ARC 0 : The big plague of the small city

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On a continent whose very existence has been forgotten by humans, in a place where clouds gather in the dark sky with no end in sight and rumble like the cries of a newborn child, a horse-drawn carriage races at full speed in this challenging weather, ignoring the rain and the sea breezes blowing.

Despite the difficult conditions, the horse driver skillfully follows the path, which almost disappears in the rain stream, to navigate out of the forest.

Inside the rocking carriage sits a handsome young man, holding a cigarette in one hand and reaching for the ashtray with the other. He rubs his eyebrows, which are drawn in anger, and looks out of the window.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Fuck everything!!! Fuck this junk cart, fuck the villagers in the temple who are obsessed with faith and virtue, fuck the Buddhist bald bastard who forced me to come here, fuck them all!"

Ironically, part of his chest is quite similar to the clothes of the Buddhist monks he cursed. Although he wears an orange robe that exposes him, this man with bushy hair sets him apart from other monks.

"Calm down, okay, calm down. It's not like they're not useful."

After clutching his bushy hair as if someone were going to steal it from him and looking around in fear, realizing that no one is there, he continues, relieved.

"If I complete the task assigned, I will finally be able to ask the leader for a few things in return. And if that weren't enough, I even had the chance to escape from that dreadful place called the Temple."

After waiting a while, he sighed and continued.

"For a while..."

Then he gets depressed again.

After taking a drag from his cigarette and sighing in frustration, he quickly opened the screen separating him from the coachman and loudly demanded an explanation in a voice that drowned out the lightning flashes.

"Hey, you lying, deceitful, scumbag coachman, you said we'd reach fluere before morning? It's already dawn, but there are no people or villages, let alone a city. There are just you, me, the trees, and this junk carriage.

Fearing his customer, who was getting angrier the more he spoke, the coachman continued with a fake and stupid smile.

"Y-you're right, of course, sir! However, I've heard from the villagers at the resting point that the number of strange incidents in the forest has increased. Of course! I didn't decide to rely on that alone. On top of that, after the kingdom closed the main road to fluere for protection, this was the best, safest, fastest, and most direct way I could find."

The carriage entered a series of bumps that lifted him a few centimeters above his seat, by the "truth" of the coachman's last words.

"What I could find..." Said the coachman shamelessly.

"..."

Although the series of bumps gradually diminished, the same could not be said for the angry glare of the client. The "sweet" glance ended when the monk pulled the screen over the coachman's face.

Then, the bushy-haired monk went into his inner thoughts.

'The road is blocked, huh? You'd think our Buddhists were idiots?...Okay, they are idiots...

But not that idiot. I bet both sides already know what happened...'

He directed his gaze outside the carriage window and continued uncomfortably.

"But it's strange... If the kingdom has declared this a dangerous area and if, again, what I 'guessed.'

For some reason...How did this information get out to the general public? After all, there's the danger zone AND, There is a 'danger zone."

The monk, his chin resting on his head as his hand was again jolted by the bumps, did not hold back this time and started shouting angrily.

"YOU DONKEY! WHAT DID I TELL YOU-"

But the monk's words were cut short when a blue light suddenly appeared on the ground beneath the car, swelling and inflating, resulting in an explosion that devastated the vehicle.

The explosion raised a layer of dust from the ground, making it difficult to see.

When the dust finally dissipated, all that was left of the path was a deep hole created by the explosion, the burnt branches of maples and other unidentified trees, and finally, a wheel that had been thrown from the wrecked cart and partly stuck to the ground, but still managed to turn.

The monk and his coachman were nowhere to be seen.

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 City Fluere...a place by the sea, famous for its impenetrable forests and a place that the kingdom's inspectors often forget to visit. It doesn't really meet the requirements to be a city, but it's too big to be a town or a village, and it's only recently that the Lord has taken control of the four but large villages, so it's been called the Little City or City fluere. And Today was a busy day in Fluere. 

Like a busy yesterday, a busy week, and a busy month...

It was bustling!

In fact, these endless busy days gradually replaced "normal" days for the Fluere natives.So, what was the reason for all this intensity and distress?The reason was simple: the Lord would have an heir, and the shamans said it was sure to be a boy.

After all, in the nobility, the male symbolized the continuation of the lineage and the family, so he was a cause for celebration in his own right.

If the inhabitants of the City had been led by a regular lord, perhaps they would not have welcomed so many caravans of merchants, high-ranking officials, and guests from the noble families of various kingdoms.

Perhaps it was the fact that the Lord Himself was of a distant lineage that was the real reason for this relentless influx of nobility, but it was also confirmed that the City attracted people from all walks of life.

However, the Lord's achievements could not be ignored, for within five years of taking control of what was then a town, he had brought it to the level of a city, cleared much of the dark forest of darkness for his people, married, and at the end of a grueling process, he would have a wife and heir.

It is safe to say that another reason for the fluere's crowdedness is the epic achievements of the Lord of Stories. But this Lord, revered and loved by his people, was now pacing back and forth in one of the rooms of his seaside mansion, his brow furrowed in obvious anxiety and stress.

"Knock knock"

Until his worries were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"!"

