The Boss Wants to Die - Chapter 34

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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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The boss wants to die.
Episode 34
“It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Just… I wonder how you’re supposed to obtain a Ruby that glows blood-red like that.”
He prodded a chunk of raw meat seeping with blood, using the cheap Knife he held in his hand.
“By the act of drinking blood itself.”
……
“You’re curious about it, aren’t you.”
‘He didn’t say a word about it before.’
That’s why I’d let my guard down.
Akt had clearly been waiting for exactly that.
When my weak point was exposed and I fell silent, unable to answer quickly enough, Akt simply watched me with those black eyes.
I couldn’t hide my confusion, and for a long moment we did nothing but lock gazes.
I tried belatedly to cover my mouth with my hand and hide my face, but it only made me look more suspicious.
“What good does it do you to know that?”
I stabbed at the strawberries with my fork as if crushing them.
“You’re not a monster, are you? Would explaining it even help you understand?”
“I thought I knew everything worth knowing.”
Akt dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin as he spoke.
‘When he’s resting at the Inn, he gives off such a languid air. But at meals, he’s unexpectedly refined.’
How could a human being contain such contradictions?
Which is exactly why I couldn’t fathom what lay beneath the surface.
‘I don’t even know if he’s figured out my lies or if he was just testing me.’
Akt Hebgenia is a man cloaked in decadence.
The Red Light District suits him far better than any grand cathedral ever could.
And yet his speech and manner emanate a refinement of nobility.
Honestly, I still couldn’t figure out what kind of person he truly was.
“Everything worth knowing? About me?”
Sensing the twisted emotion roiling inside me, Akt smoothly changed the subject.
“Information about the Evil God is so widely circulated in the world, after all.”
“I suppose it is.”
Somehow my energy had drained away.
I rose from my seat with slumped shoulders.
“Finish eating. I’ll head out first.”
The more we talked, the heavier my chest became, so I left the restaurant—and Akt immediately followed close behind me.
“Iroun, wait a moment.”
I ignored him and entered the winding Alley created by the tightly packed Shopping District.
The familiar smell of dust enveloped me.
My heart was troubled, but my body, wrapped in shadow, felt as peaceful as if I were lying in bed.
‘I suppose inborn nature can’t be hidden.’
I looked down at this body of the Evil God—one that was drawn to damp, gloomy back alleys as if to a home.
Now I couldn’t even imagine inhabiting any other form.
Having merged so completely with the monster, I felt I might go mad.
‘If I ever return to my original body, will I be able to live a normal life?’
“Iroun.”
Akt called my name.
I ignored him, keeping my head down, eyes only on my body—but he gently grasped my shoulder and turned me around to face him.
“Iroun.”
His voice was very low, so low that it reached even the consciousness buried deep within me.
I lifted my head.
In the dark Alley, Akt stood with his white hair—the only thing shimmering like starlight—caught in the wind, looking at me.
I gazed up at his luminous locks.
‘Now that I think about it, why did Akt let his hair grow long in the first place?’
Whenever I visited his room, his long hair was tied back, as if it bothered him.
There was only one time he let it down.
When he saw me.
‘Why?’
Once I noticed it, curiosity bloomed within me.
His white hair, released deliberately, caught the backward wind and danced radiant around him.
The white hair that danced in the wind scattered like sunlight in all directions, so blindingly bright that…….
“I’m sorry. For saying I understood everything. I wasn’t trying to deceive you.”
A voice warm as sunlight offered an apology.
I felt a sudden heat radiating from his white face, white hair, and white voice, and my brows furrowed.
“I was hurt.”
Akt was serious in a way he’d never been before.
I shook my head several times to clear the dazzle from his brilliant white hair.
“Hurt?”
“You never tell me about yourself. That’s why I was hurt.”
“You…….”
I started to snap at him, but let the end of my words scatter into a sigh.
I needed to be clear about this.
I pushed against Akt’s chest where he’d drawn near, creating distance between us.
“Why would I spell out my life story for you? You’re my enemy.”
…….
“I need to be clear about this. No matter how well you treat me, it will only be your loss.”
I had to drive the point home.
For me, it was the first time I’d ever spoken for Akt’s sake.
“Death is an important matter to me. Far more than you think. There are complicated reasons tangled together, and no matter how much I explain, you won’t understand.”
…….
