Squish. Squish.
The sounds of nature echoing all around were quite pleasant to listen to.
I sat in front of the vigorously burning bonfire, lost in deep thought.
‘Finally, things are starting to take shape.’
Indeed, over the past few days, I had accomplished quite a bit.
I cleaned out the dusty office, sorted through the supplies provided by the royal family, and arranged a suitable living space for Rudine.
But that wasn’t all.
Using modern knowledge, I created and installed anti-suicide signs.
Just in case, I meticulously placed them in every potentially fatal location.
Hmm, not bad at all.
Thanks to that, the office, which previously felt like a haunted house, now resembled a proper workplace.
“The future is what concerns me.”
I muttered to myself, my voice barely audible.
Currently, this place where I reside is located on the northeast side of Blackmore, close to the Cliff of Death known as Calvaron.
It was quite a distance away from the areas to the west, notorious for being overrun with phantoms, anomalies, and mazes.
Blackmore, renowned for its vast size, varied considerably in danger levels across its different zones. However, the western areas were especially notorious as being among the most perilous.
Hence, the western zones are referred to as the “Inner regions” of Blackmore by the common folk.
“So, the deeper we go, the more dangerous it gets?”
Rudine asked, savoring a piece of perfectly cooked meat.
The meat, seasoned just right with salt, seemed to suit her taste.
“Yeah, dangerous.”
I casually answered her question, leading her narrow her eyes slightly upon hearing my response.
And then,
“Are you planning to go?”
Her straightforward question caused me to pause momentarily in thought.
“Planning to go?”
To be honest, I didn’t want to go, but I had to. The royal family had designated this area, including the forbidden western zones, as part of my management responsibility.
In order to prepare the monthly reports required by the royal family, exploration was unavoidable. Besides, most of the mysterious events described in the original story take place in those areas.
A sigh escaped me involuntarily.
Upon catching that sigh, Rudine nodded with seeming understanding and lifted the corner of her mouth.
“Should I come along?”
Her ashen gray eyes slowly turned toward me.
Caught in her gaze, she was smiling, her anticipation clear in her expression.
I momentarily became lost in thought. The truth was, traveling with her would, in many ways, be safer than going alone.
‘Rudine even awakened her Scarlet Eye recently.’
The Scarlet Eye distinguishes the world into living and non-living entities. It’s a part of the legendary Three Eyes, capable of piercing the essence of life, and only those born with a natural affinity for destruction can awaken it.
I still vividly remember the day she cleanly sliced a demon beast black wolf in half with just a single dagger. It was an act that defied common sense.
Therefore,
“Follow me if you wish.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I reluctantly consented to her request. While Rudine, blissfully unaware of my inner thoughts, beamed with happiness, there was one thing I needed to confirm before proceeding.
“However, there are conditions.”
“Hmm?”
I laid down my condition, aiming at her unpredictable nature.
“You need to avoid impulsive actions.”
“Why?”
“Because your impulsive actions could cause trouble for me.”
“…”
Rudine’s gaze hardened slightly, growing chilly.
As if I’d touched some tender spot of hers, it was unmistakable that her mood had been affected by the conversation.
Though she neither showed any enmity or malice, the expressions and gestures of ‘dissatisfaction’ clearly stemmed from her current sentiment.
‘But it’s a necessary measure.’
She was a ticking time bomb, unpredictable in her outbursts.
Therefore, safety measures were necessary.
To prevent her blade from turning against me, or committing unnecessary killings that would go beyond my intentions.
While harboring these thoughts, I opened my mouth.
Recalling the lines the protagonist from the original story used to guide her,
“Your insanity.”
“!!!”
A single word.
Just one word, but it struck her like a nail, driving itself deeply into her mind.
An uncanny silence fell all around.
A moment later, she muttered with a quivering voice.
“How do you…”
“I once saw someone with the same insanity as you.”
It was a lie, but there was no way Rudine could tell the truth from fiction.
“…”
Indeed.
I continued speaking in a calm voice,
“You don’t need to reproach yourself.”
“…”
“What you’re born with doesn’t change just by trying to fix it.”
It was the truth.
Her destiny, shaped by the world, was not something that could be rewritten simply by trying.
That’s why I could speak with such conviction.
“You were born this way.”
She was a villain.
“Someone who was born this way will simply live this way.”
A creature that thirsts for blood and chases after slaughter.
