My ■■■ (4)

Kruud stood in the middle of the path leading to the main drainage.

Of course, since the main drainage was where all the city’s waterways converged, it would have made sense to patrol around it regularly, but there was no need.

“I was hoping it wouldn’t be…”

He had already roughly guessed who would come looking, and Lost likely thought the same. The situation could be considered urgent.

If the <Corruptor> could move based on when that kid gets killed, they need to move right away.

Yet Lost had stopped by the merchant guild to purchase various necessary items.

And brought Kruud along too.

The meaning of this couldn’t be misunderstood.

“Old Lady Anne.”

“My, was I found out?”

Earlier when Lost talked about the <Corruptor>. He revealed that he had already told Anne about this.

That’s quite important information.

The kind of information that should be shared regardless of how bad relations might be.

Yet Anne hadn’t told Kruud about this information. Anne, who had been supporting him.

“Since when? Since when did you betray this city? I thought of you as someone close to a parent, if not quite one…”

“I suppose so. Since I acted that way.”

She made it that way.

Sharing food with him, arranging work for him.

Supporting and celebrating all of that.

All of those actions were merely to make him think that way.

“Then, didn’t you know I would act like this?”

“I knew. Because you grew up to be a righteous and responsible child.”

“Why did you do it then? If you knew I might stand in your way like this, you shouldn’t have done it.”

“If I had intended to make you my slave, I would have.”

“…”

“You needed education. I couldn’t bear to see that brilliant talent go to waste. That’s all it was.”

Anne doesn’t like this city enough to say she wants to protect it.

But at the same time, she harbors no ill will.

The reason she raised Kruud that way wasn’t to scheme something, but simply because she wanted to.

Therefore, her kindness was never false.

“Why suddenly do something like this…”

That’s why Kruud couldn’t understand. How could she so easily abandon a city she had spent over a decade with?

How could she so readily discard a city filled with memories spanning over a decade?

“Things change depending on the situation, dear. Even I wasn’t happy about this situation at first, but…”

Anne looked up at the sky.

The sky filled with dark clouds and endless rain is familiar to the point of feeling nostalgic.

But now it’s time to end it.

“Since that person desires it, I simply follow.”

“That person…?”

“Yes, just as you feel indebted to me, I too have someone like that. Someone I’m grateful enough to give my life for.”

“Did this ‘that person’ say he wanted to see this city fall?”

“Well, who knows. Actually, everything I’m saying now could be lies. Perhaps I truly wanted to save this city, who can say?”

“This isn’t the time for wordplay. Old Lady Anne. Speak plainly.”

“Well then…”

Anne pulled out a book from within her clothes. The book seemed to open on its own before pouring out lights of various colors.

“It means get out of the way.”

Crash!

Something shattered around Anne with a clear sound.

Kruud was frozen in a stance with his spear thrust out. He had prepared when she took out that strange-looking book.

But by the time she took out the book, it was already too late.

“A scroll?”

A type of magical tool with magic stored in it that anyone can use.

Scrolls are expensive.

To begin with, there are few who can make them, and even then they can only store magic two circles lower than their own level.

Therefore, the maximum level of existing scrolls is around 5–6 circles of magic.

Even Edge Forys the grand mage can only store 5 circles of magic, and there’s only one person in this vast continent who can store magic beyond that.

Therefore, items beyond that are rare pieces made by previous generations.

They’re special in both power and efficiency, with remarkable rarity.

“To bind that much into a book…”

How much money must that have cost? Even though Anne is one of the merchant guild masters, she shouldn’t be able to have such items just lying around.

“Well, would you fight a kid who’s reached master level bare-handed?”

Boom!

This time it was a massive explosion.

Magic at the 5-circle level. In other words, a custom piece created with great effort by a magician of at least 7 circles or higher.

“Ugh!”

Even having reached the master level, it’s difficult to completely block such large-scale bombardment magic that unfolds without casting time.

Kruud was forced to retreat helplessly.

“The master level truly is amazing. Well of course, the Empire puts great effort into creating knights of master level.”

Recorded magic pours out from the book Anne is holding.

Kruud couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat at the situation where she was using items that must have each cost astronomical amounts of money as if they were water.

“It’s not wrong to say that you can even block 5-circle magic so easily.”

Anne pulled out a gun with the book in one hand.

She’s a merchant. She can obtain weapons like this easily enough.

Bang! Bang!

Her accuracy is terrible, but she has the scroll book. The gun serves its purpose just as harassment.

“But you see. That’s because it’s cheap.”

No matter how powerful a country might be, most commoners can only do work involving their own bodies.

Isn’t it profitable to feed such people, give them shelter, and teach them how to swing a sword until they reach the master level?

“That also means this.”

Swoosh!

The book emits light.

The scrolls all activate at once, dyeing the surroundings in lights of various colors.

“There are more expensive and convenient methods like this.”

Kruud is the hunter’s guild master. Everyone in the city knows the truth of his exceptional skill.

What reason would there be to come alone to face such a being?

“Little one, I know you.”

Anne quietly declared while watching Kruud sway like a ship drifting in the magical downpour.

“For a merchant, knowledge is an arsenal, and gold is power.”

And she had both of those. That’s why she could have the upper hand even against Kruud.

No, this was actually easier than trying to kill Lilia to begin with.

The level of monster to deal with was different after all.

“You are righteous and kind-hearted. You have attachment to the city too. That’s enough for me to guarantee you grew up well, that the results of my sponsorship weren’t bad at all.”

Anne was sincere.

At least she had no ill feelings about sponsoring Kruud. She truly believed it would be good to have more such good people in the world.

“But what better opponent could there be for a merchant than a sucker?”

