I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 706

Crossroads. Inside the ruined city.

“Ugh…”

Junior groaned, standing before the remains of the inn, ‘Etty’s Honeycomb’.

“It’s completely collapsed, oh my god…”

When the Night Bringer first unleashed its breath, the inn, ‘Etty’s Honeycomb,’ which was within the range of the attack, was utterly destroyed.

Fortunately, there were no casualties, but Junior lost the accommodation she had been using for over two years. Naturally, all her belongings inside were also lost.

“Ah, my books!”

Junior, having spotted her belongings in the rubble, let out a strange, nasal sound that was half cheer and half scream. She then rushed in, clearing away the debris.

“How much does one of these cost… It’s so unfair to lose them all…”

Junior’s collapsed bookshelf was overturned among the fallen bricks and sand. She hurriedly retrieved her books.

They were dented and torn, but she salvaged as many as she could. As she dug, other belongings began to appear.

Her cherished magical items. The diary she had been writing every day since she arrived here. And the ginseng she had been saving, which she had forgotten about in the cupboard…

“Gack, hundred-year ginseng?!

A gift from her mother.

It was the hundred-year ginseng root that she had found among Jupiter’s belongings, which she had intended to send to herself as a letter.

The dishes and cups in the cupboard were all smashed to pieces, but the hundred-year ginseng, which was stored in a paper bag, was strangely intact. Junior chuckled, holding the old herb root.

“Wow, it’s miraculously safe. I almost threw it away while saving it. I should eat it quickly.”

Junior recalled how to prepare the hundred-year ginseng and its effects.

“Boil it, add honey, and drink it like tea, right? The effects are nourishing, revitalizing, and calming…”

Junior then let out an ‘ah’ sound.

She thought that while it would be good for her to eat, she knew someone who needed the herb’s effects more right now.

“Would Mom want me to eat it alone…?”

She hesitated for a moment, but then,

“…Ehh, no! Mom would be happier if her daughter made more friends!”

Believing that either way, her mother would support her decision, Junior snorted and clutched the hundred-year ginseng.

***

Barracks.

Junior carefully carried a teapot of carefully brewed hundred-year ginseng tea, a honey jar, and cookies to the front room.

“Hmm…”

She hesitated for a moment, but then,

“Ehh!”

She mustered her courage and knocked on the door.

Knock knock!

“Hecate, are you inside?”

Junior waited for an answer, tense, but the door remained silent. Junior cleared her throat again and knocked.

“Hecate, it’s Junior. Let’s take a break together.”

“…”

“I’ve brewed some tea that’s good for you. I’ve also brought some cookies. Please join me. Okay?”

There was no answer, but she could sense someone behind the door.

Junior waited calmly. Then,

Creak-

The door opened slightly.

Through the crack in the dark room, Hecate’s dry, dull eyes could be seen.

Her eyes, from which all the red curse had been removed, had changed to a deep brown.

“…Junior.”

“Hello, Hecate.”

Junior shook the teapot in her hand.

“The tea will get cold. May I come in?”

“…”

Hecate hesitated, then slowly moved back and opened the door. Junior carefully entered the room.

The room, with the curtains drawn, felt lifeless. It was as if she had been lying still in bed for the past few days.

Junior first drew back the curtains and opened the window to ventilate the room. As the cold air rushed in, Hecate, who was only wearing thin clothes, grabbed her shoulders and shivered.

“Ah, I’m sorry…!”

But she couldn’t stop ventilating, so Junior, flustered, took off her outer garment and draped it over Hecate’s shoulders. Hecate didn’t refuse and remained still.

Junior suddenly thought. Didn’t this happen before?

“…”

Under the sunlight streaming through the open curtains, Hecate was in terrible condition.

Her beige hair was disheveled, and her eyes were hollow. Her lips were dry, and her complexion was pale.

Junior had heard a brief explanation. That the Dusk Bringer had taken back all of the Glory Knights’ curses.

That she had lost all her magic along with the curse, and that she would never be able to fight like before.

‘After that, Sir Lucas visited her a few times to comfort her, but she kept avoiding him.’

She understood how she wouldn’t want to show this side of herself to the man she liked…

Hecate stood blankly in place with empty eyes. Junior, unsure of what to do, grabbed Hecate and led her to the table.

“Come on, let’s talk while drinking some warm tea! This is tea brewed with an herb called hundred-year ginseng, and it’s supposed to be really good for you!”

She roughly wiped the dust off the table and set out the tea set and snacks. Hecate, sitting in the chair opposite her, just watched Junior.

Junior, cringing at the awkwardness, set out the teacups she had brought and poured tea into Hecate’s cup and her own.

‘I don’t know anything about tea ceremonies!’

