74 . The past revealed (6)
The dead, brown weeds that are trodden on with every step rustle and break.
It didn’t sound very nice to hear. I focused my attention on the sensations felt on my toes and carefully looked ahead as I walked.
It is said that there are people who will protect me, but if I, who is in the lead, falls into a trap, it would be a nuisance to the children.
I recalled the memories of the past, and I lay flat on the ground and began to look all over for any traps I hadn’t found.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m doing it again after a few years, but it’s definitely hard work. Even if you’re still in your 20s, is it because you’re getting older anyway? My knees and back felt like they were going to go out at any moment, and my eyes were dim, so I couldn’t find even the slightest clue. It’s a forest where sunlight doesn’t shine, but the whole body starts to get wet with sweat. How did you do this all by yourself in the past? While continuing the arduous work, I felt someone’s presence from behind.
The person who watched me like that and spoke to me was Stella. She lifts me up with a slight smile on her face, and puts her arms around me, bringing her body closer.
Even after fierce battles with Leon and Cassandra, the scent that rose from Stella’s body was so sweet and alluring that it made her forget the difficult situation.
Stella whispered in my ear, carefully caressing my mud-stained cheek.
“Dad, thank you for worrying about us, but you don’t have to worry so much.”
Now I knew all too well what that meant.
There’s no way they’ll fall into traps or attacks made by monsters, right? Even so, it was a kind of occupational disease that could not be stopped.
But if you say it this far, I can’t help it. I didn’t want them to notice me, and the time had come for me to take my hands off it.
I was able to look around her only after I stretched her back once as Stella said and heard her bones screaming.
At the same time, I felt my heart sink.
“This is….”
Leaving behind the curious stares of the children, I moved on with trembling steps. Without realizing it, I reached out and touched the surrounding trees, or quickly rolled my eyes to look around.
Yes, that is the place.
Isn’t my life just cut off? A place where a huge wound was engraved.
The place where Leon put an end to the bond he built with me.
Our last stronghold.
I was a little puzzled that the tableware and tent I used at that time were left behind, but I couldn’t afford to clean them up because I was in such an urgent situation right in front of the Demon Castle.
The memories of that day come to mind more clearly. His breath quickens wildly, and his hands tense up.
Noah stood next to me with worried eyes and asked.
“Dad, are you okay?”
Instead of answering her, I lightly raised her hand to tell her that she was okay, and walked around her again.
Something is strange. Despite the apparent years, the bowls and tents were strangely clean.
It didn’t corrode, rust, or rotten water in the pot. As if someone was using it until yesterday.
Did the other party attacking the castle leave without clearing it up? To think so, all of these bowls were what I was using.
As proof of that, there were my initials that I personally engraved near the handle.
I wanted to investigate a bit more, but time wouldn’t wait for me. Even at this moment, Leon and Rihanna were leaving out of my reach.
You have to move quickly.
I looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and started walking again.
“Are you thinking about the old days?”
Cassandra spoke to me in a sarcastic tone from behind, but she lightly ignored it.
She couldn’t afford to pay her attention to dealing with her now, and her children would take care of her provocations.
But Cassandra kept her word.
As if I wanted to realize something.
Cassandra threw her words again in a very serious tone, unlike her previous one.
“Ain, don’t you think something is strange?”
“What….”
After talking that far, I was able to sense Cassandra’s intentions.
The forest where the demon castle is located is the worst place infested with monsters, and meeting the children that day is called a miracle because I lived safely alone in this forest. You can’t see a single monster in that dangerous forest?
Cassandra didn’t even mute her voice, even in this very noisy situation?
Cassandra wedged herself in with her last words as I stood there, lost in thought.
“Ain, even though you’re an insignificant porter, I’m telling you in advance because I’ve had a bond with you. Don’t be shocked, go back now.”
“Go back? Come now? Cassandra, I am not interested in the truth you speak.”