Hearing the knock on the door, the Lord relaxed his frown as if he had been expecting it. After a slight nod to his butler standing at the door, he went to his desk and sat down in his armchair.

The butler opened the door.

It was a young maid who came in.

But it was not who the Lord had expected, and he could not hide his disappointment. The servant who entered was remarkable.

A relatively young servant, maybe not even 20 years old, with long blond hair, dressed in a white apron and a blue undershirt, appeared before the Lord.

The servant came in, bowed respectfully to his Lord, and told him the news for which he had come.

"Sir, the doctor said there was something important he needed to talk to you about."

'Ahh! my tongue'

The maid, who was obviously as clumsy as she was beautiful, was passing on the news from the Doctor while checking to see if the Lord was angry because he had bitten his tongue.

"Oh, I see. So... did he say anything else in addition?"

The Lord, who seemed to have gotten used to the servant's clumsiness, said to the servant in a tone that sounded as if he was hoping to hear something.

"N-no, but Dr. Lloyd told me that the faster we act, the better."

The maid was glad she hadn't bitten her tongue, but this time she accidentally stuttered.The butler beside him looked at him with shame and rolled his eyes.

'Oh, that stupid Amelia, how many times do I have to say it...'

Even the butler was annoyed by the maid's clumsiness, but the Lord didn't seem to mind. It was as if he was speculating why the Doctor had sent for her, but after a little more thought, he decided to let it go.

'Well. Maybe it was stupid of me...to try to cure something that there was no cure for.'

Finally, he gave up. After a short sigh, he exited his desk and addressed Amelia.

"Anyway...Amelia, let's go to the Doctor's room for now." said the Lord.

The room where the Doctor was staying was constantly changing due to some "accidents," so even the Lord could not keep track of what was happening, so he assigned Amelia and a few servants to take care of the Doctor.

The Lord followed behind the servant, who nodded in acknowledgment. He was again immersed in inner thoughts from which he could not escape.

Even though he had been trying to recover mentally for a long time and tried not to show it, every day was worse than the last because of these damned events that had happened to him.

It all started 8 years ago when one of his brothers was appointed Lord, and he was appointed knight to help him. Unfortunately, he lost his brother in a dark forest expedition 2 years after he took over the town. The clan appointed him as the next Lord, and he took over the town. It was the beginning of the most glorious years the small town of hundreds of thousands of people would ever see.

But since the events after he took over the City were far from what the Lord had expected, he had little time to spare.

At first, he had to deal with the uprising of the outlying villages that would last for years, then he had to contain the monsters of the dark forest that had spiraled out of control for no good reason, and then he had to add to that the economy that was being shaken by the continent's endless wars...The Lord, now in his mid-30s, had no gray hair left.

But eventually, he overcame every problem.

Except for one, a heir.

When all the problems were solved, his beloved wife finally said that she wanted to have an heir, an idea that had been on Lord's mind for some time. The two proceeded to have a child, but reality would soon slap Lord hard in the face.

No, it wasn't infertility or anything like that, at least not according to what the doctors said, but even tho it was not infertility, no matter how hard both tried, no matter which Doctor both went to, no matter what medication Lord took, he and his wife Helen couldn't have a child together, he loved her more than anything in the world, and he certainly wanted to. Still, it wasn't happening, and when they finally gave up, a doctor told them she was pregnant. What good news.

'ah...'

Lord sighed

'Really...what a good news.(!)'

After some time on the road, Lorda called out, indicating that the servant had arrived.

"Sir, we're here. Dr. Lloyd said he'd wait for you inside."

"..."

But he got no answer.

The Lord was, as usual, absorbed in his inner thoughts and did not hear the servant's gentle voice.Calling out to her master, the servant received no answer, so she tried calling out again in a shy voice.

"My lord?"

At that moment, the Lord finally woke up from his deep thoughts and realized he was already outside the Doctor's door.

He looked at the maid and spoke.

"Ah, we're here. Why didn't you tell me?" the Lord said with a frown.

He was not known to be angry, whether it was the hard times he had been through or the varicose veins he was dealing with. The Lord was sometimes angry, too.

Surprised that his Lord was angry with him, the poor servant tried to explain the situation in a voice he could barely hear.

"B-but I... just... I just told you already."

The Lord's gaze, scolding his servant, was interrupted by an explosion from the room.

Lord"?"

Amelia"?"

They both hesitated for a moment and turned their heads towards the door but then realized whose door they had come to.

Lord said in an accustomed tone as black smoke slowly seeped from the doorway where the duo stood.

'Well, should I be happy or sad that it's still the way I left it?' With an exasperated look on his face.

Then he turned his gaze to the maid.

The poor servant bowed with a few small tears on her face, afraid that the Lord would be even more angry with her, then turned around and knocked gently on the door.

An unpleasant odor greeted them when they entered, as if they had come to a cemetery and not a doctor's office. Although... the appearance of the room was not much different. Books of unknown spells filled the shelves where bandages and herbs would normally be, while a ritual circle on the floor completed the picture.

At the bottom of the ritual circle was a very young man who stood up after standing bent over and muttering something in a language the Lord did not understand.

This man with long hair and a white apron, with dark circles under his eyes from fatigue, greeted the Lord at the foot of the door with a small smile and then came to greet the Lord by placing the materials in his hand on the table across the circle.

