Chapter 201: Return. (1)
In the Record Storage Room, where the daily logs of Reccordak were buried, Primienne was sitting alone in the dark and combing through each record.
[…There are 339 people who are subject to special care. Count Iggyris, the Head of Freyden, has appointed some of them to labor as a pretext.]
Freyden. That was where Primienne was born, where her parents were taken away, and her hometown that had only given her despair. A bitter winter, an endless cold, in collapsed log cabins starving for three days eating nothing but melted snow and licking crumbs off the ground… those hateful days.
[The list is Loprun, Bainsmore, Geckrel…]
The history of all these criminals was imprinted in Primienne’s head. Loprun was a lunatic who murdered 13 people and sold human meat; Bainsmore was a security guard who beat to death a noble who tried to rape his sister. Geckrel was a pharmacist who poisoned a river and erased a whole village from the map.
[Only two of the thirteen workers came back after ten days, the other eleven people died while working.]
Primienne reached out to the document.
Ziiiiiiiiing—
She replicated the log using her mana.
“…”
Primienne had a hunch that shortly, the oppression of the Demon Blood would only grow more intense. That it would spread like madness. After the great catastrophe, there was widespread retaliation. That had always been the case historically. This time, the target would be the Demon Blood. Therefore, she and her clan needed this evidence.
Primienne put the duplicate back in the drawer and placed the original copy in her bag.
Tak—!
The light turned on with a click. Primienne’s heart shook as she glanced back.
“Is that you, Professor?”
Deculein. He held a cane, supporting his leg, and his other hand was on his lower back. His injuries were still clearly showing.
“What are you doing in this kind of place?”
“I am the Empire’s Deputy Director of Security. Investigating criminals is-“
Whiiiiiiiing—
Deculein took away the journal using Psychokinesis. Primienne closed her eyes for a second and sighed.
“It’s nothing.”
Deculein skimmed through the journal. However, Primienne was optimistic. Nothing could be inferred with just one journal.
“Primienne.”
Deculein called her name. She nodded.
“Yes.”
Then, Deculein casually continued, like a parent calling a child in for dinner.
“Are you investigating Her Majesty’s attempted poisoning?”
His words pierced through her heart.
“…”
Primienne became stiff. Her expression was normal, but her body was as still as stone. She forgot to breathe for a few seconds. But, her poker face remained the same, and her answer was short.
“It’s the task of the Security Department.”
“Why are you looking for it in Reccordak?”
“I’m just looking for a criminal who has a record of poisoning. It’s right to look into even the slightest possibility.”
Deculein nodded. Then, he asked back.
“Do you think Iggyris is the main culprit?”
“…”
He cut to the point again. Primienne looked into Deculein’s blue eyes. Were those crystal blue eyes peering inside her mind? There was a possibility of it happening, so she stopped thinking. She cleared her mind and licked her dry lips.
“Do you think you will be guaranteed wealth and honor with or a safe future if you report that to Her Majesty?”
Or, had he already known everything for a long time? His brain was good enough to predict the strength of the migration and the relationship between seemingly unrelated humans and events…
“…Yes, it’s for wealth and honor. I would become a real noble and not a fake one.”
The only way for their clan to peacefully change Sophien’s mind was to inform her about the culprit and be forgiven directly by her. In that process, Freyden might collapse…
“Take this.”
Deculein gave the original copy back to Primienne.
“And listen.”
She looked up at Deculein while she stored the journal back in her bag.
“Decalane was also behind the poisoning.”
“…”
Primienne paused; the journal was halfway inside her bag.
“Rather, Iggyris might have followed suit. The main culprit could have been the Yukline house. Can you infer all that?”
Primienne frowned. At some point, she realized-
“I know it’s a lie. You are trying to protect Freyden.”
“…”
Deculein watched her. Primienne accepted his gaze and put the journal inside.
“Freyden is behind the poisoning. They should be punished rightfully.”
“Iggyris is already dead.”
“Yes, but-“
“It’s the Yukline that killed him.”
“…”
“No, it’s the Iliade. Beorad. Riwaynde. Javes… it was a political murder involving all the great families.”
Primienne’s eyes grew wide. Deculein silently twisted his lips into a smirk. His voice carried a hint of a warning or perhaps a threat.
“Would you still do it? Can you take responsibility?”
