'E-Emil….'
Chris gazed at Emil, who stood there blankly.
She tried to speak to him, but her words didn't reach him, as if his soul had left his body.
Because she was currently an outsider, merely observing this world.
*Whoosh…*
Her translucent hand passed through Emil's body.
'Ugh, I'm sorry….'
Chris apologized to him.
Seeing Emil's wounded face, she couldn't help but do so.
He stared blankly at the spot where Chris had been standing just moments before.
Over his confused cheeks.
*Trickle…*
Tears streamed down.
"Why…."
Emil mumbled, his voice unreachable.
"Why on earth…."
He spoke as if he couldn't understand.
But he received no answer.
Because Chris, who had coldly announced their breakup, had left that very spot.
'I'm sorry, ugh, I'm sorry… Emil….'
Only Chris, invisible to him, sat down before him and apologized.
And she realized.
━This was why Emil had rejected her.
She realized why she was having such a dream.
She also realized that Emil possessed these memories from the dream.
She didn't know why, but somehow Chris knew it naturally.
The basis was her current memory.
'Ugh, ugh, ahh… I'm sorry, I'm sorry….'
The scenery she saw in her dream seeped into her memory.
Things she had observed as a third party.
Transformed into her own perspective and became her memories.
Because of this, Chris felt as if her heart was being torn apart.
The memory of betraying him and going over to Edric.
And the memory of loving him yet being rejected by him coexisted.
The two memories made her feel overwhelming guilt.
*Thud, thud…*
"…"
Emil, who had been standing blankly for a moment.
Left the spot with empty steps and headed towards the dormitory.
Chris simply watched his retreating figure.
Because this had already happened.
There was nothing she could do.
Chris could only hug her aching chest and watch him.
She realized the reason.
She had betrayed Emil, and Emil remembered that fact.
On the night he had rejected her.
Her wish to know the reason had been granted.
But.
'W-what…?'
That memory didn't end there.
As if there was still more to the story.
The scenery shifted, showing a different scene.
She was standing in a dark room.
It was Emil's room in the dormitory.
'A letter…?'
Emil was reading a letter.
"Chris…"
And then, after muttering that.
He burst open the dormitory door and rushed out urgently.
'I wrote a letter…?'
Why was that?
She had clearly gone over to Edric, and on his orders, had announced her breakup to Emil.
There would be no reason to leave him a letter now.
'Surely not….'
Chris held a small hope.
Perhaps she was trying to call Emil aside and explain things?
Even if it was a pathetic excuse, was she trying to explain the situation to him and beg for forgiveness?
Although it was true she had already betrayed him.
At least she would confess the truth to Emil and seek forgiveness.
She would at least do that much.
That's what Chris thought.
However.
"What's this, you… Where's Chris?"
"I'm sorry, I'm actually the one who called you."
"What…?"
It wasn't.
'Edric… What on earth is he trying to do….'
It was Edric who had written the letter to Emil and called him out.
The meeting place was a significant spot for Chris and Emil.
The dungeon where they had completed their final assessment joint practice.
That dungeon was currently abandoned due to its collapse.
Inside.
Edric, holding a torch, faced Emil.
"Actually, Chris is my woman now. I called you to tell you that."
"What did you say…?"
Edric, who had called Emil, conveyed the truth.
It was probably for mockery.
And then.
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting━!!"
An enraged Emil lunged at Edric.
Edric had… a relaxed expression.
No, more accurately, a sneering face.
And the reason was revealed.
*Rumble rumble rumble!!*
"Aargh!"
"Hahahaha! You're not an animal, so why are you rushing in so furiously? Emil!"
Edric had prepared a trap.
Using the already collapsed ground of the dungeon.
He had gathered monsters beneath it and lured Emil.
"Edriccck━!!"
Emil, who had fallen into the trap, struggled.
Staring at the mocking Edric with bloodshot eyes.
He trampled on groups of slimes and crushed the heads of venomous insects.
He would get out somehow.
It seemed as if he was determined to get out and kill him.
"Where's Chris━!?"
Even amidst that.
'Emil…'
He trusted Chris.
He trusted and worried about her.
His feelings reached Chris.
Perhaps Edric had done something to Chris.
That's why she was exploited and forced to break up with him.
Emil thought so.
Chris trembled and lowered her head.
And Edric, from above the pit, spoke.
"Haha, don't worry about Chris. She's sleeping soundly in my bed right now."
Chris's shoulders trembled as she heard his explanation.
Emil, who had been yelling excitedly.
Stopped moving, and his face hardened.
"…What?"
"I'll tell you something good on your way out, Emil."
"…"
"Chris, you see, for someone so brave, she's incredibly girlish when she's having sex."
