The Academy's Deceased Ate It All

“I also knew well how she died.”

Jin Ye-Seul muttered quietly.

“But no way, like this….”

She began to catch her breath for a moment.

I couldn't say anything.

“That person’s death was treated like a trophy… I didn’t know that it would be talked about and ridiculed like a side dish to a drink or something to be proud of.”

What the hell did she see in the memory?

I didn't dare to ask.

She just shook her head.

“… no, actually, this is also a lie. Even though I didn't know what that person was doing, I had a vague idea of what she was doing. I expected her to die acting like a narcissist patient who was obsessed with a sense of justice and duty and didn't think about her future affairs. But I never thought it would have been this kind of death, with such an ending of being executed alive as a double agent."

"On top of that, the gang of the guy who killed that person was walking around calmly under my chin.”

“How funny I must have been in their eyes.”

Drops of blood flowed from her clenched hand.

"They made a mockery of me…!"

Looking at that, Svengali said with a deep sigh.

[She is lying right now.]

Svengali asserted, and I said nothing.

[She is deceiving her own anger and emotions in such a way because she is being ridiculed hard. Even a child can notice if they glance at the emotions hidden inside there... um. Well, that is often the case.]

It is only when you lose what is in your hand that you realize how you felt about it.

As soon as he said that, Jin Ye-Seul slowly turned her head and stared at me.

"Ji-Hyuk, you knew it.”

“…….”

“I was only able to figure it out by digging into his brain. That woman, the woman named Emilia, was also part of this man’s gang.”

Jin Ye-Seul raised her foot and placed it on the man's severed head.

She trampled it down with no effort at all.

If you hit a watermelon as hard as you can, will it look like that?

“You knew everything….”

Nodding her head, she stared at me.

"That's why you brought me here, right? That's why you only brought me here, not anyone else, right?”

Because you are the person directly involved, you'll need to know.

She approached me, muttering quietly.

And she held my hand carefully.

"Thank you."

Holding my hand with both hands, she recited once more.

“Thank you, really.”

She was staring at me with her characteristic eyes that seemed to be sucking everything in.

Like a deep bog, the pupils seemed to be catching me up to the neck without me knowing and making me flounder when I looked at them.

“I will kill them all, just the way you want me to, just as you wish."

She muttered quietly.

I could feel on my prickling skin that it was not a formal word or threat people usually uttered, but a kind of oath.

She would really do it.

“So please, Ji-Hyuk.”

She reached out to me as if she were hanging.

“Other guys, these veins… the other guys are guarding them, right?”

The things related to that person's death and ridiculed.

I was able to read the omitted words without difficulty.

I nodded meekly.

“I think so.”

“Then let me kill them all with my own hands.”

Little by little, strength came into her hand that grabbed my arm.

She was staring at me with trembling eyes.

“I, I know I can't be reliable.”

Gulping down her breath, she bit her lip.

“I know how funny it might seem to ask such a favor, even though I couldn't do anything earlier, even though I'm useless. But, I…!”

[Oh, what are you doing?]

Svengali muttered, as if it was pathetic.

She is trembling like a newborn lamb, no matter who looked at her.

[It is now. Come on. If you do not do it now, well, won't the walls and floors in the house be smashed?]

I felt as if his words were pushing my back directly from behind.

When I came to my senses, I found myself hugging her tightly in my arms.

She, who had always looked confident, was surprisingly small.

It was enough to be completely in my arms.

I felt her body tremble and then stiffen in surprise.

“… Ji-Hyuk?”

“Let's do as you please."

At my words, she let out a light breath.

“You're not useless. I've never once thought you were unreliable, and I've never once looked down on you.”

“…….”

“There's no reason anywhere for you to do that to me. I've told you before, if I was going to throw you away, I would have thrown you away long ago.”

She leaned her head against my chest silently and nodded.

“Since you seem to want to hear these words, I'll put it this way. You're necessary to me, enough to leave you alone and keep you by my side even if you bite my neck. Do you understand if I say it like this?”

Svengali let out a breath as if sighing.

[Head, head! I said the head, the head!!! This dull cicada larva like person! It is not enough to feed it, so should I even chew it and hand it over!?]

Leaving behind his buzzing cry in my ear, I carefully raised my hand and placed it on the back of her head.

Then she, who had been leaning her head against my chest, shuddered as if she had been electrified.

I cautiously, began to brush her soft hair.

“Ha-ew… Eub."

Jin Ye-Seul, who made a sound as if purring for a moment, hurriedly closed her mouth.

I paused for a moment, then quickly moved my stopped hand again.

“…….”

Surprisingly, she showed no reaction except for the first time, and didn't even make a sound.

It was when I kept stroking her, clichéd, but silk-like hair, which didn't get caught on my fingers.

[No, such a fool.]

Svengali muttered once more.

[What should I do if you really just stroke her head? What brushing are you doing? Do that later while raising a dog or cat. Do not tell me you really thought I was yelling head like that so that you could only stroke her head?]

She will not really just let you go later.

While he assured me like that, I quietly bowed my head and whispered into her ear.

“I’ll let you do what you want.”

“… ah."

Jin Ye-Seul uttered a sound as if sighing a little.

I decided to tell her what I had been thinking about before coming here.

“But not now. To be precise, it can’t be like this now.”

