บท 58: The Worst Human (part 1)
Ch. XXIX - The Worst Human (Elice)
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It all happened in less than a second.
It was so quick, that I didn't even get the chance to process it.
No, even after five seconds of silence later, I still couldn't process it.
Rake… just killed all the knights.
My eyes were still opened wide, and I couldn't even say anything. Breathing was difficult, and my gaze is still locked towards the bleeding pieces of the knights.
How… did it come to this?
Those knights. While it is indeed true that they are our enemies, it doesn't mean we should just kill them that easily. They are still… people… and they are merely doing their job.
Even though they did cross the line… Even though they hurt Roy and the others…
Nobody deserves death. Not even them.
"I don't understand."
Seeing the high amount of shock within my expression, Rake let out a long sigh. He then said with a rather cold tone, and he turned his gaze directly at the dead bodies.
"These people… they are humans. The very people that ended your entire race. The very ones who ended your daily life."
Rake said, with the same monotone cold voice. Something tells me that he said these things genuinely out of his heart, which surprises me even more at how heartless he is.
"I just don't get it, Elice… How can you still show them mercy?"
This time, Rake asked with a little bit of care. It is as if he asked the question purely out of consideration for me, not knowing how wrong that question is.
I am… speechless.
His mindset… is too dangerous.
He will kill everything and everyone, just because they are a hassle.
Even though he had the power to just knock all of them down easily, he didn't.
He killed them mercilessly.
Rake…
Before I realized it, my mind was too overflowing with stress. My eyes began to grow teary, and I wore an expression I never thought I would wear in this situation.
I… smiled.
"You are… truly the worst human."
I said genuinely, purely out of my heart towards him.
And as I expected, it impacted nicely on him.
Rake has the special ability to tell certain truths about things. He can just look at someone and will be able to understand what they were thinking, or what they were truly saying. It was proven the moment he talked with the guild master of the adventurers guild, and immediately called him out for faking the act.
And when he heard I spoke those words out of my mouth, he should know immediately that I said it genuinely from the heart.
As a result… he looked fantastically shocked.
Despite not being able to see his eyes, I can tell that the damage of my words has already entered the deepest parts of his brain. He, who regrets his decisions, must be trying his very best to not be the worst human alive by atoning for his sins.
But what he did today… only proven those achievements that the people pushed onto him.
The one who massacred an entire race.
The one who is responsible for defeating an entire kingdom.
The one man with the biggest sin.
The worst human.
Rake Ignicius. You have just proven those things today. Congratulations.
Rake fell to his knees, all while his entire body was shuddering. Meanwhile, I began walking forward again.
I walked around the crater in front of me, and I walked past the sea of blood. I tried very hard not to feel as I stepped on the ground, but the grim sound of blood being stepped on made my mouth shake.
I arrived at Miss Rina and the children, who were watching when it all happened. Some of the children had closed their eyes since they were too afraid to look, but some were watching with wide eyes.
Miss Rina noticed me walking towards her, and she turned her gaze to me.
"It's all going to be okay."
I said as I took out a short knife from my storage bracelet. The knife magically appeared to my right hand, and I used it to cut the ropes that were tying Miss Rina.
"Help me with the others."
I gave Miss Rina another knife, and she took it as she stood up. She and I then began releasing the children from the rope that was tying them.
Once all the children had been untied, Miss Rina led them all inside the orphanage. I told her to bring the children inside, that way they won't be seeing this mess any longer.
Miss Rina and the children walked past Rake who were still sitting on the ground. They walked past him silently without saying anything or making a single noise.
Once all the children were inside, I began kneeling down in front of the dead bodies.
"… They will hunt us down more eagerly after this."
I said as I studied the dead faces of the knights. I saw Jacob still had his eyes wide open, and I moved my hand to close his eyes.
Funny. I don't feel sick anymore.
Previously, I would puke when I saw or even smell blood. Simply the stench of it was enough to make me feel sick.
But now… it feels different.
It feels like I'd rather go sick than having this feeling.
I'd rather puke to hell rather than having this feeling.
Silently, I began lifting the dead body parts. I piled them up as one, not caring for which one should've belonged to which, and simply made a whole pile out of the pieces.
Then, I took out a match from the storage bracelet. I lit the match using its box, and I began by burning the clothes that belonged to the bottom piece of the knights.
The fire was small, but it then began to grow bigger thanks to the cloth being burnable. After a whole minute, it turned into a massive fire.
The smell of flesh being burned filled the air, and the only sound existing were the crackles of the bones.
Left alone… these dead bodies could be a plague.
I had to burn it. Otherwise, it might get the people here sick.
