Chapter 652: Fatigue

Kevin spoke.

Derek died trying to stop the Pied Piper.

As soon as Oliver heard this, he felt a surge of shock and confusion.

Why?

He couldn’t understand it.

The Pied Piper wouldn’t kill someone just for blocking him once.

Oliver had only met the Pied Piper once but he had gauged his nature.

Oliver, who didn’t judge people carelessly, was certain of this.

The Pied Piper wasn’t the type to kill easily.

It wasn’t about morality or conscience but rather his method.

Though filled with a vast and immeasurable rage, the Pied Piper wasn’t interested in murder itself.

His only concern was kidnapping children.

Because it was the only way to ease his pain.

The Pied Piper would only harm someone if they obstructed him.

But only if they were ready to die.

So Oliver couldn’t understand why Derek had faced the Pied Piper so resolutely.

Derek wasn’t foolish or weak enough to not recognize the gap between himself and the Pied Piper.

Yet, he still confronted the Pied Piper and lost his life.

Why…

“He did it to protect the orphans.”

“…What?”

Oliver asked again, baffled by Kevin’s words.

Kevin, looking at Oliver’s face, repeated himself.

“I said he did it to protect the orphans. The Pied Piper killed the orphanage director and tried to take the children, so Derek stopped him.”

Hearing this, Oliver instinctively looked at Yareli, and she nodded with difficulty.

At last, Oliver fully grasped the situation.

As Oliver feared, the Pied Piper had indeed visited Ark Orphanage and kidnapped the children.

In the process, he had killed the director who tried to stop him.

That made sense.

The director who had spoken so many words to Oliver late at night was indeed a strong person.

She would never have handed over the children easily, even if the Pied Piper came.

And for someone like her, Derek had risked his life to stop the Pied Piper.

Tadadak…

Realizing this, Oliver almost ran outside to vomit, inhaling the cool night air.

A strange sensation rose from deep within his stomach, climbing up to his chest and throat.

An emotion he couldn’t easily describe. But it wasn’t unfamiliar. He had encountered it once before.

“…Surprising, isn’t it?”

Kevin, who had quietly followed Oliver outside, asked.

Though the subject was unclear, Oliver instinctively knew what he meant.

Trying to shake off the turmoil that invaded his being, Oliver answered Kevin’s question.

“…Honestly, yes. I didn’t expect Derek to care so much about the orphans.”

Oliver made his thoughts clear without pretense.

Like everyone else, Derek had his strengths and qualities worth emulating, but imagining him sacrificing himself for orphans he barely knew was hard.

Derek’s traits were his high self-esteem and ambition.

It was understandable that he would shed blood, sweat, and tears to prove his worth.

But standing against an unbeatable foe for the sake of orphans was difficult to fathom.

That’s why Derek’s death was even more shocking.

Kevin then said,

“People can be noble at any time, and they can be ugly too. It’s unpredictable.”

His words carried weight.

Oliver couldn’t dismiss Kevin’s words and asked,

“…Are you talking about Derek, or are you talking about me?”

“Who knows? I’m more curious, why do you see yourself as ugly?”

Kevin asked while reading Oliver’s emotions with the Warlock’s Eye, which he had awakened thanks to Oliver.

Shockingly, Oliver’s emotions were filled with guilt and self-loathing.

Oliver, whose emotions usually showed little change, was now unsettled.

Mildly but unmistakably perturbed, Oliver opened his mouth.

Even he was surprised by his emotional state, like a blind man seeing the world for the first time.

“…I felt relieved.”

Kevin remained silent. Neither agreeing nor condemning, he just listened to Oliver.

“Even after hearing that Derek and Director Amelin died and the orphans were taken, I felt relieved… because at least Rosburn is safe. Even now, I’m still relieved.”

Oliver revealed the root of his guilt and self-loathing.

Oliver’s usual poker face had broken down.

Feeling an emotion for the first time, he looked at Kevin and asked,

“…Is this normal?”

“Who knows, what is normal anyway?”

“…”

“Normal is a relative concept. What’s normal now might not be in a different time or place. But if you’re asking whether others feel the same, then my answer is yes.”

Through the Warlock’s Eye, Oliver saw Kevin’s emotion. It was sincere.

“It’s entirely plausible to feel more relief that Rosburn is safe than grief over Derek’s death. Many others feel the same. After all, people can’t treat everyone equally, even if they want to.”

Oliver understood the point.

It was a simple truth. Treating everyone equally was hard, even for Oliver.

He couldn’t emotionally accept it, but he couldn’t argue against it either.

“So, I should ask you now.”

Kevin, who had been sharing the sorrow and regret over Derek’s death with Oliver and Yareli, spoke up.

He wanted to set aside his sadness for Derek and focus on the situation at hand.

A cold, rational judgment prioritizing the task.

To prove it, he asked straightforwardly.

“Are you planning to fight the Pied Piper? To save the orphans?”

Kevin’s pointed question left Oliver silent.

Normally, Oliver would’ve said yes, but this time the conditions were unfavorable.

Pied Piper.

A monster unlike the Flesh Cook or the Eternal Child, Fen.

He was a presence that reminded Oliver of the wall he felt after the battle with The Burned One.

Even if they fought again, Oliver wasn’t confident he could win.

But the real issue wasn’t about winning or losing. It was about the promise he had made.

