Part 9: Guardian (2)

Midnight, the following day.

The tavern was dead silent.

The tables were empty, and not a single shadow of a customer remained.

Carl, wiping down the bar counter, glanced toward the window.

Moonlight poured in like stage lighting, illuminating the seat by the window.

If someone had been sitting there, it would have made for quite the picturesque scene.

After finishing his cleaning, he sat down.

There were no customers now, but that didn’t mean business was bad.

They had plenty of patrons until around ten at night.

Centum was a small town.

Most of the customers were locals.

So, after drinking moderately, they would return home.

It was rare to see people carousing and drinking until dawn.

There weren’t many lodgers, either.

Carl thought of Aiden.

A retired assassin.

A strikingly handsome young man.

A man powerful enough to take down the dark mage, Jack, all on his own.

And finally—

Now, his tavern’s employee.

It was true that Carl had changed Aiden’s life, but it was just as true that Aiden had changed Carl’s.

Step. Step.

Hearing footsteps, Carl turned his head.

Speak of the devil.

Aiden was coming down from the second floor.

“You’re not asleep? What are you doing?”

“Just came down for a bit.”

Aiden took a seat across from him at the bar.

“Now that I think about it, I never asked you this.”

“Asked what?”

“Assassins must be night owls, right?”

“Yes, for the most part. Since most assassinations happen at night,” Aiden answered flatly.

“Then you used to sleep during the day?”

“I did. But now, I barely sleep at all.”

“Why not?”

“There are plenty of ways to recover from fatigue without sleeping. I’d rather use that time for training.”

“Even someone as strong as you still trains?”

“It’s more of a habit. A hard one to break.”

Carl nodded in understanding.

Aiden had spent far more years as an assassin than living a normal life.

It wouldn’t be easy to shake off the shadows of his past.

“What kind of training do you do?”

“It’s hard to explain in words. It’d be overwhelming, but… would you like a small taste of it?”

“Why not?”

Before Carl could even finish speaking—

Aiden snapped his fingers.

In the blink of an eye, Carl found himself standing in an unfamiliar place.

Above him, a blackened sky stretched endlessly, filled with hundreds of angels.

They wielded golden swords, their massive wings beating the air.

Below, an arid wasteland sprawled beyond the horizon.

Demons radiating an ominous darkness filled the ground.

Carl knew it was an illusion, yet he still felt terror.

Armageddon.

If the world were ever to end—

Surely, it would look something like this.

“Haah… haah… haah…”

Back in the tavern, Carl gasped for breath.

Had he stayed in that space even a moment longer, he would have suffocated to death.

“So, that’s the training ground you created?”

“Yes.”

“How long can you last in there?”

“About ten minutes.”

“That’s impressive. I’d be dead in a second.”

“You misunderstand. I wasn’t talking about myself—I was referring to the army of angels and demons.”

Carl was speechless.

In other words, Aiden was saying that he could take down both the divine and demonic armies in just ten minutes.

Carl almost scoffed at the absurdity of it—

But then, he swallowed hard.

Aiden’s gaze was calm.

Aiden’s gaze was serious.

“I think I might have hired the wrong employee.”

“You should count yourself lucky. You’re employing me for just fifteen gold.”

“Still, no pay raises. Not until business picks up,” Carl quipped back at Aiden’s joke.

Both men laughed at the same time.

“What were you up to just now?”

“Writing in my journal.”

“Is it worth it?”

“It was difficult at first, but now, not so much.”

“I can’t picture you writing a journal.”

Carl recalled how, on the day Lucy left for the academy—

She had given Aiden a diary and encouraged him to write in it.

But he never actually expected Aiden to do it.

“Writing helps me make sense of the day.”

“How so?”

“Before, my days blurred together. But as I write, I can see clearly what happened, what I thought, and how I felt.”

“What did you write about today?”

“That I was too busy to visit the dessert shop. And that there’s been a drop in female customers at the tavern lately.”

“Pretty trivial things, considering your past profession.”

“I’ve never experienced these things before.”

“That’s true.”

Carl nodded.

What was mundane to most people was an entirely new experience for Aiden.

And conversely—

What was normal for Aiden could be shocking to others.

Carl suddenly felt curious about Aiden’s journal.

Though he wasn’t sure if Aiden would ever let him read it.

Their conversation flowed naturally.

They soon moved on to discussing Lyra.

Aiden had revealed to her that he was an assassin.

Surprisingly, Lyra hadn’t been too shocked.

She had, however, shared something of her own—

That her eldest brother had been part of the Thieves Guild.

Even Carl hadn’t known that.

No wonder she had seemed down these past few days.

She must have been thinking about her late brother.

“So that’s what it was. I had no idea, but you managed to find out.”

“When I shared my secret, she shared hers. I guess secrets are meant to be shared.”

“Hah. You don’t even need me anymore, do you?”

“I still have a long way to go.”

The conversation shifted to Victor.

Victor had come by last night.

Since Carl was unavailable, Aiden had spoken with him instead.

He had even heard about Carl’s younger days.

And how he had lost his right arm during an orc subjugation mission.

At that point, Carl fell silent.

He took a swig of beer to moisten his suddenly dry throat.

Whooosh—

A gust of wind rattled the tavern door.

Before long, Victor would be coming through that door—

Only able to push it open with his left hand.

