The Whisper of the God of Love (Part 7)

“Alright. I’ll go with you.”

As if possessed by some foreign, noble, and incredibly foolish spirit, Ewan heard himself say the words.

“NO—”

Anne was stunned for a moment, then immediately, vehemently, refused. “You cannot come with me, Young Master!”

“Why not?”

“This has nothing to do with you! There is no need for you to take such a great, and frankly suicidal, risk for my sake!”

“Who said it has nothing to do with me? And who said I was doing this for you?” Ewan said with a light, almost teasing laugh.

“What?”

“I just remembered… I still owe that girl, Elka, for a meal.”

Ewan turned his head and looked at the massive, grotesque monster in the distance. A flicker of genuine sadness appeared in his eyes.

Strictly speaking, Elka was the first friend he had made since coming to this world. Well, I ate at her house, so that makes us friends. He just hadn’t expected that in the short time it took to roast a fish, she would turn into… this.

Fate, he mused, was a truly fickle, and deeply, deeply disgusting, thing.

“As her friend, it is my duty to see her off on her final journey,” Ewan declared, his hands on his hips in a pose of heroic determination. “And no one has the right to stop me. Not even you, Anne.”

“But… you still can’t!”

Anne stood up, stubbornly blocking his path, her expression deadly serious. “It’s too dangerous! I promised the Lord and Lady that I would protect you, that I would never, ever let you be harmed!”

“Protect me?”

Ewan tilted his head, his voice a soft, dangerous whisper. “But Anne… haven’t you been trying to harm me this whole time?”

“Harm you? I have not.”

“Drugging me, ambushing me, imprisoning me, and even wanting to cut off my arms and my legs… aren’t those all things you have done, or wanted to do? Are those not… harm?”

“I…”

Anne froze.

It was because of love. I did it all for love.

The old Anne would have said that without a moment’s hesitation. It would have been as natural and easy as breathing.

But now, looking at Ewan’s calm, steady gaze, at the rampaging, monstrous abomination in the distance, the hoarse, agonized wails of hundreds of people and Elka’s own crazed, twisted words echoing in her ears… she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

It felt as if, the moment she did, Elka would be standing in a sea of blood and corpses, a triumphant, demonic grin on her face as she said, “See, Master? You and I are the same.”

We’re not the same. We’re not.

“Please, Young Master.”

In the end, all she could do was beg.

“Don’t go.”

“If something happens to you…”

“I will never be able to forgive myself.”

She clung to the front of his shirt, her voice cracking with a desperate, pleading sob.

“Please, Young Master…”

“Anne.”

Ewan looked down at the crying, broken girl before him.

He was silent for a long moment, studying her.

And then, his voice suddenly boomed with an unexpected, and undeniable, authority. “Anne! What is the first rule of a Campbell family maid?! Tell me! LOUDLY!”

“SIR!”

It was a conditioned reflex, pure and absolute.

Ewan’s words had triggered an instinct that had been drilled into her bones for years. And just like in the morning briefings with the former Head Maid, Anne’s back snapped straight, as tall and proud as a pine tree.

She lifted her chin and declared, her voice ringing with a strength she didn’t know she possessed, “The first rule of a Campbell family maid is, aside from bowing to one’s master and guests, to always keep one’s back straight!”

“That’s right. Straighten your back, Anne.”

Ewan patted her shoulder, then, with a gentle, disarming smile, he smoothed her messy bangs and tucked a stray, tear-soaked strand of hair behind her ear. He straightened her maid’s uniform, smoothing out the wrinkles one by one with a practiced, familiar touch.

Until she once again looked like the Anne from his memories.

Prim, proper, elegant, and composed.

“This is more like you, isn’t it?”

“Young Master…”

“Alright, no more crying. I know you’re worried about me, but haven’t you been saying it yourself recently? I’m different from before.”

Ewan lowered his head slightly, his eyes meeting hers, his expression full of a gentle, unwavering warmth. “I’m sorry I couldn’t become the person you wanted me to be. But you’ve seen it, haven’t you? I’m not that useless young master anymore. Mm, although I still only have a few tricks up my sleeve, I was able to escape from you, and I was able to escape from that monster. When it comes to running away, I’m a professional. So even if I can’t win, I can still run. In a way, I’m even stronger than you, Anne. So, don’t worry, okay?”

