Benjamin took off his outer garment and shook off the rainwater. His robe became heavy with rain. The blood of the demons was washed away by the rain, and the flames that had been burning on the subjugation front were extinguished.

Rosquella gestured to the corpse covered with a white cloth and asked.

“Are you alright?”

The bodies of the victims were laid out in a row. They were the corpses of the annihilated mercenary group and the victims of black magic rituals.

The emperor and the intelligence officer were beside him.

“What do you mean?”

Benjamin sheathed his sword and quietly murmured.

“You look conflicted.”

“Their appearance before death lingers in my mind.”

Why was that?

Benjamin pondered to himself.

“Those were their last words before death. Why was it a plea to be killed?”

“Do you mean the ritual victims?”

“In their final moments as they were dying, they pleaded to be killed rather than… What kind of psychology was it to plead for their death that couldn’t be saved? Even as they resigned themselves to death, they worried about what would happen after. That wasn’t a look begging to be saved.”

“It’s not easy to resign oneself to death.”

“I’ve experienced many deaths, but this is difficult. That was the look of a victim who had resigned to death pleading to be saved.”

Benjamin had rolled on the subjugation front, nearly losing his life multiple times. The subjugation front is like the empire’s wall against demons.

Hundreds and thousands of lives are lost, and these deaths are often forgotten and not remembered.

Sometimes bodies are lost at sea and cannot be recovered, or buried in nameless lands,

The subjugation corps would fight to their last breath on the front lines, and if death approached, they would choose to die alongside the demons.

That’s how many deaths he had experienced.

Rosquella covered an ankle that had slipped out from under the white cloth and replied.

“Black magic interferes with the human source, death. It defiles life and death. That’s why the temple has declared black magic heretical, for disrupting order and norms.”

“……”

“Death is that ambiguous a realm, isn’t it?”

Benjamin recalled the dead victims.

“Have the bodies been examined?”

“Yes. There were many wounds from demons. The ankle bones were crushed, and as for being used as sacrifices in rituals…”

“They must have gnawed away at their lives. Is the subjugation of lower demons finished?”

“Yes, this area has been cleaned up.”

The subjugation corps gathered in front of the cliff.

“Then let’s begin the memorial service.”

The subjugation corps held a memorial service to pay respects to the fallen. They lined up in front of the bodies of the annihilated mercenary group and drew their swords. They extended their blades into the air.

The blades cut through the air. Raindrops fell on the backs of the swords, and the respectful blades came to a quiet stop.

Benjamin also withdrew his extended sword.

Returning the sword to its sheath, Benjamin took in the sight of the fallen.

The annihilated mercenary group had previously subjugated a basilisk’s nest. Such a mercenary group had been wiped out.

‘Twenty fallen.’

Benjamin knew because he had demolished demon nests with them. It was different from previous demon subjugations.

The demon nests had become more tightly packed, and the basilisks’ scales had become as hard as iron.

Their offspring had also become more ferocious.

“The miasma in the restricted zone has thickened, and the demons are being affected as well.”

Benjamin pulled at the collar of his shirt that had been choking him.

“It would be best to assume that criminals are handling demons.”

Benjamin had been covered in demon blood as he mingled on the subjugation front.

Afterwards, a tense battle had ensued.

The blade cut the necks of demons without a moment’s rest.

Even when dark clouds gathered and rain poured down near the end of the battle with the demons, not all of their blood was washed away.

“Pay proper respects to the fallen and recover them to the end.”

Benjamin exuded a thick scent of blood. Though he was human, there was something ambiguously inhuman about him as he swung his sword covered in demon blood.

“We should take shelter from the rain first.”

“It’s fine.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s better to have my head cooled like this.”

Benjamin dismissed it just like that.

“My head aches.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Charlotte repeatedly pulled the trigger of her crossbow.

Click click.

Click.

An empty echo rang out from the crossbow that had run out of bolts.

An opening,

Seizing the brief opening, the crow demon opened its beak wide and screeched.

The demon folded its wings to descend, and a wave of hot air rushed in.

Charlotte folded her crossbow and attached it to her waist, then drew her sword. The blade scraped eerily against the scabbard.

She took a heavy step and gripped the sword handle. A guard cried out in alarm.

“Your Majesty! Be careful…!”

“How bothersome.”

A pulse throbbed in her hand gripping the sword. Veins stood out, and a pale color showed on her delicate wrist.

Caw!

The sword fit comfortably in her hand.

The black feathers turned to ash, settling lightly on her cheek.

The sword cut through the air, and she stepped nimbly to avoid the demon bursting its body as a ritual sacrifice.

Moonlight gleamed on the sword tip. Only the demon’s eyes glowed red, buried in darkness.

“Those creatures only target children!”

“So that’s what they meant when they said to tear their own child apart alive.”

Charlotte felt a deep revulsion slowly rising within her.

“It seems the child also realized the fact that their father was trying to kill them.”

“Pardon?”

“How could that child, who couldn’t even breathe freely, not read those around them.”

The black form was buried in darkness.

“Even if they didn’t want to know, it would be hard not to.”

Reading others and observing situations was instinctual. A child oppressed in life and driven to the edge would read others, not themselves, purely for survival.

Black ashes scattered in the wind.

“Ah.”

In the place where the demon subjugation had ended.

Only the ashes left behind by the dead lower demon remained.

[This is the timeline separator]

“The subjugation work is almost complete.”

All the crow demons had been eliminated.

“Then we will finish up the subjugation and strengthen patrols in the vicinity.”

