Chapter 112

The news that Erika had finally woken up brought a much-needed sense of relief and the first smiles Rainer’s party had shared in what felt like an eternity. The weight of their confrontation with Harold—and the crushing reality of their defeat—had hung over them like a leaden shroud.

The sting of betrayal felt all the sharper because they had truly believed in him. Now, having felt his overwhelming power firsthand, the gnawing doubt of whether they could ever hope to win a rematch flickered constantly in the back of their minds.

Even the joy of Erika’s recovery was short-lived, dissipating almost instantly when they saw the grim expression on Lifa’s face. She was the one who had delivered the news, but her features were so drawn and stiff that even Rainer, who was hardly the most perceptive when it came to social cues, realized something was wrong.

When Rainer asked what had happened, Lifa replied with a troubled, haunted look.

“Erika wants to talk to you. Come to the hospital tomorrow.”

The implication was clear: she didn't want them visiting just yet.

The old Rainer would have demanded to know why. He would have insisted on seeing her immediately to confirm her safety with his own eyes. But he didn't say a word. He could sense the heavy atmosphere surrounding Lifa and knew the news wouldn't be good. More than that, he hadn't fully processed his own emotions. Simply put, he was shrinking back, afraid to hear anything else that might break his spirit.

He wasn't the only one. The entire party was emotionally exhausted, and no one pressed Lifa for details.

The following day, Rainer and the others headed to the hospital, their hearts heavy with a gloom that bordered on despair.

Guided by Lifa, they were led not to the sickroom where Erika had been recovering, but to a room that appeared to be a hospital meeting room.

Knock, knock. The sharp sound of Lifa’s knuckles against the wooden door echoed in the quiet hall. Rainer wasn't the only one who felt that Lifa’s back looked smaller and more fragile than usual as she stood there.

"Come in," Erika’s voice called out from within. Her tone was as composed as ever, which only served to heighten the party’s sense of unease.

"We're coming in," Lifa said, her hand pausing on the doorknob. Without turning around, she added, "Everyone... especially Rainer... please try to stay calm, no matter what you see."

"...What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rainer asked.

"You'll see soon enough."

Without another word, Lifa finally opened the door.

Erika was sitting in a chair, dressed in her familiar kimono. They had heard her collapse was due to the depletion of her magic power, so seeing her looking relatively healthy brought a momentary surge of relief.

But it lasted only a heartbeat. When Rainer spotted the man and woman standing behind her like attendants, his heart was instantly set ablaze with fury.

"Y-You two...!"

Standing there were the very people who had injured his parents and stolen his family’s heirloom sword. Rainer’s hands instinctively reached for a weapon that wasn't there. He scanned the room, looking for anything he could use, his muscles tensed to spring.

"Please, wait."

Erika stood up soundlessly and stepped forward, placing herself between Rainer and the duo as if to shield them.

Naturally, Rainer wasn't about to back down.

"Why?! Those are the criminals who hurt my father and mother!"

At his venomous shout, the girl’s shoulders flinched violently. She looked terrified, but Rainer didn't care. He couldn't wrap his head around why Erika was protecting them. A dark suspicion began to swirl in his mind—was Erika on their side all along?

"Rainer."

Erika didn't raise her voice, but the way she said his name made him reflexively falter. She looked him directly in the eyes.

"What is it you wish to do with them?"

"What do I...? That's...!"

He tried to fire back, but the words died in his throat. He was filled with an undeniable sense of rage and unforgiveness, but when asked for a specific outcome, he couldn't find the words. It wasn't that he had forgiven them; rather, Erika’s question made him realize he hadn't actually thought about what he wanted their fate to be.

"Do you simply wish to lash out in anger? Or would you be satisfied if they faced the appropriate legal punishment?"

"I... I..."

"...If you don't have a clear answer yet, then please, listen to what they have to say. It won't be too late to make a judgment afterward."

At Erika’s prompting, the two figures stepped forward. As they stood before a suspicious and glaring Rainer, they both bowed their heads deeply.

"We are truly sorry!"

"I'm so sorry!"

The sight of their deep, synchronous bows caught Rainer and the rest of the party—excluding Erika and Lifa—completely off guard.

A heavy silence filled the room. Every eye was on Rainer.

