RGS Volume 2 Part 19

“Information.”

With a flat tone, Karas pointed to a spot. Abel looked at where he was pointing and realized that not everyone had been wiped out this time. One person was still alive. It was the price he’d paid in exchange for the information. It was the youngest thief.

He was sitting dazedly on the path coming down from the mountain. But he was clearly alive. Karas had kept his promise. Abel grabbed his dizzy head and stood up to face him.

This time, Abel vaguely realized why his chest hurt. The man reminded him of the eight-year-old prince who had no feelings about taking lives. Because of this familiarity, Abel slowly smiled. Even though the other’s gaze grew colder, oddly enough, the sense of numbness outweighed his fear.

“Those seeking His Majesty’s favor often send someone resembling the Regas who was with him when His Majesty was still a prince. Someone with a similar appearance, manner of speaking, and behavior to that person named… Abel.”

Abel felt awkward hearing his own name coming out of his mouth. To him, it was a recent past of not even two months, but to everyone else, it had already become a distant memory. The prince must have also felt the same way.  And because of those who wanted to use that distant past, his remaining memories had probably become tainted.

“But if you want to succeed, you must never mention him. In fact, His Majesty probably holds resentment towards him.”

“….”

Although the other person was staring silently, it somehow felt like a questioning gaze to Abel, making him smile awkwardly. However, he continued, his voice fading like a whisper.

“He said he would always be by his side, that he could do anything as long as he was with him, and then he irresponsibly left the prince alone.”

The last moment when he held the prince and was by the Spring of Prayer came to mind. The smile had disappeared from Abel’s face as he stared into the empty air.

“Despite lacking any authority on the matter, he recklessly asserted that the prince would naturally grow stronger with age, thereby shirking his own responsibility by implying that he could handle it all.”

He was truly irresponsible. Whether it was sacrificing his life based on his mere dreams or uttering empty words about an 8-year-old child growing stronger, it was all absurd. Giving him a wooden pendant with a dragon engraved on it and leaving behind hollow advice telling him to treat it like ‘himself’.

What good would that have done?

It couldn’t offer comfort when he was feeling lonely or struggling, nor did it provide any real assistance. So now, having been reincarnated, it wasn’t right for him to harbor such expectations. It wasn’t right to hope to appear before the prince, who had grown up alone, saying, “I am Abel,” and be warmly welcomed.

In fact, Abel considered it a good thing to help the prince from nearby, even if he couldn’t see him. At least it offered a practical way to stop the war. So, he wasn’t afraid of dying. Lost in thought for a while, Abel suddenly realized that there was no response from the other person. He looked up and took a deep breath. The gray eyes were glaring fiercely at him.

“You.”

The low voice continued as cold as ice.

“What do you know?”

The more silence flowed, the more Abel strangely couldn’t take his eyes off. He should have felt fear in those fierce eyes, but instead, he felt his heart just become heavier. Given what he had witnessed so far, the man might as well wield his sword and slit Abel’s throat then and there. Abel apologized and barely murmured, then smiled faintly.

“That’s right. I’m just a person who’s just a stranger, but I blabbered on again.”

With his appearance that had changed, the prince wouldn’t be able to recognize him, then he was truly just an irrelevant stranger. Abel took a deep breath and added calmly.

“Still, if you want to succeed, it’s better not to mention a person named Abel. He only met His Majesty for a mere two months 12 years ago, and all he left behind was an old wooden pendant, so His Majesty can’t remember… Ugh!”

While listening to the story, Karas suddenly grabbed Abel’s arm tightly. Abel screamed and frowned, but instead, Karas pulled him closer. His face inching towards Abel’s and asked.

“A wooden pendant?”

Abel finally realized that he had misspoken.

Could the prince still have the wooden pendant?

What if the information he mentioned was known only to a few?

Although revealing it wouldn’t expose him as the reincarnated Abel, it could lead to some strange misunderstandings. Being falsely accused, he might even face the terrifying Karas again, this time with his throat truly at risk. Abel forced a smile, glancing sideways nervously.

“A, a wooden pendant? Ugh!”

As the hand holding his arm tightened, it felt like his bones were about to be crushed from the pain. Abel grimaced as he squinted his eyes tight and quickly opened his mouth.

“I-I’m sorry. My words came out wrong.”

With his neck tensed and eyes closed, he didn’t hear any response. When he slightly opened his eyes, only then did the other person release his arm. However, due to the strong gust of wind, Abel staggered to maintain his balance and barely managed to steady himself.

Karas stared at him for a moment as if he was about to say something. However, in the end, he only muttered a single word, as if talking to himself. The word he uttered was “Crimson Valley.” As if determined to confirm everything there, he turned his body and started walking in that direction.

Abel watched Karas walking ahead and quickly chased after him as if coming to his senses.

The youngest thief, who still seemed dazed from afar, watched them helplessly and bid them farewell. It was only after he couldn’t see the two figures anymore that he realized he had barely survived.

However, he couldn’t get up. He felt like if he moved, the devil who had slaughtered dozens of people in an instant would come back in no time. So, he stood guard like a statue until it got dark, and then he came across with a crowd passing by.

“Captain Ashler, there is a survivor!”

With someone’s shout, people holding torches rushed towards the youngest thief. The youngest thief, who had been in shock for half a day, trembled and crouched down as a sharp sword approached his face.

“Speak. Did you see who killed these people?”

