episode_0273

“But the range wasn’t this wide… What the heck is going on… ”

“… ominous.”

Yeonminha listened to Baek Seoyeon’s words in an irritated voice. She chewed her lips and urged Jinyeseo to go forward.

“Hey, yellow hair. Can you hurry up? How much further do you have to go?”

“… It should be just a little bit further. We definitely parted ways here… ”

Jin Ye-seo, who was about to cry at the title of her name, let out a sigh. That wasn’t important right now.

“Oh, maybe he recovered his health…?”

Jin Ye-seo looked around at her group and let out a slightly trembling voice.

“That’s why the power returned to its original state… Maybe he caught the witch and figured out a way to do it…?”

It was also a reassuring remark to herself. Even though she had clearly achieved a miraculous victory, her heart was still pounding hard, adding to her anxiety.

“Wait a minute, in front of me… !”

And Yeonmin-ha, who discovered something in the distance, opened her eyes wide. Then Baek Seo-yeon urgently shouted someone’s name.

“HyunA!!”

The person leaning against the large rock was clearly the masked male student.

My heart sank as I thought it might be a corpse.

The male student who recognized them also turned his head and waved his hand. The reaction was immediate and the movement was smooth. For now, there were no visible bloodstains or external injuries.

Almost simultaneously, a smile of relief appeared on the faces of the group who had confirmed the facts. They ran busily, not wanting to be outdone by anyone.

“You, you guys… Slow down a bit… Ugh.”

Except for the most seriously injured black cat.

‘I’m alive…!’

Jin Ye-seo, who was in the best condition, had the lightest gait. She ran as if she had forgotten the pain and suffering she had suffered from the previous match.

“How dare that girl…!”

“… ”

Jin Ye-seo felt the cold stares and curses directed at her from behind, but she didn’t care. She was trying hard not to show a foolish smile.

The boy suddenly appeared right in front of her nose.

“Hey! You surprised me! If you’re alive, you should say you’re alive… Huh?”

And just as Jin Ye-seo was about to reprimand him with a cheerful voice, she was finally able to realize the true nature of the sense of discomfort that had been seeping into her.

-Shoot…

Something that looked like flowing sand was completely covering the lower half of the boy’s body. Actually, covering wasn’t really the right word.

Sand was still flowing out from somewhere, but it was too shallow to be covering the lower half of the body.

Rather, it felt as if sand was replacing the lower body that had disappeared.

“Uh, uh… ?”

The momentary uneasiness struck her heart again with a fierce intensity. The joy that had been rising was being tinged with sadness of exactly the same magnitude.

-dump.

His arm, which had been greeting me warmly, suddenly falls down limply.

Soon, the sand that had covered his lower body began to pour out from his arms. The tips of his fingers had already lost their shape and were no longer visible.

“This, this is… ”

Jin Ye-seo shook her head desperately. Her brain had already made a rational judgment, but Jin Ye-seo stubbornly refused to accept the thought. Like a broken machine.

“This, why is this… ”

“You! Yellow hair!! What the… ”

Baek Seo-yeon and Yeon Min-ha arrive behind the mumbling Jin Ye-seo.

And the eyes of those women who were glaring at Jin Ye-seo as if they were going to kill her soon began to fill with a sense of agitation.

“Ah, ahh… ”

Yeonmin-ha, who had collapsed to the ground, let out a groan of despair. Baek Seo-yeon covered her mouth and froze like a stone statue.

-Squeak… Squeak…

There was a vertical crack in his old and scratched mask. His mask, which was like a clone of himself, had long since accumulated overload beyond its durability.

-Bam.

And with a cheerful sound, the mask finally splits apart. The broken mask fell to the grass with a thud.

Behind it all, the face of a young and handsome boy was revealed. He neither trembled nor avoided his gray eyes.

He just smiled slightly and greeted the three people who were looking at him as usual.

“… Hello.”

***

A quiet silence fell over the surroundings. The boy who had greeted them turned his eyes and looked at those surrounding him.

And as if in embarrassment, he scratched the corner of his mouth with his remaining hand.

Then, a black cat appears in front of them, clutching its chest and panting for breath.

“Oh my, go slow… ”

The grumbling black cat suddenly stopped moving. Lee Hyun saw her and gave her a light greeting.

“Black cat.”

“… Boy.”

The black cat stared blankly at him. Soon, a bitter smile appeared on her lips as she realized the situation.

“… Is that how it happened?”

“Yes, that’s how it happened.”

“What, isn’t he pretty? Huh? You’ve been hiding that face all this time? What a shame.”

“I’m sorry. I had my own circumstances.”

