Chapter 8: Hero of Justice, Verdandi Astraea (1)

* * *

In her short life, the first words Verdandi remembered hearing were these:

"Verdandi, Mommy is so sorry..."

These were the words her mother had sobbed to her before she could even walk.

Even now, Verdandi couldn't understand why her mother had cried while looking at her.

Because in her memory of that day, her mother had tried to strangle her to death.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

A little more pressure and she would have died from suffocation.

Why did she make such a sad face while trying to kill her?

Why did she release her grip with such an anguished expression?

At age three, Verdandi couldn't comprehend emotions mixed with guilt and love-hate. She couldn't understand the fact that a mother couldn't kill her child despite being unwanted because of love.

"Verdandi, Mommy loves you more than anyone else in this world. This is all my fault. It's not your fault..."

Therefore, Verdandi couldn't understand why her mother apologized to her while crying.

At that time, she didn't know she was an unwanted child born from rape by a bandit, and she couldn't accept that she had nearly died by her parent's hands.

Verdandi was too naive and pure to understand adult circumstances.

- [The words of the person before you are 'lies'.]

- [The person before you is 'evil'.]

The window that appeared when she was close to death - she remembered these words that floated before her eyes even after years had passed.

"Because I love you, Mommy is doing this. Please forgive me..."

- [The words of the person before you are 'lies'.]

- [The person before you is 'evil'.]

The translucent window that could be called the beginning of all nightmares was still visible even now that she had grown up.

For young Verdandi, it became a milestone for distinguishing good and evil, and the reason she began calling her parent 'Mother' instead of 'Mommy,' keeping her distance.

Verdandi had no one to confide in or understand her about the contradictory emotions of love and hate.

As years passed, Verdandi's hair grew long enough to reach her waist.

"Hey! My mom says you're the child of a whore! That's why your dad ran away!"

Thus, she came to understand how the world viewed her. Children were more sensitive to curse words and provocative terms than adults.

"My mom told me not to play with a dirty kid like you."

When Verdandi tried to mingle with the village children, they pushed her away with various slanders.

Some pointed fingers and mocked her, some threw dirt to chase her away, and some tormented her by putting ants on her body.

"Get out of our village! You witch!"

Her face and clothes became covered in mud, her knees and elbows were scraped and bleeding, and though she cried and screamed countless times, no one acknowledged her.

In this small village where rumors spread quickly, no one was unaware of Verdandi's birth. Everyone knew that when bandits had attacked the village long ago, they had raped several women, causing them to bear children.

'...If I try hard enough, people will realize I'm not bad!'

Verdandi tried various ways to escape this discrimination and contempt. First, she braided her hair on one side to maintain a neat appearance.

She began habitually using polite speech instead of casual speech to appear kind to both adults and children, and took on various chores to appeal to others as a good child.

However,

"It's creepy. You just smile even when someone hits or teases you!"

"Haha, is that so..."

Instead, this method worked against her.

Verdandi became a child who couldn't have normal emotions. When someone hit or teased her, she could only smile, unable to show sadness or anger.

No matter how difficult things got, she couldn't show her emotions. She was afraid of being abandoned by everyone again for being a 'bad child.'

"She doesn't even realize she's working for free, stupidly doing all the chores! We should take advantage of her again later."

"......"

Even knowing she was being used by others, Verdandi couldn't voice a single complaint or show any real resistance.

She kept thinking that she wished someone would need her, that she could help others.

"Verdandi, you don't need to come to our house anymore. Bad rumors are spreading in the village..."

"Yes! Of course! I'm a good child! I won't trouble you anymore, grandfather!"

Even when people talked behind her back, she pretended nothing was wrong with a loud voice. Despite the bad rumors snowballing, she struggled to maintain a bright appearance.

Eventually, Verdandi's goodwill was rejected by the world. No matter how much she tried to escape this hell, there was no helping hand.

'...Mother, why didn't you kill me then?'

Verdandi was on her way home after being rejected by everyone in the village except her mother, having begged them to see her true self.

Standing in the pouring rain, she tried hard to ignore her reflection in the puddles.

- [The person before you is a 'good person'.]

Blue eyes and blonde hair appeared. The transparent window floating above classified her as a good person.

After all, even if she was an unwanted child born from rape, the child bore no sin.

'Even if I'm classified as good, what the villagers said was true.'

Absolute judgment of good and evil.

She had an absolute standard that could determine the difference between evil deeds and good deeds by placing a person's life on the scales.

Because of this, Verdandi wanted to show the world that she wasn't the bad child everyone cursed her as.

'...Then, aren't they people who deserve to die?'

Paradoxically, the abilities 'Scales of Justice' and 'Eyes of Truth' blinded Verdandi's eyes and clouded her judgment.

Afterward, Verdandi became obsessed with the concept of 'justice.' She wanted an ideal human who wouldn't be judged as evil even by her eyes.

Someone perfect who wouldn't register as evil even to her abilities.

- [Verdandi, from now on, as the Hero of Justice, you shall punish the evil ones in this world.]

To such a Verdandi, a god appeared in her dream a few days ago.

It was an oracle from Solareon, the lion-formed Main God called the light of this world.

"You mean... me?"

- [That's right. Your sword will behead the Demon King, and drive out the darkness that exists in this world.]

Verdandi had been secretly waiting for such an oracle. In truth, she wanted confirmation that she was right and this world was wrong.

"Thank you! Main God!"

A liberating sensation of relief flooded her chest. She smiled like a child tasting something sweet for the first time.

-[This is proof that you are a hero. Keep it precious.]

