I Am a Ruined Noble of a Ruined Kingdom

Chapter 24: "The One Who Commits Sin, The One Who Will Commit Sin"

Sunlight poured down beautifully from the entrance where grotesque rocks spread like wings on either side.

The Great Cavern was a space boasting considerable breadth.

Only a small portion of the ground was touched by sunlight. Turning one's gaze even slightly revealed a wide expanse of dark shade, flaunting its emptiness.

In the center of the shade, where originally nothing should have been, existed a man and a woman. Charles Milote lay neatly on the altar, fast asleep, while Zicharun stared down at her intently.

"..."

In the darkness, ruby-like eyes shone brightly. Zicharun was lost in thought as he silently gazed at Charles.

'Now... the preparations are complete.'

Iruealfi Yustiha cannot move, even in preparation for any possibility. Even if the other four great dukes move, excluding Fayta, it's already too late.

Zicharun suddenly recalled a man. A man with the same black hair and red eyes as himself. If there hadn't been a difference in height of about one head, his comrades might have mistaken them for each other.

The man, who had no information whatsoever, possessed shocking physical abilities. The imbalance between his physical abilities and athletic skills was striking and eerie.

He should have been enveloped in golden rays and disappeared, but he felt a gritty sensation, as if sand dust was caught in his throat.

It must be because it was the first time he had killed someone. Zicharun decided to attribute it to that.

'With the sacrifice of this one child, the trigger for the empire's destruction will be completed. Yes... the empire will be destroyed...'

He constantly questioned himself inwardly.

Is this really okay?

Softly.

The back of Zicharun's hand brushed against Charles's golden hair. Perhaps because she had always taken care of it meticulously, the texture was soft like down and smooth like a frozen pond.

Zicharun was startled. It was because he was amazed by the excessively vivid humanity. He was momentarily distracted by the distinct features visible even in the shade.

"Ah..."

It was Charles muttering in her sleep. It was a reaction to Zicharun brushing her side hair away and touching the tip of his finger to her cheek.

'Warm.'

It was a sensation felt with only the fingertip near the nail. It was that slight of a touch.

Zicharun felt the warmth of a person.

"Ha, haha..."

The result of his uncontrolled subconscious was a hollow self-mockery. Zicharun faced a rare, immense sense of bewilderment.

"What, what choice should I have made?"

He asked in a trembling voice.

There was no answer.

Zicharun turned his gaze to the sunlight that didn't reach the altar. It was an equal light that illuminated the world evenly and reached into the depths of the damp Great Cavern.

It must be warm. If you basked in it, you would feel languid.

He thought it was fortunate that no one was here right now. As long as there were eyes watching, he had to reign as the always-domineering and strong Zicharun.

He had to live that kind of life until that day allowed.

Otherwise, he would have fearlessly and freely felt ashamed without fearing the eyes of others.

'Coming to the sunny side now... I'm too dirty.'

A large hood completely covered Zicharun's head. Within the shaded hood, only the ruby-like eyes blinked quietly.

They were the eyes of a man bearing sin.

◇

Iruealfi was descending a dark, spiral staircase alone. It was a secret space in the main palace with restricted access.

Although it was underground where light didn't reach, large lights were placed at regular intervals so there was no need to worry about misstepping.

At the end of the spiral staircase was an ornately decorated door. Iruealfi took a deep breath and slowly entered.

"Miren."

Unlike the gloomy outside, the inside of the door was as bright as if it were touched by sunlight. It was spacious and luxurious like a room where honored guests would stay, and the necessary items were neatly arranged without a speck of dust.

A large bed that could fit four people took up a corner of the room. Sometimes the spacious surface made one feel a sense of desolation.

It was likely all the more so because the owner of the bed was a girl of small stature compared to the space.

"Your sister hasn't come in a while, has she? I'm sorry."

Iruealfi lightly stroked Miren's well-groomed face. Looking at her emaciated figure with only skin barely clinging to her bones made her chest ache.

What made Iruealfi's heart even colder was that Miren's growth had stopped since she fell asleep.

Her younger sister, who was four years younger, had her body's growth neatly stopped since her soul was bound to the golden chains. She was a fourteen-year-old girl who was no different now than she was then.

"Aren't you struggling? Aren't you feeling suffocated? Your sister wants you to wake up soon."

