episode_0017

Yooseong swung his right arm.

The dagger made an arc and pierced Alvis’ shoulder.

“Aaaaa!! What is this..!”

Terrible pain in my shoulder.

Alvis let go of Seris’ head and took a step back. It was an instinctive action to assess the situation. Naturally, Yoosung did not give him time.

He immediately stood up and ran towards Alvis.

thud

Alvis was pushed by a meteor and fell backwards. He grabbed his throbbing head from hitting the floor and glared at Yooseong who was on top of him. Yooseong was about to strike with the dagger he was holding in reverse.

“Huh?! Now, wait!”

Fortunately, Alvis raised his arm before the dagger entered his throat. Instead of his neck, a dagger was stuck in his thick arm.

“What are you doing, you bastard! Are you doing this knowing who I am?!”

Calix shouted loudly. He hoped the shooting star would recognize him and stop.

Yoosung did not answer. He simply pulled out his dagger and stabbed it again.

“Aaagh!! Hey, you fucking bastard!!”

Alvis hit Yooseong’s face with the arm that the dagger could not reach. It was a heavy punch appropriate for his size, and Yoosung’s jaw turned, but that was all. It was difficult to apply force when it was underneath.

“Tsk.”

Yoosung clicked his tongue and looked down at Alvis with cold gaze. Alvis felt a chill.

‘Lord, I’m dying…!’

He realized from Yooseong’s gaze that he had no intention of saving him. If they fought like this, one of them would die, and there was a high probability that Alvis would be seriously injured.

“Calix! What are you doing if you’re not helping, you idiot!!”

Alvis shouted at Calix, who was just staring blankly in this direction. Calix came to his senses and waved his hand towards Alvis.

“, don’t do this. Wasn’t it Alvis who dragged me in after I said no?! Don’t drag me in!”

“What are you crazy?!”

Alvis was dumbfounded. Who dragged me away while I was having fun?

“I didn’t ask you to go, it’s your bird… Wow! Now, wait a minute!”

Yoosung’s dagger moved again. The dagger stabbed his thick arm, pulled it out, and stabbed it again. Until Alvis’s arm became a tattered piece of meat.

Alvis’s arm fell limply. His arm no longer functioned properly.

“Now, wait a minute! help me. I’m being dragged by that bastard…”

A dagger was stuck in Alvis’ neck. The words I was trying to say turned into blood bubbles and came out through the wound.

[12 Karma has been obtained.]

Only after checking the notification window did Yooseong wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. When I got hit by Alvis earlier, the inside of my mouth burst a little.

‘I can’t believe I hit you like this in that condition.’

As expected, a head-to-head match was impossible. It was a good idea to catch him off guard. It was a good thing I was drunk.

‘…If this guy was Harold or something, it would have been the end.’

Just like a lion cannot be attacked by a hyena no matter how careless he is. But that doesn’t mean Yooseong is a hyena.

If I had to compare it, it was closer to a wild dog. Fortunately, the opponent was also a wild dog. Although he was a little big, he was bitten when he let his guard down.

Yoosung raised his head. There was still one guy left.

“Ah… Well, as you heard earlier…”

Calix tried to make an excuse. But when I saw Yoosung’s eyes, I realized. No matter what I say now, he won’t believe it.

‘Damn it, I should have trusted you while fighting together earlier, but that idiot, Alvis, let his guard down…!’

Calix turned around and left the cabin. It ran straight on. If I wanted to survive, I had to get out of this slum first.

The sound of someone chasing behind Calix was heard. He glanced back, was startled, and accelerated his running speed.

But little by little, the distance between him and Yoosung decreased. Calix tried to run harder, but speed was his best right now.

“Ugh?!”

I felt pain in my legs. Calix twisted his legs and fell. He found a dagger stuck in his leg. As the distance got closer, Yooseong threw a dagger.

“Lee. This is…”

Calix tried to pull out the dagger, but as soon as he touched it, a bloody pain came. So when he couldn’t do anything, a shadow fell over his head.

Calix, who knew who the owner of the shadow was, began making excuses out of habit.

“Han Yu-seong, listen. I tried not to show up like you said, but Alvis, that pig…”

Yoosung kicked Calix and pulled the dagger from his leg.

“Aaagh!!!”

Calix, he felt a pain he had never felt before in his life. But still, his mouth kept moving.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. That bastard ordered it all… And you, you killed Alvis, right? The Thieves Guild won’t stay still. If you save me, I will do anything.”

It was a beg for his life that bordered on gibberish, but Calix did his best.

‘I’m not meant to die in a place like this!’

Calix had no doubt that he would become a great person someday. This current situation is just one of the hardships that will become the cornerstone of that day. That’s what I thought.

But reality is cold.

“If you don’t want to be noticed, you shouldn’t have been noticed.”

“What, what..?”

Yooseong swung his dagger down. Calix was scared and pulled away. Thanks to this, the dagger that was supposed to stab his neck split his collarbone.

“Ugh, wow!!!”

Calix writhed in pain. Yoosung frowned as he overpowered him.

