Translator: Nox

Chapter 17

“Teacher….”

In the blink of an eye, Seo-ah found herself standing at her mentor’s final moment. In front of the woman who had lost an arm, Seo-ah had bowed her head and sobbed before pulling out the key she had kept so carefully hidden.

“Even if you don’t tell me, I’m going. I have to. You know that.”

Her teacher, who had been lying with her eyes closed as if already dead, snapped them open.

“No.”

With a clarity that was hard to believe for someone whose breath was fading, she maintained a firm stance and explained why Seo-ah must not go.

Even then, blood continued to seep from where her arm had been severed. Seo-ah pulled over a white cloth as large as a blanket, wrapping it around the wound and pressing down. She hoped that by doing so, the woman wouldn’t die—that she wouldn’t leave like her grandfather had.

“Stop it and listen to me.”

Crimson blood soaked through the bound cloth. It was painful just to look at, yet the woman losing the blood seemed indifferent.

“You’re bleeding like this, how can I stop?”

“Stop. Listen to what I have to say first.”

As she spoke, she placed a hand on Seo-ah’s cheek. The hand was ice-cold. Her remaining hand was as cold as a corpse’s.

Finally, Seo-ah burst into tears. She wept as much as she had the day her grandfather passed away.

“How am I supposed to stay here?”

Without her grandfather, and now without her teacher, how was she supposed to survive?

At those words, the woman who had told her to stop and listen fell silent. Then, with eyes as deep and beautiful as a lush forest, she gazed at Seo-ah, taking her in over and over again. Her face was unreadable as always, but Seo-ah could feel the woman’s despair.

Suffused with despair, the woman shed tears—something she had never done in life—and opened her mouth.

“…The key. There are two people searching for that key. One is that man, and the other is the only blade capable of killing him.”

“Who is that? Where should I go? I’ll take the key to that person myself….”

“No!”

Despite being on the verge of death, she shouted fiercely. She told Seo-ah to listen carefully, insisting that she must never change the order of things. Only then did she reveal the only way to recover her grandfather’s remains and the only way to find the man who was her father.

Go straight to the Royal Pelfe Bank. No matter what happens, obtain the Acquisition Confirmation Certificate for the key.

“Once you do, both that man and the blade that will kill him will come looking for you….”

Her words, which had been steady, suddenly trailed off.

“Teacher!”

At Seo-ah’s startled cry, the woman’s eyes, which had momentarily grown vacant, regained their focus.

“Remember this well. The person you must follow is Rei….”

Then, as if nothing had happened, her eyes went empty again.

Tears poured down. Seo-ah threw her arms around her. She hadn’t realized that the body, always so strong, could be this cold.

Don’t die. Don’t leave me all alone like this.

She repeated the same words over and over, and a weak hand touched her back before falling away. At the same time, her teacher’s final voice reached her ear.

“The Wolves…. The Wolves will come.”

The ones who will kill him, and in the end, kill you….

The hollow words, thick with grief, finally faded away without reaching an end.

Was it because she had seen her teacher after so long?

Or was it because she had seen the end, of all things, instead of a happy memory?

As if echoing her own sorrow, she thought she heard a muffled sob in the distance. It sounded like a groan.

“Ugh, h-hic, ugh.”

Following the sound of weeping—which seemed filled with terror and pain—came a cold voice that held not a shred of mercy.

“She hasn’t woken up even though the scheduled time has passed.”

“I-It’s only been a minute! One minute has passed! I-If you could just wait a little longer…!”

“Cut off a finger.”

“Aaaah! Wait, wait!”

The problem was that the content of the conversation was terrifying, and the sensations surrounding her felt closer to reality than a dream.

The dim light felt through closed eyelids, the bustling footsteps drumming against her eardrums, and the occasional movement of air against her skin.

“Please wait just a little longer. She’s waking up!”

“Waking up, my foot. Damn it. Either she’s awake or she’s not; what is this ‘waking up’ nonsense? Seriously, why did you drug someone who was just staying quiet?”

