SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 101

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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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Episode 101: The Play (2)
2
The moon bore traces of dust, tinged faintly red.
When dust settles in the sky, it turns red; when a person bleeds, the result is the same. That coincidence unsettled me.
‘The moon bleeds.’
I walked forward, dragging my unease like a shadow.
From somewhere distant, I heard servants chattering and murmuring.
“You mustn’t do this here, Young Lady!”
“This is the residence of the Ibansia Ducal House!”
“No matter how favored you are by the Crown Prince, at this hour….”
The Silver Lily Young Lady, who had been walking beside me, muttered absently.
“An uninvited guest if there ever was one.”
Disdain for the Heresy Inquisitor—or rather, the Geumsamae Young Lady—flickered in her tone.
“Given that she’s barged in at this hour, I suspect a chance encounter over tea is the last thing on her mind. Butler, was this visit scheduled in advance?”
“No, it was not.”
I was bewildered too. It was already past midnight, wasn’t it? There was no reason for the Heresy Inquisitor to meet with the Silver Lily Young Lady now.
Two days ago, we had spoken.
I had said, “For the time being, I’ll work as the Silver Lily Young Lady’s exclusive butler.” I’d even added, “Both to gather information about her and to clear this Floor.”
She’d made a soft sound.
The Heresy Inquisitor had worn a subtle expression, if only briefly.
But then she smiled brightly as always.
“Yes! If it’s for the mission, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
“I’m fine with it. Go ahead, Four Kings.”
That was how we came to an agreement.
Or so I thought.
“Bring my butler here at once!”
With each step we took, her voice drew nearer.
“Butler! I know you’re here!”
The Garden of the residence.
Even the dark night sky couldn’t obscure the spring lingering in the flowerbeds. White magnolias in full bloom hung their heads, overwhelmed by the weight of spring clinging to their branches. The moon was red. When moonlight touched the magnolia leaves, it glowed a ruddy amber. The garden seemed filled with purple magnolias.
“Ah!”
A magnolia petal fell.
“There you are! Butler!”
The Heresy Inquisitor pushed past the guards at the gate. The guards hesitated—they dared not lay hands on a nobleman’s daughter.
While they wavered, the Heresy Inquisitor strode into the garden, her skirt hitched up. Crunch. The purple magnolia that had fallen earlier was crushed beneath her heel.
“I grew so worried when you didn’t return, even as the night grew late.”
“…….”
“Truly. To cause your mistress such concern, to make her come all this way—isn’t that beneath the station of a proper servant?”
The moment I saw the Heresy Inquisitor, my unease reached its peak.
Her hair.
The golden hair that caught the moonlight had grown longer than yesterday.
“Young Lady….”
“You are my one and only butler, my childhood friend. You carry meaning beyond that of a mere servant. Would it seem too presumptuous if I asked you to remember that?”
It wasn’t just her hair. Her face, her appearance—though traces of the Heresy Inquisitor still lingered, something about her felt unfamiliar.
‘Did she use the Sacred Spell Art to change her form?’
Why?
“In any case, you shouldn’t be here. I sense poison creeping even into the garden’s flowers. Come, Butler—let us return together at once.”
“How disrespectful.”
As the Heresy Inquisitor moved toward me, the Silver Lily Young Lady stepped into her path.
“To cause such a disturbance in the dead of night is itself a capital offense worthy of caning. And you dare raise your voice here, of all places? Kneel at once and confess your transgression.”
“Oh? Do you mean to strike my calves with a cane?”
The Heresy Inquisitor smiled sweetly.
“If you’re going to do it, then do it properly, do it hard, Young Lady. I’m curious what would happen if I showed the Crown Prince the scars left on my calves. We’d share one more memory together.”
“How, how outrageous…!”
The servants of the Ducal House trembled. Officially, the Silver Lily Young Lady was the Crown Prince’s betrothed. To speak of calves and shared memories before his future bride was a grave transgression. The servants’ faces flushed red with indignation as they glared at the Heresy Inquisitor.
The Silver Lily Young Lady spoke softly.
“Is that so?”
Flinch. At the sound of her voice, the servants froze.
My heart went cold in that instant.
“So be it.”
The Silver Lily Young Lady’s voice was ice.
“How touching, that you wish to build memories during your school days. Then again, at a baron’s daughter’s age, one could roll through a dungheap and still romanticize it as a cherished recollection. Since you desire such noble memories, I shall assist you—as befits a nobleman of the Empire.”
The Silver Lily Young Lady raised her left hand.
“Bring me a cane.”
The servants trembled.
“D-Duchess….”
