Ch 148
The vast shared space was simply empty, nothing more.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
To the point that even those faint sounds transformed the entire location into a musical instrument producing a single resonance.
The sound of water droplets falling on the cold stone floor and scattering.
That sound, created by the bleak temperature of the underground, echoed regularly in the shared space.
Thud.
Plop.
A discordant note interrupting the rhythm.
It too was the sound of a mass of liquid hitting the cold floor and scattering, but it was comparatively heavy and murky.
Plop.
What made that sound was blood.
Blood that soaked through the bandages covering a woman’s wounds and still remained.
Dwen.
Her form, abandoned in a corner of the shared space, was like a doll.
A rag doll, patched and repatched until its original form was no longer discernible.
Her emaciated body, with only one arm remaining, bore the burden of movement.
Her skin, scarred violently like roughly dug earth, was rarely left uncovered by bandages.
Even the parts not covered by bandages would be better off covered, for the sake of appearance.
Iron Sword. Sword Master.
Her shabby appearance lacked even fragments of the majesty and solemnity her name evoked.
Dwen’s few remaining sensations perceived the visitor’s presence.
“I will attend to you.”
Hella, the Fallen One.
She peeled away Dwen’s drenched bandages.
Bandages that now served as a substitute for skin.
Even removing them, Dwen did not produce the slightest tremor.
Hella, too, did not produce the slightest aversion.
It had become a routine task, all too familiar to them.
“Dwen.”
Hella continued speaking only after finishing her duties.
“I pay my respects to you.”
“…”
“The Core of Suffering you bear is completely filled.”
“…”
The unpleasant noise produced by her damaged vocal organs made it impossible to understand her meaning.
Nevertheless, Hella could tell.
Iron Sword.
That she was expressing joy with her characteristic calm and solemn demeanor.
Her eyes, retaining their unchanging light, shone particularly brightly.
Iron Sword kept her promise.
She upheld her conviction.
The Fallen One paid her respects—
Iron Sword felt pride.
▷Fate 99: One-Armed
✦✦✦
『Title: What the f is going on?!』
Content: I just cleared the One-Armed fate,
Is this really the end?
Iron Sword felt pride, right?
-: Pride is a big deal.
-: Are you belittling the Sword Master’s pride right now?
-『Author』: No, you f ing idiots,
If you fill the Core of Suffering 30%,
You can see a happy ending where Dwen doesn’t go crazy, right?
-: She didn’t go crazy?
-: Can’t you see Dwen’s sparkling eyes?
-『Author』: I can see them, you f ing idiot,
But I can also see her destroyed body,
The person has become a complete rag,
Are sparkling eyes all that matters?
-: Eyes are a big deal.
-: But she didn’t go crazy, let’s have a drink.
-『Author』: Yeah, I’m going crazy.
How is this a happy ending?
Reply.
-: Surprisingly!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s less depressing than a bad ending!!!!!!
-『Author』: Don’t bullshit me,
Is something worse than this possible?
-: If you don’t fill the Core of Suffering by 30%, Dwen completely loses it,
Then you can see her going insane and giggling.
-『Author』: No,
Dwen becoming a simpleton with that face and drooling?
-: If only she just drooled, it would have been better.
-『Author』: Wow, it’s really f ing awful.
-『Author』: No, I can’t do this.
-『Author』: I’m going to fill it to 100%, that’s it.
-: Yeah ㅋㅋㅋ
-: I just believed in you.
-: But looking at this person’s words, it seems like their first playthrough… is it possible…?
✦✦✦
『Title: What the f is this?!』
Content: Why isn’t the Core of Suffering filling up at all?
I took a shot of deadly poison!
-: Because it’s the Core of Suffering, not the Core of Death?
-: Did you perhaps take a refreshing shot of deadly poison and die refreshingly?
-『Author』: Of course I died, you f ing idiot.
I got an A+ level status effect,
-: You died before you could feel the pain.
-: The Core of Suffering accumulates only if the character with the status effect is alive.
-『Author』: Did you know?
That if you leave a character with an A-level or higher status effect alone, they die?
-: So you need to have a rather unique setup.
-: That’s why when you look at the True Ones<, their combat power is crap compared to their level,
But their HP and status effect resistance are ridiculously high ㅋㅋㅋ
-『Author』: No, then how did Dwen survive until it was 100% filled?
-: The True Ones shared a strategy.
-: Try changing your settings so you don’t die from a deadly poison shot.
Then about 40% will fill.
-『Author』: 40% from a deadly poison shot? This is crazy.
-: I gave up because even with my top-tier party, I couldn’t do it.
-『Author』: Why the f do we even need to fill this Core of Suffering?
-: Oh yeah, it’s used for good things.
