I asked,
“They deceived you? How?”
“They said May was going to kill me. That she was jealous of me for taking her rightful place.”
My eyes widened.
“Of course, I didn’t believe it at first. But then they completely hid May away and whispered in my ears day and night. May will kill you. If you don’t want to die, you have to use the Gem first.”
“…”
“They said it over and over for two whole years.”
She took another sip of her drink.
“Now, I wouldn’t fall for something so low. But hearing it constantly for two years… even I started to waver.”
“…”“I was twelve back then. I didn’t have the judgment to know what was right or wrong.”
She let out a deep sigh.
“But even so, I didn’t give in easily. That’s why I made the headband.”
“Huh? Oh, this thing.”
I fiddled with the headband I was wearing.
“Yeah. I made it to change my appearance to May’s. I thought maybe they were saying something different to her, and if I looked like her, I might learn the truth.”
“That’s amazing. Thinking that far at twelve.”
“Not at all. I was an idiot. I went through all that trouble to make it… and then I lost it.”
“You lost it?”
“Yeah. I tried to hide it in every way I could, but apparently, they had already found out.”
Neril’s voice grew quiet.
“The day I completed the headband, it vanished like a lie. I searched frantically and eventually found it.”
“…Don’t tell me.”
“Yeah. May was wearing it.”
“…”
“It was the first time I’d seen her in two years. She met my gaze with the headband on… and smiled. So brightly, so cheerfully… but to me, that smile was terrifying. Like she was silently asking, What did you plan to do with this?”
I closed and opened my eyes slowly.
“May ran toward me. I thought… she was coming to kill me.”
“Why didn’t you bind her with magic?”
“I didn’t know any magic at the time. Ever since I was adopted, the only thing they made me do were experiments for implanting the Gem.”
So she hadn’t even been taught magic, yet made the headband herself?
Just from what she had overheard and seen?
Even in all this, her brilliance was something to admire.
“The only thing I could do… was absorb vitality using the Gem of Desolation.”
“…”
“I just wanted to drain enough to stop her from getting close. That’s all I meant to do.”
I didn’t need to hear more.
Neril, using the Gem’s power for the first time, couldn’t control it.
She absorbed far more than intended.
May was probably killed.
Tap.
Neril placed her hand on the diary.
“Defir kept all the house’s vile manipulations hidden from May. But… maybe she sensed something was wrong. She wanted to find out the truth, so she tried to get her hands on this diary.”
“…”
“One of the loyal butlers secretly took it and gave it to her.”
“…”
“He was the only one who cared about us both. I remember he was so upright that he was often excluded. That’s probably why the rest of the household didn’t share their schemes with him.”
Could it be that butler’s descendant…?
Reading my expression, Neril nodded.
“Yes. Domen, the one Grey killed was his last descendant.”
“…”
“Unfortunately, May didn’t have the skill to open the earlier pages. I think Defir knew she wouldn’t be able to, so he didn’t guard it too tightly.”
I remembered how, back in the capital, Neril had struggled to open sealed pages until Beyond taught her the unlocking gesture.
May, completely untalented in magic, couldn’t possibly have opened the pages written by her father.
“So she never figured out what was really going on. But… she started writing her own diary in the back of the book.”
“…”
“She only wrote for a few days before Defir took it from her. …Later, after May died, I managed to get the book with help from that loyal butler.”
“Were you able to open the pages then? You said you hadn’t learned magic yet.”
“I couldn’t open the sealed pages. But I could read the part May had written. She wasn’t skilled enough to put a seal on her entries.”
Neril’s voice turned heavy.
“May’s short diary entries were smudged with tears, and the paper was crumpled. From crying as she wrote.”
She bit her lip.
Tears streamed down her cheek.
So that was why she desperately wanted the diary back.
The spells written inside weren’t what mattered to her.
What she truly treasured was May’s last journal entries.
“That girl… that fool… she was truly heartbroken that we had grown apart.”
“…”
“She was crying her eyes out, writing that she wanted to be close to me again.”
“Neril…”
“When I read May’s diary, I lost my mind. I will kill them all. Every last person in this family will die. The ones who deceived me and made me kill May… I will send every single one to the underworld. That was the only thought in my head.”
And so, Neril unleashed the full power of the Gem of Desolation.
She annihilated the Erenica family.
Most of the sins in her blood script probably came from that day.
Swipe.
Neril wiped away her tears and said,
“The reason I have lived this long… well, that’s because of it. Or maybe I should say, because of that.”
“Neril.”