Miren's body was currently bound by the golden chains that were part of Eldchain. As long as her soul was bound to the chains, untying the chains could cause more dangerous results.

Miren's situation of being bound like a criminal was miserable in contrast to her pure appearance.

Even so, Iruealfi suppressed her feelings and spoke kindly.

"Miren, do you know what? Your sister lived in our mansion... That is, not in the Yustiha Marquisate but in another mansion during this time. The reason is quite a spectacle..."

Iruealfi casually talked about the many things she had experienced so far.

Meeting Nephi, the daily life in the mansion, the things that happened in society.

"Miren might not believe it, but Nephi makes a sound like a rusty carriage from his pelvis when he dances. Also, even though he's a marquis, he always speaks politely to the servants? He also often says nonsense, which is funny. And he's so soft that he readily offered to give half of that huge mansion..."

Perhaps because she hadn't visited in a while, there were so many stories she wanted to tell. The daily life in the mansion was always so colorful and a little enjoyable.

"Miren, actually, Nephi is a terrible villain. He committed terrible wrongdoings in the past. So I've been wary of him until now... But now he doesn't know anything. He's lived for 500 years, but he talks like someone my age, and he doesn't plot bad things. He grumbles but does everything I ask..."

Iruealfi gently held Miren's hand.

"Was Nephi really a bad person? If it was a misunderstanding... How should your sister apologize? Actually, your sister was a bit... No, very rude at our first meeting..."

Iruealfi recalled her first encounter where she mercilessly dismembered Nephi's arms, legs, and waist with the Formless Sword. It was a legitimate act as an ordered knight commander, but she was concerned about her actions at the time.

Whether to apologize or not. This was really ambiguous.

"I want to regain our daily life soon. Miren and your sister are at Charles's tea party, and... It would be nice if we had a daily life where Nephi was restless."

A gentle smile lingered on Iruealfi's lips.

Yes, she wanted to protect her current daily life.

Our, my, unchanging daily life.

At that moment, Iruealfi suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her temple.

Throb-

"Ugh... What is it?"

She had been healthy without any minor illnesses since she was born. It was difficult for her to maintain her balance due to the sudden extreme pain.

Fearing that Miren would be harmed, she had to step back a few steps from the bed.

Buzz, buzz-

"Ah... Ugh... Ah..."

A strange sensation of tinnitus rummaging through her skull came after the headache. A tingling sensation like bugs crawling in her brain and a phenomenon that felt like her eardrums were about to burst made her stagger.

"Mi... ren..."

Iruealfi couldn't even pronounce Miren's name properly. She leaned against the table, unable to withstand the unknown strange phenomenon.

It was too difficult to control her body on her own. When she put a little strength into her grip, the table she was relying on crumbled like a cookie.

Iruealfi, who lost her support, fell backward.

"Ah... Aaaah...!"

She had been patiently enduring with groans, but she finally let out a scream.

Iruealfi saw a flash of light that would destroy the world after wriggling on the ground like a caterpillar.

Her consciousness sank into a deep sleep along with the world that was turning white.

◇

Creak, creak, screech-

Everything was dark. Her body had lost its freedom and felt stuffy, and her chest felt itchy every time she breathed as if there was dust in her lungs.

"Ah... Oo... Ee... Eh...?"

A hideous metallic sound that could only be heard in a blacksmith's shop came from her throat. She couldn't even pronounce clearly because she didn't have a tongue.

She moved her extremely stuffy body.

Creak, creak, screech...

The rough surfaces of the rusty metal scratched against each other, creating a chilling noise. She then realized why her whole body felt stuffy.

Heavy armor from head to toe was covering her.

"Oo... Ee... Ah...?"

Is this a dream?

She – Iruealfi – realized that the pain she had felt until just now had completely disappeared.

Although the pain had disappeared, her current body condition was terrible. She wondered if you could have dreams like this no matter what kind of dream you had.

When Iruealfi's vision began to adapt to the darkness, she noticed a long object stuck near the hut.

"Ee... Uh..."

This is... a sword. It was a long sword.

The crimson weapon in the form of a nodachi had a thick scent of blood. She didn't know whose it was, but it was clear that it was a heinous symbol of the Evil Way.

She dreaded trying to guess how much blood of how many people had to be stained to create such a terrible abomination.

She thought it was contemptible to see something for the first time.

'What a nightmare? I don't know how to wake up.'

