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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Steps Towards Death (2)
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“I think so too.”
“What?”
“Why would anyone do something so pointless?”
“……”
But Sei-an lightly nodded, as if it were someone else's business, agreeing with his own words.
‘Suicide, huh…’
Of course, it wasn't his place to say, having chosen oblivion himself after growing weary of the Grim Reaper's duties.
‘Jushia…’
Then, recalling the face of another person he had seen, someone who had taken their own life, Sei-an’s eyes deepened further.
“……?”
At Sei-an’s gaze, Kanto kept tilting his head in confusion.
“What was the name of the deceased?”
“Hmm?”
At Sei-an’s question, Kanto returned to the main topic and told him her name.
“Melena.”
“Hmm.”
“But why are you so interested in her?”
Kanto’s gaze turned questioning again as he watched Sei-an show an unusual amount of interest in someone he didn't even know.
“Was she perhaps in a relationship?”
“In a relationship?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… I don't know. As far as I knew, she wasn’t particularly seeing anyone.”
“……”
“Why are you asking about that too?”
Kanto couldn't help but feel even more puzzled by Sei-an’s continuing questions, wondering why he was curious about whether the deceased had been in a relationship.
“I’ll tell you later.”
But Sei-an seemed to have no intention of immediately satisfying Kanto’s curiosity, simply sealing his lips without offering a proper explanation.
“……?”
At that, Kanto once again looked at him with a puzzled expression, repeatedly tilting his head.
***
“Why did Melena try to die?”
“I don’t know.”
Her death had left the atmosphere within the academy deeply unsettled.
There had been a commotion involving suicide before, due to Sei-an, but at that time, such a gruesome corpse hadn't been discovered, so it had ended as a minor incident.
This time, however, someone had definitely died, and since no particular reason for her to choose suicide had been found, people’s questions only grew deeper.
“Ah… even thinking about it now, it’s just awful.”
“Exactly. We really shouldn’t have looked… it even appears in my dreams.”
Maynen and Rii, Arisa’s friends, shuddered anew as they recalled the scene of Melena’s corpse that day.
“Was it that gruesome?”
At their words, Arisa, who was the only one spared from seeing it thanks to Sei-an, felt curious and asked them.
“Oh, absolutely.”
“You’re truly fortunate you didn’t witness it.”
Maynen and Rii’s faces turned pale as they recalled the gruesome sight of the corpse again at Arisa’s question, then they looked at her with envious eyes.
They remembered Arisa being protected in Sei-an’s arms and shielded from the sight at the moment they screamed.
Though they had grown up as only daughters, showered with their parents’ love, on that day, they felt a deep dissatisfaction about not having an older brother.
“……”
And Aimela, who had also been there that day, felt the same way.
“He used to completely ignore you, but Sei-an seems to have changed a lot.”
Feeling as if all the attention he used to show her had now shifted to Arisa, Aimela spoke with a slightly chilly tone without realizing it.
“Yes, he’s changed a lot.”
Arisa nodded, a faint smile on her lips, at Aimela’s words.
Recently, she was, for the first time, truly understanding what family affection felt like, thanks to Sei-an.
Knock, knock.
“……?”
Just then, she turned her head at the sound of someone lightly tapping on the classroom door, and a deeper smile touched her lips.
“Arisa.”
“Brother.”
It was because Sei-an was gesturing for her to come closer.
She rose from her seat and trotted over to him.
“Hello.”
“Oh, hello.”
Arisa, finally noticing Kanto standing beside Sei-an, bowed lightly and greeted him in response to his greeting.
“What’s going on?”
“I heard that someone named Melena is in your class.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I have some questions about her.”
“Huh?”
Arisa tilted her head for a moment at Sei-an’s words that he had questions about the deceased Melena.
She was momentarily puzzled about what he could be curious about regarding her.
“Did she perhaps have any close friends?”
“Close friends?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
Then, at Sei-an’s next question, Arisa paused to recall her memories of Melena.
“She was a quiet girl. So she didn’t really have any close friends…”
She was a student who mostly just studied in the classroom. A quiet girl who often read books or was lost in thought, gazing out the window.
“Alright. Then, let me rephrase the question… Was she seeing any men?”
“Huh?”
At Sei-an’s next question, Arisa looked a little flustered before lightly shaking her head.
“No, she wasn’t.”
Among girls, such matters spread quickly. Rumors about who liked whom, or who was dating whom.
