Chapter 255: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (48)
Chapter 255: Lainella's Fate is Decided by Lainella (48)
The man’s voice was flat, devoid of any inflection as he asked the question.
It meant his breathing hadn't faltered in the slightest.
The man handled his horse with expert skill. No matter how fiercely the wind howled past them, his expression remained perfectly composed, as if he were as accustomed to riding as he was to breathing.
Ian himself was quite skilled in horsemanship, but the man’s prowess was on another level entirely.
The more Ian observed him, the more mysterious the man’s origins seemed.
Thus, it took a moment before anyone responded to the man’s question. He was an unidentified powerhouse whose inner thoughts were impossible to gauge. No one was particularly eager to strike up a conversation; who knew what kind of unpredictable situation might arise?
Ultimately, the Saintess was the one chosen to be his conversation partner, mostly because she happened to be riding closest to him.
She let out a deep sigh and raised her voice to be heard over the rushing wind.
“Yes! How did you kill him?! When we fought him, he just kept regenerating!”
The man shot a sidelong glance at the Saintess. For a while, he remained silent, simply scrutinizing her face.
Just as the Saintess was beginning to feel a flicker of annoyance, wondering if he intended to just stare at her indefinitely, the man finally spoke.
“The power of the Evil God used by the Dark Cult is similar to Aura.”
It was news to her. Even the Saintess, who possessed perhaps the most extensive knowledge of the Dark Cult among them, had never heard such a thing. Unless Yuren—who had stayed behind at the mansion for guard duty—knew, it was information completely foreign to the rest of the group.
The party’s attention snapped toward the man.
Once he felt the Saintess’s eyes fixed on him, the man began to explain in a calm, measured tone.
“Both are powers that distort reality by manifesting the user’s mental imagery. The only difference is that the Evil God’s power can only be obtained through a contract… and Mitram was no exception.”
The man’s voice pierced through the rhythmic thumping of galloping hooves. As he spoke, the mysteries surrounding him only deepened. It was baffling how he could possess such specific information.
“He’s a wretch who has enjoyed eternal youth by stealing countless bodies over the years. The body I destroyed today likely wasn't his ‘true body’ in the strictest sense. However, if the power he uses to regenerate and hop between bodies is a type of Aura, then the method to break it must be the same as breaking Aura.”
As if realizing something from his words, the Saintess let out a faint gasp.
“……A stronger Aura.”
“Correct. A stronger mental imagery.”
It was a minor distinction, but the man went out of his way to correct her. It seemed he felt it was a crucial point to convey.
Perhaps because the man had initiated the conversation, the tension gripping the party began to thaw slightly. Eventually, Elsie couldn't hold back any longer and blurted out a question.
“Hey, you freak!”
The man ignored her.
Undeterred, Elsie asked again, her voice laced with anxiety.
“When are you giving our Master back?! You’re giving him back as soon as we get to the mansion, right?”
Unable to ignore her forever, the man let out a weary sigh. He turned to Elsie with a look of irritation.
“……Stop calling him ‘Master.’”
“What? Why?”
As Elsie tilted her head in confusion, the man looked as if he were about to snap back at her. It was the first time he had shown such vivid emotion, and the party watched him with curious eyes. In the end, the man bit his tongue.
Only after a long silence did he finally speak again.
“……It feels like precious memories are being defiled.”
His voice was tinged with pain. There was a sense of profound melancholy in his tone, enough to make a flash of pity cross the Saintess’s face.
Unfortunately, he was dealing with Elsie.
Elsie blinked her large eyes and tilted her head again.
“……? So what? What’s that got to do with me?”
It was a blunt retort, essentially asking why she should care about his feelings. The man could only sigh and turn his head away in silence.
“Just wait… I’ll return him as soon as I finish my business at the mansion.”
As he concluded the conversation, a clear trace of sadness lingered in his eyes.
Many more questions followed. Most were about whether he was truly the real ‘Ian Percus,’ or what the ‘plan’ Mitram mentioned at the end was. There were also many questions about why Mitram had taken on Ria’s appearance.
However, the man’s answers remained consistent.
“Ask Reto.”
“We’ll talk about that later.”
“That is an internal matter of the Percus family.”
Ultimately, the party arrived at the Percus Mansion without gaining much information. Since his answers remained the same no matter how much they prodded him throughout the journey, there was nothing more they could do. They could only guess, based on his heavy silence, that he had his own complicated reasons.
Upon arriving at the mansion, the party left their horses at the stables and headed straight for the main entrance.
It was then that the Saintess noticed something strange about the man.
Faint traces of blood were seeping through his clothes at the abdomen. It was the wound Mitram had inflicted. She thought the emergency treatment with the healing potion had been enough, but it seemed the stitches had torn during the battle.
Startled, the Saintess rushed toward him.
“Blood! You’re bleeding……!”
“Don't make a scene.”
But before she could say another word, the man cut her off with a sharp, icy tone.
“I just overexerted myself a bit… Since this body isn't complete yet, it’s only natural for the wound to reopen. Still, if this is the price for killing Mitram, it’s a bargain.”
