Villain (2)
Countless corpses littered the ground. I smiled as I stepped over them.
Was this the picture I had wanted? I had never given it much thought, so I couldn’t say. Probably not.
“Brother……”
“Y-Young master.”
At the two voices coming from the corner, I turned my head just enough to look.
There they stood—two women watching me with trembling eyes. This body already carried a criminal record for murder. They both knew I was the one who had killed Saren’s fiancé.
So why were they looking at me with such unfamiliar gazes?
Squelch. I trod through the pooled blood and walked toward them.
“Let’s go.”
“W-Wait, please!”
Saren stepped in front of me and wiped my face with her sleeve. Crimson stains bloomed across her pure white clothes as the sweet scent of roses brushed my nose. For some reason, the fragrance calmed my heart.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. But… what do you plan to do now…?”
Well. What indeed. Unlike before, the fear of being captured and killed had vanished. In that case, I could push the story forward without hesitation.
Let me think back.
The prologue of the Elsia saga began with Saren’s illness worsening, prompting me to set out on a journey. The premise was that Vivian had taken us and fled.
Then it made sense to head for the church, just as Vivian had guided me last time. The save point had never appeared when I visited before.
That left only one option. I would have to go to the church again.
“Follow me.”
“Where are we going, young master?”
I stopped in my tracks without meaning to. Then, grinding my teeth until they creaked, I answered.
“Young master?”
“…The stables.”
I walked past her without sparing her a glance, choking down the words I missed you that lingered on my tongue. I simply clenched my fists until the knuckles ached.
Beyond the mansion, the weather was bright and clear, as expected. Birds sang. It had been so long since I last felt the warmth of sunlight on my skin.
Originally Vivian should have opposed the idea of the stables, yet this time she followed me in silence. Perhaps the flow had changed now that all the soldiers were dead.
“There they are!!”
“Eek! Brother!!”
Ah. So not all of them were gone after all.
In the wide field leading to the stables, roughly ten soldiers came running toward us.
I summoned the Elsia Sword once more.
Elsia Sword
The blade sank deep—! Blood sprayed—!
And, as always, I did not hesitate. There was no longer any reason for me to hesitate. Whether I killed one or a hundred, hands already drenched in blood could not grow any wetter.
But why? Why did a smile keep tugging at my lips with every life I took? These were not my emotions. I did not want to smile, nor did I feel any thrill in the act.
Yet my lips kept rising. My hands kept swinging the sword. They no longer obeyed me.
It was simply instinct.
“Haa…”
Before long only the last soldier remained. As if to mark the finale, I seized his head. His brown eyes, looking up at me with violent tremors, were flooded with terror.
Poor bastard. He had been the slowest. The most cowardly.
“S-Spare me… please spare me…”
“Why?”
Why should I spare him? Hadn’t they mercilessly brought the blade down on me when I wept and begged for my life on the guillotine?
“Please! P-Please!! Young Master Serion, I beg you!!”
“……”
I slowly loosened my grip on his hair. The soldier immediately slammed his forehead against the ground and began groveling.
“Please spare me… I was forced into this, I swear! I have a wife and child at home, sob…”
I crouched down and slowly stroked his head. There was no emotion in the gesture.
“There’s no need to cry like that. If I die, you’ll come back to life and see your family again.”
“…What? W-What do you…”
“……”
Indeed. What had I just said? I truly was a madman.
“Forget it. Nonsense.”
“Aaargh!! Spare me!! Please!!”
I pressed my knee down on his skull. It felt more familiar than using my still-unfamiliar left hand. Then I drew the dagger from my coat. The short blade was crusted with dried blood.
It would be dull like this. Still, a dagger was better than a cumbersome longsword.
“Stay still. It will hurt more if you move.”
“D-Don’t! Don’t do it, you son of a bitch!!!”
Son of a bitch. I couldn’t exactly deny it.
I pressed the blade against the blue vein bulging at his throat. The moment a clear line of blood trickled down his neck—
“Brother!!!”
