〈6. Proof of Existence (40)〉
“That’s right, it’s made from orphans. Isn’t it pretty?”
Pride was even visible on the girl’s face as she proudly held out the Blood Crystal.
To me, it was words that were no different from a confirmation kill. Unconsciously, a scream leaked out from between my gritted teeth with a grit.
It was a precious offering that I had benefited from several times myself. I never even imagined that the material would be the souls of orphans.
To begin with, it was impossible to understand. How could such a thing become an offering to the heavenly gods?
Regret, a sense of betrayal, and guilt surged and encroached upon my chest.
It wasn’t just lives.
As Yuren said, numerous miracles had been performed using that Blood Crystal as a sacrifice. Without that power, the path I had walked until now would have been cut off long ago.
A hero’s life admired and envied by all.
It was a blood-red trajectory built on the sacrifices of orphans. I found that fact unbearably disgusting.
It felt like I would suffocate like this.
Grrrr, grrr.
I twisted my body this way and that, spitting out groans. I wanted to spew out anger somehow, but I simply didn’t have the strength left for that.
At best, I could only glare at Yuren with blazing eyes.
Yuren’s expression remained calm as ever.
“I’m sorry, Ian. I didn’t want to do this either.”
“The Saintess…….”
By barely moving my dry tongue, I mentioned the fact that Yuren was trying hard to avert his eyes from.
“Won’t forgive… Something like, cough! That…….”
“I know. Maybe I made a foolish choice.”
Contrary to those words, a strong conviction was felt in the unwavering voice.
It was an emotion close to blind obedience or fanaticism.
Perhaps it should be called faith instead.
An ominous light sparkled in Yuren’s green eyes.
“But Ian, living as an orphan, I’ve seen all kinds of unsightly things… How vicious the world is to the weak, and how greedy and cruel the priests of the holy nation who serve the gods are.”
Only then did I understand Yuren’s heart.
Although he said it was to help the Saintess, the scale of the sin was far too great. If it were ever discovered, it wouldn’t end with Yuren alone.
Most likely, sparks would fly to the Saintess as well.
Nevertheless, there was one reason why Yuren participated in this anti-human act.
Because it was his belief.
Yuren didn’t follow the doctrines of the heavenly gods to begin with. Rather, if anything, he was a person closer to the Dark Church.
“The inside of a rotten tree—what’s the point of hollowing it out? It’s several times better to burn it and scatter it as fertilizer to grow a new tree… Our sister will become that seed. No, she’ll wear the laurel crown on top of that tree and rule over everyone!”
“You crazy bastard… The Dark, Church…….”
“We’ll leave it like that.”
Clap, the girl smiled brightly while clapping her hands together.
As if to say not to worry unnecessarily, it was the face of a reliable merchant putting on an act.
“If a few conditions are fulfilled, that is? Well, I heard she’s not a stupid woman… If it really doesn’t work, there are plenty of ways to persuade her.”
Further conversation was meaningless.
These two had long stepped into the realm of madmen. It meant that general ethics, common sense, and logic didn’t apply.
Is this the end?
No matter how much I pondered, no breakthrough was visible.
Well, it made sense. Thinking about it, until now, luck had been too good.
It wasn’t just the Blood Crystal. Besides that, my story had continued on countless sacrifices.
I couldn’t expect another stroke of luck.
While I was sinking into despair like that, a shadow loomed over me. With her hands behind her back, the girl was sending a blazing gaze.
“Actually, it was my doing. Originally, the Shylock Merchant Guild was a card to be used for a bit longer? But when I saw Oppa, my heart…….”
Haa, haa. The girl’s expression became dreamy as she let out feverish sighs.
“My heart was pounding so much… I felt like I would go crazy wanting to have you! So I deliberately provoked Oppa a bit. You couldn’t miss a great bait like the ‘Shylock Merchant Guild,’ right? Stir up some jealousy too, hehe… Mr. Partner didn’t like that and tried to remove my precious doll, though.”
“I’ll definitely collect this debt someday.”
Yuren’s grumbling continued, but the girl didn’t spare even a shred of interest. She only filled her eyes entirely with me.
“Finally, finally my dream has come true… Omeros, hurray! Oppa, let’s have pretty babies?”
A voice intoxicated with lust and greed, hatred and resentment soaked my eardrums thoroughly.
“And then we’ll go visit those humans who abandoned me… How about it, won’t it be fun? If they know what results their sins have brought……!”
“……God.”
Just before closing my eyes, the last words I uttered were something like that.
I had done everything that could be done with human power.
What remained was only to pray to the gods.
It might be nothing more than worthless self-satisfaction, but I cursed the two like that.
“Aren’t you afraid of God?”
The girl’s eyelids blankly repeated opening and closing. It was a face that couldn’t grasp my mental state because she heard something too strange.
On the other hand, Yuren just burst into a hollow laugh.
A sneer rose at the corners of his mouth.
“……There is no God, Ian.”
With that as the last, the man turned his back. The farewell greeting wasn’t long.
“Your current state is proof of that.”
Clomp, clomp.
The sound of moving footsteps formed a regular rhythm. Like a newborn listening to a lullaby, I slowly blinked my eyes in time with that tone.
Closing and opening a few times.
Then, at some point, my eyelids no longer opened.
Only the sound of a small orb buzzing from within my bosom was heard.
The orb was crying. Continuously.
**
Floating in the dream again.
