TDKWP 02

Episode 02

Twenty years had passed.

I no longer called the white squares monsters.

They weren’t monsters—
they were simply humans.

And calling them monsters only reminded me of the time I had once screamed monster at my mother.

So instead, I called them white squares.
Or, using a more formal term meaning quadrilateral, Quadrangles.

Right now, I was surrounded by several Quadrangles, engaged in conversation.

No—
I corrected myself.

This wasn’t a conversation.

I was being reprimanded.

“Whaaaat in the wooooorld were you thiiiinking?”

Damn it.
Who was talking this time?

Based on what I had figured out earlier, that seat should have been—

I clenched my teeth and focused with everything I had.

Only then did the words barely begin to make sense.

“Wow. Ignoring us again. Does he ever answer on the first try?”
“Is that Renel?”
“Renel? Renel?”
“……”
“Yeah. It’s Renel. Thanks for recognizing me.”

I understood her reaction.

It wasn’t unique to her.

To my party—no, to everyone who knew me—I was labeled as a lone wolf who had no interest in others.

If only they knew how hard I tried to care.

If only I could tell them about my condition.

But I couldn’t.

Never tell anyone about it.

That was what my mother had said on the final night.

I was a terrible son who had driven nails—dozens, hundreds of them—into her heart while she lived.

At the very least, I wanted to honor her last wish.

Fortunately, if I concentrated with everything I had, I could hold a conversation with one person.

The moment two or more Quadrangles spoke at once, words tangled, identities blurred, and meaning collapsed.

I exhaled and spoke.

“That’s impossible. Renel Brighton.”

“Look at me. Talk while looking me in the eyes.”

I had no idea where her eyes were supposed to be.

Then another Quadrangle spoke.

That position should have been—
No, wait. Someone had switched seats earlier.

…No idea.

“Putting Renel’s comment aside—why did you do it?”

And who was this?

Judging by the tone, I can guess who.

Faces and voices meant nothing to me.
Speech patterns were the only identifiers I had.

I replied quietly.

“I’m sorry.”

“That doesn’t answer the question. And you don’t need to apologize to me.
If you’re going to apologize, do it to him.”

Though I couldn’t see it, he must have gestured somewhere.

Where he probably pointed was the bed.

A Quadrangle lay there.

“Uuuughh…”

He sounded like he was in pain.

“Saintess. How is his condition?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
“I can’t see.”
“His skin is completely necrotic. If it weren’t for me, he’d be dead.”
“Recovery?”
“He’ll recover.”
“That’s a relief.”

The Quadrangle tending the bed turned toward me.

“A relief? You can say that?”
“……”
“If you’d given him an antidote early, it never would’ve come to this!”

She was right.

The Quadrangle lying there had been poisoned.

He’d vanished the previous night for unknown reasons.

We canceled all plans and scattered to search for him.

After half a day of searching, I found a Quadrangle collapsed beneath a cliff.

At the time, I couldn’t tell whether he was my party member
or just a passing herbalist.

But saving a life was the same either way.

When I found him, he could only groan—unable to explain what had happened.

In hindsight, the poison must have stiffened his tongue.

I could barely understand Quadrangles even when they spoke clearly.
There was no chance I’d decipher him then.

His face and body were hidden behind white squares.

Anyone else would have noticed the blue skin, blackened fingertips, yellowed sclera.

I couldn’t.

Assuming he’d fallen from the cliff, I poured healing potions all over him.

Soon, he stopped groaning.

I assumed he’d simply fallen asleep.

So I carried him back at an unhurried pace.

“Good heavens! Why didn’t you treat him earlier?!”

He hadn’t been sleeping on my back.

He had been dying.

Five minutes later, and he’d have been dead.

The Quadrangle I found turned out to be our party member.

They ripped him from my back and began treatment immediately.

As I finished recalling this, another Quadrangle spoke.

Judging by where she stood—probably the Saintess.

“Dail… you really don’t care about us, do you?”

Silence fell.

They were probably nodding.

Another spoke.

“This isn’t the first time. You ignored me during battle when I was in danger.”

I couldn’t see you.

“You ignored us when Renel’s barrier broke.”

I couldn’t tell whose magic had shattered.

“You never respond to calls or advice in combat. You do everything alone.”

In battle, my concentration fractured.

Understanding distorted speech was impossible.

Silence again.

Then—

“I was thinking of bringing this up anyway. Let’s say it outright.”

He pulled something from his coat.

An official document—bearing the Emperor’s seal.

“As you know, the Emperor wants us to return to the capital.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Why not?”
“We haven’t killed the Demon King of Erosion.”
“But we’ve slain four Arch-Demon Kings.”

Four demons ranked within the top twenty.

A historic feat.

Still, I frowned.

“My goal was always the Demon King of Erosion. The others were only leads.”
“If even he fell, humanity would be saved.”
“……”
“But he’s vanished from history. Some say he’s already dead.”

He wasn’t.

I had seen him with my own eyes twenty years ago.

But speaking would mean explaining my curse.

The Saintess spoke instead.

“He still exists. God has said so.”

“Even so… can we really find him?”
“Dail. Please. Let’s go home. We’re exhausted.”

I answered immediately.

“No. I’ll find him.”
“……”
“And I’ll kill him. Like the others.”

Silence.

Then—

“Dail. Don’t get mad, okay?”
“Renel?”
“Renel? Renel?”
“Get to the point.”
“We talked while you slept.”

Her voice lacked emotion.

But I sensed her unease.

“What about?”
“We want to disband.”
“……”
“We’re tired.”
“……”
“I want rewards. A mansion. Servants. Rest.”

Probably just you.

Another spoke.

“Renel’s being polite. I’ll be honest.”
“Speak.”
“I don’t want to travel with you anymore.”
“……!”
“You always push us away.”
“Answer the Saintess. You don’t care about us, do you?”

I stayed silent.

“I hoped you’d deny it.”

It wasn’t true.

I cared more than anyone.

But the obstacle between us was too great.

“It’s too late. And we don’t need an answer. You ignored obvious poisoning.”
“That’s—”

It was a misunderstanding.

But explaining meant breaking my mother’s last wish.

A curse.

Yes.

This was a curse.

Cast by the Demon King of Erosion.

Humans read emotion through faces, voices, gestures.

I couldn’t.

That was why everyone hated me.

That night ended quietly.

A week later.

I sat alone by a campfire.

Come back with us. Stop wandering alone.

Renel’s last words echoed faintly.

Everyone else returned to the capital.

They deserved it.

Footsteps approached.

I nudged my sword.

“Who’s there?”
“Who knooows?”

A Quadrangle.

I focused.

“Who am I?”
“……”
“I knew it. Dail Magnus.”
“What?”
“You can’t recognize people.”
“……”
“You can’t see them at all.”
“……”
“I’m speaking in my normal voice. My normal form.”
“……”
“And yet you don’t know who I am.”

My face didn’t move.

But he laughed.