Chuup—
As a faint sense of fatigue swept over him along with a slight ache in his neck, Shane opened his eyes.
“Phew.”
The girl whose lips were stained red looked at him with the gleam of a creature that had finally satisfied its long hunger.
“Did you drink your fill?”
“Yes, as expected, Master’s blood is the most delicious.”
“…….”
With a satisfied nod, Evelyn slipped off Shane’s lap and Shane began adjusting his coat.
Olicia watched with a slightly flushed face. Then she muttered softly to herself.
“This is definitely not something Shasha should ever see.”
“Did you say something?”
“No, nothing at all. But, the Nikar Desert… you’re really headed far away.”
“Yes, it’s the only way to stop the organization from strengthening its forces.”
“…….”
Olicia looked at Shane with a momentarily dazed face.
What exactly was this young man?
Just watching him stirred up doubts within her…. doubts she’d never held before or, rather, had deliberately tried to avoid.
Why did this young man know so much about an organization like “Nameless” which no one else had ever heard of?
Why was he so intent on trying to stop an organization like Nameless?
And why, whenever he spoke of them, did his expression turn so cold?
But once again, Olicia managed to hold back the question rising to her lips—“Why.”
She couldn’t quite say why, but she felt that the moment she probed too deeply, he might vanish from sight.
“…Someday, when the time is right, I’ll tell you. About them and about myself.”
Shane sensed her unspoken curiosity and spoke up. Olicia was momentarily caught off guard and let out a small, deflated laugh.
“I hope that time comes soon.”
By then, perhaps the world would be a little more peaceful than it was now.
With that, Olicia turned the topic to something else.
“The non-human you mentioned before is under our protection. However, we still haven’t identified exactly what it is.”
“Is that so?”
A mysterious being with rainbow-colored eyes found in an abandoned mine.
For months, even during her busiest times, Olicia had secretly summoned various mages to investigate this creature, but they found very little so far.
“It only appears human on the outside. We couldn’t draw blood, no tissue would separate, and it had no body hair. It even lacks reproductive organs, so there’s no way to determine its gender. Shane, do you know anything about this creature?”
“I can make a few guesses. But without certainty, I think it’s best I keep them to myself.”
At the very end, just before his death, Lucifer had tried to channel his magical power toward that being with the rainbow-colored eyes, rather than Shane.
Fortunately, his throat was cut just before he could do something, so he could not achieve his goal. Still, the spirit of the Mountain King within Shane had let out a sharp scream.
As if whatever Lucifer had been trying to do could never be allowed to happen.
So then, what exactly was the child?
There was one simple possibility that came to mind.
What if that child is an unknown offspring of Elquines?
If that were the case, it would explain why the conservative Elquines from Shane’s past life had suddenly destroyed the Haiel Kingdom and went into hiding.
No doubt, in Shane’s past life, Nameless must have secretly killed a being believed to be Elquines’ child and then blamed the crime on the Haiel Kingdom.
It seemed logical to infer that, after taking her revenge, Elquines quietly went into hiding.
I’d rather protect the child myself if I could…
But that was impossible for now.
On the journey to the Nikar Desert, he didn’t have the luxury of protecting a young child as well.
It crossed his mind to try finding Elquines instead, but he had no idea where Elquines was now.
Therefore, for the time being, it was best to let the imperial family continue to protect the child without any special intervention.
Beyond that, Shane and Olicia discussed a variety of other topics.
The main focus was on how to steer the empire’s future politics, which issues required caution, and which situations needed to be prepared for.
When all the necessary conversation had ended, Shane finally brought up the main topic.
“And soon, the Knight’s Declaration will be held in the Kingdom of Vecelli.”
At this, Olicia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh my. Really? It’s been nearly ten years, hasn’t it?”
“Yes. Please send Klein there. His goal, of course, is to win.”
Vecelli. The land of knights.
Unlike other countries, it was very exclusive, but as a country known for its knights, its skill level was unmatched even across the continent.
The only time the Kingdom of Vecelli opened its doors widely was when they held a kind of martial tournament known as the “Knight’s Declaration”.
If Klein went there, he would undoubtedly have much to learn.
Of course, the learning experience is secondary. The real prize is the winner’s reward.
Once every few decades, the victor of the Knight’s Declaration was granted an extraordinary opportunity. It was access to Vecelli’s famously exclusive royal castle.
There, the winner could choose one item from the royal treasury, and among them lay the item Shane wanted.
It was an item that would be of the greatest help to Klein in the future.
“If Klein wins, instruct him to choose the item that draws him most strongly as his prize.”
“The item that… draws him most strongly?”
“Yes. Once he arrives there, he’ll understand what I mean.”
“Hmm. All right. If that’s all it takes, it shouldn’t be difficult.”
When Olicia nodded her head Shane finally stood up. Now he had said all he intended.
“Please take good care of Her Highness, Evelyn.”
“Yes, of course. Just come back soon.”
“I’ll do my best to make it so.”
***
The house where Dilaila stayed was equipped with a complex security system layered with various spells, but Shane broke through it without much trouble and slipped inside.
It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for months, and unlike before, the inside of the house was covered in dust.