“The Martial King only stored vitality in his Gem, but Defir made sure the vitality flowed into me. I absorbed the life force of everyone in the household.”
“…”
“My natural lifespan ended long ago. I’m only alive now because of the vitality I took in back then.”
So in other words…
I swallowed hard and asked,
“You look like you are in your early twenties…”
“Yeah. I would have died at twenty-two. That was my real limit. I was always destined for a short life.”
“What if you released all the stored vitality?”
“I would die immediately. Like I said, my original life is long gone.”
Before the regression, Neril had told Kaeld she would “disappear.”
She didn’t say she would commit suicide because for someone whose life was already over, “suicide” wasn’t the right word.
For someone whose natural lifespan was already over, the word suicide didn’t quite apply.
“I was supposed to be gone already. But I couldn’t bring myself to go. I was afraid. Afraid of what May might say if I met her in the afterlife.”
“Neril…”
“So I kept drifting through life. But I never felt happiness, not once, through all those years.”
“…”
“When I finally thought it might be time to die, I heard that the butler who watched over May’s grave had a son. I can’t remember which generations of butlers he was…”
That son must have been Domen Howd.
Neril, seeing my expression, nodded again.
“Right. He was the descendant of the butler who showed me the truth. I couldn’t just leave him.”
“So you decided to live a little longer?”
“Yeah. But I had become nothing more than an empty husk. I had no more attachments to this world. That’s why I stopped caring about all the Erenica heirlooms and treasures.”
“That was your ‘slump.’ And how Dame was able to steal the heirloom.”
“Exactly. The moment I realized Dame had stolen it… emotions I had buried for ages came rushing back. ‘Ah… May’s diary is in that heirloom…’ That’s what I thought.”
Dame had threatened to burn the heirloom.
Neril must have been unable to bear the thought of May’s final traces being destroyed.
So she made the secret pact and took on the label of the Witch of Carnage.
Her story connected directly to the present.
But I still had one more question.
“You said the Gem of Desolation was implanted in you.”
“I know what you’re about to ask. Why was it found in the Martial King’s stomach instead?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know either. After I used its power and destroyed the house, I lost consciousness. When I woke up, the Gem was gone.”
“Maybe…”
I swallowed hard.
“Idria took it.”
“Mm. I have thought the same thing.”
“…”
“That Gem was so deeply embedded in me, it couldn’t be extracted without killing me. I can’t imagine anyone but the Demon King being capable of pulling it out.”
“So you were the first among us to meet Idria.”
“Looks like it. Not that I’m happy about it.”
Let’s confirm it.
I called to Trail.
“Show me the secret between Idria and Neril.”
[……]
‘Trail?’
[Whew. I was listening so intently I forgot to breathe. Hold on a second.]
I let out a small laugh.
He’s the oldest of all the heroes, and yet so sensitive.
<You have used the Eye of Omniscience.>
<The current level of the Eye of Omniscience is 4. You may access secrets up to Grade A.>
<Selected target: “The secret between Neril Slane and Idria.”>
<No related secrets exist. Access denied.>
Huh?
I blinked.
Neril asked,
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, I guess I can talk about it now. I used Trail’s ability to check for any secrets between you and Idria.”
“That’s an incredible power. Wait, then why did you even bother asking me about May’s secret?”
I shrugged.
“Would you really want me poking into your secrets behind your back?”
“…No. Absolutely not.”
“Sounds like I made the right call then.”
“Mide.”
She looked at me, her face slightly red.
“You’re very considerate.”
“…”
“Uh, I mean you are very kind.”
“Aren’t those basically the same thing?”
“Anyway, are you saying there’s no secret between me and Idria? That she’s not the one who took the Gem of Desolation from my body?”
I nodded.
Neril leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.
“Then who was it? I can’t think of anyone else.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not that important.”
“No, it’s really important.”
“What matters right now is drinking.”
I raised my cup.
Neril gave me a dazed look.
“Why is drinking important?”
“Because I want to have a drink with you.”
“Pfft. What kind of reason is that?”
“Come on, cheers. My arm’s getting tired.”
She laughed and raised her cup.
Clack.
Our wooden cups knocked together with a light sound.
I drank mine down in one go.
Neril, though she didn’t need to, followed suit.
“Ugh. This tastes like crap. Why do people drink this?”
“You okay? You’re a lightweight.”
“I’m fine. Pour me another.”
“Didn’t you just say you don’t know why people drink this?”
“Just pour it. And I know you’re a lightweight too, okay?”