“Even if I grow as close to you as family, I will choose death. No matter what happens, I will never prioritize you over death. Even if we come to truly love each other, even if I come to care for you sincerely…….”
I looked up at his face for a moment, studying it.
“Even if I come to cherish you.”
…….
“I will still die.”
“Yes.”
Akt answered simply, smiling gently.
He seemed a little surprised that I’d laid bare my feelings with such seriousness.
Perhaps he’d thought I would always show nothing but dishonesty.
But beyond that, he didn’t look particularly taken aback at all.
He didn’t even blink at my words about choosing death even if I grew close as family.
He simply smiled.
That smile seemed like a candle guttering out, and it made my chest ache.
“That’s fine.”
Akt answered.
After that, there was nothing more to say.
‘When did he complain about me talking about wanting to die…….’
Akt looked at me quietly, and the weight of his gaze made me slip my eyes away.
“That’s all that matters.”
…….
“And your apology just now. It was nice to hear.”
Akt’s fingers, which had been hanging limp, trembled slightly.
I felt heat rise near my cheekbones and pushed myself to continue speaking.
“When you speak to me like that, all serious and… it’s not bad. Your tone is, is gentle. You always talk so, so kindly. It’s nice to hear.”
I wanted to die of embarrassment.
My head hung so low it was nearly pressed into the ground, but I didn’t have the courage to meet his gaze.
He stood motionless like a statue, blocking out my view, and only answered after a moment.
“Yeah, thanks. Iroun.”
His voice was so sweet, steeped in honey, that I could barely think straight.
He calls my name whenever he speaks.
Sometimes pointlessly, sometimes tenderly.
Iroun, Iroun.
Like that.
‘As if he knows that I want to be called by my name…….’
I gathered my courage and raised my head.
Contrary to my fears, Akt wasn’t mocking me.
I thought the Evil God would make a fuss, asking what he was up to, giving me compliments.
‘Akt has never moved the way I expected.’
“Yeah, thanks. Iroun.”
My heart raced wildly.
Akt’s low, crystalline voice pierced my chest like a bell’s chime, setting my whole body resonating.
I trembled without letting it show, drawing my neck down into my shoulders.
Butterflies seemed to flutter deep in my belly.
Back then, I didn’t understand that this was what joy felt like.
I simply didn’t know why my body was reacting this way, so I stood there awkwardly, frozen.
“Iroun.”
I looked up at Akt with reddened eyes.
He was gazing into my wide-open gaze.
That was when I could finally see it.
Akt was looking at Iroun.
Strong and beautiful—not the incarnation of evil at all.
“It’s rather cold in here.”
Akt extended his hand.
“Shall we step outside?”
I stared down at his hand, saying nothing.
He’d offered it the same way before.
Always at moments when refusal felt impossible, as though he could read minds.
‘He’s calculating. But then again…….’
On the other hand, there were times when his attentive consideration felt impossibly comforting.
I placed my hand in his dry, warm palm.
Akt’s large hand closed around mine like a shackle cast from molten iron, holding me firmly.
Then he pulled me out into the daylight in one fluid motion from the shadows of the Alley.
“Aah.”
Squinting against the sudden sunlight, I felt Akt cast his shadow across my face.
His frame was large enough that standing close beside him let me slip entirely into his shadow.
“Much better?”
“Yes, it is.”
I found myself glancing around aimlessly.
‘Why does this feel so embarrassing?’
I bit my lower lip, trying desperately to hide the heat creeping up my face.
Sweat was gathering in the palm of my hand where Akt held it tight.
So distracted by it that I wiggled my fingers, Akt only tightened his grip on my hand.
I raised my head and saw his pale face looking down at me with quiet composure.
Smiling softly, as always.
I turned my head away sharply.
Unaware that it made me look even more flustered.
***
Pam-pa-ra-pam~!
[You have achieved the Quest for sublime justice!]
Michael stared blankly at the Quest window that had appeared alongside the fireworks event.
The gaudy sparkling effects only made him more agitated.
The unexpectedly fulfilled Quest confused him rather than delighted him.
The completion condition that had clung to his ankles like death itself—’Witness the true form of the Evil God’—had amounted to nothing more than…….
Nothing more.
‘That’s what it means to see his true form?’
Michael dismissed the Quest window.
From a nearby rooftop, he watched Akt and Iroun exchange words in the empty Alley below.
At this distance, he couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their expressions were perfectly clear.

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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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