Chapter [NaN]

Chapter [NaN]

Chapter 73: Is There Salvation Even for the Murderous Girl? (6)

“Don’t run from your sins.”

Hearing those words, Lucy stares at me.

It was a long silence.

Lucy finally forces herself to speak.

“Are you telling me... to keep living?”

At her words, I nod.

I know she feels the weight of what she’s done.

I also understand the desire to escape that guilt through death.

But even so, that’s not the answer.

I couldn’t condone such an idea.

“I’ve committed an unforgivable sin.”

Lucy spoke with a face full of anguish.

That must be true.

No matter how much you beg for forgiveness, the dead don’t return.

And because of that, the sin doesn’t disappear either.

The girl would have to live with that sin forever. She had to carry that crushing guilt for the rest of her life.

“I pushed someone into hell with my own hands. I took away the life they should have had.”

Her voice trembled.

I could feel the guilt weighing her down.

The responsibility for the life she had taken.

It was that which tormented her.

And so, she spoke again.

“You already know, don’t you? You know everything.”

Like she had already seen through my heart.

That she didn’t want to live.

That she was terrified of living.

That she didn’t have the strength to face each day burdened with such a heavy sin.

So she wanted it all to stop.

She wanted to run away from these painful things, to atone for everything through death.

And wasn’t I the one who knew better than anyone what she wanted?

“Even so, you’re still telling me... to live?”

The blood-soaked girl looks at me.

With tears in her eyes, she looks at me.

And I... nod.

Even though I knew her heart, even though I knew the answer she wanted, I nodded.

Seeing that, she asked me.

“Why are you telling me to live?”

The answer to that question had already been decided.

“Because you’ll regret it.”

Just looking at her now was enough to know that.

I had already let go of the hand holding her arm.

She could take her own life at any time, regardless of my will.

But even so, she didn’t move.

There was nothing holding her back anymore. Yet she couldn’t make a decision and hesitated.

There was only one reason for that.

“The truth is, you already know. Death is not atonement.”

If she were a selfish person, she wouldn’t feel this guilt and could go on living her life without a care.

If she were someone who knew how to compromise, she would’ve turned her back on her sins and run away, no matter what I said.

But the girl couldn’t bring herself to do that.

None of this would have happened.

The children wouldn’t have suffered such horrific pain. They wouldn’t have had to meet death at such a young age.

The lives those children were supposed to live wouldn’t have been snuffed out so cruelly.

All of it was a result of Lucy’s ignorance.

And so, Lucy was scared.

“I’m scared that one day, I’ll make the same mistake again.”

Scared that the same nightmare would repeat.

Scared that her actions might once again push someone into hell.

It was a fear so overwhelming that she couldn’t bear it.

The captain, hearing Lucy’s words, remained silent for a long while... before finally speaking.

“In that case... let me make you an offer.”

A proposal she couldn’t understand.

The captain slowly approached her as he spoke.

“If you stray again, I will stop you.”

If, one day, she made another foolish decision. If she repeated the same mistakes.

He promised he would be there to stop her.

“Until the day you can forgive yourself, I will stay by your side.”

He would help her atone, standing by her side as she walked the path of penance.

Until the day her atonement was complete, he would walk that painful road with her.

“If you truly want to atone, if you’re ready to walk this thorny path to be righteous...”

Before she knew it, the captain was standing right in front of her.

His blue eyes fixed on hers.

“Then follow me.”

The captain said this as he looked at her.

It was strange.

There was no reason for this man to make such an offer to her.

Lucy had done nothing for him.

In fact, she had doubted him, gotten in his way multiple times. Yet here he was, offering to help her.

Promising to stop her if she strayed again. Telling her not to worry.

He was even willing to try and save someone like her—a murderer.

“Of course, I’m not forcing you. The choice is yours.”

As he spoke, the captain gazed at the girl.

Lucy instinctively knew. This choice would define the rest of her life.

This decision would turn her life completely upside down.

But... she didn’t hesitate.

There was no need to hesitate.

Lucy knelt on the spot.

She wasn’t kneeling before an emperor.

There was no sacredness in this place. No ceremonial sword in sight.

But that didn’t matter at all.

A knighthood ceremony was, in the end, simply a vow.

A vow of eternal loyalty.

Unchanging devotion to a master, no matter how much time passed.

“I swear. As your sword, I will live to carry out your will.”

In the distance, the sun began to rise.

Its bright light illuminated Lucy.

The long, seemingly endless day had finally passed.

And a new one had begun.

Thus, that day a girl became a knight.

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