Chapter 7.2 Those who changed the world

Just the slightest force is enough to make me feel his pressure.

A slight movement of his hand can easily kill me.

Not by the hands of his whose heart is so tender that they lament about killing me, but by him whose heart is unfathomably dark.

—Aah, I hate this.

I don’t want to admit it, but all I see are their differences.

They have the same face, the same existence, the same world they are supposed to be living in.

This person is, he is.

He’s different.

Behind me, I hear Atlas calling Guilford-sama as if in a hurry, and his fingers slowly caress away from my neck.

Gil-sama takes a step back as if nothing had happened, and begins to weave his words once more.

While his eyes that are tinted with coldness remained the same, the sound of his voice is unnaturally gentle.

It made me want to wail. ^{(to cry terribly)}

「Who was driving those mages to the wall? Everytime I investigated and tried to make amends, all traces lead back to you. At first, I thought of many possibilities and tried to excuse them but,」

“There was plenty of evidence that you killed them.” he said, and smiled weakly.

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Gil-sama’s face. It made me absentmindedly think, as if I was trying to escape this reality, that such an expression really does not suit him.

Even though I wasn’t hurt physically, my body starts shaking just by looking at him this way.

I don’t, I don’t know such【person】.

「You were always, always way ahead of me. You were always right. You knew from the very beginning that you had to do this, you had to make sacrifices to protect someone didn’t you?」

「….I don’t know what you’re talking about.」

「Whenever someone died in an eye-catching manner, there were always traces of the magic sealing stones being destroyed. It wasn’t me. You were the one destroying all of them.」

I was the one who destroyed the magic sealing stones.

Gil-sama assumed that their number was something he could not handle alone, so I destroyed them behind the scenes.

According to official records, Gil-sama would have been the first magician to destroy the magic seal stones.

It’s an important factor to become the Hero of Salvation, and being the apex of sorcerers; but Gil-sama found out about everything.

That everything was a preempted plot, a glory, devised by his younger sister.

「I understand. If you hadn’t burned them like that, I’m sure more sorcerers would’ve died instead.」

Not scolding, nor grieving, not even a shout. A voice that’s just calm after realising everything.

He closed his eyes and said, “Even if a lot of people died, I know in my head that it was the right thing to do.”

That’s not it, you’re wrong.

The truth is, no one should’ve died.

Because they were needed. They have someone waiting for them to come home.

Please, don’t be mistaken by that sorry excuse.

You have to do the right thing, you shouldn’t despair over the villain’s blunders.

You have to correct my wrongdoings, judge my sins, tie my death to something meaningful; like someone else’s future.

「You were stronger than anyone, you held the authority over many sorcerers and were always faultless…. And yet here you are, having lost everything. Begging me to kill you because you can’t endure to correct (your mistakes).」

The words “faultless, correct” that are said are so terribly polite, as if persuading me, repeatedly and slowly harassing me. ^{(raws are are both 正しい、正しい, but i reworded them differently)}

The person least suitable to say those words, acknowledges my existence. Acknowledges my “accomplishments”.

This person, who is the “hero of justice”, shows sympathy to my slaughters.

This is, just wrong.

「No matter what anyone says, you’re correct. So if you want to kill me, go right ahead.」

「kh….!」

「If you kill me because you think that’s the right thing to do, then surely it’s the right thing to do.」

Step, step, Gil-sama stepped back and leaned his back against the wall. “But I will never kill you.” he whispered and looked at me emotionlessly.
I couldn’t believe Gil-sama uttered those words with such conviction.

This person is not my 【Guilford】.