<162 - A Monster Who Doesn't Understand the Human Heart>
Lin is trapped in a ring.
A leash is put on to prevent escape, and she’s chained up.
Words that show no respect for people.
It’s as if they are treating her like property.
Everything about it was no different from the enemies of the Eastern Empire, whom Sing hated with a passion.
“You’ve crossed the line.”
He tried his hardest to hold back.
He believed that this child could become a comrade to help with revenge.
And now, this is the result.
Eastern and Western.
Although their territories are different, it’s ultimately just a place where people live.
The face of humanity is all the same.
“Why do you draw your sword?”
“You… are unpleasant.”
An expression of extreme shock.
Even that clear display of emotion feels uncomfortable.
Thinking about the words that mock human hearts makes it quite revolting.
“Did you approach me just to toy with me from the beginning?”
“What did I do? With a body that has limbs, I’d just get hunted down, so a portable ring where I can still have my soul is better!”
“Now I understand.”
“Ha, you finally recognize it?”
“You are a monster who doesn’t understand the human heart.”
There’s a sense of dissonance arising from the disparity between her outward appearance, which seems like that of a child her age, and the words she uses.
“That discomfort comes from pretending to know what you don’t, and that’s the reason for this unpleasant conversation.”
“Huh?? Me?? No way. I know a lot. At the Academy, it’s harder to find what you don’t know…”
“The world cannot be defined solely by knowledge.”
Instead of reflection, Oknodie shamelessly wears a look of distress, questioning how he could say such harsh things to her.
Sing sharpened his blade toward the monster hiding a fearsome nature behind a cute face.
Flash!
With the glint of sunlight reflecting off the blade, Sing’s murderous intent burst forth explosively.
“I shall share one emotion with you, monster who doesn’t understand the human heart. It’s the emotion called rage.”
*
It wasn’t hard to detect the signs of Sing’s murderous instinct.
A chilling sensation ran down his spine, and he felt a premonition that his hand might be severed if he didn’t respond.
Clang!
He blocked it.
Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief from one defense, a terrifying onslaught rushed forward at terrifying speed, threatening to chop off fingers and sever wrists.
Sing’s sword strikes carried a strong will, felt in every trajectory, force, and his chilling and deadly gaze.
This was a sincere attack aimed at efficiently incapacitating his opponent and slicing their neck.
A sense of disappointment lingered.
He had only wanted to help.
He had offered kindness first.
“How could you not understand my feelings like this?!”
Sing’s blade wavered.
A moment’s hesitation added even more killing intent to the blade.
“To say something like that knowing the situation between me and Lin… Are you planning to mock us till the end?”
He had long surpassed the level of a First Year student.
If he lacked the training in skills, it wouldn’t be surprising if he lost his grip on the sword and his fingers, wrists, and neck were severed in succession.
“Hey! Don’t you dare say you haven’t lost anything! Ghosts are known to be good at running away!”
A ghost that can freely run out and be hunted down even when sealed away in an artifact had no room to complain.
If he had actually captured his sister’s soul, it would at least stick around, but that was just a fake imitating Lin’s appearance, having only peeked at Sing’s memories.
It was more like a collective consciousness formed by multiple vengeful spirits rather than just one ghost.
‘If it gets troublesome, I should trap it in a ring and chain it up to set a range restriction. Why does it dislike that idea so much?’
Back when Sing teamed up with his comrades in the game and mentioned trapping a ghost in an item for revenge, the materials for the restraints and chains were brought by them.
But now, it seemed that he couldn’t cage his own sister as if this were an example of sheer hypocrisy.
‘Fighting Sing with brute force is going to be too risky.’
If he unleashed Dark Mana with the intention to fight, even someone as renowned as Sing could be defeated.
But using that technique would definitely lead to Sing’s demise, and it wouldn’t be a pretty death either.
Sing had his own trump card as well.
One could not achieve a clean victory.
An utterly pointless battle.
A victory filled only with wounds remained, even in defeat.
“Do we really have to fight?”
“Did you think I could avoid a battle after provoking me like that?”
His pride was hurt, but there was nothing he could do.
A Veteran Player must know how to wield various weapons.
This weapon was one that even he, a seasoned veteran, had never used even once.
He couldn’t even predict what effects it would generate.
It could decisively determine the outcome in one blow, but it could also backfire.
