Chapter 115
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: A Desperate Plea
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“I-I’m sure I knew…? Huh? Why can’t I remember any of it? I thought I knew?”
As if he couldn't understand, Gismond scratched his head frantically.
“Aint… where, how…? Aint and a demon? When did a demon…? Why, why?”
He had definitely read it, and it was definitely in his head.
He'd thought so until now. Thanks to that, he had obtained many elixirs that should have originally belonged to Aint.
But why couldn't he remember? Since when?
Gismond's breathing grew ragged in his confusion.
“You claimed knowing the future would be useful, and now you pretend to have forgotten? What do you expect me to think, Sunbaenim?”
At Pernyan's cold words, Gismond desperately tried to explain.
“I-It's true! I swear I knew everything! No, since when did I think I knew? Since when did my memory…!”
It was unfair. So unfair he felt like crying.
“I really knew, I just can't remember!”
“And you expect me to believe that right now?”
“W-Well…!”
He understood. Even he would think it was bullshit if someone else acted this way.
But now that it was happening to him, he felt like he was going insane.
Especially when looking into Pernyan's emotionless eyes.
The fear that he might actually die washed over him. And that fear made him mumble words he should never have uttered.
“…I was reading a book, then suddenly, I tried to possess someone, failed, and then again….”
At that moment.
“Wait a minute, Gismond.”
*Grip.* A rough hand seized Gismond's shoulder.
Pernyan's face, no longer using any honorifics, was inches from his own.
‘H-His eyes…!’
Unfeeling? Who said these eyes were unfeeling?
No. This was a blaze. An inferno, intensely hot and filled with killing intent.
Terrifying. He felt like he was going to wet himself.
“I'm no longer curious whether you know the future or not.”
Gismond could do nothing in the face of his growl.
“Forget that.”
The hand on his shoulder tightened. A cold sweat broke out as a throbbing pain spread.
“Why don't we go over what you just said, step by step?”
“…Huh?”
What… did I just say…?
Gismond's face turned deathly pale from the thick killing intent.
‘Ah….’
A rage that burned like a flame.
“W-What story…?”
And a magical pressure that crushed everything around them.
“Possession. I'm talking about possession. Who did you say you possessed?”
“P-Possession…?”
In that instant, as if realizing something, Gismond's body began to tremble like a leaf.
From Pernyan's voice and the strangely familiar magic, he recalled a past nightmare.
“Just what the hell are you…!”
The growling voice that had echoed in his head.
The raw, ferocious magic that had torn his soul to shreds.
‘N-No way…?’
That terror and fear were deeply engraved in his soul.
How could he forget?
How could he not recognize it?
‘It's Pernyan! It was Pernyan Fallenberg!’
Gismond was aware that, regardless of his own intentions, he had attempted possession twice.
The first time had been a failure; only on the second try had he barely succeeded.
Until now, he hadn't known who the first target was, but now he realized.
His heart sank.
“E-Everything…!”
He had to cooperate. To survive, he had to offer up anything and everything.
Nothing else came to mind.
“I'll tell you everything…! Please, just let me live…!”
Squeezing out tears and snot, he fell to his knees and clung to Pernyan's trousers.
* * *
“……”
Pernyan stared blankly up at the sky. The cloudless sky was perfectly clear and bright.
“Here is your coffee.”
“……”
Pernyan drank the coffee.
“Is it not bitter?”
“……”
“Young Master.”
“…What did you say?”
“That coffee isn't the one you usually drink.”
“Is that so.”
Despite his words, Pernyan drank the coffee out of habit.
“Is something the matter?”
“Nothing. No, something.”
“Is it something, or is it nothing?”
“…Hyde. No matter what I say, will you believe me?”
“Of course. I am the one who has served you since the day you were born, Young Master. If not I, who else would believe you?”
“…The truth is, I know the future.”
Hyde paused for a moment. Then he placed a hand on Pernyan's forehead.
“What are you doing?”
“You don't have a fever.”
“You said you'd believe me.”
“I just didn't expect you to say something so absurd.”
Pernyan understood the reaction. If he hadn't experienced it himself, he wouldn't have believed it either, even for all the money in the world.
