Chapter 520: You Shouldn’t Have Trusted Me
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 520: You Shouldn’t Have Trusted Me
I bit my lip, drawing blood. It wasn’t just the shitty feeling from our earlier conversation; an inexplicable anxiety was coiling around me. There was too much I didn’t understand.
I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but my conversation with Seraphim had ignited the anxiety I was feeling. We could never understand each other. Especially those bastards, the Seraphim. Unlike the pigeon from Nazareth that Baek Ahyeon had caught, these beings with their many wings felt as if their emotions had been worn away. I thought they might be similar to Ha Yuri.
I felt like I was beginning to understand why Michael had torn off his own wings.
I’d forgotten. These bastards were psychopaths who called death “salvation.” If he had died somewhere, they might have just wrapped it up and called it salvation, too.
“Honey?”
“Michael. Can you confirm his location?”
“It’s still… blurry.”
“Does that mean you have a general idea?”
“Huh? Yes…”
“The exact coordinates…”
“I-I know the coordinates, but honey, there’s no guarantee he’ll be there…”
“If you know them, just start the spell.”
Choi Eunju’s face paled slightly. Of course, I knew what she was thinking. She was worried about me. She was clearly considering the possibility of it being a trap. I hadn’t spent that much time with Michael. In fact, the scrambled signal was suspicious in itself. It was practically an unspoken message that he didn’t want to be found.
If he was truly that uncomfortable revealing his location, he could have just dismantled the tracking magic entirely. But leaving such vague coordinates was enough to plant a seed of doubt in Choi Eunju’s mind.
“B-But… some… something’s strange… At least take some people with you…”
“I have no desire to advertise my visit. For now, I’ll go alone. Nothing will happen.”
“Honey… please be a little more rational.”
“I’m being perfectly rational. Start the spell.”
It was nice of her to indirectly say that Michael couldn’t be trusted. Logically, it could be a trap. But from my perspective, they had no reason to go to the trouble of setting one. They gained nothing from my death. On the contrary, I had to be alive for them to get what they wanted. Only when it was announced that Seraphim and I had held a ceremony and become one could those bastards finally achieve their long-cherished wish. Salvation.
“Nothing will happen. I’m sure of it.”
“I-It’s not that I doubt Sir Michael…”
“I know.”
“B-But it might not be something Sir Michael left behind.”
“I know.”
A sudden silence fell between us. She clearly didn’t want to let me go, no matter what, but I knew she would eventually yield. Choi Eunju was that kind of woman. Just as I thought, it wasn’t long before she slowly began to chant the spell. Soon, a familiar space opened, as expected. As I stepped forward, Choi Eunju came into view, trying to follow me.
“If anything happens, I’ll contact you, so wait here.”
“B-But!”
Acting rashly had cost me dearly many times. I said it thinking it was best to have some insurance, but she was clearly too anxious to let me go alone. However, if it was a trap, it would be far easier to move alone than with her. Choi Eunju probably knew that as well.
After a final check of my gear, I stepped into the portal. I caught a glimpse of Choi Eunju rushing forward, but I released a pulse of magic to gently push her back. It was a silent pressure, telling her not to move until she heard from me. Blocked by an invisible wall, she kept looking at me with trembling eyes.
“I’ll contact you through Jang Ye Ri.”
“Yes… Yes.”
There probably wouldn’t be any trouble.
Michael setting a trap was, for now, completely out of the question. Unlike the other pigeons, I could definitely read his expression. I was reading it clearly and accurately. If it were him, he wouldn’t have let them use him to set a trap. If something had happened, he would have undoubtedly dismantled the tracking magic himself.
My vision shifted in an instant, revealing a dim space. I couldn’t feel any presence of magic or holy power around me.
‘Where am I?’
Through the communication ring, I sent a message that everything seemed fine, then created a flame with Levatain. The surroundings came into clearer view.
“A shrine.”
A small shrine.
“Fucking hell.”
Something was wrong. It wasn’t a trap, nor was there anything here. But the fact that there was nothing in the place I’d followed him to was enough to make me anxious. I couldn’t even tell where I was. I figured it was somewhere between Agape and the Land of Glory, but I had never heard of a small shrine inside a cave like this.
“Um…”
A small voice broke the silence. My head turned naturally, and an angel with small wings came into view.
“A-Are you… my father’s friend?”
What stood out more than the face that resembled him was the large wing the child was holding—a single, horribly torn wing.
