Chapter 34
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Chapter 34
"What? Have you lost your mind?"
"I haven't. And since I'm deliberating right now, it would be best if you kept your mouth shut."
"Deliberating? About what...?"
Echinacea rolled only her eyes to glance behind her. Ian, still disoriented from failing to grasp the situation, felt his entire body turn cold as if doused with ice water by her gaze. Echinacea Loaz's eyes were chilling. She smiled, lifting only the corners of her mouth.
"I'm deciding whether to kill you with my own hands or leave the decision to Baraha Islaf. If you keep talking, it'll sour my mood—I might just kill you right now."
"...Kill? Kill whom?"
"Obviously you, Senior."
Ian's mouth fell open vacantly. He stumbled backward and gripped his sword. She didn't seem to be joking in the slightest.
Echinacea turned her eyes back outside, showing Ian her back without hesitation. Her pink hair, soaked and clinging to her entire body, she gathered and wrung out before combing through it roughly with her fingers.
"I really don't want to kill people if I can help it. There are thousands of people I don't want to kill—no, wait, tens of thousands... I don't know, I've never counted. Anyway, if I'm forced to kill that many, you'll come to understand my feelings all too well. Though given your nature, you might never understand at all."
"What nonsense are you spouting...?"
"I mean I don't want to see blood if I can help it. I want to live peacefully. Wear pretty clothes, eat delicious food, live with people I care about. A life where I kill no one and am threatened by no one. That's how I want to live. But you see... hmm."
Having roughly tidied her hair, she now wrung out her thoroughly soaked dress hem. She continued in an even tone.
"As I'm saying this, I'm thinking... should I really overlook things that are barely human enough to be called people? It's difficult to drag them around until I find Baraha Islaf. And it seems this place won't be easy."
[Master! Me! Me! Me! Use me! This is so good! There's no one around anyway since we're inside the Nodule!]
Bardegiosa responded to her murderous intent with an excited voice, pleading. Rather than answering the Demonic Sword, Echinacea continued speaking.
"You should have targeted me instead. Then I would have found it pathetic and just left you alone. I don't mind whatever you do to me. But..."
As she spoke, she continued searching for Baraha Islaf's presence. She found it. Not far away. Baraha Islaf was hiding inside one of the tents. Alive. Fortunately, the monsters seemed too occupied devouring the remaining shadow soldiers to be ransacking the tents.
Only after reassuring herself did Echinacea turn her gaze from outside and look back at Ian. He was pallid, unable to comprehend this bizarre situation. She smiled and finished her words.
"But I can't overlook you touching anyone else."
Ian fell silent for a moment, then smiled. The laugh he forced out was awkward.
"What did I do? Cadet Echinacea Loaz, it seems you've misunderstood something. Rather than that, shouldn't we first focus on surviving this place...?"
"That's not a problem you need to worry about, Senior. The problem you need to think about right now is different."
Echinacea patted and spread out her dress hem after wringing it. Though she'd discarded her umbrella, she'd kept her sword until the end. Now she looked down at it before tossing it aside. She approached Ian with light steps, empty-handed. Her small face, framed by pink hair darkened with moisture, whispered.
"Can you become a person capable of reflection and change, Senior?"
"...I have no idea what you're talking about right now."
After a moment of silence, Ian's eyebrows drooped and his expression seemed wounded. His pallid complexion recovered somewhat. He slowly raised his hand and placed it on Echinacea's shoulder. She didn't brush his hand away.
"I don't even know who I supposedly touched. You seem to have seriously misunderstood something..."
He spoke gently. The moment his hand, caressing her shoulder in a soothing manner, moved toward her nape, Echinacea seized his wrist like lightning. His thick wrist couldn't move an inch in her grasp. Without even looking at the wrist she held, she spoke.
"It seems you'll never change, Senior."
She twisted his wrist with force. Her hand, wrapped in deep purple silk gloves, appeared delicate, but as mana swirled within it, it demonstrated tremendous grip strength.
Ian let out an involuntary groan. From his twisted hand, a small dagger fell with a soft sound—like a razor blade dropping. It was the dagger that had pierced Baraha Islaf. Echinacea ignored the falling dagger and stared directly into his eyes.
"Why did you do it?"
"Ugh, let... let go..."
"I'm asking what made you do it. Now, it seems you were trying to stab me to get rid of me since I'm interrogating you. But why did you do it to Baraha Islaf?"
"Damn it."
A curse spilled from Ian's lips. His expression crumbled for the first time. His face twisted like a demon in agony. He glared at her, his eyes rolling wildly.
"Let go right now! Do you want to die?"
Echinacea only increased the force on his wrist. A sickening crack of bone breaking echoed. Only then did she release him. Ian gripped his wrist with his intact hand and staggered, screaming.
"Ugh, ugh, ughhhh... You, you, damn it, how dare you!"
"Your voice."
"Gack."
"Lower it. We're inside the Nodule. You saw what was outside earlier, didn't you? What happens if the monsters hear that sound and come in?"