"Nonsense, …don't you dare spout such nonsenseee━!!"
Emil's scream echoed from within the pit.
Hearing that scream, Edric laughed pleasantly.
Afterward, he left the dungeon.
As if it didn't matter if he died.
No, rather, as if he wished for his death.
"Damn it━! Damn it allll━!!"
'Emil…'
But Emil didn't give up.
Even when he was swallowed by the slimes as if sinking into a swamp.
Even when venomous insects' stings pierced his body.
He struggled, clenching his teeth until his molars felt like they would break.
The result.
"Haa, haa…."
Emil escaped the pit.
His body was covered in wounds.
His breathing was ragged, and his wounds were stained purple from the poison.
"Haa… haa…."
*Thud, …thud.*
Still, he walked.
'Emil… no, don't go… if you go…'
To confirm with his own eyes.
Until then.
Emil trusted Chris.
And because Emil's feelings were conveyed, Chris's heart, watching his retreating figure, became even more tormented.
Because she knew what awaited at the end of this.
"…"
And Emil.
*Creak… creak… creak…*
"…"
He faced the moment his trust was betrayed.
Chris, whom he had trusted.
In Edric's room, which he had approached for revenge.
[Haa…! Edric…! Ugh, why suddenly…! Ugh…!]
Was letting out faint moans.
"…"
Chris sat down on the floor before Emil, whose face was blank.
She sat there, simply covering her face with her hands and weeping.
She couldn't bear to look.
What kind of expression he must have.
She didn't have the courage to look.
"…"
*Thud, …thud.*
Emil left the front of the door.
Simply gripping the knife in his hand.
Leaving the two people passionately exploring each other inside the room.
He left the front of Edric's room.
'Ugh, Emil…'
The scene Chris was watching also followed Emil.
He left the dormitory.
"…"
He gazed blankly at the sky for a moment.
"Haha…."
And then he laughed.
"Again…?"
And he mumbled incomprehensible words.
"Why on earth…"
Emil, who had finished lamenting to the empty air, stood still for a moment.
He headed outside, not to his own room.
'Emil… where are you going…?'
Chris, watching him with tears, asked him.
Of course, there was no reply.
And then.
"…"
Emil stopped once he reached his destination.
'Why there….'
It was the path that dormitory students usually took to head towards the academy.
Emil stood idly on that path, unmoving.
He didn't sit down, nor did he struggle.
*Drip, drip…*
Dripping blood onto the ground like tears.
He just stood there still.
'Emil…'
At his incomprehensible actions, Chris stopped crying and watched him.
For some reason, an ominous feeling enveloped her heart.
And her premonition was not wrong.
As time passed, morning came.
Emil remained in that spot from dawn until morning.
"What's that…?"
"Who is it…?"
"He's hurt…?"
Students heading to the academy early whispered as they saw him.
Slime fluids and insect venom.
And Emil, covered in his own blood, clearly wasn't normal to anyone who saw him.
At that moment.
"Emil…?"
The voice of the person he had been waiting for was heard.
Emil then lifted his deeply bowed head and looked at the person who had called him.
Chris was standing there.
Next to Edric, who looked slightly surprised.
They were kindly walking to school together.
"E-Emil…! What on earth are you doing right now…!"
Chris was surprised by Emil's appearance and spoke to him in a questioning tone.
And noticing his strange condition, she showed a flustered expression.
"Blood… what is it, what's wrong?"
"…"
Emil didn't respond to Chris.
He merely gazed at Chris and Edric with an empty and drained expression.
And he looked at Chris and said.
"I know everything."
"…What?"
"I heard it all."
"…"
At Emil's words, Chris looked at Edric, who was standing beside her, in surprise.
He averted his gaze, pretending not to know.
"E-Emil…. That, I mean… my story…!"
"…"
Chris tried to say something in her defense to Emil.
However.
Emil didn't listen.
'Emil…?'
He simply drew the knife hidden at his waist.
*Slice━.*
"E…"
He slit his own throat.
*Gushhhh━!!*
The sharp blade of the knife cleanly slit his throat.
And blood gushed from his neck, covering Edric and Chris who were in front of him.
Behind Emil.
The translucent Chris, who had witnessed his sudden action.
'Emil…?'
*Thud.*
Watched Emil, who had collapsed while gushing blood and was growing cold.
'N-no…. Emil, Emil…? E-Emil…!'
She reached out and tried to shake him, but she couldn't touch him.
Because she was an outsider.
She could only watch him, bleeding and dying.
'Ah, ahh….'
Facing the dying Emil was the last thing.
Chris came to know the entire truth.
'Ahhhhhhhhhhh━!!!'