Chapter 78 :

Chapter 78 - Wailing

Too much time had been delayed putting back in the arm Jack had pulled out.

Though it had been pulled out cleanly, he resented his own weakness, which hated pain terribly, and his insufficient stamina.

Tollin kept moving his feet while ignoring the feeling that his thighs and calves were about to tear apart.

“Hey, please, please save the children when you get up there!”

He also did not forget to shout at the black-haired young man who had gone up first as he climbed the stairs.

Shouting at the top of his lungs without even knowing whether the other person could hear him or not was a rather ridiculous sight, but he was desperate.

But no answer came back, even after his polite honorifics changed into, “Please help them, you bastard!”

Forcing himself to ignore the strong premonition that perhaps the man had not failed to hear, but was ignoring him, Tollin organized his thoughts.

Though they had not exchanged a single conversation, judging from the priest sprawled near the entrance, one thing was certain.

He would not get in the way of saving the young duke.

He did not know whether they were on the same side, but at the very least, they had the same enemy.

Tollin, who had been climbing the stairs while shouting no matter whether he could be heard or not, suddenly realized how ridiculous it was that he was entrusting the young duke to someone whose face he had not even properly faced, and stopped shouting.

Because it was funny that his colleague of many years had abandoned him, yet he was asking someone he had met for the first time today for help.

In the empire, there was no one who disobeyed those who bore the name Abiran.

Even he himself, though anger surged against them, could not bring himself to think that he could oppose them and win.

Standing against the imperial family was similar to standing in the way of the rising moon so it could not climb higher.

When standing before them, helplessness came over him, and even when anger surged up, he naturally felt guilt toward himself for daring to have such emotions.

Perhaps Jack and Pale were similar.

That was why they probably could not even dare to think of opposing them.

From above, a roar sounded as though something huge had collapsed.

“Damn it.”

Thanks to that, Tollin, who had escaped from his anguish for a moment, continued moving his trembling legs.

Perhaps because he had ridden a horse around the capital and sweated, his entire body was trembling little by little through his legs.

The fact that he had not properly managed his stamina while chasing Ratel when he first climbed the stairs played a large role.

Perhaps because he had climbed the spiraling stairs, his head seemed to be spinning as well.

Anxiety dug into him again in his weakened state.

What if I’m too late?

What if everything is already over by the time I arrive?

The reality that the opponent he had to face was far too enormous, yet he had no choice but to stand alone, felt lonely.

—You do not suit the Crisa family. Starting tomorrow, you do not have to come out anymore.

—Being that weak, protecting your own body will be the most you can do.

—Watch the young duke, Tollin.

Amid the ringing in his ears, the cold and unlucky voices of the Crisa family people mixed in.

“I know that too, you damned bastards.”

After muttering that, Tollin climbed the final stair he had reached before he knew it.

The reason his sense of smell reacted before his sight was the unpleasant burning smell that pierced his nose.

A smell different from wood or objects burning, the smell of a human body burning.......

“Young duke! Young duke!”

As soon as he recognized the identity of the smell, he shouted while dragging his trembling legs inside, but no answer came back.

Bang!

A dull sound that was by no means small came from inside.

Tollin groped along the floor to keep himself from falling as he moved forward.

Then, only after nearly tripping over something sprawled on the floor, could he stop in place.

Tollin, who looked down without realizing it, stopped breathing.

It was clothing heavily stained with blood.

Tollin was not a fool who could not even remember this much.

The memory of looking at the young duke while desperately hoping he would not touch that filthy clothing was vivid, and he had searched for the young duke wearing those clothes for hours.

This time, I did not even see him leave.

It was the limit.

“Huh.......”

Once a sound burst from his mouth, there was no stopping it anymore.

“Huh, huaaaaaah! Hic......!”

He knew it was an ugly cry for a man in his thirties to let out, but he simply could not stop.

Once the final support barely holding him up disappeared, despair crushed him.

He fell endlessly downward.

“Huaah, now, now what do I.......”

Now he could not even think of whether anyone was around him.

If the young duke had died, he did not want to care anymore.

He felt as though it would not matter even if he died like this.

If he died, would he be able to see the duke and the young duke again?

If so, with what face would he look at them?

As emotion surged up again, tears came out without pause, and Tollin choked as he cried.

“Tollin......!”

Let’s settle everything and kill myself.

That must be the way to apologize to the two of them.

“Tollin!”

Tollin, who had been sinking into self-loathing, abruptly raised his head at the familiar voice calling him.

But because he had shed too many tears, and because the smoke stung his eyes, he could not see well.

‘I think I heard the duke’s voice?’

“Tollin, what are you doing here?!”

It was Agony Feedus’ voice.

‘I must have gone mad.’

Tollin, whose reason was vaguely still present, thought that.

‘I’m so sorry that I lost my mind.’

In the hopeless situation, tears began flowing uncontrollably.

Even if it was an illusion and an auditory hallucination, he wanted to apologize.

He began crying even louder.

“Duuuuuke!! I’m sorry! I, I! Huaaaaah!!”

Even that did not go as he wanted because of the breaths that kept catching in his throat.

His superior, who had fallen from the cliff with a pale face, was looking down at him.

“I’ll forgive anything, so please come to your senses. If you stay blank like that, you’ll die.”

Tollin nodded with difficulty and took the hand offered to him, then stared blankly upward.

Gray hair, gray eyes, a dirty beard, and calloused hands.