The armored guards took up defensive positions. Even for lower demons, their targeted objective had been clear.

‘That child will never forget today.’

The child had fainted and was cradled in their mother’s arms. Their body hung limply, just like a wet ball of cotton.

“For something that wasn’t your fault.”

Charlotte lightly pushed the sleeping child’s forehead.

“There’s no need to suffer.”

There was nothing else to say besides this. It was what Charlotte Tutor had wanted to say to herself when she was young.

It was unfortunate that the resemblance was in this aspect that lingered in her mind.

‘Cramming your body into a closet, running away, covering your ears, closing your eyes.’

It was a kind of escapism from reality. It made you feel like you might disappear from this world.

“Are you alright?”

Charlotte lowered her eyes. The child’s birth mother, Chloe, trembled with her frail shoulders.

As hyperventilation choked her airway, Chloe forcibly tried to calm her breathing while biting her lips.

Sharp nails tore at curly hair, and her reddened eyes were filled with resentment and indignation.

“Hic, huu!”

“Steady your breathing. You’re inhaling too quickly, which is making your throat close up.”

Chloe’s shoulders shook.

“Hah, huh. Hah!”

“Summon the imperial physician discreetly.”

Chloe opened and closed her mouth blankly.

“It’s laughable. I thought I would have everything, but I was wrong? I thought it would be over if I just removed the gravestone and erased all traces of the dead. That the child’s father would only be a little hurt… I was so foolish.”

“Do you regret it?”

“If only it wasn’t for you. If you hadn’t been here, it would have been fine.”

Everything was ruined.

“It was a mess from the start. I shouldn’t have set foot here.”

Charlotte quietly closed her eyes.

“What, should I do. What, how. I did everything for the child… Wasn’t it, wasn’t it all for my child?”

“At least, it wasn’t for that child. Don’t attach worthless reasons to your own greed.”

Chloe’s eyes glazed over blankly. She had no self-awareness of what words were coming out of her own mouth.

At that sight, all the past resentment, hostility, malice

Everything became meaningless.

“……”

Charlotte turned her body emotionlessly. Soon, heartrending sobs burst out behind her.

“Hic, huu! Why, why, please, my child, child, was it true that he was trying to kill the child… Ah. It’s not.”

“Why do you demand answers from me?”

Charlotte whispered softly.

“You’re clumsily evil, yet also clumsily sentimental. Thanks to that, your pathetic life has also become clumsy. Such foolishness has ruined you. You should have become more ruthless. Being clumsy only leaves you swept up in the winds of change.”

The end fizzled out, and the old malice was forgotten.

Was it this malice that had been chipped away with each step taken?

“Don’t cry.”

“……”

“Endure, if only for the child’s sake. If you endure to your limits, an end will come.”

This too shall pass.

“When it’s all over, then leave.”

“Hic, hah!”

“I’ll have the imperial physician summoned, so show the child to them.”

And so this ill-fated relationship came to an end.

Charlotte exited the path from the mansion.

A guard came to her side to escort her.

“You become particularly weak around that child.”

“They resemble me.”

“……”

“It’s unfortunate that the resemblance is in those aspects that linger in my mind.”

Charlotte let her arms fall limply. The muscles in her dropped arms felt sore.

Each step she took was languid.

As she walked, Charlotte looked down at her feet.

Everything is an illusion.

As if blood was pooling beneath her feet, her vision was tinged red.

The pitch black world was dyed with crimson blood, and the tendons in her wrists pulled taut.

‘Is it because of the torches?’

Her footsteps were red. It was quite an eerie feeling.

Soon a guard approached and cleared the way.

Her fingertips tingled. Her finger joints trembled weakly, so she clasped her hands together and firmly pressed on the joints.

“I don’t recall saying it was alright to follow behind me.”

Footsteps were heard from behind.

“Your Majesty. We must detain you for a moment.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Charlotte quietly closed her eyes.

“Haa. Haa… Hic, huu. Kill me. It hurts.”

A guard whispered, ‘It’s a victim consumed by black magic rituals.’

“One of the recent missing persons.”

The skin was charred black, and the plea to be killed seemed desperate.

The breathing, on the verge of death, grew increasingly shallow.

Saying it was hard to breathe, the woman clawed at her own neck with her nails.

“Miss, miss…”

“You must not approach, Your Majesty.”

The guards set up a barrier around to block access. The woman facing death begged for forgiveness.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“……”

“I’m sorry. I have something, I must tell you quickly, before I die, ah.”

Charlotte stood before the dying woman.

“Be careful.”

A guard held Charlotte back.

“Black magic has been detected.”

“At the very least, I cannot turn away here. If I share half my blood with the criminal who committed such acts, it’s right that I bear the responsibility.”

“It’s been a long time since you were disowned and removed from the family registry. Why take on past responsibilities…”

“I believed it was right for me to bear them.”

Charlotte took a step forward and stood.

The woman stretched out her arm and clawed at the ground.

“I confess my past sins. Please, forgive me, beg forgiveness from the late madam, please forgive me. Please forgive me.”

The woman gasped for breath as if choking.

“Hic, they say a body defiled by black magic cannot be saved. Will I, will I die like this?”

Charlotte stretched out her arm.

“You have been forgiven.”

“……”

“If you’ve been forgiven, you will be saved, and there are many priests in the imperial capital, which the temple has declared sacred ground, to honor the souls of the dead.”

“Ah…!”

“You can close your eyes now.”

.

.

A white cloth was laid out in the back garden of the imperial residence,

And the cold corpse was covered.