Chapter 70
Chapter 70
----------------------------------------------------------------- Translator: Ebonarch Chapter Title: Bloodstained Return ----------------------------------------------------------------- A worn and filthy cement wall. The blood droplets forming on it shift from a clean, vivid crimson to a murky dark red, tainted with grime. Drip. Drop. They stain and fall, pooling into the pristine wine on the floor. Falling, staining. Even the clean wine. The dirty wall with dirty blood. The dirty blood with fresh, vibrant blood. And the fresh blood, dirtied as well.
Pardon?" "Oh. Um. I mean, you seem really nice." Like a total pushover. A villain signing a contract and working a part-time gig because he's broke? If that's not a sucker, what is? Hey, wanna be my guarantor? "Ah... yeah. I've heard stuff like that a lot." "Not exactly the kind of thing you hear often enough to feel good about. It's hardly a compliment." His expression hardens. Had he finally caught on to what I meant? Still, for a villain with the moniker Thousand-Slaying Ghost, he looked awfully naive. "......" Han stares blankly at the floor. With his head bowed, the sharp, torn edges of his eyes stand out even more. He better not snap and get pissed all of a sudden, right? I flinch a little despite myself and force out some praise. "Uh... but you're still, y'know, got a solid build and you're handsome. So what if you're a little dumb? These days, the airheaded golden retriever types are super popular with girls. Even if you went full dog mode here, you'd still pull it off." "......
I'm not old enough to be called 'mister.'" "How old are you, then?" "Twenty-eight." "Total mister material. I'm seventeen, y'know?" "......" Han bows his head again, staring at the floor. Tsk tsk. No wonder he gets pushed around by Betty and dumped in the middle of nowhere—with zero backbone like that. I brush past Han and head deeper inside. Pulling aside the curtain at the far end, I hoist up Daniel, who's tied with rope and passed out cold. Even as I yank off the ropes and lift him, he doesn't stir—just breathes. Sleeping like a rock, huh. Good thing. If he'd stayed knocked out the whole time like this, he probably wouldn't remember much about the kidnapping. "Hey. From what I overheard of your chat with the boss earlier, seems like you don't wanna fight me." "That's right." "But I'm different. I don't care if you live or die. Hell, as a hero, you're basically someone I should catch and throw in jail anyway." "......
Yeah. Fair enough." "But I'll let it slide today. I'm beat... not sure I could even take you... and Daniel's here..." So I'm just gonna go. With Daniel on my back, I say that and walk past Han. Click. I turn the bloodstained doorknob and open the door. Han speaks up with a dry voice. "...
You ever think about coming with us? Join us." A different voice from Betty's. But the same words. I give the same answer again. "...
No. I can't go." I can't go. I have to stay here. There's a reason I must. [Don't worry, Anis. I won't leave you—I'll stay by your side forever.] He said it. Han U-sol swore to me. [I'm always on your side.] She said it. Yoon Na-rin promised me. [You're amazing, Anis!] She said it too. Reisi gave me her trust. They'll never betray me. They definitely won't. Thump thump. My settled heart starts pounding again. I match my steps to the rhythm, trying to drown out the sickening pulse. Splash splash. Wet footprints echo in time with my heartbeat. The heartbeats fade. I walk the abandoned building's corridor. My eyes meet the vacant gaze of a bald head sprawled on the floor. [What a disappointment, Anis Harper.] Rockbell's voice pops into my head unbidden, overriding the footsteps. Splash! Splash! I stomp harder to drown it out. Sound covering sound. "Haa... haa..." My breathing grows ragged. I sprint down the corridor, dark as a tunnel. Under the blurring dark-red concrete walls, I lock eyes with more bald guys lying there, spilling red paint, and stomp harder several times to erase their imagined voices. Ahead, at the corridor's end, light appears. A single ray pierces the endless darkness. I run. Blindly. Chasing that brilliant light. Like a moth hurling itself at a flame, knowing its whole body will burn in the inferno. I crave the light, obsess over it, run endlessly. Like everything else, the long corridor reaches its end. The light grows stronger. A door comes into view. Beyond it lies the light I've longed for. Bam—! I kick the door open and burst out. And there... "......
Anis?" Han U-sol and Reisi, weapons drawn, faces tense.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Three seconds. The time it took for the three of us, still not grasping the situation, to close our mouths. "Anis, you're covered in blood... you okay?" "You bolted out so suddenly—we were freaked!" The three seconds of silence pass. Han U-sol and Reisi lower their weapons and approach me. "...
You went in alone and rescued Daniel?" "......
Yeah." I answer Han U-sol's question, eyeing Daniel on my back, my voice strained. "...
Anis." "......
Yeah." Han U-sol calls my name, then looks at the bodies toppled like dominoes outside the building. My heart still races. Thump thump thump. Like it's about to burst. Han U-sol's mouth opens slowly. "......
