Chapter 52
It wasn’t just Shiphon.
Everything in this household, the pride of this family, the honor of this family, the wealth of this family, everything about this family—killed the child.
[Humans are the most brutal species I have ever seen. They smile at you to your face while sharpening knives behind your back. Toward the weak and defenseless they behave like beasts without morality, yet when among their own kind they are endlessly kind and forgiving to one another.]
A man who massacred tens of thousands of children in the name of justice may still be someone’s tender father.
A soldier who cut down someone’s parents under orders may still be someone’s child.
Humans are not evil to everyone.
They are endlessly dual, endlessly multiple, and within a single body can exist hundreds of different selves.
A person who snaps another’s neck without hesitation may still step carefully so as not to crush a flower on the path.
One who stole grain to save his family may on another day share his food with a stranger.
Humans are not like beasts. They are not like saints. They are not like the divine races, nor elves, nor beastkin, nor demi-humans, nor even dragons.
They move neither solely by instinct and nature, nor solely by reason and will.
They do not act only according to right and wrong, nor only by good and evil, nor solely by profit and loss.
Humans are the most indefinable, the most complicated, the most troublesome, and the most endlessly evolving and developing beings of all.
[I do not blame you. The child died because he was weak, because he was unlucky, because his parents failed to fulfill their role.]
The matter of the servant’s responsibility was a secondary issue.
“Will you leave me?”
“…No, I will not.”
Esther smiled brightly.
“Then that’s that!”
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
Esther grinned mischievously.
Raxa bent slightly at the waist, acknowledging the child’s will.
The next day, Esther was to meet the Emperor.
The road to meet him was not as difficult as she had imagined.
However, no attendants or maids were allowed.
Neither Raxa nor Shiphon could accompany her. Fortunately, Ross could turn into a squirrel, so she smuggled him in her clothes.
There weren’t too many problems.
Not too many—but not none.
The problem was…
“Lady Esther, you are today’s 49th visitor. Please take a walk nearby and wait a little while.”
“…Forty-ninth?”
“Yes. For reference, His Majesty is currently meeting with the seventh visitor.”
This infuriating audience system with the Emperor.
In short, the Emperor seemed to have fixed the number of people he would meet in a day while handling state affairs.
And they would be seen in the order they arrived.
With a numbered ticket.
“…Out of how many am I number 49?”
“His Majesty usually receives fifty visitors in a day.”
And she was second to last.
The time was 11 a.m. She hadn’t even eaten lunch before coming.
Just how early had the others lined up? The thought gave her a headache.
Of course, it wasn’t as though she could use dark magic inside the heavily guarded Imperial Palace.
‘…I should have been king.’
I should have risen above everyone, looking down and acting proud like this!
Stomping her feet in frustration, she suddenly turned around.
Fine. She might as well look for someone with a useful request.
Since private guards weren’t allowed into the palace, she didn’t know anyone here anyway.
Esther was wandering about, pretending to sightsee in the sprawling palace grounds, when she spotted it.
A tall, old spire, standing apart in a corner.
Its rough, plain appearance stood out against the palace’s splendor.
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Esther headed straight for the spire.
And then she found it.
A pitch-black exclamation mark—an absolute jackpot of a quest marker!
“I’ve never seen one that black before.”
Her eyes sparkled.
The owner of the marker was a small boy, perhaps ten years old.
He sat crouched by a small pond, hugging his knees, staring silently into the water.
Like a statue frozen in time.
And his appearance was anything but ordinary.
Hair darker than the abyss of the Demon Realm.
Eyes a vivid, saturated blue—closer to aquamarine than sapphire.
And skin so pale it seemed it had never once felt sunlight.
‘…Is he even human?’
Esther tilted her head.
The sensation was uncanny.
The boy felt human, and yet light, almost weightless, as though he might drift away at any moment.
As she watched him from the bushes, the boy suddenly turned his head.
His eyes, so vividly blue they seemed transparent, were utterly lifeless, his face devoid of expression—not a child’s face at all.
Esther flinched.
‘…Was that coincidence?’
Yet the way he stared seemed as though he truly noticed her.
For such a small half-demon body, it wasn’t exactly easy to hide her presence.
Finally, under the child’s gaze, she slipped out of the bushes.
“This area is off limits to outsiders. Please leave.”
The boy’s voice was flat, emotionless, like a machine reciting a line.
Then he turned back to the pond.
“Uh, h-hi there!”
“This area is off limits to outsiders. Please leave.”
The exact same words, in the exact same tone.
Up close, his clothes were strange.
The fabric was of fine quality, yet worn thin and patched in places, with several tears.
When Esther stepped up close with a big smile, the boy faltered as if startled.
And at that moment, a parchment appeared before her eyes.
[A dutiful boy’s wish.
On the day Siderius Destroca was born, there was no blessing. He was born solely of curiosity, greed, and desire.
What was granted to him was only the spire, and thirty minutes each day to walk by the pond and watch the carp.
His mother is losing her mind.
She is cursed—everything her hands touch, she drains of life.
Thus the boy lives with death hovering over him, wishing for only one thing.
“Please, save my mother.”
For him, his mother is the world, his law, his everything. That blind devotion cannot be stopped.
For her sake, he can do anything, become anything, endure any hell.
Even if that world strangles him in the end.]
The parchment contained only a short, plain description—unlike usual.
Esther stared at it for a long time, then exhaled slowly.
There were hardly any hints or details given.
‘Everything she touches loses life?’
She’d heard of it somewhere. Someone cursed by the ‘Primordial One.’
“What’s your name?”
The boy—Siderius—frowned.
“Why do you ask?”
“Uh… because I’m super amazing and I can find out things I don’t even know!”
“…I don’t understand you.”
“I’ll save your mom!”
At those words, the boy’s demeanor changed instantly. He leapt to his feet, stepping back quickly.
“Who are you?”
His voice bristled with suspicion.
“I’m Esther! Esther. I’ll help you.”
My delicious prey!
Lately, she’d been seeing a lot of these black exclamation marks. Though she’d only actually cleared one so far.
‘…Damn.’
The black ones were always tricky to even start.
Still, at least there wasn’t a lock icon this time—so maybe this was doable.
“And what exactly are you going to do to help?”
“Uh… I’ll help! I’ll save your mom.”
“My mother doesn’t like visitors.”
“Uh… then, let’s be friends! Friends!”
Esther blurted in desperation.
Normally, befriending someone as great and genius as her should be nearly impossible…
‘Emergency situation!’
She had no choice.
There was a black exclamation mark quest right in front of her. She couldn’t just walk away.
The boy furrowed his brows.
He seemed skeptical, studying her closely. Then, lips pressed tight, he turned away.
“It won’t change anything, even if you see her.”
But even so, he glanced back at her for a long while before reluctantly guiding her.
As if he couldn’t let go of that sliver of hope.
The spire was tall.
Only a spiral staircase led upward. On and on and on it went, with no end in sight.
“Huff… huff…”
Finally, Esther collapsed onto the steps.
She’d drained every ounce of her strength, and still the top looked impossibly far away.
“…What are you doing?”
“Huff… I… I can’t go… any further…”
“…We’ve only climbed one floor.”
Indeed.
When she glanced back, the ground was right there beneath her. The stairs ahead still stretched endlessly upward.
She had only made it up a single floor.
Esther hung her head in defeat.
