Chapter 102 – Letter, The Opened Letter

Letter, The Opened Letter

I have seven letters.
Including my own, that makes eight, but let’s ignore the one addressed to me since it’s a bit different in nature.

Anyway, the seven letters I possess all share one thing in common: they’re sealed with the power of a goddess. And to break that seal, certain special conditions must be met. Damn goddess, inserting such trashy conditions just to buy time.

The conditions, the cases in which a letter opens, are mainly two.

First is regret.
When the owner of the letter feels regret, pain, self-reproach… emotions that are hard to put into words, the letter naturally breaks its seal and opens. Probably.

Second is death.
If the owner of the letter dies, the letter naturally opens. This was a condition confirmed by two precedents but became ambiguous not long after… and now the situation has changed again.

Why?

Because Chloe’s letter has just opened.

The timing is too abrupt.

It’s been a few days since I left Myluman, and now suddenly the letter opens? Does that mean Chloe just died?
Of course, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It could be the former, the first case.
But the letter hasn’t opened for quite a long time… If it were to open due to the first case, it should have done so a long time ago. It doesn’t make sense for Chloe to feel regret now, months later.

So, did Chloe really die?

But why now?

The more I ponder, the less resolved it gets.

“Ha… what a mess. Seriously.”

I’ve been distressed for days because there’s no sign of Bella showing up. And now there’s one more troubling thing.

Why did it open now, of all times?
If it was going to open, it should have done so when I left Myluman. Opening now feels like it’s mocking me.

Creak, creak,
The old window groans. The sun, having moved along with the clouds, was trying to reach its zenith. Without a moment to cool my jumbled thoughts, time keeps racing on. Time was too swift to resolve this newly added worry.

Although there are only a few letters left, I couldn’t just overlook this phenomenon without clearly defining it.

Perhaps because of that, an old friend suddenly came to visit.

Thud, thud.

It was an unexpected encounter.

The red carpet soaks the letters.
Nosebleed, blood dripping.
The multicolored letters were stained red. On Chloe’s blue sheet of paper, a yellow flower had bloomed before I knew it.

With familiar movements, I swept the letters onto the floor. Then, quickly, I flicked off the red clots that had settled on the blue paper and with my other hand, I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Blood again… Ha, right. Let’s just do what we always do.”

It seems I might have overexerted myself a bit.
To think that I would get a nosebleed over something so trivial.

And now I’m even talking to myself.

I thought I had taken care of myself, eating and resting for a few days, but instead of getting better, my condition seems to be worsening.

I might end up going blind again at this rate.

I sat on the bed, clutching Chloe’s letter.
There’s no need to read this letter now. I’ve already read the letter Troka passed on to me, and reading a letter touched by a goddess would only sour my mood. Letters written to console those who have read them, whether they truly offer comfort or not, tend to be irritating in a strange way.

Well, that doesn’t mean I’ll just throw it away without reading.
With nothing pressing to do, I might as well read it to pass the time.

It’s better to read the letter first and then think about why it opened, rather than just pondering over it.

The nosebleed showed no signs of stopping. Even as I held the bridge of my nose, drops continued to leak out.
At this rate, I might die from excessive bleeding.
To have survived all sorts of battles, and to have luckily made it through the great continent, dying from a nosebleed would be somewhat amusing.

“Hoo…”

The blood surged through my nostrils. With that strange and mysterious sensation, I picked up Chloe’s letter.

And one by one,
I opened the letters and took in their contents.

* * *

Hello Chloe,

Ah, is it uncomfortable to start like this? What I’ve done is unforgivable, after all.

If you’re reading this letter, it means you’ve realized the whole truth. Maybe you haven’t grasped it yet… but I’ll start anyway.
Yes.
I didn’t care much about your lives because of my own greed.

Rahi and Rapi.
For that matter, I can only say I’m sorry. As a hero, I should have thought of a better way, one that didn’t harm anyone’s life. I think I was too immature.
I should have protected your friend at all costs. I’m sorry for thinking that killing her was for everyone’s sake, for your sake. In truth, I was too preoccupied with solidifying my own authority. So, what you initially thought is indeed the truth.

The truth.
The truth isn’t that──

The elders of Myluman are all like rotten trees, and they agreed with my actions. So, if you get the chance, kill all the current elders. And then take power for yourself.
They participated in my massacre, after all.
They must pay for their sins too.