"Master Roland! I see you are, as always... full of life," he said in a cheerful tone, referring to the tired Lord.

Roland, ignoring the sarcasm of this young man, who was hardly a doctor, responded in kind with a slight smile.

"Great to see you too, Dr. Lloyd. What evil ritual are you up to this time? Also, I understand from the explosion that the gunpowder you asked me for last time was on the "for healing purposes" list... I guess it's really useful!"

Seeing that his little escapades had been noticed, the Doctor continued with a worried smile: "Ahaha, you're really funny, my Lord. Anyone who hears what you're saying will think I'm a fake doctor who deals with demons and other things. It's not even my area of interest. Also, could you see the 'ahem ahem' lists?" Dr. Lloyd finished his sentence with a shudder.

The Lord was thinking about something else again.

The Doctor hadn't changed since the last time the Lord had seen him. Really, he still looked like anything but a doctor, but ironically, he was capable of doing things that even the famous doctors with beards on their chins couldn't.

He proved it by saving his wife Helen when her pregnancy turned life-threatening.

Helen had always been physically stronger and more resilient than most women but also very graceful. But after the third month of pregnancy, when Helen began to have difficulty walking, to stand only a few hours a day, and to feel sick all the time, Roland began to suspect that something was wrong.

Even though Roland knew that this was normal during pregnancy, he never expected that this woman, whom he knew as his wife, would be in such a difficult situation. Finally, when Helen could not stand up and had difficulty eating, Roland realized the seriousness of the problem and began inviting all the doctors he could find to his palace in the hope of a cure.

But it was futile. No doctor could understand what was wrong, let alone cure Helen.

Until this crooked Doctor showed up.

Dr. Lloyd made a face the moment he saw Helen.

The Doctor's behavior, which would typically have resulted in his beheading, was ignored because of the Lord's desperation.

Dr. Lloyd, after a grimace, continued.

"Just give me a few days," he said.

Then, after informing the butler of the strange materials he wanted, he locked himself in the room and did not leave it for the next few days.

A few days later, as promised, he appeared before the Lord with a miraculous syrup and told him that even if it was not a definitive solution to the problems, it would save Helen from her current situation.

And so it was...Helen began to feel better in the following days, well enough to walk again and even go out for walks, though Lloyd often urged Lord Roland to exercise caution and remember that Helen was not yet fully recovered.

And now... In the second month since the Doctor's arrival and in the sixth month of Helen's pregnancy, when the Lord's worries were increasing day by day, the Doctor suddenly said that he wanted to talk to her.

Inside Roland, there was both hope and a strange fear.

The hope of finally finding out the cause and the solution to this dark event that has happened to them, but also a fear of a different kind, the fear that if this man stays here much longer, maybe this room won't be the only thing that explodes...

With an exasperated look, looking at the Doctor who feared he had been caught, the Lord resumed.

"I've ALWAYS seen it."

Alarmed, the Doctor immediately stepped in to change the subject.

"Haha. Of course you did...Anyway, you are a busy man, my lord, with your permission I would like to get to the point."

He then pointed to two armchairs and a table by the window and invited the lord to discuss matters of interest.

The two then took their seats while maid made her way to the kitchen to prepare some drinks and snacks.

...

.......

......

Meanwhile, on the path in the dark forest.

"Tak"

"..."

"Tak"

"..."

"Tak"

Near the pathway, there was an intermittent sound in the dark forest that sounded like something was knocked on the ground.

"Tak"

"..."

"Tak"

"..."

And the sound stopped.

When this rhythmic sound finally stopped, the person who had made the sound also appeared.

He was a stern man, probably in his thirties, without a hair on his face, with a warrior's expression but also with a compassionate look, with a black cane that resembled the darkness of the forest they were in.

The place where he was standing was nowhere else but a wagon and the wreckage left behind, devastated by the explosion.

But his expression was sad, unlike the expression a middle-aged man usually has. Looking at the ruins of the wrecked carriage in front of him with pain and guilt, as if he had been the cause of its destruction, he muttered quietly:

"Poor wretches, they were where they shouldn't have been. But it was their fate, and you can't go against fate or the gods."

As he continued to watch what was happening, he opened his hands and surrendered these sacrificed souls to the mercy of God.

"May the gods have mercy on your soul. Amen."

But then, an unexpected voice was heard. Someone agreed with the words of the man with the cane, who must have been there alone.

"Amitabha! The deceased was a very good man."

Surprised, the man with the cane immediately glanced in the direction of the sound.

A few trees away, this figure was approaching, holding the body of someone in his hands and mockingly joining in his prayer. However, the words of the person who had arrived were obviously unfinished, as the man with the cane, after seeing him, reverently placed the corpse, which he had managed to save from the explosion in one body but which had not opened its eyes, in the corner of the tree, and then continued his words:

"... He was a very good person who still thought he had the right to be upset about the scene he created. "Can you believe it? What an 'innocent' man!

The person who came completed his ironic words with anger and hatred in his voice. The man with the cane went out of his melancholy state, looked at the man, and continued.

'Temple?'

The man with the cane deduced from his clothes that it was a temple official. But his thoughts were interrupted by an airborne attack.

"!"