‘Unless I was getting paid to 'pretend' to believe, that is.’
Yes, that was about the extent of it. Even for Hyde, it would be too much to believe this outright.
“What will it take for you to believe me?”
“…You can't be serious?”
“Do you think I'd bother telling such a lie?”
Only then did Hyde's expression turn serious.
“You see the future. Is that even possible? Do you have proof?”
“Are you interrogating me?”
“Is that what's important right now?”
Right. Pernyan chuckled and continued.
“After I was struck by lightning, you always had something to say whenever you questioned my decisions.”
“…I asked if you were running another intelligence organization besides the Golden Pillar.”
Ever since being struck by lightning, Pernyan had been bringing in pieces of information from somewhere.
The problem was, it wasn't through the Golden Pillar, nor was it with the Fallenberg family's power.
It was information from an unknown, unreliable source, yet Pernyan had proceeded without any real confirmation and succeeded every time.
Hyde had always been curious about the secret Pernyan was hiding, but because he kept it hidden, Hyde never pressed the issue.
But if it was a book of prophecy, it certainly made sense.
“I'd like to hear the details.”
“The thing is….”
Originally, Pernyan had intended to keep it a secret until the very end. The future, and the fact that he knew it, was not something to be carelessly revealed.
But with the way things had turned out, his head felt like it was about to explode. He wanted to confide everything to someone he could trust.
“So you're saying that wasn't just a simple lightning strike, but Gismond trying to possess you?”
“To be precise, it's the soul that is currently possessing Gismond.”
“And in that process, you obtained the Prophecy Book.”
“Yes.”
*Hah.* Hyde, who had let out a sigh of disbelief, soon nodded his head.
“Now I finally understand. Why a Young Master who was always so thorough with his preliminary research would make such out-of-the-blue choices.”
And why those choices always turned out to be the right ones.
“You believe me?”
“After you've explained this much, how could I not?”
All the circumstances pointed to Pernyan's words being the truth.
“Then the dilemma is whether to embrace Gismond—no, the person wearing Gismond's mask—or not.”
“Yes. There are some unresolved points that make it difficult to just get rid of him.”
Gismond Erdt claimed to have forgotten all his memories of the future, but after a thorough conversation, it turned out that wasn't entirely true.
The memories that surfaced for Pernyan also surfaced for Gismond.
He didn't know how it happened or what kind of high-level magic it was, but that was the case.
‘He tried to steal my body, gave me his memories, and possessed another. And yet, memories of the future surface in a similar way for both of us…’
There was something more to this. It wouldn't make sense to ignore it.
“In that case, keep him by your side and embrace him.”
“He's a bit too dangerous for that.”
“Even if he becomes a problem, doesn't the Fallenberg family have the power to solve it?”
“…You're right.”
Pernyan let out a short laugh.
Yes, when he thought about it, there was no need to worry so much.
The power and money the Fallenbergs possessed were enough to fix things several times over, even if something went wrong.
And besides, even if the guy knew about the future like him, he wasn't a demon, was he?
“Recall the words His Grace the Duke always says.”
“…Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”
Pernyan murmured lowly and nodded.
“But Gismond is a bit too ambiguous to be called an enemy.”
“He tried to steal your body, Young Master. He's trash that deserves to die before any demon.”
“That's also true.”
Although it wasn't of his own volition, and he did leave Pernyan with the precious gift of the Prophecy Book, a thief was still a thief.
“In that sense, Hyde. I have a favor to ask.”
“I decline.”
“How do you know what it is?”
“You're going to ask me to keep him under close surveillance, just in case, aren't you?”
“This is why I hate smart people.”
“Didn't you once say you hated stupid people because you couldn't work them properly? And you seem to keep forgetting, but I am your bodyguard, Young Master.”
Pernyan lifted his head arrogantly.
“You're the one who told me to keep him close.”
“No, that's….”
“A man must take responsibility for his words. Who else would I entrust this to but you?”
“But…!”
Pernyan shook his necklace, making it jingle.
- *Thump-thump!*
Wooden, hanging from the end of the necklace, waved happily.
“If anything happens, I have Wooden. You know how strong this little guy is, don't you?”
