Chapter 233 – Gaiden – Part 0, Chapter 8
As a legitimate winner of the Battle of the Territory, I gained ownership of the city. And the next day, as soon as Baron Benek joined my faction, I relinquished control of the city to him and left. The territory to be regained was not one or two pyeong, but it was impossible to stay in that city forever. I guess the number of soldiers was increased by weaving the bodies of the people I killed yesterday and incorporating them into the Undead Army. I started my journey again, aiming for the nearest city.
Damn, knock, knock, knock, knock.
Normally, I would have left the driver’s seat to Mars and closed my eyes in the carriage, but I couldn’t do that. Because now, Mars and I weren’t the only two riding in this carriage. Ray, a new member of the party from this city, responded to my invitation and joined the trip, but he was still afraid of being in the same space with the man. However, since it was impossible for me to sit in the coach’s seat with Mars and a man who was not yet fully healed, I, the owner of the carriage, ended up sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Ha… I need to fix that trauma quickly.”
I let out a deep sigh as I admired the back of the zombie horse leading the wagon. Since I had no intention of continuing to breathe the cold air in the driver’s seat, I made up my mind to cure her mental illness. Considering that she, who refused to communicate with anyone, responded to her ‘whisper of corruption’ and left together, if you use ‘whisper of corruption’ periodically, you will be able to reopen the door to your heart that was firmly closed. Of course, it will take a very long time since I haven’t fully mastered this power yet.
Leaving Verden City, which was the domain of Baron Benek, we will head to Emerys City, one of the largest cities next to the capital of Hermon Kingdom. And the lord of the city of Emeres…
“A branch of the Duke of Grakas, Viscount Gelion.”
A newly created family, separated from the Duke of Grakas. However, he was a noble family who was not on a bad terms with his main family, the Duke of Grakas, no, rather, he quickly succeeded to the Viscount thanks to the Duke of Gracas’ side looking after him. If Viscount Cayden Gelion, head of the Gelion family and current lord of Emeris, dies, the Duke of Grakas will no longer be able to look down on me. But it doesn’t matter.
In any case, the center of the Armageddon Territory has nothing left except for the mansion where I stayed, and the towns and cities I have been through so far are not so important. However, Emerys City is one of the larger cities, and if you successfully arrest it, you can gain a solid advantage in the future battle with the Duke of Gracas. There’s nothing left in Armageddon, their home base, anyway, so all they can do is lay a siege on our side to reclaim the stolen city of Emerys.
Since a castle is originally made on the premise that it will not be attacked and defend against enemy attacks, it can be seen that basically the attacking side in a siege warfare needs three times as many troops as the defending side with simple calculations. In addition, I headed to Emerys City and gathered the corpses of those I killed to increase my strength. Even if the Duke of Grakas recruits as many troops as possible, by the time I occupy Emeris City, the number will be 1.5 times greater. Besides, the soldiers on this side do not eat, sleep, or even die.
Even if ordinary soldiers are the opponent, it is very difficult to attack the castle, but who can capture the castle that is guarded 24 hours a day by undead soldiers who do not need supplies? The Duke of Grakas has no choice but to conduct a reckless siege against Emerys City, even for the sake of the family’s authority and profit, and unless unexpected variables intervene, victory on this side is almost certain. If you break one of Hermon’s two wings like that, the Duke of Period wouldn’t even dare to attack me for their own sake.
In other words, whether or not I can safely get my hands on the next destination, Emeris City, will have a big impact on my future success in fulfilling my role in this world.
“Hmm…”
It was unexpected, but Ray joined the party.
This play, prepared by Goddess Luminous, does not follow one set scenario, but is a format in which several small scenarios are added to the big frame of the main scenario. That’s why I call Reyna Mars a ‘candidate of the hero’s companion’ rather than a ‘coworker of the hero’. There are many people who have the possibility that the hero chosen by the goddess will appoint her as her ally. There is no law saying that someone must be chosen. It’s left to the warrior’s choice.
And the fellow candidates of the warrior each have one outstanding talent.