“Victor’s important to you, isn’t he?”

“Lyra and Lucy come first. Then Victor. Sorry, but you’re fourth.”

“……”

“Victor saved my life once. I got into a fight with some knights while drinking, and he stepped in to handle it.”

“……”

“Because of that, I had to leave the town for a few months. I can also guess why he lost his arm.”

“Why is that?”

“He probably lost it trying to save his soldiers.”

Carl looked up at the ceiling.

Victor had always been compassionate, even as a child. He could never turn a blind eye when the weak were being bullied.

Carl had learned from Victor… that there were good people in the world.

“Isn’t it natural for people to prioritize their own lives and safety? Why would someone sacrifice themselves for others?” Aiden asked, his expression one of pure confusion.

“As you go through life, you eventually find something worth risking your life for. If you keep living like this, you’ll understand soon enough.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“That’s why I keep nagging you to experience love. It’s the fastest way to learn.”

Aiden remained silent.

He was too busy running his hand over his chin.

Aiden had only ever taken lives.

To him, death was…

A stark dichotomy.

Kill or be killed.

So the idea of willingly giving up his own life for someone else was completely foreign.

“When I return to my quarters, I should write in my journal again.”

“You’re addicted to that journal now. But you know, I’m actually looking forward to it. I wonder when you’ll finally find something worth sacrificing your life for.”

“That will never happen.”

“And why is that?”

“Because there’s no opponent strong enough to make me risk my life.”

Aiden rose from his seat.

*  *  *

That dawn.

Aiden sat at his desk, writing in his journal for a long time.

The words flowing from his quill were cold and detached.

Just how precious would something have to be for him to willingly lay down his life?

Even if he did, was there any guarantee that the other person would be happy?

What did it even mean for something to be precious?

His quill paused.

A deep crease formed on his forehead.

He was thinking more deeply now than he ever had while assassinating in the divine realm… or in the chaos realm.

Carl and Lyra.

Lucy and Cheese.

Master and Mugin.

Aiden wrote down the names of the people he currently held dear.

And then, he imagined it.

That they were in mortal danger.

But he… was only as strong as he had been at fifteen.

If he tried to save them, he would undoubtedly die.

Would he still jump into battle without hesitation?

Aiden shook his head.

That wouldn’t be a rational decision.

If he truly wanted to protect them, he had to run.

He had to survive, grow stronger, and take revenge on their killer. That would be the best course of action.

Then, Aiden twisted the scenario slightly.

What if… his sacrifice could guarantee their survival?

What would he do then?

His quill twitched and stopped.

His fingers hesitated.

The ceiling lamp flickered a few times.

The ink on the pristine white paper seemed to push against his fingers, urging him to write the final period.

Aiden turned his gaze to the window.

The moonlight, which always felt cold, seemed strangely warm tonight.

“Mugin.”

“What?”

“Is there anyone or anything you’d be willing to risk your life for?” Aiden asked the raven, who was perched by the window, preening its feathers with its beak.

“Of course.”

“And what is that?”

“Why are you suddenly asking this? Feeling sentimental tonight?”

“I’m asking purely out of logic.”

“My pride. My pride is the most important thing in the world to me. I’d risk my life to protect it.”

Mugin’s eyes burned with intensity.

Aiden had only ever seen that look once before.

“Pride isn’t a person or an object.”

“It doesn’t matter. The essence is the same. It’s still something worth dying for.”

“Why is pride so important?”

“Hmm… It’s hard to put into words. It’s just a feeling. You’ll understand when you’re in that situation.”

“Is that so?”

Aiden exhaled a quiet sigh.

He hadn’t even sighed when he was assassinating Astaroth.

So… it all came down to a feeling.

Then, let’s change the approach.

What does it feel like when something precious is about to be taken away?

Snap!

Aiden flicked his fingers.

The world around him shifted as the “Realm of Illusions” unfolded.

Within it stood all the gods, demons, and human heroes Aiden had assassinated.

And not just them.

Even the mighty figures he had merely encountered but never fought—all of them were here.

Their combined presence alone was enough to make the vast land tremble as if on the verge of explosion.

Before the real battle began…

Aiden summoned illusions of his precious people.

An illusionary Carl and Lyra.

An illusionary Lucy and Cheese.

An illusionary Master and Mugin appeared.

As soon as Aiden gave a small nod, the [World’s Mightiest] moved.

Of course, Cheese was the first to die, his body bursting like a balloon from the sheer pressure of their auras—without even being attacked.

Carl, Lyra, and Lucy followed shortly after.

They didn’t even have time to close their eyes.

Mugin tried to soar through the air, dodging the encirclement, but his body was sliced in half.

Master managed to last ten seconds.

Then his limbs were severed, and his head was cut off.

“Heh… Hahaha…!”

Watching his precious people die, Aiden let out a crazed laugh.

For the first time in his life, he laughed with unrestrained joy.

From the soles of his feet to the top of his head—

No, through every vein and nerve in his body—

Aiden laughed.

And in that moment, he realized something.

He had never truly killed anyone before.

“Ah… so this is what it feels like?”

Aiden drew the dagger from his waist.

Exactly five minutes later.

The only one still standing in the Realm of Illusions…

Was Aiden.

The slaughter had been twice as fast as usual.
 

To be continued

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