-: It’s the process of the fallen bearing the suffering they’ve inflicted on others.
Using a restaurant as a metaphor, it’s like paying for the meat a disadvantaged person ate.
-: It’s used for really good things.
✦✦✦
Jane and Felix.
They held a secret meeting after dinner yesterday.
There, they made a bet, not a bet.
By tomorrow afternoon, whoever fills the Core of Suffering more.
They also promised.
Not to overexert themselves.
So now.
Jane’s party and Felix’s party gathered in one place.
“Jane, how did it go?”
How much time passed in the awkward atmosphere.
Felix cautiously began to speak.
“…”
The Ideal Hero, who never loses his flawless smile in any situation.
Very rarely, his complexion was dark.
A morally questionable situation where he had to drive himself to suffering.
It was by no means easy for the Ideal Hero to accept that.
The same was true for thinking of a way to do it.
“I tried having a high-intensity sparring match with Camila and Belota.”
“…”
Felix nodded.
Yes.
For his personality, that’s about as much ‘self-harm’ as he could think of.
Hoo.
His comrades sighed heavily beside him.
Camila, his Elf comrade.
She muttered discontentedly.
“It’s called sparring, but it’s basically ordering us to beat you up unilaterally.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Don’t apologize.
A hero shouldn’t bow their head so easily.
If it were the usual Camila, she would have said so in an irritable tone.
“…”
However, she only sighed again and weakly lowered her head.
Last night.
She recalled the results of the self-destructive act she had performed with her comrades after a difficult decision.
Jane was injured.
She had various large and small bruises and abrasions, and her right arm, the worst of them, was fractured and swollen.
It was the level of injury she wouldn’t receive in most battles.
The Core of Suffering filled by that.
Jane placed it on the table.
“…”
As if they had seen something they shouldn’t have, Camila and Belota looked away from the Core of Suffering.
After doing that.
After seeing that terrible sight.
The Core of Suffering seemed to be less than one-hundredth full.
How many times would they have to repeat yesterday’s actions to completely fill it?
Dozens of times?
Hundreds of times?
Perhaps, the number of times doesn’t matter.
Their thoughts move forward from where yesterday’s events had lingered.
The image of their comrades with even more serious injuries comes to mind.
“Ah…”
Camila covered her face with both hands.
Belota gently rubbed her back.
“…”
The Ideal Hero looking at those comrades.
The shadow cast on his expression grew even darker.
“I’m sorry, Felix.”
He forced a smile, as usual, and said.
“I tried my best… but the results weren’t very good.”
Jane instinctively tried to scratch the back of her head, then flinched.
It happened to be her fractured arm.
Even then, he checked the Core of Suffering first.
Hoping that it might have filled up.
There was no change.
His forced smile twisted.
“Damn it.”
Felix felt suffocated.
Jane’s so powerless and dark appearance.
He had never even imagined it.
Even more so, his inability to comfort her made him feel even more uncomfortable.
Thud!
Felix slammed the Core of Suffering on the table irritably.
“Remember? Yesterday, what those fanatics did.”
Felix’s expression twisted as he spoke.
He thrust his chest forward.
As if escaping the feeling of his clothes touching his back.
“Felix, you wouldn’t dare…!”
Jane looked at him in surprise.
To which, Pocena, the Sword of Insight, answered instead.
-I don’t know if this is the right expression, but whipping is a very efficient method.
-Efficient method? Pocena, you’re saying that’s an efficient method because your master whipped himself?
Elysia, the Ideal Holy Sword, was horrified, but Pocena continued without paying attention.
-But it’s true. Whipping is one of the safest ways to inflict pain on a target. No matter how terrible the pain, no matter how terrible the injury, it won’t cause disability or death to the target.
-Oh, is that so? So efficient, huh? But why is the result like this?
The Core of Suffering Felix placed on the table was not much different from the one Jane took out.
The tiny amount of dark red liquid filling the orb only brought despair, not satisfaction.
“Wait! What are you saying!? Do you know how I felt when I did that to Felix while you were leisurely sparring!?”
Tilla, Felix’s comrade.
She, who had been silent with a complex expression, exploded.
“Leisurely? Leisurely sparring!? Are you done talking!?”
Next was the Elf Camila.
“You’re the ones who are leisurely!!! You’re talking about ‘efficient pain’ in this situation!? Look! Jane broke her arm giving it her all, but you heroes—”
“Ca, Camila! Calm down!”
“Belota! You said it well! You tell me to calm down? How am I supposed to calm down? Like you, who stood idly by yesterday!?”