His words were incredibly stoic. The way he didn't even let out a groan despite the blood soaking his clothes made him the very model of a disciplined swordsman.
Nevertheless, the Saintess had plenty of reason to protest.
“……Th-That’s not even your body!”
The body the man was currently occupying belonged to the man she loved. Naturally, his display of toughness did nothing to impress her. If anything, it only made her more anxious.
The man surely knew this, yet he only replied with a nonchalant voice.
“If it weren't for me, you’d all be dead anyway.”
The Saintess stared at him, dumbfounded.
The man didn't care in the least. He simply walked forward and stood before the mansion doors.
There, a young girl was already pacing back and forth with an anxious expression.
Ria Percus.
Ian’s younger sister, she was a woman of both beauty and talent, a highly sought-after bride among the local nobility. Her appearance was as lovely as her reputation suggested.
Upon seeing her, the party couldn't help but stiffen. Naturally, their minds jumped back to Mitram—the madman who had laughed maniacally while controlling test subjects to suppress them one by one.
Fortunately, Ria was currently in no state to worry about the gaze of others. The moment she saw Ian, she practically leaped toward him.
Rushing to the man’s side, Ria’s face immediately crumpled into a look of distress. Her golden eyes were fixed on the man’s abdomen. The blood seeping from the reopened wound had already soaked through his shirt.
“Wh-What is this… Oh, I can’t believe you!”
Unable to contain her distress, Ria began to stomp her feet. When that wasn't enough to soothe her heart, the girl even began to tear up. To anyone watching, she was the picture of a doting younger sister who loved her brother dearly.
“I-I told you… I told you it was dangerous! Why, why did you have to go there, Brother! This won't do. I’m going to have to talk to Father so you never do this again…….”
It was a beautiful scene of a sibling reunion. Normally, this would be the point where Ian would gently pat Ria’s head and comfort her.
The only problem was that the man standing before her was not the warm and kind brother Ria knew.
“……Ria.”
Ria’s eyes widened at the dry, cold voice she was hearing for the first time in her life. Her golden eyes, filled with disbelief, turned toward the man.
But the man’s expression as he met her gaze was so rigid and cold it couldn't possibly get any worse.
“Is that any way to speak to your brother?”
Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes. Regardless, the man continued his stern lecture.
“We are in the presence of guests. Seeing the way you treat your brother, I find myself worrying about how the Percus family will be perceived.”
“Ah, I, I……”
Flustered, Ria could only shrink back and stammer.
She was scared. Ian had never looked this stern, even when he was angry. Even then, he would always comfort her with a warm voice shortly after.
But the man currently scolding her showed no sign of intending to comfort her. Furthermore, every word he spoke was logically sound, so Ria couldn't even bring herself to make an excuse and could only hang her head.
“You’re nearly an adult; you must learn to distinguish between public and private matters. Do you intend to act like this when you run the merchant guild in the future?”
“Th-That, well……”
When Ria hesitated and failed to give a proper answer, the man let out a deep sigh and asked again.
“……Answer me.”
“N-No, sir……”
The man still looked somewhat dissatisfied. Ria, sensing his mood, clasped her hands together, her palms sweating as she stole glances at him. Ria, realizing for the first time that her brother could be this terrifying, looked like she was about to burst into tears.
In fact, she was already crying. With every word of the man’s scolding, tears rolled down from Ria’s trembling, tightly shut eyelids.
The man looked as if he wanted to say one more thing, but he eventually stopped himself.
“……Be careful from now on. You must always be alert and leave no openings. Even if the person before you is your brother.”
“Yes, yes. Brother……”
With that, the man walked past Ria, maintaining his cold demeanor until the very end. Even as the sound of sobbing reached his ears from behind, he didn't stop.
Once past the main gate, he encountered Irene, who had been standing behind the door to protect Ria. To the bewildered Irene, the man said:
“Sir Irene, do not take your eyes off Ria from now on. Don't even let her leave the house for a while.”
“……Ye-Yes?!”
“And have you mastered the technique I taught you last time?”
“Ah, ah! Yes! Th-Thanks to you, Master…….”
The man nodded as if that were enough and gave Irene a light pat on the shoulder. Irene’s expression became complicated. Her lips twitched as if she were a schoolgirl praised by her teacher, suggesting she was in a good mood.
Passing through the lobby, the man continued to give decisive orders.
“Everyone, wait in the reception room. I’m going to pay my respects to the Head of the Family and my older brother…….”
“……Is it really necessary to go that far?”
It was Celine who spoke. When the man’s eyes turned toward her, Celine hesitated before continuing.
“I just thought you were a bit too harsh on Ria…….”
“I should have done this sooner.”
Celine wanted to add something to that, but she quickly fell silent. The man’s expression as he spoke those words looked far too sorrowful.
“……A long time ago.”
She couldn't bring herself to interrupt that voice, so heavy with regret.
The man turned away without another word.
His back, Celine thought, looked strangely lonely.