As for Mars, she is that strong body. She has excellent physical strength enough to withstand my immortal army for several hours alone, and a body that is so durable that she is ignorant and unscathed by moderate attacks.
As for Ray, she has an affinity for animals. It is safe to say that all of her beasts, from timid animals that do not like her humans to ferocious demons that harm her humans, show her almost unconditional favor. If her ability is strengthened by some kind of power of her own, her talent is one of the causes of her tragedy: an overwhelming affinity for wild animals that she can tame even the ferocious beasts of the north.
Looking at Ray’s condition now, she’s too good to be a hero’s ally, and she can’t be left alone, so if you’re taking her with you, you need to consider using her talents. If Ray lends her strength, she can become the eyes and ears of the untrained wild birds and rats that inform their enemies. Of course, if she doesn’t want it, I can’t force it. Her tragedy itself was caused by her, her overwhelming affinity for animals.
However, at this time I did not know. No, I couldn’t have imagined it at all.
Now, because of her extreme trauma, she can’t even stand being in the same room as me. That is.
*
“…Huh! Ha, ha… Huh…”
After tossing and turning for a while, Ray let out a painful moan and got up from her bed as if having a seizure. Soon, Ray sighed and lowered her head. She knew that she had already come out of that terrible place, but she still had the sensation of their hands touching her body. Like a stigma, those unpleasant and fearful touches that won’t be erased. Even when they tried to wash away the traces of her body that they had touched, her skin burst and her blood came out, but the feeling in her nightmare that seemed to never end was still persistent and tormenting her.
When she closed her eyes, the scene came back to her mind. The moment when the neighbors, who had greeted her with a smile just a few days ago, revealed their hidden dark desires and quenched their desires by roughly teasing her body with their filthy and ugly hands.
‘You’ve been looking at me with those eyes all this time…’
It was terrible. It was disgusting enough to upset my stomach and make me vomit. As they poured out their desires, the low-quality conversation they had still lingered in their ears.
However…
[Are you going to give up everything like this?]
There was a moment in her nightmares that were over but not over, when the horrible noise that had been tormenting her had stopped. Yeah… She was him. She is the man who brought her out of hell and punished those who pushed her into hell.
[You are just a victim. You are not guilty So wake up.]
A voice that comforts, comforts, and lifts oneself up.
[Is that really what you want? Close your eyes, cover your ears, shut your mouth, just spend the years shedding endless tears?]
That unforgettable voice that you can hear even if you turn your ears off, and that is delivered to your head even if you concentrate your consciousness elsewhere.
[Think again. You did nothing wrong Just an unfortunate victim. But why should you give up?]
When I heard the voice coming through the door, the terrible noises that seemed to have no sign of stopping became quiet as if they had never happened.
[Don’t close your eyes. Don’t cover your ears. Open your mouth and speak Say what you really want.]
When he spoke her words, Ray was able to break free from the hallucinations of her nightmares, audible only to herself.
[Then, ask again.]
For some reason, I couldn’t figure out why. If there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s that he’s a very special person.
[What do you want?]
So, she followed him out of the city.
Leaving the hometown where she had lived her whole life, but who had been branded with an unforgettable nightmare by her neighbors, and now she does not want to return to it again, she joined her man who had just seen her for the first time yesterday.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha…”
Her nights in her strange place were never comfortable, and as her days darkened, her hallucinations again haunted her. The vulgar jokes made by those who had already died and disappeared over her body, and the insulting jokes that cut her heart, again carved scars into her fragile heart.
“Haha…”
In a situation where she seemed to lose her mind, Ray slowly got up. And she instinctively headed for the place where he slept, where Baron Ragnar Armageddon was. Realizing that only when she heard his voice, a voice she could hear even if she plugged her ears, could she finally be freed from the hallucinations that were eating away at her, Ray moved to his bed. And, she saw
“I’m sorry…!”
The red-haired woman who comforted her and the dark-haired young man who saved her were mingling in the dark.
