Chapter 112

The taste of blood filled my mouth. Seems like a bit splattered while I was fighting. Unfortunately, there’s no mirror around to check my appearance right now. But tasting the blood, it feels like the vampire blood within me, and that suppressed little brat, has started to awaken a bit.

“You… you really don’t know who I am? If you kill me, you won’t get away with it…?”

“Ha, why do they all say the same thing before they die? ‘Can you really kill me?’ ‘Do you know who I am?’… Even though I look like this, I’m a pro, you know? Checking if it’s okay to kill someone, figuring out who they are—that’s the basics of being a pro, right?”

The guy stumbled back, trembling as he held out a knife. Smelling fear, it seems he’s scared. Guess I’ll have to retrain him on potty etiquette. What a pathetic guy.

“I am Werner, the Imperial Sorcerer, here to investigate the disturbances in this territory.”

“Why would the Imperial Palace care about here…?”

“Because you guys have been dropping such stinky crap… the smell reached the Imperial Palace. Pee and poop… you poorly potty-trained mutts.”

“What did we do wrong! We just cared about the human rights of the miners being exploited on-site!”

I heard they were initially such an organization. But after the kind-hearted Count Holstead raised their wages and improved various working conditions, they started going wild. Drunk brawls leading to deaths, raping women and trying to cover it up with money or connections—trash like that.

“That knife, are you going to stab me with it? Go ahead, it’ll be fun. Of course, if you stab me, you’ll die. Even if you don’t, you’ll still die.”

If you thought one stab could take me down, you’re completely mistaken. The day I got stabbed the most was 17 times. I couldn’t even spin the roulette that day due to anemia… That anger made me stronger.

“You… if you kill me, your precious people will all die! They’ll all die!”

“That’s a shame.”

Werner’s precious people weren’t the kind that a mere miners’ union could touch…

“The most precious person to me was already killed. Well… because I killed them.”

I knocked him down and stomped on his head, crushing it. Warm blood splattered on my face, disgustingly so. Seeing that scene, laughter just spilled out. No… this is bad. I shouldn’t keep such a pathetic brat awake for long.

I started repeating everything about ‘me.’

“The successor of Confucianism… the 14th disciple of Jesus… the wielder of the strike that kills gods… the fang of Metzdo… the successor of Darwin… the reincarnation of the Ten Warriors… the reincarnation of King Richard the Lionheart… the disciple of Elvis Presley… the model of nobility… the successor of the godless Bruce Lee…”

I repeated everything over and over. That I am ‘me,’ and to suppress ‘the other me.’

“I really am a pathetic brat.”

Anyone seeing this would mistake me for a lunatic.

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“Here you are, Lorcha.”

After wandering the streets for 2 hours, asking nearby merchants, I finally heard she had headed to a nearby valley. Thanks to that, I was drenched in sweat, my clothes soaked, and I was in a foul mood.

And there she was, sitting on a rock, watching the flowing stream. The evening sunlight reflecting off the stream created a beautiful color, and Lorcha, gazing at it, looked even more beautiful.

“…It’s getting dark soon. So let’s head back before it’s too late. The security here isn’t great.”

Given what I just saw, there are plenty of trashy people looking for trouble. In this messed-up fantasy world, if Lorcha’s shoulder even brushes against someone, there’d be a bunch of horny idiots demanding her body.

“You think I’d be scared of some street thugs? How far are you going to underestimate me?”

No, it’s not that. I’m worried she’d kill the thugs and their entire families. I’m against collective punishment, after all.

“No… I’m just worried we won’t find our way in the dark…”

“I’ve run through the night streets crying before. I think you know who to thank for that.”

Damn, she’s really pissed.

“Lorcha… I’m really sorry. I was… just so exhausted.”

“Not contacting me… does that mean I’m one of the people who exhausted you?”

No matter how much I tried to deflect, her defense was top-tier, pressing me hard. Honestly, even with a hundred mouths, I couldn’t argue back. Unlike other comrades or acquaintances, Lorcha is someone who only got hurt by Werner.

‘You… you were wrong too, you jerk!’ There was nothing I could boldly argue back with. Even if I had been late to a childhood promise, Lorcha has always lived only for Werner since childhood. If we said to meet at 3 PM, she’d be there by 1 PM, waiting.

Werner wanted to keep it hidden, but to resolve this situation, he had to speak his true feelings.

“I didn’t want you to get involved. Since I’ve dealt with one of them, they’ll target the people around me. And I was too powerless to protect my brothers and sisters, even needing protection through marriage. That’s not the only reason I ran away… but you were one of them, Lorcha.”

In truth, Werner had been fighting the pursuers of the Black Round Table, disguised as a criminal organization. By killing the pursuers, he barely managed to keep the higher-ups from coming. The criminal organization that once thrived in Bekem was also a subordinate of the Black Round Table.

“So what! Even if you say that now, nothing changes! What’s the point of saying that now!”

“Yeah, nothing changes. But still… I want to restore our relationship. Even if it’s selfish of me.”

I approached her. Through Lorcha’s beautiful eyes, I could see my reflection. My face was covered in blood.

“Werner, you… where’s that blood from…”

“Don’t worry, it’s not mine… I got into a bit of trouble on the way.”

“Clumsy…”

Lorcha took out a handkerchief and wiped my face. Her gentle touch felt good on my cheek.

“Since way back, you’ve always gotten food on your face… couldn’t clean up… if you were born in a world without magic, you’d have starved to death.”

“Well… maybe I’d have made a living as an assassin?”

“You? An assassin? If you made a living as an assassin, I’d go to the castle.”

Damn, is that a proposal? I really did make a living like that.

“All done. Seriously, how would you survive without me?”

She threw the bloodied handkerchief on the ground. It looked like an expensive silk one, but she didn’t care. Being the successor of a family that’s held the position of Tower Lord, she could treat such high-end handkerchiefs like tissues.

She throws away anything dirty or used. But she loved Werner enough to keep him by her side, even after he lost his great magic due to injury. She loved Werner more than anyone else in this world.

But love, like the water she controls, can easily change. Water can turn into hot steam or cold ice. Werner’s cold words and the long years were enough to freeze Lorcha’s once fluid heart.

“Yeah, without you, I might really starve to death.”

Then she realized what she said and blushed.

“Even if you starve to death, it’s none of my business now.”

“Hmph… don’t be like that, help me so I don’t starve.”

“What what what what?”

Lorcha’s face was now completely red. Looking at the color, you’d think she was a fire attribute mage, not water.

“Didn’t you tell me before? The person who becomes my wife will have a hard time taking care of me. So you should take care of me.”

“Shut… up! And you have a fiancée! What are you scheming!”

Ah, I just meant to reconcile and be friends like before, but it seems she misunderstood it as a proposal. Seeing her embarrassed face, I couldn’t help but tease her more.

“Isn’t it fine? The Empire allows polygamy anyway. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“When you were young, you rejected every girl who confessed to you… why have you grown into a flirt now…?”

“Well, the world made me this way.”

“No, looking at what you said and did back then, you had it in you. You were a potential flirt.”

As she berated me, she was still wearing the cheap necklace Werner had given her.