The Man’s 101st Bad Ending

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“From the way you speak, it doesn’t seem like… you don’t know the meaning of those words.”

Jay, her real name was Arwen Tarsilla.

For her, who had betrayed the imperial family and was on the run, how would she interpret the meaning of saying I would kill the Crown Prince?

I knew the answer to this question. If I were to name the common denominator between her and me, it would be the Crown Prince.

Since it wasn’t the first time I faced her, it was better to speak directly to the point from the beginning instead of beating around the bush.

Although it might be quite surprising from her perspective, it was always easier to get to the main point faster when I spoke this way.

Her rabbit-like red eyes unmistakably wavered.

She seemed to want to probe my true intention, but she couldn’t easily do so because of the appearance I had shown just now.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know how you found out about me, but I can’t answer right away. Although I know you, this is the first time I’ve met you in person.”

Arwen, who had been staring at me intently, nodded once and continued.

It seemed she needed time.

It was always a sudden meeting, but this time was different, so it made sense.

“I need time to think. I’m grateful that you saved me, but I can’t make a decision lightly if it’s related to the Crown Prince. Above all, I’m not sure if your true intention is really that.”

“I understand. When you change your mind, you can contact me where I am.”

Glancing sideways, I felt that Adele had come quite close now.

I didn’t expect this meeting to immediately lead to the main point anyway.

The deal would likely be made a few months later, or at least a month later.

Still, it was certain that I had saved Arwen in this run as well.

Since the possibility was open, if I acted calmly, the harvest would follow.

As footsteps were soon heard from below, Arwen, with narrowed eyes, looked at me.

“Are they your companions?”

“You can think of it that way. I told them to wait, but it seems the time has been delayed too much.”

Looking around, the corpses and bloodstains had completely disappeared.

There was a scent of blood, but this could hide the carnage to some extent, couldn’t it?

Then, when Adele burst through the door and entered, she made eye contact with me and thoroughly examined my body for a moment.

“You’re here. I told you to wait.”

“Did you do well what you intended to do? It took so long that I came up thinking something might have happened…”

Her eyes then turned to Arwen.

“Is that the person you were trying to save? What, a hidden lover?”

“I don’t have such tastes.”

“If that were really the case, I would have killed her here. The world doesn’t need people like that.”

Grinning mischievously, she then approached me with great strides.

After staring at me blankly for a moment, Adele reached out and carefully felt my body.

As if shaking off raindrops or smoothing out wrinkles, she checked every nook and cranny of my body, then stepped back and added.

“You’re not hurt. It would be strange for you to get hurt somewhere with those skills.”

“…Did you check?”

“There was a guy who hid his wound and died from it getting worse. If you have a wound, don’t hide it. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

As I stared at her blankly at those words, Adele turned her head and looked at Arwen.

Arwen also seemed to know who Adele was.

Of course, there was no one who didn’t know Adele Igrit, but more precisely, she knew her ‘past’.

The tyrant Adele who had killed countless people in a way close to a massacre.

But there was no need for her to tremble like that.

Seeing her body trembling so pitifully, I let out a small sigh.

“I think it’s about time we left. She probably needs to rest too.”

“Is it already dawn? Yes, it can’t be helped.”

As Adele looked at Lothos, he nodded his head vigorously and disappeared alone.

He probably intended to leave with the subordinates spread out beside him.

Adele wouldn’t stay long either, so we wouldn’t meet again until I headed to the north.

Arwen also glanced around and hurriedly cleaned up the broken beaker, and I also had to return to the ducal estate.

Arwen’s gaze fell on me, then fell away again when our eyes met.

It must have been because the image of me from earlier overlapped.

I had no ill feelings towards her, but once she felt her life threatened, she would likely have that attitude for a while.

If I wouldn’t meet Arwen or Adele for a while…

Maybe I would occasionally run into Yuria and Theresa.

Just thinking about it made me feel bad.

As I was about to wipe my haggard face, I realized that Adele, who was about to leave the room, had suddenly stopped.

Then she looked at me and quietly moved her lips.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I will. Just a moment, my head hurts.”

It was refreshing. But it was also true that I felt conflicted.

I had saved Arwen, but wasn’t this always the first thing I did when regressing?

I thought a lot of time had passed, but I had only taken the first step.

If I couldn’t finish it in this run either, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to keep my sanity then.

That was why I had tried a completely different route, but would this method work?

Shaking my head for a moment, I moved to follow Adele, who was walking ahead.

My head hurt. Frowning at the pain piercing my brain, I smiled bitterly.

If time passed quickly, maybe this pain would disappear.

My honest feeling was that I wanted this end to be seen before my eyes, so I could die as soon as possible.

Forever. So that I could never think again.

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After saving Arwen, I always walked this alley to return to the ducal estate.

I had no choice but to hide my appearance since I was always soaked in blood.

I had prepared spare clothes, but this time things went well in various ways, so the outside was clean.

I never expected Arwen to wake up from that commotion.

She had never woken up before… it must have been because I used mana.