"...What do you mean, 'sorry'?! You hurt my parents! You could have killed them! Do you really think an apology makes it okay?!"

To anyone who knew him, Rainer Griffith was a boy with a heart as straight as an arrow. He had a fierce sense of justice, a hatred for lies, and no patience for cowardice or cruelty. There was no world in which he could simply forgive the two people who had harmed his innocent parents.

"If you're going to stand here and apologize now, you shouldn't have done it in the first place!"

His roar shook the air, vibrating with the sheer scale of his indignation.

The girl, who still looked quite young, recoiled at the sound of his voice. The man, who appeared to be an adult, remained bent double, perfectly still. He squeezed out his next words with a tone of grim determination.

"You're right. What we did is unforgivable. I don't intend to ask for something as selfish as your forgiveness."

"...Then what the hell are you even saying?"

"The crimes we committed... I will take full responsibility for all of them. So, please... please let Lilium go."

"Wentus-san?!"

The girl, Lilium, gasped in shock, clearly hearing this for the first time. Her face was a mask of confusion and protest.

Wentus ignored her and continued.

"I will confess everything—why we were there and why we committed those robberies. If you find any room for mercy after hearing our story, then please, at least spare Lilium—"

"N-No! That's not right! Wentus-san didn't do anything wrong!"

"...That logic won't work with him or his parents. Regardless of the reason, we committed crimes. Someone has to take responsibility."

"Then I'll take it with you!"

As the two began to argue, Rainer could only stand there in bewilderment. Hugo, who had been watching the scene in silence, finally broke the tension.

"Uh, okay... so what's the deal here exactly?"

"...Perhaps we should take a moment," Erika suggested. "It is difficult to speak while standing. Everyone, please, have a seat."

As if she had prepared for this, there were enough chairs for everyone around the table. Erika took the head seat. Rainer and his three companions sat to her left, while Lifa, Wentus, and Lilium sat to her right.

Erika began to carefully brew tea for everyone. By the time the cups were distributed, the atmosphere had calmed slightly, just as she had intended.

"Now then, Wentus-san. Would you care to explain?"

"...Yes. To begin with, Lilium and I were members of the Stella Clan, born and raised in the Bertis Forest."

"Wait, you're...?"

The mention of the Bertis Forest made Colette gasp. Rainer felt a cold pit form in his stomach.

"Our village was very small. For better or worse, we lived a peaceful life in a forest that offered nothing but nature."

But that peace was shattered five years ago, Wentus explained.

The story was one Rainer and the others had heard from Harold himself. It was the secret operation in the Bertis Forest orchestrated by Justus. During that conflict, many members of the Stella Clan had been abducted for human experimentation.

"Lilium and I were among them. There were many others, but..."

Wentus didn't finish the sentence, but he didn't have to. Everyone understood. No one else had come back. If Harold hadn't taken these two out, they would likely have shared the same gruesome fate as the rest of their kin.

"I've heard rumors of what was happening under Dr. Freund," Francis said. "If you're able, could you tell us specifically what was done?"

"We were injected with unknown fluids. We were strapped into machines that sent electrical shocks through our heads, causing agonizing pain and nausea until we blacked out... My memories are fuzzy, but I believe they also performed surgical procedures on our brains."

The details were horrific. Colette turned pale as she listened to the inhumane account.

"As the experiments continued, I stopped feeling anything. Pain, fear, even despair... it all felt like it was happening to someone else."

"Do you mean your brain shut down to cope with the trauma?"

"No... the experiments were specifically designed to suppress our emotions and strip away our ability to think for ourselves."

It was a claim that was hard to believe—that science could so easily erase a person's will.

But Rainer remembered. He remembered that night in the warehouse, the vacant, mechanical eyes behind the hoods and the lack of any human vitality in their expressions. It had been unnatural.

"Having lost our will, Lilium and I became nothing more than convenient tools for Justus."

They were puppets, unable to feel guilt or even the simplest desire to refuse an order. Beside Wentus, Lilium sat with her head bowed, tears welling in her eyes. Despite his anger, Rainer couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the girl.

"I have a question," Hugo interjected. "The way you're talking now makes it sound like you remember what happened while you were 'puppets'?"

"I do now. I've regained those memories."

"And how did that happen?"

"It was thanks to Lord Harold."