“What!? Suddenly, what—”
“Isn’t that what you want to say? I’m a bad person who can’t calm down, and you’re a good person who always calms me down. Yes! You can calm down! Because you didn’t do anything yesterday! Jane’s injuries are actually all because of my attacks!”
Camila raised her voice with reddened eyes.
The Elf’s hands and ears shook violently as she recalled yesterday’s memories.
“Please! Stop it! Is that the only way Elves can talk!?”
Tilla, whose eyes were also reddened, shouted in a trembling voice.
“Then what am I supposed to do!!! In this situation! What am I supposed to do!!!”
The Elf’s shout turned into a nervous scream.
“Core of Suffering? Bear the suffering!? I don’t know, I don’t know!!! What the hell is all this!!!”
“…I’m sorry, Camila.”
Jane gritted her teeth and lowered her head.
The Elf’s expression twisted sharply upon seeing that.
“Don’t bow your head so easily in front of others… I told you so many times…”
The Elf couldn’t continue and began to sob.
“…”
Belota also began to sob silently.
“…”
Tilla covered her face with both hands.
“Damn it.”
Felix’s low curse was thrown among their sobs.
He is a hero.
He is the Sword’s Owner.
He was confident that he could fulfill his role perfectly, no matter what evil he faced.
Thus, he was confident that he could prove his worth.
But. What should he do in this situation?
What can he do in a situation where he has to hurt himself and his comrades?
It was a terrible kind of powerlessness.
With his current mood, wouldn’t it be easy to harm himself to fill the core?
Just as Felix looked at the Core of Suffering with venomous eyes.
“This is enough.”
A solemn voice cut through them.
Dwen.
She, who was standing in front of the table, took Jane and Felix’s Cores of Suffering.
“Master!?”
And, she looked at her two disciples who were surprised and about to step forward with a solemn expression.
“This was my choice in the first place. It was a burden I had to bear. I can’t burden you two any further.”
“But—”
“Enough.”
“…!”
At that stern rebuke, the disciples could not say anything more.
“This is enough.”
Because the master’s expression, uttering the stern rebuke, looked as if it might crumble at any moment.
They couldn’t bear to see their master like that.
Time flowed endlessly in the uncomfortable and heavy silence.
Should it be called timely?
A sudden visitor broke the silence.
Hella.
She visited the mansion, leading the True Ones.
✦✦✦
“…”
Hella checked the faces of Dwen’s party.
She nodded inwardly.
She immediately realized what had happened between them.
Sword Master. Hero.
Even those who bore those great names could not substitute for the duties of the True Ones.
The True Ones’ expressions were filled with compassion and elation as they realized that fact.
Hella spoke to Dwen in a somewhat excited tone.
“I apologize for the sudden visit. It’s just my concern.”
“…”
The True Ones.
The Hero’s party.
Their gazes crossed for a while.
Eventually, Hella opened her mouth.
“Of course, I don’t think my actions are an unnecessary interference. Don’t you think so, Iron Sword?”
“Yes.”
Dwen answered without hesitation.
For fear that her hesitation might spread to her disciples.
And, for fear that it would cause even greater heartache.
“I request your help.”
“…!”
Ah.
Aaaaaah.
Hella unconsciously let out a relieved sigh.
Eventually.
Just as Hella was about to take Dwen’s hand and lead her away.
“Ah, you’re all gathered here.”
Lisir.
He came out from behind the mansion and immediately approached Hella.
“…”
Sniff sniff.
Hella’s expression twitched slightly as she looked at him.
She sensed a faint scent of blood from him.
Did he try to fill the Core of Suffering in his own way?
It was a truly admirable attempt.
Hella looked at Lisir as if he were a commendable child.
To Hella, Lisir said.
“May I ask a question?”
“Please do.”
“About the Core of Suffering I received, is it perhaps a special item? I mean, among the Cores of Suffering.”
“…”
Hella, understanding the intention of the question, smiled mysteriously.
Believing there was a problem with the item because the Core of Suffering didn’t fill up despite his attempts.
Lisir is a righteous person who willingly shared the suffering even though it wasn’t his own business.
Hella decided to show him the respect he deserved.
“Yes. It’s a very special item.”
She showed consideration for Lisir, allowing him to believe what he wanted.
“Ah, I see…”
Lisir nodded, understanding.
“Then, could I perhaps receive another item?”
“…”
Does he believe that he can fill it if it’s another Core of Suffering?
Hella was troubled about how to protect his admirable and arrogant faith.
“Ah, and may I ask one more thing?”
At that moment.
Lisir took something out of his bosom and continued.
“By the way, how many of these do I need to fill Dwen’s quota?”
It was a Core of Suffering that had been completely filled overnight.
Oh.
The Fallen One.
Some of the True Ones muttered blankly from behind.
✦✦✦
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