Its lethality was lower than a finishing move.
This was the only way to end without injuring each other.
‘Ugh!’
Think of the pain when a thorn gets stuck in your foot.
Recall the sadness from looting the treasure in the Magic Tower, only to find that the bundle was a Mimic, losing all the items.
Remember the sorrow from messing up favorability management with the heroine just before graduation, resulting in becoming a Petrifying Hero.
‘Don’t be scared. It’s about cheering myself on!’
As he strained, his face grew hot, and tears began to well up in his eyes.
“You…”
Sing’s sword, which had been relentlessly attacking, lost its deadly edge for the first time and slowed down.
“Are you… crying?”
The tears of a woman are a weapon.
Even a veteran like him managed to handle a first-time weapon successfully in actual combat.
The so-called Weapon Master Operation was a resounding success!
*
He had thought of her as a monster who doesn’t understand the human heart.
Just a poor imitation of a human.
That thing could not grasp human emotions.
Drip…
Yet, at the moment he saw the tears flowing from Oknodie’s eyes, the faith he had began to crack.
“Am I crying? Is this crying?”
“…I’m starting to feel like the fool for asking.”
“Yes, that’s right! I’m crying right now.”
Crocodiles open their mouths wide to stimulate their tear glands, but why was this little monster crying without even opening her mouth?
Oknodie, who pretended to understand human feelings but truly did not know what real emotions were.
She felt genuine emotions.
Is it guilt?
Is it shame?
Or is it some other reason?
Oknodie shed real tears.
For reasons she herself didn’t understand.
“…I’m losing even the heart of Bell.”
“Shall we stop fighting now?”
“I will give you a chance to explain. Clarify the intention behind the words you said about my sister.”
Could a child, so clumsy with her feelings, speak properly?
He wanted to know what kind of thoughts led to her words.
“You see, ghosts? They tend to run away, so they need to be bound to objects…”
After hearing the explanation, he understood.
It was a nonsensical choice of words that was utterly devoid of malice.
It was also the parents’ fault.
What kind of environment did they raise their child in to end up like this?
But just a little thought could lead to speculation.
A human weapon born from the darkness of the Foundation.
The ‘Papa’ she spoke of, heard only through rumors, must refer to the Butler from the Foundation who previously visited the Academy or her instructor.
They likely weren’t even her real parents; even if they were, it would be a much worse situation.
‘A child who did not grow up under proper parents.’
Those who grew up in the same environment tend to feel a sense of kinship and empathize easily.
A child who has encountered the same flawed parenting as himself and Lin, or a child whose parents had died due to the Foundation or other factors.
It was a child with pasts not unlike theirs.
“Next time, don’t use words that make it easy to confuse someone as a person.”
“Hmph. I spoke correctly, you just understood it wrong.”
Normally, he would consider narrowing his eyes in response to her rebuttal, but now he had no intent to draw his sword against this poor child.
“So, do you intend to trap my sister in a ring?”
“Yes. I happen to have a good ring.”
“What makes that ring so special that you need to trap the soul imitating my sister in there?”
“Ghosts need life force to maintain their existence. To survive without harming anyone, they must inhabit an item that can replenish their life force. Just like this ring.”
Though he was a swordsman using blades, it was well-known in the Eastern Empire that beings derived from ghosts or youkai existed.
He knew it wasn’t uncommon to seal a ghost back into an object after defeating it or allowing it to attain peace.
A vial that can seal it if deceived.
A scroll that prevents escape once trapped.
That ring could become such a charm.
But unlike the vial and scroll, Oknodie’s ring has one key difference.
“That ring was not originally made for trapping anything, was it?”
“Commoners use things for their intended purposes, but a Veteran Player like me can make one from scratch!”
An absurdly confident reply.
Her attitude, which could be overshadowed by arrogance, felt surprisingly reliable.
Because he knew.
A fake ghost, not even his sister.
To protect even that mere illusion, he would have to trust Oknodie completely.
“If you truly protect this child…”
“What if I do?”
“I will kill a person for you.”
Thus, he set a cost.
With the only thing he could do.
Rustle!
At the sound of a small rat scurrying away after eavesdropping on their conversation, he lifted his sword, but Oknodie shook her head.
“That’s my friend!”
“…It’s best to keep your mouth shut, huh.”
The deal was accepted.
