WOSE Chapter 35

"……What?"

"Are you too stupid to understand? That promising next leader was a mad murderer who killed my child, a decent family man, someone's parent—and threw them into the darkness."

The measured words twisted into something gnawed and vicious.

"So we returned the favor in kind."

The voice was horrifyingly calm, lending it a terrible weight of reality. Even the lieutenant, who'd been shouting himself hoarse, finally collapsed to the floor.

Regardless of whether their opponent looked as though the world had ended, Brynja and the survivors moved on to their purpose in coming.

"Clan Leader. Punish us if you will. In doing so, you've become like us—a family member of the missing, a victim yourself."

"……."

"Of course, that's assuming you were truly unaware of what sort of deeds your son committed, how demonic a creature he was."

They added their sharp words and concluded their confession.

Iyu bit the inside of her cheek. She'd planned to conceal their crime, never expecting them to confess directly.

But there was someone more shocked than she was.

"…That child was swallowed by darkness?"

Trembling hands full of scars. The woman looked about to lose control, to shatter under the weight.

Yet the clan leader, repeatedly washing her face and drawing deep breaths, gradually reclaimed her composure with an eerie calm.

"Then, do you have evidence?"

"……I'm sorry?"

"Material proof that the child was a vicious criminal, and that you committed what you did last night. If all you can do is show up in a group and repeat the same story, I have no choice but to call it madness."

"It is not madness."

Someone stepped forward with certainty. Odynne, in traveling clothes, was just entering the manor with priests.

"We secured a note that lured the employee to the scene. The sender was you, Lady Kelgrida."

"I sent no such thing……!"

"It's possible it was forged. However, the note bears the clan leader's seal. If you didn't stamp it, only the man who stood in for you could have done so."

Odynne tossed the dirt-covered note onto the table. Kelgrida's gaze sharpened as she recognized the unmistakable seal.

"Did you send this note?"

"……."

To confirm would be to admit she was the murderer. To deny it would force her to accept that her son was.

Trapped between choices with no retreat, Kelgrida clenched her teeth.

After fierce deliberation, her choice became clear.

"I know nothing of it."

And with that, she acknowledged her son's guilt.

"I see. Fortunate that we need not resort to truth serum."

No one in this room believed in Kelgrida's innocence. In other words, if she protested further, they would use truth serum to expose her crime alongside her son's.

With that brutal statement, Odynne silenced Kelgrida and turned to the survivors. Before this holy representative of the gods, all the guilty bowed their heads.

The greatest injustice had just been resolved. Yet another wrong remained in his sight—an act contrary to justice. Perhaps a tremendous punishment awaited them.

'But Odynne didn't directly witness what happened in the mine last night.'

If necessary, she was prepared to overturn their testimony and claim self-defense.

The Holy Knight began his judgment.

"No matter how vicious a murderer, the sin of taking a life against the will of God is grave."

"Yes."

"Therefore, we shall take responsibility for these sinners. They will be imprisoned within the temple and walk the path of atonement and purification according to God's will."

Iyu, who'd taken an unconscious step forward, blinked blankly.

It was called imprisonment, but it was essentially protection against Kelgrida's retaliation.

Kelgrida seemed to understand as much. Her face twisted, and she opened her mouth helplessly.

"If the conversation has ended, I shall withdraw. I've heard shocking news so suddenly…… I need time to collect my thoughts."

Without accepting the servants' support, Kelgrida stumbled away from her seat.

Once Kelgrida's lieutenant had also retreated, Odynne gave instructions to the priests.

Iyu watched as the survivors moved out with the priests, when one woman broke from the group and approached her.

"Savior."

"……Triel."

Triel's cheeks had hollowed further overnight, the shadows under her eyes deeper. She suddenly bowed her head deeply.

"I was too overwhelmed last night to properly thank you. I'm grateful for saving us."

"……."

Iyu couldn't bring herself to respond, only gnawing at her lower lip. What she had done was not salvation, nothing of the sort. It had been nothing but personal vengeance.

Guilt rose like bile. She thought she'd cast everything away, again and again, yet it wasn't enough. Even facing the other directly felt unbearable. Unable to meet her eyes, Iyu swallowed repeatedly before finally spitting out what remained stuck in her throat.

"……Do you not regret your choice?"

The water had already been spilled. Moreover, it was spilled by her own hand. So truly, it was a meaningless, hollow question, she mocked herself even as she asked it.

At the unexpected question, Triel lifted her head. Squinting slightly, she looked down at her own unmarked palms and answered.

"I don't regret my choice. If I had to choose again, I'd make the same decision. But…… the sensation of striking someone, their screams, the smell of blood—it doesn't fade. I suppose I'll carry it my whole life."

She clenched her empty fist and looked in turn at her departing companions, at their pathetic backs. At the end of that gaze stood Odynne.

"Last night, though I forgot the Holy Knight's warnings and committed sin, he came to us again. He prayed that our souls might one day find salvation."

"……."

"Whether that's possible, I don't know. But I'll bear my guilt and atone for it as best I can. And even if God ultimately does not forgive me…… just as the knight said, the only one who can save me is myself."

Iyu's gaze, which had remained fixed on the floor, finally lifted. It immediately met Odynne's in the distance.

Stripped bare by shame, she couldn't bear it for even a moment and turned her head away.

After hearing Triel's words, it became clearer still.

If there was someone who deserved to be called a savior, it was not her—it was that man. She was merely a villain who'd used the victims themselves for her own revenge.

Yet like them, she would suffer, though she would never regret. Hadn't she sworn on that day when she woke again after death? That she would gladly become a demon, become something terrible, if only she could repay what was owed.

So whatever useless guilt blossomed and bloomed again, she would trample it, ignore it.

Shedding every weak emotion that had clung to her, Iyu offered Triel a practiced smile and watched her depart. Then she prepared to receive a new guest.

Kalix, who'd been chasing 'Ragnarok' outside and thus missed the entire spectacle, was approaching again. His expression was one of profound bewilderment at the chaos before him. And what truly set his concern ablaze was Iyu's state—she looked about to collapse.

He examined her thoroughly and poured out worried words.

"Are you alright? Are you badly hurt? If you'd experienced something like that yesterday, why didn't you ask me for help……?"

A familiar hand descended on her shoulder and through her disheveled hair.

Iyu resisted the urge to push it away and trembled slightly.

"I was scared."

There was still work to be done. She continued her final performance with full sincerity.

"You told me to be careful of Ragnarok. But Darun, not anyone else—he……I still don't understand why he did such a thing."

She recalled the grotesque face of Ulrik swinging his axe wildly, remembered the way Ragnarok had cut him down in a single stroke. The fear in her voice came naturally.

The hand gripping her shoulder tightened.