The Worth of the World – Part 01
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Translator: Kell
Interlude: Witch and Demon
“H-How long will you be dreaming?” the Director asked as soon as Zero stepped into the tent.
Zero arched an eyebrow. “That is a strange thing to ask. I am awake at the moment.”
“E-Exactly… You dream about reality… Y-You know that, don’t you? K-Knowing everything, y-you keep on dreaming.”
“You only look in the mirror. How would you know what I am looking at?”
The Director was sitting deep in his chair, staring at his reflection in the mirror. Not once did he look at Zero. His eyes were fixed on his reflection, as if it was an irreplaceable treasure.
Colorful clothes littered the floor, like he was a maiden choosing clothes to wear to a banquet.
The Director snickered. “Y-You’re irritated. L-Like a child woken up… from their pleasant dream. How sad. How pitiful.”
The air turned tense. Barcel tried to ease the tension by clearing his throat, but it only served to worsen it.
“I-I’ll just wait outside, then,” the attendant said, then immediately exited the tent.
Zero and the Director did not respond to his words or movements. They were only focused on each other.
“D-Don’t get me wrong. Th-This is an advice for you. F-For your precious beast warrior.”
“Really, now?”
“I-It will not end up well. Y-You will lose everything. D-Do you think k-killing the Murky Darkness Witch will bring peace? Th-That it will solve everything? H-Humans are complex. Very complex. I-I have been watching humanity f-for a hundred years. The loving but foolish actions of unreasonable human beings. A-All the while you were holed up in the cellar, immersed in your childish dreams. H-Humans and w-witches coexisting? Haha… Hahaha…”
The Director’s guffaw echoed through the tent. After laughing for a while, he choked, coughing violently as he held his chest.
“Y-You’re not saying anything? O-Or you can’t say anything back? O-Of course. I-I have seen the pained look on y-your face every night. Y-You should wake up. I-It’s time to stop dreaming.”
“Is this what you wanted to talk about?”
“Y-Yes. I-If you wake up, everything will change. H-Humanity will be saved. A-And that makes me happy. B-Because I—”
“—love humans,” they said at the same time.
The Director cackled. “Y-Yes… Exactly.”
Zero spun on her heel, expressionless.
Barcel almost asked if she was heading back, but quickly caught himself. He once thought he had never seen a woman as beautiful as her. He felt awe of her power. He did not wish to ever incur her wrath. But at the same time, he felt a sense of amiability from her.
Until now.
As he watched Zero walk away from the tent, Barcel let out a deep sigh. Fearfully he peered into the tent, and was relieved to see the Director staring into the mirror in a great mood. Zero’s aura made him think that he would find the Director’s corpse lying on the floor.
“Scared the hell out of me,” he said. “What did you even say that made her so mad?”
“Reality,” the Director replied.
“Ah, no wonder. There are lots of things that are better left unknown.”
There are as many sufferings as there are people.
Secrecy’s words still rang in Lily’s ears.
Zero would probably alleviate Mercenary’s sorrow.
So who would lessen Secrecy’s pain? The Church’s God? Or someone that Lily did not know?
Lily had only been with Secrecy for a short time. She did not even know about his present, let alone his past.
Was it wrong to want to know? Would it be arrogant to wish to support him?
“Lily,” the priest called irritably, his back turned to her. The Beastfallen gave a start. “If you have something to say, say it. It’s distracting when you’re scampering around while trying to keep some distance.”
While Mercenary and Gemma were preparing food, Secrecy seemed to be listening to the few remaining soldiers in the encampment some distance away.
Secrecy could not, in fact, cook. Even on the way from Wenias to Knox Cathedral, he only ate what Gouda and Lily prepared. Not once did he ever lift a finger.
The reason for this was because his five fingers were fixed to his staff by thin strings that extended from his rings. He could not put his staff down, not even when he bathed, slept, or ate.
Lily could tell how inconvenient that would be in his daily life. But she could not imagine what kind of wrong he committed to be carrying such a burden.
“What’s your suffering?” she finally asked.
Secrecy clicked his tongue. “You’re overstepping your bounds.”
“I’m sorry… I’m just curious.”
“What are you going to do if you learned about my suffering? Show me pity?”
“I don’t know.” Lily shrank. “But I can’t do anything if I don’t know. I want to do something.”
“You’re overstepping your bounds.”
“Yeah.”
“Now seems to be a good time to tell you. Falling in love with me is pointless.”
Lily turned bright red under her fur. “N-No! Th-That’s not it!”
“If I got it wrong, then fine. As you know, I’m a dead man who was given life by the Church. Try as you might to know me, it’s useless. For I don’t exist.”
