Chapter 96
Chapter 96: The Atoner’s Conviction
Lee Si-hyun deactivated the Executioner’s Cold-bloodedness.
With that, his heart began to beat in a normal rhythm.
He took a deep breath and approached Eun-hye and Min-jun.
Their faces were displaying complex emotions.
Understandably so.
As Si-hyun slowly approached them, he pondered over how to break the ice.
He had thought that a day like this would eventually come.
If he wasn’t going to live as a lowly hunter forever, the abilities he had kept hidden would inevitably come to light.
It just happened sooner than he expected.
The closer he got, the more complicated Si-hyun’s feelings became.
In that brief moment, he thought several times about what he would feel if he were in their shoes.
He imagined various emotions swelling within him.
And surely, a sense of betrayal was among them.
They would probably think he had deceived them from the very beginning of joining the guild.
While two years might seem short, the bonds and feelings he had built during that time were anything but small.
They hadn’t merely met in an ordinary club.
They had fought together on the battlefield, risking their lives in a place where one wrong move could mean death.
Especially with Eun-hye, they had faced life-threatening crises numerous times together.
The trust built over those experiences was special.
The feeling of betrayal from someone who had shared that trust would hit even harder.
Si-hyun stopped in his tracks.
Eun-hye and Min-jun did not speak first.
It was as if they were waiting for Si-hyun to say something.
“I’m sorry.”
That was the first thing he said.
His voice came out heavy and slightly trembling.
Si-hyun did not lower his head.
He simply looked at them with a serious expression, waiting for a response.
“What are you sorry for, oppa?”
Eun-hye’s voice was damp with emotion, trembling faintly.
She seemed to be trying to maintain her composure but was struggling to do so.
“Honestly, I’m grateful. If it weren’t for you, we would all be dead. Especially me… I would have faced something truly horrific. This has been the case many times over. If it weren’t for you, I would have been dead more than once. So I’ve always been thankful. Truly. From the bottom of my heart.”
Eun-hye paused for a moment to collect her breath.
Then she continued.
“So this atmosphere… it feels awkward and overwhelming for me. I believe everyone has something they wish to hide. Especially if you were trying to keep something hidden, there must be a reason for it. Because that’s the kind of person I’ve seen you to be all along.”
Eun-hye closed her mouth after that.
Si-hyun remained silent, gazing into her mixed emotional eyes.
Knowing how kind-hearted and thoughtful Eun-hye was, her words were likely chosen with his feelings in mind.
But Si-hyun could sense that Eun-hye’s words were sincere.
Her expression, her voice conveyed her true feelings.
“Thank you.”
Si-hyun said briefly again.
He wanted to express more emotions with longer words, but he couldn’t think of what to say.
However, it felt as though that short phrase had conveyed his feelings adequately.
Eun-hye bit her lip, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
“Let me say something.”
Min-jun was the first to speak up.
He was typically carefree and chatty, but this time he was holding back.
It wasn’t the right atmosphere for lighthearted banter, and he was clearly not in that state of mind either.
“You risked your life for us. You stepped up to save us. This isn’t the first time. You put yourself in danger again and again during the Giant Monkey incident. Seeing all that, how could we not realize that you were sincere? If there’s something you want to keep hidden, it surely has its reasons. That’s just how I feel.”
After Min-jun finished speaking, a brief silence settled.
Si-hyun looked as if he was lost in thought.
Then, as if having made a decision, he opened his mouth again.
“The truth is…”
He took a brief moment to consider how to express himself.
He wasn’t quite sure if saying it this way was right, but his words flowed out calmly.
“I’m… weak. A weak person who wants to become strong. So I kept it hidden. Because I’m weak. But I’m getting stronger. Quite a bit stronger than before. However, I’m still weak. I need to grow even stronger. Once I’m strong enough to be satisfied, then I can speak openly. I hope that day comes. But right now, it’s still not the time to reveal it. I ask you… to keep what happened here a secret.”
Many had lost their lives.
It was a significant incident.
If it became known that the murderer was Chinese, there could be serious diplomatic repercussions.
As witnesses at the scene, Eun-hye and Min-jun would undoubtedly face an investigation too.
Asking them to lie about such a serious incident would be a heavy burden on them.
“I understand, oppa.”
Eun-hye’s answer came instantly.
Min-jun nodded without hesitation as if he didn’t need to think about it.
“Thank you.”
Si-hyun expressed his gratitude once more.
Then he added.
“But I want to make this clear. I’m not a Sword Master. I’m a Guard.”
◈ ◈ ◈
Before the gate’s doors closed, Si-hyun’s party, along with William and To-ya, gathered the bodies.
Recovering dismembered corpses was not a task one could tackle with a sound mind.
But it was something that had to be done.
It was for the deceased and their families, but it was also a way to prove who had perpetrated this horrific incident.
An autopsy would reveal that the wounds were caused by Death Scythe’s blade.
The retrieval of Kashir and Bayan’s bodies, along with the Death Scythe, was for that very purpose.
By analyzing the Death Scythe, they would ascertain that it belonged to the Human Butcher, and once they matched the fingerprints found on it, Kashir would be confirmed as both the Human Butcher and the murderer.
Additionally, Si-hyun’s group learned outside that a member of the Hunter Association staff had also been killed by the Death Scythe.
In many ways, this was an incident that needed to expose the murderer.
“Everyone did a great job.”
As the body recovery neared completion, William spoke.
“William… you worked hard too.”
