For the entire day, my thoughts continued to drift to the words that Zoey had spoken to me. The more I thought about them, the more pissed and annoyed I became.
"’What the hell does she know?’
They were rubbing me the wrong way more than I initially thought they would.
Sure, I had been careless.
With everything that had happened to me, I completely forgot about the matter of Kyle’s disappearance. I just knew that he was safe and thus never felt sad about it. I could see how she’d interpret my actions as me lacking empathy.
But her words were far from true.
I really did care.
"Are you ready to listen to me?"
I looked at the figure sitting opposite me. His eyes were unfocused, and his hair was a complete mess. Even as I spoke to him, he didn’t seem to acknowledge a single word I said.
I took a deep breath.
’He’s quite stubborn.’
"Look, I understand your concerns, but I’m not the murderer that you think I am. Although it’s true that my actions indirectly led to many deaths, that wasn’t something that I could have controlled. I had simply done what I had done to survive."
"....."
Silently clenching my teeth, I took a deep breath.
"....Are you aware of the fact that I was actually a test subject back in the orphanage?"
There was a subtle shift in Kyle’s expression.
I didn’t tell him back then because I thought that it would mess with his mind, but since things had turned out this way, it was best for me to come clean.
"The orphanage was actually part of a large cult that was designed to create the perfect vessel for a demon to surface on Earth. I was that vessel. The reason why I did what I did was that I had to get rid of the demon, which also ended up possessing you in the end. I had... no choice but to do the things that I did to you because there was no other way to get rid of the demon. I—"
"So why didn’t you let me stay dead?"
Kyle’s words brought mine to an abrupt halt.
Raising my head to look at him, it felt as though a massive lump had formed in my throat, especially when I took in his expression.
"You... did what you did, but why didn’t you let me stay dead? Why did you have to do this to me?"
"That’s..."
Obviously, because I didn’t want you to die!
"You stripped away my humanity."
Kyle spoke, his voice hoarse.
"...I know the risks that come with this job. Every single day, I come prepared to risk my life for it. You of all people should know this. In fact, you of all people should know why I do this."
I froze.
I should know...?
How?
How would I even know?
You’re—
"And yet..."
BANG!
Kyle abruptly stood up while smashing his hand against the table and glaring at me.
"...You turned me into the very thing that I despise the most!!"
His scream bellowed throughout the entire room as I stared blankly in his direction.
"You...! You fucking turned me into the one thing that I despise with all of my heart! I do not mind dying, I really don’t. But why did you have to do this to me?! Why!?"
His screams continued to pierce through the room.
I could only watch his face contort before my very eyes, unsure of how to answer. That was also when something became clear to me.
Just like I wasn’t the Seth that he knew, he wasn’t the Kyle that I knew.
It was just like Zoey.
I had assumed I knew all about her because she was a character of a game that I had created, but I was quick to realize that not everything was the same. In this case, I had made the same mistake with Kyle.
He...
"I hate you."
Kyle’s harsh glare fell on me as my heart froze in my chest.
He didn’t scream those words.
He just whispered them. But perhaps it was because he had whispered them that I felt them even more.
"...You’ve become the very thing that drove me into this line of work," he said. "From the way I see it, it won’t be long until you repeat the pattern and start killing even more people. You’ll just blame your circumstances on the situation, dodging any sort of responsibility, and do it all over again."
Kyle’s face tightened.
"Bring me back the real Seth."
He glowered as the words left his lips, his expression darkening with a sudden, sharp intensity. Then, without warning, he raised his voice again, the volume cutting through the heavy silence that had taken over the room.
"BRING HIM B—"
I waved my hand, his body disappearing from my sight.
The silence returned, broken only by the ragged sound of my chest rising and falling. My breath came in shallow yet rapid hitches as the adrenaline began to fade, leaving a cold, hollow sensation inside of me.
Without even realizing it, my head slowly turned toward the broken mirror.
It was there that I caught a glimpse of my own reflection, and the sight pinned me to the spot.
My expression.
...It was rather terrifying.
***
Obsidian Bastion Guild.
Things were rather hectic at the Guild. The results of the World Congress were something that none of the top Guilds were able to predict, and with the sudden emergence of an unknown Guild making it to the top of the Rankings, the higher-ups were all in a state of concern.
However, above all, there was something they were all talking about.
"We need to find a way to recruit him."
"Despite having signed a new deal with the Guild, poaching him shouldn’t be impossible. The other major Guilds have already started to make their move."
"In fact, it would be in his best interest if he signed with us. Things will get rather bad if he doesn’t."
A voice suddenly brought the meeting to a silence.
Sitting with a calm expression, Konrad Micheals, the Section Chief of the Hoarding Department, looked directly at Kaelric.
"His actions, and the Guild’s actions, have made several large Guilds quite unhappy. Especially those that have been controlled by that girl, Ariel. There’s still quite a lot of backlash regarding what she’d done. The pressure that the Guild is under is quite a lot. Let’s not even talk about Helios Vanguard."
At the mention of ’Helios Vanguard’, the faces of a few changed subtly. Everyone had seen the end of the Congress and knew all about the situation with Leon. While he was still an elite, his reputation had taken a massive hit.
Despite this not being Seth’s fault, everyone knew that those from the Guild were far from happy.
"Nobody knows how the Helios Vanguard Guild will react, but I’m sure their presence will weigh a ton on the Severed Stars Guild, which is why it would be within their best interest if they sell Seth. The contract renewal is probably the Guild’s way of increasing his value. What do you think?"
Konrad’s lips pressed together as he stared at Kaelric, who had remained silent the entire time.
Tap!
Eventually, as Kaelric tapped the table with his finger, he spoke.
"...We’re not going to force the matter."
Though his words were soft, they made the faces of some change.
However, before anyone could protest or get any word out, he continued.
"I’m planning on personally inviting him to the Guild. We’ll see how he reacts after that."