Chapter 100: 101

“What?”

I couldn’t understand Hugo’s words at all.

‘Why are you suddenly asking me to go to the ant cave?’

Even if I tried to stop him, Hugo pulled my hand somewhat recklessly.

“Please guide me to where Lily used to live. There’s something I have to check there.”

“What, what should you check? We can’t go out at a time like this. Dad will be angry.”

“…Lily.”

Hugo suddenly held my hands together.

His sapphire-colored eyes shook like a lake in which rocks were thrown.

“Please, go with me. Please.”

I was confused.

Even if I knew what was wrong with Hugo, I just wondered if he was out of his mind at the moment.

I was going to refuse again, but Hugo added quickly.

“It’ll only take a moment. After a short break, I’ll tell you everything I saw just before the awakening ceremony.”

“Did you see something?”

I opened my eyes wide and looked up at Hugo.

He asked back, still not answering.

“Will you go? Lily…”

The low tone was more of a threat. I lowered my eyes around and got lost in thoughts.

‘Even so… there’s that person in the ant cave.’

My real father’s face came to mind in a vague memory.

The man who sold me to the kidnapper for only a few pennies.

Somehow, just thinking about it made me feel sick.

‘He’s the most difficult person to meet with Hugo.’

No matter how wide the ant cave was, there was always a possibility.

There was no way that my real father who saw me wouldn’t make a fuss.

‘But…’

I remembered the boy trapped in a dungeon. He was mean, but he was the kind of guy I couldn’t abandon.

Only by removing his false accusation could I find out where the murder against me came from.

‘Seeing that there is no trial, the death penalty will be done quite quickly.’

Every minute and every second was urgent. Agonizing over it, I eventually covered myself with the robe’s hood.

“…Brother.”

Hugo was anxiously waiting for my consent.

Like me, who begged him to bring me out of Duke’s Castle when I was young.

I held Hugo’s hand back and said.

“We have to come back before the night comes.”

If we encounter my real father, let’s lie again.

Because I’m an incorrigible liar.

Let’s fool the precious second brother and save Michael.

I made that decision and went back to where everything started.

***

My hometown, which I returned to after a long time, remained the same.

As I descended under the large pit, a pile of garbage piled up like a mountain blocked my way.

Every road was filled with the smell of manure.

In the murky river that flowed, trash thrown away from the upper stream flowed, and children who were soaked in dirt were playing with dirty water.

I was surprised with myself that I inadvertently blocked my nose.

‘In the past, I didn’t even know it smelled.’

After four years of being surrounded by perfume and enjoyment in Duke’s Castle, I realized how sensitive my nose became.

Hugo was in a more serious state than I was.

He coughed on the toxic gas that emitted from rotting garbage.

The beggars sitting on the street laughed at Hugo.

“…It’s terrible.”

Hugo covered his mouth with a luxurious handkerchief.

I looked around and dragged him behind a pile of trash.

And I picked up some mud and applied it to the robes of Hugo and I.

“What…”

“Our robes are so clean. If we go in like this, we will be robbed every three steps.”

Since the ant cave was an open hole in the ground, most people could not see the sunlight properly, and because of it, the skin was close to dark gray.

If I couldn’t change the color, I had to cover it.

I put mud under my eyes and stuck some mud out to Hugo.

Hugo hesitated, but soon followed me smoothly.

Even for the unrivaled archmage, the slums seemed to be an unfamiliar world.

‘It’s a little strange. I used to be dirty and messy no matter what I did, but now it’s hard to become a beggar.’

Another problem arose after messing with Hugo.

I looked up at his handsome face and groaned.

“Brother. By any chance… Can’t you see without glasses? You stand out even if you wear a hood.….”

His glasses were of high quality.

In the ant cave, no matter how dim the eyes became, it was an object that could not be obtained.

Hugo hesitated for a while and took off his glasses. I was a little surprised that his eyes became clearer.

“Let’s go.”

In just a few steps, Hugo hit his forehead on a protruding branch.

When I turned around, he got caught on a stone this time and stumbled.

The laughter of the beggars who were watching us grew even louder.

I sighed and pulled Hugo’s robe.

“Just follow me.”

“It’s okay… Ugh. Why is the road so difficult.… keheuk!“

“Can’t you fix your eyes with healing magic?”

