He blinked his eyes narrowly, feeling the heat almost spilling from his lips. His body feels like it's being remade into something else, but strangely he doesn't feel bad. No, it's refreshing. I've never felt like this before.

　--After all, my whole life has been filled with burning for something.

　I've been burning for status, for gold, for beauty, and most of all for right. No matter how much he wished for it, no matter how hard he reached for it, it never came. No matter how hard he tried, they never came tumbling down into his hands. Instead, the more he wished, the further away his wishes became, and even when he thought he had finally obtained something, it soon fell out of his hands.

　There is still nothing in Roseau's hands. There wasn't even a piece of sand left.

　That's why I'm burning. He wished over and over that he could burn it all up. Somewhere along the way, instead of hoping to grab something, I came to hate them, to want to burn them all to the ground.

　So this is what I want to see, Roseau thinks.

　The heat of the fire leaks from his guts. Strangely enough, the blood-dried body continued to drive. It's like a monster or a demon, isn't it? It's not human at all.

　But what does it matter if it's not human? I don't care if he's a monster or a demon. This is my wish itself. This is what I, the wannabe, want.

　Roseau felt as if something had fallen from the bottom of his head. I don't know what it is. But I guess if you don't know, it doesn't matter.

　Let the righteous be burned for their righteousness. Let the unjust burn for their injustice.

　No one can escape this fire. As long as a man is a man, he will envy and hate. That emotion, that longing, is this flame. Your passions will burn you out.

　The assassin, Philos Trate, even the vice. As long as it's a creature of emotion and longing, I will kill it.

　The solemn tolling of bells rings in Roseau's ears. It's soothing. It's as if he's receiving a revelation or the gospel. His heart trembles as if the world, which has never smiled at him before, is finally looking at him.

　Bliss drips into your ears, as if to say that this is the salvation that is given to those who hang their heads to God.

　It's okay, it's okay. If it is your wish that is granted, nothing else is needed.

　At the same time as the solemn ringing of the bells, an indescribable voice struck my ear.

　--The plundering beast defended itself more firmly than anything else, the burning wraith lost its death. Everything is as they wish.

　I'm not sure if you've ever heard of it.


　◇◇◆


　Heat erupted from Roseau's body, and the long needles that pierced his joints melted and disappeared like candy. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's a good idea.

　Regenerator, immortal, darling of the night.

　These words ran through Bruder's mind. The sight of Roseau taking a long needle to the body and still holding his ground was just like those.

　A ridiculous fantasy. Such heretical beings are only products of the mythical age, before Artius. There are no more heroes chosen by fate, no more heroes favored by the gods, no more magic that brings people back to life. There's just a little residue.

　Yes, of course, there is nothing.

　Then there is only one thing to do. Roll your body on the stage. Bruder grabs up the needles he's been keeping in his pocket and forcibly throws them all at Roseau. His hand made a distorted sound.

　The silver needle, running in the darkness of the night, runs through the air like a glittering meteor, destined to burn out in the end. The thin needle could no longer even gouge Roseau's flesh.

　Of course, I know that. And even if you pierce him, he won't even be scared. Then he'd have to use it as a distraction at best. At least, Bruder did.

　The moment when the needles flare up, touched by Roseau's heat, the brief pause when they smoke. As if to sneak in there, Bruder's leg kicks the red brick.

　Roseau's appearance and behavior were indeed that of a freakish monster. But if you only look at his fighting gestures, he looks like an amateur. Perhaps he was never involved in fisticuffs.

　Then that's what you should hit. Feeling his heart heat up abnormally, Bruder jumps up and down. His ankles groaned with a driving sound, and he saw Roseau, right beside him.

　He's an amateur, after all. His eyes couldn't keep up.

　Surely the needle couldn't penetrate. Even an iron sword might no longer reach its flesh. Then take one of its arms and smash it from the roof to the ground. That should make this monster bear it a little better. I don't know if you can really kill a demon with such a human idea, but it's still better than nothing.



　Bruder's arms wrapped around Roseau's right arm, leaving him defenseless. Bruder's arms wrap around Roseau's right arm, leaving him defenseless, and he tightens his grip on Roseau's joint, turning his hips to shift his opponent's center of gravity.

　Killing the joints and shifting the center of gravity is a common technique in back alley fights. Bruder's throw with all her weight was enough to throw a man away, even with her thin frame. Slamming his head into a brick wall was something Bruder was used to.

　But that's only if the opponent is still a normal human being. Bruder realized this now.

　Roseau's body did not falter, no matter how much Bruder put his full weight on it.

　It was as if he was trying to pull the tail of a mighty dragon and throw it away. I can't move even a fingertip. Bruder felt blood being drained from every part of his body, not just his spine. His eyes hardened.

"Goodbye. Happiness.

　Roseau's face turned mad as he said it, acting as if it was all over. His eyes are bared, and his teeth are so sharp you'd think they were fangs. Then, the arm that still had Bruder entangled in it was easily swept away.

　--Whoa, whoa, whoa.

　Whether it took the form of a sound or not, Bruder is not sure. All he knew was that a mass of wind popped behind his ears and shook his skull like a storm. He couldn't see forward or backward, not even up or down. I couldn't even grasp what kind of shape I was in. The only thing I understood was that my heart and organs were burning.

