Chapter 235: A One-Syllable Name

When the cracks spread, leaving only one final point intact. When a mighty light forced its way out through those cracks, and the tip of that light aimed precisely for the nape of Ren’s neck.

Ren’s lips moved.

“My name......”

Could he be greedy for it?

That was when Ren’s heart wavered.

“Ren.”

A low voice drew Ren’s attention. Black eyes with a bluish sheen looked straight at him.

“I want... to reclaim my name.”

Ren forced the words out with difficulty.

He did not know what he had read in the eyes of the man looking at him. Only, as though entranced, Ren ended up confessing his true feelings.

Living without ever remembering something precious was the kind of thing Ren could not endure. If he could bury it in his heart along with death, that would be one thing, but that man had said he would never let him die. And the man looked more than capable of doing exactly that. Even if his life was saved by him, Ren... did not want to live without his memories.

He wanted to remember the owner of that firm mouth, that high nose, those thick lips, that voice that had called him softly. He wanted to see the face that had given him his warmest memory. More than life, Ren wanted to protect what was precious.

Someone might ask Ren.

If he would not even remember what he had lost, then had he not lost nothing at all?

Could he not simply take a healthy body and clean memories, and properly live the new life given to him?

Since that man who cared for him so much would be with him too.

Life would never be difficult, and it would be far better than before.

That might be true. No, it probably was.

If a new life was given to him, Ren could live the way he should have from the beginning. Spotless and clear, comfortably. He would not have to get angry over small things, or become vicious to protect what belonged to him. In a life too short even for seeing only good and beautiful things, he would be able to live like that.

But Ren could not do that.

Even if he had no memory of what he had lost, the truth that he had lost it would not disappear. It would leave a trace in some form, and become a wound carved deep into his soul. Ren did not have the courage to pretend he did not know what he knew. The only courage Ren possessed was to throw himself with all his strength against the truth as it was.

The boy, who did not know how to be clever, opened his mouth once more.

The eyes that had finished all their hesitation were clear, without a single trace of doubt.

Like a distant emerald sea untouched by human hands.

Deep and transparent, shining distinctly as though scattering sunlight.

A faint smile spread over the man’s lips as he met Ren’s gaze.

“I want to reclaim it. My name.”

His chest heaved as though he had spoken a great decision aloud. The hands supporting Ren beneath his shoulders and knees were lukewarm. But they still held Ren firmly.

And Verdi stared blankly at the sight.

A heavy, damp emotion spread through his chest.

Amazingly, it was relief.

Emotion like witnessing a fairy tale washed through his heart in waves.

When Ren confessed his heart, Verdi shuddered.

It felt as though some wish that had lain deep inside him had come true.

The light flashing from the orb spread in every direction. A blinding lightning-flare split into seven branches.

Well done. Ren.

Wind blew from somewhere and shook their hair into disorder. The cabin trembled as though it might collapse, and shards of glass that had begun to crumble and fall started joining together again with a gesture from the man’s hand. Black light slowly encroached upon the light thrashing as if in a frenzy. Like capturing a ferocious animal. When the pitch-black light completely consumed the orb, the wind that had rushed in stopped, and a silence like death settled inside the cabin.

A stillness so deep that even the presence of drifting dust could be felt. Not a single breath could be heard.

In that quiet space, only their gazes were bright.

The man slowly moved his fingers. The orb, eaten by the man’s black light, trembled and began to twist strangely. What had been round stretched long, then grew thinner and thinner. It twisted its body this way and that in midair as though resisting, then let out a thunderous rumbling cry and scattered into light. Part of that light returned to Verdi. He clutched his heart and endured the nausea. And part of the scattered light, as though finding its proper place, returned to Ren.

The faint light, only a few handfuls, flew in like arrows. The man did not block it.

His lips moved slightly, but the language coming from his mouth could not be understood. It seemed to be magic. A faint blue light spread through the man’s eyes, then sank away.

The man, having finished what he needed to do, looked down at Ren.

