CHAPTER 14 – LIBERATION

Translator: Homia

“Would you like to commit suicide with honor, or would it be better to die by someone else’s hand?”

“…What?”

“Did you not understand my question?”

At Palato’s words, Lapram desperately held out his hands and protested.

The two hands that stretched out as if wanting to hold something were trembling with fear.

“…I-I told you everything! That’s all I know!”

“Since you told us everything, I’m offering it politely like this. If you hadn’t cooperated smoothly, you wouldn’t have had a choice.”

At Palato’s words, Arsene slowly turned his head to check the others’ reactions.

Not only Entir and the squires, but even Genovia, who was usually friendly, looked down at Lapram with a cold face, without being shaken at all.

There seemed to be no one questioning that he should die.

Arsene asked Palato a question.

“Is there any way to turn from a predator back to a normal person, Sir Palato?”

“None, as far as I know. Your brother is completely contaminated, as he already drank the blood of the demonic beasts a few times. There’s no other way but to kill him.”

Palato responded in a gentle tone to Arsene’s question.

It was so gentle that it didn’t fit the context and situation, to the point where it felt uncomfortable.

Palato, who turned to Lapram again, asked again.

The tone was so cold and determined that it was incomparable to before.

“I’m going to ask you one more time, Lapram. Would you kill yourself or die by borrowing someone else’s hand?”

When asked, Lapram’s body trembled as if it had epilepsy.

“Ah, ah… save, me… Arsene! Please! We’re brothers!”

Lapram, who crawled up in front of Arsene, cried as he held Arsene’s pants.

Arsene took a step back without realizing it.

Perhaps it was interpreted as a negative answer, but Lapram cried even more desperately and hung with his arms wrapped around his legs.

It sounded like a cry of a beast, not a human.

The appearance was so pathetic that Arsene opened his mouth without realizing it.

“… maybe, we can kick him out of the fortress…”

“It’s meaningless. Such a young predator cannot survive outside alone, so if he survives, it may be because he joined another group of looters. If Lapram, who grew up here, kills and commits crimes, it will partly be your fault. Can you handle it?”

Palato’s words said in a calm tone were so right, that Arsene pondered the answer a few times before quietly leaving it at the back of his mind.

From the ethical point of view on earth, it was absurd, but from the point of view of the ethics of this world, Lapram was no longer a human, but a beast.

A beast that can only walk on two feet and speak human words.

The thought of wanting to save someone’s life because of past relationships and sympathy was a meaningless act.

“Your brother is no longer the person you remembered. Now he looks like a normal person because he is afraid, weeping, and begging, but if given an opportunity, he’ll try to kill someone or commit a crime on impulse. Looters should not be left alive.”

At Palato’s firm words, Arsene sighed and looked down at Lapram.

As a child, he was the only friend he had in the hellish life at the fortress.

When asked if he was a close friend by the standard of an average person, he couldn’t answer yes, but still, it was not a relationship where he could casually say ‘die in peace.’

However, Lapram had already crossed the river of no return.

Even if he didn’t cross the river on his own will.

“I’m sorry, Lapram.”

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Arsene bent down and forced Lapram’s arms around his legs to be released, pushing him.

He could kick him coldly, but he didn’t want to.

There was a moment when Arsene also trembled in front of the fear of death, so he did not want to insult Lapram.

“Ah, ahh… Traitor! Dirty bastard! Nasty…”

Lapram spat out curse words one after another with his eyes open red, rushing forward.

Arsene easily overpowered the attacking Lapram by holding his arms together.

Whether by strangling or breaking his neck, or by using the knife at his waist, Arsene could easily kill Lapram by any means possible.

However, Arsene couldn’t choose any of them, and was just using strength to hold his arms.

“You’re completely frozen, kid. Can’t you just kill your past brother? Do you want me to take care of it for you?”

When Entir smiled as if ridiculing him, Arsene raised his eyes and glared at him.

At that expression, Entir also glared at him, opening his eyes ferociously.

Then Entir stomped his foot hard, his power was so strong that vibrations spread in all directions.

“Why are you staring at me like that? This little bastard is so cocky…”

“Sir Entir, please be quiet.”

Palato spoke quietly, placing his hand on Entir’s shoulder.

After glaring at Palato for a while, Entir snorted and stepped back a few steps, leaning against a wall with his arms folded.

As if he had no intention of intervening anymore.

“…A bastard like you is… evil!”

At that time, Genovia lifted Lapram’s neck with one hand, who was constantly swearing.

Lapram, whose two legs were floating above the ground, hit and scratched Genovia’s hands recklessly, but the white and beautiful hands of the female knight did not move and tightened Lapram’s neck firmly.

Genovia spoke in a cold voice that Arsene had never heard before.

“I don’t think there’s anything more to say now, so I’ll take care of it. It’s okay, right?

Arsene nodded silently.

Genovia lifted Lapram and went out of the castle without saying a word.

Lapram screamed like a pig being dragged to a slaughterhouse, perhaps because he felt his death was near.

And a few seconds later, there was a crunching sound like the breaking of chicken bones.

No more screams were heard after that.

That night, Arsene sat on the terrace on the second floor of Castle and was looking at the mountain far away.

He felt uneasy as he kept thinking about what had happened during the day.