The man with the cane realized the danger in the air and jumped back a few meters in one move. His surprise grew even more significant when he saw what was attacking him. 

"It's a... bird?"

It was only a bird that attacked him from the air and forced him to retreat.

'What is this? Are you kidding me? Did I break a nest or something? Why is a bird attacking me?'

But as he watched the bird wobble up from the ground it had just hit and landed on the monk's shoulder, it all made sense.

'I see. This is part of his talent. How interesting and rare it is.'

The guilt-ridden, melancholic man from before was gone, and in his place was a calm, careful man ready to fight.

The monk's angry voice was heard as he petted the bird that came to him.

"Oh my... Are you laughing now? After all you've done, keeping me from where I was supposed to go, attacking and destroying the vehicle I was in, you're laughing now?"

His face turned severe this time, and he said, "Well, laugh. After all, it will be your last laugh, asshole."

The monk clasped both hands together, closed his eyes, and began to whisper things the man with the cane did not understand.

As he whispered, the ground began to tremble, and different voices rose from the forest. The man with the cane was too late to react to these developments and thought, 'What has he done?

This unexpected guest had to be a warrior or an official from the temple. Usually, warriors from the temple used different methods of fighting. After all, while most of the monks fought with the help of spells and other powers, his opponent seemed to have started with his own abilities. The man with the cane should not have let his guard down any further.

At last, the ground stopped trembling, and silence fell. Behind the monk was an army of mountain bears two to three times his size, followed by lions, hundreds of eagles and hawks waiting for his command in the air, and wolves and other wild animals following his steps in the darkness.

Despite this majestic army of animals that could attack any moment, the man with the cane did not seem worried. He dropped his mask of sadness and gave a slight smile mixed with concern.

"Oh, they don't look very kindly on me, do they?" 

The monk smiled.

An image of an unpleasant future flashed in the mind of the man with the cane.

And so it was.

When the army of animals that had appeared behind the monk attacked, the man with the cane knew it was time to do something.

'So let's start by running away,' he thought and began to disappear faster into the forest.

The monk's voice sounded behind him: "Where do you think you can run?" The monk called out fiercely to his opponent, who fled from him without resistance.

During his run towards the depths, he continued his run towards the forest without slowing down, skillfully avoiding the snakes that attacked him from the places where he would step, climbing to the top of the trees from the wolves lurking in front of him, and holding the eagle and the hawk, which attacked him by diving from the air, in the air and throwing them to each other.

The monk was following behind him, but his expression was strange.

'Hmm... he seems to be quite talented. His movements must be due to his talent. He's not really like that, but judging from what he said earlier, he didn't know I was in the carriage. The temple's past is not so innocent, but it's still a respected group. It's really strange, who sent him here. Something's going on, and it annoys me that I don't know about it.'

As he continued his pursuit, the man with the cane finally stopped.

He had stopped because there was nowhere left for him to go. Behind him was the great dark forest, and in front of him, the endless sea waters. As he stood at the bottom of the slope, he turned in that direction with a sound coming from behind him.

"There's nowhere left to run."

Hearing the lion's roar, the monk rode in pursuit. The animals respectfully stepped aside to make way for them to take the lead. 

The man with the cane was surprised when the two of them finally looked at each other clearly, eye to eye.

'I see. So you are "him,"' the unknown man continued.

Despite his predicament, the man with the cane had an epiphany about who the other person was

A monk with a rude attitude, a talent for animals, and, most importantly, hair?

He finally had an idea of who the other person was, so in the silence where the two could only stare at each other, he was the first to speak to confirm his hypothesis.

"Dharma, right? Your name."

The monk's expression turned serious, and the man with the cane continued as if to thank him for his confirmation.

"Dharma, the genius of the Buddhist temple, is one of the notorious elites born with a gift. Although you're usually known for your troubled personality. Well, fame is fame."

The monk's face turned sour.

It wasn't enough that Dharma had heard it in the temple since childhood; now, even the man who had tried to kill him was calling him by the word he hated: "genius."

'Genius, someone like me? Come on.'

Dharma hated being called "he's a genius anyway" and having all his efforts dismissed as such because he was a little more gifted than he was born with as a result of his own good fortune. Few things in the world so irritated and disgusted him.

Although he had a lot of thoughts about it, it was not the time or the place.

 Dharma continued, maintaining her rude demeanor.

"You talk too much for a man who's surrounded and about to die," he said.

The man with the cane, surrounded and with nowhere to run, laughed in surprise at Dharma's remark.

"Ah, I'm going to die? Haha, you're really still a very immature young monk."

"TAK"

The cane he held in his hand struck once more against the rugged rocks of the hillside.

As he struck, the sea behind him began to stir, and the water behind the man with the cane became a colossal wave tens of meters high.

"Fuck!!!" Dharma was shocked.

'Ok, I was expecting a some sort of resistance, but what the hell is that!'

The man with the cane looked at the Dharma and said his last words to it before using his waves to attack.

"Unfortunately, you are too young and inexperienced, temple boy...be careful not to fall into the trap so easily next time."

With his words, the great wave hit the animal army, and the screams of various animals could be heard as they were swept away by the wave.

At the last moment, Dharma put her hands together and tried to do something again, but it was pointless.