“…”
Biting her lips, she soon let out a small sigh. Then, she pulled out the journal from her bag.
Pshhhhhh—!
She put the journal to the flame with no hesitation, rendering it ash.
“I didn’t hear anything today.”
Primienne passed by Deculein.
*****
A dim early morning greeted me as I came out the back of Reccordak. I looked around the knight corpses. Next to them was an unaffected Primienne. Five minutes ago, this woman had come to me and said, ‘Nice to see you. How are your injuries?’
“The iron plate is quite thick.”
“What do you mean?”
I ignored Primienne and examined the dead. The bodies that they managed to recover weren’t intact, with various parts of them torn off. Each of them died because of me. Of course, I felt no sympathy or pity. Death in the war was a given, and a knight was a protector. If you dropped dead while doing your part, it was considered an honor.
“Professor! Are you okay?”
Then, Delric came running quickly. He smiled brightly once he saw me.
“That’s a relief. I was so worried. I… no, we were… hahaha.”
After being harshly scolded a few times, Delric appeared to have become like a puppy for some reason. It was disgusting to see people in their mid-30s act like this.
“How many are dead?”
“A total of 173 people. Only 150, less than 90% of the bodies, were recovered.”
173 people. A well-trained knight was worth more than a thousand soldiers. So, it was very admirable if only 170 thousand people died trying to block the migration.
“…Visit and inform the bereaved families with proper courtesy. Their honor will remain in the continent.”
What I could do, at the very least, for the fallen knights was to give their families honor. I would help them live in wealth and abundance, and with a proud heart. Giving justice to both service and crime.
“I vow under the Yukline name.”
“Loyalty!”
Delric and the Imperial Knights saluted. Some of them had tears in their eyes.
“When the migration is completely cleared, go and recover the remaining bodies.”
“Yes!”
I ordered them and turned around, walking back to Reccordak. Abruptly, I looked to the hospital in the corner. It was a reconstructed old building. Somewhere along those lit windows, there was Julie. I would probably roam around at early dawn-
“She’s okay!”
A cheerful voice suddenly popped up. I looked to its source.
“She’s really fine!”
Lia was by herself. Her bright smile really resembled Yoo-Ara, but it surprisingly caused no reaction. Of course, that was because she wasn’t Yoo-Ara.
“Her dark energy poisoning can be cured.”
I should let it go now. No, I can let it go. The emotions in my heart, and the ones that remained in my memories. It was time to let them go slowly.
“…What are you talking about?”
“Wait a minute!”
Then, Lia rummaged through her filthy backpack. With a groan, she pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.
“…Take this!”
She handed it over to me. It was covered in dirt from her hands so I didn’t even want to take it. I looked at it from a clean distance.
[Lacquer Mist]
A drug that purified dark energy in the body. It wasn’t a great enough treasure to heal Julie’s curse, but it was certainly a valuable item.
“Weren’t you trying to heal the hybrid?”
“…”
She frowned at the word hybrid, but she soon snapped back.
“There’s something more urgent right now, so you should use it.”
She looked at me silently and shook her head. They also had quite similar personalities.
“Hmm. Thanks. I’ll use it well.”
Then, Primienne suddenly appeared and snatched the item from Lia’s hand.
…Had this woman been following me since earlier?
“Wha… what?”
Lia’s eyes went wide as I responded.
“You should pay accordingly.”
“I’m going to charge you for the completion of the mission anyways.”
Her face hardened for a while at the child’s words. As expected, her personality had been moved to this character.
“Of course, I’ll take this to Knight Deya.”
Primienne said so and shuffled towards the hospital.
“Ah! Me too— I’ll go and see her too!”
Lia followed after her.
“…”
Under the night sky, I was standing alone again. I knew that I wasn’t alone. There was someone following me since earlier.
“I heard about it.”
A man appeared. He looked as fine as a young noble with his lustrous hair, but his body was rougher and more destructive than anyone else. Zeit was awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
“What do you mean?”
“That my little sister has been treated like an ox.”
I nodded silently. Then, Zeit smirked.
“…You don’t have to be like that with me. I know you very well, old brother-in-law.”
The cold night breeze scratched at my skin. His fluttering hair was bothering me, and I felt dizzy for a moment. The aftereffects of the battle were quite serious.
