Chapter 418: A Sudden Nightmare

I felt the smell of blood. The screams and sobs of people who were dying echoed in my ears. It was far from being a fairytale.

I slowly opened my eyes. At the end of the line of sight, I could see my dying teacher. He had a deep sword injury, and his limbs were broken because of the stone wreckage.

I was looking at everything with my own eyes. Everything was destroyed and lost. Everyone was killed. I saw this nightmare…as a sight that resembled reality.

No, it was natural to feel that way because this sight was once the reality.

So what did I do back then? Did I fight bravely in the preparedness of being crushed by the enemy, or did I just face the enemy with half-witted words, or did I sob while falling deep in sorrow?

No, I didn’t do anything at all.

The old man’s words and actions were proof of that, I didn’t do anything at all. I survived because I escaped while the old man died.

…Ah, I wish I had died then.

In the past, those words were repeated many times in my heart. However, when those words finally came to my mind again, my eyelids opened at the same time. A little heat was engulfing my whole body.

The thoughts in my head were slow, and I had difficulty in moving my body. I felt that my body was wrapped in soft bandages and laid in something that resembled a bed. Only my breathing was strangely rough.

I extended my fingers lightly and tried to feel them to see if this was reality. Then I finally stroked my chest. The breath rising from the bottom of my chest immersed the quiet room.

It was a nostalgic, yet terrible nightmare. I had a glimpse of my past life after a long time.

In that past, the old man died so that I could escape. I couldn’t even take the enemy down. At that time, there was nothing in these hands. I had no dignity.

I really hated it. I didn’t want to see that past again if possible.

I wanted to look away from my past wounds. However, I couldn’t erase them because they occasionally crawled out like mud from the depths of my chest.

No matter how hard the lid got tightened, its contents would eventually emerge. I couldn’t really deceive myself. After all, my past was something that often caught up with me.

Naturally, my fingertips went into my pockets to look for the chewing tobacco. However, my fingers moved in the air without success. I noticed that something was missing from my finger. Speaking of which, it was taken by Matia, even though it was temporary. I felt a great relief to know that this was my current reality.

「Good morning, Lugis. If you were awake, why did you not greet me first? 」

A voice resounded at my bedside while I opened my eyes and raised my body slowly. When I looked up, I noticed that black eyes were staring at me.

Filaret La Volgograd. Her deep-looking eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed as if she were in a bad mood. Why? I wondered if I did something.

Or was something else? What truly happened? My memories became ambiguous. My consciousness was dull.

「Good morning, Filaret. It will be better if you smiled a little. 」

「…Oh, that depends on your attitude. But it’s fine for now, I’ll get you a meal. 」

While saying that, Filaret showed a soft smile and left the room quickly. Anyway, ale was better, but I didn’t say it out loud since it could harm the mood even further.

When I got alone, I finally dispelled the blurry haze in my head. My brain began to remember what happened.

A magical devilish being. The battle against the Controller Drigman.

The flag of victory went to the human beings after several lucky and unbearable sacrifices. Otherwise, I would’ve been a corpse.

However, even though we had won, everyone was full of wounds. Me and my friends were injured, and so was the royal capital.

I shifted my gaze from a small window to the royal cityscape. I heard they were using some noble mansion as a refuge center. It meant that the view would be great from this place.

But the royal capital was in a terrible state just by looking at it from here.

Once prosperous, the main street became a pile of black charcoal, and there was no shadow of aristocrats on their carriages.

The people walking on the street had been injured, and the number of people that often crossed that path had greatly decreased.

The demon’s rule was one of the causes that destroyed the royal capital. However, it was not the only cause. Someone had ignited the royal capital, which became engulfed in flames.

This was the work of both sides. Victory felt bittersweet. The enemy wasn’t the only one prone for destruction.

However, not everything had been lost. After those flames subsided, a new shining ore was born.

That shining ore was visible from the window. I narrowed my eyes.

…In the dark-looking main street, a cheering voice was rising. At the center was the appearance of the princess, wearing a dress and waving to the citizens.

Her cheeks were creating a bright smile, a smile that I had never seen before. She reached out to everyone out there. She was showing her innocent face while she was a poisonous woman.

She often talked about the city of Philos as her only home, and hated the status of a greedy ruler, saying that fair politics was what created a fair ruler. Did the contents change? I felt like I was looking at another person.

The Gharast soldiers, who had entered the royal capital at first, should’ve had a dignified behavior because they had entered the royal capital from the main gates before anyone else did.

However, the Heraldic Order, which was originally an enemy, brought the person who claimed to be the princess of the Gharast Kingdom, someone whom the nobles supported.

How would the citizens of the royal capital react?

In fact, it was the Gharast soldiers who had opened the main gates, showing how they reconquered the royal capital to save everyone. Despite that truth, the Heraldic Order showed to everyone how they rescued the people by bringing in the princess.

The citizens chose a more easy-to-understand, acceptable story.

The princess, who was banished from the royal capital that the King had abandoned, came to save the Gharast soldiers and its citizens.

People would always choose the one with salvation. They didn’t want to rely on the tired and exhausted soldiers, even though that was the rough reality.

Of course, there were people who knew the truth. But there were those who were desperately trying to counter them because they had no right to affect the royal power.

If the majority thought so, then it was easy to replace the truth with a fake one. At least, Matia and Eldith would try to make it happen.

There was nothing I could do. Politics was not a subject of my expertise. I had no choice but to leave it to those who could use it.

After a while, Filaret appeared with a meal. The well-combed black hair was gently shaking.

The meal was a warm soup with baked vegetables and rabbit meat. When I looked at the misery of the royal capital, I realized that this meal was surprisingly luxurious.

I suddenly thought while watching this meal in front of my bedside. My limbs moved well. I could even eat on my own.

Speaking of which, this time, unlike before, my body wasn’t squeaking or sobbing. There was some discomfort, but I didn’t feel wounded as before.

I didn’t get a major injury this time. Drigman was my opponent. My bones and muscles should’ve been torn as much as possible. But my body was strangely light.

Rather, I had a strange thirst that was stronger than pain. I even felt a frustration that I had to take something quickly. But it was different from being hungry. What was it?

If I ate, perhaps I could blow off these unknown thoughts. At the same time as I picked up the spoon, a voice rang in my ears.

「…I’m coming in. Are you finally awake, Lugis? 」

I slipped off the spoon from my hand. It was a terrible grumpy, cat-like voice. And that wasn’t the only sign.

Even if I was having a terrible nightmare before I woke up, why not close my eyelids again? Such feelings passed through my chest.

Previous | Next

I never thought Lugis would be so afraid of them again, but…in a different way.

—————–

Support us on Patreon and get access to early chapters