“…Understood.”
Hyde cursed his own flippant mouth….
It was then.
“Young Master Pernyan, a student from the Knight Department, third-year Gismond Erdt, has come to see you.”
At those words, Hyde's face crumpled.
“…Don't tell me you already decided to take him in and were just acting to make me watch him?”
“The situation might invite such a misunderstanding, but that's absolutely not the case.”
“Can you bet a hundred thousand gold on that?”
“I'll take that bet.”
“…I'll believe you for now.”
“I'll go see him first.”
Pernyan followed the maid into the reception room of the La Vie Douce Dormitory. Gismond was pacing nervously, fiddling with a teacup.
“What is it, Sunbaenim? Coming to see me so suddenly….”
At that moment.
*SLAM!*
Without a moment's hesitation, Gismond slammed his head onto the table.
“I beg you to take me in!”
“…What?”
* * *
A short while earlier.
‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!’
In the empty room after Pernyan had left, Gismond, now alone, cursed his dark past and kicked the bed.
But his agitation wouldn't subside.
“Right now…! I have to get out of here right now!”
Everything had been exposed.
The fact that he knew parts of the future, though he didn't know why it was distorted.
The fact that he was a possessor.
And the fact that he had tried and failed to possess Pernyan.
Fear washed over him.
“Pernyan isn't going to let me be…!”
He didn't have to look far for the reason. He would have done the same.
He was a little scared of killing someone, but his desire to monopolize the future was great.
If he could, he would have definitely done whatever it took.
If even he was like that, what would Pernyan—born into this world of knights and mages, with power and authority—do?
‘It's a certainty…! I have to leave this place as fast as possible! Vile Breeds, demons, who gives a damn about any of that! I'm about to die here…!’
Thinking he'd gotten a bit stronger after taking the elixirs was a huge mistake.
The soul-shaking fear pulled him from his vain delusions and forced him to face reality.
‘So that's why the future changed! It wasn't because of me!’
He had thought it was a little strange.
But he had only thought it was a butterfly effect from him obtaining the elixirs, never imagining it was due to his failed possession.
‘Why did it have to be Pernyan! If it had just been some farmer, things would've been so much better!’
Then this wouldn't have happened. No, maybe the possession wouldn't have failed in the first place.
In any case, that wasn't what was important.
Gismond started rummaging through his room, packing his things.
“First, I need to get away from Pernyan as quickly as possible and….”
He paused in the middle of packing.
“But to where?”
There was hardly a place within the Empire untouched by the Fallenberg's influence. And was it only within the Empire? Even outside, their influence, though slightly diminished, was not absent.
In that case, he would have to go all the way north, but that was truly insane.
“I may have forgotten most of it, but one thing is clear. The north was the source of the demons.”
All problems start in the north. So he could absolutely not go there.
“Then Pandrein? The south?”
Besides the Empire, the only decent place to live in Pandrein was Prasia…
“But a demon is about to descend on Prasia soon, isn't it?”
He had forgotten most of the prophecy, but strangely, he remembered up to that point.
*Shit*, what a fucked-up world. Gismond let out a string of vulgar curses.
He gave a hollow laugh and collapsed onto his bed.
He wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go.
‘I'm not a genius, and this body isn't one either.’
For someone with mediocre talent, the options were not plentiful.
“…Perhaps instead.”
Then, he suddenly shifted his line of thinking.
“If I just stick close to Pernyan….”
The world's richest man, who knows the future.
Come to think of it, Pernyan was the best card to hold.
“He even changed the future, so he's not a villain like he was supposed to be….”
In fact, it was much better.
He became best friends with Ruina, the next Royal Knight, and became comrades with Aint Armian.
From the way he talked, it seemed he had even given Aint various elixirs and supported him immensely.
“…Then isn't his side the safest place to be?”
And at the same time, there would be the most scraps to pick up.
“Ha, fuck. It's terrifying, but….”
Still, he had to go. For now, it was his only way out.
Having made up his mind, he kicked the door open and ran out.
His talent was mediocre and he was a coward, but once he made up his mind, he acted immediately.
That was Gismond Erdt.