Episode 2-a. The City Where Night Does Not Come, Tevriss.
The bustling city streets.
Among the twins who were holding my hand and walking along, Yaki was the first to speak.
Despite being daytime, the surroundings were so decadent and indulgent that we kept our heads down, but the children’s curiosity and liveliness could not be easily suppressed.
“Ain hyung, isn’t it bad to stay here for more than ten days?”
“Yeah. It’s not allowed.”
That was unacceptable.
Part of the reason was simply that it negatively impacted the twins’ education and moral understanding.
“Why?”
“You’ll die.”
More importantly, if you exceeded that established limit, you had to risk your life when trying to exit the city again.
“Wha…?”
“I’m not joking. Once you stay for about a month, you just won’t be able to leave. The moment you step out, the accumulated fatigue will hit you all at once, and you’ll drop dead.”
And this was a story supported by a considerable amount of evidence.
When Tevriss first changed in this manner, people were initially relaxed, thinking it was something wonderful and amazing.
They didn’t feel tired and no longer needed to sleep.
That meant they could enjoy life more and earn more money.
So, at first, they simply thought it was a blessing and reveled in the phenomenon.
However.
The problem occurred the moment they tried to exit the city.
As soon as they stepped outside in a bid to travel, once they began to transport goods with long-awaited horse-drawn carts.
Those who crossed the city walls suddenly gasped and dropped dead, which must have been a story of despair for the residents of Tevriss, who realized the problem with the phenomena far too late.
Thus, the limit on how long one could stay was determined by the deaths of people.
Even though it was extremely tiring, a period of up to ten days was manageable with some rest.
Though there were differences among individuals, the chance of dying increased exponentially if one stayed even a day or two longer.
So we had to set our maximum limit to ten days and act accordingly.
Tevriss was a city of tourism and indulgence; many residents earned ample money for their livelihoods.
But it didn’t mean that there was a huge poster from the city walls offering massive rewards for solving the problem.
Those residents were destined for short lives but were unable to step outside.
Their fates had already been decided.
As mere culprits, they were hoping someone would come and solve their situation.
So perhaps the transformation into a city of tourism was also a hidden desire for many to gather.
Listening to my explanation, Tori tilted her head and asked.
“Um, so isn’t it a problem to solve it…? If it suddenly gets fixed and becomes a regular city, all the residents who lived here would die.”
“Probably not.”
“Why?”
“According to scholars, assuming this is a magical phenomenon, magic follows the laws of causality. So if the phenomenon disappears and the city returns to normal, all the karma accumulated during that time will fall on the caster.”
If it were ancient magic, it wouldn’t matter as it belonged to the dead, and for modern magic, it would be the evil magician’s, so they’d deserve to die.
“So whether it’s ancient magic or some malicious modern magic someone created, if it’s solved, the residents can live normally.”
Of course, that’s if the assumption about magic was correct.
And.
The residents here, even if they had to die for it not to be magic, would rather just hope this phenomenon ends.
“It’s like that…. Hmm, then we must definitely solve it!”
“Right! We are the owners of the letter, so we’ll definitely solve it! For the sake of the people of Tevriss, not for a huge reward!”
The children said this and vigorously nodded their heads, and I looked at them kindly and patted their heads.
We finished our conversation and quickened our pace.
Tap, tap—
The sound of my boots continued in a rather hurried manner, and the children walked on with their heads slightly bowed again.
There isn’t much time.
If there’s no way to solve the problem definitively, it’s better to stay as briefly as possible.
Under the towering buildings, a few people with vacant expressions filled the connecting streets.
Homeless individuals sprawled on the streets, having just realized, long after succumbing to gambling debts, that so much time had passed.
Like those who had fallen into the dazzling lights.
Unable to escape from here, without the courage to face death and live on.
The twins and I opted to navigate alleyways, avoiding the main roads.
While the alleyways reeked, they were preferable to places where many would be passing by, especially for a problem that had remained unsolved for a century.
I hesitated, wondering if it was alright to go because of the children, but they instead grabbed my hand and said it was fine.
“… You’re unnecessarily precocious.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing.”
Yet, one less bitter truth was that there were no abandoned children in this city’s alleys.
No matter which alley we wandered, only the stench of refuse wafted in the air, with no sights of struggling children.
Though I pondered how we would save any orphans we encountered, that was unnecessary worry.
After all, this was not a city where children would come to visit, and the residents were said to be making plenty of money and living in abundance.
So we continued wandering through quiet areas.
“This alley looks so desolate and suspicious that we could check each building here.”
