10 Chapter 10: How to Kill the King

Emory's POV:

- Emory's apartment room -

The stranger who lived in what previously was Caron's apartment room ended up helping me a lot. He even gave me back my gun that was left in Caron's room.

Unexpectedly, When I did maintenance on my gun, I found a paper with a written message stuck inside it. The message was...

'If you regret your betrayal, take down the one who made you do it.'

It was in Caron's handwriting... 

The message was definitely directed to me. She wanted me to take revenge on the king for everything he caused.

Caron might leave me a message because she couldn't meet me for now... or she didn't want to... I brought this upon myself, so I should be happy that Caron still considered asking for my help at all.

I checked my gun a bit more, but there were no more clues aside from that message. After making sure I had checked everything, I was going to continue the maintenance, but...

"Ugh…"

The wound on my stomach suddenly felt worse. I put my hand on my stomach, trying to hold back the pain. Only then did I notice that my hand felt warm and damp. My wound was bleeding again... It wasn't much but noticeably worse than before. 

I thought it wouldn't be a problem if I didn't move a lot, but it seemed I had underestimated the weight of my situation... Regardless, it was too late to regret anything by now. I should do something about it instead.

I walked to the cabinet where I put the first aid kit and rummaged the inside with only one hand. It took longer to do it with only one hand.

I wanted to move my broken arm so bad, but I shouldn't. If I did, my injury would be worse. The scar on my stomach was annoying enough. I had no time to deal with another injury.

I put the first aid kit box on the table and sat on the sofa. Opening the box with only one hand was annoying, but still, I managed to do it. 

Now, I should clean my wound. I couldn't use one of my hands, so I held the alcohol bottle in the place using my knees and proceeded to open the cap with my other hand. I poured its content into cotton until it was damp enough and used it to clean my wound.

"Agh..."

It burned when the cotton touched my wound. The beginning was painful, but I quickly adapted to the feeling. It wasn't that bad after some time.

Next... I should wrap the bandage, but... how should I do it with only one hand?

I pulled the end of the bandage using my teeth, extending it from my hand, and wrapped it around me. The bandage wrapped, but it was loose and messy. It didn't work as well as I thought...

I sighed as I let the loose bandage fell apart... I should redo it, at least until it was good enough.

DING DONG

I was on my second attempt when the bell rang. Who was it? I hoped it wasn't another journalist... With a sigh, I walked to the door, leaving the bandages scattered on the sofa.

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I opened the door that I forgot to lock, and outside there was... that stranger from earlier? It was raining, so he had an umbrella in his hand. It was a different one from the one he gave to me. On his other hand was... my bag?

"You forgot your bag at my place."

He gave me the bag with an annoyed expression. I didn't even realize that I accidentally left it back there. 

"Sorry for making you walk all the way here..."

Just when he said he didn't want to see me anymore... my clumsiness already gave him a reason to do so... I really should fix my bad habit...

"Whatever, pay attention to your belongings next time..."

I was grateful that he returned it to me... but then I realized I never told him where I lived.

"How did you find my place?"

"The address in your wallet."

Oh, of course. I was almost afraid that he might follow me secretly. Anything bad could happen when a stranger followed you home. 

He helped me a lot, but I couldn't help but get paranoid whenever he did something unexpected.

"Did something happen on the way home?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just wondering why you're bleeding."

I realized that I was still in my bloody clothing, which I planned to change later.

"An old wound accidentally opened."

"So, you're going to the hospital?"

"It's not that bad... I can treat it by myself."

It was awkward to visit a hospital after what happened earlier. But the main reason was, I should save costs...

"Skillful, aren't you? But are you doing it with only one hand?"

"...I'm trying."

"Yea, I can see that."

His tone was sarcastic, and his eyes looked judging. I was bloody and messy, so I understand why he didn't seem convinced.

"Can I get inside? At least, until the rain stopped."

...Just when I was busy dealing with my wound...

"…Of course, be my guest."

Regardless, he had helped me a lot, so I should show him my respect.

"Ugh…"

I tried to ignore it, but the pain kept getting worse. Now wasn't the right time to complain though, I had a guest to be served...

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"What the fuck is that?"

The stranger pointed to the mess in the room. The scattered bandages, gun parts, and first aid kits were all there.

"Just a moment, I'll clean it up."

I was going to pick up the bandage, but he picked it up before me.

"You messed up, didn't you?"

He looked at me like he caught me red-handed, which was true. I could only nod, admitting that I messed up.

