Chapter 38: You’re Done For! I Said It!

As dusk settled, Rain left the tavern with Sal, under the strange gazes of the surrounding customers.

The nighttime streets of the capital were completely different from those around Canteria Academy, and this place was exactly the kind of traditional medieval architectural style Sal had imagined.

Brick walls and tiled roofs, with cobblestone sidewalks laid out beneath their feet.

Sal followed behind Rain, head lowered, lost in thought.

Perhaps thinking about Rain.

Perhaps about Sakuyō.

Or perhaps about Lucia, who was destined to die yet again tonight.

Speaking of Lucia…

Sal finally looked up, belatedly realizing that the surroundings felt somewhat familiar.

In the air, that familiar yet nauseating scent of blood returned once again.

She had come… to this place again.

For over a month, the mysterious man had committed every crime right here.

And every time, Lucia died in the same alley — though the manner of death was always different.

Sometimes she was cut in half.

Sometimes she was beheaded…

Sal slowly came to a stop, staring at the mouth of the alley illuminated by the nearby magic stone streetlamp.

Right there.

The source of the blood smell.

(If I go now… all I’ll see is Lucia’s corpse, right?)

She was late again tonight.

She still couldn’t save Lucia.

The distraction Sakuyō had created vanished from Sal’s mind, returning her attention to the despair she could never escape.

(Should I go check?)

(Or should I just leave?)

Sal trembled, wanting to take that impossibly heavy step, yet unable to move because of the memories flashing in her mind.

(There’s no point going… right?)

She tried persuading herself.

After all, even if Lucia died now, tomorrow she would still appear at the academy unharmed, attending classes, eating meals, continuing her day as usual…

“P-please… help me!”

A faint cry for help reached her ears.

The sudden voice made Sal’s pupils widen instantly.

Even her breathing grew rough.

In the next moment, her body burst into speed far beyond normal, sprinting toward the alley that had haunted her with countless nightmares.

The voice just now — it was without a doubt Lucia’s.

After watching Lucia from afar for an entire month, observing every movement, Sal had long since memorized her voice.

She’s still alive!
With that thought alone, Sal rushed into the nightmare alley.

If she could just save Lucia here, would the nightly death curse finally be broken?

If the curse could be broken, then surely she would find a way to save her once and for all—

But before Sal’s smile could fully appear, the scene before her crushed it mercilessly.

“H-help… me…”

It was Lucia’s voice, indeed.

But…

“Oh my, oh my. Look who came.”

The head.
The spine.
And…

“I… don’t want… to die…”

Words spoken mechanically, purely by instinct, with no life left behind them.

“Little one, your luck is terrible. You came right after I finished my work.”

The same man in a white coat, face covered by a mask.

He casually tossed aside Lucia’s freshly torn-off head.

The head rolled across the blood-soaked ground, spinning…

Until it stopped at Sal’s feet.

This time, Sal did not transform in rage and charge at him.
She did not collapse from fear at the grotesque scene.

“Heh… hehe… hahaha…”

Instead, she suddenly let out a low, deranged laugh.

When one wishes to destroy a person, one must first drive them mad.

And Sal’s heart had already been consumed by overwhelming helplessness.

(I can’t do it.)

(I really can’t do anything.)

(And I said I wanted to be an adventurer, travel the world, live a fulfilling life in this other world…)

(I can’t even protect the girl standing right next to me.)

“Hahaha… hahahahahaha!”

Sal’s laughter grew louder, tears streaming down her face.

“Not planning to use that ability of yours against me again this time?”

The mysterious man looked at the crying-and-laughing blonde girl.

Though he spoke lightly, his blue vertical pupils behind the mask gleamed with triumphant malice.

Sal being drawn here by the final cry was no coincidence.

He had deliberately timed everything, forcing Lucia to hold on to her last breath.

All for the sake of shattering Sal’s courage and rage, leaving her unable to resist.

A month of persistent attempts to save Lucia proved Sal’s kindness.

So all he needed was that guilt — the kind only the kind-hearted feel — the desperate need to save Lucia combined with the crushing realization that she could never succeed…

“Do you want to save her?”

The man stepped in front of Sal and covered her mouth with a blood-soaked white glove.

Then he leaned close to her right ear and whispered.

Though she couldn’t laugh aloud, the smile on Sal’s face didn’t fade.
Nor did her tears.

“Saving her is actually very simple.”

With his free hand, he grabbed Sal’s wrist.

“You’re a pure-blood dragon, right? That level of magical purity — half-bloods could never possess it.”

Sal’s smile began to fade, while the man’s hand slowly stroked her cheek.

Warm blood smeared across her left cheek, the close-range stench making her gag uncontrollably.

“And I happen to need someone like you — a pure-blood dragon — to be my future…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious.

“You’re saying…”

Sal’s eyes seemed to regain clarity.

“As long as you follow my arrangements, become my future partner, then maybe I’ll consider sparing Lucia… freeing her from this endless hell.”

“Just… become your partner?”

Her pupils, enlarged from her mental breakdown, contracted slightly.

Every change was noticed — and expected — by the man.

From the first moment he met her, his goal was never just killing Lucia.

He had plans for after his ‘evolution.’

Such as… continuing his bloodline.

“That’s right. As long as you’re willing.”

“As long as I’m… willing?”

His hand slowly reached toward the buttons of her school uniform.

But before he could touch the first button—

An ice spear shot in from the side, piercing him and sending him flying.

And this time, the smile on Sal’s face was real.

“You finally fell for it… walked right into the trap!”

“You’re done for! I freaking told you!”