Chapter 18 - The Vortex (3)
"Ugh, what's with this guy crying like a sissy. Damn it…"
Even the curses tasted sweet.
I swallowed the crumbling meat, barely managing to hold back my tears.
"Sorry. It just… happened suddenly."
"Seriously… Fine. You must've really rolled around in the gutter too. Good thing you don't have a single scar on your face."
"Yeah. Somehow."
"Are you surprisingly strong? No, of course you must be strong. That's why you got picked to come here, right? But what about your parents?"
"My parents passed away."
"No, of course they would've passed away, right? I mean, when did they pass away…? No, never mind. It doesn't matter, so eat slowly. Eat this too."
Phil kindly pushed the plate in front of him towards me.
I didn't decline and crammed all the food into my throat.
"Wow, you eat well. You look like you haven't eaten in days."
"Yeah. I haven't eaten much."
"Oh, really? Uh… okay. Eat a lot. You're so thin but you eat so much. Even if you were starving."
I nodded and kept eating.
"Oh… your face is getting some color just from eating that? Anyway, it's delicious, right?"
"Yeah. It's delicious."
"Then don't forget to come by sometimes and bring some business here even after the semester starts."
Phil snorted, looking at the owner-sister who was trimming vegetables in the back.
"That Mom, no, that older sister, her cooking is amazing, if nothing else. This place needs to get more famous. She needs to save up money and open a bigger shop."
"Like the Oak Tree Inn?"
"Honestly, it's worth aiming for. The problem is money, though."
"Yeah. I really hope it works out. I'll come often. Phew…"
I let out a long sigh and looked at the empty table.
"Thanks. I really ate well thanks to you."
"Yeah. You really did eat well. Later, when you get into Class B, spread the word. Oh, and be careful when you go back to the dorm later. There have been bodies appearing around here lately."
"Bodies?"
I lowered my voice and asked again.
"Bodies, you say? Can you tell me more?"
It might be about the people the spy killed. Phil sighed and shrugged.
"Bodies have been appearing in the slums lately. Of course, they appear normally too, but… it's suddenly increased. More than anything, the bodies are very gruesome."
"You mean they were killed brutally?"
"Extremely. If it looks that way even to someone like me, that says it all, right? So be careful at night. If you wander around foolishly, you might get your neck slit from behind."
Phil made a motion of slitting his neck with his hand.
Do the Poison King's spies use knives to kill people too?
"Yeah. I should be careful."
"If bodies keep appearing like this, it's dangerous. The back-alley shops might all be forced to close. Like a night curfew or something… That would be a big problem. Everyone would go bankrupt. We need to find a solution before it gets to that point."
"Like catching the culprit?"
"That would be the best."
Phil gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.
"Whoever it is, if they get caught by me, I won't let them die easily. If I hadn't entered the academy, I would've been patrolling every night. Ugh, I'm so annoyed."
Woong!
Phil emitted a faint aura around his body, showing off his strength.
Barely 2-star, perhaps?
Of course, from my perspective, with no aura at all, even that much was incredibly enviable.
"How many bodies have appeared? Three, perhaps?"
"Three bodies, my ass."
Phil snorted and shook his head.
"I've seen five myself. Heard of over twenty."
"Twenty?"
"Yeah. Twenty. Only the brutally killed ones, not ordinary bodies."
That means the spies are carrying out similar activities.
"We need to catch them quickly. It'll be a disaster if the shops close."
"Exactly. Anyway, if you've eaten well, go back now. If someone unfamiliar with this neighborhood wanders around too late and gets stopped for inspection, it'll be a hassle."
"Okay. Got it."
I smiled quietly and nodded.
"Thank you. For being so kind. I'll definitely repay you later."
"Ha, why are you being so cheesy again?"
Phil picked his ear, making a stiff expression.
"It's fine, just forget about it. We should help each other out, being in similar situations."
"Huh?"
"Huh? Seriously, why are you playing coy now? I know everything. I have a good eye for people. What I mean is, you smell similar to me."
"Huh?"
I put my sleeve to my nose and sniffed.
Was my clothes really smelling?
"Hey, no, not that kind of smell… Do I have to spell it out? You said your parents passed away earlier, right?"
"Yeah. I did."
"That. That feeling of not having parents or family. You've lived your whole life in an orphanage, so you must roughly get it, right? Aren't you an orphan too?"
Since I was indeed an orphan, I nodded.
Phil then smiled as if it were obvious.
"Ha, I knew it. People from our kind of back alley have a similar vibe no matter where in the world."
"So, we felt a similar connection."
"Yeah. Ever since I first saw you."
That's why he approached me first and helped me.
It's amazing.
It's a strange and amazing feeling.
I never thought there would be someone who felt I was kindred to them now.
I thought I was all alone in the world…
"So, where are you from? Clest? Dogi? Irnhart?" Phil asked. I answered without hesitation.
"Granvelle."
"Granvelle? Granvelle Village?"
"Yeah. Granvelle Village."
"Uh… I've heard of that place, no, wait a minute."
Then Phil's already grim face twisted even more fiercely.
"Don't tell me you're talking about that place recently? The one invaded by the Poison King family? The one rumored to have been annihilated?"
"Yeah. That's the one."
"Ugh… You poor bastard, you really went through a lot. How did you survive? But that means you haven't been an orphan for long, right?"
"That's right."
"Oh, um. I see. My condolences. It must have been hard."
"Thanks. I'm okay now."
"This is a bit unexpected…"
Phil frowned and tilted his head for a moment.
"To have this kind of feeling even though it hasn't been long…"
"Is it that similar?"
"Honestly, it's more than that. It's much deeper than mine."
"Really?"
