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I gasped, feeling a sudden chill. The current situation felt eerily familiar to a past encounter, and Zigmund’s expression reflected that same memory.

Suppressing my rising anxiety, I quickly averted my gaze to my pocket.

The aura I had conjured was not robust enough to hold someone of Zigmund’s caliber for long. I needed to check the contents before he could move.

In truth, slipping away with the pocket was the best option, but Leo, with his injured thigh, was in no condition to escape.

First, I needed to determine what was in the pocket that had brought Zigmund here and caused Leo to lose his composure.

‘……This is the emblem of the Silver Wolf.’

I recognized the pattern embroidered on the pocket.

I had no idea how it ended up in our home, let alone in my mother’s room, but it was unmistakably the insignia of the Silver Wolf beastfolk.

‘Moreover, it has a property that blocks the energy of its contents from leaking out.’

I could sense the faint magical energy emanating from the pocket, ensuring my certainty.

This high-grade protective magic made it impossible to even guess the contents inside.

‘Why did Leo get so worked up over this?’

Setting aside the puzzling mystery, I hastily opened the pocket.

Ignoring Zigmund’s frantic struggles, I confirmed the contents and was shocked to find something completely unexpected.

‘……Why is this in our house?’

I had barely entered my mother’s room a handful of times. My memories of her were so vague that I had no reason to go in, and an inexplicable sense of aversion made me reluctant.

The few times I did enter were not for anything significant.

Though I usually felt repelled, there were rare moments when I felt an inexplicable pull, causing me to sit quietly on the bed or go in to clean the room.

Since I had never searched the room, it was no surprise I hadn’t known about this item, but the real question was why it was here.

‘……A pass to enter the Fairy Forest.’

I stared blankly at the object.

It was a strange, transparent, round mineral with an otherworldly texture, intricately engraved with the depiction of a forest and wings.

It was a pass that permitted unrestricted access to the Fairy Forest at the eastern edge of the continent—an area forbidden to humans.

Most people wouldn’t recognize it, but as a mercenary, I had traveled the continent to hunt monsters. I had received an invitation related to the Fairy Forest, so I knew what this pass was.

‘This valuable item existed here?’

The Fairy Forest pass, granted solely by its rulers, couldn’t even be bought with money.

‘Why was this in our house? How did Zigmund know it was here? Why did he want it, and why did Leo lose his mind over it?’

A whirlwind of questions left my mind spinning.

It was my moment of vulnerability.

Suddenly, an instinctual jolt surged through me, and I felt danger before my body moved on its own.

BANG!

A loud explosion followed soon after.

I felt my aura that had constricted Zigmund shatter to pieces. I shifted my gaze from the pass back to Zigmund.

‘I thought I could hold him for at least two minutes…!’

Disorientation washed over me at the unexpected turn of events.

Given the circumstances, Zigmund shouldn’t have been able to escape my aura so quickly unless he employed techniques he hadn’t shown me yet.

As I instinctively dodged right, Zigmund swung his blade at me in tandem.

I felt it clearly.

What was coming at me, breaking free of my aura, was undeniably Zigmund’s energy.

BANG!

Zigmund’s energy collided with the wall, exploding. I couldn’t hide my shock as my mouth dropped open.

‘That… is aura? Is that even possible?’

I doubted my vision.

Aura is the essence of a knight. The color of their aura reflects the answers they found when surpassing their limits.

Zigmund’s aura, which I was seeing for the first time today, took a form I never expected.

“… Damn it.”

Zigmund’s expression twisted as though he had unwillingly revealed a flaw he wished to hide.

For a moment, I was stunned, struggling to regain my focus, but that brief gap turned out to be a huge opening in our fight.

WHAM!

Suddenly, a surge of light burst from the pass I was holding.

An unpleasant magical energy wrapped around my hand. I tried to defend against it quickly, but this time, Zigmund was quicker.

“Let’s call it a day for our meeting.”

The pass that had been in my hand transferred to his. Immediately after, Zigmund turned and leapt through the shattered window, wrecked by the ongoing battle.

“Damn it!”

A moment of negligence had decided the outcome. I gritted my teeth, launching my aura toward the window he escaped through.

Outside the window, I heard pained groans.

Seizing the opportunity while Zigmund hesitated from my aura, I swiftly jumped through the window in pursuit. Leo followed closely behind.

Our home was situated just outside the city, surrounded by trees. I spotted Zigmund fleeing into the dense foliage.

‘Not using teleportation means he’s already exhausted. If we pursue, we can catch him!’

Zigmund, being a powerful magician, would typically have escaped by teleportation in this situation. If he was running away on foot, it meant his magic was depleted.