I approached Cassandra as she spoke. Olivia grabbed Cassandra’s hair with her familiar hand, and she held it out to me.
Looking straight into Cassandra’s bloody eyes, I spoke with strength in her voice.
“Do you think I came all the way here to know the truth? I just want to save Rihanna and have a proper conversation with Leon.”
Cassandra let out her laugh and bowed her head.
“Really? I can’t help but say that.”
Leaving Cassandra behind her, who was speechless after that, I headed forward again.
A place that could not be reached before, the Demon Castle began to appear.
Standing on the threshold of the castle, where ordinary people cannot come out alive and reach this place, I swallowed deeply and took another deep breath.
I smiled and opened my mouth to reassure the children who were looking at me with worried eyes.
“It’s okay. It must mean that the time has come to see the end.”
I couldn’t turn my eyes away from the past and just run away.
I opened the door to the castle for the first time and stepped into the darkness.
●
Rihanna followed Leon and asked a question in a voice mixed with annoyance.
“Hey, where the hell is this place? How long do we have to go?”
Rihanna, who had never been to the center of the Devil’s Castle, was following only the path Leon had passed, fearing that she would step on a trap.
The candles hung on one side of the wall shimmered, and the dreary air was everywhere. Rihanna was an indescribable magie who lurked in the dark and she couldn’t let go of the tension.
The tension and anxiety that continued to wrap around her body were bound to bring more fatigue than expected.
Leon doesn’t even know Rihanna’s feelings, and she doesn’t even look at Rihanna and says briefly.
“A lot has changed since you came, right?”
“Sorry, but I never came this far.”
“Is that so?”
After the short conversation, Leon started to climb the stairs without speaking again.
After spending such an awkward time in silence, the place we finally arrived at was a huge door with antique decorations.
Leon stopped in front of him and barely showed her face to Rihanna.
Leon spoke to Rihanna in a voice that did not tremble at all.
“This is where the Demon King is.”
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Feeling like your heart is sinking.
I just heard the word demon king, but every cell in my body screams.
She knows instinctively. No, her abilities were already predicting the future. The aura felt beyond this door is unmistakably that of death.
“… What?”
I finished my thoughts in a short amount of time, and a brief silence followed. If Rihanna hadn’t barely uttered a single word in her trembling voice, she’d probably have gone all the way to silence.
Rihanna was hoping Leon would tell her it was a joke.
However, there was no possibility of that happening. Leon’s unshakable eyes were proving that his words were not lies.
“You’re not even an asshole, are you? What you heard is right.”
“Oh, no… Why did you come to the place where the devil is? Surely you and I are not saying to catch the demon king together?”
Hearing Rihanna’s words, Leon stared at her face and burst out laughing as if he was having fun.
After Leon laughed enough to bring her to tears, he caught his breath and opened his mouth.
“What? Don’t talk nonsense. Just because I’m crazy, take a weakling like you who isn’t even Cassandra and come to catch the demon king?”
“Then why….”
“Because, didn’t I tell you? I will tell you the truth of this world, and tell you what kind of absurd system this garbage world is running in so easily that even your stupid brain can understand it.”
Leon’s words became a bit harsh as time went by, but Rihanna didn’t care much. Right now, her nerves were focused only on the existence of the Demon King beyond the door.
What kind of truth did you bring to the place where the demon king is? Confusion began to fill Rihanna’s head. Leon clicks her tongue once, then puts her hand on her doorknob, saying she’ll be quicker to see.
Just as Leon was about to open the door without a moment’s thought, a flash of light was fired in the darkness.
Two arrows and a dagger stood in front of Leon. There was no way a person of this level would fail the surprise attack. This is a kind of warning, Leon muttered as he stared at the direction the arrow flew with a dejected smile.
“Yes, you are the role that hinders me until the end.”
Behind Leon’s meaningful words, another man’s voice echoed in the hallway.
“Leon… We finally met.”
Appearing from the darkness with the elves, Ain faced Leon for the first time since being abandoned by him.