# 50. The Encroaching Fog, Swept Away Emotions (6)
Before intruding into Estia's dream.
Lee Jun-woo was stuck in that time, that era.
On the day Aina lost her life.
She shouted toward Lee Jun-woo, who stood there in a daze.
"What are you doing, you idiot!! Move, now!!"
Yes, I definitely heard Aina's voice like that.
Aina shouted at me when I couldn't come to my senses.
I was holding her hand, running away from the Demon King chasing us from behind.
That bastard was beyond what our party could handle at the time.
We hadn't anticipated the sudden betrayal.
Aina looked back and shouted as if annoyed.
"I didn't think that bastard would betray us...!! Wait...?! Where's the monk?!"
The party's swordswoman Irina answered.
"Daniel died first. That traitor must have known. That the monk is the most important in a party. What a shitty situation."
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck...!! That piece of shit...!! We let him into the party, and he dares betray us...?!!"
Aina spat out curses while tightly gripping my hand and continuing to run.
Watching that scene, my insides ached and stung.
Suddenly, my vision shifted from the chase scene.
It was a vision of the past.
*...Is this that place? When that bastard wasn't involved, when the party had four members.*
On the street, a pitiful man was looking for a party.
A boy who had nothing, whose only possession was his body.
Did she remember when she first saw me?
Aina looked at that black-haired boy and asked us.
"Hey, should we use him as a porter? The luggage has been heavy lately, and Jun, you still haven't learned spatial magic."
"...Aina, you can't use it either. How am I supposed to?"
"I told you to call me master, you bastard! Want to get hit?!"
Aina tried to assault my body with her staff.
Of course, her poor athletic ability meant she couldn't land a single hit.
The reason I learned spatial magic while coughing up blood was definitely because this incident stuck in my memory.
The me from back then dodged Aina's attacks and approached the shabby-looking boy.
"You're looking for a party?"
"Y-yes! I'm looking for a party! I can do any kind of work well!"
"Hmm..."
He seemed innocent and showed fighting spirit.
His appearance wasn't trustworthy, but I liked the look in his eyes.
However, I didn't see what lay beneath.
The me from back then shouldn't have made that choice.
The deaths of the party members were all my responsibility.
It was my wrong judgment that even Minerva hadn't noticed.
"Alright, Aina. Let's use him as a porter. I like his eyes."
"I was going to do that even if you didn't say so? Acting like he's the main character. Hey you, what's your name?"
At Aina's question, the boy's face flushed.
Perhaps, at that time.
If I had noticed the emotions that boy harbored, if I hadn't let him into the party as a porter, Aina wouldn't have died.
The boy answered her with admiring eyes.
"My name is Raul. I-I'll work hard as the party's porter!"
The boy Raul answered energetically.
With that boy's smile, the scene shifted again.
Raul.
That bastard was chasing us in the form of a disgusting lump of flesh that had abandoned its humanity.
"G-give her back-!! Right now, that woman...! Give her back-!! Th-that woman isn't yours-!! Jun-!! Aina loves me-!! Not you, never you-!!"
Even hearing it again, what a fucking voice.
After killing the bastard called 'Envy' who introduced himself as the Demon King of Envy.
Raul muttered alone in a corner, then became that lump of flesh and killed the monk.
For the me back then, watching a man I'd grown close to for three years die in an instant was a situation too difficult to accept.
"F-fuck! Jun, what are you doing! Move your legs! E-even if I die! Y-you can't die! Why is that crazy bastard suddenly acting like that...!!"
"...He changed like that after seeing us hug."
"What kind of bullshit is that-!! He didn't act like that when we hugged often before-!!"
"...The Demon King of Envy. That bastard's power. It seems to have passed to that porter bastard. For now, let's run. That seems to be the only answer."
The me from back then was running after receiving Minerva's problem and choosing the answer to flee.
Together with Aina and Irina.
But as time passed, the lump of flesh's speed increased, while our speed naturally slowed down.
Starting with Aina, the party's mage who had the least stamina.
*Damn it...*
I didn't want to recall this scene again.
The Demon King of Lust.
Because of that bitch's ability, I was seeing again the memories that had tormented me all this time.
Along with a heart stained with guilt, I looked ahead.
"Hey, Jun... you disciple bastard...! Go home first... I'll come soon..."
