D’Élysée advanced through the dimly lit corridor of the Papal Headquarters.
“Where are you going?”
Suddenly, an irritated voice called out from somewhere. Without even reacting, D’Élysée continued walking.
“I’m asking where you’re going. Are you off to find that mongrel again?”
“…”
“Do you plan to keep giving me the cold shoulder like this?”
Gavin, who had been leaning against the window, blocked D’Élysée’s path. The pale green eyes simply stared straight ahead. As if he couldn’t see or hear anything, it was no different from treating Gavin as if he didn’t exist.
Gavin gritted his teeth. His sunken facial bones had been restored with divine power, but his broken shoulder was still in a splint. With his bandage-wrapped arm, Gavin shoved D’Élysée’s chest.
“The other day, I just lashed out in anger.”
“…”
“I didn’t actually want him to die.”
Gavin lowered his gaze to the marble floor illuminated by moonlight. His visibly sunken shoulders shrugged slightly.
“I didn’t know it would happen either. Who could have predicted a massacre would occur overnight?”
“Nothing but excuses.”
“You’re the one who needs to stop defending him. You need to come to your senses now. I did it for your sake…!”
“Self-praise on top of it all.”
D’Élysée’s lips parted slightly.
“You seem to be under some misunderstanding. You’ve got the wrong person.”
The dry statement pierced Gavin’s eardrums clearly.
“If killing you could bring my brother back, I would have carved you up a thousand times over.”
“You…!”
Gavin was left breathless, unable to continue. D’Élysée simply walked past the figure standing dumbfounded.
***
The second floor of the restaurant building in the Central Square.
In the past, Levian often visited the high-end tea house located there.
It wasn’t particularly known for delicious tea. Nor was it the kind of place someone like Levian would readily enter, given the families and couples who frequented it.
But Levian enjoyed visiting so much that he was treated like a VIP.
“Sir.”
Clink.
On an antique silver tray sat a dainty teapot and teacup.
Levian pulled out a rugged hip flask, commonly known as a ‘pocket whiskey’, which seemed out of place. Whenever Egru asked what it was, he would answer, “A can filled with delicious juice.”
After pouring enough brandy to completely mask the taste of the expensive tea, he would slightly pull down the blinds with his finger to observe outside.
‘For someone of his status, he’s quite clever.’
Under the Central Square signpost.
A demon half-breed could be seen eating rotten bread among horse dung.
‘Cleaning carriage windows, no less. He’s got a good work ethic, I’ll give him that.’
Egru would often gaze at the restaurant below the high-end tea house. Every time, even though Levian knew Egru wasn’t looking at him, he felt as if their eyes had met. Above all, the tickling sensation in his chest wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
‘Just a little more…’
Just a little longer.
He waited for the day when the unfair contract with Salvanel would end.
‘Once I receive that body enhancement potion or whatever it is…’
He’d put an end to Egru’s days of just window-shopping at the restaurant.
Around the time Egru would dust off his bottom and go back to cleaning carriage windows, Levian would still be staring out the window, gulping down the lukewarm tea. The tea, soaked in alcohol, showed its bottom after just three sips.
Levian called the waiter and ordered three or four more cups of tea. Until then, he sipped directly from the hip flask. Continuously staring out the window, he habitually scratched near his left collarbone. Below the prominently protruding bone, a tattoo of specific numbers was engraved.
[20856]
It was usually hidden beneath his shirt collar.
“Sir.”
At the waiter’s polite call, Levian checked his wristwatch. Time seemed to be passing unusually quickly.
“I’m sorry, but it’s time for us to close.”
“I know.”
“We look forward to seeing you again.”
As Levian stood up, he took one last look out the window. Scrub, scrub. He could see the little pea diligently cleaning the carriage windows with his short arms. It took a considerable amount of time for his lingering gaze to finally drop.
Levian smiled with satisfaction.
‘You can be happy.’
At that time, Levian was certain.
By then, he might be able to let go of everything and be happy too. Whatever happened, he was sure he wanted to be with Egru.
“…”
But now, only a vague question remains.
Could you really have been happy because of me? Unlike you, I’m not worthy of happiness.
When he confirmed Egru’s corpse in that filthy underground.
Levian didn’t know how to react. It felt like his brain had not just malfunctioned, but turned to brick.