And above Verdandi's head, a crown of light like an angel's halo was placed.

"I am now a hero! This means Mother, who doesn't love me, is evil and deserves to die!"

After waking from the dream, Verdandi made thorough preparations and calculations.

"I shall execute justice!"

She firmly believed that she was good and everyone else was evil.

* * *

A village where golden wheat fields awaited harvest and falling leaves announced the arrival of autumn.

"So this is Wonder Hill village."

After getting off the carriage, I looked around and felt the villagers' sharp gazes focused on us.

This village had to be closed off to outsiders. I had written it that way.

"For a rural village, the people aren't very welcoming!"

"Of course not. This is that kind of place."

This was a hell designed solely to turn Verdandi into a twisted hero, a hell created for just one person.

"Master, where are the people who need our help? Didn't you say so when we left for the Western Regions?"

"...In the back alleys, there are patients with plague and children who sold their bodies and organs for money."

I smiled bitterly as I spoke. I had written this ugly underbelly beneath the village's beautiful surface.

"Then the villagers..."

"Yes, they pushed others into the back alleys just to save themselves. Even mere beggars of the underworld know to maintain righteousness and cooperation."

The reason Verdandi judged the villagers as evil, why no one showed her pity, was simple.

The village chief and residents had conspired to isolate the failures, living separately from them.

"...So they're all in it together. Master's profound insight moves this disciple Bi Wol more deeply than anyone."

Bi Wol immediately understood my words and nodded. I gently patted her head in approval.

"To think my sister is in such a disgusting place, this Bi Wol cannot help but lament. I understand why Master came to save her."

"I actually came by ship to get here before the kingdom's people could make their move..."

Wolfram tried to pat Bi Wol's head while watching her, but.

"Do not touch me. Under heaven, only one person may pat my head - Master, who is Number One in the Evil Path and Number One of All Time."

No, Bi Wol. I wasn't Number One in the Evil Path.

I was dumbfounded hearing my disciple elevate me so. In fact, I wasn't Number One of All Time either.

I could be called evil because I came from the Five Poison Sect.

But there were the Four Swordsmen before claiming Number One in the Evil Path, and Bi Wol, vessel of the Heavenly Demon, before claiming Number One of All Time.

"Plus, you have the title of 'Dragon.'"

"Then doesn't that make you equal to a Dragon Slayer? You must be amazing."

"You're all embarrassing me."

I hung my head in disbelief and wiped away cold sweat. I was witnessing fantasy and martial arts mixing before my eyes.

Even though it was my own novel, I thought it was too much.

"...Master, I smell strong blood ahead."

"Lead the way, Bi Wol."

As I looked around for traces of Verdandi, Bi Wol frowned and pointed somewhere.

"It seems to be there."

A gloomy house made of gray bricks - it matched the residence I had written for her in the novel.

"Is anyone home?"

I knocked on the door with the back of my hand, but there was no response.

Strange. According to the original work, Verdandi's mother should have welcomed Wolfram and then Verdandi would have appeared.

"Is anyone there? We've come to see the hero!"

An unsettling feeling pricked like needles. Feeling anxiety that made my body shiver, I knocked harder.

Bang bang bang.

No matter how much I knocked, there was no response from inside, but Bi Wol's expression changed as she frowned.

"Master, the blood scent is getting stronger. The injured person inside is breathing more weakly. If this continues..."

"...We have no choice. I'll break down the door, please help if there's an injured person inside."

Ice White Divine Technique, First Form. Ice Breaking Fist.

When I struck the door forcefully with my fist, there was a loud crash as it shattered to pieces.

"Oh? Who are you people!"

Thus, Wolfram, Bi Wol, and I entered the house and saw the interior covered in blood.

"...Verdandi Astraea."

Inside was a middle-aged woman leaning against the wall bleeding, and a smiling girl covered in blood.

"You know my name! I'm honored!"

The girl's appearance was unmistakably Verdandi, the final boss from my novel.

"Huh, huuk... Someone, someone's dead...!"

"Not yet dead. There's still breath."

Bi Wol reassured Wolfram, who was too shocked to breathe properly.

Verdandi was acting differently from my original work. She should have tried to kill the Gold Tower Master.

Where had things gone wrong?

"Gold Tower Master, can you use healing magic?"

"Y-yes! If they're not dead yet, I can heal them!"

I calmly asked Wolfram to heal Verdandi's mother. With Bi Wol's help, they could save her while avoiding Verdandi's attention.

"Bi Wol, help the Gold Tower Master save that woman. Then get far away from here."

Originally, I had planned to use Bi Wol to subdue Verdandi, but now there was no choice.

"B-but... Master..."

"It's alright. This is something I must resolve alone."

I gave Bi Wol a small smile to show she shouldn't worry, and seeing this, she nodded and prepared to move with the Gold Tower Master.

"How surprising that an Extreme Villain would try to save someone! Are you perhaps evil like me?"

"...Does your ability show me as an Extreme Villain? This is unexpected."

The title Extreme Villain was something I had created for Verdandi to achieve at the end of the novel after accumulating evil deeds.

It was the ending of "A Hero Must Die" that I had thought of but never written.

I had planned to write that she would end her life by suicide after seeing herself shown as an Extreme Villain.

"I suppose there's no chance of resolving this through dialogue rather than fighting..."

"You don't need to say that - I was planning to fight! Why are you trying to smuggle evil people away right in front of me!"

Facing Verdandi had to be my task alone.

"I am Bing Yeon, who crossed from the East to make you my disciple."

"...What did you just say?"

"I'm saying you must accept me as your master from now on."