Because she wasn’t a good person herself.

She wished for more such people.

“I wanted to show off how splendidly you’ve grown to that person too…”

She had risen from a mere orphan to become a merchant guild master.

There was someone who taught her how to live, how to think.

Anne would gladly die for that person. If that person desired it, she would do it no matter how questionable it might be.

Her mentor had never wished for such things until now.

Even when she brought expensive and rare items, they were sent back multiple times without showing jealousy or greed.

Because he was such a person, Anne could do anything.

“That’s my reason, Kruud.”

That was her reason for living.

The bombardment poured down one-sidedly as if she didn’t even want to look at his face.

Kruud was purely defensive, as if counterattack or even resistance was difficult. The outcome seemed obvious in such a situation.

Yet in the midst of such a one-sided situation.

Bang!

Along with the gunshot, a streak of bright light – Claire Ryan’s sniper shot pierced through Anne’s defenseless shoulder.

*     *     *

The four bullets I embedded in her arms and legs. They didn’t have much effect.

Just as they couldn’t completely block aura, it was the same with holy power, but these were hastily created holy bullets.

They couldn’t exert great power.

“Ugh…”

The four bullets were certainly embedded, but the wounds weren’t large.

The caliber and wound size were different.

She could partially deflect the holy power even if not completely. In the end, this meant she could avoid anything that didn’t contain power above a certain level.

Moreover, the most frustrating thing was…

“This is really getting tiresome.”

The fact that she wouldn’t stop even when I aimed for gaps to pierce her limbs and vital points.

Regeneration is always impressive, but this is truly horrifying.

“How, how dare you… How dare you do this to me…”

“Well, I’m not sure why you’re so shocked, as if you’re somehow special.”

Boom!

Was my sarcasm too much? Her power is even more intense than before.

Even her earlier strength that could tear my flesh just by grazing with a finger wasn’t her full power – it’s truly horrifyingly unreasonable.

Clang!

It’s an attack with huge openings.

But I can’t counterattack. I can’t even pour out bullets targeting openings like before.

By the time I come to my senses, her attack has already arrived before my eyes.

Somehow dealing with that, the same thing happens again.

It feels like walking backwards on a tightrope between life and death.

I’m the one who provoked her. Made her pour out all those emotions.

If she tires herself out, it means those emotions will fade somewhat too.

“Heehee…”

Her attacks that had been driving me back suddenly stopped.

It sends chills down my spine.

There was no reason for this. She must know how wasteful it is to stop attacking in this situation.

Then there must be a reason.

Because she decided to spare me? To have a dialogue? That can’t be it.

“Looks like I won’t need to do anything more? Right?”

“What? Ugh…”

Suddenly my knees buckled.

My vision blurred.

My legs lost strength. Only then could I look at myself.

Just looking down was enough to see.

The pure white priest’s robe stained with black blood. Where that blood was coming from was obvious.

“Though it’s a shame I couldn’t make you look like that with my own hands.”

Black blood poured endlessly from my mouth.

My eyes were shedding tears of blood.

The blood that flowed like that pooled under my mask before dripping down.

Without me even realizing, the ‘corruption’ had been stealing my soul.

Though her physical power was extraordinary, I had been careful about the poison.

But I hadn’t expected this.

“Did you never consider that just being close to me would be a problem when ‘corruption’ had already stained your body?”

Just getting close to a similar being increased the influence of ‘corruption’.

And exponentially at that.

The poison that easily devoured even the Spirin family’s antidote that Linea gave me was now trying to devour me.

“You asked to hear why I resent you, right?”

Lilia approaches me.

With leisurely steps.

Though I know she’s clearly getting closer, I can’t react.

“You can hear about that in hell.”

I knew the chances of winning were low. Still, it was something I had to do. As the Saintess said, my goal was to become either a punching bag or remain as an insurmountable opponent, but it seems I was incapable of either.

I did my best. I didn’t think this would definitely succeed just because of my mindset.

“Are you frustrated? What’s there to be frustrated about? What’s making you tremble so much?”

“…It was a close call.”

“Heeheeheehee! You madman! I like how you keep putting on airs until the very end.”

She grabs my collar and lifts me up from my kneeling position.

My vision is already too blurry to see what expression she’s making. Titan won’t intervene as promised at first.

As she said.

The end. This is my end.

“If you had survived, we could have had that ‘dialogue’ you wanted so much. What a shame, isn’t it? Heehee!”

Her mocking words didn’t make me angry. Rather…

“Keep those words.”

I caught her commitment.

That’s what I could think.

Have I become quite positive in various ways too?

Though I thought I couldn’t move a finger, I grabbed her arm that was holding my collar.

“Clingy men aren’t my type.”

“A brat like you shouldn’t be picky about men.”

“Heh!”

A moment of floating sensation.

The instant I realized she had released my collar.

Bang!

Impact felt on my face.

Splash!

And the cool sensation of water.

I sank into the main drainage as if being sucked in.

*     *     *

Drip.

I heard the sound of water.

Not the raindrops I’d been hearing since entering Rubia, but the sound of water pooled on the ceiling falling one drop at a time.

I thought I might be dead, but then thought this might be a dream.

Like always. Like when she would give me advice in my dreams when I, weak as I was, felt tired and struggling.

But when I opened my eyes, what I saw wasn’t the warm atmosphere of the garden and the Saintess tilting her teacup, but.

“Nice to meet you.”

The figure of a very fragile-looking boy with purple hair.

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

Somehow I could tell.

This fragile-looking boy with his whole body wrapped in bandages was none other than.

“<Corruptor>.”

The very one who had reduced my body to this state.