Chapter 20 ….
“Once, a long time ago—long, long ago—I traveled a great distance on horseback with someone precious to me.”
The sudden opening of the story felt strangely subtle.
“At the time, that person held my waist with strong arms.”
Azel wasn’t curious about Elpis’s story.
No—he didn’t want to hear it.
It was closer to an instinct.
And yet, as if mocking the foolish way he stood frozen in place, Elpis continued speaking.
“He wasn’t the kind of person who expressed things in words, but I already knew. I knew he was worried I might fall off the horse.”
Her voice, tinged with nostalgia as though recalling the distant past, continued softly.
“It was around sunset back then, so unlike now, the whole world was dyed in orange.”
Despite the faint smile at her lips, the tremor in her breathing felt unfamiliar.
“The scenery was so beautiful that, without realizing it, I had a terrible thought.”
And so, without even noticing, Azel found himself listening intently to her voice.
“…What kind?”
“I was glad that this person wouldn’t forget.”
“…!”
“…I was glad that there was someone who would remember this sky, this day’s memories, together with me forever.”
Every word that came from Elpis’s lips turned into a dagger, piercing straight into his chest.
“Even though I knew how cruel that thought was to that person… I still thought it. It really was a terrible thought.”
Her confession was as cruel as she herself admitted.
Azel had suffered his entire life, deprived of the ability to forget.
It was a curse, a punishment, and a deception.
And yet, he couldn’t even bring himself to be angry.
“So I guess I was punished.”
“…Ah.”
“So I guess that’s why… you forgot me.”
Just as Azel’s punishment had been oblivion,
the punishment she received was oblivion as well.
Realizing yet another truth he never wished to know, Azel closed his mouth.
“I must have had such a terrible thought… so I guess that’s why I was punished.”
Thud.
Along with a warm heat, a small weight pressed against his chest.
Though the weight of the back leaning against him was light, it felt strangely suffocating.
“Then why is this arm still so warm?”
“…!”
Delicate fingertips brushed against his arm.
He couldn’t bring himself to grab her.
Couldn’t cling and beg, couldn’t resent her by asking why she had forgotten him.
“I shouldn’t be greedy. I shouldn’t hope for anything. So why are you still—why are you still so cruelly kind?”
All of it kept stealing Azel’s breath away.
A day that did not exist in his memories—
yet the story forced him to imagine it again and again.
‘Was it because of this?’
Around then, Azel realized it.
Elpis hadn’t done this to make him uneasy.
It was the opposite.
So that Azel’s suspicions wouldn’t ruin her plans, she had deliberately shown him a fragment of the truth—
…even knowing that it would wound him.
“I’ll just pass by. I won’t be greedy anymore, I’ll pass by quietly. So please, just like now, don’t ask me anything.”
The end of her story was a plea.
A desperate plea asking him not to ask anything.
There were more than enough reasons to refuse such a short, arrogant request.
But there was only one answer Azel could give.
“…All right. I promise.”
Even though he felt suffocated, he couldn’t show it.
‘With what feelings do you stay by my side?’
He had come this far because he couldn’t endure Elpis’s words that he himself was merely an attachment.
Yet to someone who would only pass by, he couldn’t bring himself to ask anything at all.
‘That did it.’
Throughout the story, Azel’s expression hadn’t changed much—but it was clear.
This sob story had worked perfectly.
‘Yeah, Azel. I’m this sincere with you. Just let it slide once, okay?’
Even if it was wicked, it couldn’t be helped.
I, too, was just fighting desperately to survive.
The reason I suddenly spilled such a story wasn’t complicated.
‘When you’ve got nothing to say, crushing it with a narrative is the best!’
Rather than adding some complicated setup that would require worrying about cause and effect, I chose to escape the situation with pure melodrama.
It wasn’t for nothing that I was acting like I’d once had a special relationship with Azel. Through this process, I intended to win his favor.
‘If I want to give him the impression that I’ll never betray him, at least this much backstory is necessary.’
Strong resolve always had to contain love—or twisted love and hatred.
In that sense, most relationships lacked persuasive power, and this was simply the easiest and clearest option.
‘And besides, given Azel’s personality, there’s no way this’ll come back to bite me.’
On top of that, Azel’s personality only strengthened my confidence.
No matter how much nonsense I spouted, there was no way I’d leave even a crack in Azel’s cold heart!
‘I really might be a genius.’
Even as I praised myself endlessly on the inside, on the outside I continued to look faintly wistful.
Judging by how well the acting worked, Azel showed no signs of doubting me.
“Thank you, Azel.”
Thanks to that, I failed to notice—
that the waves surging within his flickering red eyes were flowing in a completely different direction than I had expected.
“Elpis.”
As Darya’s village drew closer, Azel suddenly called my name.
Hearing my name from his lips felt more satisfying than I had anticipated.
‘That’s pretty nice.’
It was just a change in how he addressed me, yet it felt as though the distance between us had grown noticeably closer.
In my good mood, I answered with all that happiness and joy—but strangely, there was no response.
“Azel? What’s wrong?”
Only then did I realize that Azel wasn’t looking at me.
‘What is it?’
Before I could dwell on the question—
“Mary?”
Something was strange about more than just Azel.
Mary, riding on the back of the other Aigus, was also wearing an unusually serious expression.
“Why are you both—”
“Shh. Be quiet.”
This time, he cut me off with an outright stiff expression.
That was when I began to feel a bad premonition.
—Grrrrrr!
—Grrk! Grrrr!
As if sensing something, the Aigus beasts also began to growl.
When the two creatures stopped in place one after the other, the atmosphere quickly sank.
“W-What’s going on?”
Darya asked me anxiously, but I had no answer. I didn’t know why they were acting this way either.
‘Why all of a sudden?’
And then, at that very moment—
Boom!
“W–Whoa—aaah!”
“Darya! Mary!”
Taking advantage of our lapse in attention, one of the Aigus suddenly lunged forward.
Mary and Darya were riding on its back, and with her shoulder injured from the earlier fight, Mary couldn’t control it.
As a result, the situation was smoothly racing toward the worst possible outcome.
“Mary! No!”
Losing her balance, Mary staggered as though she were about to fall off the Aigus’s back.
“S–Sister!”
“H–Hold on! Darya, hold tight!”
“Urgh!”
Thankfully, Darya and the old man grabbed onto Mary’s clothes, preventing her from falling—but now the three of them were barely clinging to the creature’s back.
“Azel!”
Even then, Azel was still staring at the same spot.
‘What on earth are you looking at at a time like this?!’
His eyes were fixed on a rapidly approaching “dot.”
‘Wait. A dot?’
Rumbleeeee—
No—that wasn’t a dot.
What was rushing toward us at incredible speed was a group of people.
‘Don’t tell me…?’
And sure enough—
Whish—thunk!
‘Damn it!’
The bad feeling immediately became reality.
An arrow flew in from somewhere.
They were armed.
“Aaaah!”
“No!”
An arrow that looked like it was meant for hunting cut through the air and embedded itself in the ground.
That was just the beginning.
Whoooosh!
Whish! Thack!
“U–Aaaah!”
Startled by the arrows whizzing past overhead, a child screamed—but the rain of arrows didn’t stop.
Instead, provoked by the relentless barrage, the Aigus grew even more agitated and began to thrash wildly.
—Krrrraaaaah!
“Azel!”
Facing a scene where disaster could strike at any moment, I finally called Azel again.
“Stay right here and don’t move.”
Despite his curt tone, Azel’s figure vanished instantly.