Her body was like that of a dying old woman, and the existence of the armor and the blood-colored sword covering her body was a more unpleasant element than she could have imagined.

She wanted to wake up as soon as possible and see Miren.

While Iruealfi was thinking hard, she heard the sound of rustling through the bushes from outside.

'Who is it? It's not one or two people. It's a large scale!'

For some reason, a murderous aura that seemed to pierce her skin was pressing down on her. Iruealfi slowly rose from her seat.

Creak, creak.

Iruealfi was about to go outside.

A man's roar echoed and vibrated around the area.

"Destroyer Iruealfi Yustiha, come out and face your death!"

"Huh...?"

What...?

Iruealfi wondered if she had misheard and repeated it two or three times. But the man's roar was so loud that it was hard to mishear, and unlike her, his pronunciation was clear.

'Destroyer... Iruealfi...? What's a Destroyer? And...'

Come out and face death?

She couldn't understand. Even though she knew it was a dream, injustice filled her.

Even if it wasn't that she had never made a mistake in her life, it was clear that she had lived without shame.

She couldn't understand why she had to die or why she had to hear such shouting, so she felt resentful.

Iruealfi trudged with her heavy body and revealed herself outside the hut.

What welcomed Iruealfi, whose figure was finally completely revealed in the moonlight, was extreme humiliation. It was because they openly conveyed hatred containing curses from all directions.

"Really, it's a terrible sight befitting the name. The ash-colored hair that drags along like a broom, and the armor that's dangling all over her body."

"They say she used to be famous for her beauty in the old days, but everyone must have been blind."

"If that was really the case, wouldn't she have been a wicked witch? She's a woman who deserves to die."

Numerous evils were directed at her. Iruealfi couldn't help but be genuinely embarrassed.

'What... What did I do to deserve such insulting words? What grudge do those people have against me?'

She had already forgotten that this was not reality. It was a result of the vivid sense of reality and the terrible deja vu.

'Huh? That's...'

It was when Iruealfi's focus was wavering. Suddenly, the crowd split into two.

Emerging from the divided crowd were two people. A huge middle-aged man who had been roaring and a young man wearing a large hood.

Iruealfi felt a shock as if struck by lightning as soon as she saw the young man.

Jet-black hair and ruby-like eyes. Impressions that had become so familiar over a period of nearly half a year.

"Eh... Ee...?"

Nephi...?

Why? The question rummaged through her mind. Then, Iruealfi sighed in relief.

'It's not Nephi. I must have seen it wrong because it's dark.'

When she focused her eyesight, she could clearly see the other person's appearance. Even though the impression was the same as Nephi's black hair and red eyes, the details were different.

Nephi looked relatively masculine, while the man she saw now was androgynous enough to be described as beautiful, and his height was slightly shorter than Nephi's.

"Is that Iruealfi."

The man's ruby-like eyes turned to Iruealfi. Their eyes met head-on through the thinly pierced holes in the helmet.

'Kuh?!'

The moment their eyes met, Iruealfi experienced extreme dizziness again. The world was distorted and melted into bright flashes of light.

Until Iruealfi closed her eyes, someone who looked like Nephi and the middle-aged man who had roared were calmly having an incomprehensible conversation.

Then the earth boiled. The moment the pillars of golden light transformed the world, she sensed an unknown thought.

[Daily life... Captured... My... That...]

In the world of repeating creation of the white flash, someone's voice flowed in like a river.

It was someone's desperate and earnest wish and calling.

[Protect it.]

With a word full of legitimacy, Iruealfi regained consciousness.

"Ouch!"

Her hand was pricked by a piece of broken table and felt sore. Even if she didn't get hurt, the pain still existed.

This meant that she had returned to reality.

"Haa, what happened... Not only did I fall, but I also had such a nightmare."

She approached Miren and reassured her kindly as if nothing had happened.

"Your sister accidentally messed up Miren's room. I'll call the exclusive servants and come back, so please wait a moment?"

Iruealfi turned her back on Miren's room and climbed the dark spiral staircase again.

[Protect it.]

She couldn't forget the simple word that had been faintly heard in the shaking world. Iruealfi silently climbed the stairs to shake off the uncomfortable dream.

Woo-

At that moment. The golden chains that bound Miren emitted a faint western light. Because it soon calmed down, there was no witness.