Vera couldn’t say anything.
It is because Vera does not know the proper answer to give to the person who wants to kill him.
Isn’t that right, it’s embarrassing even if someone you don’t know asks for you?
If that’s the case, the person who was fighting with him until the day before, who had been battling with him until the day before, even if he had been leading him as a senior, made such a request, he would be speechless.
To say that I would do that, the word ‘Jeong’, which I had already realized, stopped me from speaking.
The situation right now wasn’t too good to say I wouldn’t do it.
A chilling silence surrounded the two of them, and only Vera’s hesitation deepened in it, when Hodrick opened his mouth.
He spoke in a tone of laughter, as if he knew Vera would have to worry about this.
[…] I will recognize that silence as a positive. Thank you. After a half-day walk behind the castle, there is a hill you can see. I’ll somehow survive the rest of the time there, so if you’re ready, come over there and destroy me.]
If you don’t ask me to kill you right now… Unfortunately, there was no consideration for Vera.
For one thing, it was necessary to use ‘will’ in order to annihilate the soul of the dead.
For that reason it was Vera.
Now, only Vera, who left only one step to the state of doubt, could annihilate himself, so Hodric made this choice.
Hodrick stood up.
Without saying anything else, he murmured and walked away.
As the black-armored dead man disappeared from his sight, Vera belatedly shattered his impressions.
head fell down. Hands covered his face.
“It will rot… .”
A long breath escaped.
*
Three days have passed since Hodrick disappeared.
It did not cause any other changes to the cradle.
Sure enough, the person who was there the whole time was away for about three days. It just means that one person’s seat has been vacant for a while.
However, that was not to say that everyone was convinced of Hodrick’s disappearance.
Even if the disappearance of only three days, even if the missing person is a strong person who has existed for hundreds of years, there is one person who is worried about it.
“Hey, hey… .”
A weak voice crawling through the middle of the hallway.
An insignificant presence that pricks the nerve endings.
Vera turned to the things he felt behind his back to ascertain the source.
What was reflected at the end of her field of vision was Jenny, a girl with a lot of fear and withered away.
“Hey, you know… .”
Shortly thereafter, Vera, realizing that he was the person Jenny was talking to, stopped breathing involuntarily.
There was no other reason. It was because she immediately remembered the reason why she was talking to herself, who was usually so afraid.
It must be about Hodrick.
Hesitating, Vera’s steps backtracked.
Jenny, who was surprised by it, lifted her body, and shrugged her shoulders in amazement.
He looked frightened as if he was about to run away.
Vera wished Jenny would turn around and run away, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
Jenny, who had been staring at the floor with eyes full of water, struggled to put strength on her face and took a step forward.
The trembling of her legs was clearly visible, and she didn’t stop, even though it was so overtly frightened.
Suddenly, regret arose in Vera’s heart.
It’s because he didn’t know why Jenny is so courageous now.
For some reason, it was because I felt like I was the one I was once in a while.
Wasn’t he just like that when he was looking for Renee, who disappeared with a dying body at the end of the last episode? Perhaps the anxiety in Jenny’s heart now is the same kind of emotion she felt at the time. That kind of thinking will go away.
An indescribable feeling rippled through me.
In the meantime, Jenny, who diligently approached, stood in front of Vera.
“I can’t see my teacher… . Ah, you know… ?”
A question that I spit out without making eye contact and looking down with the back of my foot.
The pathetic question posed to hold onto a glimmer of hope began to grow resentment against Hodrick in Vera.
“… Well, but why?”
The words that came out were muffled words that could not be told the truth.
Jenny’s expression crumbled. What was revealed in the place where the mask of tension was removed was deep anxiety and despair.
“Uh, uh… .”
With a face not knowing what to do, Jenny rolled her eyes.
“Master… I talked a lot with you… I thought you were close with him… Disappeared without a word… I thought you knew… .”
Unorganized words flowed out one after another.
As she spoke, water began to fill Jenny’s eyes.
Vera turned his gaze away, feeling that facing it was the most difficult thing in the world.
However, doing so did not mean that he could ignore even the feelings that were conveyed.
“S, Master always told me where I would be… Tobi and Kiki aren’t even teaching me anything this time… .”
They were the names of the Specter nannies taking care of Jenny.
In addition, they were the dead whom Vera had asked for in advance.
Indeed it was.
For Jennie, someone who had never been like this in her life suddenly disappeared without any news. In the meantime, isn’t it a situation where everyone you know shuts their mouths or doesn’t know?
Vera’s fists clenched.
Vera knew best what kind of yoke Hodrick’s selfish considerations would leave Jenny’s heart, so Vera pondered for a long time before finally uttering those words.
“… I will look for it.”
Jenny’s head was heard saying, ‘Whoa!’.
From the moment they first met, for the first time ever, their eyes turned to each other.
Vera continued, feeling frustrated at seeing Jenny looking at him with a face that looked like a rope coming down from the sky.