A person who won’t be accepted by anyone, doomed to be cursed forever.
A villain in a story, destined to live her life ruled by her desires.
And eventually, she would become a seed of corruption that would bring about the end.
That’s why,
“Your survival until today is already a miracle.”
An offensive statement to some extent, but I didn’t blink an eye.
The words I was delivering had already been validated through the protagonist’s dialogue from the original story.
“…”
As expected.
Her shocked eyes trembled violently.
She must have found herself in a complicated state of thought, accepting her innate nature while simultaneously despising it for a lifetime.
The ensuing silence.
So far, everything was on par with the original content.
And,
The line the protagonist used to break the silence and address her with,
“I want you to live.”
Yes.
I was sure those were the exact words he once said.
It was a fairly memorable scene that I couldn’t forget.
“Why?”
A little while later, she slowly raised her head.
Her ashen gray eyes scattered faintly as they caught the light.
“Why do you want me to live?”
I stared directly at her face.
She didn’t avoid my gaze either.
“Because I need you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, but it would be inconvenient if you act recklessly and die, wouldn’t it?”
Rudine blinked her eyes in apparent surprise at my answer.
She grew up eating the contempt and hatred of others.
And here someone was saying she was needed.
That her existence should not lead to death but to living.
It was an incredibly rude statement.
After all, who would positively accept ‘I need you, so don’t behave carelessly’?
But Rudine was different.
“…I see.”
Rudine, who had been silent up until that point, softly spoke up.
Her voice carried a deep tone, as if something inside her had been firmly locked away.
“You want me to live, huh?”
She had always longed to be acknowledged.
She wanted someone to need her.
But those who saw her true nature always avoided her.
However, she had finally met someone who needed her.
Needed her for who she really was, not a fabricated version of herself.
That’s why,
“I understand.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be a good girl.”
“…Yeah.”
She finally opened her heart.
She smiled broadly, like a puppy that had just been praised.
“As I said, your nature cannot be changed just by trying to change it.”
“Hmm.”
“But mindless mechanical killing will invariably lead to major trouble.”
“I get it.”
Does she really understand?
I hid the slightly bitter feeling as I continued speaking,
“Killing the same person can carry different weights depending on who it is.”
The history of mankind is the history of killing.
Does that mean all of humanity is evil?
No, not quite.
The reason is, they killed “things that are okay to kill.”
“You only need to kill things that deserve to die.”
“Things that deserve to die?”
Bandits get treated as heroes when killed.
Killing an ordinary person brands you as a murderer.
Killing animals for food counts as livestock farming.
Killing animals for fun is considered abuse.
It’s a simple matter of camp dynamics.
It’s trash to kill your ally, but self-defense when your enemy dies.
Without justification, it’s trash; with it, it’s self-defense.
Good and evil are inherently just that.
“Do you understand?”
“Hmm!”
Bright and cheerful response.
Alright, it’s getting to the crucial part.
“So, whose side am I on?”
Gulp.
It’s a very childish question, but there’s no helping it.
She blinked her eyes.
After a brief pause, her response was—
“Mine.”
That’s right!
That’s the one!
“So, who shouldn’t be killed?”
“You.”
“And?”
“…” She paused for a moment to think.
“Innocent civilians, and…”
And she looked directly at me as she continued,
“…People that would complicate things if killed.”
Heh.
Right on track.
*
The next day.
“I’m hungry.”
“…It’s only been 30 minutes since we ate?”
After the break of dawn, Rudine and I left the office, heading to the western zone for our investigative expedition.
‘This road is a mess.’
It must have rained last night; the soil stuck stubbornly to my shoes, dragging down every step. The more I walked, the heavier and murkier the air became, prompting a sigh to escape me involuntarily.
That’s when it happened.
“Luke?”
Rudine suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Having no choice, I stopped as well, following her lead.
“Look.”
“What?”
I craned my neck in the direction she was pointing.
Squinting, I could make out a dark silhouette.
“…”
The silhouette was walking towards us.
What was odd, however, was the aggressive manner of its steps, as if the person were agitated and angry.
And besides,
“There’s something strange about its right hand?”
It was clutching something in its right hand.
And that something turned out to be,
“…A sign?”
Indeed, a sign.
A sign that had been cruelly smashed to pieces.
And the text on it read,
[ Can you swim? ]
“!!!”
Wait.
Didn’t I write that sign?
