Chapter 2. Encounter

Blackmore's notoriety doesn't stem from its environment, but from its people.

A Magical Boundary among Magical Boundaries.

Blackmore, infamous for its unusually high number of disappearances, boasted such a vast expanse that it attracted wanderers and fugitives from across the entire continent.

What does that mean?

It means that people living ordinary lives don't just up and decide to visit Blackmore.

'Suicide?!'

That woman, just by looking at her, is a Noble Lady, likely from the Empire, raised with a silver spoon in her mouth. For someone like her to crawl all the way here just to off herself… whatever family she belongs to is probably in an uproar right now.

A missing person report will definitely be filed. And then a full-scale search will begin.

If it ends as a simple disappearance, I’ll be incredibly fortunate. But if her body is eventually discovered in Blackmore?

As the designated administrator…

Could I possibly evade interrogation?

'No fucking way.'

Knowing that, what I had to do was obvious.

Stop her. Now.

But how?

She’s just a few steps away from falling!

“……”

*Swooooosh—*

The sound of waves crashing against the cliffs below was fierce. The woman's hair whipped around in the wind as she stood at the precipice.

In that moment, she smiled.

Our eyes met. Hers were like a pitch-black abyss, devoid of any light.

Something….

Something was about to happen.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

“No—!!”

When I opened my eyes, I found myself already running towards her.

“!!!”

Through my wildly shaking vision, the woman’s startled face came into blurry focus. Her gaze was fixed on me.

Most importantly—

'She stopped!'

She had been poised to jump, but she'd stopped. Eyes wide with shock. It seemed my sudden appearance had surprised her.

My heart pounded as if it would burst through my ribs. Rough breaths caught in my throat.

I ran, and ran.

And.

The distance between us closed.

“Who……!”

The moment I reached out my right hand towards the bewildered woman, an immense pressure seemed to crush time itself.

Everything became excruciatingly slow.

The wind whipping her hair, the dust swirling up from the ground, even the slow extension of my right arm.

I could follow every single moment with my eyes.

“Got……!”

Just as my hand was about to reach her, the startled woman abruptly turned her body.

“???”

Huh.

Wait. Wait a minute.

Did she just… dodge me?

If so, then I…

“……Huh?”

In an instant, I lost my balance. My body began to tilt in the direction of my outstretched arm.

And.

In that direction lay nothing but—

“!!!”

…the endless expanse of the cliff.

“Ah.”

Fuck.

This is seriously fucked up.

****

*Thud, thud, thud.*

With her silver hair a tangled mess, the girl walked listlessly, letting it fly in the wind.

*Whoosh—!*

She briefly surveyed her surroundings.

Eerily descending fog.

Sheer cliffs.

Densely packed trees.

Hmm, just as I heard. As expected, I won’t find any trace of people in a place like this.

“……Ha.”

A chillingly sinister smile twisted her lips.

A hazy gaze, filled with unrestrained madness, and a savage grin spread across her emotionless face.

How did it come to this? She closed her eyes, carefully retracing her past.

Rudine Carlyle.

The second daughter of the Carlyle County Family, one of the three guardian families protecting the Northern Continent.

And a Bastard.

A story hardly unique.

One day, the master of the mansion had an impulsive affair with a commoner maid, and a girl was unintentionally born. A common tale.

Branded with the derogatory term “bastard” from the moment she was born.

— Even the Count… What was he thinking, bringing a bastard into the mansion…

— Oh, the poor Countess…

— How dare a lowly bastard show her face and leech off the Carlyle County Family!

No one welcomed Rudine. Her existence… was nothing more than an unexpected 'accident'.

She had only one choice.

Be immediately expelled from the mansion and wander the streets.

Or endure countless instances of harassment and ostracization while remaining in the mansion.

Rudine chose the latter.

No, to be precise, she was chosen for it.

Her age made her too young to decide anything, and more than anything, her mother desperately wished for her to remain in the mansion.

From then on, Rudine changed.

She hid herself behind a mask and relentlessly pushed herself forward, whipping herself mercilessly.

She didn't readily open her heart to anyone and worked tirelessly, not resting a single day, to be recognized as a member of the family.

It was a time of bone-chilling perseverance.