The huge wave took everything on the shore at once and returned to the sea.

Finally, when only the man with the cane was left on the hillside, he said, looking in the direction of the Dharma that had been tossed out to sea by the wave and then sucked into its depths.

"Don't hate your fame and talent, young man, because, at the end of the day, it was your fame and talent that saved you."

And then the nameless man disappeared again into the forest he came out of ...

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"pitter-patter"

Amelia raised her head.

"pitter pitter pitter"

As the drizzle turned into a downpour...Amelia found herself on a single piece of wood in the middle of the sea, surrounded by monsters in the water, some of them tainted with darkness, some with blood dripping from their fangs...Amelia didn't feel scared at all.

'So beautiful...' She thought.

Bathed by the raindrops falling on her face, she felt infinitely peaceful. She closed her eyes and wished that this moment would last forever.

But her wish seemed to be mocked by the gods. The peaceful rain stopped when she opened her eyes.

This time, Amelia found herself in front of a giant animal. It had a trunk-like appendage and huge ears. But it was wounded. Yes, there were no visible wounds, but Amelia could feel the sadness and pain coming from the animal.

After all, did the injury have to be only external?

He gently placed his hand on the animal lying on the ground. 

"Shh, it will pass, don't worry anymore," Amelia said. She closed her eyes and tried to feel the animal's pain. But when she opened her eyes again, she found herself on the city's outskirts.

It was a familiar place.

 'Ah... Old nostalgic memories.'

Across from where she opened her eyes, a man pushed her hands that were holding her, causing her to fall. When she fell, he kicked and kicked her with hatred. Until she didn't move. By the time the man realized what he had done, it was too late. He ran away, afraid that someone might see him. But what he didn't know was that someone had already witnessed it.

A child hiding behind the garbage at the end of the street where the man and woman had fought had also seen this.

She had seen her but hadn't helped or called for help. Amelia couldn't help herself and got angry in a way that didn't suit her.

"Pathetic," She said. He closed his eyes again, wishing this moment would end.

When she opened her eyes, this time, she found herself in the center of the city. But Amelia felt as if a knife had been stuck in her heart. She could barely walk and could hardly breathe. Was... she afraid? But what exactly was afraid of? Amelia felt as if something precious had been taken from her. She walked and walked. Finally, when her legs could walk no more, she fell to the ground. She tried to lift her head but felt like she had to look up and see, although she didn't know why.

When she looked up, she saw a strange sight. A woman was surrounded by thousands of corpses, but she did not seem to be affected by her surroundings. She seemed focused, absorbed in another thought. Although Amelia couldn't see it clearly, she could swear that the woman's lips were moving and she was talking to someone. When the woman's lips fell silent, the sound of rain could be heard again.

"Rain? No, it's not..." Yes, she was getting wet again, but this time it wasn't rain. It was blood. The blood that was raining on the city was slowly accumulating and flowing towards the woman in front of him. Finally, when the blood turned into a torrent, she couldn't escape and was swept away. Amelia was drowning.

"What about that woman?" It was absurd. Even though she was on his deathbed, she couldn't help wondering about the woman in front of him. As she drowned, her eyes searched for a strange woman. When she had given up hope, she finally saw her. Or rather, what was left of. Her body was torn apart, thousands of corpses surrounding her, moving as if normal in this flood of blood, tearing her body apart with hatred.

But the woman... She was happy...

Amelia couldn't understand why. Her body must be in indescribable pain right now. There was no one around to save her or to share her pain. It was even unclear whether she had achieved her goal. But despite the horrifying sight in front of her, When Amelia saw the woman happy...

She became happy, too.

A moment later, Amelia drowned and woke up at the same time. When she came, she realized she was in the mansion's room with the female servants. She was surrounded by servants who looked at her with fear.

'Did I do it again?'

As far as she could tell from the looks directed at her, she had started another day thinking crazy because of what she had said in her sleep. Well, it was in Amelia's best interest that they thought so. After all, she had a gift that could bring nothing but bad luck to the person who possessed it. Amelia was a seer or something like that...Thanks to her gift, she could dream in the form of revelations of events that would happen or have already happened. Usually, a person with such a gift would be taken under the wing of the church, but Amelia's gift was a little...corrupted.

Her accuracy was imprecise, and she could see things in a complicated order or vice versa, so her gift was uninterpretable and unreliable...If she had enough confidence and background, perhaps she could have developed her gift and purified it of its flaws, but for someone like him, coming from the street...the slightest revelation of this gift would have been synonymous with death.

A seer could never receive revelations about himself, so she couldn't protect himself, nor could those around him rely on his revelations to protect him. Suppose she had not been killed and had purified his gift. She could have gone mad.

Because ironically, the fate waiting for seers like her was always the same. Either they were killed, or they got too strong to kill and went crazy by fate, maybe as a way for the gods to mock them.

After all, a powerful enough seer is usually destined for death or, worse, madness. As they say, sometimes it is more helpful not to know anything than to know it. Amelia was one of those who thought so. 

At that moment, a voice from across the room interrupted Amelia's thoughts.

"Amelia, put your clothes on and come here. How much longer do you plan to sleep?" the higher-ranking maid called out.

