# 49. The Encroaching Fog, Swept Away Emotions (5)
Mmm.
This is strange...
Luna couldn't understand the situation unfolding before her eyes.
"I was definitely in the dungeon! Why am I suddenly at the old man's house?!"
It felt like she had met someone...
And it seemed like the old man had been angry...
But when she closed and opened her eyes, she was back home?
This situation...!
"Something, something's wrong... This isn't normal...!"
The situation felt far too unreal.
Luna looked around and listened carefully to survey her surroundings.
*Thwack- Thwack-*
From somewhere came the regular sound of wood striking wood.
The direction was...
"That direction should be the yard...! Is the old man there?!"
*Patter-*
Luna rushed toward the sound.
There, the old man was sparring with a small girl with red hair using wooden swords.
Not with his usual expressionless face, but with a happy expression.
Luna shouted toward the old man.
"O-Old man? You never had that expression when sparring with me...!"
When training with me, you always taught swordsmanship with an expressionless face, as if you weren't satisfied...?
Why are you teaching swordsmanship so happily now...?
Feelings of hurt and sadness washed over Luna like waves.
Luna ran toward the old man and said.
"O-Old man! Sw-swords! I'm better! I have more talent!"
"Move aside, Luna. You have no talent. I like this child better."
A mechanical tone.
The old man smiled happily whenever he looked at the red-haired girl.
Luna found that sight incredibly irritating.
"Grrr-!! Th-that can't be! The old man doesn't smile!"
"Then. Let's have a sparring match. I'll show you just how talentless you are."
"Th-that's what I want! Come at me, you bastard!"
Hmph, I've trained so much with the old man!
Would I lose to a kid like you?!
I'm the old man's top disciple!
Luna confidently pointed her wooden sword at the red-haired girl.
That red-haired child's name was 'Aina'.
Aina, manipulated by Lee Jun-woo's memories, also pointed her wooden sword at Luna.
"...Come at me. You have less talent than me."
"Tsk-!! Don't say I have no talent! Only the old man can say that! And I do have talent!"
That's my spot, move!
Feeling as if her position had been stolen.
Luna swung her sword forcefully at Aina.
*Crash-!*
Aina dodged the sword quite easily.
"Y-you dodged that?! You've done some training, haven't you?!"
"With that level of skill, the old man will abandon you. You have no talent. It would be better to raise a different child."
"Wh-what are you suddenly saying!! D-don't say such ridiculous things!!"
"If he meets another talented child, he could easily abandon someone like you. The old man likes strong children. Rather than a stupid, simple-minded child like you."
"Grrr-!!"
How annoying!
What do you know to be making such a fuss at me!
I've trained so hard-!!
At Aina's words that kept poking at her sore spots, Luna swung her wooden sword roughly.
Showing emotion in combat, where one should always be rational, was no different from giving up on the match.
Aina's wooden sword rushed toward Luna as she charged emotionally.
"An opening."
"Ah, ahhh-!!"
*Thud-*
Luna was struck in the solar plexus with the sword tip and let out a sound as the wind was knocked out of her.
Having been struck in a vital point, Luna could only lie on the ground barely able to breathe.
As Luna lay on the ground taking deep breaths, the old man's voice began to reach her from above.
The voice was very cold.
"As expected. You have no talent, Luna."
"N-no...! I have... talent...! I fight... well...!"
"Talent like yours is lying all over the streets. So, there's no need to train you anymore."
"O-old man...? W-wait...! Wh-where are you going...!! O-old man...!!"
You said you'd teach me swordsmanship!
You said you'd make me strong!
"You kidnapped me! How can you just abandon me like this, old man!! Stop right there, you kidnapper-!!"
"..."
But the cold-hearted old man didn't look back.
He simply held the hand of the red-haired child who had beaten Luna and left happily.
Luna could only lie on the ground watching that scene and shout.
"Y-you said you'd make me strong!! H-how can you do this!! C-come back, old man...!! I'll train hard from now on...! So...!!"
Please give me one more chance, please!
But even at Luna's desperate voice, the old man didn't look back.
Abandoned Luna lay on the ground feeling desolate.
It was enough to feel the emotion of despair, just as Lust intended.
"Liar... You said you'd make me strong... That's mean... So mean..."
I trusted you...
How could the old man do this to me...?
Luna felt an extreme sense of betrayal.
The old man grew more distant and disappeared from Luna's view with the new girl.
Then, as if waiting for this moment, the Holy Sword's voice echoed in Luna's head.
-Hero, you don't lose.
"No, I'm not a hero... I have no talent, no skill..."
-No, the Hero doesn't fall. I'll make sure of it.
A coldly echoing hallucination.
Along with that voice, a sword emitting holy light burst from Luna's heart and floated in the air.
Then it shone sharply toward Luna.
"Wh-what? Wh-what are you doing...?! W-wait, sword...!! D-don't come out! W-wait...!!"
-Even if it's a dream. You cannot lose.
Because you're the Hero.
The Hero must not be defeated by evil.
Toward the Hero who struggled, telling it not to come.
The Holy Sword shot forward without hesitation.
And immediately pierced through the Hero's heart.
Luna coughed up blood from her mouth and looked at the Holy Sword.
"*Cough-* Wh-what is... this..."
