Chapter 59: Fate or Destiny

During the eight-year war, even amidst his hectic schedule, the Emperor made sure to memorize the names of the fallen soldiers. It would have been enough to provide adequate compensation to the bereaved families, yet he carved out time to painstakingly recall the names of his own dead and the faces of those he had killed.

“Well, they wouldn’t have died if it weren’t for me.”

It could have been avoided. The eight-year war was a war that broke out solely based on his choices.

The monarch’s seat is one where a single decision can determine the lives of countless people.

Eudoard didn’t want to easily forget those who had become sacrifices to his selfish choices, just because they were dead.

If the head of a nation doesn’t take responsibility for the consequences of their choices, then who will?

Responsibility for the outcome of his choices.

This was something that anyone, even before being a monarch, should naturally bear.

“Whether they were friend or foe, weren’t they all sacrifices of my choices?”

And so, they came to him in dreams and hallucinations. For him, this was a welcome occurrence.

Elpidius couldn’t easily speak.

Eventually, after a considerable amount of time, the only word that managed to escape his lips was:

“…You’re being foolish, Your Majesty.”

It was a remark he shouldn’t have dared to make to the Emperor, but Eudoard simply smiled.

Unlike his usual demeanor, a weak smile spread emptily throughout the spacious room.

“I know. It’s a sickness.”

The Emperor muttered, meeting the gazes of those glaring at him from the corner of the room.

“I have no appetite, so I’ll skip dinner tonight. You and Aletea can eat.”

I need to play with them.

Elpidius hesitated before leaving, and the Emperor, left alone, imprinted the familiar faces of those approaching him in his mind before slowly closing his eyes.

It seemed to be a hallucination after all, as he could clearly see them approaching even with his eyes closed.

There was no need to worry. After all, they couldn’t directly harm him. That was enough.

Even as he vividly felt the hallucinations tightening around his neck, he merely scoffed as if it were ridiculous.

The things he carried were far too numerous to be broken down by mere illusions.

***

After that, bless his luck, three days had passed.

Three days wasn’t necessarily a short time. Who knew if Cruel had found a capable sorcerer during that time?

In fact, finding a sorcerer wasn’t an easy task. Ninety-nine out of a hundred sorcerers hailed from the south, while the Empire’s territory was mostly in the north.

Even the remaining one, excluding the ninety-nine, had a master from the south, meaning that finding a sorcerer ultimately required going to the south. Despite my unreasonable request to find the closest sorcerer, the capable Butler Rememver diligently located the nearest village with a sorcerer and reported back without any complaints.

Considering this, three days was an unbelievably short time, but since there was no way of knowing what Cruel was up to, it felt like an eternity…

“…By the way, Sir Lien.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“The back of my head is tingling…”

“It’s just your imagination.”

Climbing a mountain to find a village nestled in the middle of it wasn’t so bad. It was tough, but bearable.

However, this gaze that felt like needles pricking the back of my head was quite unbearable.

“I told you I’m fine.”

“I am not fine. To dare cause a situation by not properly remembering my lord’s back…appearance, is unacceptable. I will etch it into my mind this time to ensure this never happens again.”

“Did you just say ‘back of my head’…?”

“And please, speak comfortably. The Count is my lord.”

She’s definitely changing the subject, right? I stared at her with a sulky expression before turning my head.

‘Speak comfortably,’ she says.

She was a noble. Unlike me, who held a mere honorary title, she was a noble from a high-ranking family with hereditary rights. Even if she wasn’t the head of the family, it didn’t mean the family’s power vanished, so despite our lord-vassal relationship, I was more comfortable with mutually respectful language.

So, let’s just agree to use informal speech in my head.

“I’m more comfortable with this… Ah, there!”

“It’s the village. I heard it was small, but I didn’t expect it to be this tiny.”

I nodded inwardly at the village’s size, which was visible at a glance.

Yeah, it has to be this small for a sorcerer to live here. Sorcerers usually live in seclusion. In that sense, this small village seemed very suitable for a sorcerer to reside in.

Although Rememver wasn’t sure if there really was a sorcerer here…

“Let’s go quickly.”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation. Lien and I hurried towards the village entrance.

And then.

“Oh, shit?”

“…….”

“Ah, did I say that out loud? Sorry, Brother. I was so surprised, I couldn’t help it.”

Coincidentally, we ran into Cruel.

Could there be such a coincidence? At this point, I’d suspect him of stalking me.

However, before entertaining such irrational suspicions, there was a clear reason to explain this encounter, so I closed my mouth and narrowed my brows.

‘He’s here to find the sorcerer.’

According to Rememver, the nearest sorcerer besides the one here was much further south, so if he had any information, he would have no choice but to come here.

But I couldn’t help but feel unpleasant.

Because of this, I scowled and stared at him with my lips pressed together, but for some reason, his eyes were widening. I thought I heard the sound of something cutting through the air… No, wait a minute. The sound is getting closer?

—Thwack!

My vision blurred. I lost my senses for a moment.

***

“Get out of this village, you wretches!!”

“Grandmother, please calm down! Look at their clothes! They’re important people! Someone, restrain the grandmother!!”

“A calamity, a calamity has come! We must drive them out! No, we must kill them!!”

“My lord! Are you alright… Ah, blood…….”

“…Hah.”

Deon, who had been motionless with his head bowed, raised his head with a brief scoff.

He was smiling.

Lien stared blankly at his upturned lips, which conveyed bewilderment and absurdity, before stepping back in shock upon seeing his eyes.

It was that look again. The eyes that gleamed with madness during the attack.