While the fire was burning, I turned around and noticed the tall guy was still sitting on the ground. Looks like the damage was ingrained into the deepest part of his brain, resulting in him not being able to move from his position.
His mind and soul, both short circuited.
I left the burning fire and began walking towards him. I kneeled right in front of him, with the fire being behind me.
"We have to keep moving. They will catch up to us."
I said to him, wondering if he will reply or not. But it looks like the damage was so big that his ears went totally deaf. He did not reply.
I let out a long sigh, and I pondered over what to do with him.
Once a man kills, he will continue to kill for the rest of his life. Once a man kills, murdering will continue to be an option in his life.
For someone who has done various sins like Rake… it shouldn't be weird for him to commit mass murder easily. For he is already the worst human that has ever lived.
He knows that, and he has tried many things to try and atone for those sins, even though the sin was impossible to be atoned. But he still did it, no matter how simple they may sound.
For example, saving me from that jail. He also used a lot of his money to donate to the orphanage. Maybe he felt that by doing these things, it will somehow reduce the amount of evil that is already in his heart.
However, it was never truly that easy. It is impossible to undo a mistake that you have made. And it is difficult to atone for a sin that is too large. But, it's not impossible to change.
To change into a better person. To atone the sins by doing that, is already the greatest way a person can do it.
It is not the end for Rake. The worst human is what he is now, but what of the future? Is he going to stay the way he is like this?
I believe… that Rake can change.
I moved my right hand, and picked up his powerless left hand. I then held it with both of my hands, and the warmth managed to make Rake react.
He turned his gaze at me slightly, and I spoke to him from the bottom of my heart.
"You… can change."
Hearing me spoke, his hand shook again. But, I continued.
"To be a better person… means that you realize the mistakes that you made today, and not do the mistake tomorrow. You of all people should know that, since you kept on telling me to learn from my mistakes.
But, you yourself still have not done that.
You killed… and killed… and killed. You have not realized it, but the very thing that made you make that mistake was killing, in the first place. What led you to cause my entire race to perish, was killing.
It's because you have killed, that you kept on doing these sins. You have not changed into a better person. Because you are still doing your yesterday's mistakes.
Don't kill anymore. Okay, Rake?"
I asked with a calming voice, and the shaking on Rake's hand got worse. He then pulled his hand away, and he covered his face with both of his hands.
"I… Killed them…?"
He muttered, all while trying not to cry.
I nodded slightly to answer him, and despite having his eyes covered, he still noticed the gesture and lowered his head.
"I… killed them… I killed them…"
He mumbled again and again, as if continuing to remind himself that he made this mistake. The more I tried to understand him, the more dizzy I got.
He did not want to kill. Which gets me even more pained in the head, because he certainly was very eager to slice them to pieces a while ago.
But one thing about messed up people that I have to understand, was that sometimes they themselves did not realize that they did something. Sometimes, they themselves made a decision that they never wanted to make.
"Don't kill anymore. Promise me."
I said again coldly, and Rake answered while crying.
"I promise… I promise."
Hearing that reply, I let out a long sigh. I lifted my hand and placed it on his chin. I lifted his chin up, to make him face me. Then I used my other hand to release the bandage that was closing his eyes.
As I expected, his eyes are blood red.
You had all those gifts when you were born… and it all truly went to waste, huh?
I moved forward and hugged him tightly. I wrapped my hands behind his neck, not allowing him to move away from me. And gradually, I can also sense him placing his hands behind my back.
If only I met you when you were younger, before you went this insane.
Maybe we could have been much closer.
I let go of the hug, and stood up. I pulled his hand, forcing him to stand up as well. Rake tried standing up, but he nearly lost his balance when standing up.
"Are you feeling better?"
I asked him, and he nodded silently.
I shouldn't expect him to use that fake personality for now, not when he is like this. So I accepted his silence and continued with the business.
"There will be more people coming to chase us now, we should keep moving. But, we can't leave Miss Rina and the children alone. We have to do something."
I said as I gave it some thought, but Rake had an idea.
"… Adventurers."
I turned to him with a slight surprise, wondering how he was able to speak. I gave his suggestion some thoughts, and agreed that maybe the adventurers could lend us more of their help.
After that, it was decided that we will be needing the help from the adventurers. It won't be that much of a request, just that we will need them to somehow protect the orphanage from any dangers or sort.
After deciding on the plan, I went inside to have a talk with Miss Rina. Looks like she and the children had already cleaned themselves from the splattering blood, and are now sitting together in the living room.
Miss Rina noticed me walking in, and the children also watched as I entered the front door. I walked all the way to the living room, wearing a regretful expression.
Right when I was about to speak, a voice came from their side.
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