8 - Marquis Maron Episode 8
Episode 8
"Things have been a bit jumbled since entering the Contaminated Zone. I can't explain why I came all the way here, risking death. I'm starting to think that what I've firmly believed in all along might be false, that the place I lived in might actually be a castle built on sand..."
Ah, his memories have been vaguely erased.
I was all ears, listening intently to the usually taciturn guy talking at length for once, when suddenly a monster popped out in front of us.
"Grrr..."
It was a wandering corpse. The tainted.
Black energy flowed from its pale skin, and its eyes were completely clouded with a hazy gray. No life could be felt in its precarious movements.
Whether they were banished for committing unforgivable crimes, or they had strayed down the wrong path, or they had recklessly tried to overcome the Magical Energy.
In any case, it was the same. They were tainted by Magical Energy, their hearts stopped, and they wandered aimlessly through the contaminated land.
I blankly muttered.
"It's been a while."
"It's been a while?"
"They don't come near the Keep."
Maron Keep was close to the Dark Lake, the center of the Contaminated Zone, so zombies rarely appeared. They usually appeared more frequently as you approached the border of the Contaminated Zone.
"I see."
Reikart stood in front of me, blocking my path. It seemed he still had some chivalry or something left in his heart. I didn't think the Winter family was set up to be that righteous in the novel, but does he still want to act like this even after losing his memory?
Reikart looked back at me, seemingly puzzled that I wasn't surprised to see a zombie.
"Are you okay?"
"How long do you think I've lived here?"
"Have you ever purified them?"
"No, of course not."
No. I was too scared to do it, afraid that they might turn back into humans if I purified them.
The zombies wandering in the Contaminated Zone were mostly known to be heinous criminals discarded by the three kingdoms or the Order.
Traitors, plague-ridden, heretics, madmen, and murderers.
I wasn't scared of zombies at all, but I was terrified at the thought of them turning back into humans. What if they turned on me after being purified? It would definitely deal a severe blow to my plan to live a long and comfortable life.
"I won't purify them. Absolutely not."
"Is that so?"
"I don't want to turn them back into people."
"I was lucky then."
Reikart laughed hollowly. It was a sharp-looking smile. I couldn't tell if he was genuinely laughing or angry.
Was it because he was suffering here because of me? I was subtly aware of his mood.
What is it? Is this some kind of unspoken pressure to purify them?
"Would you... like me to purify them?"
"Why would I?"
Reikart drew his sword with a nonchalant attitude.
Even though he was drawing such a large sword, his movements were concise. Even to my untrained eyes, his footwork and posture were extraordinary.
Thank goodness. It seems he hasn't forgotten his swordsmanship.
I was so relieved. If he had forgotten his swordsmanship, which he had honed for so long, because of me, he would have had a hard time living alone outside later. Then it would become my fault, even though it's not really my fault.
"Grrr..."
The tainted approached Reikart, showing hostility.
"I'll take care of them and come back, so wait here."
"Okay."
Go, amnesiac!
"Close your eyes or something."
"Huh?"
Why close my eyes? Shouldn't I open them wider when it's more dangerous?
There was no time to ask. He was already running forward. No, what if he gets tainted faster by moving so recklessly like that?
Am I your personal purifier?! Huh?
"Wow..."
Amazing.
Reikart really fought well. With my insignificant dynamic visual acuity, I couldn't even properly see how he was wielding his sword.
He just shot forward, leaving only the afterimage of the sword, and the zombies fell one by one.
Reikart didn't break a sweat. His chest didn't even heave. It was as if he had just chased away some annoying bugs.
As expected, the top physical specimen in this world.
I admired him only in my heart.
We decided to take turns standing guard at night.
He yielded the first watch to me, telling me to sleep first, but in my opinion, Reikart looked more tired.
One way or another, he couldn't escape the influence of the Magical Energy. He asked me to hold hands while walking a couple more times, but each time he was flatly rejected.
So I went to sleep first, and when dawn came, Reikart fell asleep.
The campfire crackled and blazed. I was so glad to have a companion who knew how to make a fire. I roasted the tree nuts that I had packed as lunch over the fire and observed Reikart.
He had tossed and turned for a long time before entrusting me with the night watch, as if he was uneasy, and then he fell into a short sleep, like someone who had fainted.
Looking closely, his beautiful blond hair was gradually being tainted by Magical Energy from the ends. I hadn't noticed because he was wearing gloves during the day, but the color of his fingers was also turning grayish.
Why didn't he say anything? Isn't he scared?
He was a really strange guy.
He came to kill the real Hayley, but he's helping the fake Hayley, me, and volunteering to suffer.
He continued his forced march with a sick body, but he didn't show it at all and always walked in front of me. Every time the tainted appeared, he blocked my path and fought.
He gave me all the delicious dried meat and chewed on the tasteless roots without a single complaint.
Does he have a pushover personality?
What should I do?
I'm weak against nice guys.
I gathered the well-roasted tree nuts to one side and sat close to Reikart. Then, I gently pulled and held his hand, which I couldn't grab during the day.
It was a rough, warm hand.
The Magical Energy that was tormenting him seeped into my body through the touching skin.
It's only been a day since I left the Keep, but it's already accumulated this much. This damn land is determined to kill innocent people.
Get clean. Get clean.
Get well soon.
The Reikart in the original story was a character who was like a symbol of misfortune. Like a man created to highlight the happiness of the female lead.
How cruelly the Winter Dukedom had been conducting experiments to create a stronger successor, how much Reikart, who had become something other than human because of it, suffered from losing his identity while even awakening as a Half-human Half-demon.
No one recognized him. He was always alone.
The female lead, the only being who didn't hate or reject him, who was a Half-human Half-demon, appeared and eventually fell in love with her, but he ended his life by suicide before he could even properly realize that it was love.
What to do. He's so pitiful.
"I'm glad I found you before it was too late."
He didn't even transform into a demon, his memories are still vaguely there, and I'm so glad that I can purify him like this.
"So you should find your own life soon too."
I'll take you out of the Contaminated Zone, so go out and live happily. Confess to the female lead and have a love story of the century, or rise to a high position with your swordsmanship and rule the world.
Don't ever be in charge of tragic, angsty, and miserable male leads again.
I sucked out the Magical Energy until the last drop, making his body clean, and smiled with a satisfied face.
Two days passed like that.
The fake Hayley, who only knew about the real Hayley from what she read in the book, and Reikart Winter, who had only lost half of his memory. Fake and loss. We were pretty good travel companions.
When a zombie appeared, Reikart defeated it, and when he was tainted by Magical Energy, I stepped in to purify him.
After continuing through mountains and forests, we came to a wide road, and we encountered the tainted several times a day. Sometimes, animals that had turned into monsters appeared instead of people.
He said he was surprised that I could walk and run so well, unlike what he had thought. I was surprised that he was kinder than I had expected. He was not only considerate but also sometimes even delicate.
I thought that guy had almost lost his humanity after becoming a Half-human Half-demon. It's all because of the original author. Planting unnecessary prejudices in me.
Even if we walked and walked, it was a forest, and even if we went and went, it was a road. I was amazed at how wide it was when I climbed to the top of Maron Keep and looked out, but the Contaminated Zone was even wider than I thought.
