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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Steps Towards Death (3)
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"Are you saying you just ignored my words?"
"Is your linguistic comprehension impaired, perhaps?"
"What?"
"Ignoring something and forgetting something carry vastly different meanings."
"..."
"Ignoring means you never even bothered to listen or intended to seek it out in the first place. Forgetting, as the name suggests, means you simply let it slip your mind."
"…!"
"Are you perhaps sensitive about being disregarded? To interpret 'I simply forgot' in such a way."
"..."
Listening to Sei-an's words, Illnis's face hardened more coldly than ever, and he glared at Sei-an as if he could kill him.
His fists clenched at Sei-an's seemingly condescending tone, and at the word "disregard," his fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
"So, what's your purpose for calling me?"
At Sei-an's subsequent question, Illnis calmed himself as much as possible and began to answer.
"...I didn't call you for a specific reason. I merely..."
"Then, if you have no business, do not call me in the future."
"…!"
But Illnis's expression turned bewildered as Sei-an cut him off, still speaking in a dry tone.
"Neither you nor I are idle people, so I'm simply saying not to summon me back and forth unnecessarily."
"...You."
"If there's nothing further to discuss, then..."
Sei-an finished his piece, then walked past Illnis and left the spot.
"You'll regret this."
"..."
At that moment, Illnis uttered a chilling remark towards Sei-an, who was walking past him.
"I will make you deeply regret having deceived me today."
At his words, Sei-an paused his steps for a moment, then turned around to look at him silently before taking a bold step closer.
"…!"
"How will you make me regret it?"
"...What?"
"Could you specify how you intend to make me regret deceiving you?"
"…!"
Illnis was once again quite flustered and couldn't properly articulate a response. It was the first time anyone had so boldly questioned his threatening words.
And the others were no different. Everyone stared at Sei-an with dumbfounded eyes, as if he genuinely wanted to know how he would be made to regret it.
"Well, if it doesn't come to mind immediately, take your time to think it over."
"…!"
"I'll be looking forward to it."
"..."
Sei-an delivered his final words to the speechless Illnis, then respectfully bowed his head lightly before slowly walking away from the spot.
'Sei-an... how dare you...'
Illnis's expression remained rigid, his gaze fixed on Sei-an's disappearing figure.
He vowed never to forget the day Sei-an had disregarded him.
"Haha... haha!"
"...? Why are you laughing?"
Meanwhile, Kanto, who was leaving the area with Sei-an, burst into loud laughter.
Sei-an looked at Kanto with a puzzled expression, but Kanto showed no sign of stopping his laughter.
"Haha!"
The image of Illnis's face, twisted as if he'd just chewed on rotten food, kept replaying in his mind.
Kanto had always found Illnis's arrogant demeanor distasteful, as he strutted around the academy acting as if the world revolved around him. Now, he felt as if years of pent-up frustration had finally cleared.
"You rascal!"
Kanto ruffled Sei-an's hair vigorously, as if stroking it.
He had been immensely worried that Sei-an, now returned, might once again be tormented by Illnis, but seeing him today, he realized he didn't need to be concerned at all.
"..."
However, Sei-an, completely unaware of Kanto's feelings, merely frowned slightly at his actions of messing up his hair.
"I'm just happy you're back."
"Then from now on, just be happy."
"Hmm?"
"I would prefer you not touch me."
"Haha... haha!"
At Sei-an's subsequent words, Kanto burst into loud laughter once more, ruffling his hair even more vigorously than before.
***
The scorching sun had vanished, and the sky was being painted in the most beautiful array of colors.
"..."
On the roof of the academy building, where someone had fallen just days ago, a person sat comfortably, seemingly oblivious to such matters, simply admiring the sunset.
It was Lark, with hair that looked as if it had never seen a comb, and clothes so crumpled that if Sei-an had seen them, he would have had fire in his eyes and meticulously smoothed them out.
*Click!*
"..."
Lark, enjoying his tranquil solitude, suddenly noticed someone cautiously appearing through a window that connected to the building's roof.
It was a woman, seemingly around 19 years old, with beautiful long blonde hair that reached her waist.
'What is she doing?'
He didn't know why a woman would come up to such a place, but Lark frowned slightly at the sight of her standing precariously on the roof, quite a distance from him.
The woman stood blankly, gazing at the sunset, seemingly unaware of his presence. Lark quietly spoke to her.
