༺ 𓆩 Chapter 50 — Nightmare (3) 𓆪 ༻
「Translator — Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
About a month had passed since I first met the children.
"Brother, how long are you planning to stay in these back alleys?" the boy asked me.
He knew I had come to the back alleys because I was searching for something.
And he also knew that someday, I would leave this place.
For his age, he was unnervingly perceptive.
"..............."
"Big brother, where will you go when you leave?"
As the girl's guardian, the boy was already thinking about how to provide for his sister after I disappeared.
Wordlessly, I reached out and patted both children's heads. There was nothing I could say to them. I felt so weak and powerless at that moment. Each day was a struggle just to survive. My meager kindness extended only to handing them scraps of food and warm clothes.
Time continued to flow swiftly past us. In those rapidly passing moments, there was nothing I could do.
"Masked brother, what's your dream?" the girl asked innocently while eating the bread I had given her.
"Don't have one in particular."
I said this while stroking her head.
Dreams were a luxury I couldn't afford at the time.
Though I had no dreams, I did have a goal — somehow getting into Croa Academy to prevent Johanna's death. I had no intention of entering the special class. My aim was to enter any class and use whatever information I could gather to prevent the incident.
Glance—, Glance—
The girl looked around carefully, and after confirming her brother wasn't nearby, she gestured for me to lean down.
When I did, she whispered in my ear.
"This is a secret from my brother, but I'll tell only you, masked brother. I want to go to school."
"What do you want to do there?" I asked gruffly.
"Just learn to read and write, make friends, eat delicious food, and most of all, I want to learn holy power to help lots of people."
The smile never left her face, just imagining it seemed to bring her joy.
Thump—, thump—
"Ah! Brother must be back!"
The girl recognized her brother just from his footsteps.
"Oh, right," she said. "This is a secret from brother."
She pressed her index finger to her lips as she spoke.
"Why?"
"Hehe, just because!"
With that, the girl ran off in the opposite direction from her brother.
"What were you talking about?" the boy asked as he approached me.
I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Nothing much."
The Clown trait within me was swallowing my body whole.
"What's your dream?"
Perhaps because I had just heard about dreams from the girl, I found myself asking the boy about his.
The boy, caught off guard by my question, pressed his lips tightly together. But it didn't take long for him to speak.
"How could someone like me have a dream?"
Then, as if remembering something, he added, "Well, if I had to say… I want to protect my sister."
While the girl's dream was to help people, the boy's dream was to protect the one who held such a dream.
Even in the filthiest places, flowers could bloom brilliantly.
In these back alleys, two flowers were preparing to blossom.
I ruffled the boy’s hair.
"Starting tomorrow, I’ll come later than usual. If anything dangerous happens, focus on saving your sister and run. Don’t look back."
As my words faded, events rushed forward. Though this was my dream, I had no control over its tide.
"Big brother, some priests have been visiting the alley lately. They’ve been handing out food."
I wanted to shut my eyes and ears.
But my body wasn’t mine to command.
"Ah?"
"Yesterday, one of them asked us for a favor. Said they’d pay us too. Shouldn’t we go?"
Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go! Don’t go!
Even if I screamed it a thousand times in my mind, the boy couldn’t hear me.
Knowing the future yet being powerless to change it—
That’s why I called this dream a nightmare.
"Priests should be safe enough," I spoke to the boy in a gruff voice.
I loathed myself for those words.
I wanted to claw my own tongue out.
But there was nothing I could do.
Once again, time rushed past everyone except me. Selfishly, I wanted to escape from this dream.
Even knowing it was a dream didn’t free me.
This was my dream, my nightmare, yet I remained a prisoner.
To wake, I had to endure until the story’s end.
"Fresh fruit for sale!"
This time, my body was not in the back alleys but in a marketplace where merchants sold their wares.
I pulled coins from my pocket.
"With this, they could leave the alley… live normally."
This money was enough for the children to leave the back alleys and settle in an ordinary village.
With this money, the girl could go to school.
With this money, the boy could protect his sister.
"Perhaps I should buy something to take back."
I thought of the girl, who didn't have even a single piece of common jewelry.
My body moved toward a shop filled with ornaments.
Disliking attention, I created any random face with illusion magic and overlaid it on my mask.
"Looking for something specific?"
"I need some jewelry suitable for a young girl."
"A gift for your little sister?"
I hesitated briefly at the clerk's words.
"...Yes."
"Oh my! What a caring brother you are. How about this bracelet?"
"...I'll take that one."
Then I thought of the boy who treasured an old sword like it was precious.
This time, my body headed to a weapon shop.
"Looking for something?"
"A small sword suitable for a boy."
"For a boy, eh? A dagger would be most appropriate for a child. Is it for your little brother?"
"...Yes."
"What a good brother you are! Let me find you something special."
My body headed back to the alley with the dagger and bracelet.
"Did you hear? They say the carriage carrying priests this way had an accident, and all the priests inside died."
"When did this happen?"
"Three days ago. But here's the real issue — all the priests' bodies have vanished!"
My body trembled pathetically as I held the dagger and bracelet.
The priests died three days ago.
The priest had come to the back alley two days ago.
My body ran.
I sprinted.
"No, it can't be."
I had been too complacent.
"Why, why?"
I had been too arrogant.
"The Necromancer shouldn't be active for a while yet!"
I had trusted the game's information too much.
My body entered the back alley.
Still running.
I rushed to our usual meeting spot; the children weren't there.
Usually, if I waited here, they would come find me.
I opened my mouth to call their names.
"..............."
But no words came out.
I realized it only now.
I still didn't know their names.
Though it was me, I truly despised myself.
I hate this Clown trait.
I hate being looked down upon.
I hate losing myself.
For such pathetic reasons, I hadn't even asked for their names.
In the end, I was just a fool who satisfied my own pride while helping these children.
But the real nightmare was only beginning.
.
.
.
"Johanna, head to the academy first."
Loki’s voice, usually bright and gentle when speaking to her, now carried a frigid edge.
"But..."
She tried to say something to him but faltered, her words dissolving into silence.
Thump—, thump—
As Loki strode toward the door, he abruptly turned back. His steps echoed as he approached the trembling woman.
"P-please spare me."
Swish—, swish—
With a flick of his hand, threads materialized and coiled around her body.
"Gak! Kehek!"
The threads tightened around her entire frame, constricting her throat. After binding her, Loki bolted outside. Johanna ignored the woman and chased after him. Though he had ordered her to go to the academy, she couldn’t bring herself to obey.
Swish—, Swish—
"W-what was that!"
"What just passed by?"
Though the crowds made passage difficult, Loki weaved through the gaps between people with dazzling movements.
'Where on earth is he going?'
Johanna had no idea of his destination but pursued him regardless. Unlike Loki, she lacked the finesse to weave through the throngs.
Whoosh—!
Nevertheless, she followed.
She pursued him with overwhelming speed.
Halt—
She paused whenever the crowd thickened before surging forward again. Despite her innate swiftness—far surpassing Loki’s—the distance between them didn’t shrink. If anything, it grew.
'No.'
Fearing she might lose him, she increased her speed further.
Bang—!
When speed alone wouldn't close the gap, she reinforced her body with mana and kicked off the ground onto the rooftops.
Loki looked extremely anxious now.
To others, it might have appeared he was consumed by rage.
But Johanna saw differently.
Loki looked terrified.
Not of an enemy.
Rather, he seemed afraid of something that might happen.
Of course, this was all speculation.
His mask completely concealed his expression.
Until now, she had rarely wanted to see beneath the mask.
But at this moment, she desperately wanted to see what lay behind it.
END of CHAPTER
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