Leo and I dashed swiftly between the trees, rapidly closing in on Zigmund.

“We have to catch him.”

Even with blood flowing from his thigh, Leo persistently kept pace beside me. A glance at his eyes revealed a crazed obsession.

With a face twisted as if someone was broken, Leo aimed his sword at Zigmund. A toxic green aura, resembling poison, enveloped the blade. Just as Leo began to unleash his aura—

“Stop!”

I suddenly realized what was ahead and thrust myself in front of Leo.

His eyes, nearly devoid of reason, locked onto mine, and I saw his pupils tremble. His faltering steps halted, and his sword-arm stiffened.

‘Damn. Catching Zigmund is hopeless now.’

In the brief moment Leo and I had paused, I felt Zigmund’s presence quickly fading away, and I bit my lip.

Zigmund had likely predicted my intent and fled in that direction. The thought of him moving according to my expectations stirred an intense frustration within me, but there was nothing I could do.

This was my conviction.

“… What are you doing, Shushu? Come on! We need to chase him!”

“… No. Put the sword away, Leo.”

I shook my head at Leo, feeling as though I was spitting blood as I did.

“We can’t go any further… Let’s just go back.”

My voice, torn and dry, felt weak even to my own ears.

Leo looked at me with confusion, gesturing toward the direction Zigmund had escaped.

“Why not? If you hadn’t been injured, we could have attacked back then and easily caught him! Even now, we might still catch up if we chase him! Why can’t we do this?”

“Because that’s where the people are!”

Though I wasn’t angry at Leo, my frustration boiled over, causing me to raise my voice as I confronted the situation that left me with no choice.

The direction Zigmund had fled was straight toward a dense area filled with people.

“If we just go out there, we’ll be right in the middle of the civilians! If you unleash your aura, it would turn into chaos! We can’t involve innocent people! They’ll die!”

“Why would it matter?”

“… What?”

For a brief moment, I was taken aback by Leo’s outcry, and I belatedly questioned him.

‘Why wouldn’t it matter? It matters because we can’t let innocent people get hurt.’

Living comes without reason. Therefore, saving lives also requires no reason. However, killing is something that should never be done, regardless of reason.

It is as obvious as the sky being blue, fire burning, and ice being cold.

Does time flow needing a reason?

No. It is a principle, a natural order. It flows without needing explanations. The notion of not taking lives falls within the same realm of sincerity.

I assumed that Leo, in his excited state, had blurted out a slip of the tongue, as no one could be unaware of the fundamental truth of not killing others.

Thinking so, I met his gaze.

I froze in place.

‘… Ignorance.’

What filled his once-beautiful absinthe-colored eyes was pure ignorance and incomprehension.

He was like a child who couldn’t fathom death, gleefully pinning down a butterfly alive. His eyes were disturbingly clear and clean.

Leo didn’t grasp the very concept that one should not take a life.

“What does it matter if a stranger dies? We just need to retrieve that pocket, no matter how many die in the process!”

“… Leo.”

“Let me chase after him! I’m willing to pursue! If it means hundreds die, I don’t care! As long as we can get that pocket back…!”

“Alexandros Atara!”

Before the torrent of his words overwhelmed me, I uttered his full name, which I rarely spoke. Only then did he fall silent.

The name I had buried, wishing to remain friends with him without any façades. A name that bore the title of an entire kingdom.

“You are a king, Alexandros Atara! How can you govern without valuing lives?”

Stunned, I found myself confronted with a direct contradiction to my beliefs by someone I thought was my ally.

I looked up at Leo, breathless.

Before me stood Leo, wearing a chillingly cold and frightening expression I had never seen before.

“Kashmir. What are you saying? Governance is commanded through fear and majesty! No one should even dare look upon my throne! Slice down anyone who dares approach, and the rest must tremble in fear, knowing they could die at any moment! A true king can sacrifice thousands upon thousands to instill that fear!”

His voice thundered forth, and I felt a bone-deep realization settle within me.

Though I had understood it logically, my heart had never grasped the truth.

Leo was no longer the innocent boy I had known.

He was Alexandros Atara.

A blood-stained monarch who had slaughtered all his siblings, purged the opposing nobles, and plunged the Atara Kingdom into fear.

Upon realizing this, an instinctive wave of disgust surged through me, and I subconsciously stepped back.

Seeing me retreat, Leo’s eyes widened, and he reached out toward me.

How much blood was smeared on that large, firm hand I knew too well?

Crimson blood, the very essence of humanity I loathed, stained his palm.

THUD.

Despite knowing how desperately Alexandros reached out to me, I swatted his hand away.

 

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