A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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18.

“I originally worked for the Imperial Palace.”
“If you worked for the Imperial Palace, wouldn’t that be better? Why transfer to the Duke’s Household?”
I wasn’t particularly curious, but I continued the conversation with Eston on the chance there might be something more to gain.
She flinched, then answered hesitantly while gauging my reaction.
“The Duke’s Household offered a higher salary….”
“Ah….”
‘Whether in novels or reality, government jobs are all the same.’
As a state-employed researcher, I deeply empathized with her words.
And I felt a little sad.
‘I should have transferred at the right time like Eston did….’
No, I should have gotten a job at a private company in the first place.
If I had, I wouldn’t have been stuck purifying this damned novel, and I wouldn’t have ended up possessing a villainous role within it!
“You made the right choice. Government work is always the dirtiest and most petty way to make a living.”
“Exactly!”
Eston brightened at my words.
“I thought everything would be wonderful once I worked for the Imperial Palace, but they paid minimum wage while working me to the bone! There were so many people making demands, and especially those territorial types…!”
“I know, I know.”
“But they said at the Duke’s Household I only have to deal with one person. The benefits are decent too… Oops!”
Eston, who had been chattering away with enthusiasm at my strong agreement, suddenly clapped her hand over her mouth.
I stared at her for a moment, then grinned like a ghost.
“So? Is it bearable now?”
“Oh, no! I mean, it’s not that I can’t bear with you, Miss…!”
I left her flustered and stammering behind as I tapped on the wall near the coachman’s seat.
“Coachman. How much longer until Tollen? Could you stop for a moment?”
“No, no, sir! Don’t stop! Miss, that’s not what I meant. What I’m saying is….”
“My companion is on the verge of vomiting from motion sickness. The seat will be completely soaked.”
“No, that’s not it! I’m fine! I’m a healer! Waaaah, Mother…!”
Thus, a serious conversation to clear up Eston’s misunderstanding continued all the way to Tollen.

***

Still, my conversation with Eston hadn’t been entirely fruitless.
Unfortunately, I learned that Tollen fell under Count Frederick’s jurisdiction.
“…Will the Count himself come because of your sister?”
I asked casually as I descended from the carriage, and Eston answered with a darkened expression.
“Not for now. I’ve healed all the bitten people, and I’ve bound my sister securely with chains….”
“….”
“Although I did report that I’ve been hiding my sister, the villagers won’t want the Count to come either. They’re all secretly waiting for a Purifier.”
Without needing further explanation, I grasped the situation well enough.
“Where is the Gate outbreak occurring?”
Since the road was rough, I had already stopped the carriage quite far from the village.
At my question, Eston turned to me with a startled expression.
“You’re going inside?”
“Yes.”
“Why… didn’t you just need a carriage to go out?”
“It’s Nancy, not ‘princess.'”
I corrected her on the title and secured my bonnet and mask firmly, concealing my face.
“Since I’ve come this far, I should purify your sister anyway.”
“…!”
At my words, Eston froze with her mouth agape.
Her eyes wavering, she suddenly bent her waist at a ninety-degree angle.
And she cried out.
“…I’m so sorry!”
“…Suddenly?”
“I want to sincerely apologize for all the disrespectful words and actions I’ve committed so far!”
“….”
“I… I think I’ve deeply misunderstood you, Nancy, based only on what others said. I shouldn’t have said such things….”
I immediately grasped what ‘such things’ she was referring to.

― Some people attempt murder and claim they don’t remember, washing their hands of it. Yet others are supposed to abandon their dying families and heal that person instead.