“Yeah, let’s do that. Follow closely behind instead of sticking to the side.”
“Yes~”
Thus, we were entering one building after another to investigate.
The buildings in question looked like they had something hidden lurking in their shadows.
I was still unsure about bringing children to such places, but the glimmer of excitement in their eyes was unmistakable.
Therefore, I took another step forward.
Tap—
The sound of footsteps echoed down the hollow silence until I arrived at a decrepit door.
As I opened it with a creak, a pile of stale dust mixed with the wind poured out.
What was visible inside was nothing but a dimly lit darkness, so we simply stared at it for a while.
“…”
“…”
“That might not be magic, but something ghostly may come out.”
“B-But, I have a lantern, oppa…”
As I spoke, it felt as if the moment we entered, a ghost was waiting to pull us in, never to return.
Before long, the children had placed the lantern and oil beside me, taking two steps back to pull out cheer sticks and wave them.
“What are you doing?”
“Wishing you a safe return!”
“…”
“F-Fighting…”
I had told them to stay back in the lodging, and yet here they were, my little rascals.
Leaving the twins behind and entering alone would put them at risk should anything happen.
“Stop messing around and hurry up, you little ones.”
“Eeh…”
I lit the lantern and lifted it, guiding the children to stick close to my legs again.
And so, I started moving forward, waving the lantern’s light in the gloomy shadows.
With every step, the sound of the old wooden floor echoed, extending my footfalls in the silence.
The interior of this outdated building was surprisingly eerie yet unfrightening.
Wherever the lantern light fell, there were remains of people not long gone, with rags scattered about.
Perhaps it was being used as makeshift shelter for vagrants.
Then again, they might not be charged with trespassing since it was an abandoned house.
Well.
Since we were uninvitedly occupying a deserted building, I might not even be guilty of trespass.
I muttered such nonsense to myself as I continued to walk, and given the size of the building was larger than expected, we had already spent 10 to 20 minutes checking various places.
“Hyung, I don’t see any suspicious secret passages.”
“Yaki, you idiot. Would secret passages be that easy to spot?”
“What do you mean, Tori? We’re twins, so if I’m an idiot, so are you!”
“No, I’m smart. You’re the only one who’s dumb.”
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Shut up, you little brats.”
Since the children seemed to have relaxed, they were playfully bickering like usual.
It looked like the dimness had become familiar, and their sealed mouths had been set free.
“There’s no magic, oppa.”
“Can you even distinguish what magic is, you?”
“Be quiet, you fool. I spoke to oppa!”
“I talked to hyung too, and you called me dumb.”
“That’s because Yaki, you are dumb.”
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Seriously, be quiet.”
Before long, I sighed at the sight of them gripping each other’s hair and growling.
Once the argument started, it would drag on for a while, so I decided to take a look around.
Then.
Creak—
“Tori, you this…?”
“Yaki, you idiot…?”
Creak—
As noises echoed from the end of the corridor, the children’s quarrel came to a sudden stop.
Creak, creak—
The unpleasant noise of the old floorboards was more than a single source.
I hurriedly extinguished the lantern and hid in the darkness, wrapping my arms around the children, hoping whoever it was would just pass by.
However, that wish was not particularly realistic.
With another creak marking its approach, a figure shaped like a person appeared near us and flicked on a light as it spoke.
“Two little brats and one adult. We can sell the kids and just kill the adult.”
“Hmph, I wonder if they have money. They look a bit scruffy.”
“I don’t know, let’s just check. Hey, do you have money? If you have a lot, I’ll let you live, kheh…”
About ten burly men approached us, each armed with a weapon.
They were outright bandits.
“Mommy.”
“That’s a derogatory statement about mom.”
“… Mama.”
“Y-Yeah…”
Looks like the old man picked up something strange.
The children had now hid completely behind me while muttering those words.
Suddenly—
“What are those kids saying… aahhh…!!”
I dashingly charged out and thrust my sword into the heart of the one in front of me.
“… One down.”
Even if this was in broad daylight, do they really think they can pull this off?
The scoundrels didn’t even pay taxes.
“B-Bastard…! Kill him!!”
But fights generally start by penetrating an opponent’s defenses through surprise attacks.
It’s those who remain calm without being flustered in sudden situations that seize victory.
I kicked the lantern from the thug’s hand to extinguish its light.
Darkness enveloped again.
I tossed my black robe to the kids, who, as if accustomed to it, donned it and crawled deeper into the shadows.
“Ugh—! You bastard! Turn the light back on…! Urgh….”
“Two.”
The limited space was a stroke of luck for me.