The desperate scream that Lapram had made as he was dragged out at the end kept ringing in his ears.

And the weak self, who was holding Lapram’s arms but couldn’t do anything about it.

If he was convinced he could not save Lapram’s life, he should have killed him himself, but he couldn’t do it because he hesitated.

Ten years have already passed since he arrived in this world, but the weak sensibility of the Earth’s people was holding him back.

As he was mourning alone, the door opened.

Genovia came in with a bottle in one hand and two brass glasses in the other.

“Do you want a drink?”

“Is that alcohol?”

“Let’s say it’s a medicine that helps with your mental health.”

‘I can’t believe she’s going to give alcohol to a 10-years-old child.’

Of course, if he used his age from the previous life, he was old enough to drink, but he wasn’t old enough in this life.

“I’m kidding, it’s not real alcohol. It’s some kind of drink. We have a battle tomorrow, I’m not crazy enough to drink now.”

Genovia, who closed the door, sat across Arsene and placed a cup on the terrace.

The liquid that filled both cups was dark purple.

It was an unparalleled wine just by looking at the color.

“I never imagined that drinks would be allowed to be brought into the expedition supplies.”

“Why not? It’s not even alcohol…”

Genovia coughed in vain, then held out a brass glass.

“Come on, get the drink this sister gives you, before my arm falls off. This is from the northern territory. It’s really expensive.”

With Genovia’s smile reaching her ears, Arsene looked at her white hand holding the glass.

Except for the fact that it was large and long, his half-brother died of a broken neck during the day, by the same hand of a lady.

Arsene deliberately spoke in a bright voice to shake off his dark thoughts.

“If I drink, won’t I be an accomplice? First, I have to report to Sir Palato.”

“You really want to die.”

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Smirking at Genovia’s cute threat, Arsene poured the liquid from the glass into his mouth.

It was definitely sweet, but tasted more like grape juice, with no alcohol at all.

“Is it good?”

“It’s delicious.”

“The little kid already knows the taste of alcohol, so you can’t tell anyone.”

When Arsene looked at her with a ridiculous expression, Genovia filled the drink again with a smile, as if she was drunk.

Genovia, playing with the cup, turned her head and looked outside.

She said in a calm voice while keeping her gaze intact.

“Lapram is buried well.”

Arsene couldn’t figure out what to say, so he stared only at the darkness that spread out over the window.

An awkward silence followed, with the two of them sitting on the terrace looking outside.

“Don’t worry about what you heard during the day. Those aren’t Lapram’s, they’re just the words of a filthy looter who stole Lapram’s body and memories.”

Only then did Arsene realize that Genovia came to comfort him.

Regardless of the content, to others, Arsene was a young boy who witnessed the cruel death of his brother that day.

In fact, the personality of the Earthman inside Arsene was not tolerant of this kind of thing, so he felt depressed.

Although he is an adult rather than a 10-year-old Arsene, his inner personality was not very mature by this world standard.

“The memories and the body are the same, could it be a different person?”

“It depends on what you choose to believe in, but I decided to think so. It’s terrifying to think that everyone has such an evil nature within them. I feel comfortable thinking that the blood of the demonic beasts made it like that.”

Genovia responded with a light voice mixed with laughter and shook the glass containing the drink.

Afterwards, without a word, the two shared their glasses once again.

It wasn’t even alcohol, but he felt like he was sharing a real drink.

“And just in case, don’t blame yourself for not killing Lapram.”

“What?”

“It’s normal to have a hard time killing someone you know when they become looters. It’s abnormal if a guy does so carelessly. The reason why you couldn’t kill Lapram today is not that you’re a weak person, but because you know how to cherish others.”

Arsene remained silent without answering Genovia’s words.

After a few minutes had passed, Arsene’s voice answered again, and there was squeezing moisture felt in it.

Genovia, who had good hearing, didn’t miss it, but intentionally ignored it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Looking at Genovia’s smile, Arsene really wished he had a big sister like this.

“Okay! Let’s stop talking about heavy and uncomfortable topics and talk about love. How’s it going with Miss Elise? I saw you last time and you looked like you couldn’t live without each other.”

“I don’t know why you’re saying this.”

“Besides, do you want me to tell you about love? Don’t you want to hear the love story between me and Carmine that will make you cry?”

“With Sir Carmine?”

Arsene was genuinely surprised by what he heard, giving up on his sad feelings for a moment.

As if he was always living alone in this world, he had a dull and stoic face, and he was a person whose impression didn’t fit the word love at all.

“We were childhood friends who lived in the same area, and Carmine was being bullied by the other children. He’s shy, so he can’t talk well and he’s small, too. That’s why I always used wooden sticks to protect Carmine.”

Listening to Genovia, Arsene imagined a young Carmine being bullied.

It was a little pleasant to imagine the pathetic appearance of being beaten by the children with his unique expressionless face.

At the end, he was surprised again by what Genovia added.

“So, I’m thinking about asking Carmine to marry me when I get back this time. I’m not that young anymore.”

“It feels really strange to hear that the day before the fight.”

Shaking his head at Genovian words that set up a typical death flag, Arsene looked up at the green moon.

Somehow, he felt that his heart was much lighter than before.

In tomorrow’s battle, he thought he could wave his sword at the enemy without hesitation.

The next morning, the expedition began to march toward the looter’s den.