　There was a thumping sound of something falling, and a few moments passed.

　It wasn't until his whole body slammed into the red bricks, dripping blood as if his skull had been cracked, that Bruder finally understood the situation. His heart distorted hotly, and his body emitted a caged heat as if it had been scorched to death.

　I realized that my right hand was pointing in an impossible direction, and my body was about to fall apart at the touch of a finger. In fact, it's a wonder I'm still alive. That's how much of a shock I was given.

　I finally understood it when I felt it in my body. That's the kind of being that can take a human being down with just one arm. It must be a demon.

　I'm scared. Oh, the fear bites at my neck. Bruder involuntarily snapped his teeth together in a quiver.

　It was just a coincidence that I was thrown on the roof. Either the monster was out of control, or he wasn't thinking. If I had been thrown off the roof, I would have been dead by now. If I had been thrown off the roof, I would be dead right now, just splattering bones and blood in the darkness.

　Thank God, I thought. I've lost my nerve. Now I'm just scared. I'm afraid of that.

　The support that had been hiding deep in Bruder's chest was shattered with a single swing. Like a melted and burned needle, the resolve in his heart melted away.

　Originally, Bruder was an ordinary girl. Even in the past, she threw everything away, wishing only to die, and in the end, rotted into the soil of Belle Fain at the hands of her own sister.

　Originally, happiness for someone like her was to live an ordinary life as a village girl in the countryside, to walk along a path where no storm or blizzard could happen, to endure a little pain and survive. She is just such an ordinary person. A girl who, if fate hadn't thrown a tantrum, would have lived without a single weapon in her hand.

　But now she's a mercenary, and she's spent more than her days scraping herself, and she's finally come to this.

　She is not strong like Kalia, nor does she have faith like Mattia, nor does she have a strong ego like Lugis. Only one of them came here with nothing.

　Bruder's body is bleeding and slowly decaying. Perhaps it was because he was lying on the ground, but I could hear the sound. It was the sound of footsteps slowly slipping away from me. Perhaps Roseau is convinced he is dead. Or perhaps he felt that there was no point in trying anymore.

　Lying there, Bruder thinks under his breath.

　Just stay down on the ground. Then there will be no more enemies, and maybe he will regain enough strength to move a little. Besides, it would prevent me from dying right now. Then it's all good. Nothing would be better than not having to face that scary thing.

　I just want to get out of here. Confronting that thing was a mistake in the first place. Yes, it must be. This is unmistakable-- unmistakable, what. You think he means it?

　Bruder clenched his left fist, still safe and shaking, and opened his mouth. His brown eyes widen.

The brown eyes widened, "You're a pain in the ass!

　And then he howled into the night.

　The blood in his mouth flowed back, probably from forcing his throat open, and he coughed. Even so, he continued to suck in air and spit out a string of sounds. Whether it was a scream or something else, I couldn't tell. At the very least, I could tell that he was unfit to be an assassin.

　I repositioned myself on the red brick and slammed my foot into the roof, as if I were tearing the flesh from my body. This is what it means to have your flesh ripped apart. The bent bones in my body scream, and the scream is followed by intense pain.

　Don't move, or it will be fatal, the body tells me lightly.



　I know. Bruder's teeth tremble and he lets out a breath, his eyes almost tearful. I know, my body is too weak, and I'd be a fool to stand against that monster. The fear has yet to leave my body. No matter how much my body heats up, it's a fact that will never change.

　But I don't want to die in a place like this, crawling like a loser. Blood dripping from his skull, his heart beating with a burning fever.

　Bruder's spirit is not a strong one. It shatters easily, melts away easily. It would have given up easily on everything. But no matter how much it crumbles away, the spirit soon struggles to force itself back together and take shape again.

　In the end, she is rude and uncomprehending to a fault.

　She does not accept defeat as defeat. It doesn't matter if she's on the ground and her face is trampled, or what kind of mess she makes, if she doesn't admit it, it's not a defeat.

　It is because of this twisted mentality that she did not choose suicide, even though her father was killed in shame and her mother and sister were taken by violence. Even though she wanted to die, she did not choose to escape. With a resignation of resignation, she still did not admit everything deep down.

　--No matter how helpless, no matter how hapless, I'm still not defeated.

　Bruder howled as he stood up, dragging his broken right arm and staining the red brick black with his own blood. Before he knew it, Roseau had stopped and was looking at him.

You've met me too soon, Majin. You were going to kill me, weren't you?

　He smiled, letting his scraped cheeks sag. I can't move very much. How dare you bark at me, you think to yourself. But I'm still not defeated, so of course I smile.

　My vision blurs. I no longer know how Roseau is looking at me. I spit out the clot of blood that had clogged my throat once more, and at that moment...

　--Hyuh-uh.

　I heard the sound of something heavy ripping through the wind. At about the same time, the hot air that had been wrapped in the air exploded. Roseau's footsteps, which had been echoing from earlier, stopped.

　What had just happened? It was too late for Bruder to grasp. He didn't even want to try to understand the situation. His strength was naturally slipping away from his body.

　But that seemed to be okay. The only thing that struck his ears was the aloof voice, and he knew who it belonged to.

"Hey, Bruder. Please don't make me see my friend in a coffin for the first time in years.

　Yeah, I knew it. He's the only person I know who'd dare to call himself a friend.