Chapter 212: The End of an Ill-Fated Relationship (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 212: The End of an Ill-Fated Relationship (3)
Back when he was the Hero, Gis could go anywhere he pleased.
No matter what a troublemaker he was, the Hero was still the Hero. Most people lacked not only the justification but also the courage to stop a man chosen by the Goddess.
Even the few who did have the courage met a miserable end.
Gis had once run wild with impunity, but now, pitifully, he had nowhere to go.
By siding with the vampires and betraying humanity, he was no longer a hero, but a mere traitor.
In fact, after the vampires were gone, the king of the Alitia Kingdom, having regained his authority, had even issued a warrant for Gis’s arrest.
In such a situation, there was no place that would take him in.
The families of his former companions were a possibility, but…
Gis shook his head.
It was only a possibility, and a faint one at that. Had he treated his companions well, things might have been different, but Gis had not.
To him, they were nothing more than dolls he could hold whenever he wanted.
They, too, had only flirted with him and fallen into his arms because he was the great Hero. They would feel no loyalty for a Gis who had lost everything.
Gis clicked his tongue and pondered.
‘Is there nowhere to go? Not even a place I was halfway decent to…?’
There was none.
Unlike Frillite or Lorian, who had always cared for their public reputation, Gis had pursued only his own practical interests.
If he needed money, he took it under the guise of a donation. If there was a woman he wanted to fuck, he would persuade her, or rape her, and fuck her one way or another.
He never gave a damn about the circumstances of other people's territories.
The only exception was the Snake Venom Society… but that place had been annihilated long ago.
After long deliberation, Gis came to a conclusion.
He had nowhere to go.
Yet his feet did not stop. As if his legs were urging their master to keep walking, Gis followed them and slipped into the capital of the Alitia Kingdom.
Avoiding people's gazes, he came to a stop in front of a detached house on the outskirts of the main street.
The house was far from shabby and was even included in the guards' patrol route, making it a fine property for its location.
Knowing who owned this house, Gis sucked in a sharp breath.
“Shit, why the hell did I come here…”
He was confused, unable to understand why he had unconsciously come to this place.
Creeak.
At that terrible timing, the door to the house began to open.
‘Shit!’
Gis hastily hid himself behind the wall.
“The weather is so nice today~.”
From the sound of her voice, it seemed he hadn't been spotted. Relieved, Gis was about to leave when a strange, ticklish feeling in his chest stopped him in his tracks.
For some reason, he felt it would be a shame to leave just like this.
‘…I’ll just check for a moment. Just to see if she’s doing well.’
Nothing more than that.
Repeating this to himself several times, Gis peeked over the wall.
“Our son thinks so too, right?”
He saw the profile of Cassia, smiling happily as she held a small child in her arms.
‘…She’s living well.’
Both before and after the orc invasion, Gis had occasionally heard news of Cassia.
It wasn't that he ordered it; his subordinates would find out on their own and report to him.
Therefore, Gis knew that the child was Cassia’s and his own half-brother, so he wasn't particularly shocked.
A faint thought merely crossed his mind: if he were to climb over this wall now, could he join in their laughter?
Others might turn him away, but Cassia, his mother, would never be able to cast out her own child…
‘Fucking hell! What was I just thinking?’
It was true that he hadn't been able to live a proper life since his downfall. It was also true that he was constantly on edge, worried someone might recognize him whenever he was in a crowded place.
But still, to think of crawling back under the skirt of the mother he himself had abandoned?
Wasn't that just too pathetic?
There was a limit to how weak one could get…
Feeling a deep sense of self-loathing, Gis turned away.
I need to rest.
He must be so exhausted that his mind was playing tricks on him.
He had taken only a few steps away from the house when a thought stopped him.
‘Wait… didn’t that brat have red hair?’
The color of the child's hair, which he had only glimpsed, caught him in his tracks.
Red hair.
Was that a common hair color?
Gis had met countless people in his time, but the only ones with red hair were Duke Ferdiac, Frillite, and Cloud.
‘…Who was that brat’s father?’
Come to think of it, he had never heard who the child's father was.
