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Translator: thursdays PR: LightBrin
It was the third day since we fell into the Apocalypse.
The Lady of the Silver Lily was absent from the academy.
“They say she’s in bed because her body’s unwell.”
“Is that so…”
“Yes. She gets sick often, so of course she would fall ill after interrogating her servants all night long!”
The Heretic Questioner took small sips of the black tea (which contained a large amount of sodium, good for his health).
“Physical fitness is the nation’s strength! It’s difficult to achieve your goals even if you have a great cause when your body is weak. Mm, what a shame. The Lady of the Silver Lily is a talented person who can overturn the empire….”
“I heard that the prince is absent as well.”
“Ahaha. Yes, yes. It’s all thanks to you, butler. Maybe he received too much of a shock. He might even apply for a leave of absence.”
We were in one part of the garden, having teatime by the magnolias. The other students passing through the garden were startled when they saw us.
“It’s the crazy master-servant pair!”
“The naughty lady!”
“You can’t go near them!”
Young ladies lifted up the hems of their dresses and the young men rolled up the ankles of their pants to run away.
Thanks to this, we had the spacious garden to ourselves. Sweet.
“Heretic Questioner, you just called me [butler], not [Death King]. Be careful.”
“Ah! I apologize. My mistake. It’s hard to control myself since my immersion is over 20 percent. Oh, also, this salted tea is surprisingly charming! Another cup please, butler.”
“You called me a butler again….”
I sighed and poured more tea into the lady’s teacup.
Splish.
“Mhm.”
I began to hum. After taking on the butler’s role, I realized that tea ceremonies were quite deep. The way the tea poured from the pot drop by drop and gathered in the cup, the way the liquid rippled as it poured—it was beautiful. This culture truly suited the young lady…….
[The immersion toward the character has deepened.]
[Currently, your immersion rate is 10%.]
“Kyaah?!”
The Heretic Questioner jumped.
“Butler, why did you suddenly dump the tea on me?! It’s hot! It’ll definitely damage my delicate hair!”
“What do you mean, [Kyaah]! That’s not the way you normally scream! Has your body and heart become one with the Lady of the Golden Silk Plum? Tell me this. When spring comes?!”
“The magnolias drop, and the butler’s hair will fall off too.”
“Aaaack!”
There was a moment when I experienced the horror that I might lose my hair.
We calmed down and stopped fighting. I acted like a proper servant and brushed the Heretic Questioner’s hair.
The Heretic Questioner’s hair had grown a bit over the past few days. Was it the effect of his sacred transformation technique? Or was it because he was becoming more and more like the Lady of the Golden Plum Silk?
“Your expressions show much more emotions than before, Heretic Questioner.”
I ran my fingers through his golden hair. I had never combed someone’s hair or had mine be combed by someone, but my hands moved on their own.
“You used to smile all the time. In another way, it was like you weren’t smiling at all. Rather than smiling because you were happy, it felt like smiling was a default expression.”
“Aha. Am I different now?”
“Yes. You’ve become more emotional. Or should I say vivid? Now, I feel like I understand why you smile when you smile. Whether you’re smiling because you’re pleased or if you’re faking it.”
“I see. I’m also aware of that. Death King, do you think that this is a good thing?”
I quietly looked down at the back of the Heretic Questioner’s head. It was a small head. Small body. Small shoulders. Small arms. I thought about how many people he must have killed despite his small body.
The Heretic Questioner.
From Europe, Bulgaria to be specific, and a first-generation Hunter.
Age unknown.
Number of murders, unknown.
“……Yes. I think it’s a good trend.”
I opened my mouth.
“Honestly, I was wondering what to do with you.”
“Mm? What do you mean?”
“You’re a crazy, psychopathic killer.”
I slowly tied the back of the Heretic Questioner’s hair. It reminded me of taking care of my younger siblings at the orphanage.
“But I couldn’t kill you without a reason. The Black Dragon Guild and even the Sword Saint, who hates people like you the most, kept you alive. Which means there’s a reason not to kill you.”
The Heretic Questioner laughed. He didn’t seem surprised to hear I was wondering if I should kill him. Rather, he seemed to find it fun.
“An accurate discernment!”
“Why do you kill people?”
I finally asked the question I had wanted to ask very much.
“You may be a psychopath, but you’re a psychopath who can listen. You know how to understand others in your own way. Then, why murder them?”
“Hmm.”
The Heretic Questioner stroked his chin. He radiated an atmosphere of deep thought. In the distance, beyond the flower bushes in the garden, there was the quiet sound of students laughing.
The Heretic Questioner turned his head. Then, he began to whisper so only I would hear.
“First of all, I should tell you that I’m very talented.”
The Heretic Questioner made some hand signs.
“Sacred technique, Hidden Spirit!”
One of the Heretic Questioner’s gloves disappeared.
“It is one of the sacred techniques that I can use. I can make anything, no matter what it is, disappear from the world. Of course, I can also use this technique to get rid of evidence and bodies after a murder.”
His bare fingers waved in the air.
“If a powerful person doesn’t kill people, it isn’t because they’re a good person! Death King, they simply find it annoying to cover up the corpse and are afraid of being discovered later. But I don’t have to worry about annoyance or fear!”
“…….”
“The Tower really was confusing in the first generation.”
The Heretic Questioner’s face turned bright.
“The revival of slavery. Racial discrimination and nationalism. Terrorism. Manipulation. Genocide. Incitement and fabrication. Ideological conflicts. It was a bit like compressing all of human history and melting it in your mouth. The feeling that [At this rate, we will all perish] spread to small and medium warlords, the current five guilds.”
The Black Dragon. Sangryun. Ten Thousand Temple. Chen Mu-mun. The Civil Militia.
“The five gathered.”
The Heretic Questioner spoke as if he were reciting some epic.
“The Black Dragon’s guildmaster spoke first!”
[I’ll leave out the useless words. Let’s make an everlasting non-aggression pact.]
“The Count added a condition.”
[Guarantee that Sangryun will have exclusive rights to supplies from the outside world.]
“And I added this!”
[I want every guild to have its own exclusive territory! That’s my condition for cooperating with this cover-up!]
“The Venomous Snake complained.”
[Well, the craziest guys are the most reliable ones. Tsk, tsk. It’s the end of the world, really…. But why is this coffee so bitter? Who gave me coffee that I didn’t even order? Oi. Look at this. Hey?!]
“The Sword Saint organized things!”
[I won’t say, ‘Do what you have to do.’ I’ll say, ‘Do what you want to do.’ Tonight, we will be killing people with our own conviction, our judgments, and our methods.]
“That night, 4,653 people died.”
The Heretic Questioner’s smile was still bright.
“The next night, 10,171 people died. Then the next night, 8,275 people. And the next night, 7,412 people, and the night after that, 23,781.”
They died.
They died.
They died. The Heretic Questioner continued to repeat that refrain.
After a while, he happily said, “And then,”
The Heretic Questioner said that the day came suddenly.
“That night, nobody died.”
It was the end of a long cleanup operation.
He said that the Black Dragon Witch cried that night.
And as for the Sword Saint—
[I will take responsibility and resign.]
The Sword Saint was the commander of the Civil Militia at the time.
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