Translator: Nox

63 - The Time of the Blind Beast (15+ Revised Edition)

Chapter 63

He had returned.

The reason the door was open finally dawned on him. The employees, too shocked to see Ezekiel returned unharmed, had forgotten to lock it.

His heart plummeted.

He had expected to meet him someday, but he hadn't anticipated him walking in so boldly through the door.

Sweat beaded on the hand gripping the Rifle.

What should I do? Should I snipe him here?

Can I hit him with a single shot from this distance?

If I can't incapacitate him with one blow, it will surely be my turn next.

The moment he imagined Ezekiel responding with his own Rifle, Achenaus shivered with dread. He didn't want to hesitate, but he couldn't stop. There was no guarantee he would succeed on the first try, but Ezekiel would. No matter where he aimed, he would undoubtedly pierce it with a single bullet.

He shouldn't have entered the mansion alone. He should have brought his guards. Then, even if it was just by sheer numbers, they could have subdued him.

Father, are you home?

Achenaus frantically scanned the interior of the mansion. No matter how deep his resentment, his father would never dare point a gun at his own son if he were in the same house.

No, leaving the mansion was the priority. He had returned in secret, so slipping out through the garden quietly and planning his next move was the safest option for now.

But by the time he thought of a way, it was too late.

Ezekiel turned to look at him. His demeanor was casual, as if he had known he was hiding there from the start.

It was a strange intuition. Even at a distance where his features were unclear, Achenaus sensed that Ezekiel's dark blue Iris had fixed directly upon him.

His mind went blank.

His thoughts ceased entirely, yet his hands moved on their own.

Achenaus raised the Rifle and pulled the trigger. He didn't remember if he had aimed properly.

Bang!

The deafening roar of the shot split the air.

The world fractured all at once.

Then, opaque shards of glass, having lost their light, obscured his vision and collapsed in unison. The strong vibration caused by the shattering of the large glass windows, erected to admire the garden, brought down the Valdemara mansion's prized beautiful windows, turning them into fragments that rained down one after another.

Achenaus realized for the first time that the roar, which surpassed mere sound, was akin to a deathly silence.

Time seemed to stop for a moment.

He was still lost in a daze, his mind unable to process what his eyes had seen.

"I'm not surprised anymore."

Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed. Achenaus flinched and looked up at the deep, resonant voice.

"Every time I return home, this is always the welcome I receive."

Ezekiel, who had approached unnoticed, looked down at him with an impassive face.

The shot Achenaus fired had broken the window but caused no casualties. It was an expected outcome, given he had pulled the trigger with a trembling, aimless hand. A shot fired with clear intent never wavers. Judging by his aiming skills alone, Achenaus had failed to hit him.

"...How can you be here when I'm here!"

This was all the desperate struggle he could muster.

"Why can't I be here when you are?"

Ezekiel scoffed.

"Am I a thief, sneaking into my own home?"

It wasn't difficult to hear news of Achenaus in Claris, where he had set foot after a long time. He was living off various mistresses, protected by layers of guards he had hired. Ezekiel didn't even smile, as the reason for his flight was too obvious.

If this is how a brother faces his younger sibling, then as the younger sibling, he shouldn't betray expectations.

Ezekiel tilted his chin.

"Did you think I would resort to cowardly methods, hiding behind others like you? Absolutely not. I came here today intending to see this through. Let's not involve the 37th Regiment or guards and dirty this family dispute with others. Let's settle this here, between you and me, with a duel."

"...What?"

"If you're going to hold a Rifle, hold it properly."

Ezekiel corrected Achenaus's haphazard grip on the Rifle, holding it straight.

"You have bullets and powder, don't you? Load it."

"W-what are you trying to do?"

"Are you asking because you don't know? Shoot."

It was a clear conclusion.

"If you can shoot and kill me, then try."

Achenaus narrowed his eyes in disbelief at Ezekiel's calm tone.

"You want me to shoot you?"

"Yes, because I'm going to shoot you too."

It happened in an instant. Ezekiel lowered the Rifle he had slung over his shoulder, finished loading it in the blink of an eye, and aimed at Achenaus.

"Wait, just a moment! My gun isn't even loaded..."

"That's why I'm waiting for you now."