Ren did not even blink.

For an instant like a flash, he could not properly understand what had happened.

Because the memories erased slowly over the course of a month poured down like a waterfall.

It was a suffocating time, and a moment that felt like eternity.

Ren’s gaze groped somewhere beyond the air. It was a future he had once drawn, and also an old past.

There was far too much contained inside the one-syllable name Ren.

The unknown man, and Verdi, who was still sprawled on the floor, both held their tongues.

Until Ren could properly find his own name. Until he could digest every memory.

Beyond the cabin, the sound of waves striking the side of the ship and the sound of white foam rising could be heard.

The sun was rising.

Verdi’s authority was pushed back by the sunlight. The dark blue light that had dominated the space sank into shadow, and faint sunlight began pouring into the cabin as well.

And when that sunlight finally crossed the window and wavered at their feet.

A reaction appeared from Ren.

“Keugh!”

Blood surged up his throat before anyone could stop it.

Dark red blood poured out in clumps.

Verdi flinched in shock. But he could guess roughly why. It had been a ritual performed for an entire month. A massive ritual arranged in the land of the capital, and magic that had been passed down since very long ago. Believing nothing would happen was far too naive.

But Verdi also could not move a muscle.

The briny scent of blood filled the cabin.

The man held Ren with one arm and searched inside his clothes with the remaining hand. A round pill appeared in his hand. After Ren finished vomiting blood and sagged limply, he placed the pill in Ren’s mouth. It was a practiced motion, as though he had done it many times.

“Will you return?”

He was likely asking whether Verdi would return to his master, Ragniel.

Though he had failed his mission and his conviction had wavered because of private feeling, he was still Ragniel’s knight. He had to pay the price for failure beside his master, as was only proper. Seeing Verdi’s eyes, the man nodded.

But in the next instant, the man moved his fingers—and Verdi collapsed where he was.

When the man’s lips moved slightly, Verdi rose as though he had never fallen. Verdi opened his eyes and looked somehow dazed. But the man paid no attention. Verdi cleaned up the ruined cabin, then went out the door.

After he left, the sounds of arguing and small screams could be heard.

The man ignored the noise and laid Ren on the bed. Then he silently stared at Ren, who had fainted and was gasping. His gaze was cold, containing no emotion at all. But the eyes examining Ren were meticulous and persistent.

Verdi was having an extremely strange experience.

His mind was not clear, but it was awake, while his body moved on its own.

Disgust gnawed through his entire body. Yes, Verdi was being controlled. Perfectly.

He could clearly feel that even the flow of blood through his body was being dominated.

Regardless of his own will, he opened the door and stepped out. His vision felt awkward, but his body moved very naturally.

Verdi realized that the “interferer” was truly terrifying.

He was a Hero through whom authority flowed. He had experienced the Hero’s miracle, and survived thousands of battles. He had seen anti-Hero weapons, and had even had his body severed and blown away. He was one who had survived an ending like the last. He himself was difficult to view as falling within the category of human.

And yet. To dominate a Hero through whom such authority flowed this perfectly, without the slightest effort.

What in the world was that being?

Verdi thought of the ancient creatures said to have vanished from this land long ago.

A certain shape that felt chilling merely to imagine from old drawings.

But Verdi’s thoughts were soon cut off, and he had to move his body.

Verdi opened the door of the next room, where the maid was asleep, without even knocking, and pushed himself inside.

“Who—Lord Verdi? What brings you... eek!”

The scream of the maid, who had raised herself in disarray, was cut off, and Verdi knocked her unconscious. It was as easy as breathing. Verdi searched the maid’s belongings and stole the communication device without difficulty.

CRUNCH.

After breaking the cabin wall, Verdi put the communication device inside it and moved his lips. The language-magic flowing from his mouth restored the wall. Verdi gently laid the unconscious maid on the bed, then placed his hand on her forehead. As before, black light flowed from his mouth, and language-magic bound the maid.

Without leaving any trace behind, Verdi leisurely walked out of the room.