“It was about time to fight, but I was puzzled because I couldn’t see him anywhere.”
Jenny put a small smile on her lips. As if he was relieved at that time, his shoulders drooped as if he had lost all his strength.
“Oh, thank you… !”
Vera looked at Jenny’s complexion as he listened to the words of thanks.
The dark under the eyes and lifeless skin were obviously a reaction from fatigue. I don’t know when, but it means that Jenny hasn’t been able to rest since she realized that Hodrick was gone.
Even though I am an apostle, I am still a child.
In addition, mental stress was not something that power could handle.
Vera was upset that Jenny was doing this kind of bullshit, so he added a word.
“… I’ll do the search for the lord, so you go in and go to sleep. If you see a face like that, you will feel bad.”
Suddenly, Jenny’s body trembled.
Jenny frowned for a moment, then nodded her head.
“… yes.”
Immediately after, Jenny slowly moved away. He turned around and ran away.
He seemed to have relaxed a bit, and Vera felt a relief in it, and ended his worries that had been going on for the past few days.
‘… This is not.’
After all, it seemed that Hodric’s request to annihilate him without anyone knowing would be unacceptable.
*
After making up his mind, the first thing Vera did was find Renee.
In addition to the fact that he might have to fight Hodric, he also wants to take Jenny as well as himself.
Going without saying anything was a violation of the oath that Renee once made in front of him, ‘I will not do things on my own.’
That’s what Renee did at the end of the last episode. That’s what he did in the Kingdom Union. And that’s what Hodrick is doing now.
Selfish consideration that ignores the feelings of others.
Vera now knows how much sorrow it will come to those left behind, so he explained the situation to Renee in detail.
“… So, I want to take Jenny to the place where Lord Hodrick is.”
Vera looked at Renee.
He already knew that this would be another concern for Renee, so he waited for her answer.
Rene, who had been silent with her eyes sinking deeply as if thinking about it, opened her mouth only after a long time had passed.
“Vera.”
“Yes.”
“Can you?”
A smile began to spread across Renee’s lips. Vera’s eyes widened at it.
“Did you say it properly before you go to work this time?”
No shadow could be seen from Renee, who smiled and spoke.
However, Vera knew. That it’s not something you do because you don’t really have any worries.
That’s right, even though I’m talking like that right now, Renee’s hand is in the shape of a clenched fist.
Renee is making a smile like that in order to believe in herself.
Vera looked at Renee’s hands for a moment, full of strength, then raised his head to face her and answered.
“… Yes, I will definitely return to where you are.”
“really?”
“It is unmistakably true.”
“Vera is weaker than Lord Hodrick.”
Vera’s body trembled.
Rene, who could feel the movement because she was sitting right next to Vera, smiled and stretched out her hand.
A fumbling hand rested on Vera’s cheek.
“Vera is a bummer, how can you guarantee that?”
Renee said so and waited for Vera’s answer.
It wasn’t something he was doing because he wanted to play a joke until this moment.
Although Vera is always sincere and does his best in his work, I know that the moment when such Vera is really sincere is when he playfully ignores it, so I want to add a prayer close to such a superstition.
Renee knew.
Vera was a man who, once decided, never backed down.
If he drew his sword after careful consideration, he was a person who never had a way to withdraw his sword until he achieved his goal.
More than anything else, he was a person who valued his beliefs the most.
Therefore, Renee could not tell Vera to break his faith.
As the thoughts continued, Vera answered.
“… I am not lame.”
Renee smiled softly and asked again.
“really?”
“I have a knives talent more than anyone in the world. I can say that.”
“After all, the king of the gutter is different.”
“… .”
Rene realized that Vera’s teeth had now been bitten by a hand placed over Vera’s cheek.
It seemed that he was ashamed of the sudden rise in the heat.
“Vera.”
“… Yes.”
“Please come back. Buy it alive and come back in good shape. If Vera comes dead, I will bury him in the heart of the imperial capital. And above it will be a huge statue of Vera and a stele with the inscription ‘King of the gutter, sleep here.’”
Vera’s body shook greatly.
“Oh, the statue will be dressed in a black suit, holding a cigarette in one hand and a full bottle of wine in the other. Is there a thick fur cloak? I wish that too Those who visit the Empire or the millions of people living in the Imperial capital will see the statues and tombstones, right? Wow, I’m embarrassed just thinking about it.”
Renee giggled at it and continued.
After enjoying Vera’s reaction for a while, he took a long deep breath and ended his speech.
“… So, if you don’t like it, you have to live with it.”
There was a trembling that could not be hidden at the end of the words, and Vera’s eyes fluttered at it.
face to face
He placed his hand on Renee’s hand that rested on his cheek.
replied like that.
“No matter what happens, I will definitely come back to buy it.”
It was a promise to Renee, and it was also a promise to himself.
The oath engraved on Vera’s soul began to burn with a different light the moment he spoke.