-You don't lose. Even if you fall, I'll raise you up again. Get up and fight again. And you must win. You cannot lose to evil.
At the moment when more negative emotions arose than the Demon King of Lust, Lust, had expected.
With a sharp pain in her heart, Luna opened her eyes again.
In the distance, the red-haired girl was pointing her sword.
It was the situation before the fight.
"I-I'm back... N-no way... Y-you want me to fight again...?"
U-until I win...?
You're telling me to fight...?
The Hero Luna began to have a nightmare from which she couldn't wake.
While Luna and Hare were spending agonizing time.
Saten and Estia were also experiencing their terrible pasts.
"To return to childhood. What an interesting situation."
*Click- Click-*
The family's hut filled with the desperate past where she nearly starved to death, living in indifference with not a single person caring.
Suddenly dropped there, Saten looked around.
"Hmm, I remember eating mushrooms here before. I nearly died then."
Lonely, sad, wanting to die.
A life without reason to live was like hell.
But now, she didn't feel any particular emotion.
It was just a colorless hut.
"I don't miss it, I just want to wake up from this dream."
I hate this hut.
It's noisy and uncomfortable, but I prefer that house where the old man teaches me magic.
*Twinge-*
Saten felt something like a chill in her chest.
The sensation was too clear to dismiss as her imagination.
It was a very small surge of emotion she was experiencing after a long time.
"Longing, regret? I don't know what to call this emotion, but it's been a while since I've felt something like this."
If making me feel this emotion is the opponent's goal.
Well, I suppose you could call it a success.
Thinking that, Saten walked forlornly through the empty hut.
Today, for once, she felt as if one part of her heart was empty.
And next.
Estia.
She was trapped in that cult's prison from her past.
"Wh-why am I here...?! D-did he sell me out...? Did that kidnapper brother send me back here again...!?"
*Tremble-*
Before learned fear, she couldn't do anything.
All she could do was pray, hoping this time would end.
"S-save me... P-please... G-Goddess..."
Dreams recreate the past and touch the deep wounds in one's heart.
Estia trembled in the corner of the prison, watching the children gradually decrease in number.
Each one had unfocused eyes and expressions as if sensing death.
Estia looked at them and muttered.
"H-Holy Water is needed... So the children won't suffer... Happiness... I need to give them Holy Water..."
*Tremble-*
But realizing she had no Divine Power, Estia hung her head.
She couldn't watch this situation anymore.
It was a scene she never wanted to see again.
As the children in the prison gradually decreased and the warmth near her grew cold.
A familiar and frightening voice was heard.
"Experiment No. 51. Follow me."
"Ah, ahh... S-save me..."
Estia let out a cry filled with despair.
Hoping someone would please save her.
Praying desperately to the Goddess, Estia re-experienced this hellish past.
However, the fear could not be resisted.
"There's no time. Come out now."
"...Yes."
Following behind the believer, Estia felt despair.
Why has this situation come to me again?
I listened well to the cult's words and worked hard making Holy Water.
Why does reality torment me like this?
Estia despaired.
Like in the past, she lost focus in her eyes and climbed onto the experiment table out of habit.
"Beginning the experiment on Test Subject No. 51."
"..."
I-I'm used to it now.
You'll hold the syringe and stab it into my arm.
I'll experience indescribable pain.
*Drip drip-*
Estia shed tears at this reality.
"*Sob*... I wanted to live normally too... Why... wasn't I normal from birth... *Sob*, I didn't want to live like this either... *Sob*..."
"Beginning administration to Test Subject No. 51."
"G-Goddess... Please save me..."
I don't want to experience that pain again.
Estia prayed to the Goddess with a desperate heart.
Though she had received wrong education, her prayers to the Goddess were sincere.
Perhaps that's why.
Whether the Goddess answered Estia's prayer, the Pope who was about to give the injection suddenly disappeared.
"Huh...?"
Wh-what's happening...?
As an incomprehensible situation unfolded before her eyes, Estia let out a dazed voice.
That person's voice reached the bound Estia.
"Estia."
"A-Apostle of the Goddess brother...? D-did you come to save me...?"
"Yes, I came to save you."
A voice with a gentle tone.
But a voice that seemed immersed in sadness.
Estia turned her head to confirm Lee Jun-woo's appearance.
Around his eyes were traces as if tears had flowed.
"Brother...?"
"...What's wrong?"
"D-did you cry...? And what's that blood on your sword...?"
Eyes that seemed sad.
And dried blood thickly covering the sword.
He looked as if he had come after killing someone.
To Estia expressing such questions, Lee Jun-woo said firmly.
"...Nothing happened."
Lee Jun-woo saying that clearly looked like he had a deep story.
Lee Jun-woo, seemingly immersed in sadness, reached out his hand toward Estia and said.
"Take my hand. We need to go somewhere else. Other children are probably suffering like you."
"O-okay. Brother..."
Estia took the hand Lee Jun-woo offered.
That hand was warm with someone's remaining warmth.
Estia glanced at Lee Jun-woo's face and whispered quietly.
"...Thank you, for saving me."
"What?"
"N-nothing. I didn't say anything..."
I don't like the kidnapper brother.
But today, thank you.
And so Estia, who had been having a nightmare, together with Lee Jun-woo.
Departed into the dreams of the other children.