Reset Life – Chapter 97

Chapter 97: What Have You Been Doing Until Now?! (3)

If my memory was correct, I thought she would have left a letter, and indeed she did. I roughly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. Then I looked at Artshever.

“Of course, I didn’t look inside. I have no intention to.”

He raised his hands lightly as if he were a surrendering criminal, and turned around. I unfolded the letter while looking at his back.

There was her handwriting, familiar from the many letters we had exchanged before.

<Risel,

You’re not expecting the cliché last will and testament saying that I’ll be gone from this world by the time you read this, are you?

I’m sorry for hurting you.

I had no choice but to do it because I was afraid you would resist. But rest assured, I don’t have a preference for attacking a man who can’t move.

Well, it’s not a good look to break a friend’s arms and legs, is it?>

“Ah, right.”

I smiled bitterly. Then Artshever turned his head slightly, but I growled at him and read the letter again.

<As I told you, there was actually an opinion to take you hostage.

It’s not a good look to become a leader and fail to control your subordinates. I envy you anew for being able to handle two old people so skillfully.

But I can’t sell out my friend.

Oh, you wouldn’t think it’s inappropriate to take you hostage just because I broke your arms and legs, would you?

I hate this method, but what Mangya means by ‘hostage’ is a puppet. It means controlling the deep consciousness with drugs and hypnosis to brainwash them into acting without knowing it.

My subordinates were thinking of doing that to you.

I couldn’t let you stab Ibi-unni.

To stab and kill a loved one with your own hands, without even knowing it. Could there be anything more horrible?

I don’t want you to go through that.>

“Oh my god……”

I gritted my teeth.

Now I understood her actions.

If I were unable to move, my value as a ‘hostage’ that Mangya desires would disappear. That’s why she broke my arms and legs.

However, that alone couldn’t explain her sadness.

I continued reading the letter.

<Of course, I know this won’t make sense. But this is all I can say.

Because…… I can see what the result will be.

I don’t want you to see it.

I’m sure you won’t be able to accept it. I’m afraid of that. I don’t want to show it to you.

Especially not to you.

Dad will be angry, right?

When you open your eyes, everything will be over in one way or another. Ibi-unni will be by your side, and I will be able to joke with you while smiling.

Close your eyes.

I won’t ask for forgiveness.

Maybe you could even condemn me for deceiving you.

It’s presumptuous of me to say this when I’m not even asking for forgiveness, but I’ll ask you with my head bowed.

Please understand me.

After some time, there will come a time when I can tell you the truth.

Until then, please acquiesce.

This will probably be the first and last time I’ll force this friendship on you.

I’m really sorry.

-From Aila.

P.S.: Don’t worry about your broken legs and arms! There’s a secret Mangya technique that can fix them easier than snapping a straw! I’ll fix them better than before, without any aftereffects!>

Crinkle!

I crumpled the letter.

Except for the postscript, there was nothing written there that sounded like Aila.

From Aila?

Lies! Maya wrote that!

Maya, the Master of Mangya!

In the name she didn’t want me to call her!

“Have you finished reading?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve finished reading. Artshever, your purpose is to want me to read this quickly, right?”

“Oh dear, I’ve been caught. That’s right. Actually, I have a personal purpose, but this time it’s pure goodwill.”

He said with a friendly smile. And I felt that this goodwill was sincere. Right now, I’m annoyed that this feeling is so grateful.

“I’ll accept that goodwill, however long it lasts. Where are the two Mayas now? If you babble about pure goodwill and whatnot, I’ll go back to sleep.”

“Oh my! That’s a really wonderful threat. I understand. I’ll guide you. I have some business to attend to as well. But what about your two friends?”

I touched my arms.

Since they are completely healed like this even though Aila said she would fix them, Artshever must have healed them.

He uses strange methods, so he must have some way to wake up Lucy and Al, as well as heal these wounds.

“I’ll be angry if you don’t take them. Wake them up.”

“Understood. Then let’s depart after waking them up.”

He put one hand on his chest and bowed politely.

Artshever’s…… ‘technique’, or whatever it was, that I witnessed directly from the side was amazing.

He just touched Lucy and Al’s foreheads with his fingers and lifted them slightly, but a strange white liquid followed his fingers from their foreheads.

It was like when you dip your finger in honey and lift it up.

There were no wounds on Al and Lucy’s foreheads, and Artshever lightly shook the two streams of liquid. Then they disappeared, scattering like real liquid.

It was clear that the two had been poisoned by the drug that Artshever had literally ‘extracted’.

Immediately after, he patted their cheeks and the two opened their eyes right away.

There was no time to explain the situation to them who were puzzled, so I just told them that Mangya and the Black New Moon were likely to have an all-out war.

That was the nuance in Aila’s letter.

I didn’t like Artshever’s composure, as if he knew everything, but Lucy, Al, and I followed him to the decisive battle location.

Come to think of it, Namia and Joey went after this guy, right?

“Hey. Artshever.”

