable emotions.

Because he was so kind. Since he was a good man who thought of others more than himself, it was natural that many people around him would be attracted to him.

It’s only natural. Of course… but. I just don’t like it.

You talking to other women and smiling face to face. I don’t like it.

When I saw the process of someone other than me getting to know his personality and accepting the smile that many people were reluctant to wear.

I felt like I was becoming depressed without realizing it. I felt depressed and didn’t want to do anything.

“Okay then, let’s go. Let’s go, Carly.”

“….Yes.”

Every time that happened, he would call my name and give me a sneaky smile, not knowing if he was aware of my feelings or if it was just a consideration that came out naturally without me even realizing it.

As if I had never been in a good mood, my heart melted in an instant. Without realizing it, I smiled brightly.

” Popping a balloon… It’s been a while. ”

“Oh, it’s Venice! Would you like to give it a try?”

“Yes. Ten darts and two fairy tales. Right?”

Under the red tent. A balloon was hanging on a large board, and the street vendor owner, who had received the money, handed him a sharp needle.

“Kalea. Is there anything you want?”

“Yes…? Me…? I think… that small doll would be nice…!”

“Really? Just wait a moment.”

pop! Boom boom! pop!

Every time he blows the needle, balloons burst one by one.

Every time the explosion sound continues, the eyes of the street stall owner and Calea begin to widen.

In the end, he popped all ten balloons with ten darts.

You’re good at this again. He was usually so incompetent that he made me want to protect him.

“Wow… you’re amazing! Pick any two and take them!”

“Um… Then, can you give me that doll and that?”

“Wow…. Thank you so much…!”

He handed Calea the doll she wanted, and a smile appeared on Calea’s face.

“Where should we go next…?”

“Wait a minute, Carly. Come here.”

“Huh?”

“Now. This is yours.”

Suddenly he called me, so I walked closer and he handed me a small doll that could fit in one hand.

It was a small wolf doll with a black mane and bright red eyes.

Why do this to me…? how…?

I looked at him with doubt. He spoke to me with his usual wicked smile that was so charming.

“Just. I thought you were looking at this doll.”

Of course, I looked at this doll. I thought I wanted this little black and red doll because it seemed to be looking at him.

Did you… recognize that? Did you know that and gave this to me?

Thump…thump…thump…!

It’s just a small doll. My heart starts beating like crazy. I find his small smile so captivating.

-Wow!

-pretty!

-This day has finally arrived!

The noisy night market suddenly becomes quiet, and only exclamations remain. All the residents looked at the sky.

I looked around, saw his face looking at the sky, and I also looked at the sky.

In the pitch black night sky. Countless stars begin to move.

A group of meteor showers that falls only once a year. Their last dance decorates the sky so beautifully.

“…Beautiful.”

And to all the residents in the lower levels. For Calea, for me, and for him.

Stars rise in all of our eyes.

And that time when everyone looked at the sky. I only look to my master.

Above those faintly opened red eyes, the group of stars rising clearly is so beautiful.

Thump..thump..thump…thump…!

My heart was racing so crazy that I even forgot to breathe.

I looked at him shining, unable to say anything.

I think I finally realized what I was feeling.

‘mom. dad.’

I guess I found someone I love.

I feel happy just looking at him. I find everything he does lovely.

I want to spend the rest of my life with him, and I wish I could be present in all his moments.

My love. Our savior.

“Owner….”

And my only master.

A cat prisoner in the lower class looked at his owner with eyes brighter than the stars illuminating the night sky.

My master, whom I love so much that I don’t want to let him go at all times, and who I want to rely on.

***

“…Vice-captain. Look at the sky.”

“……..”

“Meteor shower…yes. It comes only once a year.”

At the words of the mercenary, Seris stomped on the monster with one foot while holding a sword shining in the moonlight at the monster and looked at the sky with empty eyes.

The Scar mercenaries began their activities again. The strongest mercenary group in name and reality that subdues only monsters of 4 stars or higher for each request.

