I almost died.
No exaggeration—it was a near thing.
If she hadn’t grabbed me before I fell…
“Hey, are you okay?”
“…”
Would you be okay? I almost died trying to stop what looked like an attempted suicide.
But then again, it was my fault for rushing in recklessly, so I didn’t blame her any further.
“…If you’d surrounded yourself with mana and charged like that, there was no way I could have avoided it.”
“Who told you to attempt suicide in someone else’s workplace?”
Even though I generally don’t care about others, I’m not apathetic enough to stand and watch someone kill themselves. Who was it that seemed ready to jump just a moment ago? And now you avoid me when I rush over.
The more I think about it, the more exasperated I feel, but I let it slide. Prolonging the conversation would be fruitless.
But then…
“Suicide? Who?”
“What do you mean, ‘who’?”
“Yes. Who?”
Tch.
I pointed at her.
“Who else? You, obviously.”
“…me?”
At that moment, she tilted her head.
A look of utter confusion washed over her face.
“Suicide?”
“Hmm.”
“Me?”
Yes. You.
“…?”
Even after all that, she still didn’t seem to understand. She tilted her head without a word.
“Why me? Why would I do that?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“…”
She crossed her arms and fell deep into thought. What was she thinking about? I couldn’t even begin to guess what was going through her mind.
“…Ah.”
After a long silence, she spoke. A mischievous smile played on her lips as she lifted the corners of her mouth.
“So you ran to save me? Because you thought I was going to die?”
“You’re just figuring that out now?”
“Sorry, it never crossed my mind.”
The moment she said that, her expression cleared. She stared at me, mouth slightly agape, and then chuckled.
‘She’s disgustingly pretty.’
Her reaction was strange, but I wasn’t particularly curious about it. After all, I wouldn’t be seeing her again after today.
However…
“You didn’t want me to die, huh?”
“…What?”
“Were you worried about me?”
She stepped closer, stopping just before me, and smiled.
Smiled.
With a blush on her face while she smiled…
‘Is she insane?’
Both her gaze and her voice were mysteriously changed, and the sudden shift in atmosphere was absurd.
“Do you think I need you?”
“No.”
“Then why did you save me?”
“Didn’t I already explain? This is my workplace.”
“Huh?”
She tilted her head slightly.
“Workplace?”
“That’s right. I’m the manager here.”
She still didn’t understand my answer. After all, it’s unlikely she ever thought or even heard that Blackmore had a manager.
“Blackmore has a manager?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve never heard of that.”
“That’s natural—it’s a recent development.”
I was starting to grow tired of answering. My patience was reaching its limit.
‘Looks like I managed to prevent the attempted suicide…’
But I still needed to make sure she didn’t have more foolish thoughts and send her home properly. To do that, I needed to figure out who she was and where she came from.
‘…Who is she?’
I observed her closely.
Frankly, I had no idea.
There wasn’t enough information in the original text excerpts to deduce her identity.
“What’s your name?”
“My name?”
“Yes. We haven’t introduced ourselves yet.”
If I heard her name, I’d recognize her. That’s what I thought when I asked.
However…
“Ludine Carlyle.”
Huh.
The name seems familiar.
No, it’s definitely a name I remember.
“Ludine… Carlyle…?”
“And you?”
“…Luke Richter.”
Ludine Carlyle.
The second daughter of the Carlyle Count House, one of the three great guardian houses of the Empire.
And an illegitimate child.
But those are just aspects of who she is.
I remember distinctly.
10 years from now.
What she will become while hiding in Blackmore.
There is no way I could not remember.
One of the Seeds of Doom that threatens the continent.
The third seed, born with the ‘Heavenly Slaughter Star.’
What does that mean?
“Luke Richter…”
She is a villainess.
“…That’s a great name.”
Also known as a harbinger of the world’s end.
*
Trudging footsteps echoed at neither a particularly slow nor fast pace.
“…”
What is that?
They’re getting closer.
“What are you doing now?”
“I’m following you.”
I stopped abruptly in my tracks.
“So, why are you following me?”
“Because you’re my benefactor?”
“Benefactor?”
“Yeah. You saved me, didn’t you?”
“So, why does saving you have anything to do with following me?”
“Does that matter?”
I turned my head and glared at her.
Then I simply stated.
“Yes, it does matter.”
She grinned mischievously and bowed slightly.
“My house—well, I left it.”
It was as if she were making an excuse like a runaway teenager.
“You left your house?”
“Yeah. So now I have nowhere to go.”
Of course, I wasn’t asking why she had nowhere to go in the vast expanse of the empire, but why she specifically came to Blackmore.
“Why did you come here of all places?”
“I was driven out.”
“Driven out?”
She nodded cheerfully.
“I committed some wrongdoing, so I got kicked out.”
“Driven out to Blackmore?”
“Yeah, to Blackmore.”
That doesn’t make sense.
What wrongdoing could possibly drive her to Blackmore?