Taking in the scene, Shane narrowed his eyes and directed his gaze toward Dilaila’s bedroom on the second floor.
“This foolish girl…”
Contrary to what he heard, Dilaila’s condition appeared more severe than he had expected.
….
Dilaila was terrified of the scene that repeated before her countless times.
A dim underground room lit only by faintly glowing stones that were reaching the end of their lifespan.
The walls were thick with mold and the floor was littered with human waste, filling the air with a foul dirty smell.
Just being in this place felt enough to make a healthy person fall ill, as waves of emotions soaked into the surroundings.
Despair and fear.
An indescribable sadness and pain.
And a hatred that seemed endless.
These dark emotions swept over her in turmoil.
In the midst of it all, a sickening, perverse sense of superiority and a twisted pleasure in wrongdoing engulfed these feelings and then spewed them out in a cycle.
Could this be what it felt like to stand at the center of hell?
It was agonizing.
She wanted to vomit out these emotions and return to her old, ordinary life.
Even so, Dilaila held tightly to these feelings that touched her heart, refusing to let them go.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”
A scene that she had seen hundreds of times already played out before her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes… Heh. I’m okay.”
A young girl with cat-like ears gave a faint smile and nodded.
Though her body was emaciated from being trapped in this filthy basement without enough food, the girl still managed a smile.
She was sensitive to her surroundings.
Because of this, she could feel the warmth of hope sparking in the adults’ eyes, and as if experiencing such an emotion for the first time in her life, the girl seemed uncertain how to react.
The sight of it tore at Dilaila’s heart.
“Heh. Are you here to rescue us, big sister?”
“Uh, hmm? Yes, something like that.”
“Then you must be someone like us too, big sister. Do you think I could become like you?”
“Of course!”
As Dilaila’s voice echoed through the basement, all the enslaved non-humans turned their gazes toward her.
Noticing the attention, Dilaila gave an awkward smile.
“I used to be just like you. But as I kept going, there finally came a day when things changed.”
“Heh… I don’t really understand what you mean, but it sounds like good things are coming. Just like today.”
Dilaila patted the girl’s messy hair and lowered herself to meet her gaze.
“That’s right. You’re sharp. What’s your name?”
“It’s Emma. Emma.”
“What a beautiful name.”
“What about you, big sister?”
“My name is Dilaila.”
“Your name is pretty too. Heh…”
“R-Really? Haha… Thank you.”
How long had it been since she had a conversation like this with a non-human like her?
Dilaila nodded at the voices of her comrades calling from across the room, then started walking toward them.
The girl waved at her as she went.
And that was the last image Dilaila would ever have of the child.
***
“This… this wasn’t what I intended. I, I didn’t…!”
Artia’s voice echoed in the air.
Feeling the sickly sensation of blood magic creeping closer, Dilaila instinctively raised an earthen wall in response to the waves of magic Artia was releasing from behind.
Just then, Klein came rushing back into the basement, and as the wall crumbled, the scene on the other side was revealed.
Those who had once been alive and well were now nothing more than charred, blackened remains.
In one corner, a particularly small lump of charcoal stood out.
Ah… Ahhh…!
Ahhhhh──!
The final sight of the child, who had once harbored a small hope, shattered everything Dilaila had believed in.
What was the point of trying so hard to live?
Look at the end they met.
They dared to hold onto hope in their despair, but what was the result?
Are you really any different from them?
In the end, you’re just like them.
You’re not human.
Because, after all, you’re non-human.
To them, we’re nothing but monsters.
Once more, the scenery began to shift.
She saw how the adventurers’ guild, which used to welcome her warmly, started to view her differently.
Voices echoed around her.
– I heard she’s one of those other races, too.
– They say she’s insanely strong. They say even a non-human without magical powers is almost impossible to stop if they go berserk. So what happens when she loses control?
– It wouldn’t end with just one or two people dead, would it?
– Is it safe to just leave her be like that?
The tension, the faint fear, and the thick disgust felt like sharp needles digging into the back of Dilaila’s neck.
Each time, the scene shifted again.
The basement before it had been charred black.
Maybe this is your future?
Even if you keep trying as you are now, do you think they’ll ever truly accept you?
Will your father welcome you back?
Or… could it be that he abandoned you?
Please, please…just be silent.
She wanted to tear that voice to shreds, to erase it completely.
But to do so, she would have to erase the child’s smile, Emma’s smile, as well.
She would have to forget.
And forgetting was a blessing.
But if she forgot that child, if she forgot them all, then who would be left to remember the hopes they had?
This thought dug deep into Dilaila’s heart.
It felt as though her soul was being torn to pieces.
And so, the scenery began to replay once more.
She saw herself once again walking toward the child, toward Emma.
She wanted to scream for herself to stop, but she couldn’t.
If she tried to stop her past self standing there before her eyes, it felt like even the small hope Emma once held would vanish.
And if that hope disappeared, she feared she would end up losing hope in herself as well.
So Dilaila could do nothing but watch that scene she had seen countless times before.
And then, at that moment—
“Why are you afraid?”
“Huh…?”
She turned her head toward the voice, and there stood a figure wearing a plain white mask.
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