episode_0218

―̷̧̱̳psī̄̓̆―̶̢̊̒̅̚―̷̨̞̲̹̬̬̎̽́́́̈̌̂ ―̷̢͉̗̝̌!!

―̴̮̜̟̰͒―̶̧̙̳̣̼̓͗̂̇́―̵̙̝̩͓̒̇̇̒̒―̵̳̙̃̓͠―̵̙̝̩RAS̒̇̇̒―̵̳̙̃̓͠

“… … .”

Hermel walked down a path filled with screams, swearing, cries of sorrow, and cries coming from all directions.

However, the mud that was the owner of the castle just looked at Hermel and screamed endlessly and did not touch her. No, I couldn’t touch it.

Therefore, to Hermel, that loud noise was just a noise that stung his ears.

“Phew… .”

Hermel, who calmly walked towards Mount Bneron without saying a word, sighed as he recalled the contents he had seen in the notebook.

It was not because of the content about the incident that occurred during the Spring Festival, but because of the content written about the relationship between himself and Charlotte that was summarized on the pages that followed.

‘What on earth is that…? .’

You know the culprit who caused this disaster. No, we were more than just acquaintances, we were friends.

No, more than that, why do I not remember anything written here?

“Charlotte La Rochelle… .”

Hermel recited the names of the nobles he remembered, and the names of friends he did not remember, but the names written in the notebook were nothing that came to mind.

All I remember was the strangely friendly attitude she displayed at the banquets she personally hosted.

-That fucking bitch is the enemy who killed my mother and younger brother… !!

-You killed an innocent child right in front of my eyes. And, he even showed me that he killed his own family… .

―Is she really the culprit as the Crown Prince said? I’m not sure yet, but if it’s true… .

Hermel frowned at the words of the people who came to mind next.

‘If you just listen to the story, it seems like he was committing evil acts even before causing this disaster… .’

So I couldn’t understand it even more. The guy who approached me so friendly was this kind of person… .

I didn’t understand anything. It’s not that I can’t believe I was friends with this bad guy.

If I had really been close to Charlotte, I would have stopped her before she caused such a disaster. I was wondering why I couldn’t do that.

“Well, why did it end up like this… . You’ll find out soon.”

After coming out of his thoughts, Hermel heard the cries of distorted things again, but He didn’t pay any attention.

Thanks to moving without stopping for a long or short three days, we finally arrived at the beginning of Mount Bneron, our destination.

“… … .”

Normally, after working so crazy for three days without stopping, it would be normal for me to collapse from exhaustion, but thanks to Ceria’s blessing, I was able to get here without any problems.

Perhaps the moment this blessing ends, all the accumulated fatigue will come all at once. Now that I didn’t know when the blessing would end, there was no time to hesitate.

Hermel took a short breath and tried to shake off mental fatigue. He opened his eyes sharply and began to climb the mountain in front of him.

* * *

you are coming

It comes to me.

The end of a long, long story has come.

The day has come when the gears of regression, which I thought would never end, will stop.

A life full of pain and agony that has lasted for over 100 years is finally coming to an end.

“… … .”

A lot has happened so far. I tried to live a better life than anyone else, and I also tried to live more passionately than anyone else.

Sometimes cruelly, sometimes cruelly, sometimes cleverly. And sometimes… . I also lived a crazier life than anyone else.

He saved everyone, and also killed everyone. Sometimes I chose to die with my own hands, and sometimes I was murdered by someone.

But in the end, all that life left no meaning to me. In the end, all of those actions were just a struggle to survive, and the end was regression.

“Phew… .”

Good deeds are not the domain of villains. Passion is not something a villain should have.

Being cold, cruel, and clever are things a villain can have. Struggling to survive is not the job of a villain.

A bad ending in which evil triumphs by killing everyone, let alone saving everyone, is not recognized.

Choosing death is not an action a villain would take, and being killed is the completion of the villain’s duty, so it moves on to the next episode and is recycled.

“… … .”

The villain must act like a villain and ultimately die for the protagonist or die to serve as a stepping stone for the protagonist.

That is what this world wanted and forced on the villain, on Charlotte La Rochelle, and on me.

When I think about how long it took me to realize this… . I realize once again that I am not really that bright.

… No, considering that it only took me 100 years and a little more to fully understand the role the world assigned me, I might be a little smart too.

“Hehe… .”

Well, regardless of how smart he was, it’s actually a good story now. Because I found a way to break this damn regression and achieve my desired goal.

I smiled lightly and looked down into the dark valley, but I turned around when I heard a low cry coming from behind me.

――… … .

“Hermel must have come nearby.”

The griffon nodded at my words and quivered its beak.

I patted the griffon’s head and nodded. The griffon let out a low cry at the sight of me and laid down on the floor.

It looked like a lifeless corpse. Well, since the corpse was tilted and made to move, it is natural that it looks like a corpse.

“Soon… .”

I smiled in satisfaction and closed my eyes.