“Yes?”

“What have you been doing until now?”

“I just rested my tired body and mind and spent my vacation. I did some odd jobs from time to time.”

“Where?”

“Even if you ask where, I’ve been in the Imperial Capital the whole time?”

He said as if it were natural, with a grin. I’m dumbfounded by his brazenness.

Then, does that mean Namia and Joey have been running around for the past two years for nothing?

“There are so many people chasing after me here and there. It’s hard being popular. Anyway, I’ve been hiding in the Imperial Capital, going out for some fresh air occasionally, and spending my leisure time tinkering with odd jobs.”

“Ah, I see. It would be nice if you just stayed like that forever.”

“Haha! Even so, I can’t just rest forever, can I? I finally managed to get out this far today.”

“Is your purpose also the Black New Moon?”

“Hmm…… Well. What should I say? The one with a purpose is Mangya, but for now, let’s say it’s both.”

He laughed refreshingly and his appearance easily made people feel favorable towards him, but I didn’t like it.

I don’t like Artshever’s existence itself in the first place. I think I would feel bad just by the fact that he exists.

After all, this guy is my ‘enemy’.

“Oh, it starts from here.”

Artshever stopped walking. Where he pointed, a person in black clothes was lying face down.

Looking closely, the area around his neck was dark red.

“It’s a Black New Moon person. He died after his carotid artery in his neck was cut. Assassins really fight fiercely.”

“That’s the person we saw yesterday.”

Al pointed to a corpse in blood-stained gray clothes. A member of Mangya. There were wounds all over his body, but the fatal wound was the one that pierced his back.

Artshever slowed his pace and walked past the corpses. We followed behind him.

“When assassins fight each other, they don’t use assassination techniques unless it’s a request. It’s an unspoken rule among assassins to face each other head-on with pure skill and determine their abilities. The Black New Moon and Mangya are prestigious families with traditions even among assassins. It seems they fought in a traditional way.”

I nodded at Artshever’s explanation.

The reason they don’t use assassination techniques is because then the fight won’t end easily. It would be better to fight head-on to keep the virtue of assassination, which is speed.

The corpses were dotted towards one place like a landmark. Like a lost person tying knots on branches as markers, we followed the corpses in black and gray clothes.

Artshever hummed a tune as if he were on a stroll, and walked leisurely.

Seeing him walk so cheerfully in the middle of the corpses, he’s definitely not normal.

When the thick smell of blood numbed my nose and I couldn’t smell anything, the number of corpses started to increase.

“Hmm. At this rate, I wonder if the two organizations will be annihilated. I think I’ve seen about fifteen corpses already.”

“Are you worried?”

“A little. If the two Mayas fight, one will definitely die.”

I frowned and looked at the Mangya corpse that appeared ahead.

Was Aila that strong? Well, just looking at the strength she used to break my arms and legs, she’s not ordinary. Considering how she nullified Lucy’s magic with strange words, she’s hiding more than what’s known.

Levidian is a self-acknowledged master of swordsmanship and has reached the pinnacle of the sword. I know her true strength well, having seen and experienced it myself.

What would happen if the two of them clashed?

Although I’ve felt Aila’s strength firsthand, my thoughts lean towards Levidian.

And honestly, I’m not happy with either of them winning.

The best thing is to prevent a winner.

“Is there a way to stop the fight?”

I muttered as I passed by the Mangya corpse.

It’s harder to stop a fight that has already started than to prevent it from happening.

I think those two would listen to me, but what would I say to them?

Still, I think they would stop fighting once I appear. Right now, I have no choice but to rely on that faint hope.

After walking for a while, the corpses became sparse again. Artshever looked around and stopped.

“It’s better to split up here. You go that way and look for a large brown rock. You’ll be able to watch the situation well from there.”

“What about you?”

“I have to go to the battlefield and show myself. Please don’t say it’s unfair. I woke you up because I wanted to show you something.”

“Tsk, are you asking for payment for waking me up and healing me? You said it was pure goodwill?”

“Goodwill only extends to guiding you. And if I do something bad to the two Mayas, you’ll jump in right away, won’t you? Besides, if you come with me, you won’t be able to see anything interesting. Then I’ll be very disappointed.”

He sighed exaggeratedly and shook his head. I put my hands on my hips and looked at him askance. He’s definitely tall, which is nice. Artshever and I are at eye level.

I looked ‘straight’ into his eyes and then sighed.

He certainly did me a favor. And I don’t feel good about leaving it at that.

“Okay. Let’s do that. Let me tell you one thing, with this……”

“There’s no debt. I understand.”

“You said it was that way? Alright.”

“Yes. Thank you for your cooperation. This has been Artshever Le Setrife.”

He put his hand on his chest and bowed politely.

I felt my stomach churn because I owed him a debt and had to pay it back, so I turned my head away and quickly distanced myself from him.

Lucy and Al walked with me.

As we looked around for a large brown rock, Al said.

“Is that Artshever?”

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