The youngest thief raised his eyes and nodded his head. Without seeing the eyes of the tall knight who asked the question, he uttered the name of the devil.

“Ka, Karas.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

Abel had been feeling that Karas was not in a good mood since earlier. Since they couldn’t move in the darkness, they set up a campfire near the road and settled down. Fortunately, Abel had found a bag of food in a pile of corpses and brought it, so dinner was easily taken care of.

But Karas didn’t seem to have any intention of eating at all.

Swish.

Abel pushed the dried meat and the coarse bread closer to Karas. However, Karas had been staring at the red flames of the campfire and didn’t move at all.

Abel was even more anxious because it seemed like his mood had sunk because of him. Did he get depressed over something that was said to be information that could lead to success but turned out to be nothing special?

Unable to bring himself to speak and feeling restless, he found himself in a difficult position. He was hungry but couldn’t start eating the bread first, and as he pondered his dilemma, another sound emanated from Abel’s stomach instead.

‘Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!’

It wasn’t loud, but it was enough to instantly break the contemplation of the one person who was deeply lost in thought.

Snap. Karas raised his eyes.

Abel awkwardly tried to explain while clutching his stomach.

“M-My, my stomach feels too empty.”

He had definitely emptied his stomach. He quickly bowed his head, thinking that Karas would immediately draw his sword, but he didn’t hear the sound of a sword being drawn or the sound of it scraping the ground. Instead, he heard a different sound.

Thud, crunch.

When he opened his eyes, Karas was tearing off a tough piece of bread and putting it in his mouth.

Watching him eat, Abel widened his eyes for a moment, but soon smiled and started eating his bread too. Silence fell between the two of them as they ate. However, Abel felt that this silence was different from before. It felt more comfortable.

Filtering out his hunger, he focused solely on eating. Oblivious to anyone watching, he hastily stuffed bread and jerky into his mouth. In the process, he didn’t hear Karas’ words. He didn’t hear Karas’ words because of it. Karas looked at Abel, who was eating with puffed cheeks, with indifferent eyes, and muttered.

“I don’t resent him.”

⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⊹˚. ♡.𖥔 ݁ ˖

The survivor’s testimony was shocking in itself. With dark skies and exhausted horses, in a situation where they couldn’t go any further, the search team settled near where the corpses were. The other soldiers were busy setting up their sleeping arrangements and patrolling the area to see if there were any remaining enemies nearby.

However, only the four who had poked the survivor turned into statues and couldn’t move. The only thing that came to mind of the four people was one thing.

No, what the hell is this crazy thief saying?

“H-hey. K-Karas… So, His Majesty the Emperor was with a f-fairy?”

When Melmond finally asked, the youngest nodded.

“Yes, a truly beautiful fairy. Blonde hair, big green eyes, and snow-white skin. And his wrists and ankles were so slender, the glimpses of skin through the collar of his clothes…”

“Enough, shut up.”

At Melmond’s warning, the youngest lowered his head as if his spirit had been crushed. However, whether his spirit or his excitement was crushed, the problem lay elsewhere.

“But His Majesty, did he really cherish the fairy? T-That, too…”

Melmond couldn’t continue his next words. However, the youngest, unaware of Melmond’s sentiments, easily continued,

“Of course. How much he cherishes him! Just because we got a little closer to the fairy, he immediately cut the throats of my two brothers… sniff, anyway, he caught two ducks to give to the fairy. But strangely, he said it wasn’t enough. When the fairy asked him to spare me, he willingly agreed and even carried him as he moved when the fairy collapsed.”

Even though it was the third time they heard it, they just couldn’t bring themselves to believe it. Of course not. Every word that came out of the thief’s mouth seemed to be exaggerated and inflated. Although Karas had never willingly granted someone a favor or embraced anyone cautiously, Karas was now regarded as the embodiment of affection among those who heard what the thief was saying.

What on earth is this about?!

His Majesty, the ruthless one who is called the King of Slaughter and regards human lives as lighter than ants, not only grants the request to spare a person’s life but also personally carries them when they collapse. As this goes on, a hypothesis slowly emerges in everyone’s mind.

It was also a guess that they never wanted to think about except for Nani.

What if the two of them had recognized each other’s identities?!

And the youngest thief added fuel to the fire.

“But it seemed like Karas was a little upset with the fairy. Clearly, the fairy only allowed his body, not his heart, and Karas was dissatisfied with that….”

“What nonsense!!!!!”

“What do you mean his body!!!!!”

Melmond and the butler both jumped up and shouted at the same time. However, they couldn’t hear the youngest’s response. Someone else had spoken before the youngest. To be precise, it was a nearby laughter.

“Uhahahahahahahah――”

It was Nani A confident, ominous laughter of victory engulfed the three people like magic.  

Melmond turned pale, the butler staggered, and Ashler frowned.

The youngest, unaware what was happening, crouched again, wondering if it was his mistake, but no one could stop Nani’s sinister laughter.

“Uhahahahah―――”

The silence of three people and the laughter of one person lasted quite a long time. Listening to Nani’s following words, his laughter seemed like it would continue all night.

“Uhahahahahahahah- I’ll receive three months’ salary, and on top of that, someone’s own house documents! Uhkuhkuhkuhkuh!”

The stakes grew higher.

Thud.

The butler, who was determined to be a small-time gambler, fainted.

Melmond staggered and went to pray to God, and Ashler, who was left behind, frowned and pondered while watching Nani.

Should I get rid of that bastard?