These bodies. You killed all of them, Anis?" Thud. My heart sinks. "Hey, Han U-sol!" Reisi scolds him. He ignores her, staring at me. The madly pounding heart quiets as if it really burst, and silence falls. "No, I didn't..." Han U-sol and Reisi's eyes fix on me. Meeting them quickens my breath again. My vision darkens, tinnitus rings. And the lingering blood scent at my nose. Drawn by that fresh-skin-ripping aroma right in front of me, I turn my gaze. Painted walls in blood, guts scattered on the floor. A head left alone below, hollow, staring at the sky. Blood trickles along the floor toward the drain. A horrific, gruesome scene no sane mind could behold. The one who turned this place into this... This is. I did this. Yes. "This is my..." My body trembles. I feel like I'll collapse to my knees any second. I stagger. Sway again. "Anis." Han U-sol grabs my shoulder and says. "Just tell me the truth. Even if you did it, this was self-defense. I'm not blaming you." ......
Self-defense. Right. Self-defense. I didn't kill them because I wanted to. I had no choice. It was to save Daniel. No time to subdue them safely, too many of them. Self-defense. No, I didn't even kill them. I just erased a few letters from the novel and edited them. Yeah. That's all. So why... "Anis. Answer me." Why are you both looking at me like that? "...
Yeah. It's true." I wrench out the words, my voice scraping my vocal cords like nails. Amid the inexplicable pain, my throat does its job, spewing a sticky, blood-soaked sound. "I did it." Just treat me normal, like always. Don't look at me like that. You know. It was self-defense. They deserved to die. So please. You won't betray me. You won't abandon me. Right? I force my lips up into a smile. A desperate one, gazing at them both. "......" "......" Don't abandon me. I'm smiling here. Please.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Missing Daniel. And the mysterious note. Anis crumples it and bolts out. Han U-sol picks up the discarded note, reads it, and grasps the situation fast. Circumstantially, it had to be the work of the criminal organization they'd been hunting. After asking Yoon Na-rin and Fergus to handle cleanup on the captured thugs, Han U-sol heads to the address on the note with Reisi. Anis must've gone there too. Anis's scent. A acrid stench like polluted air, detectable only from magic beasts. Han U-sol's keen nose picks it up faintly as they near the target. But far stronger is the fishy blood tang wafting over everything. Sensing ill omens, Han U-sol picks up the pace. They arrive at the abandoned building, and the blood scent thickens. Outside, corpses lie in brutally slain heaps. Han U-sol and Reisi swallow hard.
"......
What the hell." The blood scent rises thick from inside too. Mixed with the magic beast smell. Han U-sol doubts his eyes. He can't believe this brutality. '......
Is that really Anis inside?' Not Anis in the building, but maybe an actual magic beast. Otherwise, it means Anis did this. No way. Anis wouldn't... Splash. A sound from inside. Splash. Splash. The slow sounds speed up, Splash splash! Heading this way, closer. "Reisi! Battle ready!" Han U-sol and Reisi aim at the door. Ready to exterminate whatever bursts out if it's a real magic beast. Splash splash splash! The sound and scent draw nearer. Han U-sol secretly hopes it's a magic beast beyond the door. Then all this carnage would be its doing. Not Anis's. Bam—! "......
Anis?" Against his hopes, it's Anis who kicks the door open. Daniel on her back, panting, looking precarious. And her clothes, soaked bright red. Not her blood. "......
These bodies. You killed all of them, Anis?" "No, I didn't..." She shakes her head in agony, writhing with guilt. Han U-sol mirrors her pained expression. Please. Anis. It can't be. Tell me you didn't do it. Thinking that, he still prods her for an answer with fabricated words. The circumstantial, already-known truth. "Just tell me the truth. Even if you did it, this was self-defense. I'm not blaming you." Self-defense. Yes, self-defense fits. But the brutality was excessive, merciless. The corpses' states were so gruesome, it seemed deliberate. Like a real magic beast had passed through. She was human. Human, yet also a magic beast. And magic beasts were existences that hostilely preyed on humans. Han U-sol believed in her. Believed she was human, not beast—a kind, noble soul who wanted to help people. But this scene shook that faith, enough to plant a tiny spark of doubt. This time it was criminals, and they struck first—justified. But if. If it happened to ordinary folk instead. If she weren't human, but a magic beast. "Anis. Answer me." Anis. Tell me I don't need to doubt you from now on. Tell me you're human. Please. But her answer is. "I did it." Her trembling voice, her face crumpling. Forced smile, but to others, it looks like holding back tears. "......
I see. It's okay, Anis. No one's blaming you." Facing her, he tries to smile back. No idea how it looks to her, but he forces it anyway.