“M-My lord…….”

“…….”

Deon, who had swept his hair away from the struck area, looked down at his palm.

Covered in blood. He could still feel the warm liquid flowing down his temple, so the injury must be quite severe.

Perhaps because of the blood, his crimson pupils, which were already eerily bright, slowly turned towards the old woman causing a commotion. How could an old person have such strength? Even with strong men holding her back, the old woman stubbornly refused to let go of the stone in her hand.

Deon watched this scene before wiping the blood from his hand and taking a step.

As drops of blood scattered onto the dirt floor, the gazes fixed on him froze with anxiety and fear. They couldn’t dare to look away.

His hair was a mess of blood. His eyes gleamed with a hint of madness.

The faces of those already weighed down by the foreign, thick, and sinister aura emanating from him grew pale as they saw where he was heading.

Lien was no exception.

“My lord…!”

“I won’t kill her.”

Anyone could see that he intended to kill the old woman, but she couldn’t doubt her lord’s words. At his resolute statement, Lien stopped in her tracks.

She deliberately ignored the villagers’ gazes pleading for her to do something.

Since her lord had affirmed it, stopping him would mean doubting him, and a knight doubting her lord was unacceptable.

Besides, she had already made two mistakes.

One was failing to protect her lord. The other was not immediately drawing her sword and reacting when he was hit by the stone.

With that, what right did she have to stop him?

‘I was too focused on the confrontation between my lord and his brother.’

The discord between one’s superior and their family distracts one’s attention in a different way.

As a result, she had overlooked external threats.

Who would have thought that someone in this remote mountain village would pose a threat to her lord?

‘…No, that’s just an excuse.’

The fact that she didn’t draw her sword the moment her lord was hit by the stone rendered the previous excuse useless.

‘I shouldn’t have hesitated, even if the opponent was an old woman….’

While Lien was clenching her fist and sweating, Deon slowly walked up to the old woman and slightly bent down to meet her eyes.

Bending down to meet her gaze might have seemed like consideration, but for some reason, it only seemed like mockery. After a moment of confusion, Lien understood why.

Forcibly widened eyes and chilling red eyes stared at each other without moving, before an uneasy conversation began. In that conversation—

“Hey, old woman.”

“C-Calamity!!”

“So, you’re calling me a calamity?”

Deon smirked, directly facing the old woman who was glaring at him.

Everyone held their breath at the sight of him smiling with blood dripping from his head, a truly bizarre sight.

Amidst the subtle tension, a playful voice followed.

“No. I’m closer to ‘sin’ than ‘calamity.’ Don’t you think so?”

“Y-You…!!”

***

I stared blankly at the grandmother who was shouting and causing a ruckus.

She’s surprisingly energetic for her age. This isn’t just causing a ruckus; it’s almost screaming.

Meanwhile, my head feels like it’s about to break again. And I mean that literally.

Come to think of it, I was hit by a rock. And this grandmother shouted that I was a calamity and needed to be killed.

Calamity. A calamity, huh….

‘I don’t know about that.’

If I had to argue, I’d say I’m closer to sin than a calamity.

I turned my head to find Cruel. He was watching me from a slight distance away with an inscrutable and complex look.

When our eyes met, he naturally shifted his gaze past me and approached. No, more accurately, he approached the grandmother and the men causing a commotion.

“I came here to find a sorcerer.”

His voice was chillingly cold.

I didn’t expect him to worry about my injuries in the first place. I accepted the handkerchief Lien offered and pressed it against my injured head, observing the situation.

“W-Well, actually, this grandmother is the sorcerer… but she’s been senile recently…”

“Let me go, you brats! I need to kill that bastard!!”

“…So, there are no other sorcerers in this village?”

“Ah, well….”

The young man’s eyes darted around. His gaze landed on the woman who had approached and was gently persuading the grandmother.

“Grandmother, please calm down.”

“Ran, kill that man. You saw it too, didn’t you? Huh?”

“Of course, I saw it. But it won’t do. You always told me, Grandmother, that we shouldn’t treat people based on things that haven’t happened yet.”

Suddenly, the old woman’s struggling stopped.

The old woman, who had seemed dazed as if she had been struck on the head, soon muttered dazedly, as if she had gained some realization.

“…Right, that’s what I said.”

The old woman abruptly turned her head to look at me.

Intimidated by her force, I flinched and tried to step back, but my weak attempt was thwarted by the old woman who firmly grabbed my shoulder.

Ouch! I should have known from how the men were struggling; she’s a surprisingly strong old woman.

“Child.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Never hate anything.”

“…Huh?”

“Never. Understand?”

She was throwing stones and screaming about killing me just now, but now she’s holding my shoulder and gently coaxing and advising me.

Is this what they call senility? I’d have to have seen a senile person to know.

…Even if she’s senile, being wronged is still being wronged. Cruel and Lien are here, so why only me…!

‘Aaargh! This grandmother, seriously!’

That’s where I was hit by the arrow!!

When I didn’t answer, the hand on my shoulder tightened.

Only after I hurriedly nodded at the inescapable grip did the old woman’s hand finally release.

I rubbed my throbbing shoulder and grumbled.

“I came here because I need a sorcerer, but this old woman is the sorcerer?”

This grandmother, who tried to kill me and almost broke my shoulder, is definitely out of the question.

She told me not to hate anything, right? Honestly, that’s impossible for a human. Even I, right now…

“…….”

I glanced at Cruel before quickly turning my head away.

…Anyway, I need a different sorcerer. Do I have to go all the way down south? How long would that take?

“I will accompany you.”