The cold breath of the night, the softness of the air, and the moonlight gave the limousine that had come to pick us up and bring us back to base a most poetic atmosphere. Despite the success of our mission, my heart remained unbearably heavy.

  Raising my eyes toward Shin, who stood by the window watching the moon while humming a song, I wondered how he could be so calm after what he had just done! He killed two poor children we could have saved… If only we had arrived earlier… I would have given anything to save them… Seeing Lia’s gentle face again in my mind, I could only blame Shin for not even trying to save her.

  How could someone we once loved so intensely generate such feelings of hatred, contempt, and rage within us? And yet, my heart still remembered the radiant young man she had once fallen in love with. A heavy sense of nostalgia began to overwhelm it. Wondering why human emotions had to be so complicated, she also questioned what had happened to make him become such a monster — and above all, whether she had done the right thing by not trying to save him back then.

  Looking at the young fool one last time, she met his purple eyes that seemed to devour her. This person was the source of all these painful and complicated emotions. And yet, she wanted to ask him why: what had changed him? Why had he become so cold and monstrous? Couldn’t he return to the way he used to be… and couldn’t they start everything over from the beginning? Unfortunately, the young woman lacked the courage, and once again, she remained silent.

  ……

  We had barely arrived at the manor when Shin threw his cane and shoes onto the floor before casually heading toward our bedroom. My heart filled with doubt, I followed him, hoping to get a proper explanation for what he had dared to do to those children.

  As soon as he entered the room, he undressed and immediately jumped into his bed, sighing as usual while staring at the ceiling. He behaved exactly as he did every night, following his routine.

  “Shin! Explain yourself!”

  Shouting at my friend, wanting him to stop acting like this, I demanded explanations, apologies — I wanted him to admit he had done it against his will.

  The image of my friend as someone so pitiful and disgusting hurt me… I didn’t want such a fate for the friend I cherished.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “What’s done is done. Go to sleep. We still have a lot to do in the coming days. We have three days to prepare for what’s next.”

  Dodging my question, he closed his eyes to sleep.

  “Shin! Answer me!”

  He turned to the opposite side, ignoring me.

  Furious and filled with rage, I delivered a powerful kick to the chair. Unable to understand my friend or his actions, I didn’t even want to try to understand him — let alone justify or defend him. I was nothing but a walking ball of anger directed at my friend.

  “Today, you disappointed me, Shin.”

  After saying those cold words, I went to my bed, trying not to think about Lia. Yet her image was the only thing that came to mind.

  Damn it… If only I had been better at biology, we could have saved her…

  ….

  Making sure Manu had fallen asleep, I climbed out the window and onto the roof. Gazing at the vast sky, at the bright stars above it, and at the crescent moon shining brilliantly over the city of Speed-Wagon — which glittered like a sea of light — I watched the hypnotic dance of life continuing below. In this rare atmosphere, I felt somewhat at peace with myself.

  Then the bloody images of Liam — whom I had killed — and Lia struck me head-on, reminding me of the sin I would have to live with from now on.

  Chuckling quietly in the night, I thought back to the other sin I had committed in the days following the discovery of Lia and Liam’s fake corpses. It was the day I swore to bring justice to this wretched world… No, the day I swore to change this world. And that is my goal — the only thing to which I have chosen to dedicate my life.

  With trembling hands, I stepped forward on the manor’s roof, recalling every memory with the lost children. Carving those memories deep within my being, I resolved to preserve their honor by erasing from history the horrors that had befallen them. Part of my heart wanted to expose it all to the world, yet my mind prevailed… I will be the only one to carry this story and its weight. Forgive me, my dear friends, but this is my duty.

  Raising my eyes to the moon, I thought of one of the twenty-seven great myths humanity has passed down through the millennia, during the wars against monsters. The thirteenth myth: the one about the messiah sent by the God of the Moon to offer the gods the most beautiful gift — death…

  During his journey, the moon’s messiah learned something very important. At the beginning of his path, he saw death as the most dreadful and terrifying thing. But along the way, he realized it was also the greatest release and the sweetest rest. And above all, that it gave meaning to life: a beginning and an end.

  “Rest now, lost children… Your deaths have already given meaning to my life, and that is what will create a better world.”

  I murmured as the cold night breeze began to blow, carrying with it red leaves — like those from the tree I had planted to build Lia and Liam’s cabin. As they rose into the night sky, I felt the familiar warmth of the two children.

  “Memento mori…”

  Closing my eyes, I savored the silence of the night — the calm before the storm.