Saren threw her arms around me from behind. At the same time, my hand froze as though it had broken.
“B-Brother… why are you doing this…”
“……”
Her body pressed against mine, and the voice at my back trembled violently.
“M-Miss Saren!! Save me!! Please save me, sob…”
“Brother, you’re not this kind of person. Unlike me, you’ve always been endlessly merciful, haven’t you?”
“……”
I could give no answer.
Just as Saren said, I wasn’t that kind of person. Because I was never Serion to begin with.
Then… who was I? Who was wearing Serion’s skin right now? Who was I, that I had lost even the concept of mercy?
“Brother.”
At some point Saren had come to my side. She wrapped her hands around the one holding the dagger. One by one she gently pried my fingers open until the blade slipped free and clattered to the ground. Then she laced her fingers through mine.
“Look at me.”
With her other hand she softly stroked my cheek, guiding my gaze to hers.
“We’re all right now. No one is chasing us anymore.”
“……”
Only then did the strength leave the knee that had been crushing the soldier’s head.
“Uwaaaaagh!!!”
Seizing the opening, the soldier scrambled to his feet and fled. I simply stared blankly at his retreating back.
He had survived. No matter how desperately I had struggled to live, I had only ever died. So there were people who could live like that.
That was what I thought as I watched him go.
“You did well. You truly did the right thing, Brother.”
Saren pulled my head into her embrace.
Once again the scent of roses filled my nose. The strange yet familiar fragrance finally made me aware that I was breathing.
“…Saren.”
“Yes, Brother.”
“S….”
I bit down hard on my trembling lips. Then I quietly swallowed the sobs that rose unbidden.
Very, very quietly.
The sound of hooves rang steadily. With Saren and Vivian mounted on the horse, we headed toward the northern church.
I had suspected as much, but just like last time there was only one horse in the stables. Still, one was better than none.
“Y-Young master.”
Vivian called out to me, sounding anxious. Her androgynous voice had always been pleasant to hear.
“Yeah.”
“Um… I-I can walk instead…”
It seemed uncomfortable for a mere maid to ride while I walked. Well, that was understandable.
But during the past two years spent searching for Chloe, I had walked at least half the time. What was so difficult about walking a little farther?
“It’s fine. Just make sure Saren doesn’t fall.”
“…Understood.”
My persistently cold tone must have bothered her; darkness clouded her expression.
“……”
Seeing that, I wondered for a moment if I was simply venting my feelings in the wrong direction.
Because she was a different Vivian. The Vivian who had looked only at me and loved only me was not the same as the anxious woman before me now.
Yet my eyes kept seeing her as the Vivian who had betrayed me.
“Brother, are you feeling all right?”
Saren asked with clear worry in her voice. When I lifted my head, our eyes met. She was looking down at me with moist eyes, arms wrapped around Vivian’s waist.
“Yes, I’m fine. Why?”
“You’ve seemed listless since earlier…”
“I’m okay. Don’t worry.”
“……”
She opened her mouth as if to say something more, then closed it again. I saw her lower her head and bite her lower lip hard.
I pretended not to notice and turned my gaze forward.
Before long night had fallen. The damp scent of the forest and the grating cries of insects filled the mountain path.
“There’s a clearing up ahead. Let’s camp there for the night.”
Thanks to the horse, Saren showed no sign of exhaustion. Perhaps killing all the soldiers from the start had been the right approach.
“Vivian, set up a barrier and prepare food. I’ll gather some firewood.”
“Together!!”
“…?”
Vivian’s urgent voice made me pause. Her blue eyes looked at me with a pitiful light.
“Couldn’t I… go with you? The f-forest is dangerous…”
“……”
For a moment I almost reached out my hand. I almost told her to come with me. Because I wanted to savor time alone with her again. Even though I knew she was a different Vivian, my heart refused to consider that.
But.
“Vivian.”
We had Saren with us now.
“Did you not hear what Brother said?”
“…Understood.”
I deliberately looked away. Leaving behind the tears that fell from those blue eyes, I quietly stepped into the dark forest.