SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 95

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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 95. The Villain (2)
5
…My beloved daughter.
…Do not hope.
…Hope for nothing at all.
…Do not hope, do not hope. That is the secret to life.
…Every time you whisper to yourself, “Perhaps this time will be different,” the world will murmur back to you, “But this time, as always.” Being deceived once is experience; being deceived twice is tragedy. But being deceived a third time—that is comedy.
…My beloved daughter. You are of noble birth. Take care that your life does not become comedy in another’s eyes. Do not grant yourself three chances at hope.
…Two. Two wounds alone are enough to be remembered forever. Those ancient emperors mourned their own deaths while still living, building cenotaphs in distant deserts. Do not repeat such foolishness.
…Yet if I am to entrust you to this world, my daughter, remember this. You do not lend your life to others. Do not become anyone’s debtor. Give with the intention from the start of never being repaid. Give everything.
…Forgive them for holding a feast upon your corpse. Give them your hair. Give them your fingers. Give them everything from your most innocent sacrifice to your most artless joy, your most untainted hope. They will gorge themselves on all that is yours and revel in their banquet.
…And so depart this world leaving nothing behind.
Nothing at all.
Mother left such a testament and died.
The funeral was cremation.
6
The basement was silent.
“Why do you hesitate, Your Highness?”
Only Eun Baekhaap’s voice echoed faintly through the cold air. The interrogated servants bled, but three pools of blood were not enough to warm the basement.
“Please, as Crown Prince of this nation, pronounce their punishment.”
“Ha, ha.”
The Crown Prince laughed thinly.
Could that even be called a laugh? His lips merely trembled upward. It was a pathetic failure of a smile.
He turned away as if fleeing, looking between the Heresy Inquisitor and myself. [What do you make of this absurd situation?] the Crown Prince’s gaze seemed to ask.
“Your Highness.”
But escape failed. Eun Baekhaap’s sharp voice cut through the Crown Prince’s line of sight.
“Shall I report their crimes to His Majesty’s special bureau?”
The Crown Prince froze.
“Are you following the footsteps of a Deposed Crown Prince?”
“…….”
“How far do you suppose His Majesty will forgive you?”
Coercion.
Though her tone was measured and betrayed no breach of etiquette, the Duke’s House’s daughter, Eun Baekhaap, was clearly driving the Crown Prince into a corner.
And it was effective coercion.
“Ugh.”
The Empire’s heir’s hands trembled. Trembling, he grasped the blade the Duke’s daughter offered him. Yet the Crown Prince’s resolve ended there—with the grip. It did not extend to the act of wielding it.
“Silvia…….”
The Crown Prince let the blade tip droop lifelessly, staring at us. Was he hoping someone would step forward and stop Eun Baekhaap?
“What clean work!”
But the Heresy Inquisitor smiled brightly.
“Not only the Crown Prince, but you’ve drawn in both of us as well. Ah, how marvelous—now everyone gathered here becomes an accomplice, keeping silent together. The Crown Prince is pleased his blunder will be covered up, and I am pleased the young lady faces punishment!”
“S… Silvia?”
“The problem is that it appears only the young lady gains no advantage whatsoever from this arrangement.”
The Heresy Inquisitor’s eyes narrowed like a waning moon.
“Is there any benefit to you in settling things this way? Young lady. Three loyal servants of the Duke’s House will die? And you would take corporal punishment in the Crown Prince’s stead. I confess I am most curious about your thinking.”
“I’m not sure what you mean. As I said, these servants belong to the main household, and as the main household’s daughter, it falls to me to answer for their mistakes…….”
“Ah, how lovely! But that argument is inefficient! For the sake of productive discourse, let us be frank with one another. Why would you accept punishment in the Crown Prince’s place? Is it perhaps the young lady’s ‘love’?”
The basement held its breath.
Gold and silver met in a silent exchange of glances.
“It is simply the duty of a loyal subject, Heresy Inquisitor.”
A composed voice followed.
Eun Baekhaap’s brow did not so much as twitch.
“To calculate profit and loss is disloyalty. You were raised in a frontier house and may not readily understand such things.”
“In other words, you expect no reward?”
“Would you hear my answer? Abandon the thought. Whether you understand me or fail to understand me holds no sway over my actions.”