“But…”

Anne stared at him, dazed and completely captivated.

She wanted to say something more.

But Ewan suddenly pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her.

“No rebuttals. That is a Young Master’s order.”

Anne’s mind went completely blank. It was a command, but his voice was so impossibly gentle. She stared at him, her heart pounding a frantic, unfamiliar rhythm against her ribs. The sunlight caught in his golden hair, creating a hazy, dream-like halo. The gentle breeze rustled through it, and his eyes, as clear and deep as a mountain lake, seemed to be pulling her very soul into them.

That’s right. The Young Master is different now.

Overnight, he has completely, and irrevocably, deviated from the path I had so carefully set for him.

He has become ambitious, gentle, cunning… and a little bit foolish.

To willingly face an Evil God’s corruption… the old him would never have dared to even imagine it.

It’s as if he has become a completely different person.

But why… why is this version of him, this version that is so completely different from my ideal, so… so captivating?

He’s so dazzling.

Tears streamed down Anne’s face, as if she were staring directly into the brilliant, burning sun.

…

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Seeing that he had finally convinced her, Ewan smiled faintly.

He shook out his arms, loosening his muscles.

And then, without looking back, he began to walk toward the grotesque, terrifying monster.

“Let’s go bring salvation,” he said, his voice ringing with a newfound, and perhaps foolish, courage, “to your disciple, my friend, our dear Miss Elka!”

…

“Aaargh, am I doing it again?!”

A hundred meters in the air, standing on a massive, swaying metal pillar, Ewan, taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching, clutched his head and shook it wildly, as if in the throes of some kind of seizure.

“This damn, intermittent ‘let’s-do-something-stupid-and-probably-die’ syndrome!”

It was the same with Celicia, and it was the same now. He always had a better, safer, and infinitely more logical path to choose, but he always insisted on sprinting down the one marked “certain death.” He cherished his life so much, so why did he always lose control of himself at the most critical, life-or-death moments?

“Heh. Can’t walk away when you see a pretty girl crying, huh. I guess that makes me a different kind of pervert,” he sighed, a wry grin on his face.

But this time, it was a little different from the last.

At the very least, this time, he was not quite so powerless.

…

“Listen up, Anne. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

“First, after being corrupted by an Evil God, Elka can’t be killed by normal means. I think you’ve already figured that out.”

“So, our goal is not to waste our energy trying to kill her or wake her up, but to destroy the source of the corruption, the medium through which the Evil God is channeling its power.”

“A ring, a necklace, a statue… it has to be something like that. An Evil God can’t just project its power out of thin air. The laws of this world won’t allow it.”

“The source has to be near Elka. So, I need you to use your power to clear a path for me.”

“You clear the path and block the monster’s attacks, and I’ll use my mobility and agility to get close to Elka, find the source of the corruption, and destroy it!”

“That’s the plan!”

…

Recalling the plan he had just laid out for Anne, Ewan let out a long, slow breath. At times like these, he was glad he had read the original novel. At least he knew how to deal with an Evil God.

But… it still wouldn’t be easy.

Because the more he had read, the more he knew just how terrifying these things were.

“…No choice but to go for it.”

Ewan spread his arms, took a deep, centering breath, and then, at the top of his lungs, he roared at the monster that was still playing in the water, “HEY— ALL EYES ON ME! I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!”

“Ah?”

Hearing his voice, the monster turned its massive body, and hundreds of faces simultaneously fixed their gaze on him.

And then, it charged.

“Mr. Ewan!” Elka’s voice cried out in pure, unadulterated delight. “Have you finally come to accept my love?”

“I will never accept your love!” Ewan gave her the middle finger and laughed, a wild, reckless laugh. “Because—”

“I’M A PARATROOPER!”

“Hahaha!”

With that, Ewan leaped from the pillar, plunging toward the monstrous, love-sick abomination below.