“Phehehe, anyone can see that there was a reason. Good job. Looking at you, if you were bare-faced, you probably wouldn’t have been able to attend the academy properly.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Of course it’s a compliment. Looking at it this way, it’s exactly Yuri’s taste… ”

The black cat, who had been shrugging his shoulders and exchanging idle jokes, trailed off.

“… It’s no use saying that anymore, right?”

“… Well, that’s right.”

A gentle breeze swept between them as silence settled in. The sand that had been piling up around the boy had soon formed a small hill.

But he still had a relieved smile on his lips.

“Black Cat. Can I ask you a favor?”

“Please?”

“Yes. The captain and his sisters are behind that rock. They have no abnormalities in their vital signs, so they will probably wake up after a few days of treatment. Please take them to the capital.”

“You finally saved them. Got it. I’ll take responsibility for them.”

“Thank you. And… ”

The black cat nodded willingly. The boy trailed off, as if he still had something to say.

“… I would like you to tell my story as well. By the time the captain and his sisters wake up, I will no longer be in this world. Is that possible?”

“Well, that might be a bit difficult. I confessed to that guy before and got rejected. It’s been hard to talk to him since then… ”

The boy’s eyes widened at the black cat’s grumbling as if it were a joke.

“Really? I didn’t know you had such unique tastes.”

“I hear that a lot. Well, that means I haven’t gotten married at this age… or anything.”

The boy laughed silently as he saw the black cat hastily change its words. The black cat shrugged and said.

“Anyway, I understand. It’s his last wish, so of course I should grant it. Can we just settle things right now? The boy still has more work to do… ”

She said, looking at the boy and the women surrounding him.

“Yes, please.”

“Okay, then I guess I’ll go now. And… ”

The black cat, who was about to make room for the final greeting, turned around. She paused for a moment and continued speaking hesitantly.

“… You’ve worked hard, boy. Now you can rest easy.”

“Thank you.”

The boy smiled brightly. The black cat with a bitter smile moved away and he looked forward again.

“Well, it would be hard to just let it go like that, right?”

“… ”

-Shoot…

The sand pillar that covered his lower body gradually rose up to his waist. The one arm that had been drooping was now without a single shape. Only the empty collar of his clothes fluttered vacantly in the breeze.

He opened his mouth as he looked at the blonde schoolgirl with tears in her eyes.

“Jin Ye-seo.”

“… ”

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can spar with you anymore.”

“Ugh, you idiot… What’s the big deal right now… !”

Jin Ye-seo, who had been sobbing, finally shouted out her resentment in a voice full of tears.

“Say, don’t say anything… Hurry up… and get a conscript… ”

“You know it’s useless.”

“Ugh… ”

“You are much better than you think. If you just remember what I taught you, you will never lose in a ranking match or a duel. So… ”

The boy added jokingly.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll give up graduating at the top of my class. That way, you can solidify your position in the family… ”

“I don’t need it! I don’t need to graduate at the top or anything!!”

Jin Ye-seo shook her head vigorously as if rejecting his words.

“Why can’t you understand me… Why…! I’m just asking you not to die… Sigh… ”

The boy smiled awkwardly as he looked at the sobbing Jin Ye-seo.

“Days in the first city, daily sparring in the cradle, studying together in the library… ”

Then he opened his mouth in a soft voice as if trying to comfort her.

“Thanks to you, I was able to enjoy every day. You even saved my life.”

“… ”

“… I will never forget it.”

“Ah… ”

The green jade-colored eyes widened at the bright smile. Jin Ye-seo lowered her head to the floor and swallowed her tears silently. Raindrops were still falling on the floor.

The boy who had been staring blankly at Jinyeseo turned his head. Then he turned his head to Baek Seoyeon, who was shaking absentmindedly.

She didn’t even need tears. In their place was filled an even deeper and darker despair.

“Yeon-ah.”

“No.”

Baek Seo-yeon shook her head in a shaky voice.

“This is… no.”

“… ”

“We finally, barely met again… We barely made up… How, how could this happen… ”

“Sua, come here now.”

“What…?”

Baek Seo-yeon, who came to her senses at the boy’s words, opened her eyes wide. Lee Hyeon shook his head as if he had given up and laughed.

“He’s sleeping behind that rock right now. I think he ran away to the principal and followed us.”

“Sua… ”

“Wow… Who did she take after to be so stubborn… When I see this, I think she really is my daughter.”

“… ”

Lee Hyeon continued speaking with a bitter smile.

“But thanks to that kid, we had a chance to fight back. Su-ah… saved us all.”

“Ah… ”

Baek Seo-yeon barely managed to close her lips as she tried to let out a sigh. The group of us he was talking about did not include herself.

“Please take good care of me in the future. When you wake up, tell me your story.”

