52 – Nightmare 5
I killed the girl with my own hands.
But the nightmare isn’t over yet.
“Uuuhhh.”
The boy approached me, making eerie noises.
“…You wanted to be a knight.”
My muttered words echoed quietly in the alley.
There was no one to hear and respond to my words.
“You often wielded the sword and frequently took care of it. At that time, I thought it was just to protect the girl.”
But I didn’t stop my soliloquy.
“I know nothing about your dreams or even your names.”
Too pathetic, I whispered softly.
“If you received this sword, would you have been happy? No, if it were you, you might have felt embarrassed but still thanked me. And you would have cherished the sword.”
I raised the knife stained with the girl’s blood.
Her hands were trembling.
“I was going to give you a sword as a present.”
She gently stroked the girl and stood up.
Her legs were trembling.
“I will end up killing both of you with the sword I bought to give to you.”
But her determination did not waver.
I have been a sinner towards you both since the moment I killed the girl.
“Ah-ahhh!”
The boy rushed towards me with the sword in hand.
He just recklessly charged at me.
Avoiding him was easy.
Shoo.
But I didn’t do that.
I was stabbed by the boy’s sword.
Gasp.
And then I embraced the boy.
“Ahhhhh!”
The boy desperately struggled to break free, but he couldn’t.
“I’m sorry.”
I embraced the boy and stabbed him in the back with the sword.
“Uuuhhhhh!”
“I mean, I thought I could just enter the academy normally once I had the skills to do so, without needing to wear a mask.”
“Ueeeaaah.”
“I thought that knowing the future would let me see the ending I wanted just by talking. Truly ridiculous, isn’t it?”
“U…eeeooouuu.”
“But now, I’ve decided to discard such ridiculous thoughts. I will kill all those necromancers who made you like this.”
“U…u.”
“Even if you curse me from the heavens, I don’t care. Just watch until I brutally kill the one who made you like this.”
“………”
The sounds disappeared.
Clang!
The dagger the boy was holding fell to the ground.
I carefully lifted the lifeless body of the unmoving boy and laid it next to the girl.
“With this money, we could have escaped from the back alleys.”
In my hand, there was a pocket filled with money.
“With this money, we could have bought a simple house in the village.”
I spoke towards the motionless children.
“With this money, you could have gone to school, and you could have learned to wield a sword too.”
I spoke towards the children who no longer felt warm.
“With this money, you could have worried about the future rather than the present.”
Even though I knew the children couldn’t hear, I spoke to them.
“But… now, it seems useless.”
I knew it was a futile endeavor, but I didn’t stop speaking.
“You, who came in after finishing classes at school, and you, who finished sword practice, in a proper house, not in these back alleys, at a proper table, not on this floor, sharing a meal together like that….”
A tear fell onto the children’s faces.
“Even if you grow older and fight, with you, reconciliation would come quickly. I hoped for a future where I could diligently watch you grow up like that….”
Another tear fell onto the children’s faces.
“I dreamed of such a future.”
Children I can no longer see.
A future I can never dream of again.
“If I were to remove my mask, I wanted to show it to you first.”
I didn’t take off the mask.
Tears fell.
Splat.
I clung to the corpses of the children who were already dead and screamed.
Squelch. Squelch.
Suddenly, with a strange sound, everything disappeared.
From the trash on the back alley floor to the sun in the sky.
Everything was crumbling.
“Ah.”
Finally, even the children were gone, and I realized.
That I was in a dream.
At first, I was aware that it was a dream, but at some point, I lost that awareness.
“Sigh….”
How long did I sleep today?
The time that passed when I woke up from a nightmare varied each time.
There were times when an hour had passed, and times when not even five minutes had gone by.
Still, I wished that a lot of time had passed.
Since it was impossible to go back to sleep anyway.
Even after having such nightmares, I couldn’t easily fall asleep again.
The thought that Modoru would live and breathe even while I was asleep made it impossible for me to sleep soundly.
.
.
.
.
Johanna couldn’t comprehend the current situation.