“Did I not command you not to address me thus in this place?”
“If the Crown Prince were to learn of this….”
“Should I overlook a disturbance caused in the Ducal House’s quarters? If I do, it becomes gossip—and gossip tarnishes our family name. Propriety supersedes all things, and the Crown Prince himself must be the guardian of that propriety.”
The servants held their breath. Their faces betrayed no conviction. Silently, they protested: *But the Crown Prince is not such a man.* Yet none of them dared speak it aloud.
No one found the courage to voice their objection.
“My left hand remains empty.”
The Silver Lily Young Lady’s voice flowed like silk.
“Bring me the cane. I shall not repeat this command again.”
Across the path where magnolia petals had fallen, the servants’ footsteps quickened—scrambling back to the quarters to find the cane.
They kept their heads bowed, as if afraid even the moonlight reflecting off their faces might betray them. Only two remained standing upright: the Silver Lily Young Lady and the Heresy Inquisitor.
“Miss.”
In the end, I had no choice but to step closer to the Heresy Inquisitor.
“What is the matter? Why have you come at this hour?”
“To reclaim what is mine. You’ve forced me to state the obvious.”
The Heresy Inquisitor laughed softly.
“Since this morning, no matter how I wait, the Butler doesn’t return. At first, I thought perhaps something urgent had come up—but then I heard whispers that the Butler was at the Young Princess’s side. That’s when I understood.”
The Heresy Inquisitor pressed a hand to her cheek.
“I realized at once: the Young Princess must have seized some weakness of the Butler’s and blackmailed him. It’s her specialty, after all. Poor Butler—suffering for the Crown Prince’s sake and mine….”
……
I could not comprehend it.
What was she saying?
“Don’t worry.”
The Heresy Inquisitor’s smile remained radiant.
“From now on, I won’t let the Young Princess take anything from me—whether it’s the Crown Prince’s favor or the Butler’s loyalty. A cane? By all means, strike away. I shall rescue the Butler for you. Because the more she strikes, the more it is she who bears the wounds.”
“No… forgive me. One moment, if you’ll excuse me.”
I drew closer to the Heresy Inquisitor—close enough that those around us could not hear our words. Fortunately, no one moved to stop me.
“Miss.”
“Yes?”
I swallowed hard and whispered to the Heresy Inquisitor.
“Miss Inquisitor.”
Silence.
“Yes?”
My heart raced.
My lips were dry. My tongue wouldn’t move. Even twisting single words into a sentence felt impossibly difficult. Slowly, I opened my mouth.
“When spring comes.”
“Yes?”
My heart…
“Miss Inquisitor….”
“What on earth are you talking about, Butler?”
“If you’re joking like last time, I’m truly going to be angry. I’m serious. I’m asking this in earnest right now. Please answer me properly. How far has the Immersion Rate risen?”
The Heresy Inquisitor blinked.
“Hm? If anyone’s joking, surely it’s you, Butler. Are old memories surfacing? Or has a single day spent with the Young Princess addled your mind? Really, you are something. I’ll make allowances and understand, with my magnanimous heart.”
“When spring comes….”
“Already.”
The Heresy Inquisitor laughed.
“Spring has already arrived, Butler.”
No.
“Isn’t it a beautiful season?”
The Geumsamae Young Lady laughed.
“T-The items you commanded… have been brought….”
The servants who had scattered to the quarters returned. With lowered heads, they offered the cane to the Silver Lily Young Lady.
It was thin.
I suspected they had rushed through the manor hunting for the most delicate cane they could find—a final act of loyalty they could offer their mistress.
“Fetch another.”
But the Silver Lily Young Lady was merciless. The servants flinched, shuffling their feet.
“Bring another.”
The command was repeated four times. With each repetition, the cane grew thicker and rougher. When the servant brought the fourth one, teeth gritted in pain, the Silver Lily Young Lady gripped it in her left hand.
“Geumsamae Young Lady.”
“You wish to use my true name? Your Grace.”
“Silviae Evanail.”
“Yes, Rabiel Ibansia.”
Moon and sun faced each other across the dark.
“You trespassed upon the Ducal House’s domain without permission and caused disturbance. You offered no words of apology. There is clear hierarchy in the Empire, high and low, yet your audacity is lamentable. I punish you now in the name His Majesty bestowed upon me.”
“A crime? I know my crime better than anyone.”
The Geumsamae Young Lady smiled softly.
“My crime is being born of a mere marginal baron’s house, and yet receiving the Crown Prince’s deepest favor.”
That—that was not something one said to the Crown Prince’s betrothed.
“I apologize for receiving love.”
