The Man’s 101st Bad Ending

Translator: FusionX

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As always, I loved the dawn.

I loved the faint light that dimly bloomed before sunrise, and the gentle silence filled only with the sound of insects when everyone was asleep.

I wondered if that was why my eyes always opened at dawn.

As I saw the faint light upon waking, I smiled slightly.

My body felt particularly light that day.

It was probably because I had completely resolved the worry I had harbored about Adele’s arrival.

The method she chose was not understanding, but simply focusing on the present.

After all, it was the past, wasn’t it?

No matter how much attention I paid to past events, there wouldn’t be any immediate changes.

When she, whom I had worried about the most, maintained such an attitude, my mind became at ease.

I thought that was probably why my body felt light too.

Originally, we were supposed to leave the temple and head south yesterday, but it seemed the schedule had been pushed back due to Adele’s arrival.

So departing from this place was now today’s task.

What we would gain from entering deeper into the southern region… wasn’t much compared to what I had expected.

For the time being, it would probably be enough to pay attention to Adriana and Adele.

Adriana’s favor towards me was equivalent to the priests’ favor, and the paladins… led by Verod, were already thinking well of me.

Even if something strange happened, they wouldn’t blindly blame me.

At least now they knew for sure what kind of person I was.

“…Yuria.”

After the southern journey ended, it would be time to officially tread the path.

Although killing Theresa wasn’t in the plan, I already knew well who was unnecessary in my life.

I was still in contact with Renold.

Although I didn’t know what methods he was using, Renold was excellently performing the role I had entrusted to him.

In many ways, it seemed leaving him be had been a good choice.

The task you entrusted of securing the target is progressing well without difficulties.

The young lady appears cold, but occasionally she kills subordinates when things don’t go as desired.

Support for her is fading, and it can be said that the situation is becoming fitting for her name “Iron Blood”.

I had thought it would be like that, but it seemed she was showing somewhat tyrannical movements.

It was possible because she bore the Taylor name.

Well, I wasn’t sure if this would be beneficial for Yuria in the long run.

If there were no competitors, people would have no choice but to follow Yuria, but if an equal competitor appeared, where would people turn?

She wasn’t foolish enough not to know that.

She probably thought I couldn’t rise to an equal position.

If not that, then she would obtain the position of family head while I was in the south.

I had mostly grasped the patterns of Yuria’s likely actions.

Unless she suddenly went mad and committed suicide, her range of actions was in my hands.

So what I had to do was… just wait slowly in this position until the end.

Yuria would eventually fall into my trap.

Once that trap closed, I had no intention of letting go.

Soon, the moment would come when I could confirm the results with my own eyes.

After briefly burning Renold’s letter in the candlelight, I turned my gaze back to the window.

It seemed to have been dawn when I woke up, but now I could see the sun rising.

Morning, huh. I wondered who I should go see first.

Since I had seen Adele yesterday, I thought I should go see Adriana today.

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“It seems you slept in late yesterday?”

Before Adele came, I often met Adriana in the mornings.

Although the priests took care of her, the only person I could meet here was Adriana anyway.

Yesterday?

I had been with Adele until the afternoon.

I could have told Adriana honestly, but somehow I had a strong feeling that I shouldn’t.

“I suppose I was a bit tired.”

“It’s not bad to rest sometimes. Robert, you’re quite diligent, aren’t you?”

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`);}

Although I felt a bit guilty, it couldn’t be helped.

The relationship between Adriana and Adele was… how should I put it?

It was a relationship with just that much distance, with me in the middle.

If I wasn’t there, they had no particular reason for them to be close, and even if they tried to get closer, it would just become awkward because of my presence.

It was a bit frustrating, but I intended to try to coordinate it somehow.

It’s not like I could choose one person and discard the other, could I?

If it were a romantic relationship it would be different, but I thought friendship was fine.

It might be a bit funny to think of Adele and me as friends, but still.

When the priests who had been helping Adriana with her grooming left, Adriana naturally grasped my arm as she stood up.

She didn’t hold onto me as closely as last time.

Maybe it was because Adele was here, but Adriana just lightly held my arm as we walked forward like that.

“We’ll be leaving here today, right? How long did you say we’d have to travel by carriage?”

“Even though it’s called the deep south, we’ll probably have to stop several times along the way. Because there are different races there.”

We had stayed near the Temple of the Moon without much difficulty, but as we got closer to the deep south, we would inevitably have more contact with different races.

The outskirts were fine.

Mostly elves lived on the outskirts, and they were generally friendly to humans as long as nature wasn’t harmed.

We would probably stop a few times to ask their permission.

Adriana seemed to have a bit of anticipation about moving deep into the south.

It might be a little dangerous, and there would be magicians too, but in reality, it wouldn’t be easy for her to get hurt as long as Adele and I were there.

Not to mention Verod was also present.

If she were to be in a dangerous situation, it would probably only be in a case like last time when the Crown Prince deliberately targeted her.

I had no intention of lowering my guard.

In Miragen’s case, the Crown Prince had intervened, so it would be too naive to think he wouldn’t intervene in Adriana’s case.

After walking for a while, we arrived at the place where Verod and the paladins had gathered.

Verod, who had been inspecting weapons, frowned grotesquely when he saw Adriana and me.

“…You’ve come.”

“You don’t look very pleased to see us.”