Quickly changing, Amelia came to the servant who had called her.

"I'm ready, sister Hilde. What is my duty today?" Amelia asked gently.

Hilde, the older and more senior servant, first looked Amelia up and down, envying her youth, and then, with a squeak, gave her her assignment.

"Today, it's your turn to take care of Dr. Lloyd. Remember, don't screw up this time. He's the lord's number one guest. Tsk... every job given to you comes back to us as three jobs, and if you screw up this one... This time, even Lady Helen can't protect you."

She had gotten herself into a lot of trouble during her tenure as a maid because of her clumsiness and wimpiness, and yes, it was like sister Hilde said—no one could protect her if she messed up this time, too. So, she focused on her task and left the room after nodding at maid Hilde.

"God, who would have thought to take someone like her as a maid in the first place? She's incompetent."

The words spoken behind her as she left the room were words Amelia was used to hearing, so she tried to ignore them. She tried, but she couldn't help wiping the tears from her face in the corner of the hallway.

'Hmph. Why am I so obsessed with these words today? They're words I hear every day. Maybe it's because of that strange dream.'

As she was wiping her face, Amelia heard footsteps echoing down the hallway where she stood. She turned around quickly and clumsily to try to stop the tears from flowing. She wished that whoever was coming wouldn't see her like this and would just pass by without paying any attention.

Footsteps at the head of the corridor were getting closer and closer, even seeming to speed towards him.

"plug"

"plug"

When the voices were right behind him, he stopped.

'Why did you stop! Just go.'

Eh. Of course, things didn't go Amelia's way again.

"Haha, you're crying again like a crybaby."

When she heard the voice mocking her from behind, she was frightened at first, but when she recognized who the voice belonged to, she turned to it with great excitement and shouted.

"ART! You're back."

Amelia quickly wiped away her tears. It was her little brother Arthur, whom she hadn't seen for months.

From a distance, the two looked like brothers, with innocent features, golden hair, and tall stature that made them look alike. Of course, Arthur was considerably more muscular than his sister, but this was not a rough mass of muscle but an aesthetic collection of muscles like that of a nobleman.

Amelia hugged his brother's neck and stayed like that for a while, then started asking questions.

"Where have you been all this time, Art? Why didn't you let me know you were coming? Are you hungry, though... we can't eat together right now. I have an important duty."

Arthur was perhaps one of the few reasons Amelia hadn't been fired yet. He was a strong, determined, and talented man who was loved by those around him. He was blessed with great fighting ability and was the complete opposite of himself—literally, the opposite in every sense of the word.

Arthur smiled a little when he saw that his sister hadn't changed and was still caring for him the way she used to.

"Okay, okay, calm down... I just stopped by the mansion for a little while. I don't have much time anyway... As for the news... I already told the servants in your room to wait for me when you woke up, and when you left without waiting for me, I wanted to scare you behind your back as punishment, haha."

It seemed the servants had been playing unpleasant tricks behind her back again. Amelia saw her brother briefly, and all her hatred was gone. That's the kind of person he was. Even though she heard that he was here briefly, she was still happy. After all, she had no other family except her brother, who made fun of her like that.

That's why she took a good look at him before she left. He looked tired, and his laughing and mockingly approaching her were probably an attempt to hide his tiredness. He really hadn't changed at all. He was still nothing but a brat pretending to be strong.

"I guess things aren't going so well," Amelia asked worriedly. 

Arthur realized he had been caught, so he told the truth without any more pretense. "Yes...the darkness has been spreading out of the forest for some time now in ways we can't figure out, not to mention the monsters that come with it. That's actually why I came back here. I won't be back for a long time, so the commanders have ordered anyone with family to go back and tell them while we still have time. And...that's it."

There was a sad silence between the two. What was Amelia's reason for seeing her brother, whom she hadn't seen for months because of her work and because she couldn't see him anymore? Those stupid commanders. If they were as strong as their orders, they could have prevented such a situation. Amelia was angry. Her rare mood was noticed by her brother.

"Hey, it's okay, don't get so upset, sis. Whatever the reason, I assure you it's nothing we can't handle. Big incidents like this happen every few years, but we handle them all. Don't worry."

After speaking, without waiting for her sister's answer, he took out the watch in his pocket and looked at it.

"Sis, I'm leaving now. In fact, I'm already late... Do you have anything to say before I go?"

Damn that kid... Didn't he miss his brother at all? Comes and goes in a flash. What can she say? Be careful? Take it easy? His brother wasn't stupid. He knew all this.

"Come earlier next time, stupid." Amelia said her second-best option.

Arthur was surprised by his sister's answer, but he also remembered that he missed sincere answers like that. After all, he didn't have many moments like this when he was a soldier.

"Well, I was early anyway. You know, sis... It's good to go to bed early." That's why Arthur annoyed his sister one last time before he sees her again.

 Then Arthur left Amelia alone in the hallway once again. Catching a glimpse of her brother, even tho he had been teasing her the whole time and then hurriedly left, That simple event cured Amelia's lousy mood that she had all morning.

Amelia was like that. She was one thing to her family and another to the outside world. After a light slap to his face, she regained her composure and continued toward Dr. Lloyd's room.

On the way, she wondered what weird requests Dr. Lloyd would make of her this time.