"Yeah. No, wait, is that how it usually is? Kids who come in a bit older actually have a harder time adjusting. The orphanage, I mean. Is it because they have too many memories of their parents…? Well, anyway, since it's come to this, what can we do? We're old enough now."
Phil gulped down the water glass in front of him as if it were alcohol and sighed.
"Phew, alright. Let's be friends."
"Huh?"
"It's fate, so let's be friends, us similar guys. You're in Class B, right?"
"That's right. Class B."
"Then you'll probably learn better than Class C, right? You're definitely better at swordsmanship than me. So, if you have time, teach me a bit. I'm really terrible at swordsmanship."
"Swordsmanship?"
"I really don't know anything. I don't understand anything about Basic Sword or Training Sword. Do you know what they are?"
"Yeah. I know."
Of course, I knew.
Basic Sword refers to the first stage of swordsmanship, or 1-star.
This means the minimum level required to handle the fundamental form of swordsmanship, the True Sword, established by the first Sword King when he founded the academy.
Next, Training Sword is the 2-star stage.
It means the level of perfectly mastering the True Sword and being able to use it appropriately.
"Then teach me a bit. Since we're friends, let's help each other out. How about it? I can't pay you for tutoring, but I can buy you meals at places like this sometimes."
For friends, it was quite a materialistic offer.
That's why a hollow laugh escaped me.
Friends, huh.
Honestly, it's a difficult topic.
I lost everything to the Poison King Cult.
I'm only holding on with the sole purpose of repaying them.
In this situation, friends?
How could I dare drag anyone into my future, which is filled only with pain, despair, death, and revenge?
Into this path of hell.
But then, a voice suddenly echoed.
—I want to make many friends.
—Good friends.
Ah, that's right.
My sister said she wanted to make many friends.
So I have to fulfill that.
In place of my sister, who can no longer make friends.
Even if becoming my friend means dragging them into this brutal path of death…
Yeah.
What else can I do?
His name was Phil, right?
Don't resent me later, okay?
I didn't ask for this first, okay?
"Okay. Let's be friends."
I smiled and extended my hand.
Phil also smiled and took my hand.
"No backing out, okay? Once a friend, always a friend, okay? I'm going to suck you dry, okay?"
"Don't worry. I probably won't be the first to back out."
"Oh, good spirit. So, what's your name?"
"I told you it's Ray?"
"No, I mean your full name. Your new surname or your original surname."
"I only have one surname. Granvelle. Ray Granvelle."
"Granvelle?"
"Yeah. Granvelle."
"No, you said you were from Granvelle Village, right? And your surname is Granvelle too?"
"Yeah."
"Granvelle is… that, isn't it? One of the Eight Great Houses of the Sword King? But your surname is Granvelle… No, wait. Don't tell me?"
His eyelids twitched as if in a spasm.
I inwardly gave a bitter smile and said, "That 'don't tell me' is correct."
"Ah… no, that… No, wait, wait a minute. Just a minute!"
Phil shrieked and yelled at the owner-sister who was clearing empty seats.
"Mom! That, that thing from before!"
"Huh? What? You want me to get out the liquor I saved before? The one a customer left behind?"
"Ah, no, not that! That story! That incident that caused such a commotion recently! You said there was one survivor!"
"The Granvelle Village Massacre?"
"That's right! That! They said one of the Eight Great Houses was uprooted and it was a huge deal! What was the survivor's name again?"
"Ah, that. They said he was the youngest son of the Granvelle family, what was it… Ah!"
The owner-sister clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
"I remember. It was Ray. So it must be Ray Granvelle."
"Gasp…"
Conversely, Phil's face crumpled like a rotten fruit.
"Lo… Lord Ray?"
He turned his head like a broken watermill and looked at me.
"Don't tell me you were, Lord… Lord? From one of the Eight Great Houses?"
"Lord, my ass. We're friends now, aren't we?"
"No, no matter what… Cough!"
Phil choked on water with an awkward movement and started coughing.
"Cough! Cough! Ugh… I, I didn't know, no, I didn't know and I was so disrespectful to someone from the Sword King's main family…"
"It's fine, just relax. As you said, the family was uprooted. So it doesn't matter."
"But, still… Ugh, what on earth have I done? What if my orphanage support gets cut off for disrespecting you…"
"That won't happen… Huh?"
It was at that moment.
A new illusion rapidly unfolded before Phil's flustered face.
A young man was fighting fiercely with a group of the Poison King.
It was Phil as a young man.
He desperately resisted and struggled in the horrific scene of battle.
To not die.
But he never ran away.
Why?
"—Hey! You son of a bitch! I'm really going to die before my time because of you!"
The bloodied man yelled far ahead.
Then, a monstrous man there replied with a metallic voice.
"—I told you to run away!"
That monster was me.
Phil spat out crimson saliva and retorted.
"—Shut up! Would you run away alone?! This is my home! How can I abandon this place…!"
Then Phil's head exploded like a firecracker.
Pop!
"…"
At the same time, the illusion vanished.
I felt my heart beating rapidly and let out a silent sigh.
"Oh, my heart's pounding, no, so can I really be comfortable, Lord Ray?"
"Drop the 'Lord.' Just speak casually. It makes me uncomfortable."
"Phew, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. No one's going to come and arrest me, right?"
Phil rubbed his chest and looked back at the shop door.
I shook my head, recalling Phil's exploding head in the future illusion.
Yes, I knew it would be like this.
Because he got entangled with me, because he became my friend, he too was swept into the same fate as me.
Towards an unavoidable future of death.
"…Tell those illusions to stop joking."
"Huh? What did you just say?"
Phil turned his head and asked.
I smiled and shook my head.
"No, nothing."
Yes.
Nothing has happened yet.
Not yet.