Si-hyun awkwardly spoke back, though he had requested to be called “Kyeong.”
It seemed he was struggling to stick that honorific on his tongue, given the unusualness for a correctional officer like himself to be addressed in such a manner.
It felt inexplicably strange, as though he had been suddenly thrust into a medieval fantasy.
“As a servant of the Lord, it’s only natural.”
“Sages need to experience things like this as well.”
To-ya chimed in.
With blood from the corpses smeared on her tiny hands, she appeared more unsettling than adorable.
Everyone else was taken aback, but To-ya had insisted on helping with the recovery.
“Uhm, Sage.”
Si-hyun called out to To-ya.
“What is it, Sword Master?”
Addressing each other with such bizarre titles felt like they were acting out some character play.
“Do you happen to know anything about the Dual-Eyed Great Sage?”
“I’m A-Class, so I have no memories of the other world. You should know better, Sword Master.”
To-ya countered.
“Well… I haven’t been awakened for long, so my memories aren’t complete.”
Si-hyun improvised.
“Really? So that kind of thing happens. I’ll have to remember that.”
To-ya muttered as if committing it to memory.
When Si-hyun looked at her with confusion, William chuckled and explained instead.
“Haha, the Sage likes to store any new information in their head. It seems to be their temperament.”
Hearing that made Si-hyun slightly guilty.
His vague excuse had just been made up on the spot.
Yet upon further reflection, he couldn’t exactly say it was false, as he was a living witness to being an S-Class Awakened Being with no memories of the other world.
Though it wasn’t a 100% certainty, he could strongly infer his S-Class status from the status window’s composition.
“By the way, are you curious about the Dual-Eyed Great Sage? If you like, I can tell you about them.”
“That would be great.”
“The Dual-Eyed Great Sage refers to the head of the Ibraim family, the oldest lineage. Anyone from the Ibraim bloodline possesses the dual traits. The left eye is blue, and the right eye is red. Or was it the other way around? Hmm, well, anyway, the head of the Ibraim family can read their own death by observing the stars. When they read their own death, they can utilize the family’s secret techniques to pass on all knowledge they acquired in life to their successor. This has been repeated for over 2,000 years, since the ancient times. So, the head of the Ibraim household is considered the wisest person in the world. Moreover, they’re a bearer of truth.”
“…That’s hard to believe.”
Si-hyun murmured.
To transfer all knowledge acquired in life to a successor, like sending data?
No matter how talented one might be, there are limits to the span of knowledge a human can grasp within their lifetime.
Using such a method would surely bypass those limits.
Eun-hye and Min-jun listened attentively to William’s tale with curiosity etched on their faces.
For the lowly hunters, this was an exciting story they could hardly find anywhere else.
“Do you know where they are?”
Si-hyun asked the part he wanted to know most.
“I do not know.”
It seemed William was not aware of that.
Si-hyun wasn’t greatly disappointed, as he had somewhat expected this.
He decided to inquire about the other person mentioned by Po-ahim.
“I see. May I ask one more thing?”
“Of course, go ahead.”
“Do you know about the Saintess of the White Silver?”
“Hahaha, the Saintess of the White Silver? Of course! Why wouldn’t I?”
William burst into laughter.
He continued as if answering Si-hyun’s puzzled expression.
“She’s a Saintess of our church. It would be strange not to know her, right?”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
So, she was the Saintess of the Church of Illyria.
Si-hyun nodded in understanding.
“Then, you must know her quite well.”
“Very well indeed. I’ve seen her face many times in that world. The one most loved by the Lord. The one closest to the Lord. The one who knows the Lord’s will. The Lord’s daughter. The miracle’s Saintess. The one who brings miracles. Does that answer suffice?”
William had omitted no exaggeration in his explanation.
At the apex of any church, there lay the Pope.
The Church of Illyria was no exception.
The Pope was regarded as someone born with the blessing of the God and possessed ultimate divine power, capable of communicating with the divine.
However, that communication with such transcendent beings was a task far beyond human’s grasp.
Even for a Pope, it was a challenging feat.
Only once a year could they communicate.
The prophecies delivered once a year were for that reason.
Yet, a being had manifested, shattering that notion.
That being was the girl who would later be called the Saintess of the White Silver.
Ironically, she had no divine power whatsoever.
The radiant light emitted during divine acts was entirely unrelated to her.
Simply praying to God would bring everything to fruition.
No priest with even the strongest divine power could match her abilities, nearly resurrecting people on the verge of death through her prayers.
It was a capacity incomparable even to the Pope.
Because of the countless miraculous acts attributed to her, the number of followers dedicated to her rapidly increased.
Naturally, over time, the authority of the Pope diminished, and the Saintess of the White Silver took their place.
Undoubtedly, there were factions within the church that found this situation unsatisfactory.
But they couldn’t dare to utter a word.
Those who labeled her abilities as heretical were struck by divine punishment, rapidly becoming blind overnight.
“…That’s impressive.”
Si-hyun couldn’t help but marvel at her astounding titles.
“Impressive, indeed.”
William nodded enthusiastically.
“Do you happen to know where she is?”
“That’s something I’d like to know as well. If I knew, I’d rush to see her.”
“…I see.”
Si-hyun said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
This time, since William was from the Church of Illyria, he had wondered if he might have an answer, but it seemed he didn’t.
“Haha, if I find out later, I’ll let you know. But for now, we should wrap up our idle chatter and discuss the aftermath of this incident.”
William turned the conversation back to business.
