Chapter 616

After a few days of unusually warm weather following the end of the snow in Hwangdo, Ludwig was walking on the streets of the temple. He was informed by a dormitory staff member that a woman in the uniform of the Holy Order was waiting for him outside the gate. The woman was Rowen, who had come alone to see Ludwig. She had been appointed as the next leader of the Holy Order after the sudden retirement of Illeon Valtin. Ludwig had no interest in the decision made by the five popes in a meeting that he did not attend. Rowen told Ludwig about the reasons behind her actions and why she almost got killed. Ludwig listened to her without any expression of shock or betrayal. "Are you saying this to me because you think I'm useless? That you incited the heretics to cause all of this, and that's why the Empire killed people and ended up like this. Even if I tell someone, no one will believe me, so why are you telling me?" "Um...." After hesitating for a moment, Rowen nods her head. "I can't say for sure. In this era where rumors are so prevalent, people believe and don't believe them equally. So even if Ludwig goes around saying that he is the one who orchestrated the conspiracy in the refugee village as the new leader of the Holy Order, no one will believe him." "Apart from not believing it, the heresy inquisitors will try to catch you." "You know that." Ludwig stares at Rowen with a stern expression. "Anyway, did you think I would understand when I heard that? I thought it was because of circumstances, and that what you did was for a good cause." "I don't think so. I thought I would hear harsh words or that you would try to kill me." "If I wanted to kill you, would you be dead?" "No, not at all." Despite Rowen's awkward response, Ludwig shows no reaction. He just continues speaking in a calm and cold tone. "Even if I hear the truth, I can't kill you after hearing it, and even if I tell people the truth, they won't believe it, so I can say this." "I can't say no." "Isn't it better to kill you? That means you're not worth killing...." "...." Even with Rowen's cruel words, Ludwig did not get angry. "Yes, that's true." "...." "Isn't it strange?" "What?" "A few days ago, I was treated as someone who didn't need to know because I was useless, but now I'm being treated as someone who can know even though I'm useless. Who decides that?" Some truth. It doesn't matter if you're not important. It's okay to know if you're not important. In the end, Ludwig found the behavior and attitude of those who handle the truth more absurd than the truth itself. In the end, the truth has no value. "I've been thinking about it for a few days." "Yes." "Your work, the work of the Demon King, Ellen's work, and the work of the Empire. I've thought about all of those...." Ludwig opens his mouth with a dead expression. "Even if Ellen can't tell you, saying that it's all her fault is also like that...." "There must be some reason for everything. I don't know, but there seems to be a reason and a story." "If there isn't, you wouldn't say or act like that." "You can't face each other with that expression." "Everyone looks sad, and there doesn't seem to be anyone who is happy. Maybe everyone had a reason for that." "But now, that's not important." Ludwig looks at Rowen and speaks. "You all seem to think that you are in a position to make such decisions." "That's what's important." "It's not about what the truth is. It's about the attitude of trying to control the truth, regardless of the story behind it. Pretending to be for the people, but in reality, it's not like that. Whether to make people know something or not, to make them ignorant, that's the attitude you guys can decide, and that's the problem. I felt a very unpleasant, disgusting sense of superiority from you guys. You don't know, but you're doing something very great and noble. So you don't have to know. Get out. You don't know, but you did something very great and noble that you didn't know. Even though it may seem bad on the surface, it's not. So understand that. So listen. How about it? Do you agree with me now? Isn't this what you did to me? It's uncomfortable, isn't it? Sometimes you tell me, sometimes you don't. The reason is the same, but the action is different. If the reason is plausible but the action is the opposite, it's just arbitrary. So the attitude is the same. You don't even treat people who are nothing, useless like me, as human beings. You think you have the right to save or kill someone. Like the popes who killed them according to your judgment, regardless of whether they actually did something wrong or not. You guys are just strange people who have fallen into a very delusional idea. Truth? I'm not curious anymore about what you guys are trying to do, what you want, what you did. What's important now is that you guys are all obsessed with something. Whether it's a sense of mission, evil, hatred, revenge for the world, or a delusion that you're making a great sacrifice to save the world. You're drunk on disgusting delusions. It's not like there's anything new about you guys being devils who deserve to fall into hell. But I can't give you that punishment. Yes, as you guys said, I'm nothing. But that doesn't mean the truth is running away. The truth doesn't disappear. You guys are sinners, right? Sinners should be punished, right? But you didn't get punished, right? That's the truth. It's not about your complicated relationships, emotions, or whatever that I can't understand and don't even want to know. This simple and clear thing is the truth. There are so many people buried in what you guys did, but you guys keep burying someone, shushing the truth among yourselves, and understanding and licking each other. That's disgusting. The truth should be explained in one word. You guys should have been punished, but you weren't. That's the only truth. Ludwig found the simple truth in the maze of thoughts, judgments, and stories. There must be a price for sin." "If sinners are silent and cover up each other's sins, someone must hold them accountable. 'Ellen looked pitiful when I saw her a while ago.' 'She looked pitiful, so I don't blame her. There's no reason to.' 'Just like Ellen seemed that way, you may have a similar story. You may also be a pitiful and unfortunate person.' 'But...' 'Was there not even one person among those who died who was not like that?' 'They were pitiful and even unjustly treated. They had to die without knowing anything, being caught up in it.' 'So it's better if you don't know the truth like yours.' 'Even if you come out now and tell us everything, we'll close our ears.' 'The truth that sinners should be punished doesn't disappear, even if I sympathize with you or understand you.' 'You must pay the price, no matter what the reason or intention is.' 'That's my conclusion.' There is sin. There are sinners. However, there is no judgment. It is difficult to find the right path among the many complex events that occur as the Yellow Empire, the Empire, the Divine Sect, and the Devil's forces are intertwined. Only finding sin is easy. Finding sinners is easy. And the truth that they have not been punished remains unchanged. No matter who it is. The fact that everyone deceives, tramples on, and uses small people under the pretext of saving everyone does not change. Rowen looks at Ludwig as if he is seeing his old self. A person who was sorry for his own smallness. And Rowen, who eventually became a monster, looks at Ludwig as if looking back at a distant past. As if it's interesting. As if it's intriguing. 'What are you going to do? How are you going to punish these monsters, Ludwig?' Useless beings cannot be punished or rewarded. '...' 'If you want to be a friend of a monster, you have to become a monster.' To be a friend of a monster, you have to be equal. Rowen did that. 'You know that if you try to kill a monster, it's the same, right?' To kill a monster, you also have to become a monster. If you want to kill it, you have to become even more of a monster. 'I know.' Ludwig stares at Rowen with dark, deep pupils like an abyss. Rowen felt a different thrill than when he faced the Devil himself a while ago, looking at Ludwig's appearance. 'I know well.' It was a thrill of having created a monster with his own hands." "Someone who was nothing becomes something. Whatever the reason, intention, or purpose may be. Succeeding or failing to become something will be a joyful thing. Rowen smiles at Ludwig, saying 'Cheer up, Ludwig.' As if there was no value in hearing more from Rowen, Ludwig stood up as if moving away from something dirty."