Turning Chapter 986

Chapter 986

Yuder nodded his head. "No matter how unbelievable it may be, if there's only one answer left after eliminating all others..."

"...If that's the answer, then I have no choice but to believe it."

The words he had spoken before, when he had entrusted his faith to Yuder, were repeated once more. Yuder nodded.

"Yes. It was only then that I could finally understand how you were able to say those words back then, Commander."

In that moment, he couldn't help but believe to his very bones that the person in front of his eyes and the existence left only in his dreams were fundamentally the same person.

No matter what different experiences they had gone through or what different choices they had made, he was still Kishiar.

He was far from the rotten nobles who treated commoners like trash, and like the emperor who shared the same blood, he could sometimes push away the things he loved without batting an eye for the sake of something precious.

If necessary to achieve his goals, he could put on a perfect act that no one would be able to see through.

He was definitely that kind of person.

Come to think of it, when judged objectively, Yudrain Aile and the Cavalry had nothing to lose and everything to gain from Kishiar's death. First of all, the risk of being purged alongside the last descendant of the old imperial family, who had an infinitely high possibility of being targeted by a new power sooner or later, had disappeared. By taking responsibility for that dangerous and immoral mission and succeeding alone, he had also gained the deep trust of Emperor Katchian, which was not easily obtained by any other means. Even the scandals of sodomy and favoritism that had arisen over Yudrain's appointment as Commander had been buried in people's memories without a trace some time after Kishiar's death. Rumors about a person who had disappeared were inherently short-lived.

The only rumor left in the place where those shameful scandals had disappeared was an underground rumor that Yuder had assassinated Duke Peletta. Those who did not forget that secret story avoided and looked down on him, but they could not dare to treat him carelessly.

Any citizen of the Orr Empire would inevitably have a mythical image, to a greater or lesser extent, of the bloodline of the old imperial family that had continued for a thousand years. Even if Duke Peletta was so pathetic that it was obvious he would disappear someday, the value of his noble blood was real, making it difficult for everyone. If it was true that a mere commoner had killed and eliminated him without a hint of fear, who on earth could make Yudrain Aile afraid? It was close to a superstitious feeling that they didn't want to say outright, but that's why it had the greatest effect of all.

It was no exaggeration to say that the reason Yuder, despite being a commoner and an omega Awakener who was easy to ignore, was able to fully grasp the Cavalry, the continent's greatest military force, and yet experience little trouble on the surface, was all thanks to that incident.

The only loss, if any, was that he had forgotten the memories related to Kishiar without even knowing it, but Yuder had stayed away from everything related to him until he was executed, so he never felt any discomfort. One cannot suffer for what one does not know in the first place.

Was it really a coincidence that no one had rushed to avenge Duke Peletta after Kishiar's death? Was the quiet disappearance of Nathan Zuckerman and disbandment of the Peletta Knights, who ought to not hesitate to use any means to kill Yuder, truly without Kishiar's influence?

He didn't know then, but he knew now. They were people who would not move without Kishiar's orders.

Conversely, it also meant that if Kishiar gave an order, they would have tried to follow it, no matter how incomprehensible it might be.

Since Yuder had successfully completed the assassination mission, the Emperor did not escalate the incident and buried it as quietly as possible. He probably didn't want to give any excuse for the old imperial family's friendly forces to unite. As Duke Peletta's death was quietly buried, the blade of purge hardly reached those who followed him, and everything ended with just the dissolution. Another big reason was that no one knew the extent of the abilities of the knights and the adjutant who followed Duke Peletta, so they thought they weren't even worth being wary of. Even Yuder, who roughly knew Nathan Zuckerman's hidden skills, didn't properly know his past and loyalty, so he lost interest not long after hearing the news of his disappearance.

Therefore, in the end, the only life that died and disappeared because of that incident was Kishiar La Orr.

None of those who followed him, not even Yuder who went to assassinate him, were injured at all. Everyone survived, so naturally that there was no room for suspicion.

A natural and traceless disappearance. How strange is this? More difficult than destroying and killing something is saving something and sending it out of the public eye.

Just look at the Pearl Tower destruction incident that happened a few years later. After it collapsed, related incidents kept happening, causing so much social disruption.

The greenhorn who had just become a Commander didn't have the judgment to read between the lines of that naturalness.

But now he knew. Now that he had come to know the current Kishiar, he could guess through him.

Kishiar wanted those who followed him not to suffer just because of that reason, and to be safe if possible. If he had to prepare for after his disappearance in a situation where he was facing death, the first thing he would have considered was the safety of those around him.

And perhaps, in that safety of those around him, Yuder Aile himself was definitely included...

When he thought that far, he couldn't bear the fire burning in his heart.

Yuder finally put into words the one and only answer left at the end of all the pain that had swirled in his head.

"In the end, I had no choice but to admit that even the you over there, because you are you, may have acted for me in your own way."

"..."

"That even not telling me anything about you may have actually been intentional. Rather, if it's the you I know, it makes more sense. When I realized that all the remaining circumstances fit better with that... I couldn't think of anything."

When he came to his senses, a white-gloved hand was wiping away his tears, and for the first time, he realized that he was crying.

That cold yet kind touch.

The consolation that was not a consolation from the existence that had flowed away and disappeared into the past gave Yuder more certainty about the answer left to him.

So it was painful.

It was just as painful to say it out loud, but at least this time, he didn't shed tears without knowing it. Yuder slowly lifted the corners of his lips, feeling Kishiar's strongly beating heart under his fingertips.

Even if no one else could feel that he was smiling, the man in front of him would surely know.

"...But even without a body, as expected of the Commander, he pulled me along and took me somewhere, telling me to look at something important. There, I saw the strange crack and terribly shaped things."

A crack that was the only thing that looked like it had been cut with a knife in a completely black world, and the blue sea beyond it. And the mountain of terrible beings that trampled and swallowed each other to somehow get out toward it.

"When I realized that there was a sea beyond it, the southern earthquake was the first thing that came to mind. It must have been trying to warn me that it would happen soon and what kind of things would cross over the cracks."

The dream ended like that. However, before falling and waking up, Yuder clearly declared to the white-gloved hand.

"As I said upon waking, I will save you."

The referent of "you" was quite ambiguous.

It was both the white-gloved hand left alone in the darkness behind the crack, and the man who was now lying on Yuder's lap, exhaling thin breaths.

For Yuder, the distinction between the two was now meaningless.

"There may have been more things related to the Commander of the previous game that I still don't know about. No, there probably are. I can't be sure that I have all the memories. But it doesn't matter."

Even the southern earthquake, which he had thought might be impossible to solve despite preparing so much, had now faded beyond his memory. So perhaps it would be the right path to let the white-gloved hand fade into memory too, but Yuder didn't think so.

"...That is all I wanted to say."

He looked down at Kishiar and quietly asked.

"By any chance, after hearing this story, were you displeased?"