Fortunately, Hecate was in a state where she couldn’t care about such things.

Warm tea, steaming, filled each of their cups. Junior added honey to her teacup and placed cookies on a plate.

“Okay, okay! Shall we try it?”

“…”

Hecate stared blankly at her teacup. Junior, sweating profusely, carefully picked up her teacup first and put it to her lips.

‘Nourishing! Revitalizing! Calming! Calming!’

Just after taking a sip, hoping it would work,

“Ptooey-!”

She spat it out.

‘Gack, cough! What is this! Why does it taste like this!’

It had an incredibly bitter and complex flavor. She didn’t know if it was good for her body, but it tasted terrible…

‘Mom?! Is this really hundred-year ginseng?! Is it really good for me?! Did you get scammed?!’

It was definitely genuine since Jupiter had purchased it from an unknown person below the Lake Kingdom.

However, due to the excessively high magic concentration of the Lake Kingdom, the efficacy and taste were much more concentrated than the hundred-year ginseng on the ground…

Junior, sticking out her tongue and coughing, gasped and looked ahead to see Hecate staring at her with wide eyes.

Junior desperately muttered.

“…It’s, it’s a gag. A gag.”

Following her previous coughing up blood, this time it was coughing up tea, she thought she was really doing all sorts of things.

Then, Hecate looked at the teacup in front of her with blank eyes, then carefully picked it up… and brought it to her mouth.

“Ah! Ah! Wait a minute, I’ll add more honey! It’s really bitter!”

Junior hurriedly opened the honey jar, but Hecate had already put the teacup to her lips.

And she swallowed it down well. Junior blinked in surprise.

‘Ah, come to think of it.’

She had heard that this person couldn’t taste anything after being cursed.

“…”

Hecate slowly took the teacup away from her lips.

And then, slowly tilting her haggard face to the side,

“Ptooey-!”

She spat it out.

Junior stared blankly at the tea splattering on the floor next to her. Hecate, wiping her mouth with a napkin, gestured with a pale face.

“…It’s incredibly bitter. Give me the honey jar over there.”

“Huh? Can you taste it?”

“I can feel it, thanks to the curse being removed.”

Junior stopped herself from saying it was a good thing. It didn’t seem like the removal of the curse was a happy thing for Hecate.

Anyway, the hundred-year ginseng tea was terribly bitter and tasteless, and the two women poured honey into their respective teacups and ate sweet snacks to barely manage to drink it.

If it tasted this bad, they didn’t have to drink it, but it was as if some kind of stubbornness had been triggered in both of them, and they stubbornly drank every last drop.

After the teapot was empty, the honey jar was empty, and all the snacks were gone.

“…”

“…”

The two women were enveloped in silence in an awkward atmosphere.

Junior was sweating profusely. She had come because she was worried, but now that she was face to face with her, she didn’t know what to say…!

‘No, I’m not the worst at communication among the people here, am I?! Why am I being so awkward!’

I just came to make friends! Let’s talk more comfortably! You can do it, Jupiter Junior! Fighting!

When Junior, who had made up her mind, clenched her fist and looked at Hecate, Hecate suddenly spoke.

“…Junior, do you not dislike me?”

“I don’t dislike you at all?!”

Junior, who had unintentionally reacted strongly, then lowered her voice with a ‘hot’ sound.

“Well, there’s no reason for me to dislike Hecate, is there…?”

“…”

Hecate turned her gaze away from Junior, who was looking around hesitantly, and looked out the open door for ventilation. Junior’s room was right in front of her.

Following the inn ‘Etty’s Honeycomb’, the two were assigned rooms opposite each other in this barracks as well.

“To be honest, Junior, why do you think I got a room in front of yours?”

“Huh?”

Junior blinked at the unexpected question.

Was there any meaning to the room arrangement? Wasn’t it just a coincidence?

And Hecate coldly revealed the truth.

“As the commander of the Imperial Knights, the most dangerous element while His Majesty is here… was judged to be Junior.”

“…?!”

“So, to be on guard, I was assigned accommodation as close to you as possible.”

Junior’s mouth opened slightly.

“Me being dangerous? Why, why?”

“…You’re from the Camilla Kingdom, and you’ve achieved the level of a great mage at a young age. We can’t help but be wary.”

The Empire was aware that Junior was from the Camilla Kingdom and of her magical achievements. Before coming to Crossroads from the Imperial City, Hecate had received all that information.

Hecate added, as if making an excuse.

“His Majesty personally led the war between the Camilla Kingdom and the Everblack Empire. And it was also the last war of conquest that the Everblack Empire waged.”

“…”

“That’s why… the resentment is the deepest. There are still terrorist attacks happening. There have been several attempts to assassinate His Majesty. So, from the Glory Knights’ point of view, they can’t help but be wary of you.”