“… ”

“If you were like me, your personality would be completely different, so it would be hard, but I’m sure you can educate me well. Just like you taught me the world before, you can teach Su-ah too… ”

“… Uh.”

“Huh?”

“I hate it… !”

Baek Seo-yeon shook her head violently, as if struggling. For the first time in her life, she refused a boy’s request.

“Ah, how can I raise you alone without a dad… I don’t want to… I can’t… I can’t… !”

“Yeon-ah… ”

“Take responsibility… If you made an unmarried person into a single mother… Take responsibility!”

“… ”

“So, so, get up quickly… ”

Baek Seo-yeon’s head drooped weakly. Suddenly, the warmth on the back of her hand subsided.

Seo-yeon, her eyes blank, turned her gaze forward. The boy was smiling while holding her hand with his free one.

“Don’t blame yourself.”

“HyunA… ”

“It’s the path I chose. Even if the incident in the village hadn’t happened, it would have ended up like this. So… don’t blame yourself.”

“Ugh, ugh… ”

“Thank you, Yeon-ah. Always.”

“Ah, ah, ahhh… ”

Tears that she could no longer hold back were finally welling up in Baek Seo-yeon’s eyes. Seo-yeon let out a painful groan with her face distorted.

The boy looked at her with a complicated gaze. The sand now covered half of his upper body. Even the gunlight in his eyes was fading away.

Finally, the boy turned his gaze in a third direction.

“Senior.”

“… ”

“Senior Min-ha.”

“… ”

He called the name of the person who was left behind, but there was no answer. Lee Hyeon, who had been staring blankly at her, opened his mouth again.

“Pity.”

“Liar.”

And finally the answer came. It was a pitiful look at the boy as if he were looking at an enemy.

“Liar, liar, liar… !”

“… ”

“You promised never to die…! You promised…!!”

“… Sorry about that.”

The boy smiled awkwardly. Yeonmin-ha, who saw him, became even more angry and shouted.

“I told you clearly. If you die, I’ll die too!! But…!”

“Don’t do that, senior.”

The boy shook his head, interrupting Yeonmin’s words in a calm voice.

“Are you really going to do that until the end?”

PASS- There was a sound of a high sand dune collapsing. It was the sound of half the boy’s body being blown away.

And Yeonminha’s face, which had been frozen cold, finally began to crumble.

“Ah, ahh… ah… ”

A moment of sadness flashed through the boy’s eyes as he looked at Yeonmin-ha. He tried not to show it and continued speaking in a calm voice.

“Don’t die, live.”

“I, I… I… ”

“This is my last wish. We can grant that much between us. Can you promise?”

“Ah… ”

Yeonminha, who had bitten her lip so hard that it bled, lowered her gaze. Then, she slowly nodded her head up and down.

The boy, who had been waiting silently for her answer, finally smiled in relief.

“… Thank you, senior. Please, kill that personality from now on. What are you going to do on your own now that I’m gone?”

“… ”

“There has to be someone who will take my side. And… Ah.”

The boy who had been speaking let out a vain sigh. His pupils had completely lost their light. Alone in the pitch-black darkness, he called out to Yeonminha again.

“Senior. Can you come closer? I… can’t see… ”

“Ugh… ”

Yeonmin-ha, who had been holding back tears, approached the boy as if she was crawling. Soon, she grabbed the boy’s remaining hand and placed it on her cheek.

The palms that had found warmth brushed her face here and there, as if trying to remember every shape.

“… Right, that’s what it felt like… ”

The boy muttered, caressing Yeonminha’s face. A dazed smile was engraved on his lips.

“… As expected, it’s pretty.”

“No… No… ”

“Actually, I thought that way from the first time I saw it.”

“Ugh, no… please… ”

“I wonder how… someone can look like that… so sharp and proud… and yet so pretty… ”

“I don’t like it… I don’t like it… ! No… ”

“Well, of course, his personality was so bad that I didn’t even want to get along with him… ”

The boy’s voice was dissipating like fog. Despite Yeonmin’s prayer, his touching hands were gradually losing strength.

And then, finally, a bright smile appeared on his face.

“… I protected it. ”

“Huh… ?”

The hand that had been caressing his face fell limply. I looked at him blankly, feeling pity.

-Shoot…

“No… No… !!”

Yeonmin-ha, who came to her senses late, ran towards the boy, embracing his entire body. She then tried to cover his face, but he turned to sand and slipped through her grasp in vain.

“Ah, ugh… ”

And in the three pairs of eyes, there was despair bordering on pain. The sky was clear, but the mournful sound of crying echoed across the lawn.

Now the boy they knew was no longer in the world. Only the mask that had fallen to the floor, split in half, was the only trace left.