“How intriguing…….”
The Heresy Inquisitor exhaled slowly. I could not immediately discern what lay behind that breath.
Yet one thing was certain. The Heresy Inquisitor’s response was not at all what the Crown Prince had hoped for. She did not intend to dissuade Eun Baekhaap. Despair flooded the Crown Prince’s face as he clung to his beloved.
“…Please wait just a moment, miss.”
And so I had no choice but to speak.
The Heresy Inquisitor tilted her head, regarding me with curiosity.
“Yes, Butler? What is it?”
“If those servants truly are the conspirators behind the assassination attempt, then we too have the right to seek vengeance. It would be unjust to leave all punishment solely to the Crown Prince.”
My mouth had gone dry. I turned my thoughts inward, concentrating on overcoming this politically fraught situation, searching for the optimal strategy. I did not hesitate to draw upon the Butler’s knowledge.
[Your Immersion with this character deepens.]
[Your current Immersion Rate is 7%.]
My tongue had withered to paper. Still, it was manageable.
“Lady Eun Baekhaap finds herself in much the same position. She has been betrayed by servants loyal to her. I believe she possesses ample grounds to punish them.”
“Hmm, you mean?”
“There are three servants who have committed crimes, and three people with the right to punish them.”
I glanced at the servants bound in their chairs.
“Would it not be fitting if each of you took responsibility for one?”
Silence fell.
“After all, Lady Eun Baekhaap wishes to make us accomplices in this matter—that is why she brought us here. And Your Highness the Crown Prince seems unable to bear the burden of punishment alone. I submit that it would be most equitable if all three of you shared the responsibility equally.”
For a long moment, stillness hung in the air.
“Hmm.”
The Heresy Inquisitor closed one eye thoughtfully.
……
Lady Eun Baekhaap narrowed her brow without speaking.
“Well…….”
The Crown Prince’s expression brightened suddenly.
“Quite right! What Silvia’s servant says is true. The Princess has been betrayed by her own people. Silvia herself was attacked. I must uphold the law of the realm! Since each of you has your reasons, it is far better that you each take responsibility for one. Yes, that is far better!”
“Your Highness, a monarch must not share his burden of judgment with others…….”
“Silence!”
The Crown Prince threw his sword irritably at Lady Eun Baekhaap. The blade tumbled through the air—thunk!—and struck her leg before clattering away.
Lady Eun Baekhaap’s expression remained unmoved, though the impact had been forceful enough to leave a bruise.
“Death! Execution! Punishment! Is that the only language you speak? Do you know how many people I have disposed of up until now? How many?”
“It is the duty of one who will lead this Empire.”
“I am not a murderer! I am not a butcher! If you crave blood so desperately, why don’t you spill yours first!”
The Crown Prince heaved with agitation. The Lady of the Duke’s House regarded him in stillness. Time froze.
The thin ice in the air shattered as she slowly bent forward. Her hands moved—the left grasping the scabbard, the right the hilt—with practiced ease.
Lady Eun Baekhaap drew the blade.
“Your Highness.”
The color of the steel matched the shade of her hair.
“Then at least give me an order. Why do you hesitate? Have you forgotten how to command? Are you surrendering your right as monarch?”
“An…… order?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Command me to execute. Why do you falter? Have you truly forgotten how to rule?”
……
The Crown Prince drew a breath.
“K…”
A word like a false step stumbling in empty air.
“Kill them…….”
Yet Lady Eun Baekhaap did not stumble.
Blood sprayed.
The air in the basement tore, and something weightier than air—flesh—tore with it.
“Ah.”
Lady Eun Baekhaap’s shoulders shifted as if she had merely exhaled. That was all. She took one life with a single breath, then turned her gaze toward us.
……
Dread washed over me. My heart raced with an unwholesome rhythm.
In that moment, I understood what I felt toward Lady Eun Baekhaap.
[Your Immersion with this character deepens.]
[Your current Immersion Rate is 8%.]
It was a primal instinct: that this woman would one day stand in the Heresy Inquisitor’s path.
A compulsion to eliminate the person before me at any cost.
“Aha! How fascinating you become! Yes, excellent!”
And that was why my Immersion Rate climbed madly upward.