As for this request, it was a Scar mercenary group that destroyed a village on the southern outskirts and took out an advancing 4-star monster in just a few rounds without a single scratch.

“….Let’s go.”

“”….Yes, vice-captain.””

Turning your back on a meteor shower that is so beautiful that you might just stare at it blankly. Seris moved forward silently. The mercenaries also quietly followed her.

One day, I spent every day shedding tears with an empty heart. Hans approached Seris and spoke to her.

“Vice-captain… How long are you going to be like this?”

“……..”

“….Pfft. Vice-captain… We too are in so much pain and suffering. I will never forget the leader’s smile and his dependable back.”

As Hans spoke quietly, tears flowed from Seris’ empty eyes again.

Once again, I remembered his strong back. All the memories with him come back to me, as vivid as if they happened yesterday.

And at the last moment, I remembered the infinitely warm and pure smile the leader gave me.

Seris felt the pain of her once broken heart being torn apart again.

“But… if things continue like this, everything the leader has done… will be useless…!”

“……..!”

When Hans’ tearful cry reached Seris, her eyes widened.

I… why did I forget? What have I done so far?

The leader… a gift that he left until the end, the last warmth. I was destroying it with my own hands.

….no. If the mercenary group disappears… all the memories with the leader will disappear.

After that day. The Scar mercenaries began to receive and carry out requests like crazy.

Now, there was no one in the entire empire who didn’t know about the eccentricity that could not have been seen by just a small group of elite mercenaries.

Someone admired the Scar mercenaries. For some, the Scar mercenaries have become nothing more than a destination.

Soak-ae-!

“….Next.”

But in reality, there was nothing left for the Scar mercenaries. Just defeat the monster like a war weapon and then go on to kill the next monster.

Nothing mattered to Cerise now.

Just our mercenary group. I just maintain the mercenary group that the leader raised.

This is the only way to remember and honor the leader, and it is the path of atonement that I must do.

“……..”

As Cerise turned around for a moment and looked at the dazzlingly beautiful meteor shower, tears flowed from her eyes.

Then it turns around and starts moving forward again. To head to the next request.

Cerys’s heart had already been extinguished, and life never returned to her empty eyes.

The Scar mercenaries advance. To solve another request.

And the position of general manager was still vacant. And, no one will be able to take that position in the future.

***

Knock knock-

“…Eriel. Could you please open the door?”

“You are my mom… Can you show your face at least once?”

“Oppas came too. Please… open the door just once.”

“The living… must live. Ariel… my sister… please…”

The Frost family knocks on a door that is closed and shows no sign of opening. But even today, let alone an answer, I didn’t even get a hint of recognition.

Ariel was broken from that day on. Not saying anything, not eating. I didn’t want to face anyone.

“……..”

at that time. Ariel was looking into space with empty eyes in the room.

He cast a cutting spell on his own neck. A magic that can cut off the heads of not only ordinary people but also strong people in an instant.

Ting-!

However, the magic bounced off. Due to the mana barrier that Ariel’s body automatically created.

Ting-ting-ting-ting.

Ariel endlessly uses magic to kill herself. But there was no success.

Grumbling.

Tears flow from empty, dry eyes. The pure white hair that symbolizes the Frost family has become dull and its texture has been forgotten.

The purple eyes, shining like jewels, lost all their light.

Outside the shattered window, the final dance of the beautiful stars was going on, but there was only despair in Ariel’s eyes as she looked at it.

Meteor shower. It was a scene I wanted to see while spending time with him, sitting together and confirming our love for each other.

However, the butler no longer remained by Ariel’s side. He was as good as killed with his own hands. I think back to my memories with him.

“……..”

Ariel’s room is now a mess. A shattered desk. Bed and floor shattered.

He was holding a small note in his weak hand. Ariel, sitting on the floor, stares blankly at the meteor shower and kills herself endlessly.

Like a broken toy, with empty eyes and a cold heart that seems to have stopped. Repeat one action without stopping.

Until you kill your disgusting, hateful self. The magic never ends.