The previous time, Dr. Lloyd had asked her for many strange supplies that had nothing to do with medicine. She still remembered the looks of the vendors as she collected the list of items. Most of them had questioned him with strange expressions on their faces because the materials she had asked for were either available on the black market or had to be imported from outside the city. Ahh, the memories... she had been interrogated by the police because of the list the Doctor had prepared. But when it was confirmed that she was one of the Lord's servants and the cops saw her face all the time, they didn't interfere anymore. But when it was Amelia's turn to collect the strange materials, it was always Amelia's turn. It was probably a trick of the other servants who didn't like her. Anyway, Amelia wasn't going to be down today. After all, she had met her beloved brother today. She should be happy.

As she crossed the corridors and came to the door of the room that had been set up as today's Doctor's room (yesterday's room was no longer available for obvious reasons), Amelia heard the Doctor talking to someone inside, a rare occurrence, the Doctor was famous for not letting anyone into his room except the maid on duty, so who was it this time? Amelia got curious, looked around, and saw no one near the room. She decided to put her ear to the door and eavesdrop a little... just a little...

The voice was familiar, but the thick door made it hard to hear clearly. Finally, she managed to hear some of the people inside having a discussion.

"...Isn't that so? Yes, it's unfair in the beginning, and then the circumstances may be different depending on your experience, but that's what makes it special, right? What makes it worth enduring, worth trying and striving for? What makes you equal to others... like death at some point. Ah? What..."

The voice was making a statement in a really melancholic-sounding tone. The sound of footsteps approaching her from inside disturbed the situation in which she had almost merged with the door she was listening to hear a little more clearly. Amelia did not hear wrong; someone was getting closer and closer to the door she was listening to.

Amelia, alarmed, said, 'Oh no, they... didn't notice me, did they?' and walked away from the door, but it was too late.

'squeak'

The door opened, and a young man in a white coat and glasses stood there. He immediately tried to straighten his awkward posture. The two looked at each other for a moment, and then Amelia spoke awkwardly.

"I was...uhm...err...I was assigned to take care of you today, Master Lloyd...that's why I was here!"

Amelia's stammered words were followed by her awkward smile, while her lie didn't seem to buy Dr. Lloyd.

Dr. Lloyd looked at him for a while longer with pity in his eyes as if he were looking at an example of failure.

'Hey! Don't look at me like that,' Amelia spoke from inside, feeling humiliated.

Then Lloyd continued with a deep sigh.

"Amelia," he said in a loud voice.

Amelia, frightened by the noise, waited a little at first but continued.

"Yes, Master Lloyd."

"Listening at the door is not a tolerant behavior, is it, Amelia?"

"Yes, Master Lloyd."

"Then we're not eavesdropping, are we, Amelia?"

"Yes, Master Lloyd."

"You're not going to do any more of this nonsense, are you, Amelia?"

"Yes, Master Lloyd."

Each question was different, but unfortunately, Amelia could only give one answer.

'Ahh, what a nuisance. Lucky girl, things would have turned out differently if it had been another maid.'

Lloyd looked at Amelia, though it was one-sided. The maid before him had obviously realized her mistake and couldn't even look herself in the eye out of shame and fear.'Well, she's learned her lesson,' Lloyd thought, and then he told her to come in, and the poor maid could do nothing but follow him.

"How long are you going to stand like that? At least look at me when I give you your assignments," Lloyd called out to Amelia.

Obviously, Dr. Lloyd didn't want to pursue the matter any further, and Amelia understood this. She finally lifted her eyes from the floor and looked at the Lord and his room, but something was strange.

Taking a quick glance around the room, Amelia saw that there was no one else in the room but Dr. Lloyd and herself. She couldn't help thinking, 'Am I...going crazy? NO, I heard someone, I'm sure of it.' Although she consoled herself, it was a fact that there were only two people in the room at the moment. Lloyd's voice interrupted her speculations about what was going on.

"I'm not going to ask you to gather materials today; there's no point anyway. Your only task today is to invite Lord Roland to join me for a cup of tea and a bite to eat. Well, don't let me sugarcoat it; what we have to talk about is important." He added the last thing he forgot to say as he was about to finish: "Oh, and I was forgetting. It better be quick. We don't have much time left."

Amelia nodded as if she understood what Dr. Lloyd was saying.

"Other than that, you really don't have any other tasks to do! What do you think, Amelia? Can you do this?"

The Doctor looked at the young maid with no small amount of suspicion in his heart, and Amelia, who couldn't help feeling humiliated again, spoke up.

"Of course! You can trust me, Master Lloyd, to carry out my duties without the slightest mistake and come back," he said confidently.

'Come on, Master Lloyd! Even an idiot can complete this task without any trouble. You really underestimate me.'

Not trusting the notoriously clumsy maid, Lloyd had no choice but to tell Amelia that she could come out now.

When Amelia made her way to the Lord's room, Lloyd was left alone again, as he had been at the beginning.

Lloyd first poured himself a cup of tea, then approached the window behind the living room set and placed his cup on the window sill to look out.

Small city... He had only been here a few months, but his progress was visible. He had to admit it. Lord had done an outstanding job. Lord? Right, he was going to be here soon, and he was going to give him a few speeches that he didn't think he would like very much...