"What are you doing?"
"..."
The woman didn't seem surprised by Lark's voice. She turned her head and silently looked at him for a moment.
"It's dangerous, come down... What are you doing?!"
Then, turning her head back, the woman slowly walked closer to the edge of the roof.
At her actions, Lark abruptly stood up.
*Whoosh!*
"…!"
And as he rushed to grab her, she jumped down without a moment's hesitation.
"Kyaaaak!"
"Gasp!"
A short while later, a small commotion, similar to the previous one, began below the roof.
Amidst people's screams, many gathered, and a chilling atmosphere once again settled due to the terribly deceased woman's body.
"..."
Lark also looked down at the woman's corpse, which he had failed to save, his expression hardened.
"Oh!"
"Look!"
Then, students who spotted him began to point at Lark, who was standing on the roof, and shouted with surprised eyes.
'Sigh.'
Lark felt a premonition that he had gotten involved in something troublesome and let out a short sigh inwardly.
"…!"
Then, from below, he saw one person staring at him quietly, unlike the others.
It was Sei-an, looking at him with an indifferent gaze, as if the urgent situation had nothing to do with him.
"..."
"..."
The two stood motionless for a long time, simply staring at each other.
***
"What on earth happened?"
"..."
"Did Lark kill her?"
Another suicide victim appeared. But this time, everyone was claiming it was murder, not suicide.
Simply because Lark had been there.
Currently, Lark was being held by academy officials, confined in another room.
They had detained him, stating they had questions about the deceased, but everyone believed he had killed her.
"She probably committed suicide as well."
"What? How can you be so sure?"
"..."
When working as a Grim Reaper, the easiest souls to guide were those who had taken their own lives.
Those who clearly recognized their own death and had no lingering attachment to life, having chosen suicide, would follow them readily without any special intervention from the Grim Reapers.
And the woman who had just died also quietly followed the Grim Reaper without any resistance.
If Lark had killed her, she would have at least lingered around him for a while with resentment before disappearing.
However, unable to explain such a situation directly to Kanto, Sei-an remained silent, looking at him, and immediately changed the subject.
"Do you know anything about the deceased?"
"...She was also a scholarship student."
"..."
And Kanto, seemingly no longer intending to press Sei-an on the matter, immediately answered his question.
"I don't know why such things keep happening."
Kanto's expression hardened significantly, and he let out a short sigh at the fact that two people had already attempted suicide.
The woman who died this time also had no apparent reason to choose death.
Like Melena, who died earlier, she was diligent in her studies and had no issues with receiving her scholarship.
"Do you happen to know something?"
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Sei-an's quiet voice, as if talking to himself, reached Kanto's ears.
"Suicide, you see..."
"..."
"...is quite contagious."
"What?"
"..."
"What do you mean by that?"
Kanto, not understanding what Sei-an meant, demanded a more detailed explanation.
"A long time ago, five men were traveling by boat when they encountered a storm. Their boat was destroyed, and they drifted to a small, uninhabited island."
"Hmm?"
Kanto looked puzzled by Sei-an's abrupt story, but he began to listen attentively nonetheless.
"Drifting there with nothing to eat, they struggled to survive."
"..."
"Life was hard for everyone, but they tried their best not to show it, waiting for someone to rescue them."
This was a story Sei-an had witnessed when he was a Grim Reaper.
Sei-an knew they would all die a few days later, so he had arrived early and was waiting to collect their souls.
Then, watching them struggle but diligently search for food and make beds to survive, he had to tilt his head in confusion.
He wondered why such people would suddenly die, one after another.
"But then, one of them couldn't endure it any longer and chose to die."
"…!"
However, that mystery was easily solved shortly after.
One of the five men, unable to bear the difficult life any longer, chose to hang himself from a tree.
"So, what choice do you think the others made?"
"Surely not..."
"Yes, they all took their own lives, one after another, the very next day."
When people are in the same difficult situation, if someone chooses death, many others often give up on life as well.
"Are you saying you think this suicide incident is like that case?"
"While I don't know about other things, I can confirm one thing."
"..."
"...This isn't the end of it."
"…!"
At Sei-an's words, Kanto's expression hardened even more than before, and he fell deeper into thought.
Somehow, he felt that, just as Sei-an said, this incident wouldn't end here.
