YPDM 07

Chapter 07

[“I can see the square! Just hang in there a little longer!”]

It wasn’t until I was on the verge of passing out that I finally reached the bustling district of the capital.

I barely remembered how I got off.

Fortunately, the moment my feet touched the ground, the dizziness quickly faded.

After pulling the hood of my cloak securely over my head, I took the piece of paper from my pocket and unfolded it.

Now that I’d successfully made it into the commercial district, finding my destination shouldn’t be difficult.

“Let’s go.”

I confidently set off.

Before long, however, I realized something was wrong.

At first, it was a large dog that charged at me.

Just before it could bite me, a soldier patrolling nearby spotted it and stopped it.

“I’m so sorry! I accidentally let go of the leash…”

The man who appeared to be the dog’s owner hurriedly apologized, but something felt off.

The dog’s pupils were completely unfocused.

Drool hung from its mouth, and it clearly wasn’t acting normally.

If that had been the end of it, I could have laughed it off as a streak of bad luck.

But the strange incidents kept coming.

Next, I nearly tripped over an obstacle that suddenly appeared beneath my feet.

I barely managed to catch my balance and looked behind me.

Strangely enough, there was nothing on the ground.

The moment I stepped on that spot, something rose up beneath my foot.

This wasn’t normal.

My nerves immediately went on edge, every one of my senses becoming razor-sharp.

[“Above you! Watch out!”]

The instant I cried out and leapt backward, a heavy, sickening crash rang out right in front of me.

“Ha… This time it’s a flowerpot?”

A flowerpot the size of a soccer ball had landed exactly where I’d been standing moments ago.

If I’d reacted even a second later, it would have smashed directly into my head.

Ash’s voice turned grave.

[“…Olavia.”]

I clenched my teeth.

The situation was becoming increasingly dangerous.

This is driving me crazy.

At this point, it wasn’t just bad luck anymore.

Several life-threatening incidents in broad daylight, all within such a short span of time.

The last one could genuinely have killed me.

They’re making it obvious. As if they’re warning me they can kill me whenever they want.

At this point, the poisoned tea leaves were no longer the biggest concern.

I was raking my fingers roughly through my hair, trying to figure out how to survive this crisis, when—

[“Olavia! Look ahead!”]

“Huh?”

While I’d been lost in thought, the scenery around me had somehow changed.

The street had become unnaturally quiet.

An unsettling aura surrounded the pedestrians.

Cold gazes seemed to be fixed on me from every direction.

Goosebumps raced across my skin.

Instinctively, I knew.

I have to run.

Without realizing it, I quickened my pace.

The strange pedestrians slowly—but unmistakably—began increasing in number as they followed behind me.

First from the left.

Then, in the next block, from the right.

They kept appearing one after another, forcing me to change directions several times.

Then, all at once, a horrifying realization pierced through my mind, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

It’s like they’re herding a rabbit…

[“This is bad! It’s a dead end!”]

A chill crept up my spine.

Swallowing hard, I slowly turned around.

I should’ve noticed sooner.

The people who had been secretly following me had now completely revealed themselves and were leisurely walking toward me.

It was the relaxed confidence of predators just before devouring prey that had nowhere left to run.

Like spiders calmly approaching butterflies already trapped in their webs.

[“Olavia… what are we going to do?”]

Ash’s whisper trembled from inside my hood.

My heart pounded violently.

Calm down. If I lose my head here, it’s all over.

Grinding my teeth, I carefully observed the approaching figures.

Their movements are unnatural… like someone’s controlling them.

Could those even be called human movements?

My fists tightened so hard that my knuckles turned white.

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

There’s no escape.

The moment I bit down hard on my lower lip, realizing I was cornered—

An overwhelming pressure suddenly crushed down over my entire body, as though it were trying to flatten me.

“Ghk…!”

The unexpected force drove a groan from my lips as I collapsed to my knees.

[“Olavia!”]

I heard Ash shouting desperately from inside my cloak, but I couldn’t answer.

My body shook so violently that it no longer felt like my own.