“There were many whispers about men who liked her, but I never heard any rumors about her actually dating anyone.”
While there were many stories about men who liked her, she had never heard any rumors about Melena specifically dating anyone.
“Alright, I understand.”
Sei-an, who had come thinking Arisa, being in the same class, might have more information, nodded at her answer, which was identical to Kanto’s.
“See you later.”
“Yes.”
Sei-an gave Arisa a light farewell, then slowly left the spot, and Kanto also smiled and waved to her.
Arisa quickly bowed in return, then stood there for a moment, watching the two disappear.
“Why suddenly…”
She was genuinely curious why he had asked about Melena.
***
“Oh!”
“……? What’s wrong?”
“Over there…”
“Yes?”
Sei-an, who was heading towards the classroom after meeting Arisa, followed Kanto’s gaze, which showed a flustered expression upon spotting someone, and looked towards the people walking down the opposite hallway.
“It’s Illnis.”
“……”
He could see a man in his early twenties, Illnis, striding confidently forward at the head of a group, which included Rubin, whom Sei-an had seen often lately.
And Kanto’s words confirmed that this was indeed Illnis, the one who repeatedly summoned him for no good reason.
“……!”
Illnis also seemed to have spotted Sei-an, as he stopped short, then a cruelly cold smile spread across his lips as he resumed his steps, approaching Sei-an.
“Hey! Look, look over there.”
“……! It’s Lord Illnis.”
At that, those in the hallway hastily moved aside, and those in the classrooms rushed to the windows or stepped out into the hallway to watch the spectacle, as if an entertaining show had begun.
“It’s been a while.”
Illnis, fully basking in their gazes, spoke to Sei-an with the most relaxed smile he could muster.
“Were we on terms to greet each other so warmly? That’s different from what I heard.”
Sei-an, in his usual indifferent tone, replied to the greeting, then continued quietly, almost to himself.
“I thought the reason I tried to die was because of you, you see.”
“What are you talking about? The reason you tried to commit suicide has nothing to do with me.”
At Sei-an’s words, a deeper smile spread across Illnis’s lips, and he declared with an exaggerated expression that it had nothing to do with him.
‘That damn bastard!’
At Illnis’s words, Kanto, standing beside Sei-an, muttered a small curse under his breath and frowned fiercely.
It was a known fact, not just to him but to everyone around them, that Illnis’s bullying had played a part in Sei-an’s attempt to take his own life.
At that, Kanto began glaring at him with indignation.
“……”
Sei-an, on the other hand, simply gazed at Illnis silently, his eyes even calmer and deeper.
Just a moment ago, the instant he first saw Illnis, his heart began to pound rapidly again. His heart started beating, independent of his will, just like when he first saw Aimela.
But the throbbing he felt this time was different from the throbbing he felt when he saw Aimela.
Fear, anger… it was a throbbing mixed with such emotions. The painful emotions associated with Illnis seemed to have remained in his heart, just as they had with Aimela.
However, once again, Sei-an quickly erased the imprinted emotions, independent of his will, and calmly looked at Illnis.
“……!”
At Sei-an’s demeanor, the smile vanished from Illnis’s face for the first time, and his expression subtly hardened.
‘What is this?’
Rubin and others had said that Sei-an had changed a lot, but he hadn't fully believed them.
He thought that no matter how much Sei-an changed, he would still be the Sei-an who couldn't even properly lift his head in front of him.
“……”
But seeing Sei-an look him directly in the eyes without even a slight tremor, Illnis couldn't help but be considerably flustered.
In fact, he found himself flinching and wanting to avert his gaze from Sei-an’s deep, cold eyes, which held no emotion whatsoever.
“Do you have business with me, then?”
“……!”
Then, at Sei-an’s calm voice directed at him, Illnis, jolted back to his senses, forced a smile and continued speaking.
“I called you several times, but you didn’t come, so I came to find you myself.”
“……”
“Why didn’t you answer my summons?”
“Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Didn’t you hear that I forgot?”
“…What?”
“I simply forgot to come and see you.”
“……!”
Forgot? Did he just say he forgot his summons and didn't come?
“……”
Illnis turned his head towards Rubin and the others, his expression colder than ever at Sei-an’s reply.
“H-hik!”
Rubin, who had heard Sei-an’s words but had subtly omitted that part when relaying the message, knowing full well how angry Illnis would be, quickly lowered his head to avoid Illnis’s glaring eyes.