As I stood in front of the cliff and felt the cold wind, I slowly opened my eyes and turned around when I heard the sound of footsteps that were not mine.

There stood the person I had been waiting for, Hermel.

“Hehe, I thought the invitation was sent a long time ago… . You came quite late.”

I smiled and welcomed her.

* * *

“―You came quite late.”

In response to Charlotte’s smiling greeting, Hermel wiped the sweat running down his forehead with his sleeve and responded with a calm expression.

“Thanks to this eccentric person, I had to walk without being able to ride a horse. So it was a bit late.”

“The road to get here is a bit rough. I had no choice but to walk.”

Charlotte said that with a grin, and Hermel, who was looking at her, sighed deeply.

The atmosphere was so peaceful that it was hard to believe that this was a conversation between the culprit who caused the disaster and the person who came to stop the culprit.

Hermel closed his mouth for a moment, took a breath, and looked at Charlotte. Charlotte looked at Hermel in a relaxed manner and waited for her to catch her breath.

“I thought he would try to kill me as soon as he came up because he is a person who does such crazy things, but I was surprised.”

“Hehe… . If you were planning on killing them in the first place, there is no need to send an invitation. All you have to do is push it away with the things below.”

“That’s true too. Phew… . So, what did you invite me here for?”

Hermel asked while glaring at Charlotte, and Charlotte tilted her head and smiled at the question.

“I don’t remember inviting you. I just wonder who found a real use for that paper. I was just curious about how to use it.”

“For something like that, I think I prepared the invitation a long time ago, and it took a lot of effort.”

At those sharp words, Charlotte just smiled calmly.

Hermel clicked his tongue and spoke in response to his attitude that he had no intention of answering directly.

“Okay, it’s okay if you don’t want to answer. Well then, let’s ask this. Why did you do this? Didn’t you send the invitation because you wanted to say that? Because you want to brag about your achievements?”

Charlotte burst into laughter and responded to Hermel’s words.

“Fuhuhu… . Yes. I expected this question to come up, but I didn’t think I would actually ask it… .”

“If you don’t plan on answering this either――”

“Ah, excuse me… . The flow of the conversation, which was not at all unexpected, was a bit funny, so I started laughing without realizing it. Don’t worry, I’ll answer your question properly. therefore… . Why did you do this… . That’s what you wanted to ask, right?”

In response to Charlotte’s question, Hermel only frowned slightly. Charlotte nodded as if she was okay with it and continued speaking.

“Hermel. If there is a way to break the chain of hatred that cannot be resolved no matter what, what do you think that way is?”

Hermel frowned at that unexpected question.

“What do you want to say?”

“Well? Any tips on why I caused this?”

Hermel tried to get a rough idea of what Charlotte meant by looking at her with a bright smile, but he couldn’t figure it out.

In the end, Hermel had no choice but to give a sighing answer.

“Forgiveness, tolerance. I don’t think I brought this up because I wanted to talk about something like that. Looking at what you’ve done now.”

“Hehe… . is it so. Forgiveness and tolerance cannot break the chain of hatred. If you start to back down, the idiots who thought they were above you will harass you even more. Greed and human malice. You can never cut it off with something that soft.”

After saying that, Charlotte smiled and spread her arms out to her sides as if she were preaching.

“If you truly want to break the chain of hatred, all you have to do is break the chain itself with more overwhelming force. Don’t even let me resist. No, even the will to do so is completely trampled upon. In the end, hatred and fear are nothing.”

“It’s absurd.”

“Isn’t the fact that the royal army and the rebels knelt before their own power and joined forces to be proof?”

Charlotte said with a grin, and Hermel frowned and glared at Charlotte.

After a moment of silence, it was Charlotte who spoke first.

“Ah, I thought it would shake up a little. I didn’t know you wouldn’t even blink.”

“Because I know that that thought is wrong.”

“Hehe. Yes. This is a wrong idea. Yeah, well… . Even though I said this, it’s all just a justification and not the reason why I caused this. is it so. As a reward for correctly identifying it, I will tell you the real reason why I did this.”

Charlotte said that with a crooked smile.

“There is no reason. I just did it because I wanted to.”

Despite the distorted smile that would make anyone feel fear, Hermel remained calm.

No, I felt a little bit of responsibility. I don’t know the exact reason, but I just guessed that it might be because of the contents of the notebook.

It was Charlotte who was embarrassed to see Hermel standing quietly with his mouth shut.

Of course, it wasn’t obvious on the outside, but inside I was very embarrassed.

“… … .”

“… … .”

After a moment of silence, Hermel opened his eyes and spoke.

“Okay. Whatever the reason. It doesn’t change the fact that I have to stop you.”

Immediately after those words came out of Hermel’s mouth, Charlotte smiled.

But that smile soon froze.

“Correcting a friend’s mistakes. Because it’s what friends do.”

Before Charlotte, who was startled by those words, could ask what that meant, Hermel rushed towards her.