Looking at the smooth surface of the teacup he held, he thought about what would happen.

"Today is the big day!" he said aloud as if expecting a response around him. When he didn't get the reaction or response he expected, he added his sly smile and continued mockingly. "Come on, I know you're curious too! Let's see if what awaits you at the end of the day will be sweet lies or bitter truths...? Ah, of course, I'm curious too, but what I'm really curious about is... you... Which would you want?"

Lloyd said as he gazed out of the window at the city outside. Although he was alone in the room, he stood at the large window with room for one other person to stand beside him and look out. Just then, the voice that seemed to come from the space next to Lloyd, finally responded to the words of him.

"Does it matter? I already know the answer, you twisted Doctor. You know it too, so don't ask pointless questions," She replied in a voice full of determination. The Doctor did not even bother to reply, still with that treacherous smile on his face. After all, he also - knew that his words were meaningless. It was just a little game to stir things up.

He took another sip from the cup of tea he had brought and continued inwardly, in a tone contrary to the 'fun' personality he projected outwardly, while his gaze was lost in the landscape of the small city.

'Perhaps the truth is intertwined with sweet lies or lost in bitter truths,' he said.

Lloyd, his eyes still looking into the distance of the city, reverted back to his playful persona.

'But no matter what happens, there is one fact that never changes, This endless curiosity and greed of humanity...'

He ended his speech with a little smirk on his face.

....

.....

.......

 On the ramparts of the small city, two soldiers were quietly chatting among themselves, their eyes far away from the city limits, immersed in the sea.

"Isn't this silence unnerving?" the young soldier asked the other, his binoculars trained on the choppy seas.

"Of course. But silence can sometimes be our best friend," said the old soldier, puffing on a smoking pipe.

The two had long been tasked with guarding the fortress walls of this peaceful city, so they often chatted.After all...there wasn't much else to do.

The young soldier nodded, then continued with a knowing tone in his voice.

"Yes, maybe so, but it seems that soon this silence will end..." he said.

"What do you mean?" The old soldier didn't quite understand.

"Oh, didn't you hear?" he said, focusing his binoculars on a dolphin he saw in the sea.

"There have been strange happenings around the West Gate lately. Some people say they hear strange voices in the dark. Others swear to God that they see monsters, let alone hear voices."

The old man was disappointed. "Well, so what? Don't tell me you believe such unfounded rumors...I've been here for over 15 years...I've always had people show up saying things like that, but do you know what they all had in common? Like I just said, they were all unfounded...Those weirdos would go silent after they couldn't come up with anything to prove what they were saying."

The young soldier continued defensively, "Come on old man, of course, I'm not just buying into unfounded rumors. Let's take this place as an example. When was the last time someone passed through our gate? Yes, you can call it luck, but when the empire tells anyone in the know that they will close the area leading to the small city, including the part we hold, something is going on for security reasons. I say the empire. If their name is mentioned in a case, there is no way it can be small!"

"I think this silence has hit you in the head," the old man said as he waved the pipe carelessly in his hand.

"If you're that bored, tell me, and I'll get permission from the commander for you. Hehe, how about we go and have some fun at the brothel?"

But he did not receive a response.

"Hey, I don't make this offer to everyone, asshole. If you don't like it, at least answer to someone who does." The old man got angry.

But the young soldier seemed to have other problems.

"M-monster..." The young soldier said in a whispered tone.

"HUH?"

Surprised, the old soldier came to his senses after a while and immediately put his pipe aside. Then he got up and took the binoculars from the young soldier.

"Where did you see it?" he said sharply.

"A-at the sea."

Old soldier turned his binoculars towards the sea and started searching without losing second.

'Where, where...' He wanted to confirm what the young soldier said as fast as he could. After all, if there really was a monster, every second counted.

Continuing to search with binoculars, he finally found the monster that the young soldier had spoken of in fear.

Under the water, the beast was silently rising to the surface. It glided through the water like a shadow, unbecoming of its large, bulky body. The scales on its back shimmered and glistened under the water, and its long tail curled as it moved forward. Its deep, brilliant green eyes were observing its surroundings, carefully scrutinizing every detail.

The beast's face was full of powerful jaws and sharp teeth. Its eyes held a wisdom and peace hidden in the depths. Its every movement was full of power and grace. It seemed to dominate underwater.

The young soldier froze for a moment at the sight. His heart raced, his eyes meticulously following the image of the monster so as not to miss any detail.

As the old soldier continued to examine the beast, he noticed an unusual detail.

'What's that?'

A man was sitting cross-legged on the beast's back. Realizing that the old soldier was looking at him, the man opened his closed eyes and looked at him.

'Did he...notice me? After all this distance?" The experienced old soldier, whose concern had now turned to fear, immediately called out to the younger one.

"QUICK!!! GO RING THE BELLS... NOW"

The young soldier staggered up from the ground and ran to ring the bells.

Seeing the young one go to report the news, the soldier finally heaved a sigh of relief.The man then picked up the binoculars again and decided to take one last look at the man on top of the monster.

This time, however, the astonishment of what he saw surpassed the first time.

Because the man on the beast was greeting him like a child with his raised hands.

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