Chapter 15

In the end, I couldn’t tell Benedict the truth.

Sitting face to face with Benedict, I calmly lied.

“……Sophia went back to her hometown.”

“Hometown? Where was that again?”

“I didn’t hear that part. She just kept repeating to me that you shouldn’t push yourself too hard from now on.”

“Hometown. Yeah, hometown…”

Benedict, who had been staring blankly into the air, nodded his head bitterly and said,

“You’re right. This place is too dangerous and difficult for someone who doesn’t belong to the Vanguard to stay for long. Sophia is too kind-hearted. The longer she stayed, the harder it would’ve been for her.”

“Benedict…”

“Thank you, for telling me on Sophia’s behalf. Now, could you leave me alone? I need some time to sort out my feelings.”

“Alright.”

Normally, I would’ve patted his shoulder and told him to stay strong, but the mood wasn’t right for that now.

“Stay strong, Benedict.”

I left those few words behind, closed the door, and walked out.

And after a few steps…

“Ugh…”

I stopped in my tracks without realizing it, but then kept walking, pretending not to notice.

Right now, giving him some quiet time alone was the best comfort I could offer.

But my heart wasn’t at ease either, knowing I had no choice but to lie.

Before the afternoon training began, I tried to find a quiet place to be alone and calm my mind.

“Sigh…”

The tower located at the highest point in the city of Kresnig.

Sitting on the precarious railing of this place with a wide-open view and silence, I let out a sigh that no one could hear.

I always thought Rajeing was more demonic than an actual demon, but Sophia…

[“Sophia didn’t show up today. Did something happen?”]

[“There were so many patients waiting just for Sophia…”]

That was the conversation I overheard during lunch, from the people working at the hospital.

I don’t know why the demon did what it did, but it seemed Sophia had been genuinely giving her all to treat patients at the hospital.

I couldn’t help but wonder why, and the conversation I had with Sophia lingered in my mind.

[“Why do you do such things?”]

[“Isn’t it obvious? For their amusement. They enjoy watching you suffer and struggle!”]

The phrase “their amusement” particularly stuck with me.

Sophia said she was a servant of the Plague Toad God.

Maybe we humans and the Vanguard are nothing more than playthings for these so-called gods…

“Are you okay?”

“I’m not… Huh?”

I doubted my ears.

This was clearly the highest tower in Kresnig.

A place that’s hard to climb, and no one would even think of coming here…?

“Why did you stop answering? Someone’s asking you a question, Kairon.”

“……”

The owner of the voice was Abelin.

She was leaning against the railing, one wrong step away from plummeting to the depths below, looking down at me.

“Why are you here?”

“I saw you climbing up here and thought you might be planning to kill yourself, so I followed.”

“That’s ridiculous… I’m pretty obsessed with living, you know.”

“Anyway.”

Abelin pulled out a small glass bottle from her pocket and handed it to me.

The problem was, the contents were pitch black, and I instinctively felt wary.

“What’s this?”

“A bribe.”

“A bribe?”

“Hehe, just go easy on me during training later…”

“……”

“Just kidding. It’s actually a magical potion that makes you want to live even more fiercely to face tomorrow.”

“That just makes it sound even more suspicious.”

As I hesitated, Abelin pulled out another bottle from her pocket and drank it in front of me.

“See? It’s not weird. So you drink it too.”

As soon as I opened the cap, an overwhelmingly sweet and delicious aroma hit my nose, almost making me dizzy.

Carefully sipping it, a subtle sweetness spread through my body.

“What is this? I’ve never had a drink this delicious before.”

“It’s milk mixed with a fancy dessert called chocolate. It’s called chocolate milk.”

“Choco… what? I don’t know what that is, but just the name sounds rare. And milk isn’t cheap either.”

“Yeah. Well, I can’t have it every day either. I drink one like this whenever I’m really down to cheer myself up.”

“You gave me something so precious?”

“I told you, it’s a bribe.”

“……You know how I train, right? I can’t go easy.”

“You’ve already drunk more than half of it, and now you’re saying that?”

“Oh, right. I didn’t even realize…!”

The drink Abelin gave me had a truly devilishly delicious taste.

“It’s not my fault. The drink is just too good.”

“Pfft…”

Abelin burst out laughing at my desperate excuse.

“I’m glad.”

“What? I wasn’t planning to throw myself off or anything.”

“No. You finally seem like your usual self.”

Abelin said nonchalantly as she put the empty bottle back in her pocket.

“You looked really upset during lunch. So I got worried. You know how it is, right? If we’re uneasy, the Vanguard members under us get uneasy too.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

I slowly got up, following Abelin.

“No matter what happens, we can’t show weakness. If we do, this world will be doomed to be ravaged by demons.”

“But don’t overdo it. I’ll make you a promise.”

“What promise?”

“If we survive this wave, I’ll give you another chocolate milk.”

“Haha… Not a bad offer.”

I wasn’t planning to die anyway, so it was a no-lose deal.

By the way, it was almost here.

The last day of the month, when the rift to the other world opens and demons pour out.

We called that flood of demons the “wave.”

The reason for our existence, and the disaster we had to stop at all costs.

“Abelin, don’t you have anything you want?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You offered me such a precious drink, so I should offer something in return, right?”

“That’s nice. Hmm, but I can’t think of anything right now.”

“Tell me later. Just let me know before the wave comes.”

Of course, Abelin wasn’t going to die in this wave either.

But motivation makes people stronger.

But…

“What’s wrong, Kairon?”

“Nothing. I just feel like someone’s watching…”

“You’re pretty confident in your looks, huh? But that’s just self-consciousness.”

“Why are you going there? I just feel like someone’s watching!”

Abelin teased me and then went down the tower first.

I followed her down, but…

Caw— Caw—

Far away, above the residential area of Kresnig, several purple crows were circling in the sky, cawing.

***

“This is…”

Benedict’s expression hardened.

Just in case, he had followed his hazy, drunken memories to Sophia’s house.

From the outside, it looked fine, but the traces all over the house clearly showed signs of a fierce battle.

‘Kairon. What the hell…’

Benedict had heard from Kairon that Sophia had gone back to her hometown, but Benedict couldn’t bring himself to believe that.

Moreover, it seemed like Kairon had put a lot of effort into it this time.

Normally, it was obvious when Kairon was lying, but this time, there was a genuine, heartfelt sincerity in his words.

So Benedict almost believed him, but his love and longing for Sophia remained, so he found Sophia’s house.

‘And these traces…?’

As an experienced warrior, Benedict could guess how the battle had unfolded by looking at the traces.

Slashes and stabs from a sword, something like a club smashed into the walls.

And…

The house was filled with traces of something melting the walls yellow.

Benedict instinctively realized that something unusual had happened, and that Kairon was trying to hide it for his sake.

‘I need to find Kairon. I’ll ask him what the hell is going on!’

As Benedict turned around to leave…

“Are you angry?”

“Gasp…!”

A man in a purple cloak had appeared behind Benedict without a sound.

“You look pretty angry. Are you angry? Haha…”

The man had a crow with an eerie glint in its eyes perched on his shoulder.

Benedict knew this man was no ordinary person.

“Who are you?”

“I am Amon.”

The man grinned and added,

“……The apostle of the Crow God.”