Rainer’s entire body stiffened at the name. A chaotic mix of anger, regret, and sorrow churned in his chest. He forced himself to stay quiet and listen.

"You saw it during the battle at the Harrison Mansion. Lilium and I were struck with the pommels of his swords. In that instant, it was as if our memories were jump-started. Everything came flooding back."

"So... Harold saved you."

"Yes. From the beginning, he treated us like human beings and tried to rescue us. Most importantly, it was thanks to Lord Harold’s orders that we never crossed the point of no return."

"Wait, 'the point of no return'? You mean...?"

"...Exactly what you’re thinking. Justus’s orders often specified that the lives of our targets didn't matter."

'Regardless of life or death.' It meant they would have killed without hesitation if ordered.

"Rainer, your parents were incredibly strong. They fought us as equals, even though our bodies had been magically enhanced for combat. If we had been following Justus’s original orders, I don't think anyone would have walked away from that fight alive."

"...Hold on. Was Harold there that night?"

"Yes. Lord Harold was with us the entire time."

A dissonance began to ring in Rainer’s mind. If Harold had been there, would he really have just stood by and watched? No. Rainer knew the answer was no. Even if a fight broke out, Harold was more than capable of neutralizing his parents without anyone getting hurt. Furthermore, given his obsession with efficiency, he wouldn't have wasted time watching a struggle.

"Then what was Harold doing during the fight?"

"I don't know. He told us, 'I'll leave the parents to you. Just wound them; do not kill them.'"

So that was the "line" Wentus spoke of. But Rainer was more concerned with what Harold was doing after he gave that order.

Logically, he should have been stealing the sword while the fight was happening. But Rainer knew that wasn't true. He had seen Wentus holding the box with the sword with his own eyes.

"Why was there even a fight in the first place? With Harold’s skills, you should have been able to slip in and out of the warehouse without waking anyone."

"I don't know the reason, but Lord Harold told us he had been discovered by accident."

Rainer almost wanted to laugh. A man of Harold’s caliber getting caught by sleeping ex-adventurers? It was a bad joke.

But what if Harold wanted his parents to fight Wentus and Lilium? What if he let himself be discovered on purpose? And if so, where was Harold while Rainer was chasing them?

His heart began to pound against his ribs. A cold sweat broke out across his skin. He had to know.

"After you took the sword, I caught up to you... or rather, I was able to catch up. Why?"

Rainer remembered arriving at Fog Valley in the dead of night. The visibility was zero, and he was so exhausted he could barely stand. He had told himself the thieves must be resting too, and he’d closed his eyes for a moment, only to wake up at dawn.

He had always thought he got lucky—that the thieves had simply stopped to rest as well.

But why would puppets who didn't feel fatigue stop to rest? They wouldn't have stopped unless someone told them to.

"We stopped because Lord Harold ordered us to. He told us, 'Wait in Fog Valley until I regroup with you.'"

In that moment, every scattered piece of the puzzle clicked into place in Rainer’s mind.

Harold didn't join the fight. His parents were injured, which meant Rainer was the only one who could give chase. Rainer only caught up because Harold had ordered the thieves to wait. Colette had only joined him because Harold had practically forced her to.

And then, Harold had appeared to "save" them at the perfect moment.

But just before that... Rainer and Colette had faced someone else. A figure in a robe who radiated an overwhelming, suffocating pressure. A person so fast and strong that they felt unbeatable. Rainer remembered thinking for a split second that the figure's speed and movements were identical to the Harold he had seen at the fighting tournament.

What if it hadn't been a mistake? What if that figure was Harold? In the dark, with a robe to hide his face, it would have been easy to switch places with the "thief" the moment he stepped out of sight.

He didn't understand the 'why,' but the 'how' was becoming sickeningly clear. Every move Rainer had made, every step he had taken, had been choreographed by Harold Stokes.

It was as if Harold had been pulling the strings from the very beginning, leading Rainer exactly where he wanted him to go.

Was I the only one who thought we were teammates? Was I the only one who thought we were friends?

Rainer swallowed the bitter lump in his throat. A part of him still wanted to believe. He wanted to believe there was some massive misunderstanding, some reason that they could still stand side-by-side as allies one day.

He didn't know if he was furious or heartbroken.

"Dammit," Rainer whispered, the word barely audible.