HPV 64

I said everything I wanted to, undeterred even by Istan’s terrifyingly cold expression.

“Tell me—what baby deserves to be despised simply because their mother’s death and their own birth fall on the same day? Look at the truth. Haven’t you misplaced your revenge? Shouldn’t you be taking vengeance on the monster that harmed your sister, not on the child who moved only by instinct to survive?”

As if I had prepared for this moment, my voice rose sharp and clear without pause.

Even Istan’s follower, who had been aiming the spear at me, faltered slightly.

But the one I had to persuade was only growing colder. The mad smile disappeared. His pale, corpse-like gaze poured over me with a murderous frenzy.

“The spawn of a beast would behave the same way. Did it not try to violate you? Like father, like son— as long as there’s a hole to stick—”

“Shut your mouth.”

I ground my teeth. A terrifying voice poured out from within me. If only I were Parona or Penzey. If I had the power, I would have killed Istan right here and now.

“If you’ve thought of Banwes that way all this time, then you have only insulted your sister. Banwes takes after her, after all.”

A dangerous fire lit up in Istan’s eyes.I carefully gauged whether the spearpoint would pierce me.

Orcs were now nearly extinct. Only mindless lower orcs were occasionally spotted.

The continent had once pursued Banwes—the last orc, a half-blood—but even that had been quashed by the god Gaioh’s oracle. Before that, Banwes had survived countless threats.

Parona had once said that his soul was clear and pure. Even when he had been impaled by spears or burned by human-set fires, he had never harmed a human being.

Istan, after his sister’s death, became an orc hunter. But he had pursued Banwes not because of a bounty—but for personal reasons.

In thirty years, he had succeeded in reaching Banwes thirty-two times.

Out of those, he successfully attacked him thirteen times, and inflicted serious wounds five times.

Each time, Banwes had simply fled and changed homes. He never once struck back.

Thirty years. Surely someone must have tried to talk sense into Istan during that time?

Of course. Someone must have tried to save him. But blinded by rage, Istan had seen anyone who tried to stop him as an enemy.

He must have killed everyone who tried to say the same things I was now saying. Appealing to Istan would be pointless. But I wasn’t speaking for Istan’s sake.

It’s for you.

Listen to me.

Break free—even a little faster.

I could see it—the telltale pupil-less eyes of someone brainwashed.

Those blood-red eyes drowned, screamed, and went silent again and again.

The huge man felt as if he might vanish at any moment. There was little chance Banwes could hear me right now, but I didn’t stop speaking. Even if he couldn’t hear me, it still mattered.

Both for him—and for me.

“Banwes owes you nothing. He has always hidden, suffered, and cursed himself.”

The soul he was born with bore the curse his dying mother had left behind. If Banwes truly understood nothing, he wouldn’t be kneeling here now, wearing such a pained expression.

He thought of himself as a sinner—because he had wanted to live, and had survived until now.

“Let go of your hatred. Even if Banwes dies, your sister will not return. He has no obligation to die for you.”

I tried to avoid relying on game information, but it was hard to resist.

“I am also a priest. Let me tell you what I see. You have lived your life with your eyes closed.”

Istan tore the spear from his subordinate’s hands and pointed it at me himself. I clenched my fists and didn’t back down.

“The story that a human body could not withstand carrying a demon’s child—that was not about physical limits. Your sister survived childbirth unharmed. Isn’t that right? She… she stabbed herself.”

The spear shook. Istan was wavering. Of course he was—

I was exposing truths he had long denied but deep down already knew.

“But she didn’t point that knife at the child.”

“Stop.”

“If she had resolved to, she could have killed the child first and then herself. But she hesitated. She let the child crawl away, and then took her own life.”

“If you say another word, I’ll kill you!”

Istan already knew what I was going to say. His eyes bulged, madness overwhelming him. But I showed no mercy.

“Marien saw the child in her womb as her own. She even gave him a name—Banwes.”

It was not Banwes who killed Marien. It was the emotional scars left by that monster. In Istan’s eyes, having the justification for his revenge stripped away, he looked as if he had lost everything— but also as if he might lash out with anything he had left.

I didn’t avert my gaze. It was strange.

If I couldn’t deploy a shield in time, I would die— and yet, I felt no fear.

“…Will they be happy?”

Both Istan and I lowered our heads slightly.

Banwes was muttering deliriously, his voice broken and incoherent.

“Will they be happy… if I die? Will the people who suffered because of me… finally be happy?”

For the first time, Istan’s face hardened.

The spear in his hand clattered to the floor. Seizing the moment, I grabbed Banwes’s arm and pulled him out of the hut. Istan did not try to stop us—for now.

I pulled Banwes’s arm with all my strength, trying to get as far away as possible.

Only his left arm, the one I held, rose awkwardly. His right arm hung limp toward the ground. He stumbled along after me, moving only where I dragged him.

“Can you hear me?”

Banwes remained silent, like a puppet whose soul had been drained.

The pupils lost under the curse had not returned.

I gritted my teeth so hard they made a grinding sound, and dragged him along with even more force—to get as far away as possible. Istan would be coming after us soon.

There was no way someone who had been consumed by madness for thirty years would suddenly change his heart because of a few words from me.

In the game, Istan pushes Banwes off the mountainside. The drop is considerable, and Banwes suffers serious injuries.

Even then, Istan’s schemes lead nearby monsters to swarm him. Banwes, torn apart and devoured, lies helpless, simply awaiting his death.

Of course, I knew he would eventually reach the Black Dragon’s Nest, so he wouldn’t actually die… but still.

My legs trembled violently as we made our way downhill. Gasping for breath, I glanced back at the man whose hand I was holding.

If I were to stick to the original story, this is where I should leave Banwes behind.

So that Istan could find him. But…Does Banwes really need to be stranded like that?

Left utterly powerless, thinking this time he really would die, abandoning himself to despair.

Could I truly leave him like that for days until he was rescued?

Even if he wouldn’t die, could I just stand by and let him suffer through that unbearable agony?

Could I even endure those few days, pretending not to know?

I hated seeing Banwes suffer. If I could stop it, I wanted to.

So, I decided.

I would change the original story.

…It’s not hard to prevent.

The villagers only act when Banwes is alone. All I had to do was stay with him. Banwes didn’t try to run.

He merely matched his steps to mine, never once trying to move on his own.

Because of that, it didn’t take long for Istan to catch up to us.

This time, he even brought his followers armed with swords and spears.

Whatever I had said earlier, he seemed to have forgotten completely—his eyes now burned with ecstasy and bloodlust.

In his hand, he held a potion designed to cause a landslide.

But surely… Surely he wouldn’t throw it while I was still here?

Surely?

Istan didn’t slow down. He was planning to take me down with Banwes too!

“Move!”

I shouted at Banwes and began running again, quickly conjuring a blue protective barrier around the two of us.

But my sprint was too slow. The potion was thrown.

The desperate sound of shattering glass echoed in my skull.

“The monster who killed my sister! And you, who protects the monster—you must be a monster too!”

RUMBLE—!

A deafening roar shook the world. The ground beneath us collapsed.

A massive hole tore open, leading deep underground into a pit of sheer darkness.

Istan laughed triumphantly from above.

The next moment, my body plunged downward. The wind that struck my face was unbearably sharp.

I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed. The large hand I was holding flinched—definitely, unmistakably.

It felt like we were falling forever.

But at some point,

I realized I couldn’t feel the wind anymore.

Instead, an intense body heat, hot enough to burn me, wrapped around me tightly, leaving no gaps.

He hadn’t even escaped his brainwashing yet…

The fall ended with a tremendous impact. The man’s body slammed into the ground.