A bubble.
It was the moment when all his plans turned to nothing.
The memory of the night Egru died crept back once again.
***
Levian was living a life not worth living.
Living was pain. Cigarettes, hard liquor, drugs, powders. No matter how many harmful things he tried, there seemed to be no end to his tomb-like existence.
Perhaps that’s why, when that little pea rolled into his life, he simply couldn’t let go.
He lacked self-control and patience from the start. Perhaps due to his habit of solving most things with force, it was difficult for him to keep people around unless they were in a subordinate position.
Levian decided to use what he thought was the most effective method. Lower the other person’s expectations to rock bottom. Then, even a place by his side would seem tolerable.
‘They definitely went underground.’
The demons, en masse.
Right after the brawl with the Imperial soldiers, Levian immediately set out to secure Egru. He moved without hesitation, dragging his battered body. From the start, to shake off any tails, he entered winding alleys. Despite this, he engaged in several physical altercations with soldiers who stubbornly pursued him.
‘He’ll be alive.’
Levian thought as he tossed aside a helmet with flesh still clinging to it.
‘That kid’s lifeline is as tough as guts.’
As Levian advanced with quick steps, he pulled out the dagger embedded in his side. He paid no mind to the gush of blood that followed.
It would only add a few more scars. After all, Levian couldn’t die.
One dagger was discarded with a clang. Long, damp bloody footprints trailed on the stone floor.
‘Carrying out a demon massacre overnight?’
It was impossible unless you were that bastard who made a hobby of impersonating the Pope.
Levian covered his blood-stained face with a bronze mask. Next, he lifted a manhole cover at the entrance of the Central Square. It was a passage to the underground with a relatively generous width and breadth.
“There he is! Get him!”
Once again, the annoying sound of armor rang out from behind.
‘Judging by the footsteps.’
About five or six of them.
“For His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Bastards who don’t even know who they’re fighting for…”
Levian snorted and jumped down. He began to deal with the Imperial soldiers one by one as they climbed down the maintenance ladder in succession.
After piling up about nine layers of human bodies, the underground waterway finally fell silent.
Levian wiped his blood-splattered lower jaw with the back of his hand. His pumpkin-colored eyes glanced down at the sewage flowing through the underground waterway. He considered washing off his blood-soaked appearance but decided to move on.
Whether the demons were on guard or not, he was confident he could get what he wanted. Violence was a means that worked conveniently anytime, anywhere.
However, it took much longer than expected. Meanwhile, there was no sign of the demons.
Levian was oddly going in circles around the same spot. He was clearly heading forward, yet somehow ended up going backward.
Levian wasn’t directionally challenged.
‘…Damn it.’
It was a confusion spell. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. Nothing could be trusted.
As his five senses became jumbled and reversed, he instinctively sharpened his sixth sense. He couldn’t sense the presence of the caster nearby.
Levian clenched his thick fist.
‘If I could catch and beat the caster, the spell would automatically be lifted.’
The demons had already been restrained. In other words, this was the work of an outsider. It was someone’s scheme to make him wander.
Moreover, it was a large-scale, high-level magic that not just anyone could imitate. They had not only noticed his presence but were also keeping him at bay.
There was only one person who could do this.
Levian’s expression darkened ominously. His heart raced with uncontrollable anger.
‘Salvanel is down here with them.’
It was after an excessively long time that Levian finally found the demons’ dwelling place. To make matters worse, he was forced out of the maze-like confusion spell against his will. It was when he was looking around with a boiling temper.
“H-how… how could this happen…”
From a tent in the distance, an irritating sobbing sound could be heard. Levian clicked his tongue and approached the crowd that had gathered.
“Levian? Did you say Levian?”
When he revealed his name and asked about Egru’s whereabouts, an Orc blocked his path.
The Orc, maintaining his guard, looked Levian up and down. The blatant display of suspicion in his eyes was an added bonus.
“Is mask decoration a trend in the Empire these days? The man called Levian left a long time ago.”
“?”
“Take off that bronze mask and reveal your true identity. Otherwise, Egru’s whereabouts…”
“I-I’m sorry, Egru. I’m so sorry…”
The moment he heard the name he had been longing for from inside the tent, Levian shoved aside the Orc in front of him.