Lily pricked up her ears. “But you’re here.”
“That’s not what I mean. I suppose you won’t understand. Anyway, don’t get too involved with me.”
“But…”
“Lily.”
“That’s for me to decide!”
Secrecy slowly turned to Lily. He always said the same words when dismissing the opinions of others.
“I like you,” Lily said. “If you don’t want to tell me, I won’t force you, but it’s up me if I want to know. It doesn’t matter if it’s pointless or not.”
After saying all that, Lily started trembling in fear. Secrecy had told her that he didn’t hate her. But he might actually do now. Despite being warned that she was overstepping her bounds, Lily didn’t back down, and instead took a step further. To her what she did was brazen and appalling.
“Um, that’s all.” Lily turned around.
As she tried to flee the scene, her body suddenly froze. The priest’s strings had coiled around her body before she even knew it. She was lying on her back on the snow. She blinked a few times and saw the face of the priest looking down at her, his back against the cloudy sky.
“I-I’m sorry?”
“I hate Beastfallen. Especially female ones. A female Beastfallen that has fallen in love with me? That’s the worst combination.”
Lily tried to run away because she did not want to hear these exact words. She wanted to dig a hole in the snow and go straight into hibernation, but Secrecy’s strings would not allow her to move.
“Ask me the reasons,” Secrecy said.
“Huh?”
“Ask me why. You want to know my suffering, don’t you?”
Lily paused for a moment. “Why do you hate female Beastfallen?”
“Because they have low self-esteem. I can’t stand their shallowness of always bemoaning their ugly appearance and antagonizing and questioning everyone and everything because of it.”
Lily flinched. She did, in fact, lack self-esteem. But how could a woman who was born a Beastfallen have confidence in herself? How could she not envy women who were born normal?
“When I was abandoned by my parents, a fox Beastfallen took me in. She taught me how to live as a thief. I couldn’t walk properly in the daylight, but she accepted me as one of her own, a resident of the night. I loved her. I never cared if she was a Beastfallen. I thought she was beautiful. I found her voice, her words, her every gesture, more beautiful than any woman’s. Funny, isn’t it? It was the blind love—bordering on worship—of a foolish boy, who was not even in his mid-teens. But she always doubted my love for her.”
Lily’s heart was pounding, aching. Relentlessly the priest told Lily about his past, as if he was pouring boiling water over her head.
“One day, she set her eyes on a small village. The daughter of a wealthy merchant had come there to recuperate from her illness, and in the small house where she lived, a large sum of money was hidden. I took on the task of seducing the merchant’s daughter and finding out where the money was stashed. She was crazy about me. She was beautiful, but ignorant. Deceiving her was easy. The Beastfallen believed in this false love. She was convinced that I had fallen for the merchant’s daughter, and in a fit of jealousy, she killed the daughter to hurt me, set the village on fire, and disappeared without a trace.”
The blazing flames must have been searing to his eyes. Just imagining the feelings of a boy who was betrayed, abandoned, and questioned by the one he loved made Lily want to scream out.
“I was sentenced to death for killing the merchant’s daughter and setting the village on fire. I died in that fire, and the adjudicator from Dea Ignis known as Secrecy was born. In the midst of his sacred duties, he was reunited with the vixen.” He paused for a moment. “I told her that I love her. That I did not hate her, that I forgave her for everything. Of course, she didn’t believe me, even though I meant what I said.”
“And then what happened?”
“I chased her as she ran away and chopped her head off. I had been tasked by the Church to exterminate her because she was a menace to the people in the neighborhood.”
It was utterly tragic. Lily felt sorry for Mercenary who questioned the love of his family. But she found Secrecy’s past even more painful; the one he loved did not believe his feelings for her.
Secrecy always fought with reckless disregard for himself. His body was covered in scars. It was a mystery how he was still alive today. He probably wanted as many wounds on his body as he had in his heart. He wished to die with his heart torn to pieces.
“Well? Quite a convincing lie, huh? A lot of women back down when I tell them this. It would be nice if you gave up as well.” Secrecy released the restraints binding Lily’s body.
Lily quickly stood back up. The snow chilled her whole body that she almost froze. Secrecy had already turned his back on her and returned to listening to the voices in the camp.
Lily inched closer to him and sat down.
Secrecy sighed. “You’re strong,” he said, exasperation in his voice.
Lily puffed out her cheeks. “Yup. I’m stronger than a fox.”
“Really, now?”
“I-I believe everything you say, Father. If you lie about saying you like me, I’ll really believe it.”
“Really, now?” Secrecy repeated, shrugging. “I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll never say that, even if it’s just a lie.”
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Comment (0)