Chapter 31

Egru couldn’t say a word. His eyes simply welled up with tears. Soon, those tears began to flow, soaking his sleeves as he slowly turned to leave.

However, with each step toward the exit, he kept looking back repeatedly.

“Le-Levian…”

His twig-like legs finally stopped in front of the amusement park exit. For a while, the sound of sniffling could be heard.

Levian fired another shot into the sky. Then came the sound of rusty iron gates sliding open.

The pale green silhouette finally disappeared completely from view. Though Levian stood alone, the amusement park lights shone brilliantly.

“…”

Levian silently clenched his fist holding the pistol. A cracking sound rang out as the grip crumbled.

His amber eyes stared for a long time in the direction Egru had disappeared. Levian’s lips moved silently, then he soon tossed away the broken gun and walked off in the opposite direction.

***

Egru holed up in the Easthole garbage dump. He felt a strange sense of kinship with the waste there. This place that no one looked at with a smile resembled him perfectly.

‘Wh-what if I go back home and…’

What if Levian catches him? The unusually solid pistol in his hand suddenly came to mind.

Egru shook his head and burst into tears. Now he truly had nothing left. Literally nothing. Not a penny to his name, not a single friend.

‘N-not even my brother…’

Egru wept as if the ground would cave in. He knew why everyone hated him so much, which only made it more heartbreaking.

A half-demon hybrid with nothing special about him. If anything, he was properly deficient. It seemed like everyone who associated with him only became unhappy.

‘I-if it’s going to be like this, I’d rather…’

Egru was terrified, with no way out. Hadn’t he become the loner he so desperately didn’t want to be? He lacked the courage to survive alone in a world already hostile to half-demon hybrids.

“Set it up here, no, over there.”

“We don’t have time. Hurry up and finish.”

There were many visitors to the dump today, even though it wasn’t Thursday. It didn’t seem like any particularly good items had come in either. People in dark robes rummaged through various parts of the dump.

“Geez, what a hassle this is in the dead of night.”

“Well, they say we’re exterminating the rat bastards, so this much is nothing…”

“Still, isn’t this too rushed?”

“Can’t help it if it’s a bit shoddy. They won’t be able to escape anyway with those bracelets or restraints or whatever. The mixed breeds coming through the system have to wear them mandatorily.”

For Egru, the presence of humans meant danger. He always had to be careful and watch out. But right now, it was okay. Even though there were quite a few humans in the dump.

Sniff.

Because he was in a space where no one could see him. Right inside a pile of garbage.

Egru took his eyes off the humans and buried his face between his knees.

‘H-how long…’

Do I have to live like this, trembling? Why doesn’t anything get better no matter how desperately I try to live? Life was hard, and his entire existence was lonely.

He missed his brother. He missed Levian too.

Egru sniffled, his nose stinging. His swollen eyes were sore. Just as he was carefully adjusting his crouched position—

Clank.

“?”

A drink bottle rolled down from the garbage pile.

Egru cautiously picked up the bottle. He stared at it intently. It was completely empty. There was no cap, and the expiration date had passed.

Gulp.

But he involuntarily swallowed his saliva. After crying for so long, his throat was parched. Looking at the rainbow-colored label, he felt like it might taste like rainbows.

‘S-someday…’

When I make a lot of money, I’ll buy one to try. First, I’ll buy one for D’Élysée.

As he was thinking his usual thoughts and tucking the drink label into his pocket, he suddenly stopped.

He was always saying ‘someday.’ Did he lack the courage to act immediately?

‘Th-that’s right…’

Inside the garbage pile, Egru made a life-changing decision.

‘M-my life is already over anyway.’

I’m going to try everything before I go!

I’ll do bad things like Levian! And like D’Élysée…!

“…”

Let’s leave D’Élysée out of this since he’s good.

Egru clenched his fists and stood up. The humans didn’t notice him. His small frame was well hidden by the garbage pile even when standing.

Still, he moved carefully, paying close attention. Having lived his whole life avoiding humans, it wasn’t particularly difficult. He stuck his head into a small tunnel in the outer wall of the dump.

The pale green silhouette slipped out of the dump without making a sound.

***

D’Élysée had once received a free cake. It was when some wealthy person handed them out to the poor on the streets, claiming to be doing a good deed.

It was probably a cheap cream bun past its expiration date. But to the young D’Élysée, it felt like a dream come true.

Taking one bite, he saw stars. Immediately, he thought of his brother. He wanted to let him taste it right away.

