I Became a Murderer in the Academy.-Chapter 129

Looking back, it could be said that as a result, Clana adapted quickly to the outside world, thanks to Iria.

It seemed like they were meeting again. Uniquely, the location was a hill at the back of the academy.

It was a place where the entire landscape of the Empire could be viewed, and where Serthia often came during her lifetime.

Iria asked the two of them.

“What were you two doing?”

To be honest, it seemed like a place that didn’t quite fit the two of them.

The terrain was steep, making it unsuitable for practicing swordsmanship, and there wasn’t much to see if they were just taking a walk.

There were no flowers, and not even a blade of grass could be found nearby, creating a lifeless atmosphere.

Yet, the two stood side by side in such a place.

In response to Iria's question, Ariel paused for a moment to think, then spoke while looking down at the bottom of the cliff.

“I was looking at the landscape of the Empire. There’s nothing here, but below, there is the Empire.”

Iria stood next to Ariel and looked down.

It seemed like she could see all the scenery of the Empire. The academy, bustling with students, the central park of the Empire, and the back alley that ran alongside the central fountain.

'Is this the Empire that Serthia wanted to protect?'

Indeed, it was a place she would have loved.

Of course, a monster that had almost destroyed such an Empire stood here now.

As she moved closer to gaze at the view, Ariel stopped her.

“Be careful not to get too close to the edge.”

“Am I going to fall?”

“That's part of it, but also, this place is special.”

Ariel pointed to a flower blooming at the edge of the cliff.

“This is a grave. It’s a place to honor those who dedicated their lives to the Empire and protected it.”

“...”

She didn’t explicitly mention who that person was, but Iria understood.

There was no way she wouldn’t know.

Iria was the one who killed her.

'...a grave.'

So, she was buried here.

Iria took a step back from Serthia’s grave. She felt she had no right to tread upon her tomb.

Iria acknowledged that she was indeed a remarkable person, even if she had killed her.

But that didn’t mean she felt guilt for her actions.

It wasn’t because Iria was a monster who couldn’t feel emotions; it was simply because Serthia had been a person destined to die anyway.

Faint memories from the original story swept through Iria’s mind.

“...”

In the original story, Serthia met the most miserable end of anyone.

The curse eventually spread throughout her body, and by then, she was unable to even kill herself, and when Albert hesitated for just a moment, he had to kill her.

Serthia became a new disaster, just like the former saintess who was her friend and companion.

She became the largest wall to stop Ariel, gathering the entire military force of the Empire to finally succeed in defeating her.

'Wasn’t that a better outcome?'

Rather than being recorded as the worst calamity in the Empire, it was better to be remembered as a hero who devoted herself and sacrificed herself for the Empire.

That was why, for this incident, she felt no guilt. After all, someone had to do it.

That day, when she stabbed a knife into her heart, it was something she felt she had to do.

A lonely wind blew over the cliff.

The wind ruffled Iria's silver hair. Ever since Ariel had spoken, a heavy silence had settled.

At that moment, Clana closed her eyes and offered a prayer.

Now that nothing remained, she wanted to bless the desolate place.

To bring life back to a place someone once cherished, a place that was now nearly dead.

“Light…”

In truth, Clana had come here for this very reason from the beginning.

As a saintess capable of performing divine miracles, she had come here at Ariel’s request.

Of course, Clana wasn’t here solely because of a request. As someone who had been Serthia’s physician, she felt a sense of responsibility.

Thus, the golden divine power that emanated from Clana began to slowly cover the area.

Life began to return to the dead land.

“...”

New sprouts began to bloom.

As if to convey the formation of the new hero party to the former heroes, the memorial service for the great hero concluded here.

A day passed, and on the final day, I decided to have a conversation with Ariel.

Ariel, perhaps still not settled, had climbed the mountain alone today. In the place where the Sword Master had departed, he was swinging his sword by himself.

Thinking back, was this the place where I first met him?

Iria quietly appeared from the dark underbrush of the alley, like a monster.

“...”

When Ariel confirmed Iria’s presence, he stopped his movement of swinging the sword. The trajectory of his swung sword left a clean cut in the ground.

Had he reached a level that could be compared to the Sword Master with just pure swordsmanship?

After organizing his sword, Ariel sat down on a nearby hill, and Iria sat down next to him.

The air at dawn, when they were about to leave the next day, was not very warm. The air had become chilly, cooling the sweat on her forehead, and the flowers that had bloomed in summer were starting to wither.

Sometimes, Iria gauged the passage of time at the academy by the temperature.

The sense of time felt by a monster is quite different from that of a human, so even though it had only been a few months, it felt like an eternity.

Just a few months.

Yet, for a monster, it was a time when the temperature of the wind brushing against her skin began to change.

Looking back at the terribly heavy and cruel flow of time.

Counting the number of humans she had killed and the measure of the blood she had consumed, she bore the weight of the sins she had committed.

Then, was this a journey to rectify those sins? After all, the truth about Iria was held by the Demon Lord’s army.

Perhaps the origin of all the sins Iria had committed until now lay there.

Wasn’t that so?

The sins she had committed stemmed solely from the instincts of being born as a living creature, and it was the Demon Lord’s army that created Iria to possess such instincts.

If that were the case, they too had their share of the blame.

At this point, she didn’t plan to beg for forgiveness for the wrongs she had committed. In the end, it was her responsibility, and it was she who had killed humans to the extent that their blood seeped into her hands.

But at least if Iria had the will to rectify those sins…

'Is it not right to punish all the accomplices before facing the judgment of her sins?'

It was an inaccurate thought.

There was no one to consult about it, and it was merely a conclusion reached after deep contemplation alone.

But Iria decided to do so.

At this point, there was no longer a means to die alone, and as long as she lived, she would have to kill someone.

In the time spent with Ariel, a heavy silence settled on the mountaintop.

Both Iria and Ariel were not particularly talkative. They were both more accustomed to listening than speaking.

However, Iria had come to find Ariel.

It seemed she had something to ask him.

“Ariel, are you ready to leave?”

Iria opened her mouth after feeling the cold wind and gazing up at the starry night sky.

Ariel’s blue eyes turned to Iria.

“Ready to leave?”

“Clana has already accepted her fate of having to go to the battlefield for a long time, and Sera said she’s ready to leave without any regrets now.”

“...”

“And I’m ready too.”

It was only Ariel who didn’t respond.

Ariel.

The leader of the new hero party, who had been handed the holy sword against his will.

A man who bore the heavy responsibility of leading the imminent front against the Demon Lord's army to victory.

“While we are ready to leave, are you prepared to head to the battlefield, Ariel? This is a question I ask as a party member to my leader.”

Ariel still took quite a while to respond to Iria’s question.

He remained silent for a while, and Iria waited for his answer.

Waiting was something Iria was good at.

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Once again, she faced the cold wind, gazing up at the starry night sky as she awaited a response.

How long had it been?

Ariel finally stood up.

Then he lightly ruffled Iria’s hair, which was shorter than his own.

“I was ready long ago. I’m just going to do what I must do. It’s something only I can do.”

“...”

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow morning. We’ll depart early in the morning.”

The hero said that and left the hillside.

Silence settled over the hilltop.