TWLPOD 9

On the second floor of the orphanage, in the very back. Inside a room currently being used as a storage room, Kay took out an old leather bag.

“So you’ve decided to go after all.”

As he shouldered the bag and looked back, Leah was standing beyond the door.

“Yeah.”

“Are you really going to believe that guy’s words?”

“Well.”

Even if they won the war, he could not be certain whether Aran would keep the contract, or if he really had proof of El.

But the reason his heart leaned toward trying to believe him was….

It was because what he had promised to give was not simply information about El, or his whereabouts, but ‘the fact of his death and the proof of it’. If it were merely for the sake of using him, there would have been no reason to approach him with the proposition that ‘El is already dead’. More than anything.

-Could it really be a coincidence?

He also wanted to find the answer to that question. If that face, which was more than just similar, was not a coincidence….

“You’re being tricked.”

“Maybe so.”

“You’ll just end up being used and thrown away! Just like all those Lympus bastards have done until now!”

Leah shouted, full of resentment, but she already knew. That even by shouting like this, she could not stop Kay.

“…You saw him too, right, Leah? That guy.”

The image that immediately came to mind was so vivid it was annoying.

“That’s the face I’ve been looking for.”

“What?”

“His face, I mean. His height and hair length are a little different…. But his face is exactly the same. So much so that it wouldn’t be strange to say it was copied. What do you think? Isn’t it worth a lifetime of searching?”

At his nonchalant tone, Leah glared.

“It’s not like you’re searching for him because of his face, anyway.”

“Still, he is pretty, isn’t he.”

“Don’t fall for him. I hate that guy.”

“Me too. Their personalities aren’t alike at all.”

Should he be called detestable? Or should he be called fake?

He was a person who seemed like he would make your heart flutter just by looking at him, being relaxed, playful, and sparkling with confidence, but whenever they made eye contact, the inside of his eyes was unreadable, creating a sense of tension.

“And you’re still going? Can’t you not go?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“If something happens to the village, who will protect it?”

“I’ll always be watching. And he said he’ll dispatch people….”

“I don’t need them. The likes of those Lympus bastards.”

“It’s just to buy time. I promise. If anything happens to you all, I will definitely come.”

Kay hugged Leah and patted her on the back. He also held the same suspicions that she did, and in one corner of his mind, he even wished the contract would not be kept rather than have to accept that El was dead. But in the end, he had to confirm it. Because the price he offered was a mirage to Kay.

Just as it is not important to a person stranded in the desert whether the shimmering oasis is real or not. One has no choice but to blindly walk, chasing a hope that cannot be known until it is reached.

Coming down to the first floor, Kay stroked the heads of the children who ran to him in delight.

“Kay, Kay, I heard you’re going to Lympus.”

“What are you going for? Why are you going?”

“Are you going to see Simon mister?”

“You’re coming back, right?”

“When are you coming back?”

“Can’t you not go?”

Kay took in the sight of the chattering children clinging to his waist and legs.

“Even when I’m not here, you have to listen well to Leah and stay healthy.”

“When? When are you coming back?”

“Well.”

Knowing how cruel a promise without a set date could be, Kay could not guarantee when. He simply conveyed the best promise he could as he caressed Anna’s soft cheek.

“As long as you all remember me.”

“Anytime?”

“You’ll remember me and not forget?”

“Of course! How could we ever forget Kay?”

At the children’s bright laughter, Kay pulled the whole swarming group into a tight hug with both arms. As Kay vowed to surely return alive as long as they remembered him, his eyes widened at a fist suddenly held out to him.

“Stephen?”

Stephen, the oldest of the children, as if he truly grasped the meaning of parting, was holding out his fist with a face that held back tears.

“I’ll give you this.”

When Kay opened his palm, a small keychain settled on it. Inside the transparent acrylic was something very rare in the desert… a pressed flower decoration.

“This is….”

“It’s my treasure. You know?”

It was the only object that had been in his cradle when Stephen was abandoned at this orphanage.

“Give it back to me later. It’s a promise.”

“But….”

“Aaaaaah! I can’t hear you! I can’t hear you!”

As if he had anticipated Kay’s words that he could not accept something like this, Stephen repeatedly covered his ears with both hands and ran up the stairs. And at the top of the stairs, he held out his pinky finger.

“You have to give it back when you return! It’s a promise!”

At his shout, Kay tucked the keychain into a pocket inside his bag and held up his pinky finger.

“It’s a promise. I’ll be back.”

Kay took one last look at the home he did not know when he would be able to return to, and opened the door.

“You’re kind to the children.”

Without even a moment to feel the lingering sentiment of the farewell, as soon as he opened the front door, Aran was standing right next to him. He was momentarily surprised by the lack of any presence, but soon replied calmly.

“If you’re not kind to children, you don’t deserve to be an adult.”

“In my eyes, you look young too.”

“Wasn’t it, ‘It’s not good to judge a person by their appearance.’?”

Aran flinched for a moment, then showed a crooked smile.

“You share that kind of conversation too? It makes me jealous.”

“Cut the crap. When I think about how you threatened to find me, tearing you to shreds wouldn’t be enough.”

“That’s too harsh. I even said it was a joke.”

“Don’t you ever joke in front of the children again.”

Aran, who was smiling without a reply, held out his left hand.

“Lend me your hand for a moment.”

When Kay only looked up at the hand once, and then at Aran once, without moving….

“Why?”

he asked back.

“I should be the one asking why. Why my hand?”

“I’ll give you a present.”

“I don’t need it.”

“It’s mandatory.”

“You don’t call something like that a present.”

“Are you afraid it’ll wear out if you touch it?”

Kay decided to just give him his hand and cut off the useless talk. As their hands overlapped, Aran snapped something onto his wrist. What remained beneath his lowered hand was a bracelet.

“It’s valuable.”

Come to think of it, he recalled that even in the prison where he was being tortured, the torturer had brought up a screen with a bracelet similar to this one.

“What is this?”

“A daily necessity.”

“This is?”

For a daily necessity, the leopard-print bracelet was gaudy, and as its jewel glittered, a stream of white light poured down from the air.

“Because this kind of thing is possible.”

Engulfed in the <Teleportation>, Kay felt the mass of his body lighten as he examined himself, wrapped in light. Feeling a nauseating motion sickness, he squeezed his eyes shut against the brilliant glare. It was the first teleportation he had experienced while conscious.

The place he arrived at via teleportation was a mix of various noises.

Soldiers in uniforms or military attire raised clouds of dirt and dust with their shouts, and the sounds of gunfire and explosions, a continuous roar, acrid smoke, and the thick smell of blood all mingled together.

It was a battlefield.

“Sorry. The first time is supposed to be gentle.”