Huh?
How did she know that?
Neril chuckled and said,
“Hasphil territory. Your hometown. You were drinking with the locals. I was there too.”
“I remember drinking a lot that night, though.”
“Must have messed with your memory. You didn’t make it past three drinks.”
“…”
“Now pour.”
I refilled her cup.
And so, that night…
We drank until we were completely wasted.
When I woke up, it was morning.
Neril was curled up in my arms.
…?
What the hell happened?
[It’s fine. Stay calm.]
‘Huh?’
[It wasn’t as big a deal as you think. It stayed within the boundaries of what I could observe.]
‘What the hell does that mean?’
[You both passed out together at the end. I’m not sure whether to call that disappointing or fortunate.]
‘Can you please speak clearly?’
My head already feels like it’s splitting.
Just then, Neril stirred and opened her eyes.
She looked at me for a moment, then realized my arm was wrapped fully around her.
After tilting her head a few times in confusion, she asked,
“What happened?”
I replied,
“It’s fine. Stay calm.”
That same night, when Mide and Neril were clinking glasses.
Kaeld and Sobius were staying at an inn in Gabriel territory.
Sobius said,
“We are meeting the lord tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“If my guess is right, Mide will be near the Erenica family’s tomb. He is probably going to enhance the ‘headband’ and use it to create the Hero’s mark.”
“…”
“Once he completes it, wouldn’t he want to test whether it really works? Naturally, he will show it to the lord.”
Kaeld, having no idea what this was all about, let out a deep sigh.
“Can you please explain things properly?”
Surprisingly, Sobius nodded without protest.
And he began to explain, slowly.
Amazingly, his explanation matched exactly what Neril had told Mide.
Except for one detail.
“That’s how Neril destroyed the Erenica family. She absorbed the life force of everyone in the household, except for one butler.”
“That’s why she lived so long.”
“Exactly. And I was the one who retrieved the Gem of Desolation.”
Kaeld couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
The Erenica family had been wiped out over 200 years ago.
How could he have retrieved the Gem at that time?
As if he had noticed Kaeld’s doubts, Sobius let out a chuckle.
“Why do you look so shocked?”
“I mean… that was 200 years ago…”
“Lady Idria has lived close to eternity. Do you think she created the Fingers of Lies using only people from this era?”
“…”
“You saw only Ophelia and Hyran and jumped to conclusions. That’s not very sharp for someone aiming to be a hero.”
His knack for belittling people was evidently something he shared with his master.
By now, Kaeld had built up a tolerance to it and brushed it off.
“So you’re connected to the Erenica family somehow. But that’s a bit strange.”
“…”
“Your armor and sword clearly mark you as a knight. What connection would a knight have with a family of mages?”
“I had some dealings with Defir Erenica.”
Kaeld thought back to the story Sobius had just told.
Someone connected to Defir…
Did anyone in that tale fit?
Then Sobius said,
“Defir Erenica made a deal with me. He agreed to my request in exchange for the Gem of Desolation.”
“…?”
“I had to check whether the ‘experiment’ was progressing properly. So I would visit the Erenica estate from time to time to monitor things.”
“…”
“Defir always asked for more time, making all sorts of excuses. But when I visited him one last time, he seemed full of confidence.”
Wait.
‘What is he saying right now?’
It almost sounded like he was saying he was that person.
“He said Neril had engraved a powerful spell into a headband. And that if it were given to May, Neril’s final thread of trust would snap.”
“…”
“And the next time I visited, Neril had just destroyed the Erenica family using the Gem’s power.”
“…”
“Once I confirmed the experiment’s success, I immediately recovered the Gem.”
Kaeld’s body trembled uncontrollably.
Sobius continued in a calm, indifferent tone.
“I considered killing her and taking the Gem, but… even I couldn’t bring myself to harm a child. It took quite a bit of effort to retrieve the Gem without hurting her.”
“…”
“I am a hero, after all. I couldn’t just kill a pitiful test subject.”
“You are not saying…”
“I am.”
Swish.
Sobius removed his helmet.
And beneath it was a face Kaeld knew all too well, a legendary figure.
Kaeld practically shouted,
“Padania Brook!”
Sobius… no, the Fourth Hero, Padania Brook, calmly put his helmet back on.
And with a quiet voice, he said,
“Let’s get along, junior.”
Note: Its not a translation error, its a case of gender-bender. Sobius is referred to as male, while Padania is referred to as female. And Sobius is sometimes referred as he/she in coming chapters.
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