042. Whispers of Evil
Somewhere in the vast universe.
A secluded place between worlds and between worlds.
It was originally a place where nothing should exist. However, there was someone floating helplessly in the void.
Glossy white hair and jewel-like blue eyes, it wasn’t an appearance that could be seen anywhere. Moreover, it is even more so if the appearance is so miserable as if it had just come from a battle.
It was similar to that of a defeated soldier. However, he was on the way to winning a big fight. Of course, I ended up avoiding the ensuing fight.
Anyway, his tightly closed eyelids made me wonder if he was sleeping or not.
If you think otherwise, it could be that you are thinking deeply about something. The even breathing sound didn’t seem to be dead.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Then I heard an unfamiliar voice.
At first glance, it sounded like the voice of a benevolent old man.
Endymion answered him with his eyes closed.
“What did you come here for?”
“I’m only here because the time has come, heh heh.”
A broad laugh. It was invisible, but it looked like he was stroking his long beard.
“Do you still have anything to take with you?”
Endymion asked in a sarcastic way. He didn’t purr or snort, but the accent itself wasn’t gentle.
“Hmm? Is there anything you haven’t paid yet?”
An old man who asks if he wants to take a joke. When he asked as if he had no idea, I wondered if a person could be so pretentious.
It’s not like I’m blaming the old man now. It’s just that he appeared at an unexpected timing and didn’t pick it up.
“I think I already paid for it.”
“Yes. You know it well.”
“…I’m not in the mood for a joke. Please leave.”
Endymion was serious and issued an order to celebrate, but the old man did not readily accept his request.
“Heh heh.”
It was just a carefree laugh. In the meantime, he doesn’t forget to stroke his beard. It was fortunate that Endymion did not bear to see it. He would have clicked his tongue.
“That’s how it ended up.”
“Yes, as you can see.”
Desperation was evident in Endymion’s dejected expression. Does that mean you don’t want to talk about it anymore? Shuts his mouth tightly
Looks like he answered reflexively. After answering, oops, it looks like one.
“This also… In a way, it was a set procedure.”
Okay, the old man was just following along. However, the word ‘determined procedure’ must have resonated with Endymion, and he even refuted it, breaking the silence for a moment.
“That word… I can only hear that I am destined to be unable to be happy, right?”
“It’s not wrong. Didn’t you say it was a chest voice?”
“…Did you see everything?”
“It’s so loud on the side of the road that the locals can’t ignore it.”
At the fact that the affair between Selene and himself was discovered, Endymion was silent, then sighed quietly.
“I’m a resident of the street and the neighborhood… You wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t been watching me in the first place, but you’re good at saying things like that calmly.”
“Oh did you know?”
If you don’t know, that’s an idiot and an idiot. From not appearing once for such a long time, to appearing only when absolutely necessary… Even talking to you at the right time.
Whoever saw it, it was a look that could only be seen as someone who had been watching from nearby and then sneaking closer.
“You think I’m stupid.”
Now I don’t even feel hurt. On the contrary, it was Endymion smiling shyly.
“It’s all good now.”
Additionally, he said he no longer cared how things went. It was natural for the old man to ask about his attitude.
“Why did you think that?”
“Sure.”
However, Endymion did not answer the exact reason. Even though he thought that the old man might already know, he felt his strong will not to say it in the end.
“Crunch… Yes, what’s more important now. Do you have any intention of signing a new contract?”
“Haven’t you noticed anything after hearing that…?”
Endymion narrowed his brows and asked. That would be the case, and when he told me to leave him alone, he didn’t keep touching me.
‘There’s no way I didn’t notice. They just don’t care.’
She was a stubborn old woman who would say what she had to say even if she died. It was Endymion who had given away all the courtesy to Shinseng.
‘Shinseon should be fresh.’
From a third person’s point of view, the contract the old man was talking about had no parts that were cruel enough to be similar to a devil’s bargain.
‘Hey, evil is also immortal.’
It’s your fault in your previous life that you accepted the contract innocently. Endymion shook his head excitedly at B-hyung’s foolishness.
‘Still, once a contract is signed, it’s guaranteed to be kept.’
There was no doubt about this. Wasn’t that why he was alive like this? If it had not been for the oath with the immortal, he had several goblins that would not be strange even if he died long ago.
‘The price to pay is too great.’
In the first place, contracts are established only when the number of hands played by both sides is proportional… , All Endymion had to pay before he could benefit from the contract was the price of his family’s life.
It was a series of extremely painful times. I’ve become blunt now, but if that happened, would it be easy for me to say that I would sign my contract?
“Let’s hear what the contract is.”
But I was very curious about Endymion too. What would be the content of the contract that came out of the mouth of that freshman first, and what kind of blood and wind would blow in that contract.
I didn’t promise to make it right away, but the old man nevertheless kindly told me the details of the contract.
“You just have to help me do something. If you do that, you’ll get a chance to turn everything around.”
“A chance…?”
Yes, chance.
The face of the freshman who said that was really benevolent, to the point where I wondered if that was a ‘serious’ expression.
At least, I thought it wasn’t Endymion.
As you may have already noticed, Endymion is waking up at some point. He stares into the old man’s calm, river-like eyes before asking a question.
“What exactly do you mean by something?”
“Looks like you’re interested.”
I didn’t like the look on his face that said he knew that, but Endymion put his personal feelings aside for a while.
‘He said he could turn everything around.’
I felt strongly that this was not a trick or a pun. In addition, it was also possible to predict that ‘something’ would not be easy.
‘It’s an awkward contract.’
If the compensation is too generous, then one thing you should be suspicious of is the physiology of this floor. Endymion, with a dubious look on his face, said an old man, no… He waited for Shinseon’s words.
“What’s going on…”
Listen to Shinseon’s explanation. From what I heard, it was no different from a form of request. If you do what the freshman says, you can get a ‘chance to return’ as a reward….
In this form, Endymion was less repulsive. But he just couldn’t get comfortable.
On the contrary, the more he listened to the immortal, the more his face hardened.
“What the hell… do you-“
Endymion was speechless. It was because he suddenly looked at the freshman’s face while trying to talk, and he looked different again.
The pupils revealed between the folded eyes like the crescent moon, Endymion saw it face to face for the first time in his life.
“…Yes, it’s something I don’t need to know anyway. There’s only one thing I need to know.”
Endymion straightens his eyes. He met the old man’s gaze on the same line.
He had something to be confirmed.
This was the most important part for him to point out.
“If… I get a chance to turn it back, then-“
Endymion’s words continued, and the old man listened for a while and then nodded his head.
“But the last condition is strange.”
Endymion had already expected that part to come to the mouth of a freshman.
He laughs and replies.
“That’s what it should have been anyway. That’s the world right.”
“For you… That means the world has gone right.”
“Yes.”
Eyes that do not shake even an inch. The freshman who saw this immediately shook his head.
“Okay. I promise you.”
Having said that, the immortal held out his hand. Endymion took his hand without even a moment’s hesitation.
Interests aligned.
Now was the time to pursue mutual interests.
* * *
There were several seats around the round table bathed in the warm sunlight.
One by one, we arrived on time and the seats were quickly filled.
“I would like to express my gratitude to those who responded to the sudden call today.”
As the person who seemed to be the chairman spoke, the participants in the meeting looked eager to hear why they had summoned each one.
As if in response to that, the chairman straight-forwardly talked about the main point.
“The reason why I called all of you who have the status of a transcendental person and also recognized the dimension…”
The chairman takes a breath and speaks seriously.
“It’s because there are signs that a war between dimensions will break out soon…”