ocean-life Chapter 303: Bread and Dagger (1)
Chapter 303: Bread and Dagger (1)
Chapter 303: Bread and Dagger (1)Alcohol, alcohol, alcohol.
Whenever I met her, the pungent smell of alcohol always brushed past my nose.
She was a woman with ash-grey hair.
Her deep blue eyes were clouded and unfocused. Her face, originally pale, was flushed with a delicate blush.
Even at a glance, she looked clearly intoxicated.
Most drunkards tend to look more unsightly the more they drink. But the woman sitting before me was different.
Rather, she exuded a poignant beauty like a lone flower remaining on a snowy field.
It was thanks to her naturally exceptional beauty.
She, of course, showed no sign of caring about others’ gazes.
She simply kept tilting the alcohol bottle to fill her glass.
And then emptied the glass, only to fill it again.
In that action, repeated over and over, I could even sense a subtle stubbornness.
As if her only duty was drinking, she silently repeated emptying and filling her glass.
It was solitary drinking.
One might even call it self-destruction continuing in silence.
As time passed, the woman exuded an increasingly lonely atmosphere.
Watching her, I thought to myself.
It’s really hard to watch.
She was a woman who showed very little change in expression to begin with. Her blunt nature didn’t change no matter how much she drank.
Rather, she often looked lonelier when she was drunk.
An empty shell that lost its purpose in life.
That appearance reminded me of my former self.
Or perhaps because it felt like seeing the final destination I might eventually reach, I impulsively spoke up.
“...Stop drinking.”
It was then that the woman’s hand movements halted for the first time.
Her eyes, resembling aquamarine, glanced at me.
It was a colour that felt as cold as a pond in the middle of winter.
One might have shuddered under that gaze but I, for some reason, wasn’t afraid of her.
Considering the woman’s other name, it was surprising.
The Demihuman Butcher.
It was a terrifying title.
It was hard to believe such a delicate beauty was given such a title.
But had oneseen her mercilessly slaughtering elves at the forefront of the battlefield, anyone would have no choice but to recall that title.
Even today, dozens, hundreds of lives have perished under those cold eyes.
Every time the blue sword light traced its path, blood stained the snowy field.
Anyone who remembered that sight would surely cower under her gaze.
Nevertheless, my tongue moved of its own accord.
“You have to go into battle again tomorrow... So you should rest at least a little.”
The woman remained silent for quite some time.
Like burnt ashes, not a fragment of emotion could be felt on her face.
Only after a considerable pause did she finally let out a faint voice.
“...Senior, were you always this meddlesome?”
“I don’t know.”
At my indifferent reply, she tilted her glass once more.
The remaining liquor disappeared into her mouth in one gulp. Her blue eyes, filled with gloom, turned toward me.
“When I drink, everything becomes blurry....”
It was like she was muttering to herself.
Pouring more liquor with a trickling sound, she continued to speak.
“Logic and emotion, life and death, the past and the future... it all becomes so muddled that I can’t even tell who I am anymore.”
“So is that why you always charge alone into the middle of the enemy lines?”
It was a sigh-filled rebuke.
As if hearing scolding words for the first time in a long while, she silently gazed at me.
“You’ll end up dying like that, no matter how strong you are.”
“I won’t die, though I wish I could......”
She muttered in a lifeless tone, emptying yet another glass.
Drip, drip. Drops of blood fell from her fingertips.
The torn wound began to close up instantly. Even witnessing that scene, I couldn’t say anything.
I couldn’t fathom her feelings at all.
I could only bite my lip and gaze into her blue eyes, seething with intense hatred.
“This blood. I despise it so much....”
Wondering how I could console her.
I hesitantly stood up. It might not have been appropriate to do to a junior I wasn’t even that familiar with, but it was the only thing that came to my mind.
Steadying myself against the intoxication, I stepped forward.
At the moment I took that step.
Crack—an enormous fissure appeared in the world.
Fine fissures spread out from a slash that cut across my vision. And before long, like glass struck by a cannonball, the ground beneath me shattered completely.
I couldn’t even scream.
Countless dreams floated through the darkness, brushing past me.
A snowfield swept by a blizzard.
Bubbling pieces of flesh.
Elves dressed in black.
Incomprehensible scenes invaded my vision and muddled my mind.
And finally, the blazing golden eyes of a man who gripped my shoulder.
“...Remember, there aren’t many memories you can take with you.”
They flickered in my mind as if to burn it white.
“I won’t be able to help you for a while, so just remember this one thing.”
I wanted to say something, but I was choked up.
Words wouldn’t come out at all.
So I could only listen.
The man’s warning, that I’d heard once before.
“...Never confront it recklessly.”
After that advice, the ground collapsed again, and I was plunged into endless darkness.
It was then that I woke up, screaming.
Gasping for breath, I tried to gather my scattered thoughts.
It was an excessively vivid dream.
Is this also an effect of the synchronization rate?
As soon as I regained my composure, I hurriedly turned my gaze.
Toward the bedside table.
As always, an unfamiliar envelope had arrived there.
Two of them, in fact.
I could only let out a bewildered murmur.
“...What is this?”
But there was no time to hesitate.
Fumbling, I hurriedly grabbed the envelopes.
Both were made of high-quality material.
At first glance, I couldn’t tell where they were from.
As I pondered which one to read first, I soon noticed something strange.
One of the envelopes was already opened.
It was a bewildering situation.
The love letters from the future were items that only I could see. Only I could read their contents.
Therefore, only I could open the envelopes.
However, the envelope was already torn open, and to make matters worse, when I checked inside, the letter that should have been there was missing.
I could only let out a bitter laugh.
“Hah.”
I already felt my head getting complicated.
But for now, there wasn’t enough information.
I carefully opened the remaining envelope.
Fortunately, there were a few sheets of paper inside.
My eyes began to silently scan the lines.