Love Letter From The Future-Chapter 377: Bread and Dagger (75)

Atop the bubbling mass of flesh, stood a man..

He was a middle-aged man with a grotesque appearance, his face marred by burns. The tattered priestly robe he wore testified that he had once been part of the Church of the Heavenly God.

Though that was clearly no longer the case.

In the crow’s memories, he had appeared composed. While madness occasionally overtook him, he was, at his core, a devout man with deeply profound eyes.

But what about the eyes of the man now looking down at me?

They were ablaze with an uncontrollable desire—one he himself likely couldn’t even name.

A gaze so intense it was impossible to discern what it was aimed at.

It surely wasn’t directed at me alone.

My lips quietly murmured the name of my foe.

“...Leoric.”

“So you already know my name, I see.”

The words were spoken as if in mild surprise, but his tone carried neither awe nor agitation.

It was an utterly calm tone.

At first glance, it might have sounded like the exchange of pleasantries with a neighbour.

The elves, caught off guard by the sudden confrontation, looked visibly frightened.

As Leoric and I stood face to face, murmurs tickled my ears. Several elves, weapons in hand, began to cautiously encircle me.

It was a troublesome situation.

Currently, I was holding Aviang in my arms.

Were I to fall here, she would almost certainly be the next target. That fact weighed heavily on my heart.

After all, hadn’t she just reunited with her sister?

And yet, Aviang hadn’t even managed a proper conversation with her. And to make matters worse, she was now unconscious,held in the enemy’s arms.

It was tragic.

Not my preferred genre.

Lowering my stance, I spoke in a growling tone.

“What did you do to Betty? And what’s with that form?”

“Immanuel... Could this not also be the Lord’s grace? Even I wasn’t aware, but it seems my body carries a special ‘blessing.’”

Again with the ‘blessing.’

I was utterly sick of hearing that word. I thought that, perhaps, even after leaving the North, I might shudder every time I heard it for a while.

Though, of course, for that, first I’d have to make it out of here alive.

I quietly readied my weapons and carefully set Aviang down on the snowy ground.

My opponent was Leoric. Fighting while protecting someone was out of the question.

That’s why I needed to first ensure Aviang’s safety. It was the reason I kept trying to engage Leoric in conversation.

“And as for Sister Betty, you don’t need to worry too much. She’s merely asleep... her body is still healthy—‘for now.’”

For now?

“If the state of her mindless slumber continues, it will inevitably take a toll on her body. Which is why I’d very much like to persuade you, Brother.”

Like I had done earlier, Leoric carefully set Betty’s body down.

Then, in an instant, that bubbling mass of flesh surged, engulfing Betty whole. It happened in the blink of an eye, before I could even say a word.

As I frowned, Leoric burst into hearty laughter.

“You’re unexpectedly full of concerns, Brother... but as I said, there’s no danger here. How could there be, when all elves are my brothers and sisters?”

“Doesn’t seem like there’s much brotherly affection between you and them.”

“Don’t be so narrow-minded. And haven’t you felt it as well, Brother?”

I responded to Leoric’s words with overt sarcasm.

Yet his expression remained as calm as ever. He simply drew a sign of the cross over his chest with a serene smile.

He looked like the very model of a devout man of faith.

That is, if you ignored the fact that his lower body had been fused with the fleshy monstrosity.

Undeterred, he continued his persuasion.

“The species itself is not what matters. What’s important is the will to stand in solidarity with the weak... after all, haven’t you seen for yourself the atrocities humanity committed against the elves?”

“...That was your doing, you son of a bitch.”

At that point, I could no longer hold back and growled.

He had sown discord between humanity and the elves, yet he spoke as if he was pursuing justice and peace. It was revolting—enough to make me gag.

“The elves in that village were innocent! Humanity had no reason to meddle with the elves who retreated to the coniferous forests... but then you led raids and pillaging, and everything changed!”

“Changed? What changed, and how so?”

“You ruined the peace.”

At my accusation, Leoric let out a bitter smile.

His gaze dropped heavily to the ground.

He didn’t look convinced. Even so, I couldn’t hold back my anger and kept talking.

“If you hadn’t provoked humans, the elves in the villages could have lived in peace! There wouldn’t have been any punitive force sent... but you ruined everything...!”

“You call that ‘peace’?” ƒreewebɳovel.com

At his sudden question, my words caught in my throat.

I stared at Leoric, as if to ask what he meant. He let out a bitter smile and once more raised his head .

There was a subtle intensity burned in his eyes.

“Driving the elves out of the Great Forest into this cold, arid North, where they have to worry about their next meal every day—is that your idea of peace? Trapping them in this coniferous forest and cutting them off from civilization—is that what you call peace?!”

I wanted to argue.

But I couldn’t bring myself to speak. Countless memories flickered through my mind.

The elves who lit up like children at the sight of bread.

Uncle Dolph and Ruget, who boiled a pregnant rat for food.

And even the ‘tree porridge’ Aviang brought every morning, calling it breakfast.

Theirs was a truly miserable way of living.

Could that even be called ‘living’? Or were they merely enduring each grueling day, unable to relinquish their tenacious grasp on life?

I found it hard to make any definitive judgment.

Because I was a noble of the Empire.

I never went hungry due to a lack of food, at the very least. Nor had I ever been pushed into a situation where I couldn’t maintain even the barest shred of dignity.

When I kept silent, Leoric became even more agitated and raised his voice further.