Thud.

It was then that I heard slow, measured footsteps pressing against the ground.

Startled, I forced my trembling gaze upward.

A figure came into view.

Who…?

A man dressed entirely in black slowly walked into the alley.

The murderous aura radiating from the mysterious figure was overwhelming.

The closer he came, the colder the surrounding air became.

Fear stole the breath from my lungs.

And apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt it.

“Kiik… Kik…”

The mysterious pedestrians following me let out grotesque cries.

Their voices sounded like screams born from terror and despair.

Some tried to flee.

It was pointless.

Slice.

With a chilling sound, the body of the first person who attempted to escape was cleanly cut in half.

“Ghk…!”

The horrifying sight made me clamp both hands over my mouth to stop myself from screaming.

But what happened next was even more shocking.

No way…

The inside of the severed body was completely hollow.

As though everything inside had vanished, leaving only an empty shell.

I blinked once.

Their bodies instantly turned pitch black.

I blinked a second time.

Like shattered clay dolls, they began crumbling apart.

By the third blink…

It was already over.

Reduced to black ash, their remains were swept away by a wind that seemed to appear from nowhere.

The only traces left behind were scattered patches of black powder on the ground.

I simply couldn’t believe what I’d just witnessed.

How… how is something like this even possible?

I couldn’t even begin to process what had happened.

I could only stare in stunned disbelief.

One after another, everything the black-clad man cut down dissolved into dust and disappeared.

Shhk.

After effortlessly finishing them all, the man slowly straightened up.

Then he turned his gaze toward me.

“…!”

A chill shot down the back of my neck, and every limb went rigid.

My heart pounded even harder than before.

The man, whose overwhelming presence alone had completely frozen me in place, leisurely closed the distance between us.

I simply stared at him, unable even to think of running away.

In an instant, the mysterious man stood close enough that I could reach out and touch him.

I gasped and instinctively shrank back.

“You’re human.”

His voice was low, gentle, and resonant.

The moment I heard it, all my desperate struggling came to an abrupt stop.

At some point, I’d squeezed my eyes tightly shut.

Slowly, I opened them again.

And I found myself thinking exactly what he had just said.

…A person?

This time, my breath caught for an entirely different reason.

The man was remarkably tall.

His perfectly proportioned, well-built physique couldn’t be concealed even beneath his clothing, silently proclaiming his strength.

Glossy black hair.

Elegant, sharply defined features.

Most captivating of all were his brilliant crimson eyes.

Even his unreadable, emotionless expression and the icy aura surrounding him were mesmerizing.

He possessed an overwhelming beauty that seemed completely otherworldly.

People like this really exist…?

It felt as though a heavenly being had descended upon the earth and was looking down upon a mere mortal.

His appearance was that unreal.

“What exactly did you do to draw out all those things that had been hiding?”

Lost in admiration of his face, I snapped back to reality when I heard his voice.

When our eyes met, the man tilted his chin toward the area behind me.

Only then did my dazed mind finally clear, as if someone had thrown cold water over me.

“What… were those things just now?”

Before he even had a chance to answer, questions poured out of me.

“Why were they attacking me? How did you kill them? No—before that, who are you?”

The questions came one after another like rapid-fire bullets.

The man, who had only intended to ask a single question and instead found himself bombarded with three, frowned slightly.

A faint trace of annoyance appeared on his breathtakingly handsome face.

“I’ll have to erase it.”

“Huh?”

Erase what?

Before I could understand what he meant, his cool palm rested against my forehead.

“There’s nothing to worry about. After you’ve had a nap and wake up, everything that happened today will have become an ordinary memory.”

“W-What did you say?”

“I suppose I’ll make it a memory of being attacked by a robber.”

I stared at him in utter disbelief.

He was saying he intended to erase my memories.

Not only that—he was going to alter them as well.

I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even speak.

I looked at him in silent protest, my eyes filled with indignation, but he didn’t so much as blink.

A moment later, warmth began spreading across my forehead.

“W-Wait! Who gave you permission to erase my memories?!”