---

107th Chapter

“Be careful.”

Whoosh.

A strangely modulated voice escaped my lips.

I lightly grabbed Elle’s sleeve and pulled him inward. Just moments after I did that, a carriage passed dangerously close to where Elle had just been.

“Thank you.”

A faint smile blossomed on Elle’s lips, still partially hidden beneath the hood of his robe. A few strands of brown hair, altered by magic to change color, peeked out from the hood.

‘Brown hair suits him too.’

I marveled again at Elle’s beauty, capable of pulling off even the most basic hair color like brown.

Ignoring the curious gazes of those around us, I adjusted my slightly askew mask.

Both of us were individuals whose identities needed to be concealed when visiting the Information Guild. It would look quite strange for a noble lady and a pope to be going there together.

With his black robe and my masked face, we definitely appeared suspicious, yet it was better than being discovered as a noble lady and a pope.

“Does Elle have a specific Information Guild you visit often?”

“I usually use the guild near the temple. But this time, since it’s just a simple request to find a person, I plan to go to a different place. It’s been a while since I sought out an Information Guild myself.”

After all, how often does a pope go looking for an Information Guild himself? He had plenty of people for that.

I tilted my head slightly.

“Then why are you personally handling this matter? It is, after all, a request from the king.”

Elle turned to look at me. As he moved, a hint of silver from his eyes peeked out from beneath the black hood. The corners of his eyes crinkled in a smile.

“Do you think I’m really interested in that person’s request? All I needed was an excuse to be with Shushu.”

For a moment, I was dazed by the warm smile that filled his face. It felt… strange.

“……Ah. We’re in an alley for the Information Guild now.”

Blinking out of my daze, I quickly spoke up.

Wanting to be someone others wished to be with felt good. I sensed a light warmth rising in my ears.

As we turned deeper into the capital city, we arrived at an alley where the Information Guilds were gathered. I often commissioned familiar individuals among the independent informants, so I didn’t come to the Information Guild alley very often.

After a while of making my way past whispers speculating whether I was truly Mir, Elle suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Shall we go there? I haven’t used it before, but it’s quite a well-known place. I don’t think there will be issues finding one person’s whereabouts.”

I turned my gaze to the building Elle pointed at and blinked.

‘Hide & Ceek.’ It was an Information Guild established about five years ago, and now it was quite reputable. Even I, who usually didn’t utilize Information Guilds, was aware of its fame.

‘There shouldn’t be a problem, but… it feels a bit strange.’

I narrowed my eyes slightly while closely examining the sign. It read “Hide & Ceek” in a cursive script, a mix of purple and dark pink. The misspelling that resembled “Hide & Seek” stirred a peculiar feeling within me.

“Do you dislike this place? Should we go somewhere else?”

Elle asked, observing my expression as I stared at the sign.

Snapping back to reality, I briefly glanced around before shaking my head.

“No, it’s fine. Let’s go in here.”

‘So foolish of me.’

Cursing myself for not being able to move on from the past, I made my way to the entrance.

“Oh, wait.”

Just as I was about to step inside, Elle blocked me.

“Could you possibly wait outside? I’ll take care of this.”

“But… what if it becomes dangerous inside?”

I frowned. Elle, who seemed a bit awkward at the notion of danger, chuckled softly.

“Don’t worry. Really, it’s fine. With Shushu around… um, it’s just difficult for me to say directly.”

Seeing Elle appear somewhat embarrassed, I nodded.

If Elle were to be threatened inside, I would sense it faster than anyone else, so waiting outside wasn’t an issue. The instant I felt he was in danger, I could rush in before anything happened to him.

“Then go and come back.”

“I will.”

As I stepped back willingly, Elle smiled gratefully and opened the door to enter.

I briefly gazed where he had disappeared, then leaned against the wall of the Information Guild building.

I watched as the bustling alley began to quiet down. After observing until the street was completely devoid of people, I fell into deep thought.

‘…I wonder how that guy is doing.’

I grimaced at the silhouette that flickered in front of my eyes. A figure I didn’t want to recall, but who was too deeply etched in my memory.

I bit my lip.

‘Son of a bitch.’

Thinking of him automatically brought to mind another face that pierced my heart.

The only person who had ever held onto my childhood self. The ideal I still longed for.

‘…Master Karasho.’

Once upon a time, I had a master. A person with endlessly steadfast and righteous eyes.

Karasho, who was once a mercenary, took me under his wing, a child filled with wariness toward the world and the obsession to protect Aria.

“When wielding the sword, you must not waver. Take a clear look at what you are cutting and make sure to cut your target precisely. The wavering of the sword entails life-and-death matters.”

“There is no one in this world who deserves to die. There may come a time when you have to kill someone out of sheer necessity, but fundamentally you must hold this belief. Once you start thinking some people deserve to die, everyone becomes a mere human who can die.”

“When you end a person’s life… you must never turn your eyes away from them. You must carry the weight of the life you’re taking… that is how you avoid becoming a monster, even if it leaves you wounded.”

I learned about swords and the world from him. Perhaps Karasho was my entire world. Not long after I became a mercenary, I knew nothing and fought monsters alongside him.

And then, in the winter of my 13th year.

A pure white snowfield. I still vividly remember what stained those white snowflakes.

In that moment, all my senses—sight, hearing, smell, touch—were overwhelmed by the perpetrator’s essence. My heightened senses still dragged me into that nightmare.