“You don’t look well. Did something happen earlier?”

“Do I?”

“You look like you want to vomit. I think something must have happened, but…”

Perhaps recalling what I had called a secret earlier,

Adele swallowed her words and didn’t continue.

Come to think of it, I wasn’t walking alone now.

I had coincidentally met Adele and enjoyed the Full Moon Festival, and we ended up meeting just before saving Arwen and coming here together.

Who would have predicted that meeting at the ball last time would lead to this?

I didn’t particularly like the word coincidence, but it didn’t seem like my connection with Adele in this turn would be easily broken.

I felt conflicted. It was because I couldn’t understand what this meeting meant.

What I had seen while going through the previous runs was that those connected by fate always turned their backs on me.

My family, my fiancée, even my close friends.

The lover I found instead of my fiancée ended up stabbing me with a knife, and the one I thought was my close friend was actually the one who had ruined me the most.

I remembered that twisted smile.

I remembered the face that mocked me, saying there was no way they would sincerely consider me a close friend.

How could I remain indifferent while recalling that? Betrayal was an emotion that one could never get used to.

The sensation of one’s heart shattering, blood vessels twisting, and all the blood in one’s body draining down.

All I could do was breathe out.

That’s why I hated it. Whenever I walked this street alone, I hated being tormented by those memories and used to run.

“I’m fine now. Much better than usual.”

Thanks to her, I was too embarrassed to say it was because of her.

I didn’t know that just having someone by my side could alleviate the symptoms.

Although I had to hide it saying it was a secret, just her eyes not despising me were a comfort to me.

Adele stared at me for a moment, then turned her gaze towards the sky.

The night sky without lights always evoked admiration just by looking at it.

I didn’t know how much the sky here differed from the one in the north,

but the starlight in this stillness always moved people’s emotions.

It was a little later when Adele, who had been blankly looking at the sky for a while, opened her mouth.

“I will be returning soon. We probably won’t meet again until you come to the north.”

“Probably. When autumn comes, I will visit you then.”

“…I hope you do something about those eyes by then. They make me uncomfortable whenever I see them. You look like you’ll die at any moment.”

“Is that why you were worried? That I might really die and disappear?”

I thought she would naturally deny it, but Adele unexpectedly said nothing.

Those blue eyes touched me, as if trying to pierce through my inner thoughts.

After a while of looking into each other’s eyes, Adele answered with a faint smile.

“I was for a moment. I thought you might really die.”

“Pardon?”

“So don’t die. I hate hearing that someone I know has died the most.”

Adele’s cloak fluttered as she turned her back.

Mixing with the darkness, only her silver hair illuminated by the moonlight shone brilliantly.

She looked at me like that.

As if she had something to say, her mouth opened slightly after looking at me several times.

“…Make sure to come this time, don’t run away.”

“I should. I have a debt to repay too.”

Just the fact that she had let it go when I said it was a secret was a great debt.

If I thought about my actions, it would just look suspicious from the perspective of someone who knew nothing.

Nevertheless, I had to repay her somehow for believing in me.

Recalling what she had said yesterday, I retorted by quoting her.

“Because you would be disappointed if I didn’t come.”

Adele laughed at those words.

It was just like the appearance I remembered from a certain run.

Wasn’t it fortunate that the only thing that had changed in this world was me?

If everything had kept changing, I might not have been able to endure it until now.

As if she had said everything she wanted to say, Adele disappeared into the night shadow.

When I realized that I was the only one left on the empty street, there was an emotion that surged again.

…I walked to forget that.

I walked through the pitch-black alley without a single light, increasing my pace to erase my thoughts.

Relying only on the moonlight in the sky, I walked forward.

I wasn’t even sure if the direction I was going was correct.

I just walked, thinking my body would remember.

After a long time passed like that, it seemed like calmness finally returned to its place.

Wiping the cold sweat running down my forehead, I slowly raised my head.

The building that came into my sight was, quite absurdly, the main gate of the ducal estate.

Many people must have fallen asleep.

Under the many rooms with the lights off, there was only one room with the light on.

It was probably where Yuria was. She must be quite busy in her own way.

Since it was the first Full Moon Festival she was managing, she must have had a lot to do.

That was better for me.

It was most comfortable for me when she didn’t pay attention to me.

‘She won’t notice.’

It was rare for Yuria to be awake until now.

Thinking there would be no chance of running into her, the moment I entered through the door,

a low voice penetrated my ears.

“You’re finally here. It’s past 3 AM now, and the festival ended a long time ago.”

There was a woman looking at me from the doorway.

With her characteristically cold gaze, her eyes examining my appearance were completely different from Adele’s.

A gaze filled with negative emotions like contempt.

As I smiled bitterly, Yuria began to speak.

“I have no idea what you were doing until now to come back at this hour. Did you not know that I had been looking for you for a long time?”

I thought my luck wasn’t bad today.

But was that my misconception?

Seeing Yuria, who was still looking at me coldly, I let out a small sigh.

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