Even after the war ended, the Camilla Kingdom’s guerrillas resisted stubbornly, and it took several more years to completely suppress them.

Jupiter’s accusations revealed the massacre of civilians in this war, and the Empire was criticized by the whole world. Even within its own borders.

In many ways, it was a war that did more harm than good.

So, after that, the Empire shifted its expansion strategy from direct wars of conquest to political and religious wars through the propagation of the Goddess Church. The Camilla Kingdom became the name of the last country the Empire swallowed.

Nearly 20 years have passed since the end of the war. However, it could also be seen as not even 20 years had passed.

Junior was an influential figure from the Camilla Kingdom and a powerful mage. It was only natural that the Glory Knights, the Imperial Guard, were wary of her.

“Of course, I know. You directly helped His Majesty in the Imperial City. I heard that you played a big role in dismantling the shutdown protocol. You have the great trust of Prince Ash. And you’ve also made remarkable achievements in this battle.”

“…”

“I’m just… a member of the Imperial Knights, so I was just doing my job. That’s why I was wary of you…”

Hecate, who had been speaking incoherently, covered her face with both hands. And she confessed in a suppressed voice.

“…No. I’ll admit it. I hate the people of the Camilla Kingdom.”

“Huh?”

Junior’s mouth dropped open.

Unexpected conversations kept happening.

“My parents were soldiers, and they died in an accident. I told you before.”

“Yes…”

“Actually, both of them. They lost their lives in a surprise attack by Camilla Kingdom guerrillas…”

Junior’s fingertips stiffened.

Still covering her face with both hands, Hecate spoke incoherently.

“I know. From the perspective of the people of the Camilla Kingdom, any soldier of the Empire can only be seen as an invading force. That even supply officers and nurse officers dispatched to maintain security after the war can be objects of hatred.”

“…”

“But as someone who lost her parents at a young age, I couldn’t help but hate the Camilla Kingdom… the people of that country… That’s why I was more wary of you…”

Looking at Hecate’s trembling shoulders, Junior felt it.

‘Ah…’

The feeling of a valley, covered by a very thin cloth, being revealed between the two people who were close enough to touch.

The feeling that the valley was constantly deepening and widening, widening the gap between the two.

“I told you that after becoming an orphan, I grew up in a childcare facility run by the Imperial Family for the children of veterans.”

“…Yes.”

“The name of that facility is Whiteblossom.”

Hecate’s overly ornate surname was actually the name of that orphanage.

“All the children who grew up there are trained to throw away their lives for His Majesty. To die valiantly for the country, and to have white (White) artificial flowers bloom (Blossom) in front of their tombstones… That’s the meaning of the new surname they are given.”

“…!”

“I, too, grew up to die fighting.”

Hecate’s dry voice gradually became more intense.

“I became a soldier to eradicate the enemies of the Empire, and if possible, the terrorists who threaten the safety of the Empire… the vicious rebels of the Camilla Kingdom who kill even innocent people!”

“…”

“But now the Empire is at peace, and it has joined hands with all the countries in the world that were once enemies. Yes, that’s fine. I’m the one who’s outdated. After all, a knight is just a part that follows the orders of the monarch.”

Hecate looked at Junior with trembling eyes.

“But what if I’m not even a knight anymore?”

“…”

“If I lose my curse, my power, and can’t even go to the battlefield anymore. Then what’s left for me? My life has no use or value anymore, so what am I? What have I been living for?”

She, who had inherited hatred in the war between humans and humans, and who had tried to die fighting as a knight.

In this era of peace where humans are united, she had lost everything as a knight.

Purpose, means, everything was lost.

“Now, the only thing the world hasn’t taken from me is hatred. Hatred for the Camilla Kingdom that killed my parents.”

“…”

“Junior. I don’t want to hate you. But, the fact that you’re getting close to me… it’s making me miserable.”

Hecate, staggering, got up from her chair and took off her outer garment, handing it back to Junior. She shivered in the cold air, wearing only thin clothes, but she gritted her teeth and held out the outer garment.

“Thank you for the tea. Thank you for caring. But, please don’t come again in the future.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll disappear quietly in a few days so you don’t feel too uncomfortable. After all, I’m no longer needed on this front…”

She wanted to say something, but she couldn’t think of the right words.

In the end, Junior quietly took the outer garment, tidied up the teacups and tea set, and left Hecate’s room with them in her arms.

Thud…

The door closed.

Junior, staggering, leaned against the closed door and took a breath.

“…It’s bitter.”

The taste of the tea left in her mouth was astringent.

Junior lowered her head and muttered softly.

“It’s too bitter, Mom…”