For a moment, he thought it was unfair that even when one lost one’s mind, the senses could be this clear, but only then did the question of whether he was truly insane enter Tollin’s head.

‘Maybe I’m dreaming, seeing as my ears feel this muffled.’

It was only because he had cried too much, but Tollin’s head was not working properly.

‘Right, in truth, I fainted on the stairs, and now I’m dreaming.’

The young duke has not died yet.

If so, he had to wake from the dream quickly.

He very much wanted to talk to the duke, who had appeared in his dream with a healthy face after such a long time, but he had a young duke to save.

“Duke, I was very glad to meet you again.”

Tollin smiled faintly and tried to slam his forehead against the floor just like that.

It was to wake from the dream.

If not for the rough hand that grabbed the back of his neck, his head would have struck the stone slab and cracked.

“Uegh, keck! W-wait......!”

Instead, this time he nearly died from being choked.

At the feeling of tears springing to his eyes, Tollin flailed the arm he had forcibly put back into place.

The direct and intense pain made his mind snap awake.

This was not the kind of pain one would experience in a dream.

“You’ve become quite feral while I haven’t seen you.”

He heard a mutter, and the hand grabbing his neck began dragging Tollin away.

As far as he knew, there was only one person who would use such ignorant strength even while knowing who he was.

* * *

Duke Feedus dragged the struggling Tollin and limped back against the wall.

Because those disaster-like people were smashing up everything here and there, this was the only place that was relatively safe.

Breathing hard, he set Tollin down and barely wiped away his sweat.

Tollin, who had suddenly opened the door and appeared, then suddenly started wailing, was endlessly shedding tears as though his tear glands had broken.

How long has it been since I saw Tollin cry?

Tollin, who had many tears, cried less often once his body became stronger.

After he fully grew sensible, he gradually developed a somewhat cheeky side and did not even sniffle much anymore.

So, excluding his days as a little child, this was truly the first time Duke Feedus had seen him crying this hard.

Duke Feedus, who had been struck by one shock after another from the moment he arrived in the capital, finally felt as if he had returned home and smiled faintly.

“Y-you’re alive?”

To Tollin, who seemed to have calmed down a little, stopped crying, and was sniffling, the duke answered awkwardly.

“I survived by luck. I’m sorry for arriving too late. But.......”

Agony Feedus trailed off and pointed at the bloodstained rag that Tollin had not let go of even while crying his eyes out.

“Why have you been holding on to that so dearly since earlier?”

Tollin’s face darkened for a moment as he looked down at the rag, but he soon came to his senses and looked up at the duke with a grim face.

“If you are here, that means you came to save the young duke, right? Has Lord Plin passed away?”

Only then did Agony Feedus realize that Tollin had mistaken the owner of the blood on the rag for his son.

He took the rag from Tollin’s hand and threw it far away.

“Plin is alive. By now, he should have safely left the tower.”

At that miracle-like answer, Tollin’s legs lost strength, and he sank down.

From his eyes, tears that had barely stopped from pain and surprise began flowing again.

“That’s a relief. That’s truly a relief......!”

His shoulders shook.

Without saying anything, the duke patted his back, which must have carried a heavy burden.

* * *

Flash!

The emotional reunion did not last long.

At the huge noise and vibration that rang out once again, Tollin snapped his head up.

“What has that sound been since earlier?”

The duke looked outside through the window of the shaking building and opened his mouth.

“It is the sound of god and human fighting.”

“What on earth does that mean? Who is outside?”

“The Second Prince and my.......”

The duke frowned for a moment and drew out his words, as though he could not find a suitable word.

“Colleague.”

Unable to understand the answer given with a puzzled expression, Tollin frowned, then soon stood up as if such a thing did not matter and tried to support the duke.

“Whatever it is, we just have to get out of here, don’t we? As long as Your Highness hasn’t seen your face, it should still be all right.”

The duke swallowed the words that, not only had Dito Abiran seen his face, but he had even attacked him, so unless Dito Abiran died here, preserving his life would be difficult anyway, and pulled away from Tollin’s shoulder.

“Go first.”

At his insane answer, Tollin frowned.

“It bothers me a little that your leg has not healed yet, but if I roll you down the stairs, Duke, it might not be completely impossible.......”

“No, that is not it. I will follow after confirming that Ratel, in other words, that man, survives.”

At the insane words, Tollin felt the urge to strangle the neck of the man who had barely survived.

* * *

Avoiding the sword that brushed past the front of his neck, Dito took one step back.

But as if he did not care about failure, Ratel continued attacking without pause.

Because of the swordsmanship that persistently aimed for his neck, Dito could not properly use his power.

His gaze lingered on Ratel’s right side, where his clothing had been completely torn away from the shoulder.

Even after setting his arm on fire, that bastard charged in without caring about the pain.

He was using the standard method of dealing with someone who used Manis.

It was the same method as Duke Feedus, but the attacks were heavier and faster.

The attacks Dito unleashed in between to burn him could not connect into continuous attacks like before.

Dito could not bear the unpleasantness of having restrictions placed on his actions and being controlled.

He was not such a being.

He was a being who should stand above everyone.

After blocking Ratel’s attack once more, he stomped his foot hard.

The roof, which had barely maintained its shape after several exchanges of blows, collapsed, and the two fell downward.

When Dito and Ratel regained their positions, in Dito’s hand was something dark red, about the size of two finger joints.

Dito smiled bloodily and swallowed it down his throat.