“Oh? Really?”
“Alet owes you?”
Just as Melro’s patience reached its limit and she released her exploding fury toward everyone present, a graceful figure in black quietly entered the scene.
It was Vivian the Witch.
She walked through the crowd with a leisurely, self-assured pace and a playful smile, stepping into the center of everyone’s vision.
“I think it’s quite the opposite.”
“It isn’t that he owes you; rather, you owe him quite a lot.”
She parted her rose-red lips, unhurriedly offering a rebuttal to Melro’s previous words.
The surrounding spectators felt a surge of confusion at these sudden twists. They didn’t know the story behind Melro and that Heavy Knight, nor did they understand the relationship between this Witch and the man. Everyone maintained their own opinions, exchanging glances and whispering to one another.
Meanwhile, the Guild President, who had just issued Melro’s “death sentence,” narrowed his eyes and began to watch the scene with great interest.
“Vivian…? You idle thing, do you want to kick me while I’m down too?”
The moment she saw Vivian, the fire in Melro’s heart, already burning hot, erupted once more. Originally, she had harbored resentment and disgust toward the woman because of how close she was to Alet. Up until now, she had only refrained from falling out with her because of Vivian’s formidable strength, wanting to keep her around to help clear the Dungeon.
But now, this woman had actually come over to mock her and kick her while she was in such a state…
What nerves!
“Vivian! I haven’t even settled the score for you touching Alet and giving him those drugs of unknown origin!”
“Now you’re here to make trouble and spread confusion…”
“Aside from everything else, I’m asking you right now: is there even a single thing I, Melro, owe him?”
“Without me, he would have died ten years ago!”
Melro had almost completely lost her mind. Between the massive sense of loss and the continuous, stabbing pain in her chest, she was utterly dominated by rage.
“Oh? Is that so?”
Hearing Melro say those words, the smile on Vivian’s face vanished instantly. The cynical air about her dissipated in an instant, replaced by an intense fury.
“Back then, the reason Alet was wandering outside, on the verge of death several times… you couldn’t possibly be ignorant of the cause, could you?”
“It was because his hometown was destroyed and his family was slaughtered to the last man. Having nowhere else to go, he traveled to your Blood Clan Territory, where you picked him up.”
As her expression shifted, Vivian’s tone became extremely sharp and direct. However, faced with the accusation, Melro’s expression remained unchanged.
“Oh? And?”
Even though there was no joy in her, Melro deliberately curled the corners of her mouth and let out a soft, cold sneer to display her composure.
“He fell into misfortune, and then I saved his life, slowly raising him into what he is today. What do I owe him?”
“Then what is this?”
Just as Melro finished speaking, Vivian raised a dossier bag she held in her other hand.
“Melro, all of your so-called kindness toward Alet is built on the fact that ‘you saved his life.'”
“However… the ones who destroyed his everything were your own family!”
“And this is the evidence for it all!”
Vivian almost screamed those last few sentences. At this moment, her face was filled with immense hatred and anger.
The moment Melro heard those words, she felt as if she had been struck with a heavy club. The cold sneer on her lips froze in place, and all the emotions in her body condensed into a state of stunned disbelief.
“This dossier was sitting on the bookshelf in your territory’s study.”
“Recorded inside is what several members of the Blood Clan, including your father, Lawrence, did ten years ago…”
“They murdered over 200 villagers in Korako Village to conduct experiments for a forbidden Soul Sacrifice Ritual.”
“And the sole survivor of that experiment… was that Alet who ‘owes you a debt’!”
Looking at the dossier in Vivian’s hand, a clap of thunder seemed to explode in Melro’s mind. Following the conclusion of those words, the entire venue fell into a state of massive shock.
Even the owl, President Ow, widened his eyes. He slammed his desk and stood up instantly.
It was important to note that the Soul Sacrifice Ritual had been banned on this continent for several decades. And now, it was being revealed that the Blood Clan had been conducting such experiments in secret, even going as far as to manufacture a massacre.
“Korako Village?”
“I know that place! It was abandoned for unknown reasons many years ago. Didn’t they say the villagers had migrated away?”
“These damned vampires!”
“Get out!”
For a moment, the crowd of spectators erupted into the most intense commotion and condemnation yet.
“No, that’s impossible!”
Melro’s blood-red pupils darted around frantically. Her face was deathly pale, yet she still stubbornly offered a rebuttal.
“How could you have entered my study? This dossier is absolutely a forgery! This is perjury created to frame the Blood Clan!”
“Heh, perjury?”
Seeing Melro continue her stubborn defense, Vivian turned her gaze toward President Ow.
“The personnel of the Adventurer’s Guild are all here.”
“I don’t even have to guess—there must be a Magic Appraiser here, right?”
“Whether this evidence is true or false, a single check will reveal it.”