Faced with Ezekiel's cold gaze, which allowed no excuses, Achenaus trembled as he counted out bullets and cartridges. All the while, his mouth wouldn't stop moving.

"A soldier challenging a civilian to a duel, do you think this is justifiable?"

"If you want a different weapon, I'll accommodate you."

That made even less sense. Achenaus gritted his teeth and protested.

"Do you think Father will forgive you if you shoot and kill me?"

"That's none of my concern."

Ezekiel replied flatly.

"For Father, there will be no choice this time either."

Just as the blind man had been abandoned once before, this time Valdemara would not be able to choose between a disabled or deceased child.

"I'm not a soldier who has handled a Rifle like you."

"You talk too much..."

Bang!

The shot rang out, cutting off Ezekiel's words. Achenaus, who had been stalling with whiny complaints, suddenly pulled the trigger.

It was a decisive blow, but Ezekiel, who had kept his eyes fixed on the muzzle's movement, kicked Achenaus's wrist the moment he saw his finger twitch on the trigger.

"Ah!"

Dropping the Rifle, the bullet flew in a random direction.

It was his first and last chance. Moreover, having lost his weapon, counterattack was impossible.

It was a duel that could never have been established in the first place.

If it were something that could be settled with physical strength, he wouldn't have threatened that woman and handed her the poison.

Achenaus frantically scanned for an escape route. But there was no guarantee he could escape safely, evading Ezekiel's shot.

He had no confidence in winning through strength, no confidence in snatching the weapon, and no confidence in escaping safely. The only person with the authority to stop the duel, his father, was coincidentally absent, and the employees were too intimidated by Ezekiel's presence to approach.

Achenaus slowly raised both hands.

"If you're demanding surrender... I lost. I admit it. So..."

It was an apology not worth listening to. Ezekiel let Achenaus's apology go in one ear and opened his mouth.

"The Doctor who fixed my eyes told me. If that poison had entered through my mouth instead of my eyes, I would have died."

"Ezekiel, I was wrong, so..."

"I kept thinking and thinking. What should I do when I catch you and that woman."

"Just my life..."

"You two should experience the kind of time I've been through, shouldn't you?"

Ezekiel raised his Rifle and clicked, aiming. Achenaus screamed as Ezekiel's hand moved to aim precisely at his face.

"In any case, you've returned unharmed now!"

"I'm unharmed... Ah, I seem that way on the outside?"

It was fine because he had returned unharmed.

Was that a time that could be dismissed so easily?

Losing his sight without knowing why, writhing in pain that felt like his head was splitting from even the slightest light, he was rescued by his subordinates and carried away. Unable to accept reality, he relied on opium hallucinations until he barely escaped addiction with Rose's blood and sweat.

And after enduring a year of treatment and surgery with no end in sight, he finally returned home.

It took a full year.

The only good thing that happened during that time was meeting Rose and the memories they shared through the four seasons.

But even that Rose was no longer by his side. He didn't even know how to find her.

"There's one thing I'm grateful to you for. Because I lost my sight and was driven to the North, I met her."

As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of light erupted from the muzzle.

"Ah!"

For a moment, Achenaus didn't realize what had happened. His face, his head, felt hot. It felt like fire, like being struck by lightning. His right eye, in particular, hurt terribly. It felt like being hit by a giant's fist swung with all its might.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah... Ack!"

Achenaus, still not grasping the situation, moaned and fumbled at his face with his hands. It felt strange. Half of his face was hot and slick.

He slowly pulled his hand away. His heart began to beat with increasing foreboding. And the moment he saw the bright red bloodstains on his palm, he screamed. Only then did he sense the subtle narrowing of his field of vision.

"My eye... my eye, you madman, you ruined my eye!"

"One year, blind."

"What?"

"Just like I did, run away to the outskirts, or rely on those many mistresses, endure for just one year. After that, I'll end it for you."

Taking a life in one go was too easy and simple. After a fleeting moment of pain, eternal peace would follow.

Ezekiel did not desire that. There was regret that could only be understood through personal experience. He planned to make him live through countless despair, to make him realize how far a person could fall, how they could see their own bottom.

Click. The muzzle turned towards his left eye again.

Achenaus hastily shouted.

"Can you say you're not cowardly? You were also hiding in Derosa, colluding with Father!"