“Of course not. Just look at what I’m seeing right now.”

I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t good to be too protective of Adriana.

If it weren’t for that massive hammer in his hand, I might have already said so several times.

Adriana seemed to find Verod’s attitude simply amusing.

After chuckling for a moment, she furrowed her brow slightly and spoke to Verod.

“Still, don’t scold Robert too much. I asked him for this, you know.”

“…I know, but I have a duty to protect the saint. I need to be vigilant at all times.”

“It sounds like you’re saying Robert is a dangerous person. Is that so?”

“That’s not it.”

At her pressing voice, Verod’s shoulders slumped as if dejected.

He was particularly weak to Adriana, so whenever she took my side, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him.

For Verod, that is.

Verod, whose eyes had softened considerably from earlier, let out a sigh as he looked at me.

Then, pointing in one direction, he informed us that the carriage had arrived.

“The carriage is already prepared. I ordered one that shakes less than last time, so there shouldn’t be any major problems entering the deep south.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

“This time, not only the saint but also the Grand Duchess will be joining us. Please take good care of both of them. The paladins will focus on guarding the surroundings.”

Adriana reacted to the mention of the Grand Duchess also joining, but I didn’t react much since I already knew Adele would be riding in the same carriage.

We had talked about this topic just yesterday.

About who I should travel with when going south.

Adele had asked if she could ride her wolf alongside us, but the southern swamps were inconvenient for wolf travel.

Even that carriage, which looked ordinary, actually had magical engineering applied to it.

So Adele would also ride in the carriage.

Adriana didn’t seem to like that fact very much, and she started grumbling quietly.

“Weren’t we supposed to travel together? This is different from what was planned.”

“Please understand. Now that the Grand Duchess has joined us, we can’t go separately.”

“…It’s not that I dislike the Grand Duchess, but it’s still awkward.”

There was no way to change their different personalities.

I could only hope that the two of them would come to understand each other a little bit.

Even Miragen and Adriana had differences in personality, didn’t they?

Yet they became best friends, so maybe Adele and Adriana could get along well later too.

As we approached the carriage, Adele was already seated inside.

When the door opened, Adele patted the seat next to her and called my name.

“Robert, come over here. The three of us won’t be able to sit together.”

“W-wait a moment. Where are you calling Robert to?”

“To the seat next to me. If you were originally sitting facing each other, it shouldn’t be much different.”

Adriana, who had clung to my arm again, shook her head.

Seeing that reaction, Adele looked at me blankly, and feeling oddly guilty, I answered.

“We sat together last time. The seats were wide enough to sit side by side.”

“…I see.”

Adele’s eyes turned cold as she smiled strangely.

It was brief, but it was an expression she often made when she saw or heard something she didn’t like.

Seeing Adriana clinging tightly to my arm, that smile deepened, and finally Adele got out of the carriage, approached Adriana, and grasped her arm.

“It seems it would be better if the saint and I sit together. That would be fair, wouldn’t it?”

I didn’t ask what was fair.

The two women talking about me had quite an obvious purpose.

If they couldn’t have me, it was better that no one did.

It was something Adele had often said before, so I quickly realized what she was talking about.

“What? No- Is there really a need for that? Robert and I have been sitting well together all along.”

“There is a need for it.”

After saying that, Adele added as she removed Adriana’s hand from my arm:

“Because I don’t like seeing it.”

“Ah? Wait a moment- Grand Duchess!”

What followed happened quite quickly.

Before Adriana could offer any resistance, she was separated from me and seated in the carriage.

Adele, who took the seat next to her, pointed to the empty seat across from them and smiled.

When I tried to say something, Adele lightly covered her lips with her finger.

It seemed there was no need to speak.

I chuckled for a moment and entered the carriage.

Adriana stared silently at Adele with an expression that suggested she had a lot to say.

It was an expression I had never seen before.

Blank, and with trembling hands clutching her own collar.

I worried they might become estranged like this, but I thought Adele would probably soothe her well.

She would probably make excuses that it couldn’t be helped.

However, the more I saw this scene, the more uncomfortable I felt.

So I briefly met Adele’s eyes and slowly turned my head away.

“Are we departing now?”

“…Yes, I suppose so.”

Although it was just a matter of deciding seating in the carriage, I could feel that Adele’s emotions were gradually becoming similar to those in the past.

Affection, the past where we briefly loved each other but ultimately couldn’t express it.

I now knew that being bound by the past wasn’t very good.

However, it was true that things became more difficult as her feelings grew closer to those of the past.

I didn’t want to form deep bonds with anyone.

If someone tried to cross the line and get closer to me, I would have no choice but to reject them.

It was different from before.

I was no longer the person who tried to live happily with everyone.

Wasn’t this a life racing towards eternal rest?

All humans were moving towards death, but sometimes they forgot this fact.

However, I hadn’t forgotten death.

Because death was where I was heading, I didn’t want to form deep bonds with anyone.

If I failed this time too, I probably wouldn’t be able to bear it.

I wanted to maintain just this level of relationship with everyone until I killed the Crown Prince.

After achieving all my goals, then I could discuss love without any worries.

The carriage began to move forward.

Beyond the outskirts of the south, towards the deep area where different races lived.

Erasing the complicated thoughts arising in my mind, I decided to focus a bit on another objective.

The relic.

I had to secure it in the deep south, after all.

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