I seemed bothered throughout by how I’d spoken with such certainty—as if Edith Blake had tried to kill Ruellin.
Watching Eston apologize to me sincerely stirred something complicated in my chest.
Because it was the truth, after all.
“If you wish, I’ll return and submit my resignation.”
“Never mind.”
“But….”
“Stop it and straighten up. I’m afraid someone might see.”
At my words, Eston hesitantly straightened her posture.
Yet she couldn’t meet my gaze as boldly as before.
Seeing her still cowering like a criminal, my conscience pricked me slightly.
Of course, purifying her younger sister hadn’t been part of my plan….
‘It really was killing two birds with one stone.’
I myself had callously exploited her circumstances to come here.
So it was only natural that accepting such a sincere apology felt awkward.
“…If you’re truly sorry, then at least keep this secret well.”
“Of course!”
Eston nodded vigorously at my words.
“Don’t worry. My lips are sealed. I’ll be absolutely careful!”
“Besides, only you know about this, so if it leaks, you’re the culprit.”
I added flatly.
“And it’s not just a misunderstanding either. It’s true that I don’t trust others easily.”
“….”
“So you don’t need to feel so sorry toward me. Don’t forget that I still hold your weakness in my hands.”
Fearing she might mistake me for a good person and let her guard down, I hastily drew the line.
Not just in words—I’d already instructed Nancy not to discard the clothes Eston had worn yesterday.
The black blood mixed with magical energy clinging to the fabric would be sufficient evidence of her rampage.
‘If necessary, I’ll run straight to the Security Bureau.’
So that the news of an Awakened actually nearly going berserk would stir up more sensation than rumors of my awakening.
I was finishing my calculations in my mind when suddenly the surroundings grew quiet.
Lifting my gaze absently, I saw Eston glaring at me as if dumbfounded.
“…Does speaking that way put your mind at ease?”
“What?”
“If you keep rejecting people like that, even those who stay by your side will eventually tire and fall away.”
Eston unleashed words as harsh as curses.
It seemed to be advice of sorts on her part….
I let out a short laugh at those words.
“Do you still see people remaining by my side in your eyes? I should thank you for looking at it so kindly.”
“…!”
At my words, Eston’s eyes widened before she promptly bit her lip.
I passed by her and murmured indifferently.
“You’ll understand once you get older. Human relationships? All meaningless. Life is meant to be lived alone, X.”
“Ha! What difference could there possibly be….”
“What did you say?”
I spun around at the muttered complaint, and she suddenly shrieked.
“N-not there! Please come this way…!”

***

Tollen, the origin point of the Gate, was utterly devastated.
‘It must have been quite prosperous before the Gate ruptured….’
I surveyed the ruins of the shattered plaza with a bitter heart.
Though it was broad daylight, scarcely a soul wandered the streets.
The only figures visible were laborers repairing the few buildings and facilities that remained intact.
Most had likely fled to other regions or were sheltering in evacuation centers.
The silver lining was that the Gate’s scale was relatively small and had manifested on the village’s outskirts, so casualties were mercifully limited.
‘Though that’s precisely why Ezennia, which bordered it, was swept up in the disaster as well….’
After walking for some time, I arrived at my destination.
A colossal circular cliff formation, hollowed like a volcanic crater, finally came into view.
The Gate’s origin point.
‘Where is Edith Blake…? No. Let me search for traces of the possession at least.’
I swept my gaze rapidly across the surroundings, somewhat excited.
Yet aside from the grotesque sight of massive monster corpses rotting away, nothing particularly caught my eye.
This was where Edith Blake had died—I’d expected to uncover some clue about the possession if I came here….
‘What was that monster that supposedly found Edith Blake? The book? Did it not come over with me? Could there be some peculiar ritual or dimensional crossing ceremony unique to this village…?’
I’d cautiously asked Eston about village rituals, but she knew of nothing like that.
The monster corpses had already decomposed beyond recognition, so there was no way to verify.
And the 【Methods to Salvation for a Forsaken World】 I’d been clutching before my death was nowhere to be found.
It was simply another Gate site, indistinguishable from the countless ones I’d witnessed in modern times.
‘…Well, I came inside the book, so it wouldn’t make sense for that book to physically exist here anyway.’
Even as I rationalized this, I couldn’t suppress the creeping disappointment and despair.
“Duke…? No, Nancy. Are you searching for something?”
Noticing my peculiar behavior, Eston ventured to speak.
“No, nothing at all….”
It was as I replied weakly that something strange caught my attention in the plains some distance from the cliff formation.
“…What is that?”
Though it was winter, no snow or rain had fallen these past few days.
Moreover, today the sun blazed brilliantly overhead, making for rather mild weather.
‘Yet why are there ice chunks…? Could it be glacial ice?’
I stared curiously as dozens of massive ice chunks jutted from the barren ground.
Eston answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
“…People exposed to miasma.”
“Don’t tell me Ethan did this to them?”
No answer came in return. Silence was affirmation enough.
“…When he asked whether to slit their throats and burn them, or freeze them and wait for a purifier, they all chose the latter.”
“….”
“I didn’t think the purifier would return, so I fled with my younger brother.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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