The baron’s daughter gathered the hem of her skirt lightly in both hands. In a garden thick with magnolia blossoms, a single golden flowers descended—her head bowed before the white lily that stood before her. The form was perfect.
The courtesy was flawless.
“I apologize for receiving more love than you, Rabiel Ibansia.”
……
“Has my apology sufficed?”
The wind blew.
“Yet I wonder, Rabiel Ibansia. Is this truly my crime alone? Love only means something when it is received. Can it really be my sole responsibility that love and the loved have been divided? Perhaps…….”
Perhaps—but the Geumsamae Young Lady did not finish that thought. Instead, laughter spilled from her lips. Petals fell from the black branch above her head.
The Silver Lily Young Lady raised her left hand without sound.
“How ruthless.”
Night air was torn by the cane.
……
The Geumsamae Young Lady did not cry out. She did not even whimper. Her back remained straight and true. Her smile, carved into her face like sculpture, did not waver in the slightest.
She—he and she—was certain of victory.
[Your immersion into this character deepens.]
So to me, the moon seemed to bleed.
[Your current Immersion Rate is 40%.]
That night, the moon was tinged red with sand.
When the moon was buried in dust from above, it turned red. When humans shed blood on the ground below, it turned red too. Cough—the air grew acrid, and the Silver Lily Young Lady coughed. A dry, hollow sound.
No one spoke.
Only the sound of coughing and the whistle of the cane cut through the night garden.
“Silviae!”
A torch swayed.
“Silviae! Are you there, Silviae!”
Footsteps shattered the silence. Beyond the gate. The Crown Prince himself rushed forward, torch in hand. Guards tumbled after him in disarray. There was no way he could have been unaware of such a disturbance.
“Silvi——”
The Crown Prince stopped at the entrance.
……
He gazed upon the garden and fell silent for a moment.
“Rabiel——!”
His voice carried a different temperature when he called out to the Silver Lily Young Lady than when he named the Geumsamae Young Lady.
“Move aside!”
The Crown Prince pushed through the Ducal House’s guards. None dared obstruct the Heir to the Throne. He ran straight to the Geumsamae Young Lady’s side.
“How could you—no matter the provocation, how could you——!”
“I am fine, Crown Prince.”
“I am not fine! You foolish——!”
The Crown Prince examined the Geumsamae Young Lady.
Then he turned his head and glared at the Silver Lily Young Lady.
“How cruel.”
Words become wounds.
“How could you treat Silviae so harshly!”
Those who wound without seeing never know they have done so.
“It is the law of the Empire, Your Highness.”
“Can law matter more than human life!”
“More than any individual, yes.”
“That is precisely what makes you so cruel—a witch, nothing more!”
Perhaps the world divides itself into those who know and those who don’t—and the Crown Prince belonged to the latter.
The Silver Lily Young Lady coughed and drew breath.
“Will you punish me?”
…….
The Crown Prince’s face twisted. Merely twisted. He could not answer her question. He shook his head as though the matter wasn’t worth addressing, but it was nothing but evasion.
The Crown Prince lacked both the nerve and the skill to take responsibility for the Silver Lily Young Lady.
“Let’s go, Silviae! We can’t stay here.”
“Yes.”
The Crown Prince lifted the Geumsamae Young Lady into his arms.
As she settled against his chest, the Geumsamae Young Lady looked back at me.
“Butler.”
Heresy Inquisitor.
“You should go too.”
…….
I did not answer.
Watching her, I murmured like a prayer in my heart.
‘Character Window.’
Chime.
Letters bloomed before my eyes.
+
Name: Silviae Evanail
Affection Level: 90
Preferred Genre: [Romance]
Disliked Genre: [Political Drama]
Preferred Character: [One who loves me], [Crown Prince], [Butler], [Teacher], [Senior], [Junior], [Classmate]
Disliked Character: [Labiel Ibansia]
Preferred Plot: [Triumph of the Strong], [True Love]
Disliked Plot: [Defeat of the Weak], [Betrayal]
Mental State: ‘Labiel Ibansia. I give you nothing.’
+
The name Heresy Inquisitor no longer appeared there.
The word [Fairy Tale] that had been marked in the Preferred Genre column was gone, and the word [Human] that had been marked in the Preferred Character column was gone as well.
“Butler?”
The Heresy Inquisitor had been absorbed into the role of Geumsamae Young Lady.
“You’ll come with me, won’t you?”
And I sensed the end of this episode.
S-rank Hunter Who Must Die to Live (Serial Publication)
Author | Shin Noah
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Daelung Post Tower 1st, Guro-dong)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
© Shin Noah 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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