"Aina! Get a hold of yourself! W-we can make it. Just a little more strength-"
"Ah, really. You never listen to your master who's like the sky. I'm telling you like this. Just go... It's not a master's role to hold back their disciple..."
What is a master supposed to be?
Why did Aina sacrifice herself to protect me?
Even now, it's behavior I can't understand at all.
Aina, clearly exhausted, struck her staff down toward the ground.
Thud-
And then, what I saw last.
She spat out those words from that memory to me.
"Thank you for everything... Please live, Jun, I..."
As if not wanting to say the last words, she bit her lips.
Aina separated the space with a tear-mixed smile.
As if not wanting to show the end, even blocking my vision.
The past me collapsed there and shed tears, and Irina barely held back her tears while leading me away from that place.
Seeing again with my eyes what had always appeared as a nightmare.
My chest ached as if it would tear apart.
I barely held back my emotions and muttered.
"...What a wicked ability, Lust."
"No, it's closer to a blessing. Be honest. You were happy to see her after so long. That woman."
"..."
It would be a lie to say I hated it.
Lust laughed as if she had noticed my feelings.
"If you stay here with me. You can keep seeing that woman. Your vitality, your life force. If you offer that to me, I'll let you live with this woman in dreams forever. Happy memories always remain in dreams."
So.
Choose.
Lust smiled and created an illusion of Aina.
The illusory Aina was staring at me quietly.
"Stab this woman's heart. Then you'll be able to save the other children."
"...What if I refuse?"
"A lifetime of happy dreams. Reunion with the master you missed. Reunion with that woman you thought you'd never see again. How about it? Isn't it good?"
Lust, as if noticing my wavering heart, grinned and said.
"I'll go to another child, so choose well~ I hope you make a good choice~?"
Saying that, Lust immediately disappeared.
After she left, Aina and I were left alone in one space.
If she were really Aina, there would be mountains of things to talk about.
But knowing she couldn't give any answers, I kept my mouth shut and looked at her.
"...I must choose."
However...
It's hard to choose.
Even though it's an illusion of Aina, that appearance is exactly like the real Aina.
It's no different from her as she remains in my memory.
Could I stab such an Aina's heart?
Someone like me who let that trash porter into the party?
I looked into the eyes of Aina standing still.
Her last moments kept coming to mind, paralyzing my brain.
"I can't choose. But I must choose..."
In a situation where no choice options appeared.
I must choose.
The most right answer.
The correct answer.
Recognizing the droplets flowing from my eyes, I drew my sword and approached Aina's illusion.
She had no expression, but my guilt at pointing my sword at her couldn't be washed away.
"...I'm sorry, Aina. I'm trash."
Squelch-
Along with flowing tears, I plunged the sword into Aina's heart.
Though an illusion, the blood from her heart thoroughly soaked my sword.
Aina's illusion collapsed to the ground like that and disappeared, turning to dust.
"I'm sorry, Aina... If I had power back then... I could have protected you..."
If I had learned spatial magic faster.
There would have been no need to let that porter into the party...
Guilt spread throughout my body, making it hard to breathe.
But even in that situation, I had to move forward.
"The children... are waiting."
Since they're children I kidnapped.
I must take responsibility so they don't suffer anymore.
Carrying the guilt and responsibility weighing down my shoulders.
I walked toward that exit.
The trials they faced that I saw in the answer sheet were all painful...
"...I should pray they hold out in the meantime."
I moved toward the children, carrying my aching heart.
"O-oppa? What's that blood on your sword...?"
"It's nothing."
First was Estia.
I saved her from suffering at the hands of the Church in memories of the past.
Perhaps because it was a dream, she wasn't intoxicated by holy water.
When I saved Estia like that, a door appeared in the air.
*I must quickly save the other children.*
If emotional aftereffects remain, it hinders growth.
So...
I held Estia's hand and opened the door leading to the next child.
That place was...
"A wedding...?"
It looked like a wedding, but the atmosphere was similar to a funeral.
And there, the Hero Party's thief.
Hare was on her knees, shedding tears as if in pain.
"P-please stop... Please stop, mister..."
While watching the illusions of me and Aina kissing right before her eyes.
Seeing that, rage surged up.
"Don't think you'll die peacefully, Demon King of Lust."
I won't let her die comfortably.
Now it was time to wake Hare from her nightmare.