I’m not an expert at reading traces, but I could roughly guess what had happened. The remnant of the tracking magic was that torn-off wing.
“Yeah.”
He knew that I would come here someday.
I’m not stupid enough to see that and not understand.
“Your father.”
“He has returned to the arms of God. Father told me to follow his brothers. He said that if I waited here, his friends would come. He said I might have to wait a long time… but you came quickly.”
Michael was dead.
The small child who resembled Michael slowly walked towards me. What he handed me was a letter. I didn’t want to read it. But against my will, my hand reached out.
[I hoped the day you read this would never come, but I suppose it is right to leave it behind.]
A very cliché opening. He wasn’t a sociable guy to begin with. This was probably the best he could manage.
[I must have told you. That I wanted to share the burden. If you are reading this letter, then it seems I have entrusted you with a different burden. You need not feel it is unfair. It was you, after all, who said it is natural for brothers to help one another.]
“…”
[I shared many stories with you all. To me, with my long lifespan, it felt like an even shorter time than it did for you, but I wish to say that there has never been a more intense moment in my entire life. The conversations with you all—no, with my brothers—were that enjoyable. It was a time when I learned new things, a time when I came to understand things I could not before.]
[Friend or brother were foreign concepts to me. Very foreign. A horizontal relationship, an equal relationship, a relationship of caring for one another. It was all new. But I did not think of you and I as equals. That must have been proof that I was still within the fence of my own race. My brothers, just as you said, you were beings who knew honor. You knew how to live, and you knew how to see your will through to the end. I may not have looked into the lives of my brothers, but I knew better than anyone that you were honorable.]
“…”
[I have heard it said that the eyes are an indicator of the life one has lived. What dwelled in your eyes was pride. The pride of having lived a life without shame. I had no such thing. I ran, and ran, and ran again. I spent a long time in sloth. I did not act, even though I could. It would be more accurate to say I was afraid to judge what was right and wrong, and so I delayed. I wished for something to change, but I did not act. I truly spent my years foolishly. Truly… foolishly…]
[I wanted to become equal with my brothers. I wanted to bear my own pride and see my will through. Even if the result was not good, even if I could never stand before you again. When we spoke of honor, I did not want to sit there in shame. At least now, I am not ashamed.]
“…”
[How is it, my brothers? In your eyes, am I honorable?]
“You were honorable.”
I shouldn’t have blabbered on about honor and brotherhood to that stupid bastard. If I’d known he was the type to take everything so literally, I wouldn’t have said so much.
[I am sorry to burden you. I told you that I trust you. And that remains the same now.]
“You picked the wrong guy.”
[She is still a young daughter. She is only about 70 years old, not yet of an age to judge for herself what is right and wrong. I do not wish for this child to grow up like Seraphim or the other Seraphs. The same goes for the countless angels living in Agape. We are wrong. But I do not believe we are so wrong that we cannot be corrected. Just as I gave myself a chance, I believe you will give others a chance.]
“…”
[Your way was not wrong. I have proven that. And now, my brother, I hope you will prove that I was not wrong. I believe that you, of all people, will surely understand me. I trust you.]
[I believe in you, brother.]
It’s a troublesome ability. Having a passive effect that gains favor is truly troublesome. If it weren’t for this ability, I might have just turned a blind eye. To carry out his will, to repay what I received, I might have made a stupid choice. Gently stroking the head of the child, who was trembling from the influence of my magic, I slowly gripped his wing.
The wing—his wing, the one who’d said Goff was stronger than he’d expected—felt incredibly light and shabby.
[Sloth of the Eight Sins rejoices.]
[The Sword of Sorrow, Gram, acknowledges you as its master.]
“A Seat…”
I could understand why this bastard said he trusted me. I hadn’t thought he would have a Seat, but he must have felt some kind of kinship. The kinship of possessing the same kind of power.
We couldn’t understand each other. To be precise, the bastard threw his life into a pit of fire like an idiot before he even properly understood me. He should have looked into me more. Instead of relying on a fucking last will, he should have confirmed with his own eyes whether I was doing what he hoped.
Trusting an untrustworthy bastard was his mistake.
Trusting someone who can’t be trusted was his mistake.
Thinking I would truly act for his sake was his mistake.
I,
I am not the kind of person who can be trusted or believed in.
Rather, I’m the kind of person who stands on the opposite side.
When we first met,
I’m sure I said it.
I’m,
“not the kind of person you can reason with.”