“It would be troublesome to let the one who orchestrated the assassination live unpunished. Give me the blade. I shall dispose of the second. Come now—shall we become accomplices?”
How many people had the Heresy Inquisitor killed in her lifetime?
I did not yet know, but it was abundantly clear that she was no amateur in this regard.
The moment the Heresy Inquisitor received the sword, she executed the second with a single stroke.
Now only one servant remained.
“Ah…….”
Only one person left to carry out the punishment.
The Crown Prince stared at the Heresy Inquisitor, his mouth agape. He had never imagined she would execute the sentence so readily.
“Ugh, ah……!”
And then something astonishing—something nearly unbelievable—occurred. The Crown Prince stumbled backward, attempting to flee. Before Eun Baekhaap could even speak, the moment the Heresy Inquisitor cried out, “Ah!” he bolted.
No one had anticipated it, and the Crown Prince nearly succeeded in his escape. Yes, nearly—if only I hadn’t been stationed at the rear of our group, blocking the Basement Stairs.
“How dare you! What gives a mere servant the right to obstruct the path of royalty!”
“You.”
I seized the Crown Prince’s wrist and gripped it firmly. Squeeze. I put deliberate force into it.
He tried to wrench his hand free but failed. A low cry escaped him. His grip strength was no match for mine from the start.
“You—! Ugh! Release your hand at once!”
“This is because of you.”
The voice that came from my lips was cold, even to my own ears. It was not my usual tone.
“If you hadn’t so carelessly commissioned that assassination, none of this would have happened. Driven mad by love, you orchestrate an abduction. I understand that much. But do you truly intend to evade responsibility simply because you’ve lost your mind?”
I fixed the Crown Prince with a hard stare.
“Take hold of it.”
“T-take hold of what… take hold……?”
“The sword. Take hold of it.”
The Crown Prince flinched.
[Your Immersion Rate in this character is deepening.]
[Your current Immersion Rate is 9%.]
The immersion had grown, but it didn’t matter. My heart was identical to the Butler’s own. Fury at cowardly flight.
I grabbed the Crown Prince’s wrist and pulled him forward. He resisted, struggling against being dragged away. But I paid no heed and brought him along.
“Grasp the hilt.”
“Ugh, how dare you, this… the audacity……!”
Since he would not grasp it, I forced his hand to close around it.
“Raise the blade straight up.”
“Let go! I command you, let go! Does no one hear me!”
Since he would not raise it, I forced his arm upward.
“I can see now how much your life has been spent blaming others. All the filthy work, all the shameful deeds, everything too distasteful to touch with your own hands—you dumped it all on Eun Baekhaap, didn’t you? The Crown Prince of a nation, no less.”
“P-please, Silvia! Call off your servant! I’m begging you! Silvia!”
“Lower the blade and strike.”
The Crown Prince’s arm strength was contemptible. It was easy to overcome.
And so, I did.
“Ah.”
The smell of blood grew thicker in the basement. The body of the servant bound to the chair went slack and slumped.
The Crown Prince stared ahead with a vacant expression. At his feet, Eun Baekhaap slowly lowered herself to her knees. The hem of her skirt descended into the pool of blood, staining crimson.
“The Crown Prince has established righteous law. Such is the blessing of all people. Your Highness.”
“…….”
The Crown Prince said nothing. Without a word, he turned his back and left. This time, I released his wrist.
“Steel your resolve, Your Highness, and henceforth uphold the principles of Reward the Virtuous, Punish the Wicked.”
The Crown Prince climbed the Basement Stairs with leaden steps. Thud, thud……. All the while, Eun Baekhaap continued offering her counsel. Her voice pursued him up the stairs and echoed softly through the basement.
“The fate of this nation and the destiny of its people rest solely upon Your Highness’s resolve. Though you may feel alone, you are not without support. Each of your actions and decisions bears great weight upon the Empire. I implore you.”
The footsteps faded and ceased. We remained watching Eun Baekhaap, still bowed in reverence.
“Grow stronger.”
I found myself.
Wanting to understand this person.
S-rank Hunter Must Die to Live (Serialized)
Author │ Shin No-ah
Publisher │ Kim Joo-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung PostTower 1st)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin No-ah 2019
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with contract with the copyright holder, and the contents may not be used in any form or manner without permission from the publisher and 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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