Seeing Vivian’s intention, Ow was extremely cooperative. With a wave of his wing, he dispatched an appraiser to the floor.
After a period of inspection, while everyone held their breath waiting for the result, the appraiser spoke a sentence that no one had expected.
“This dossier is authentic, and…”
“There is an encrypted, hidden magic image file within. I have just finished decrypting it.”
“President Ow, this needs to be confirmed on the spot. Let’s play it directly on the Light Screen.”
With that, under the appraiser’s direction, the document was connected to the Light Screen. Under the gaze of everyone present, a somewhat distorted image began to play on the screen.
First, the face of a man appeared in everyone’s sight. He had pale skin, his hair was combed back, and he wore gold-rimmed glasses. He looked like a man who never smiled.
The moment Melro saw that face, her heart skipped a beat. This person was all too familiar to her. This was her father, the vampire Lawrence.
*Cough, cough…*
“This is the… attempt, number… regarding the Soul… Sacrifice experiment.”
Since it was a ten-year-old recording, many audio segments were blurry, leaving only the general idea audible.
“The location is Korako Village. The experimental target is a randomly selected human male child named Alet.”
After saying those few sentences, Lawrence slowly stepped to the side, pointing the camera toward the village. The moment the image appeared on the Light Screen, almost everyone’s heart shuddered.
The entire village had been slaughtered into a sea of blood.
Corpses, severed limbs, and flames.
Everyone in the village—men, women, old, and young—had been killed. Their blood and souls were all being poured into the massive magic circle beneath them, converging toward the center of the village.
There, lying in the center of the formation… was the young Alet.
“After the ritual for the experimental subject is complete, I will guide him toward my daughter Melro’s territory.”
“We will observe him for a period of time to achieve our… objective.”
“To facilitate subsequent observation and comparison of the target, the image is being preserved here.”
“May the experiment go smoothly.”
Amidst Lawrence’s flat, indifferent narration, the footage gradually ended. At that moment, Melro’s final psychological defense was completely shattered.
“What…?”
For a moment, Melro’s world almost completely collapsed. The family she was so proud of, the one she had once desperately wanted recognition from, had become the final straw that crushed her.
She no longer had any room for rebuttal. Everything was real.
The entirety of Dice Town fell into a massive uproar. The spectators and residents were panicked, angry, and terrified. The personnel of the Adventurer’s Guild discussed things with grave expressions.
“Melro, you were unaware of this experiment. But every sin you committed against Alet is absolutely real.”
“I want you to know, thoroughly and completely… exactly what you have done.”
“It was you… you’re the one who killed him.”
After saying all this, Vivian gave a nod to the appraiser, then turned and melted into the crowd, never giving Melro another look.
‘It would be too easy for it to end like this… I need to use a few more tricks to make her heart completely die.’
With that thought, Vivian pressed her index finger and thumb together, constructing a tiny magic circle.
‘Got it.’
Meanwhile, Melro felt the world spinning around her. The clamor, curses, and condemnations of the crowd and the interrogation of the appraiser all turned into a blurry, intense ringing in her ears.
Her legs gave way, and she knelt on the ground. The filthy dust mixed with the foul, murky liquid on her body, turning into large patches of disgusting grime.
Melro’s eyes slowly lost focus. The stinging pain and sense of emptiness in her chest grew heavier, hurting so much she couldn’t straighten up or catch her breath. Past memories uncontrollably replayed in her mind, flitting before her eyes like a revolving lantern.
And in those memories… there was only Alet.
The time she brought him back to the territory and arranged a room for him. Back then, he was very short, only reaching Melro’s chest.
Later, this little follower began to train and improve. He learned to help her dress, bathe her, and prepare her food.
She had watched with her own eyes as he grew taller and put on armor. She had walked with him through the garden, planting vast fields of flowers. She had played with Miss Wendig alongside him.
“Miss.”
In her daze, she seemed to see that little sprout whose eyes were filled only with her.
“I took your suggestion and became a Heavy Knight.”
“From now on, I will definitely be able to protect you.”
“Even if it costs me my life.”
“Alet…”
Just as she slowly reached out, wanting to touch his cheek once more…
The next moment, the illusory Alet shattered.
In his place was herself. The version of herself after they began adventuring.
The self who insulted him and his profession as a Heavy Knight. The self who used a whip to punish him while he was ill. The self who always wore an arrogant expression, despising every single feeling Alet had.
And… the self who finally ordered Alet to stay behind, causing his death.
At that moment, Melro’s stomach lurched. A strong surge of nausea welled up in her heart, and a spicy, acidic bile was instantly vomited out.
She had never felt so disgusted with herself.
“I…”
“What have I done…?”
“Alet…”
Amidst that extreme pain, Melro’s vision suddenly went black.
Her heart—the one that was eternally arrogant, pursued glory, and cared for no one else…
It broke.
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