He sighed at my answer. That was when I finally understood that his sigh meant to be a pity.

"This bandage can still be used. Let's rewrap it on your wound. I'll do it for you."

"…Sorry for troubling you. You're supposed to be a guest."

"Just hurry up and sit."

It was embarrassing to be helped by the same stranger again... But being stubborn already made it worse for me, so this time, I shouldn't.

I sat on the sofa and pulled my shirt up, showing him my wound. He inspected it, and I noticed his body jumped a bit after seeing it.

"Your wound need stitches. It might get infected if it doesn't get any."

His words were calm, but even I noticed that he was pretending. My wound must be very nasty.

"Is it that bad?"

"Not if treated quickly. Now, lay down so I can treat it."

He tossed the bandage to the side and took other tools instead. He looked a bit frantic than he was before. While he was at it, I laid myself down on the sofa.

The blood loss started to feel dizzying. It became difficult to focus on anything at all.

"Agh!"

There was a sudden sting as I managed my dizziness. I noticed that he cleaned my wound with alcohol-filled cotton.

"Is it hurt?"

"It was okay... I was just a bit surprised..."

I cleaned it already, but I didn't want to disturb him, so I let him proceed. The wound stung as it was cleaned, but at this point, I had gotten used to it.

"This will make it less hurt."

He injected an anesthetic shot. It made the wound more bearable after some time. He prepared the sewing equipment while waiting for the drug to work.

"I'll sew it now, okay?"

It was not a question as he proceeded to sew my wound without waiting for any answer.

"Ugh…"

"Was it hurt?"

"I can bear it... Please continue..."

Despite the anesthetic, the sewing was still more painful compared to the alcohol rubbing. I needed some time to get used to it.

"Don't focus on the pain. Think of something else to distract yourselves."

It was a good idea. Until I get used to it, I need to distract my thought.

"I… wasn't sure… what to think about..."

"Who pushed you to murder your friends?"

"How... how do you know?"

"I inspected that gun the first time I found it. I guess that weird message was really for you."

"Ah, I see... But still... I can't tell you who..."

"I'm not forcing you to talk, just trying to keep you thinking."

He said as he passed the needles on my wound. I focused on enduring the painful feeling it created.

"But... why are you asking me this? ...Didn't you say that... you don't want... to get involved in my problem?"

"I don't want to, but there's so little we could talk about when we know nothing about each other... I don't plan to know more about you, so let's talk about stuff I already know."

Despite saying that, I felt like his next questions were going to be quite intrusive. Maybe because the only thing he knew about me was that I was a murderer.

"So, what are you going to do about that guy? The one who forced you to kill? Isn't it safer if you keep obeying them?"

"No... I should do something... about that guy..."

"...As in taking them down? Following what that weird message said?"

"...You know too much."

"And, I blame you for that. So, how are you going to do it?"

"Not… sure… I've been thinking, but... I don't know how..."

"Really? I think you should already know how to do it."

"I... knew…?"

I kept thinking about it, but nothing came to mind. Why did he talk like he knew my situation?

"I don't understand… What you meant by that..."

"How did you kill all your friends?"

"I betrayed… and killed them..."

Right, that was how I did it... I had their trust. They trusted their back to me, not expecting that I would end up backstabbing them...

"See? You know how to do it... Also, I finished here."

I didn't realize a lot of time had passed. The questions did distract my mind.

"That was… fast..."

"No, you talked like a snail."

It was difficult to talk since I held back the pain. At least, it became bearable as time passed.

"All that left was the bandage. Can you sit?"

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The stranger had done treating my wound. He even cleaned up the equipment after that. I couldn't imagine what would happen to me if he didn't happen to visit here...

"You're okay for now, but you should visit an actual doctor tomorrow. It was worse than what you thought."

"I will, thanks..."

"Also, I changed my mind. I'm taking back my umbrella."

"Yes, thanks for lending it before."

The stranger left soon after that, even though he said he wanted to stay until the rain stopped...

Did he do it just to help me? Even after saying he didn't want to get involved with me anymore... I should be grateful that sometimes kind strangers exist...

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After everything that happened, I could finally take a breather. I hadn't cleaned the mess on the table, nor did I unpack my belongings, but for now, I wanted to sleep while thinking about what my next move should be.

I tried to think about various infiltration strategies... but for someone who had betrayed the king once, any roundabout way would make me look suspicious. I wasn't even good at being roundabout...

There was only one way to get in for sure, and that was to... surrender.