༺ 𓆩 Chapter 52 — Nightmare (5) 𓆪 ༻
「Translator — Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
I had killed the girl with my own hands.
But the nightmare hadn’t ended.
"Urrrrrgh."
The boy lumbered toward me, groaning grotesquely.
"...So you wanted to become a knight."
My whispered words drifted through the back alley.
No one remained to answer them.
"You swung that sword so earnestly. Polished it daily. I thought it was just to protect her."
Still, I kept speaking.
"I didn't know your dream, your names, nothing at all."
How pathetic, I muttered softly.
"Would you have been happy if you'd received this sword? No, knowing you, you would have shyly thanked me. And treasured it dearly."
I raised the sword stained with the girl's blood.
My hands trembled violently.
"It was meant to be a gift for you."
I gently stroked the girl's head and stood up.
My legs shook uncontrollably.
"With the sword I bought as your gift, I end up killing you both."
But my resolve didn't waver.
From the moment I killed the girl, I became a sinner in your eyes.
"Aaarrrgh!"
The boy charged at me with his sword.
A simple, brutal charge.
It would have been easy to dodge.
Squelch—
But I didn't.
I let the boy's sword pierce me.
Grip—
And I embraced him.
"Urrrrrgh!"
He thrashed, but my grip was iron.
"Forgive me."
Holding him, I drove my sword through his back.
"Aaaaaaaah—!"
"I once thought…" Blood bubbled in my throat. "...if I were strong enough, I’d remove this mask. Enroll in the Academy. Live normally."
"Urrrrrgh."
"I thought that knowing the future meant I could achieve the ending I wanted with just words . How foolish was that?"
"Ur...urrrgh."
"I'm done with such idiotic thoughts now. I’ll slaughter every Necromancer who did this to you."
"U...u."
"You can curse me from heavens if you wish. Just watch until I brutally kill the bastard who did this to you."
"..............."
The sounds ceased.
Clang—!
The dagger in the boy's hand fell to the ground.
I raised the boy's motionless body and carefully laid it beside his sister.
"This money…" I pouch of coins in my hand. "...could’ve freed you from these alleys."
"Bought a home. Sent you to school." My voice cracked.
"Let you learn the sword properly…"
I spoke to the children who no longer held any warmth.
"With this money, you could have worried about your future instead of your present."
Though I knew they couldn't hear me, I kept speaking to them.
"But... now it's all useless."
However, even knowing it was meaningless, I couldn't stop talking.
"I dreamed of you coming home from school after classes, and you after sword practice, eating together at a proper table in a proper house, not in these back alleys on the ground..."
A tear fell onto their faces.
"Where you fought with each other as you grew older, where you two would make up quickly. I dreamed of watching you grow up so diligently..."
Another tear fell onto their faces.
"That was the future I dreamed of."
Children I would never see again.
A future I could never dream of again.
"If I ever removed my mask, I wanted to show you two first."
I didn't take off my mask.
Tears kept falling.
Grip—
I clutched the children's lifeless bodies and screamed.
Crackle—, Crackle—
Suddenly, with a strange sound, everything began to disappear.
From the garbage on the alley floor to the sun in the sky.
Everything was crumbling away.
"Ah."
As the children finally vanished too, I realized.
That I was in a dream.
Though I had known it was a dream at first, at some point I had forgotten.
"Haa..."
I wondered how long I had slept this time.
The time that passed during these nightmares varied.
Sometimes an hour would pass, sometimes not even five minutes.
Still, I hoped more time had passed.
After all, going back to sleep was impossible.
I couldn't simply fall back asleep after such a nightmare.
I couldn't sleep knowing Mordor was still out there, breathing.
.
.
.
.
Johanna couldn't comprehend the current situation.
How Loki knew where to find the Information Guild?
How he knew the real name of the elderly guild member?
None of it made sense.
And what followed was equally incomprehensible.
Bang–!
The money in the pouch Loki produced—
Even to her, a duke's daughter, it was a considerable sum.
Though curious about where Loki had obtained such money, she didn't ask.
After all, right now, Loki couldn't even see her.
As if pursued by something, as if terrified of something,
He was solely focused ahead.
She wanted to help but didn’t know how.
Words failed her; actions eluded her.
"Hmm, for this much money..."
But the old man remained unmoved by the money.
They were merchants after all.
Traders of information.
"Don't push it."
In that instant, Loki's killing intent vanished.
Yet somehow, the old man bowed his head.
"What information do you seek?"
The old man's face trembled with fear.
"Last night, a child was sold to men bearing a skull emblem. Where are they?"
"Please wait a moment."
The old man asked for Loki's patience and entered the kitchen.
After a brief moment,
He emerged.
"We don't know much about the men bearing a skull emblem, but we've received reports of children disappearing from the slums recently."
"Their location."
Loki pressed for the information he wanted.
"There are three suspected locations."
The old man pulled out a map and pointed to three spots.
After examining them, Loki spoke.
"Among these, which could hide dozens of people and muffle loud sounds?"
"That leaves only one location."
The old man pointed to one of the three spots.
"Good."
Loki left those words and exited the Information Guild.
Johanna followed him out.
Swish—, Swish—
As expected, Loki was running toward the location the old man had indicated. Once again, she took to the rooftops to follow him.
"............"
Halt—
He stopped.
And Johanna gagged.
The stench of rot and decay clawed into her lungs.
The elder’s clue had led them to the empire’s festering underbelly.
Contrary to her expectation that he would enter without hesitation, Loki turned around and looked at her before entering the sewer.
"Johanna."
He called her name.
Different from usual.
He didn’t use senior—just her name, stripped bare. His voice lacked its usual playful edge, replaced by a low, resonant gravity. The air around him crackled not with ease, but lethal intent.
"...Yes?"
But the person before her was Loki.
That alone was reason enough to stay by his side.
"I hope I'm wrong, but if, just if, I'm right…what lies inside will be unspeakable."
Who exactly are these people?"
Who could terrify even you?
"...Necromancers."
The word jolted her.
"But they were eradicated ages ago!"
Necromancers—their atrocities were legendary, taught even at the Academy as cautionary horrors. Extinct horrors.
Yes, in past tense.
The Necromancers had been destroyed and vanished long ago.
"If they’re here, and we’re caught…" His jaw tightened. "Johanna, wait here. Or return to the Academy."
She realized why he told her everything.
To prevent her from entering.
Hoping she would become scared and not come.
That's why he revealed the Necromancers' presence.
"Then what about you?"
If caught, he’d suffer too.
"I have… something to settle. Personally."
I absolutely must do it myself.
His whisper was faint, but she heard it.
"You know what I'm going to say, don't you?"
Of course he did.
"Hah... Of course you won't leave. Well, that's one of the things I fell for."
"...Huh?"
What did he just say?
Loki continued as if his words meant nothing.
"If you're coming in, promise me two things."
"............"
Her head was spinning from what she'd just heard.
"First, never leave my side."
But the second condition snapped her back to attention.
"Second, if your life is in danger, abandon me and run."
END of CHAPTER
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