She kept her life burning brightly, fueled by the mockery and shame that constantly echoed in her ears.

Then, one day, it happened.

Her patience, pushed to its limits, finally snapped.

— Wake up immediately! The sun is already high in the sky!

*SLAP!*

The head maid, who had entered the room, struck her cheek.

As usual, the head maid didn't bother hiding her nasty inferiority complex.

It was possible because she had the Countess, who ruled the mansion, backing her.

— You will be punished for missing your greeting time.

— For the next week, you shouldn't even think about leaving this room.

'This is my room.'

'Not a prison.'

— Oh my, you must be hungry. Don't hesitate, eat quickly.

— The food is a bit spoiled, but you're okay with that, right?

— It's a meal prepared with utmost care for you, Miss. You must finish it, mustn't you?

Suddenly, laughter escaped her.

Rage, disgust, hostility – those sharp emotions tore her reason to shreds.

The desire to tear that wretched woman to pieces bubbled up inside her.

'Should I kill her?'

What kind of scream would she let out if a blade pierced that thin neck?

Just how far could she fall before the fear of death?

A voice, like an auditory hallucination, resonated clearly in her ears.

Like an echo, it urged her to slaughter.

— Where on earth did you learn such table manners?!

Rudine fiddled preciously with the dagger hidden behind her back.

— Honestly, this is why bastards are no good.

And then, she raised her right hand without hesitation.

*Swish—!*

And at that moment.

Something unexpected happened.

The dagger in her right hand pierced the head maid's neck.

— *Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!!*

An ear-splitting scream filled the air.

With a crazed expression, Rudine mechanically stabbed, tore, and ripped the head maid apart.

Her eyes were filled with malice and madness.

They were truly eyes shimmering with pitch-black darkness.

*Spurt—! Spurt—!*

Torn pieces of flesh scattered into the air.

The flowing blood pooled on the floor, forming a puddle.

*Thud—!*

The horribly mangled head maid collapsed onto the floor, her face pale.

“Haah, haah…”

Rudine caught her ragged breath.

And.

Looking at the coldly still head maid, the emotion she felt was none other than—

“……Heh.”

Elation.

Intense elation.

The next day.

The entire mansion was in complete chaos due to the head maid’s death.

Murder.

It was a situation that couldn't be understood by any words.

— Tsk, that damned wench…

The Count clicked his tongue in contempt.

A bastard who murdered a servant because she couldn't endure the bullying.

The moment the news spread through high society, the Carlyle County Family’s reputation would plummet to rock bottom.

Therefore, the Count swiftly covered up the situation.

He firmly silenced the servants who witnessed the incident.

He began to erase Rudine's traces left in the mansion one by one.

Swiftly.

And thoroughly.

'Ah, it's over.'

Rudine bowed her head and laughed, then screamed.

Everything she had worked for all her life vanished in an instant.

All that remained was a despair like a mire.

The tangled, black, and sticky emotions branched out and bore fruit.

And.

In the end, the decided treatment for Rudine was.

— Rudine Carlyle is banished to Blackmore.

“Ha.”

Rudine, pushing her way through the mountains, let out a hollow laugh.

Her throat burned as if it had swallowed a pit of fire.

*Gnash.*

The sound of grinding teeth was clearly audible.

Was it her own voice that was seething?

Or was it her rage towards the trash of the Carlyle family?

Probably both.

“……”

What awaited Rudine after she walked for a long time was a sheer cliff.

At the edge of the cliff.

There was nowhere to go, nowhere to run.

“…There’s no way out.”

Just as she stood there blankly.

“No—!!”

Someone was approaching her.

No, more accurately, running towards her.

Moreover, with Mana cloaking their entire body.

“???”

A man?

Why is there a man here?

The man suddenly reached out towards her.

As if trying to grab her.

“Who……!”

Rudine was startled.

The man's speed was simply too fast.

Did the mansion send him?

However, she had never seen his face before, and more importantly, she couldn't feel any intent to kill from him.

Whatever it was, they would collide at this rate.

Rudine instinctively turned her body to avoid the collision.

And.

“Uh?”

The man who reached out to her.

Fell straight off the cliff.

“You fucking bitch—!!”

…While spitting out rather harsh curses.