And don’t forget to join hands with the Order.
Unlike me, a piece of trash, the Order and its teachings are holy.

I am moved by those teachings to reveal this truth to you. If I hadn’t met the Order, I would have tried to hide my ugliness to the very end.

I truly regret my last act.

It shouldn’t have ended like this.

I should have paid a more proper price for my sins.
I’m sorry.
So very sorry.

Sincerely, to Chloe.

The sixth written letter.

* * *

After reading the entire letter, I threw Chloe’s letter against the wall with a sense of sanctity──

The content is just as unpleasant as expected.
When writing this letter, he must have been mostly stripped of his ego. Was his consciousness… barely hanging on? Given the strange content in the writing, it seems so.

And did the goddess think this would make amends?
From the start, if this letter had been opened, Chloe would either be dead or ridden with guilt. How could reading something like this in such a state lead to recovery?

Well, who knows.
It was personally crafted by the esteemed goddess, after all. It might just fit the sentiment of this world.
Or maybe she was too caught up in the power struggle with Troka to pay attention to the details.
Or else… it’s just a simple stalling tactic.

“…Fucking hell.”

Whatever it is, it’s probably best to stop thinking about this content from here on out.

The nosebleed has also started to stop.
It’s time to find something else to do.

…But is there anything else for me to do?

I read this because I had nothing else to do. If I had other things to do, I wouldn’t have bothered reading a letter with such content.

The sun that had soared high in the sky was now caught on the mountaintop. What should I do to pass the time in this nameless mountain valley? Maybe I should take a look around the village. The people here look at me like I’m some sort of fantastical creature, which is quite unsettling.

“……”

Then, the letters scattered on the floor caught my eye.

The letters, dirtied with spilled blood.
Leaving them as they are feels a bit wrong. They’ll start to smell, and they’re not pleasant to look at.

“Ah… my lot in life……”

I bend over to pick up the letters from the floor and start wiping off the bloodstains one by one. Excluding Bella’s letter, which is still protected, there are six that have been dirtied. The annoyance grows with each letter, as the amount and location of the blood vary.
And annoyingly enough, the sunlight had just disappeared. It looked like clouds had rolled in.

It was when I had barely managed to wipe all the letters clean with the dim light that had slipped through.

Thud, bang.

The door opened.

Was it time for dinner already? With that thought, I looked towards the entrance, but my hands were still busily moving.

The first thing I saw was wings.
Then, a familiar tail.
And a face with strange marks.
It wasn’t food that had come… it was Valkvogel.

Usually, she would come when the night deepened, and sleepiness poured in. Returning home, exhaling weariness had been the routine, but today she had returned unusually early.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“You can see for yourself. I’m always so-so.”

Valkvogel asked how I was doing, as she usually does. It’s already the tenth time since I’ve been staying here. Doesn’t she ever get tired of it?

“So, why are you here? Did Bella come back? Or have the nearby wyverns finally run out of offspring?”

“That’s not it.”

Anyway, what I really wanted to know was why Valkvogel had come back at this time. I wasn’t extremely curious, but it’s always natural to wonder about something that’s happening for the first time.

But then, what is it that’s not it?
From the context, it seems like she’s saying Bella hasn’t returned.

“…Then what is it?”

“I’ve pinpointed Bella’s location.”

So that was it.
When I entered the village, I had a vague feeling that Bella might not show up. That’s why I asked Valkvogel to look for her whenever she had the time. That’s why Valkvogel had been roaming around hunting wyverns.

At that time, I thought there was no reason for Bella not to return, and it was just a precautionary measure.

Despite her promise to return, Bella hadn’t come back to the village. I spent days here thinking she would show up eventually. But it seems she had no intention of appearing after all.

That means I’ve just been wasting my time.
Wasting my precious time here when every moment is urgent.

But in the end, Valkvogel has pinpointed Bella’s location.

Then I must go to her. Whatever the reason, if she’s not coming here, there’s only one way to resolve the current situation.

I have to go myself.

I tucked the letters, now crusted red with dried blood, into my chest.
And I picked up the holy sword.

“So, where exactly is this place where Bella is supposed to be?”

The role of the postman was drawing to a close.