A promise with the Pied Piper that if Oliver stayed out of his business, he wouldn’t pursue Prince Albert anymore and would leave Randa.

Even though the Pied Piper had physically overpowered Oliver during the attack, he had offered this agreement at the last minute.

The terms were extremely favorable for Oliver. It was practically an act of kindness.

Perhaps that’s why Rosburn and Yareli, maybe even Joanna, were spared.

The Pied Piper might’ve guessed that they were people connected to Oliver.

Despite his immense rage, the Pied Piper had shown Oliver more mercy than anyone else he’d met.

He felt a certain empathy and pity for Oliver, every time they crossed paths.

Oliver couldn’t pinpoint why, but he knew that he too felt sympathy and regret toward the Pied Piper.

An inexplicable sense of kinship and sorrow for the rage the Pied Piper harbored.

That’s why Oliver hesitated.

Despite Derek and Director Amelin’s deaths, despite the abduction of the Ark Orphanage orphans, Oliver hesitated to confront the Pied Piper.

He was afraid of what might happen if he broke that promise and, on a personal level, he didn’t want to break it.

Oliver honestly confessed this to Kevin.

“I… I’m not sure.”

“But you have to decide. Especially now. If you don’t choose, you’ll only be swept away.”

Kevin advised Oliver again, urging him to make a decision.

Kevin wasn’t forcing a choice, but offering advice for Oliver’s sake. Nonetheless, Oliver couldn’t easily decide.

As heartbreaking as the tragedy at Ark Orphanage was, he couldn’t ignore the inexplicable kinship and pity he felt for the Pied Piper.

Perhaps that’s why Oliver suddenly felt an enormous pressure from the situation and couldn’t stop himself from asking,

“Did Merlin ask you to say that?”

Oliver mentioned the fact that Kevin had accompanied him under Merlin’s orders.

Though it was just a guess and there was no concrete evidence, it wasn’t wrong.

“He did tell me to give advice if it seemed necessary. Do you think my advice is wrong?”

“…No, it’s correct.”

Oliver acknowledged, realizing that he needed to decide his course. As Kevin said, if he didn’t decide now, he’d only be swept away.

Whether moving forward or stepping back, and whichever consequences arise from his actions, Oliver had to choose.

No matter what problems might result.

The problem was that knowing it in his mind didn’t make it any easier to act.

He recalled some words Merlin once said.

Knowing is suffering. And Oliver now fully understood the meaning of those words.

He even thought it would’ve been better if he had known nothing but curiosity back then.

As Oliver struggled to make a decision, Rosburn came through the door and called out to him.

“Sir… The Holy Knight is awake.”

Oliver flinched at Rosburn’s words.

Joanna had awakened.

Oliver recalled how Joanna had looked earlier.

Lying on the bed, her body covered in bandages.

It was the first time they met again since parting ways in the New Continent’s colonial City, First Step.

He should’ve felt relieved or happy, but the feelings of awkwardness loomed heavily due to the recent abduction by the Pied Piper.

What answer could he give if Joanna asked for help now?

As that question arose, Oliver suddenly remembered the events in Randa.

When Oliver had asked Joanna for help to save Rosburn and she refused.

Ironically, now the situation was reversed.

For the first time, Oliver understood how Joanna must have felt back then.

He felt like he finally grasped the helplessness she had surely felt.

With that memory and newfound empathy, Oliver felt a conflicted emotion—a desire to meet Joanna mixed with the urge to escape.

And then.

Rosburn cautiously spoke to Oliver.

“S-Sir.”

“Yes, Rosburn?”

“Did you… ever mention me to the Holy Knight?”

“Why do you ask?”

“When we went to Ark Orphanage, she saw me and suddenly said she was sorry… and she cried.”

“…”

“I don’t know why she did that… Just, don’t worry about it.”

After saying that, Rosburn noticed Oliver’s expression and abruptly stopped speaking.

However, Oliver had already heard enough and began to chew over Rosburn’s words.

Joanna had been holding onto that memory the whole time.

The memory of the day when she turned away from the small, skinny lamb.

She had avoided it, but she hadn’t forgotten, carrying it in her heart.

Realizing this, Oliver gently placed his hand on Rosburn’s head before going back into the mansion.

He then began to climb the stairs, forcing himself to ignore the fear and rejection growing in his chest.

Kevin and Rosburn followed silently behind.

As Oliver moved his increasingly heavy steps, he began to question himself.

What would he answer if she asked him to save her siblings?

That was a question he could only answer when the time came.

Step. Step. Step.

Oliver entered the room he had just left, seeking the answer to his inner questions.

Inside the room were the awakened Joanna, supported by Yareli and Pandora.

Joanna, whose entire body was wrapped in bandages.

She looked exactly the same as when he first saw her, except now she was awake.

Broken limbs, one side of her face covered in gauze and bandages, and bruised in many places.

Just by looking at her, it was clear how desperately she had fought to protect her siblings.

Oliver stared at Joanna, skipping formalities.

He waited for her to speak.

Joanna, noticing his gaze, slowly regained focus in her blurred eyes.

Her lips trembled, and she finally spoke.

Words that Oliver never expected to hear.

“Ha… Ha, ha.”

Moments later, Oliver’s laugh slowly echoed from deep within.