It really didn’t seem like a dream.

The moment she realized that, reality rushed in like the world was being turned upside down.

Where is this?

Who are these people? Why am I lying here? So, I….

Her slow-beating heart began to thud, and her palms grew damp.

As she struggled to grasp the situation, a sudden fear seized her. She was just deciding it might be better to stay still and observe a bit longer, pretending she hadn’t woken up yet.

“Is there no medicine to wake her?”

The moment someone tossed those words out, memories she hadn’t even realized were rising flooded over her like a breach in a dam.

“Let’s take the medicine. It’s best to take it at this point.”

The memories that had sunk beneath the surface surged up uncontrollably. The pouring recollections dragged her body back to that moment. She could neither resist nor stop it.

That strange sensation, as if a veil had been draped over all her senses. The laughter of that demonic man. The feeling of being pinned down on the bed, her body as helpless as an insect’s, the lukewarm liquid flowing between her parted lips, and the hand sliding up her thigh.

All of it overwhelmed her consciousness like a flash flood. Her throat constricted. Unlike then, all her senses were intact, yet she couldn’t move easily.

“Heh, ugh….”

“Huh? Senior! She’s awake!”

Startled voices pierced her eardrums like background noise, but that was all. Seo-ah trembled at the sensation of the world, contracted like a narrow coffin, closing in on her. No matter how much she breathed, it wasn’t enough, and she saw pitch-black darkness even beneath the dim light.

A black darkness with no front or back draped over her consciousness.

“What’s wrong with her? Is she really awake?”

Her body was shaken roughly. Even as the world reflected on her retinas swayed wildly, her consciousness was groping through the dark.

The scent that had invaded her nose, the smoky red light, and the man… standing askew in the doorway.

“Do you want to do more?”

Thinking back now, his lips, holding a cigarette, had curved into a smooth smirk. With those smiling lips, he had taken another drag.

“If you want to do more, I can wait a bit.”

He had been leisurely, as if the violence in the dark was nothing, and she had been so utterly terrified of that.

The despair and fear of that moment licked at her heart chillingly. And so, she prayed desperately. Please don’t leave me in this darkness, please help me.

“Help me, help me….”

Meanwhile, Simon, who had thought he could breathe a sigh of relief since the woman had opened her eyes for a moment, felt his patience hit rock bottom the second she seemed to lose her mind.

The Brothel Madam, whose supposedly lucky day had turned into the worst day of her life, wished she could just die the moment she met Simon’s piercing gaze.

Simon strode toward the trembling woman and grabbed her roughly, hauling her up. He shoved her toward the bed and commanded,

“Take responsibility. If her mind is broken, one finger won’t be enough.”

The Madam burst into tears as she looked at the woman who seemed to have completely lost her soul.

Help me, don’t leave me, please help me.

The woman was incessantly mumbling the same words. Her eyes were vacant and wide, tears streamed down her face, and her fists were clenched so tight they had turned white.

It felt like a scene she might have seen before, or perhaps something she had experienced herself.

Sobbing for breath, the Madam crawled onto the bed. She took the hand of the woman who was stiff and trembling, then bowed her head.

“I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

“…Help me, don’t leave me, I….”

The voice, thick with despair, held all the terror of the previous night.

The Brothel Madam sat up and tightly embraced the woman she had tried to ruin with her own hands. She stroked and stroked the fragile back she had tried to push into the abyss with a smile, apologizing as if begging for her life.

“I’m sorry, dear. I’m sorry.”

It might have been a struggle to survive, or perhaps a sliver of conscience buried deep within. Or maybe it was just an instinct to follow the devil’s command to take responsibility.

Whatever the reason, she couldn’t let go of the frail, crumbling body, even as she choked on her own sobs.

Hugging the small back, she told her to come out of there, that it was all in the past. She shared her warmth while spouting the sophistry that she hadn’t done it out of ill will.

“I’m sorry, dear. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

However, Simon’s observation of the scene was beyond cynical—it was grisly.