The scenery of a certain day that an unfamiliar man had seen.
“We must pull back the front lines.”
It was a heavy declaration.
As if proving the weight of that statement, groans erupted from various places in the conference room. Some had expressions like they wanted to say something, but no one actually voiced opposition to my opinion.
Because my judgment was extremely rational.
The front lines that humanity was maintaining amounted to four places. In a situation surrounded on all sides, even the spies of the Dark Church hidden inside were causing disturbances, and the war situation was gradually worsening.
So the leaders of humanity made a decision.
To abandon the remaining lands and defend the last territory they could protect. And they planned to build a wall concentrating humanity’s final strength at that boundary.
Of course, it was a judgment with as many losses as gains.
If they pull back the front lines right away, what about the residents living inside them?
The evacuation process was arduous. There was no way the path of leaving the homeland they had cultivated their whole lives wouldn’t be difficult.
It was a decision where an unbearable scale of lives might have to be sacrificed.
No, actually, at the base of this plan lay such a calculation. The intention was to abandon the unproductive populations who couldn’t even evacuate properly, reorganize the population structure, and engage in the final resistance.
The commanders gathered in this tent probably weren’t unaware of this.
That’s why they all had uncomfortable expressions.
They were the ones who claimed to be guardians of humanity and stepped forward to the front lines. There were nobles who had domains here, and many who had lived as locals their whole lives.
But even they couldn’t dare open their mouths.
Because they felt more desperately than anyone that there was no alternative. If things continued like this, humanity would only head toward mutual destruction.
The power of the Dark Church was far too mighty.
They were monsters who had been building strength in the shadows for as much as thousands of years. The existence of masters had barely suppressed them, but as soon as the devil called the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ appeared, the entire war situation flipped.
Finally, the Dark Church began to bare its claws, and the result was this state.
Humanity was racing toward extinction.
Like a runaway locomotive that could no longer be stopped.
I had anticipated that no one would raise objections. That said, I didn’t expect them to actively agree either.
They were cowards.
While agreeing more than anyone with the necessity to pull back the front lines, they didn’t want to hear the resentment and criticism derived from it.
So I had no choice but to take on the role of the villain myself.
A voice tinged with deep fatigue leaked from my lips.
“If there are no opposing opinions, we’ll consider this matter closed for future discussion and…….”
“Many people will get hurt.”
It was words uttered without even obtaining the right to speak.
But no one in the conference room reprimanded the speaker. Because this woman was precisely the leader of the eastern front and the one who had defended against the Dark Church’s invasion under extreme conditions.
For reference, she was also my lover.
On the bed, she was more obedient than anyone, but otherwise, she always strictly separated public and private matters.
Couldn’t she go along with her husband’s stubbornness at least once or twice?
I forcibly swallowed the sigh that was flowing out and recited the lines I had prepared.
“But it’s something that must be done.”
“I have no objection to the judgment that we must pull back the front lines. But then, who exactly will take responsibility for the people remaining behind the front lines?”
“No one can take responsibility.”
It was cruel, but a reality no one could deny.
Resentful gazes were thrown at me from here and there.
It didn’t matter. I’ll take as much cursing as needed.
“It’s impossible to retreat while preserving full strength. To be blunt, there’s no leeway to care about others.”
“I see.”
Unexpectedly, the woman showed signs of readily accepting it.
Perhaps the recent experiences of being unilaterally dominated every night had brought a change in her feelings.
In that sense, I thought starting the relationship was a good idea. I knew better than anyone that once the woman started being stubborn, no one could stop her.
But my expectation shattered into pieces in just a few seconds.
“Then I’ll have to stay behind.”
Abruptly, my breathing stopped.
It wasn’t just me. The breathing of everyone seated in the conference room had ceased.
My wide-open gaze directed a desperate wish toward the woman.
I muttered inwardly.
Please, no.
“I’ll stay and defend this front line.”
Say it was just something you said.
“In the meantime, everyone retreat. That should work, right?”
Meanwhile, the woman quietly drew the sign of the cross on her chest.
Strength began to enter my fist. Veins bulged out prominently, and my gritted teeth trembled.
“Immanuel…….”
Bang, it was then that I slammed the table.
Splintered wood fragments flew in all directions. Sounds of some people letting out small screams were heard, but they didn’t reach my ears.
Only the Saintess silently looking at me filled my vision.
What on earth should I say.
After agonizing several times, I.
“……Follow me out.”
Decided to have some time alone for now.
And the next moment.
Cracks began to form in the world where I stood.
“Oppa, are you awake?”
A clear whisper wetting my ears was heard.
As I grasped my blurring consciousness, my vision cleared.
I let out a faint groan with a grrr. Before I knew it, the wounds on my body had healed without a trace. Nevertheless, the lingering pain awakened my sense of touch.
My dazed eyes turned forward.
There, a beautiful girl with black hair and golden eyes was smiling brightly.
The peculiar point was the girl’s position.
The girl who woke me was straddling my waist.
Startled, I tried somehow to pull my body out.
It was a futile attempt. The restraints binding my limbs were too solid.
My flustered eyes scanned the surroundings.
The fainted Celine, Senior Elsie groaning, and my younger sister who looked exactly like the girl in front of me were lined up and restrained behind the girl’s back.
The moment I asked myself where this place was.
“Oppa, are you ready to become mine now?”
A sticky temptation wrapped around me like a snake.
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