A man and a woman covet each other while holding her breath, wary of her waking up. The overlapping male and female genitalia reminded her of the nightmare she had been through, but the voices of the two that followed (Ragna Baron Armageddon’s to be exact) made Rey swallow the scream right in front of her throat. There was.
“When are you going to talk to Ray, who is traveling with us?”
“…Do I really need to reveal that? She’s just a fate we met by chance. I don’t think she needs to be involved in our affairs.”
“But if you stay together, you will find out whether you like it or not. You can’t hide it forever, right?
“Since you’ve been hanging out with me, you’ve become a bit arrogant lately. Who wants to do this or that?”
“Ha, uhhh…! Now, wait a minute…! Go, suddenly like that, haha…!♥”
Two shadows mix in the pitch black darkness. It was a dark night, so I couldn’t see the details, but I was able to get a rough idea of the situation from the contents of the conversation. After a while, the sound of the two men and women’s heavy breathing gradually grew louder and then quieted down. Perhaps the relationship was over, Baron Armageddon muttered in a more subdued voice.
“And… It’s not always good to know things in the world. Sometimes, not knowing is the medicine.”
“But… It’s about her daughter, she deserves to know her…”
“So? You’re asking her to tell her with my own mouth? I killed your daughter?”
“…!”
Leah, is she dead? She was so careless that she didn’t notice, but then she thought about it and she still couldn’t see her face. But is she dead? She has a daughter… My daughter? Why?
“Isn’t it inevitable? I couldn’t leave her filthy child who caused her madness for unknown reasons and plunged my mother’s life into hell, and if she met Ray again, what kind of adverse effect would it have on her? ..”
“Even so, the fact that I killed her daughter in the end remains unchanged. And what if I tell her, who is still not healed, that her daughter suddenly died? Besides, if I tell her that I killed her daughter? There’s nothing strange about hanging yourself.”
Ray couldn’t deny his words. Indeed, she could now be sure that if she had a rope in her hand, she would probably have put it around my neck without hesitation. As such, her daughter’s death came as a great shock to her. Although she finds out that the child has become strange all of a sudden… But still, she dies. The child I gave birth to because of a stomach ache… Toddlers call me mom with an inarticulate pronunciation, have a soft heart and cry a lot, always fall asleep in my arms. The only daughter…
“Ray is innocent. Everything is my fault.”
“But… Couldn’t it be helped?”
“Even so, sin is sin. It’s all karma that I have to carry on. So, don’t worry about it, and act normally. Don’t even think about telling her about this. Right now, she needs to get some peace of mind first. Son. ‘S death, it won’t be too late to tell after that.”
“…All right.”
At the end of that answer, the red-haired woman put on the clothes she had taken off and went back to her own bed.
“…Ha.”
The sound of her sighs filled with anguish pricked Ray’s heart.
The death of her daughter… Was very sad. Although she had done terrible things to herself, she was still her own child, and as her mother, Rey couldn’t help but weep over her Leah’s death. And Baron Ragnar Armageddon, who killed her daughter… Was a grateful but hateful person at the same time. The man who brought him out of purgatory, but took away his one and only family. But it wasn’t simply because she was afraid of being alone with a man that Ray didn’t vent her anger on him.
Because he committed murder because it was an act of consideration for himself.
Ray could not hate and curse him for taking the life of her own daughter.
A lifesaver, and at the same time the enemy who killed her daughter. And he’s the only human who can stop her nightmares now.
“…Hard.”
And the biggest reason for Ray’s hesitation was his sincere heart that Baron Ragnar Armageddon muttered to himself after Mars left.
“You killed me because you wanted to kill me? But, well, there’s no way. Yes, no excuses. After all, murder is murder, and I’m a bad guy.”
The fact that she accepted her sins as they were without denying or rationalizing them, despite the fact that she must have been exhausted and exhausted, made her harbor strange feelings for her.
The figure lying lonely in bed reminded me of a wounded beast.
As if he was completely asleep, his breathing ring became stable and Ray walked towards him as if possessed by something. And…
“…”
Ray slowly and lightly hugged him. Like a chicken hatching an egg.
That night, for her, was her singularly silent night.
