TWLPOD 8

As flames erupted around Kay, Aran bit his lip tightly and surrendered.

“Alright. I get it. Like someone who just had their first kiss stolen… Ah. That was a real mistake.”

A fiery arrow flew at him faster than Aran’s excuse.

“I’m telling you, it was a real mistake!”

He hurriedly dodged, trying his best to appease Kay’s anger. While enjoying the metaphorically burning face.

“Haa, haa… cough.”

Aran waved away the acrid, dusty wind with his hand and asked the still sulking Kay.

“Feeling refreshed? Then shall we get to the main point?”

“See. I knew it was a lie that you missed me.”

“If I didn’t miss you, I wouldn’t have come in person to deliver the message.”

Kay, who had spit out the sand in his mouth, asked back.

“What does a high-and-mighty person like you have to say in person?”

“Join the war. Then I’ll give you what you want.”

Kay didn’t even get angry anymore. He just sneered, finding it absurd.

“What do you think I want?”

“You said you were looking for someone.”

At that moment, all of Kay’s senses stopped.

“You can find that person for me?”

“No. That person is dead.”

This was the expression Aran had wanted to see, the one he had come all this way for.

This expression, which was so far removed from reality. This expression, of someone who couldn’t bear it and wanted to run away at any moment. The sight of this person, who stood tall and unwavering, collapsing so miserably. He really wanted to see it.

“……”

How much time had passed? Kay, who had stopped as if he had forgotten to even breathe, slowly stared at Aran again. In his red eyes, filled with loss and wounds, something like an unextinguished anger still shimmered, and Aran, feeling a chilling thrill, proposed.

“Let’s make a deal.”

Kay looked at Aran, unaware that he was even holding his breath. He couldn’t tell if the faint tears welling up in his eyes were due to the dry climate… or because of his overflowing emotions.

“The deal I’m proposing is just one thing. Destroy the <Mother Core> in the fortress of Sector Z and lead this war to victory.”

Aran took a step closer to Kay and continued.

“If you do that and this war ends in victory, I’ll tell you.”

‘What?’ He answered the eyes that were asking that question.

“Where that person’s corpse is.”

He could see Kay, who was letting out a twisted breath, trying desperately to maintain his composure.

“How…”

“How do I know? Because I’ve seen it.”

“You’re lying.”

It was the denial of someone who knew all too well that Lympus’s specialty was to use you when they needed you and discard you without hesitation when they didn’t. That distrust was conveyed through his unsteady breathing and gaze, which was contrary to his sharp words, and yet, only the red eyes visible through the sandy wind were blazing.

“Whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you.”

“What am I supposed to believe? You can’t prove anything.”

That L was dead, and that he knew where her corpse was.

“Just trust you?”

Aran looked at his reflection in those eyes and smiled faintly.

“Yes. Look at me.”

“What?”

“You said I look like him. That person named L.”

As he uttered the name he had faintly heard, his shoulders flinched.

“Could it really be a coincidence?”

“…What… does that…”

“I promise. If we fight together and this war ends in victory, I will give you the information you want.”

Just as one doesn’t lend money without collateral, it was a foolish deal to borrow his power without anything. Nevertheless, the very fact that Kay couldn’t easily turn away revealed his conflict in its entirety.

“So choose. Whether you will naively believe my words, for which I can give you nothing for now. Or whether you will wait here endlessly for someone who will never return, unable to believe.”

Kay thought.

‘It’s unfair.’

That’s right. This is an unfair deal. And a very blatant one at that.

An unfair deal that both parties are aware of is more dangerous than one side suffering a loss or making a sacrifice. Because it is a testimony.

‘I can throw away anything for this.’

The other party didn’t seem to be missing anything. Therefore, this deal is a deadly poison that will eat away at and kill you from the moment you swallow it.

“…Can you promise?”

“I swear.”

Kay, who had been silent for a long time, said in a very small voice.

“Alright.”

Kay understood all the given situations and conditions perfectly. Even after understanding, he willingly decided to bet on it. The weight of a life that was like a single grain of scattering sand anyway if she was gone.

“But I have conditions too.”

Aran nodded his head as he listened to the voice that came out raspy, as if he was still forcing himself to breathe.

“Tell me.”

His dry lips moved as he chose his words.

“One. This village will be safe.”

Since it was where the oasis in the desert was, it wouldn’t be strange for bandits or monsters to appear frequently.

“I’ll post guards. What else?”

“Two. Install a camera so I can watch this place at any time.”

“You’re very suspicious.”

“It’s not that… I promised.”

Kay smiled faintly, as if the old memory was still pleasant, and at the same time, sad.

“If we get lost, or let go of each other’s hands, we would meet here again. It’s like a promise to prevent getting lost.”

Aran could finally understand the meaning of the flame burning on the pole, and at the same time, he realized that Kay was suffering from a terrible self-contradiction.

Even though accepting the contract with Aran meant accepting the fact that ‘L is dead,’ he could not let go of the belief that the person he was waiting for would return.

Kay, who revealed even his obvious contradictions without any filtering, was honest, and Aran decided to pretend not to notice that foolish contradiction. Just.

“I’m curious.”

“About what?”

“…I was just wondering what it feels like to be loved that much.”

If every human being has a deficiency and longs for it, then Kay’s was the one who did not return. Aran was intrigued to find that his reflection in the unwavering eyes was the same as that of the dead person…

“Is it that you’ve never loved someone that much?”

He smiled at his opponent, who had once again hit the nail on the head.

“Tomorrow at 6 PM. I’ll come to pick you up. If there’s anything you need, get it ready by then.”

Kay did not reply to the unanswered Aran and leaped onto the pole.

The kayf he had draped over his black hair fluttered in the wind for a long time. Like a mourning flag.