“It’s already broken… keuk!“

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Hugo, who was bumping around, stood in place and breathed heavily.

It had only been a few seconds since he took off his glasses, but he looked exhausted.

He calmed down a little only after I tiptoed and put the string glasses back on.

“You can’t fix what’s already broken. It only heals the wound so that it doesn’t open further.”

“I see…”

I held Hugo’s hand tightly and took a step.

I followed the side road without paying attention to the main road where the toll booths were common.

Few landscapes had changed from before.

As I passed through the bumpy garbage mountain, I saw a panoramic view of my residence.

Buildings that seemed to collapse at any moment were attached like matchboxes.

“It’s been a while…’

Others said that when they returned to their hometowns, they felt like their hearts were ripped open, but I was the opposite.

Honestly, I couldn’t breathe.

‘I was hit by someone I saw for the first time because I didn’t greet them in that alley, and in that vacant lot, all the food I found was stolen away…’

Everywhere was full of painful memories.

The resolution I made before coming barely held onto my desire to turn around and run away.

‘I need to find out what Hugo saw.’

Hugo carefully asked me as I was sticking close to the wall so that I wouldn’t be seen by others.

“Lily, that’s…?”

Hugo pointed to a small hill made of piled up large chunks.

I grabbed his hand tightly and whispered.

“It’s people.”

“What?”

“Human bodies. People are always dying here, but there’s not much room to dispose of them.”

Hugo seemed quite shocked by the fact.

“…Are they leaving it as it is?”

“Yes, the corpses of people from the ant cave are not really accepted at the corpse sales center.”

I became somewhat curious.

Why was he so shocked by the degree of corpses when he had been in war since childhood?

“Brother, are you okay?”

“Yes…”

Hugo lowered his head and muttered.

“If my sister grew up watching this… I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself.”

Oh, it was like that.

Hugo’s top priority was always Lily.

I patted him on the back as if I was comforting him.

It was a little strange for him to talk about his sister like someone else when I was in front of him, but I didn’t care.

As I passed through the path where sunlight came in, it became dark like night even though it was daytime.

After passing through the garbage houses, I went further down and lower, and finally, I arrived at the area where I had lived.

The center of the slum. It was also the lowest area in the mudflat cave that looked like leprosy.

Surprise filled me as soon as I approached the crude building and saw the door.

‘Was the door this small?’

In front of me was the house where I spent my childhood.

At one time, the gate of the house was so big that it was hard for me to hold the handle.

But now the door was almost as tall as myself. No, I had to lower my head to enter.

He wouldn’t have put a new door, so I was probably the one who grew up.

I realized how much I had grown.

“Is it here?”

Hugo approached closely behind me and looked at the dirty door.

I nodded slowly.

“Yes.”

My heart gradually beat loudly.

‘Will my real father be at home?’

‘At this time, he’s usually outside drinking, so there’s no way…’

After confirming that there was no one around me, I brought up a lie that I had thought of in advance.

“I lived here. With a certain uncle.”

“Uncle? You mean Thomas?”

“No. Someone else. He thinks I’m his real daughter.”

“What does that mean?”

“His wife ran away. I pretended to be the daughter she left behind when she ran away.….”

Lies were snowballing.

I tried to calm myself down from being disgusted and uncomfortable with my own thoughts and kept a smiling face.

‘I was going to leave this land because I didn’t want to do this anymore.’

As I talked, there was one interesting thing.

The guilt of deceiving Hugo was heavy, but I didn’t feel bad at all for insulting my real father. I thought I could lie calmly even if he was in front of me right now.

“You’ve changed.”

Suddenly, Michael’s words passed through my mind.

“You’re becoming more and more like Father. Just like a real daughter.”

Alan von Bauner. The villain of a novel that I possessed.

‘Am I becoming a villain like him?’

‘..Maybe I’m a villain from the beginning.’

A bitter smile came out without realizing it.

Yes. I was neither a good kid nor a poor kid anymore.

I was suitable to be a villain, even if I would fall into hell. From the moment I lied to Alan for the first time.

I guess I didn’t love my real father who raised me anymore.

“…Let’s go in, Brother.”

I opened the door carefully.

The rusty handle turned with the squeaky sound of scrap metal.

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