Ludine Carlyle will eventually become the calamity known as the “Blood End” in the future. Her inherent ‘Heavenly Slaughter Star’ instinctively craves blood and ultimately incites slaughter.
Needless to say, her innate disposition is evil. Her strength is renowned in the world as one of the mightiest combatants by the final chapters of the original story. She was also one of the characters recruited by the protagonist.
‘She still seems fine for now…’
I looked at her. She’s shorter than me, but a formidable mana force emanates from her.
‘Something seems off…’
Several things don’t add up. She tried to kill herself. However, as far as I know, the Ludine in the original story was alive in this timeline. That means she shouldn’t die at this point.
…Could it be?
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
As I swallowed hard, I asked bluntly.
“Did you really attempt suicide?”
“Yeah, I did. I just felt so miserable and despicable, so I decided to let myself drop and die.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
She smiled wickedly, her eyes sparkling. There was no sincerity in that smile at all.
‘Damn, what is she?’
A headache was coming on. Meeting an end-of-the-world-level villain a few days after arriving here… Is this some kind of joke?
“So, you’re following me?”
“Yeah. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Judging from her behavior since a while ago, it seems like she doesn’t intend to listen to me. Furthermore, since I now know her identity, I cannot act rashly toward her. After all, there is likely no other place in the empire where she can stay except for Blackmore.
‘I guess I’ll be seeing her from now on.’
Honestly, I was about to lose my mind. Not knowing her identity at all might have been a better option.
At that moment, her voice reached me.
“Would you prefer if I disappeared?”
It was a rather sharp question. Nonetheless, I didn’t bat an eyelid.
“Yes, it’s inconvenient.”
I cut my answer sharply, emphasizing it with a tone of firm certainty.
“I don’t want to step away…”
“How well do you think you know me?”
“You saved me.”
“No, how did the conversation turn like this?”
My head ached. This pointless and nonsensical battle of words was exhausting.
Actually, her following me isn’t a huge issue in itself. The problem lies in her clear intent to follow me.
Is she merely seeking shelter?
Or does she have some hidden motive, cloaked in darkness?
‘There’s no way for me to know.’
Then again, there is no reason to openly show my discontent either. There’s no point in creating an enemy in such a remote location.
As kindly and politely as I could,
I summoned whatever shred of patience I had left and smiled.
However, before I could persuade her,
Gugugugugugugugugugung—!
A vast vibration began to shake the ground.
“!!!”
Through the underbrush, a faint stir could be faintly sensed. The sound of something brushing against dry branches grazed my ears.
At first, it was just a shadow, but slowly its form started to take shape.
It resembled something akin to a wolf.
Krhrhrhrhr!
Amidst the darkness, a sallow yellow pupil glimmered, and from the gaps between its fangs dripped blood-soaked saliva.
An illusionary species (幻想種).
Amongst them, one that’s especially fierce and dangerous—a demon beast.
Kabababababang-!
With each step of the monstrous creature in front of us, resounding blasts erupted.
The earth quaked, and the thunderous rupture pierced my ears painfully.
“…Tch.”
There’s nothing particularly surprising here.
Given the locale, the appearance of an illusionary creature isn’t especially remarkable.
However, demon beasts are classified as dangerous species due to their ferocity, and they must be eliminated upon encounter.
I thought it would happen someday, but not this soon.
As I thought this, I turned to look at Ludine.
‘What is she doing?’
She was calmly staring at the enemy in front of her.
Nonplussed eyes.
A gaze devoid of any human emotion, completely unbelievable.
The moment I prepared to call out to her cautiously,
“———”
Ludine’s lips twisted violently.
It wasn’t a simple smile.
It was a grotesque distortion.
And then,
I witnessed it.
From that pitch-black pupil, something began to creepily seep out.
“!!!”
It was blood.
Brighter, darker, and heavier than anything else—dark crimson blood.
It spread like a puddle in her eyes till it slowly unfurled.
Her hand involuntarily played with a dagger in her right palm.
And then,
—Whoosh!
Her raised right hand sliced through the air vertically.
In the aftermath,
Swooosh—
An enormous vertical line was drawn in the air.
It was as if the space had split, light and darkness intertwined and fractured.
“…What is this?”
Skeeeeeeek!!
Sparks erupted.
Simultaneously, the noise of tearing space filled the air.
The fracture in space, the distorted light and darkness, began to compress around the drawn line.
And then,
“!!!”
The invisible blade cleaved through the demon beast, splitting it in half.
No, to be precise, it was dissected.
From the crown of its head to its very tip.
It was an absurdly clean, unreal strike.
“…”
The halved body of the demon beast slowly slipped and collapsed.
It had a perfectly smooth, clean section, as if a sponge had been cut.
What had I just witnessed?
Just as I blinked my eyes in confusion,
“Hey, how was that?”
Ludine, drenched in the beast’s blood, smiled cheerfully.
It was as if—
“Wasn’t that good?”
An innocent smile, like that of a child untainted by the world.
