episode_0152

152 – ─── #2

Arud Gregory.

He said.

“Twenty years ago. Twins were born in the citadel of Taeil. They were different children who looked similar to each other. Among them, boys were particularly special.”

Twins were born in the fortress of Taeil-.

It was my first time hearing that story too.

deception?

truth?

I used my brain to figure out Arud’s intentions.

But Arud just leisurely walked around the pillar of light and talked.

“I realized the moment I saw the child. This child will make so many people sad that you can’t even imagine. This child is the murderer of Midvar that Emma prophesied!”

“… … .”

“But-. I couldn’t bear to kill a newborn baby. So that day, I hid the child in a place where no one could find him. It hid its very existence. By my power. Maybe that was wrong. At that time, I probably should have strangled that thin neck with these hands. But—. By the way.”

Sze-.

Gregory’s finger pointed at me.

“How on earth did you come back?”

“Are you saying I am that child?”

“Yes. The moment I saw you at the church, I recognized you at a glance. That you are the prince that was promised… But you were wearing a mask. A mask named Hyde-.”

Hyde.

Is that what a mask is?

I couldn’t understand it.

“You are nothing more than black soot blooming from the “flame” called Rust, which was born as a king. The soot will destroy and ruin everything. Therefore, your existence must be erased.”

“I… It’s soot… ? It’s not Rust, it’s me, Hyde… ?”

Not the sinful Rust.

I, Hyde, am just soot that needs to disappear?

I felt shocked, as if someone was grabbing my head and shaking it.

“From ashes to ashes. From dust to dust. Hyde. You, who are nothing, must disappear into nothingness. Into the darkness of the beginning, where you originally existed.”

Paaat-!

Everything began to emit a more intense light.

According to Gregory’s words, this was the disappearance of the existence of ‘I’.

“Ssss!!!”

“There is no use in resisting. This is because I have been in complete control of this place for twenty years. I mean this sincerely. You can’t stand up to me now that you haven’t even decided who you are.”

Control.

Is this space controllable?

With my mind turning completely white in many ways, I thought about many things.

To keep my promise to Milione.

I also couldn’t believe that I was just soot created by a flame called Rust.

“Unfortunately, you won’t even be able to go to hell, where the woman you love will be waiting for you. Because the place you must go is eternal nothingness. Therefore, -hide from everyone’s memories. Hyde. Just like it was 20 years ago-. So that no one in the world remembers the name Hyde.”

Everything in the world began to turn white.

It’s like going back to a blank page.

Will everything just disappear like this?

Can I really not even go to hell?

no-.

It can’t end here like this!

You can’t make Milione’s death a dog’s death!

I didn’t want to end up at the mercy of someone like Gregory!

“Please save me─.”

I prayed earnestly.

“Please save me─. Please—!”

Please─.

I put my hands together and prayed.

If there is a God, there is no way he would listen to my prayers…

Still, just in case.

If there is even the slightest bit of ‘providence’ involved in my being here-.

If there is a clear meaning for me being here─.

“… Save me.”

I hoped with all my heart.

Gregory looked at me like that and just laughed out loud.

“Are you worried about your own life? Don’t worry. Now I will bring an equal and peaceful end to the world. It’s something only I can do. Only me in this world─.”

Gregory’s laughter grew louder.

It felt like everything in the world had disappeared and only the sound of his laughter remained.

“With peace of mind. With my power strengthened on the axis of rotation, no one will remember your name anymore. You also committed a terrible betrayal. Something that failed. No one will remember. You as a person will be completely forgotten by the world. I hope it can be a source of rest for you too.”

I prayed earnestly.

Toward the standard of everything -.

If this place is a place where everyone can be killed─.

If only there was a place where something so ridiculous could be done!

Wouldn’t it be possible to save just one person?

I shouted out to a world so white that it made my head ache.

“Please help me—!!! Please-!!!”

# # #

“Hey! What are you doing there! It’s going to rain! Finish your work quickly and come in! Bringing the sheep from the hills!”

someone shouted.

The man suddenly came to his senses.

When I looked up at the sky, the world was dark even though it was only lunch time.

It was evidence that rain clouds were gathering.

but-.

Something beyond the rain clouds captured the man’s attention.

Soon the man’s colleague, Banson (probably his name was that) came up and tapped his shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“No. The thing beyond those rain clouds. Something like a strange light floating in the sky. I was wondering what on earth that was.”

What the man’s eyes were looking at was a round light floating in the sky.

The halo, which seemed to be floating above the angels’ heads, was shining in the sky on a very large scale.

“Is it true that you can see that light when you look at the sky from anywhere in the world? What is it?”

Two years have already passed since the terrible war between the Allies and the Blood Crusade in Sodomy.

Winter of that year.

That strange light that appeared in the sky had already become part of people’s daily lives.

