The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me Chapter 216 - Side Story Chapter 6

By the time the physical test ended, I was completely exhausted.

So exhausted that I could barely walk.

Because of that, I had no choice but to ride on Richard’s back the entire way home.

The Cursed Land was silent.

We had already been walking across the wasteland for six hours, yet Richard hadn’t shed a single drop of sweat.

Even after coming this far, it would still take more than half a day to arrive.

It would have been nice if we could ride horses.

But animals instinctively panicked if they tried to enter this land. More importantly, they couldn’t survive long in a place filled with corruption.

My vision was starting to blur.

“Are you alright?”

“…Huh?”

I was so tired that I could barely hear what Richard was saying.

Richard looked down at me with pity.

“…H-how much further…?”

“More than half remains.”

“More than… half?”

“I’m the one walking. Why are you the one who’s exhausted?”

Hanging onto someone is exhausting too. How would a Transcendent understand that feeling?

There wasn’t even the slightest sign of fatigue on his face, even after walking for six hours.

Only after clinging to him for much longer did we finally return to the cabin where Richard and I lived.

“I didn’t expect your stamina to be this bad.”

“Well… that can happen.”

Isn’t it normal to have bad stamina?

“From now on, you’re exercising.”

“…What?”

I stared at Richard as if thunder had struck me.

“Is that really so surprising?”

“How is it not surprising?”

“……”

Richard’s gaze became complicated. Soon after, he sighed.

“Rose.”

“……”

I avoided Richard’s eyes.

…Come to think of it, I had gained some weight recently.

My stamina had gotten even worse too.

Richard cooked delicious meals every day, and he handled most of the housework… so I didn’t really have much reason to move around.

“Fine. I’ll exercise.”

Richard’s expression brightened noticeably.

That much?

“I’ll help you.”

“There’s no need for that—”

“I want to help, Rose.”

“……”

Ah… I have a bad feeling about this.

* * *

 

 

 

The ground beneath his feet was already a mess.

Sticky blood that hadn’t yet dried spread across the floor. The smell of iron, dirt, and blood stabbed at the nose.

Every breath drew the foul stench deep into the lungs.

“Speak.”

The voice was short and dry.

“We don’t kno—cough!”

The holy knight trembled and lowered his head.

Something red spilled from his mouth. Blood ran down his chin and dripped again onto the already filthy ground.

Red eyes looked down at the knight without emotion.

“Such impressive loyalty. Don’t you think?”

“…I don’t know who you are, but do you really think you’ll get away with this?”

The holy knight glared at the man in the robe.

They had been dispatched on a mission.

Then suddenly, they were ambushed by a robed man.

The man asked:

<Tell me the location of the former Captain of the Holy Knights.>

…He was asking about the location of their former master, Richard.

In truth, the knight knew Richard’s location.

But years ago, during the war, Richard had once saved his life.

He could never reveal it.

“Don’t you value the lives of your subordinates? If you keep your mouth shut…”

“…We truly don’t know. And once we became holy knights, we accepted the possibility of death.”

“Hah?”

The man clicked his tongue as if in disbelief.

Soon he grabbed the holy knight by the collar roughly.

The knight inhaled sharply as his wounds tore open again.

“Holy knights are such convenient creatures. No thoughts of their own, wagging their tails and drooling over orders. Believing they’re doing good while dying in the most convenient way possible. Isn’t that right?”

“You bastard, how dare you—!”

“But you see.”

In the robed man’s hand was a transparent glass vial. A sinister liquid sloshed inside.

“Even that magnificent loyalty is nothing more than decoration in front of a drug.”

A cruel laugh rained down over the knight.

“With a single drop, faith or oath… everything melts away.”

“I am a holy knight. A body blessed with divine power wouldn’t—”

“We’ll find out.”

In that instant, the liquid was poured down his throat.

The holy knight struggled not to swallow, but the man’s grip was incredibly strong.

It wasn’t the strength of an ordinary human.

Almost like a Transcendent.

But before he could continue the thought, his consciousness faded.

 

 

****

 

 

 

The wind blew.

As the cold, sharp wind passed, the robe shifted aside and black hair fluttered free.

<I left because of you.>

The voice was sweet, yet it cut like a curse.

For the past year since he had awakened from his deep sleep, it had always been like this.

<You disgust me, Yurtha.>

Pink hair fluttered before his eyes.

The transparent figure of the woman shimmered faintly.

Even if he reached out, he couldn’t touch her.

Yet before that violent beauty…

a single tear fell from his eyes.

I cannot live without you.

How could you say such a thing?

<Ah… the Captain… is in the north of Piet Territory… the Cursed Land… past the forest… the black earth…>

<That’s all I know…>

Rose was probably with that Transcendent.

That must be why he had not gone berserk.

Yurtha’s red eyes glimmered.

Something burned stubbornly in the place where reason could not reach.

His lips parted slightly as a long breath escaped.

It was impossible to tell whether it was laughter or the grinding of teeth.

Yurtha’s footsteps moved slowly forward.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Suddenly a chill ran through my body.

“…Haah.”

I exhaled shallowly.

My condition had suddenly dropped, and the reason was obvious.

“Richard… stop…”

I pleaded with Richard as if I were about to cry.

I couldn’t do any more. I was going to die.

“…Rose.”

Richard called my name with concern.

“You’ve only done five so far.”

“Five already—huff—”

“Only five.”

…Isn’t that already a lot?

After returning from Piet Territory, I had started exercising.

Of course, it was half forced by Richard.

Right now, I was doing lunges just as Richard instructed.

For reference, I couldn’t keep my balance well, so he was holding my hands.

“Five more left.”

“This—this isn’t right… something’s wrong…”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Richard smiled brightly and gestured for me to go down again.

In the end, I finished all ten while practically crying and collapsed in exhaustion.

Once again, Richard looked down at me with that complicated expression.

“L-let’s stop… for today…”

“……”

“Huff… I really can’t anymore…”

Richard stayed silent for a long time.

Recently, he had been making that kind of expression more often.

“Alright. We’ll stop here for today. We can increase it gradually.”

Those were the scariest words.

It seemed Richard considered simply making me exercise to be meaningful progress.

“I-I need to wash… huff…”

I hurriedly said it in case Richard tried to make me do more exercises.

“…I’ll heat the water.”

“Th-thank…”

After that, my memory cut off.

I didn’t even know how I washed.

Richard dried my hair for me.

“Someone might think I dragged you through brutal training.”

I vaguely remembered Richard saying something like that while drying my hair, sounding unfairly accused.

Then I fell asleep like I had fainted.

 

 

 

****

 

 

I woke up again at dawn.

I was wrapped in the blanket Richard had bought in Piet Territory.

Because I had fallen asleep too early, I woke up quickly.

Still half asleep, I wondered if I should go back to bed when I noticed a faint light coming through the crack of the door.

…Richard must still be awake.

Sometimes he stayed up late.

Yet somehow he always woke up early.

I opened the door and stepped outside.

Since I was already awake, I thought I might as well talk with Richard for a bit.

But then I heard a faint voice.

“…right.”

What?

This was the Cursed Land.

A place where only Richard and I lived together.

So who on earth was he talking to?