The moment my despair took form was, without a doubt, hell for me.

‘How I wish I could forget it all.’

I tightly shut my eyes and struggled to suppress the rising emotions.

I still hated winter. Especially snowy days. The smell of human blood made me dizzy, and seeing a massive crowd of monsters made my stomach churn.

I remained trapped in those memories.

‘Speaking of which, I let last year’s anniversary pass without doing anything.’

Until last year, I used to visit Master’s grave every year, but since I joined the House of Crisis and became busy handling various matters, I had forgotten to pay my respects.

‘…Weakling.’

Actually, it was more accurate to say that I couldn’t bring myself to visit. I could never forget him. I had been holding onto those memories persistently. Yet I couldn’t muster the courage to visit.

‘Too happy.’

Yes, I was too happy. The time spent with my new family and the joys of being with healthy Aria were overwhelmingly delightful. The moments of laughing and meeting friends were precious. So, I didn’t want to disrupt that happiness.

‘I wanted to maintain my happiness.’

After visiting Karasho’s grave, I felt like I had died.

I couldn’t even think about sleeping. Endless nightmares awaited me.

Whenever I picked up my sword, the sensations of that day would hit me to the point my hands trembled uncontrollably. Eating would fill my mouth with the stench of blood, prompting me to vomit. Whenever I opened my eyes, tears would well up. It was suffocating, yet I did not die.

Coming to terms with this nightmare would take an eternity. During that time, I was condemned to hell.

‘Cowardly bastard…’

I buried my face in my hands and swallowed down the tears that threatened to spill.

In the end, it was merely an excuse. A cowardly excuse. I could not bear the weight of the lives I failed to protect.

‘I shouldn’t be thinking about this.’

I sighed and covered my mouth.

Memories submerged beneath the surface began to rise, assaulting me.

I wanted to erase every thought that surfaced.

‘Calm down. This isn’t the time to drown in selfish emotions.’

I slowly took deep breaths, circulating the mana in my body, which had become murky from dark emotions.

Whatever Elle’s intentions were, I had come as his knight. I couldn’t afford to be caught up in such weak feelings.

‘Yes. It’ll be fine. I am—’

And the world’s time froze.

My pupils dilated, and my heart began to race frantically.

‘This is absurd…’

An incessant instinctive alarm rang in my head.

The sense of danger felt like it was about to explode. But what horrified me was not the imminent danger.

Everyone has their own aura. Perhaps it could be referred to as the flow of mana, or maybe it’s an essence of sorts. Ever since I became a Sword Expert, I’ve been reading people through their auras.

And the aura approaching now was that of someone I had tried to forget but still remembered vividly.

I held my breath.

That person always had this scent. An infinitely cold fragrance, as if capturing winter itself—the scent of snowflakes piling upon the earth. A chilling aura that felt as if it would freeze me to the bone.

Whoosh!

I dodged the blade that sliced through the air with a swift turn of my head. My reaction was a fraction late due to my mind freezing in shock.

Blood trickled down from my cheek, grazed by the dagger, but it wasn’t the time to worry about that.

“I heard you became a Sword Master, yet you remain slow, Mir.”

A familiar voice resonated from behind me, as if confirming my death. A captivating low voice entangled itself in my mind.

I clenched my lips tightly, balling my hands into fists.

Bam!

Black killing intent exploded from my entire body. The ground I stood on trembled slightly. For the first time since my confrontation with Devera, I unleashed my full killing intent.

An aura of dark smoke enveloped my surroundings. Any ordinary person would have collapsed under the weight of the killing intent, yet the footsteps approaching from behind remained unyielding.

I spat out curses like a growl.

“How dare you show your face before me, you bastard.”

With a fluid motion, I drew my sword, turning my body in a sweeping arc to aim the tip at his throat. Rage boiled through every part of me.

And then our gazes met.

As intense as ever, disturbingly so. He had matured much more than the blue boy I used to know, yet it remained unchanged.

His violet, synonymous with death, was fatalistically beautiful. Still hiding behind a facade, his eyes sparkled like amethyst. His gaze once again locked with mine.

Covering his face was a mask identical to mine, save for its white color.

His short, jet-black hair fluttered in the wind. It was spring, yet the fragrance that came with him carried the chill of winter.

The soft sensation of the blade piercing his skin triggered a tremor in my hand that I desperately tried to suppress. Red blood seeped over his snow-white neck.

Despite aiming for a vital point, his composure left me reeling. I fought back the rising nausea brought on by the smell of fresh blood and met his glaring eyes.

“Zigmund…”

Zigmund. A name that belonged to one I once believed to be a friend, but had since become loathsome.

My voice dropped to a growl, as rough and deep as a beast’s howl.

Between us, an intense exchange of gazes unfolded.

Even having become a Sword Master and living six more years, I still couldn’t read his eyes.

Even now, I hated that gaze.

Click.

He slowly reached for his face and gently removed the mask. Revealed before me, his face remained breathtakingly beautiful.

And his crimson lips curled into a smirk. A luminous crescent moon’s smile.

“Long time no see, Shushu.”

With a voice as calm as if we were meeting an old friend, without a hint of concern for what had just transpired.

The bind that had held me captive snapped.

Bam!

Without hesitation, I swung my sword towards him.

 

---