“It goes astray because you don’t stay still.”

This time, Yoosung pinned Calix’s body and struck with his dagger.

Calix’s neck was opened, and blood bubbles spouted from the wound.

‘This can’t be happening…’

Calix struggled amid the burning pain and fading consciousness. He is not the person to die like this. You can overcome these hardships and succeed…

[10 Karma has been obtained.]

Calix’s vision went dark.

* * *

I carried Calix’s body and headed to the cabin. Inside, there was Ceris, who was looking at Alvis’ body with trembling eyes, and Kara, who was sleeping on her shoulder.

“Ah…”

Ceris noticed me and trembled. Instead of making excuses to her, I took Alvis’s body and went outside.

“Yu, Mr. Yoosung.”

I turned around when I heard Seris’ urgent voice. Her trembling eyes were focused on me.

“Where are you going..?”

“I’m going out for a while and coming back. I’ll be there before the sun rises, so I’m waiting.”

Ceris seemed a little relieved to hear that she would be coming back. I dragged Alvis and Calix’s bodies and headed toward the sewer.

‘Fuckin’ smell.’

The arch-shaped sewer made of stone had a very unpleasant smell. Because of this bad smell, the guards were reluctant to patrol here, and the patrolling guards were also prone to making noise.

Luckily, today was the day the guards dinged. I dragged the two corpses into the sewer.

It was a bit far to the center of the sewer, but it was safest to throw it away there. I walked carefully so as not to be noticed by the other poor people living in the sewer. I didn’t want to get rid of one more body.

When I arrived at the center of the sewer, I threw the two bodies I had dragged into the sewage. By the time these bodies are found, they will have decomposed and their faces will be unrecognizable.

I went back to the cabin.

“Yuseong… are you here..?”

Seris, who was sitting in front of the campfire, looked up. Next to her, Kara was sleeping on the floor. I smiled at his carefree appearance and went out carrying the basin where I had stored the water.

“Why water?”

“To erase some blood stains.”

“Ah…”

Cerise sat in front of the campfire again. I came out and sprinkled water on the blood stains that had formed while dragging the bodies.

Okay, it has softened quite a bit.

It was impossible to get rid of it completely, so I dealt with it roughly and returned to the cabin. And I sat down next to Seris.

Cerise flinched and trembled as I approached, but that was all. There was no other reaction. It was a bland reaction compared to killing a person right in front of my eyes.

I waited for Cerise to open her mouth. Rather than making excuses first, it will seem more sincere to answer her questions.

“Did you really have to kill him?”

Those were her first words as she looked at the bonfire with her knees pressed to her chest.

“Ah, I know that Yoosung did that for us. I also have a grateful heart. But… I’m curious… whether I really had to kill him… ”

“Oops,” she added.

“I had to kill him. Or I’m dead.”

I heard the sound of Seris taking a breath. I put firewood into the bonfire.

“If I had fought that guy named Alvis normally, I would have lost. Then you would have been in trouble. So I used a knife and killed him.”

“Ah…”

“I also caught and killed a guy named Calix who ran away. The Alvis I killed earlier was a mid-level executive in a gangster organization called the Thieves Guild. If the Thieves Guild finds out, they will try to kill you and me.

I looked away from the campfire and faced Ceris. Her eyes were shaking.

“Cerys, I’m not the kind of killer who just kills anyone. I’m not a cold-blooded person who kills people and doesn’t care.”

I intentionally shook my hands a little. Cerise’s gaze turned downward, and when she found my hand, her expression became that she had made a mistake.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt Yoosung. I was just a little surprised…”

“…”

“I’m sorry..!”

As I stared at her in silence, she visibly panicked. Is this enough? I laughed and hit her on the forehead.

“Ayat…”

“I will forgive you for this.”

“Thank you…”

Cerys saw my smile and sighed in relief.

This is it. No matter what I do from now on, she will most likely think that there is a reason. Even if you don’t understand it, you’ll probably ask me. All I have to do is give an appropriate excuse.

“Let’s sleep soon. Because I have to leave early tomorrow morning.”

“You’re leaving?”

“You killed Alvis. I tried to hide it as much as possible, but you never know. I have to take a carriage tomorrow morning and leave for the next city.”

“Ah… I see. Will we be okay there?”

“I will take care of everything, so don’t make that face.”

I playfully pinched Cerise’s cheek. She looked a little surprised.

“Heh?”

“Don’t look too dark. Leave everything to me and get some sleep for now.”

“Yes…he..!? Oh, it hurts!”

I pinched it a little hard and Cerise struggled. When I let go, Cerise smoothed out her reddened cheeks.

“Ugh…”

“I sleep.”

“Now, wait a minute.”

Seris called me with a solemn look. However, despite his face, he didn’t seem to be able to say anything, so he opened his mouth.

“Why?”

“Well, why did Yoosung want us… ”

She said that and closed her lips again. Then he scratched his cheek and spoke with a shy smile.

“No. Good night.”

With those words, Seris lay down next to Kara. I looked at her for a moment and then went to sleep.

The next day we headed to the castle gate to take a carriage.