A wave of anxiety washed over him.
No way…
It can’t be…
Gis whipped his head around. He had to properly check if the child's hair was really red. He was about to raise his head over the wall, praying he had seen wrong, when a voice spoke.
“What are you looking at?”
A deep male voice whispered right next to his ear.
Goosebumps erupted on his skin. Gis spun around, rotating his body and elbow in a single motion to strike.
But his opponent, as if expecting such a reaction, raised his thick arms to block the blow.
“Oof, that’s got a sting to it. I heard you became a cripple, but I guess the Hero is still the Hero, huh?” the man sneered, lowering his guard.
Gis saw the red burn scar etched on the man's face and smirked.
“There are levels to being a cripple. I’m still better off than a face-cripple, don’t you think?”
“A face-cripple… Truly, Sir Hero, you never change.”
“You know me?”
“The Hero's fame is known throughout the continent. How could I not know you!”
The moment he finished speaking, the man swung a fist at Gis’s side. Gis raised his guard to block it, just as the man had done.
“Kuh…”
But even though he blocked it, the impact was significant.
‘This bastard…!’
This was no ordinary citizen. He was at least at the level of a well-trained royal guard. Gis felt troubled.
If he were in top condition, this guy would be less than a child's toy. But in his current state, even that child's toy was a struggle.
‘Should I draw my dagger?’
If it wasn't a fistfight, he could definitely win. But drawing it would certainly lead to bloodshed. Gis didn't care if his opponent lived or died, but attracting attention was a problem.
He had no desire to be dragged away by a swarm of guards.
After weighing his options, Gis decided to run.
‘I’m in a sorry state, damn it!’
“You son of a bitch, I've memorized your face. We’ll meet again.”
Gis moved nimbly, dodging the man and breaking into a run. The man didn't bother to chase him, just smirked.
Thwack!
Gis’s body collapsed from a surprise attack by a passerby. A knee slammed squarely into his solar plexus. As Gis writhed on the ground like an insect, the man approached him.
“Is there really a need to see each other later?”
Other passersby gathered around the fallen Gis. There were so many that they formed a tight circle, completely hiding him from outside view.
“There are so many people who wanted to see you, Sir Gis.”
“You… you son of a bitch, what is this trick…”
“A trick? Isn't this all thanks to the great Hero's grace?”
With a slight smile, the man introduced the men surrounding them one by one.
“This man's name is Mark. He used to live happily with his pretty wife, farming the land his parents left him. That is, until the Hero seduced his wife, and she ran away with the deed to the land.”
“This young man is James. He said he watched his mother get raped right in front of him. And his father get beheaded.”
“This old man had three beautiful daughters who were the apple of his eye. Though now, thanks to the Hero, their engagements were broken or they were divorced, and they all live lonely lives.”
The man’s introductions continued. Each story was tragic, but Gis wasn't listening. His attention was solely focused on finding a way to escape.
And the man was not one to miss that.
“…It seems you're not interested. You don't seem to remember either… Well, that's fine. I didn't expect you to.”
The man's expression turned cold as he commanded, “Stomp him.”
The men surrounding Gis strode toward him. Just as Gis was about to pull out the dagger in his coat and throw it—
“Is something wrong?”
Cassia’s curious voice cut through the air. Her voice made Gis freeze for a moment, and in that instant, the men began to stomp on him mercilessly.
There was no mercy in the actions of those whose loved ones had been taken by Gis.
With every stomp and kick, a gruesome sound like bones breaking echoed.
Excruciating pain washed over him, but Gis bit back his screams.
He was afraid Cassia might recognize his voice and try to intervene. It seemed unlikely, but that foolish woman was more than capable of it.
“Ugh..! Urk..! Keuk..!”
But no matter how hard he tried to hold it in, some sounds escaped.
He panicked, worried he would be found out, but thankfully, there was no sign of recognition.
“What do you think you're doing in front of someone's house?”
“I'm sorry, ma'am. We just caught a thief who stole from our merchant caravan…”
“That's none of my business. If you're going to do something so barbaric, could you please do it somewhere else? You're scaring my child!”
She was only worried about her new son.