The Elimination of Threats
Ernette, the princess of Lampades, kept her hand resting on her ring as she instructed the woman named Shin Yuhee on the proper way to move her body.
It was a magical communication tool connected directly to her father, the King of Lampades. Their plan had been to separate the couple and extract information by playing along with their desires. She had assumed that if they were to get any information, it would be easier to squeeze it out of the wife, Shin Yuhee. Yu Siwoo was a man whose true thoughts were impossible to read behind his stoic facade. In contrast, though it felt a bit cruel to say, Shin Yuhee seemed relatively easier to handle.
"Haa...!"
"Relax your hands. You've loosened them too much. Aim for the midpoint."
"Yes...!"
That was why Ernette was currently correcting Shin Yuhee's sword swings against a training dummy; she had intended to casually probe her once she was sufficiently exhausted and collapsed. She wanted to know if something had happened involving Park Changsoo. No, was it even safe to mention that name so carelessly? Perhaps it would be better to wait for her father to extract information from Yu Siwoo instead? She didn't know which would be faster, but she knew it would take time.
However.
The story her father relayed was truly mind-numbing, enough to make one's spirit drift away.
Whoosh. Ernette focused her consciousness on the mana flowing through the ring. And then, she saw it.
The King of Lampades had teleported to the prison where Park Changsoo was held to extract information. At first, there was a slight hint of confusion and bewilderment from Park Changsoo at being teleported, but the moment Yu Siwoo saw him inside the cell, his expression shifted instantly. It was the face of a man looking at a mortal enemy, someone he absolutely had to kill—
"......."
It was a roar that could never have come from the composed, laid-back Yu Siwoo she knew.
Ugh, ughhh! Ughhh!!
Park Changsoo was gagged, letting out shrill cries. His eyes were filled with shock and terror, and he was pointing a trembling finger at the unconscious Yu Siwoo, paralyzed with fear. Was it just because Siwoo had reached through the iron bars to gouge his eyes or snap his neck? No. That look of fear was filled with something far more primal.
Could it really be? Ernette cautiously scanned Shin Yuhee from head to toe. Her body had never touched a sword until very recently. Though muscles were just beginning to form, she looked as if she had never moved her body much in her life. Her physique was like that of a noble lady. Yet, here was such a woman, attacking a dummy with a desperate face, drenched in sweat, swinging a sword with all her might. There had to be a reason for that.
If a woman who had lived the life of a noble lady had picked up a sword to protect herself, it was clearly because she had faced a threat that left her no other choice. If such a threat had existed, then...
Ernette felt her stomach churn. Even if they needed to extract information, were they really going to force someone who might have suffered unspeakable horrors to reveal those wounds?
"Haa, haa, haa."
...Someone who was training this intensely to protect herself?
For the sake of the future, Ernette steeled her heart.
"Shin Yuhee. That's enough for now. Let's take a 10-minute break."
"Huff, huff, huff."
Shin Yuhee bowed her head, drenched in sweat. A 10-minute break. The dummy was half-destroyed, but Shin Yuhee did not put down the sword in her hand. She was tenacious. What kind of events could have driven a woman who had never moved her body to train like this?
"Shin Yuhee. For what reason do you wish to wield a sword?"
"Pardon?"
"Your mindset. Your mental state." Ernette threw the question out casually. "The mindset of wielding a weapon. You could call it mental conditioning. That sword... what are you swinging it for?"
"......."
A moment of silence. Shin Yuhee kept her head bowed, but soon bit her lower lip and opened her eyes wide.
"Ultimately, it's to protect myself."
There was no wavering or deceit in Shin Yuhee's eyes as she said those words.
"I have a future with my senior... I want to return to my hometown, and I want to see my parents again. But..."
"But?"
"If I had to name one deeply personal reason."
Grind.
"If I could kill one person with my own hands, I would kill them. Even if I had to carry the weight of a curse."
Ernette felt dizzy at Shin Yuhee's words, delivered with such intense, teeth-grinding murderous intent.
Ten years of activity as a hero. I had experienced many things during that time. And for those ten years, I had watched many "dying cities." There were those like Lampades, who humbly accepted their destruction. Of course, they only reached that point because they were pushed to the very end, but the more they were like that, the more they steeled their minds and prepared for the end.
-Hey. I used to be a losing pitcher, you know? This situation feels exactly like that, damn it. Someone told me it's like coming in as a losing pitcher in baseball—you still have to show you're doing your best, even if the game is already lost.
-But do you know why I did my best even as a losing pitcher, Siwoo?
-Because if you show you're good even as a losing pitcher, your salary goes up next year?
-Damn it, that's true, but that's not what I'm talking about right now. No, wait, in a way, is that right?
The humans called heroes were all terrible conversationalists, but they had an uncanny ability to understand what the other person wanted to say at crucial moments.
-It's because of the belief and hope that next time will be different. That next time, we can win, so even if it's humiliating now, we'll definitely win later.
-But wasn't your team always in last place, Hyung?
-We were in second place in the spring, you bastard! The year I was summoned, there was even talk of whether we'd make the fall playoffs or not!
-Siwoo. You don't need to listen to that. That oppa hasn't seen a fall playoff game in the five years since he was summoned here.
-Is that bitch spoiling it...?
What should I say? The so-called heroes were all lunatics.
-Anyway, those kinds of people are always the ones who ruin the mood. It's no different from the human trash who get drunk, hang on the fence, and yell at a losing pitcher, 'If you're going to play like that, just disband the team!'
-That guy who was busy getting fucked by a whore after losing his mind is one to talk.
-...Ahem.
There were many things that happened, but there's only one thing I want to talk about in this situation.
-You get it? Siwoo. If you ever go to watch a baseball game later, don't boo a losing pitcher when he comes out. He's already feeling like shit, and if the spectators do that, it makes you want to kill everyone. Even if it's already a funeral, it's a pretty disgusting thing when human trash enters while the funeral is being held.
Lampades is like that. Human trash named Park Changsoo entered a city facing destruction. The King of Lampades and its residents must have agonized over it. Even if he was suspicious, he was someone who had managed to flow into Lampades—what should they do? He looked like he was hiding a lot, and the very fact that he came to a city where such an end was foreseen made him a strange human, so how should they treat him?
Everyone in Lampades is a good person. Unlike Chekhov's Arena, where human trash is bundled together to build a stage, Lampades is a place where only fools who didn't leave the city before its destruction have gathered. In other words, it's a place filled only with people like the Yu Siwoo of the first playthrough. So I know. I know that in the process of such people facing death for something more precious than their own lives, they just let it be, no matter what kind of existence approaches and acts like shit.
But apart from accepting it and thinking it can't be helped—
'It must be disgusting.'
It can't help but feel dirty. Especially if you compare it. Yes. This is a comparison. Do you believe the words of two men and women who clearly look good? Or do you believe one person who acts suspiciously no matter who looks at him? A court where there is no evidence, only circumstantial evidence and testimony.
"Hey, Yu Siwoo."
"......Hmm."
I woke up from my sleep.
"I'm sorry. It seems I doubted you."
"What on earth...?"
"I cast a sleep spell on you. If I had left you alone, it seemed you would have killed that man."
"........"
"I thought perhaps I might be killing an innocent person's life..."
The King of Lampades shook his head with a bitter smile.
"It seems that wasn't the case."
"Then..."
"Go in."
The King of Lampades pointed to the iron cell door.
"As for the work you have to do, and as for your sins, Lampades will hold them all and disappear."