“Let’s go. They say a ‘saint’ is coming to our village tomorrow! It’s not the time to be like this, we should take a shower, buy new clothes, and get a haircut!”

The man came to his senses after hearing Banson’s words.

“Saint?”

“Yes! They say the saint is really as pretty as a flower! And it is said that poor lepers also pray without discrimination. Do you know anything? Because she has such a kind heart, shepherds like us might have a chance to see the saint’s face!”

“Ah─.”

The man recalled the rumors about the saint that were going around the world.

They say you are beautiful like a flower and your heart shines like a star.

“If we are lucky, the saint may pray for us. You might be able to smell the light hem of that dress. Hehe-.”

When Banson laughs.

The man felt puzzled.

“How could someone as famous and busy as the saint come to a town as unremarkable as ours? All we see in our village is flocks of sheep.”

“I don’t know! Perhaps you are coming to see Kenzo the Hunter? Because Kenzo the Hunter is famous for capturing the fearsome executives of Saikozu with a gun!”

“I see… .”

A celebrity you will never have a connection with for the rest of your life.

Saint.

It would be nice if we could meet…

With that in mind, the man herded the sheep.

“Woy, woy-. woah… Huh?”

Then I noticed the problem.

“One fish is not enough. Black guy.”

One lamb was missing.

recently-.

In today’s world, where no new products are born for some reason, lambs are rare.

“Hey. Where are you? This guy hides in strange places every day. It upsets people. Where are you? Come out quickly! Are you here? here? Huh?”

The man crossed the Agarpe Hill in search of a black-haired lamb.

Someone was sitting on the tombstone of ‘Psyche Agarpe’, who was once called the angel of Agarpe territory.

‘Sitting on a dead person’s tombstone. ‘Aren’t you afraid of heavenly punishment?’

The man opened his narrowed eyes and looked at the stranger.

Meee-.

She was holding a lamb in her arms and covering herself with white clothes.

The reason I said ‘her’ was because her dress was so feminine that it couldn’t be hidden.

“Hello.”

the woman asked.

It was a sweet and beautiful voice.

The woman was smoothing the lamb’s legs with white-gloved hands, but when she looked closely, she saw that the lamb’s legs were injured.

Uuuung-.

It seems that the woman was correcting it with divine power.

“Are you this child’s guide? This child was injured in a crevice in the rock. He was crying very pitifully. I heard that an old acquaintance was here, so I stopped by here to meet him… .”

Ssuk seu-.

The woman’s white gloves stroked the tombstone she was sitting on.

It was a slender and beautiful finger.

The man blushed slightly.

“… Thank you for healing the sheep. That guy likes to hide in small places. I keep getting hurt… . He’s a very shy guy… .”

He was a very old-fashioned shepherd and it had been a long time since he had spoken to a woman.

In the first place, it had been a long time since I had talked to anyone other than my colleague Banson.

Because his opponents were always sheep.

Tuduk, tutuk-. Toad-duk-.

Water droplets slowly begin to fall from the sky.

Soon the woman in the white veil handed the lamb to the man and asked:

“You like hiding. Cute. The color is also rare, black. What’s your name? The name of this black sheep.”

“This kid? There is no name yet. If there was a good name, I wanted to give it one. Because I’m not good at things like this. In the first place, it wasn’t my sheep, it was the elders’ sheep─.”

“Really? It’s pitiful. Being born and not even having a name. Then can I give you a name?”

The man was a little taken aback by the woman’s question.

The woman continued to speak as she awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

“You said this child likes to hide, right? In that sense, Hide─. What about Hyde? Don’t you think it’s a good name? It’s also a very famous name.”

Very, very famous-.

The woman repeated the story over and over again.

However, the man shrugged his shoulders.

“Is that so? It’s an unfamiliar name to me. You’re famous. Is this the name of a famous bard in the royal or provincial capitals?”

Agarpe Village was a base village for shepherds from all over the country.

The only news about famous people in the royal or provincial capitals came from the occasional cart drivers who came in.

The man scratched the bridge of his nose, as if slightly embarrassed by his ignorance.

“… … .”

The woman in the white veil was now silent.

The man, feeling slightly embarrassed and uncomfortable, opened his mouth to lead the conversation in a slightly exaggerated voice.

“I don’t know about Hyde. I. I think you know who it is. Are you a saint? I heard that you became a priest with a gold plate just one year after being ordained by the Pope.”

Slurp-.

As her identity was revealed, the woman lifted her white veil and revealed her face.

It was such a stunning beauty that everyone seemed to hold their breath and look at it for a while.

The eyes, shining like beautifully crafted rubies, looked at the man and asked.

“You seem to know me quite well. Mr. Shepherd. If so, let me ask too. What is your name?”

At that question, the black-haired man blushed and smiled.

And shyly but clearly-.

He said it like he always did.

“This is Henry. Henry Jekyll.”