STGAAB Novel MTL - Chapter 773
Chapter 773: Clarifying Positions (8)
Baekho’s response was slightly different from what I had anticipated. I didn’t expect him to admit everything so calmly. Honestly, I thought he’d try to deny it more.
‘But, if you think about it, it’s not entirely strange, is it?’
If Baekho hadn’t shown up at all, that would’ve been a different story. The fact that he came here on his own means he knew I suspected him. He probably came to confirm it in person, since he wasn’t completely certain. That’s just the kind of person he is.
Yeah, so……
“I’ll ask you one last time.”
I said, barely holding back the urge to smash his head right then and there.
“Why did you kill them?”
Even though I was certain that Baekho was the culprit, I still couldn’t grasp his motive. Why had he killed my comrades? The truth that soon came out of his mouth was utterly absurd.
“Do you really not know?”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes, so answer me now.”
“You know, right? That everything I do is for your sake.”
I was at a loss for words.
“Are you saying… you killed them for me?”
I asked, barely suppressing the rage welling up from deep within and Baekho nodded casually.
“I overheard about the records stone by chance. That you’d realize the path you need to take after losing three comrades, right?”
“……”
“But if you think about it another way, it means three of you comrades must die for you to truly realize the path you need to take.”
What the fuck……
“So… you killed them……? Because only one person had died in this war?”
“Huh? Well, not exactly.”
Contrary to my expectation, Baekho shook his head.
“The records stated that three people would die. Even if I did nothing, three would have died eventually.”
“Then why—.”
“James Calla.”
Baekho cut me off.
“He got messed up pretty badly by a dark wizard, didn’t he? They said even a high priest couldn’t heal his arm. So I killed him. Since three people were going to die anyway, it made sense to kill the one who’d be the least helpful for your future, right?”
“But I didn’t expect that woman to show up. Seriously, why was she even there at that time? Did the two of them have ‘that’ kind of relationship?”
“……”
“Hah… Whatever it was, that woman ruined everything. You found out because of her, right? I mean, because I left a pretty big hole in her stomach. After spending so much time outside the wall together, I figured you’d recognize my handiwork. I was going to clean things up and leave, but she screamed so loudly before dying that I had no choice but to run away……”
“……”
“Anyway, I’m sorry it turned out this way. I really had good intentions. I didn’t know things would go this far. When I killed the woman, I realized I’d messed up. I thought James Calla’s death would be followed by someone else dying in some other accident, but… it seems like this was how those three people were meant to die. Ah, this is really unfair, isn’t it—.”
As Baekho spoke as if he had been wronged, I finally snapped.
Boom-!
The hammer I swung down, aiming for his skull, smashed into the rooftop floor.
“Ugh… Hyung, you’re really angry, huh?”
I didn’t respond. After all, ‘conversation’ is something you have with people, right? And this guy, to me, was no longer human.
He was nothing more than a dangerous animal that needed to be put down immediately.
Whoosh-!
I swung my hammer again, and Baekho nimbly leapt into the air and stopped in midair as if standing on nothing.
“Hyung, let me ask you one last thing.”
“……”
“Ah, don’t be like that, okay? Just answer this one thing.”
“……”
“We… really can’t reconcile, can we?”
“…Reconcile?”
Not asking for forgiveness, but reconciliation? This bastard sure likes playing around with people.
“Yeah. After all, we’re both Koreans. Maybe, just once, you could let it go with a generous heart—.”
Tadat-!
I leapt up high and swung my hammer again, but Baekho dodged, jumping even higher into the air and letting out a long sigh.
“Phew… They say even the unluckiest people end up bleeding from the nose after falling backwards. Guess that’s me right now. Well, it’s fine… Lately, a new possibility has come up.”
“……?”
“Oh, you don’t know?”
“……”
“Up until now, I thought you were the protagonist of this story… but now that I think about it, maybe that’s not necessarily the case?”
Baekho, standing against the backdrop of the moon, looked down at me.
“So, since it’s come to this, I’m quitting as of today.”
“……”
“The role of a rival who only exists to make the protagonist shine.”
“……”
“Honestly, it was fucking boring anyway.”
I couldn’t fully understand what Baekho was saying. But one thing was crystal clear.
[—— — has cast Stellar Extinction.]
There was no going back with this guy anymore.
***
The last memory I had was of the blinding white light filling my vision. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in the center of a massive crater. Baekho had vanished, nowhere to be seen, and soldiers, having heard the commotion, were running toward the crater from outside. I let out a sigh and slowly stood up.
‘Ugh, my body……’
Hah, everything aches. That damned overpowered skill. Even with how high my stats are, that single attack left me in this condition.
“L-Lord Baron……? Are you alright?”
“What in the world happened……”
After I regained my senses, I gave a brief explanation to the field commander, telling him I was ambushed. Once my testimony, if you could even call it that, was over, I returned to my comrades. By the way, Amelia, who I had left at the palace, had managed to join me here. Apparently, Astarota, who had initially refused to let her out, eventually allowed Amelia, Ainar, and Auyen to join me.
“……Baekho Lee was the assassin?”
Hearing that Baekho was the one who killed James Calla and Versyl Gowland, Amelia was more shaken than I had seen her in a long time. And when she learned I had been attacked by him as well, her expression turned deadly serious.
“……We’ve gained a formidable enemy.”
I understood her concern. But lets correct her on one point.
“It’s not that we suddenly have an enemy.”