In the darkness, I couldn’t just swing weapons around carelessly, so I focused on the one figure thrashing around and took him down one by one.
“Ahhh… you freak… ugh.”
“Three.”
Seven left.
I had to kill as many as possible while they were in disarray.
This wasn’t a fistfight but a battle of armed individuals, so having numbers on my side was crucial.
Thinking this, I approached a terrified thug wildly swinging his weapon.
Thwack—
“Ugh!”
Just in time, I kicked him, sending him crashing into the gang.
With a scraping sound, I heard their screams as they collided together.
I could hear a thud as a figure toppled over; it seemed my blind sword had found a foe’s neck.
Slurp—
“Ugh… cough…”
“Four, and five.”
Thus, I casually slashed the next guy’s throat.
The bandit numbers had rapidly reduced to half, and finally, one of them picked up a lantern lying on the ground and turned it on.
Now, the scenery began to sway once again with the return of light.
Blood splattered in various places, mixing with dust, forming clumps.
Bright red liquid was still gushing from corpses whose throats had been sliced and hearts pierced.
“Uwaaa… that crazy murderer…! That guy killed… five of them…!”
Still five remaining, but a few of them seemed intimidated as they wiped off blood from their swords, and hesitantly stepped backward.
However, there was one thing to correct.
“No, that’s not right.”
“L-Let’s kill him…! Now that the light is on, let’s stab him together…!”
As they growled and charged toward me like frightened beasts, I declared.
“You were the ones who wanted to kill and sell us for money. I’ve already met a good number of such scum, so I won’t be falling for it like an idiot any longer.”
Three years.
For three years, I suffered as an idiot, carrying scars all over my body.
So notions of hesitation about killing had long since been discarded.
During these three years as an adventurer, I vividly felt that if I allowed myself to hesitate when facing evil, I would end up dead.
The scar on my back from when I was young and overly naïve and got stabbed; the scar on my shoulder from being chased by many; the long scar on my thigh.
They proved it.
They whispered that acting like a fool wouldn’t bring me endless happiness.
So I had to grit my teeth and swing my sword towards those people.
“Die, just die…!”
I brandished my sword.
The light from the lantern reflected in my eyes turned a brilliant red, and unlike before, my sword moved fluidly, taking another thug’s head.
“Six.”
And.
It didn’t take long to deal with the remaining four.
To speak frankly.
The memory of my first time killing someone was still fresh.
In that moment, while riding alone on a cart when bandits chased us down, thinking I might actually die, I swung my sword and killed one of them.
When those who robbed and killed me charged at me in a frenzy, enraged over the loss of their companion, I erroneously thought it was humorous to vomit after killing them.
Ultimately, once I recalled that I had killed a person, my stomach turned and I threw up everything I had eaten.
I swung my sword again while throwing up those remnants over the corpses of the slain bandits.
Because it nauseated me.
I was not sure what was so disgusting, but everything felt nauseating enough that I had to spill out for quite a while.
I was undoubtedly living in this world, but inside, my thoughts were half mixed with modernity.
Having learned how to shoot in the military, I had never aimed a gun at anyone.
I realized late how heavy the weight of having to kill people truly was.
Beasts.
Monsters.
The feeling of slaughtering them felt entirely different from what I experienced just now, and the surging vitality felt unpleasant.
The desperate screams and cries for mercy that reached my ears were distasteful.
They were the bad ones who had tried to kill me first and take my belongings, yet I felt a sense of aversion.
And.
In the midst of all that pondering, Bex, the swordmaster who first taught me to wield a sword, once said to me.
“Of course, it could happen, but will you still say the same when a precious person is killed by such beings?”
To the burden of not yet letting go of such concerns, Sir Joseph, the knight I met in Krephen, said.
“People? Why are they called people? Those who wield their swords against the law are beasts, not people.”
They told me.
“Don’t hesitate. If you wish to advance, be prepared to kill, Ain.”
“Do not hesitate. If you wield the sword, be prepared to cut down whatever stands before you, Ain.”
They said not to hesitate.
Even though at that time their words hadn’t reached me immediately.
Fwoosh—
“Gggh… what the…”
Thud—
“… Heat.”
Before long, I was in a blood-soaked room, calmly shaking off the blood from my sword.
“Hey, kids, keep your eyes closed.”
“Yes.”
I lifted the children, who were curled up in the corner, along with the robe, and headed outside.
Thus.
Until I returned to the lodging and washed it all away, a fishy scent lingered from my body.
The red stains on my clothes would never wash away completely, faintly remaining forever.