Echinacea seized his throat, then slowly released it. Ian Peletro collapsed to the ground. He gasped for breath, his face drained of color as he looked up at her. She crouched before him and removed the glove from her right hand. Then, resting her chin on her knee with that bare hand, she asked again.
"Tell me why you did it. If I find your answer convincing, I might let you live, senior."
"You're insane... a monster...."
"It's good that you're being honest, but do you still not understand the situation?"
Echinacea tilted her head. Her gaze fell upon his other wrist—the one still intact. It was a look laden with unmistakable intent. Ian, recognizing it, drew sharp, shuddering breaths that made his shoulders heave. His trembling hand rubbed his face. He swallowed hard, moistened his parched lips several times, and finally spoke.
"Why did I push Baraha Islaf into the Nodule?"
"Yes, I've been asking since earlier."
"You really don't know why?"
Ian Peletro ground his teeth. He glared at Echinacea from behind his hands covering his face.
"I did my best. I groveled like a tongue in those damn Knight Instructors' mouths, I even took on the irritating Cadet Representative position, and I did all that, so why? Why does some desert wanderer who wasn't even a temporary squire suddenly become the owner's squire? Why does some foolish girl in a dress get appointed as the commander's squire on the first day of enrollment?! It's unfair! Those bastards didn't even try, yet they get everything so easily!"
His voice, which had started quietly, grew rougher and faster as he continued. It sounded like he was spitting out bitter words. Echinacea stared at him before responding.
"That's all? You pushed Baraha Islaf into the Nodule just for that?"
"Just? To you, that's just? You've walked an easy, fortunate path your whole life—my struggles look trivial to you? I, damn it, how hard did I work! Those who didn't try at all, just lucky enough, getting things so easily...!"
"You didn't try at all."
She cut off his words. Her voice was cold. Sensing the ominous shift in atmosphere, Ian fell silent, flinching.
"Is that what it looks like? Do you think everyone else lives easily? Do you think everything others have was obtained purely through luck? Is that the reason you tried to kill him?"
Echinacea's lips twisted involuntarily. He said she hadn't tried. That she'd gotten things easily? Six years of screaming within a body that wouldn't obey her will, and nine years of crawling like a dog to obtain this life, this moment—it all surged from her fingertips to the crown of her head.
She lowered her head. Her vision seemed to darken completely, so she took a deep breath. She didn't want to be swept away by murderous intent. Anger was acceptable, but when it came time to act, she always had to remain cold. She couldn't lose control. Because she was the master of the Demonic Sword.
Her eyes, still lowered, grew sharp and serene. She set aside her anger and thought clearly. About what to do with Ian Peletro. She gave him one final chance.
Ian noticed her agitation. With her head lowered, she wasn't looking at him. Her neck, exposed between her hanging hair, was slender. Moreover, her hands were empty. Her sword lay carelessly at the entrance of the Tent Camp.
An opportunity. Perhaps the only one. That's what he thought.
Ian quickly drew his sword with his good hand and swung it toward Echinacea's neck. But before the blade could touch her pale throat, he felt a burning pain spread through his chest.
"Kuh...."
When he opened his mouth, something hot flowed down his throat. Echinacea, who had effortlessly dodged his sword, lifted her head.
Ian Peletro had rejected the final mercy she'd offered. Echinacea showed no more compassion. In her right hand was a sword that hadn't been there before. A blade transparent as glass, a black hilt. Red blood pooled along the patterns carved into the blade.
[Ahhh... it's been so long, this feeling. How delicious....]
The Demonic Sword purred like a satisfied cat. Echinacea twisted Bardegiosa free from Ian's body. He crumpled, his trembling eyes closing. It was instant death. The red blood that had stained Bardegiosa seeped into the blade and vanished. The Demonic Sword hummed contentedly.
[Ahhh, now I feel refreshed. How about you? Feels good, doesn't it? Your murderous intent seems quite satisfied!]
"I suppose."
Echinacea responded curtly and retrieved the Demonic Sword. The blade quickly disappeared into her palm. She pulled her glove back onto her right hand. Then she stood there for a moment, looking down at Ian's corpse. The Demonic Sword asked, puzzled.
[Why? Does it feel unsettling? Like you killed him for no reason?]
"That's not it."
[Then why?]
"I've simply revised my resolve."
[Resolve? What resolve?]
"My resolve on how to live."
[What's that? Tell me too!]
"You don't need to know."
[Tch, tch, tch! You're always so unfair.]
Looking down at Ian Peletro's corpse, she thought about how it could have been Baraha Islaf lying dead here instead, if not for her intervention.
In the erased past, that's exactly what would have happened. Ian Peletro would have lived on to become a Knight Instructor three years later, while Baraha Islaf would have died during a monster subjugation.
'Kairosgiosa said there wouldn't be a second chance. Now no one can be brought back from the dead, no matter who falls. So... I have to protect them.'
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org