“……?”
“I was just too much of a fool to realize it sooner.”
Baekho had always intended to use me as a tool for his own desires. Well, I also maintained our relationship until now because I thought he had some use value for me too. It’s just that our positions have finally been clearly sorted out now. The next step, therefore, is to come up with a practical course of action.
“Anyway, we don’t know what Baekho might do next, so we all need to keep a close eye on each other.”
“I understand. Once this is over, we should secure a safe place to stay, somewhere difficult for enemies to infiltrate.”
“Exactly. We can’t predict when or where he’ll strike next.”
However, since there was nothing we could immediately do regarding the situation with Baekho right now, this topic didn’t continue for long.
“By the way… are those three still in the palace?”
“They are, given their politically sensitive positions. Oh, and as for Harin Savy, she chose to stay voluntarily. She said she wanted to be there in case Countess Peprok awakens.”
“I see……”
It makes sense from Astarota’s perspective. There’s no way she would allow Eltora, the son of the traitorous Marquess, or Ragna, someone with the blood of the king, to freely roam outside.
‘I’ll have to talk with Ragna later……’
Phew…… As I internally let out a long breath so as not to let out a sigh, Amelia tapped me on the shoulder and headed outside.
“Rest for now. I’ll come up with a good excuse for the rest of the team.”
Though she might fall short as a clan leader, it felt like a very thoughtful consideration. I wasn’t entirely disinterested in what Missha, Erwen, and the others had gone through after the teleportation incident, but……
‘Later……’
Right now, I just wanted to rest. After Amelia left, I laid down on the military cot and closed my eyes. My body and mind screamed with exhaustion, but sleep did not come.
Brown Rotmiller.
James Calla.
Versyl Gowland.
Every time these three names crossed my mind, a surge of emotions followed. Sadness then guilt and then overwhelming anger.
Baekho Lee.
Whenever I thought about him, I felt suffocated with regret and fury.
Ragna Litanel Peprok.
The Marquess’s request echoed in my mind. I kept wondering what the royal family might do to her, and I had no idea how I could stop it if they did.
And……
The warriors of my tribe who followed me to their deaths.
The ongoing war.
The king who still hasn’t awakened.
That strange group called Heerkmuta.
Auril Gavis.
All these thoughts tormented me, as if suffocating me, and in the end, I couldn’t sleep a wink by the time dawn arrived. However, perhaps because I at least kept my eyes closed, or maybe because I’d thought everything through so many times that my emotions had settled a little, I felt slightly better.
It was too late to try sleeping now, so I decided to get up and start my day.
“Bjoooorrnnn!!!”
I could hear Ainar shouting from far away. Her resounding cry was getting closer in real-time from the distance……
“Bjoooorrnnn!!! Wake up!!”
Soon enough, without a knock or any warning, the tent entrance flew open as Ainar barged in.
And……
“It’s big news……! Big news!!”
Through Ainar’s news, one of the countless worries I had last night was resolved.
Well, only halfway, to be exact.
“The war is over……!!!”
……To be precise, it was a ceasefire.
***
Noun, ceasefire.
Meaning, a mutual agreement between warring parties to stop fighting for a certain period.
If taken purely by the dictionary definition, it’s a bit of a stretch to call the current situation a ‘ceasefire.’ After all, this was a forced ceasefire. Noark sealed off their territory again, just like when they fortified Bifron last time. With the Marquess dead, Thunder stolen, and the frontlines in District 4 steadily being pushed back, they had no choice but to make that decision……
It’s kind of funny, really.
From Noark’s perspective, it was more like a last resort, hiding in a bunker because there were no other options. However, the royal family had a completely different interpretation. With the loss of Bifron and now District 4, they feared the capital itself might be taken next. This anxiety spread not only to the commoners who knew nothing, but even the supposedly well-informed nobles.
‘……Well, it is still a serious situation, regardless.’
After all, what happened when Bifron was lost? The labyrinth was closed, under the guise of not giving resources to Noark, essentially declaring a death pact. Prices skyrocketed, and starvation grew rampant. The royal family was aware of that fact, so they classified it as a wartime situation and stopped collecting taxes, but now the war has temporarily ended.
‘For a whole year, they couldn’t mine any mana stones, and supplies had to be covered by the national treasury, so the royal family must be running out of resources by now.’
I have no idea what the political landscape will look like from here… But that’s not something I need to think about right now.
“Chieftain! The chieftain has returned…!!!”
As soon as things calmed down, I gathered the bodies of my fallen comrades and returned to the holy land.
“You’re back? How is the situation outside? Is the war really over?”
Shavin Emoor, who had been managing the holy land in my absence, bombarded me with questions the moment she saw me. It was understandable. I know exactly what this ‘ceasefire’ means because of my status as a Baron, but ordinary people only had rumors to rely on.
Shavin Emoor, who had stayed at the holy land, doesn’t know.
Why the war had ended.
How it ended.
And……
“…Huh?”
Most importantly, who had died.
“But… I don’t see Mr. Rotmiller? Is he coming later?”
Before I could force the words out, I glanced at my palm. Though I hadn’t washed it, the hastily scribbled message had almost faded, barely visible now. Still, it wasn’t hard to make out the words.
The words written on this palm. The heartfelt message he had to hastily scribble while on the cart.
[Treat Miss Shavin well. She’s a good woman.]
From now on, I must remember these words for the rest of my life.
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