“My brothers and sisters, what about you? Look at this arrogant man! Has life ever been a blessing to you? Has this world ever, even once, been a paradise for you?”

Gloomy eyes turned toward me.

They were eyes devoid of light or shadow, long since robbed of hope or the will to live—more like the glazed eyes of dried fish than those of living beings.

Leoric’s voice grew more fervent even amidst it all.

Before long, pure white mana surged around him, each word he spat radiating with scorching heat.

“The logic of the privileged! The standards of the privileged! Brother Ian, you are no different! You, too, are part of the world we must destroy!”

And then, in the next moment—

My body overlapped with Aviang’s, as if I were shielding her.

Even I couldn’t explain why.

I simply felt that, instinctively, I needed to throw myself forward.

It didn’t take long for that decision to be proven right.

Boom—a tremor shook the ground.

The world flared into incandescence, washing my vision into blinding white.

Even with my eyes closed, a reddish afterimage lingered. A searing heat swept past, scorching my back.

It was a beam.

I barely managed to perceive it— Light streamed out of Leoric’s eyes and mouth and then, at the same moment he let out a scream, the beam was unleashed.

I confirmed the breath brushing my chest and looked up.

Nothing remained in the path of the beam.

The forest was pierced straight through, opening up a disturbingly clear view.

It was, without a doubt, an incredible sight.

However, the fact I had to face the man responsible for this spectacle was far from pleasant.

Struggling upright, I desperately shouted:

“For God’s sake, leave the non-combatants alone!”

“I won’t target them intentionally, but I can’t help it if they get caught in the crossfire!”

Leoric moved forward with wet, squelching steps—not exactly slow, but not fast either.

Gritting my teeth, I drew my sword.

I couldn’t afford to let him get any closer. The further away the clash happened, the safer Aviang would be.

That was why I immediately kicked off the ground and launched myself forward.

And then, right after that—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground trembled three more times and I collapsed, coughing up blood.

***The Saintess suffered from daily headaches.

It was the price of overworking her brain. Ever since the man she loved disappeared, she unconsciously spent every night devising plans to rescue him.

Their feasibility wasn’t particularly high.

Delphine, Elsie and Emma had already set out, but there had been no news yet. And, in truth, it was questionable whether they could save Ian, who’d lost his memory and turned against humanity.

What if they encountered him in the coniferous forest, filled with murderous intent?

It would be a certain defeat. If he attacked with no questions asked, they lacked the strength to subdue him with their current forces. The result would be the same even with Delphine amongst them.

And her headaches came hand in hand with a pain in her heart.

Every time she thought of Ian, an unbearable ache seized the Saintess’s chest. Though she kept telling herself to stay rational, her heart wasn’t so easily swayed.

I want to see him.

That simple desire filled her mind. It had been days since she began shedding tears and praying.

The Saintess gave a hollow laugh.

It was a laugh heavy with exhaustion.

“So... you’re saying that Marquis Yurdina is a traitor?”

Her words were devoid of honorifics or formalities.

Under normal circumstances, such a lapse would have been unthinkable for her. But the Saintess, worn to the core, lacked even the strength to correct herself.

The scene was one of stark contrast.

Standing before the Saintess was a girl radiating with resolute determination. The dark blue-haired girl tightly clenched her fists and firmly nodded.

“Yes!”

“Let’s see...”

At the girl’s unwavering response, the Saintess rose to her feet. Placing her hand on the princess’s forehead, she used her fingers to lift the girl’s eyelids for examination.

And after a short while of observing like that.

The Saintess furrowed her brows in puzzlement.

“Hmm, there don’t seem to be any symptoms yet... Should we proceed with our consultation?”

“I-It’s true!”

Feeling wronged at being treated like a patient, the Princess raised her voice.

Her teary expression spoke volumes about her feelings. At that response, the Saintess pressed her forehead as if her headache had worsened.

“Even if it is true, then what can we do about it? The master of Yurdina Castle is the Marquis... Unless the Emperor intervenes, there’s nothing we can do. Maybe if Sister Delphine were here, it’d be a different story, but from what you said, even Sister Seria can’t do anything right now.”

Every point was indisputable.

Lacking any rebuttal, the Princess bit her lip. In truth, that was why she had come to the Saintess after being dismissed by Seria.

Seria had struggled to accept the princess’s claims.

Even if she were to accept them, there was nothing Seria could do. As an illegitimate child, she had no power to confront her own father.

If there were anyone capable of such a feat, it would be Delphine alone.

Or perhaps someone beyond the reach of the Empire’s authority.

The Saintess, backed by the Church of the Heavenly God, was her only hope left.

Having that hope dashed, the princess could only slump her shoulders in defeat. The Saintess might speak of ‘Imperial intervention,’ but she surely knew how arduous gathering evidence would be.

Clearing Ian’s name would take time.

And until then, how much blood would stain Ian’s sword?

In the end, the Saintess let out a long, weary sigh.

“For now, we have no choice but to trust Ian. There’s no one around us who can spy on the Marquis Yurdina...”

“There is.”

The response came from somewhere.

The Saintess was about to shake her head as if it was ridiculous, but something dawned on her, and she froze mid-motion.

The princess hadn’t answered, had she?

The Saintess’s body jolted upright as her cautious pink pupils scanned the surroundings. Then a single silhouette slowly emerged.

With brown hair, and venomous dark green eyes.

A spy in a maid’s uniform stood there, wearing a sly smile.

“May I hear more details? Especially about... Marquis Yurdina.”

It was Neris’s return.