“Moreover, are you alright? You look like you’re about to die.”
“I won’t die.”
I answered immediately.
“Julie will also live.”
“…How can you guarantee that? Even if that lacquer can cure acute dark energy poisoning-“
“Her anger will save her.”
Freyden and Julie’s traditions. Her independent quest would feed her anger. Zeit smiled and nodded lightly.
“Well, that could also happen. It was our father’s death that made me grow up.”
I looked over to the hospital again. Then, I looked at the bodies of the knights lined up in the distance.
“It’s not far away. Julie will overcome it by herself. So, Lord Zeit.”
I called his name. Zeit replied with a cough.
“Why are you like that?”
“…What I’m about to say.”
I met Zeit’s eyes. Eyes that look exactly like Julie’s, a Freyden’s eyes, which held no doubt.
“Please tell her this when she wakes up.”
“…What?”
I told him what I wanted to say. Zeit’s face hardened, then he shook his head disapprovingly in the middle, but eventually, he agreed with me.
“Are you okay with that?”
“…”
I grinned.
“Lord Zeit, I’m a Yukline. People say I’m a cold-blooded person with blue blood.”
Zeit scratched his cheeks. He seemed to agree to an extent.
“I completely agree.”
The same went for me. No matter who had feelings for me, who died and who disappeared, who hated and loathed me, I wasn’t bothered one bit. My personality was designed like that. I’m a person who lives like that. Because that man, Kim Woo-Jin, had become Deculein.
“Right, so asking if that’s okay is a bit-“
I looked at Zeit.
“It’s an insult to me.”
“…”
A silence overtook us. Zeit placed his hand on my shoulder without saying anything. Then, he passed by me and went to the hospital. The stars appeared in the faraway sky. My shadow grew long, almost like it was following Zeit.
*****
The next day. As dawn broke, Freyden’s reinforcements arrived in Reccordak. With their help in suppressing the migration, Reccordak found stability. Following that, I mounted a horse with Epherene. It was time to go back to the institution.
“…Even the train tracks have collapsed.”
Epherene’s voice came from behind me. Just as she said, the train tracks were destroyed, and the villages were ruined. No matter how hard we defended, the biggest damage was to normal humans and their belongings.
“Oh, my butt hurts.”
Epherene, looking out over the sorrowful scenery, let out a small complaint.
Before long, we arrived in the city of Oslon, which connected the North to the central district. It was a gateway city that was referred to as the second capital of Dharman. We left our horses at the stable before I headed to the station with Drent and Epherene.
“Oh, it’s fine in here.”
Oslon was located in the center of the North, so the damages hadn’t spread that far south. Rather, if Oslon had been destroyed in the first place, the North would’ve fallen.
“They must have defended it well. That’s to be expected from a big city….”
Epherene’s interpretation was they blocked it well because the city was big because she didn’t understand its geopolitical position.
“Professor, can we eat something here first? The restaurant over there is open. Since there’s four of us… oh.”
The chattering Epherene suddenly realized that there were now only three people. Tears began to form in her eyes as she was reminded Allen wasn’t with us anymore.
“—Professor Deculein.”
Then, when we arrived at the train station, there were many knights and the Lord of Dharman, Count Dehaman, waiting for us.
“We’d like to pay our respects to the Professor who foresaw a situation that couldn’t be known by a lesser intelligence. Also, we sincerely apologize for the fact that we, who were deluded and foolish, ever doubted you.”
I didn’t say much as they held their heads down. Epherene, who was next to me, just shrugged. Her triumphant face was quite hilarious to behold.
“…Also, there is a mission for Professor Deculein.”
Then, Dehaman approached me.
“What? We just arrived, and there’s a mission already?”
Epherene mumbled with dissatisfaction, but when the lord produced a letter, she immediately humbled herself.
“Aaah! It’s a death sentence!”
It was an Imperial letter. Ignoring Epherene, who was on the ground bowing, I took the letter with one knee bent.
“…”
I read it without saying a word. As expected from an Imperial letter, it used flowery language, but the essence of the letter was concise.
“…Her Majesty requests Deculein to track down Rohakan.”
“Whaaat?!”
The surprised Epherene popped her head up then dropped her face back down again. I stood up as Dehaman spoke.
“Will you accept it?”
I answered calmly.
“You’re asking the obvious.”