It was when he was running home, carefully holding the cake with one bite taken out of it.

By chance, he ran into Levian.

The result of that encounter was disastrous. The yellow cream-filled cake meant for his brother disappeared entirely into Levian’s mouth.

It was snatched away and eaten in the blink of an eye.

From that day on, D’Élysée made a resolution.

‘Someday, without fail…’

He would eliminate Levian with his own hands.

“There’s a flower shop in the square, right?”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Have it demolished.”

“Pardon?”

D’Élysée gave orders while putting on his silver armor piece by piece.

“It’s visually unpleasant.”

“The… flower shop, you mean?”

“It’s illegal business to begin with. I’m surprised we’ve been turning a blind eye to it for so long.”

“Understood.”

The aide quickly jotted down the commander’s instructions. Knock knock. Someone knocked on the office door. When the commander gave a short nod, the aide promptly opened the door.

“Faithful servants of the divine! We are here to see the Commander!”

Four holy knights confidently saluted at the door. They were the ones who had been disciplined for excessive enforcement the day before.

“We heard you urgently summoned us.”

“Shall we explain the circumstances of our restraint of the demon hybrid yesterday?”

The holy knights walked in with excessively rigid postures. They all had relaxed expressions, as if expecting something.

“No. That won’t be necessary.”

D’Élysée spoke while fixing his gauntlet for the last time.

“It’s nothing much.”

He didn’t seem interested in the issue regarding the demon hybrid. Without asking anything, the commander approached them.

“C-Commander?”

“What’s…”

It was then that the commander drew his own sword.

The holy sword of Rondite, bestowed upon him at yesterday’s inauguration ceremony. It was said to be a legendary sword of light passed down from the first hero.

They say the blade glows blue if the owner misuses it. But overlapping with the commander’s blue aura, no one could distinguish this.

As the razor-sharp blade gleamed right in front of them, the holy knights stumbled backward.

Shing.

But the commander simply reached out and drew one of the holy knight’s swords. For a while, he compared the two blades in both hands, then asked while still examining the swords:

“Is this your sword?”

“Huh? Ah, yes! It is!”

“…”

Thunk. With a heavy sound, the holy knight’s sword was thrown onto the carpet.

The commander drew and inspected each of the holy knights’ swords one by one. Unable to fathom his intentions, the holy knights were busy exchanging glances. Finally, when the last holy knight’s sword fell to the floor—

“Your sword maintenance is a mess.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m telling you to go back to your hometowns.”

D’Élysée said with a slight smile.

“All of you.”

D’Élysée calmly sheathed the holy sword.

“We don’t need freeloaders taking up space in the Holy Knight Order.”

His pale green eyes turned to the aide standing by.

“Remove them all from the holy knight roster.”

“Yes, Commander.”

The holy knights seemed to have grasped the situation a beat late. Their bewildered faces all turned pale blue.

“Wh-what is this…!”

“This is absurd! Please, please reconsider!”

“Surely the Vice Commander…!”

D’Élysée, unmoved, signaled toward the door. It meant to drag them out now. Clank, clank. The sound of multiple armors rubbing together drew closer.

“Is it because of that hybrid from yesterday?”

“B-but you know, don’t you? That bastard was a demon hybrid!”

“We were all thinking of your safety, Commander…!”

The holy knights raised their voices to the end, asserting their innocence.

D’Élysée watched the whole process with an indifferent expression. The removal of the offenders didn’t take long. Finally, the office door closed, and the numerous noises faded away.

“Handle it well. Make sure those worthless lives don’t cling on…”

“Ack! Cough! Hack!”

To cover the commander’s words, the aide let out a violent cough. Then he pretended not to have heard and looked intently at his notepad. Somehow, every time he dealt with the commander, he felt like his lifespan was shortened by 10 years.

The aide shuddered. Though famous for impeccable work, the commander sometimes lacked caution like this. Perhaps he felt there was no longer any need for it…

“How is the emergency assembly going?”

“It’s perfect.”

At the aide’s answer, the commander went out to the balcony and looked down into the darkness. The Black Horn unit. Elite holy knights in black armor were lined up in formation.

About a dozen or so. The rest had been dispatched to the Milfia Guild.

“I wish you success, Commander.”

The aide said, handing over the silver helmet one last time.

“I’m not heading to a battlefield.”

D’Élysée left the office in silence. With a map in hand, each step he took felt quite light-hearted.

‘…I wonder if he’s sleeping by now.’

No, he’s heading towards home.

His brother’s footsteps were clearly marked on the tracking map.