How did Loki know about the location of the Information Guild?
And how did he know the name of the elderly man who seemed to be a guild member?
Nothing made sense.
And the lack of understanding persisted even after that.
Boom!
The money Loki pulled out of his pocket.
Even to her, a noble, it was a considerable sum.
Loki wondered where he got such money, but didn’t ask.
At the moment, Loki himself was invisible.
As if being chased, as if frightened by something.
He only looked ahead.
He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do.
Unable to say anything, he said nothing.
He stayed still because he didn’t know what action could be helpful.
“Hmm, with this amount of money…”
But the old man wasn’t swayed by the money.
They were merchants.
Buying and selling information.
“Enough of that.”
Suddenly, the vitality Loki was emitting disappeared.
But for some reason, the old man lowered his head.
“What information do you want?”
The old man’s face trembled as if scared.
“Last night, a child was sold to those with skull symbols. I want information about where they are.”
“Please wait a moment.”
The old man sought permission from Loki and entered the kitchen.
After a very short time.
The old man came out of the kitchen.
From Noble mtl dot com
“We may not know much about those with skull patterns, but we’ve received information that children in the impoverished areas have been disappearing recently.”
“The places they might be.”
Loki pressed for the information he wanted to hear.
“The places they might be narrowed down to a total of three.”
The old man took out a map and pointed to the three locations.
Loki, looking at the place the old man indicated, spoke up.
“Among them, a place where dozens of people can hide, and where loud noises won’t be heard even if they’re made.”
“Then there’s only one place left.”
The old man pointed to one of the three places with his hand.
“Thank you.”
Loki left the Information Guild after saying that.
Johanna also followed him outside the Information Guild.
Whish, whish.
Again, Loki was running to the location the old man pointed out. This time, too, he climbed onto the roof and chased after Loki.
“…………..”
Loki’s steps came to a halt only after reaching the location the old man had indicated.
Yohanna instinctively pinched her nose shut.
It was because a nauseating odor pierced through her nostrils.
The place the old man pointed to was the empire’s sewer.
Contrary to Yohanna’s initial thought of boldly entering the sewer, Loki turned around before entering and looked at himself.
“Yohanna.”
Then, he called her name.
It was a different address than usual.
He called her Yohanna, not senior.
It was a different voice than usual.
Not a playful voice but a low voice.
It was a different atmosphere than usual.
Rather than a comfortable atmosphere, it was filled with tension.
“Yeah.”
However, the person in front of her was Loki.
That alone was enough reason to be by his side.
“I hope my thoughts are wrong, but if, just if, my thoughts are correct, this place is undoubtedly filled with dreadful things.”
“Who are the people inside, exactly?”
Who could they be to make Loki, who was always brimming with confidence, so frightened?
“…….. Necromancers.”
Yohanna was taken aback upon hearing Loki’s words.
“They have already perished a long time ago, haven’t they?”
The Necromancer was an entity so wicked that it could be taught at the academy.
Yes, it’s a tale from the past.
The Necromancer had already perished and disappeared long ago.
“The Necromancer must be in there. If caught, terrible things will happen. So, Johanna, either wait here or return to the academy.”
Johanna realized why Loki had disclosed everything.
To prevent her from going in. It seemed he thought it would be better if she didn’t come in, frightened.
He informed her of the presence of the Necromancer.
“And what about you?”
If caught, it wouldn’t be only her who would suffer terrible consequences.
“I have something to do with my own hands.”
It must be done by my own hands.
The voice behind was small, but it was enough for Johanna to hear.
“Do you know what I’m going to say?”
For some reason, Loki, who knows a lot about himself, probably knows what he’s going to say.
“Sigh… there’s no turning back. Well, I fell for that part of yours.”
“………..Huh?”
What did he say?
Loki spoke as if what he just said was nothing.
“If you’re going in, promise me just two things.”
“………………..”
My head was spinning because of what I just heard.
“First, never leave my side.”
But when I heard the second condition, my mind cleared up.
“Second, if your life is in danger, abandon me and run away.”
Smooth confession