R4STWH - Chapter 109
Chapter 109
“Whitey, if you want to stop me, now's your chance.”
His gaze carefully scanning my expression, he smoothly lifted the corners of his mouth.
“It’s enough if you just think I died back then. There’s no need to overcomplicate it.”
“……Why.”
My voice trembled.
I hated that he could so casually suggest I cut off his life. So much that I really wanted to kill him, as he had said.
“Why do you, always, have to be like this?”
My fist, trembling with anger, shot out with gritted teeth.
Thwack!
My fist, just barely missing his earlobe, buried itself deep into the wall.
“Is everything easy? Does everything seem like a joke?”
I threw punches at him again and again.
“You’re not even curious about other people’s feelings, are you?”
But every time, my punches missed, only hitting the useless wall.
“Always doing whatever you want, as you please……”
I knew that killing him right now was the easiest and surest way to prevent future innocent sacrifices.
Yet, the reason why I was acting so foolishly was because,
“So, is it fun?”
I could actually feel that this was extremely crucial for him as well.
It was completely different from his usual listless expression with a sneer.
For Zero, there was something so precious in our ruined world that he couldn't give up, no matter what.
Something so big and heavy that he couldn’t take even a single step forward without it, to the point where he was even prepared to confront his comrades.
“It’s not fun at all, Whitey.”
He wrapped his hand around my fist, which was dripping with blood.
“That's why I’m saying let's go back together. If you just follow my lead this once, I’ll do whatever you want after that.”
“……If that’s what you really want, then not this road disguised as a shortcut.”
I slowly pulled back my fist.
“Find another way.”
There might be a way to fulfill Zero and Yumi’s wish without using the misfortune of others as fuel.
So there was no need to confront each other and bring it to an end……not yet.
I rationalized and comforted myself this way, masking my incompetence that made me unable to kill Zero with my own hands.
As I let him go and took a step back, Zero clicked his tongue.
“You can’t be so soft.”
“And you, can you kill me?”
“Hmm……that would be a bit problematic.”
“You're the same, yet acting so smug.”
Anyway, the quest was cleared, and I had a sense of what Zero wanted.
So it seemed better to go back now.
Elias had been waiting for me since earlier.
'I hoped he wouldn't notice I sneaked out.'
But I knew that there was a high chance that he had noticed my secret outing.
His physical abilities, having experienced explosive growth, were now not that different from mine in its limited state.
So he would have fully recovered his stamina by taking just a short nap, and upon realizing my absence, he would have come straight here without hesitation.
There were more than enough clues.
“Keep a close eye on that guy.”
After gesturing toward Ermitar with my chin, I headed for the door.
“Whitey, instead of leaving, why don’t you just stay at my palace? That guy needs to be watched, but so do I, don’t you think?”
I cleanly ignored his nonsense. I also coldly slapped away the hand reaching for me.
Then, when I opened the door, I saw Elias standing stiffly in the hallway, waiting for me.
“Elias……”
As I was carefully watching his mood, feeling apologetic, Elias rushed toward me, his face filled with shock.
“Why are you so injured? Did the First Imperial Prince hit you?”
Seething with anger as if wondering how anyone could do that, he was shocked once more when he saw Zero's state, who followed me out.
Because to anyone's eyes, the guy looked many times more messed up.
“Two uninvited intruders already. The imperial knights are hopeless.”
Zero said as he dusted off his clothes, even limping with one leg broken.
“……”
Even Elias, who would have snorted at anything, was speechless at how terrible he looked.
“Why? Are you worried because he’s a friend? Then put your wife as his caretaker.”
'Your wife? Zero is using such an expression……?'
I looked at Zero. I had been feeling it since earlier, but something was very different about him, starting from his way of speaking.
Was it because he absorbed Leonard's memories?
But even so, usually they only barely managed to use the information extracted from their memories, like Yumi or Baeksa. It wouldn’t be easy to speak and act like someone from this world without any awkwardness.
It wasn’t that Zero had any special talent for acting, and even if he did, there was no reason to do it in front of Elias and me.
'Is it because something went wrong when he hurriedly took over a body?'
As I stared at Zero with a serious expression, he lifted the corners of his lips and smiled smoothly.
“Why are you staring like that? You’re making my heart flutter for no reason.”
'See, see that!'
Zero never smiles like that!
In our previous world, there was never a time when both corners of his mouth rose equally when he smiled. He always lifted only one corner of his mouth to smile with a sneer, as if looking down at the world.
'Maybe...Leonard's soul is still left.'
Zero tilted his head slightly as he saw my changing expression.
“Whitey? If you're not leaving and staying here, how about we have breakfast together?”
As if awakening me from my thoughts while staring at Zero, Elias entwined his fingers with mine.
“Ilesha.”
“Ah… I’m sorry, Elias.”
Looking up at him beside me, I cautiously suggested.
“If it’s okay with you, since we came all the way here, shall we eat breakfast before we go?”
“……What?”
It wasn’t Elias who asked back in surprise, but Zero.
It must have been a spur-of-the-moment thing, but he looked embarrassed for suddenly biting on the bait.
“If that's what you want, then of course we should.”
As if feeling something from my expression, Elias nodded slowly.
He had realized that there was a reason for me doing this.
“Are you serious?”
“Why? Were you just saying it?”
At my calm reply, Zero shook his head.
“No, it’s too…… unexpected.”
But he soon curved his eyes into a smile.
“I’m happy about it. Then I guess we should hurry and prepare.”
I could feel the joy in the eyes that curved into a beautiful arc.
After watching him carefully as he limped to the stairs first, I lightly pulled on the hand I had with Elias.
“Hm?”
As Elias's gaze turned to me, I pointed beyond the door.
“Do you see that guy over there?”
Elias’s brow furrowed as he stared at the man bound in chains.
“I think he was one of His Majesty's aides.”
“That’s Ermitar.”
“……What?”
“The final boss of the disaster that came to our world, the Evil Dragon Ermitar. That was him. Though he's ridiculously weak compared to then.”
Extremely surprised, Elias could only gape at Ermitar, his mouth opening and closing.
“He’ll become a bit stronger when he returns to his original form, but the current Elias would be a match for him. I remember ‘First Dragon Slayer’ being a pretty good reward too…… Do you want to try it?”
“What are you talking about, as you please!”
Ermitar, who had been listening quietly from the inside, shouted.
“Why? Are you scared you'll lose?”
“It’s not that, it’s that he……!”
“Hm?”
“No…… anyways, no. I’m not going to go out of here, and I’m not going back to my original form either.”
I clicked my tongue at his words.
“It seems like he doesn’t want to fight because Elias is too strong.”
“There will be another opportunity someday.”
He smiled gently as he brushed his thumb against the back of my hand.
“Shall we go up?”
“Yeah.”
I briefly made eye contact with Zero, who was waiting for us halfway up the stairs to the first floor.
After those enigmatic emerald-colored eyes casually swept past, I silently laughed.
Now that things had come to this, I had made up my mind to dig up everything he was trying to hide.
'For now, it’s clear that that dragon bastard was caught here intentionally.'
He's probably moving under a quest as well.
Though I didn't know if it was from the Gluttonous Monarch or one of this world's gods.
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