“…… uh?"

Jin Ye-Seul raised her head and looked up at me with blank eyes.

I said, looking straight into her eyes, which were trembling.

“The Last Legacy.”

Henir's shadow.

A legacy that when I first tried to take it with me, I couldn't take it all completely and had to leave a part of it behind.

A legacy that should have been left just for her.

“It sleeps here.”

As she listened to my words, I added, watching her pupils dilate quietly.

"And it's yours now."

With this, can you believe my words now that I believe in you, that I value you?

I whispered to her, adding at last.

* * *

The book in which Henir's shadow had been hidden was still stuck in its place.

I pulled it out by hand and handed it to Jin Ye-Seul.

She took it with trembling hands and looked at me as if asking if I really don't mind giving it to her.

I nodded silently.

Jin Ye-Seul lifted the book with trembling hands, looking very nervous.

And….

"Ah."

The shadows that flowed from the book slowly began to envelop her body.

"Ah, ah-ah…!”

Jin Ye-Seul was shivering quietly, as if just groaning.

It was when I was quietly watching her like that.

Something rang out in my head.

It wasn't Svengali's voice.

It was the sound of the system that I hadn't heard in a long time.

As if to prove it, the system window unfolded in front of me.

[The hidden condition has been achieved!!!]

[Jin Ye-Seul's awakening condition has been achieved!]

[Awakening Condition - Jin Ye-Seul must acquire all six legacies of Shadow Walker.]

[A total of 1 person's awakening condition has been satisfied.]

[The function that was locked will be unlocked as a reward.]

[You can reinforce one of your authorities.]

[This authority reinforcement opportunity is given only once and cannot be revoked.]

[Please think wisely, ponder, and then ponder again.]

[Authorities that can be reinforced ― ‘The Other Side’, ‘King of Thorns’]

“… this."

It was sudden, but the content was very important.

But there was no time to take the time to look at it and check it out.

Before long, at last.

Jin Ye-Seul, who swallowed Henir's shadow and obtained all the legacies, was staring at me.

“…….”

With a thud, the now useless book fell from her hand.

She approached me with a staggering gait.

Then, without hesitation, she knelt on one knee to me.

“Ye-Seul?”

“… You clearly told me not to use honorifics, but please forgive me one last time.”

She muttered so, bowing her head.

She continued her words in a solemn voice, like a knight pledging their allegiance.

“My life was full of lies.”

“I was rejected by my parents, and I was not recognized by anyone.”

“I could not even realize my feelings.”

“I could not even figure out why I was born into this world.”

“… shamefully, even when I told Young Master that I did not need Shadow Walker's legacy. And when Young Master told me that it was all mine, I found myself relieved without knowing it.”

Jin Ye-Seul said so in a quiet voice.

“You have believed in such me constantly."

She, who almost burst into tears and barely swallowed something, continued her words.

“Even when I attacked you.”

“Even when I tried to betray you.”

“Even when I tested you.”

“… I, your, neck....”

Here, she couldn't continue her words and lowered her head.

After a while, she raised her head with a sniffle.

Something dropped and soaked the floor.

“Such, me….”

Sniffling, Jin Ye-Seul muttered.

“How can, you believe… something like this, all... legacies….”

This time, there was no need for anyone to push my back.

I moved without hesitation and sat kneeling opposite Jin Ye-Seul, who was still on one knee.

Then, I carefully hugged her little body, which was shaking and moving little by little.

Jin Ye-Seul sniffled and hugged as if collapsing.

“I, I'll… really do anything.”

She sniffled and muttered.

“Really, really… This is a vow. I, I will do anything if it's for you, Ji-Hyuk”

"Okay."

"What should I do…? Huh? What can I do to be forgiven for the past? What should I do, to make you believe me?”

“You don't have to do that kind of thing. I told you, I've already forgiven you and I believe you."

“For you, I'll really… anything….”

I patted her on the back a few times and whispered quietly.

"You know, before you do anything for me, you have to do something first."

“… yes?"

“I have work to do for you before that, you know.”

You have to take revenge.

Against them.

As I whispered so, she immediately nodded.

"Yes, yes….”

I'm going to kill them all.

They are that person's enemy, and they are blocking your path.

Even if my body breaks, I will kill them all.

She said so.

"All their heads, I'm going to rip them off myself. So, I'm going to place them facing the box of remains containing Sister's bone waste."

"Yes."

I nodded and patted her on the back.

"Yes. Let's do it all as you say."

I whispered quietly as if soothing her, whose emotions had intensified.

“For Jin Ye-Jeong-ssi, for me, and for you.”

"yes… I'll kill them all... for Sister, for you, and for me....”

Jin Ye-Seul nodded quietly.

As if excited, I was hugging her quietly so that she could calm down from her heightened emotional state.

And Svengali, who was looking at us like that, muttered quietly, as if admiring.

[Crazy guy....]

He said as if he were really dumbfounded.

[Because I told you to take care of her mental health and restore her mental stability, you are totally pulling her out and turning her into a fanatic... That too is an ability in a way, if you look at it.]

Now I really do not know what is going to happen.

Svengali added in a voice that said he knew nothing, as if he had pulled his feet out.

[Since it is your karma, you should take care of it now.]

Since the two fragments are confirmed for now.