Love Letter From The Future

Chapter 350: Bread and Dagger (48)

My body was slowly rising.

It was an absurd contradiction.

My floating body had no sensation. My sight, hearing and touch had all been cut off long ago. The same went for smell and taste.

Normally, I shouldn’t have been able to perceive anything.

Then why am I feeling this floating sensation?

Realizing it happened naturally—like a child taking its first steps—I came to notice that my body was drifting upward.

It struck me out of nowhere.

A spark ignited the chain of thought, with the burning thread of questions awakening my mind one step at a time. The more I thought, the deeper I sank into this peculiar sensation.

My body felt so incredibly light.

I’d just fought a decisive battle with the Snow Leopard. I’d been injured in the process—maybe not fatally, but I certainly shouldn’t feel this full of energy.

At that moment, my vision suddenly became bright.

Or, could I even call that bright?

I was in a space where only darkness existed. There were no light sources, yet my view was clear and vivid. It meant the laws of physics didn’t apply here.

It was a scene I had seen somewhere before.

Scenes played out from cracks scattered around, and in the center there was a chair. A man sat there silently, his back turned to me.

The moment I sprang to my feet, his indifferent gaze turned my way.

He looked utterly exhausted.

Aside from that, his features bore a striking resemblance to mine—so much so that it felt like staring into a mirror.

And that was only natural.

After all, he was ‘me.’

The ‘me’  who had merely come from a distant future to find me, carrying a certain mission.

As always, he spoke in an emotionless voice.

“How pathetic.”

It was a blunt taunt.

But his voice was so flat that I didn’t even feel annoyed.

I sighed and plopped right back down.

“What’s going on here?”

“The information I can get from here is pretty limited. At best, all I know is that you did something that made you pass out.”

As he spoke, the chair he was sitting on smoothly spun around.

Its motion was extraordinarily seamless, despite not being equipped with wheels. I was once again reminded that this space defied the laws of reality.

Am I dead?

At the very end, that Demonic Human told me his wish was to return to the embrace of his kin.

I had no idea what outcome that wish might have caused.

I just hoped I wasn’t dead. Still, waking up here at least meant I’d lost consciousness.

The man seemed to have noticed the worried look on my face.

He, who had been silently watching me, finally spoke in a low voice.

“...You’re not dead.”

I turned my eyes to him. He still looked calm, though he seemed to be slightly avoiding my eyes —like the need to reassure me annoyed him..

“If you were dead, I wouldn’t be here... and if you’d completely lost it, you wouldn’t be able to see me either. After all, this place is the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness.”

“The boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness?”

“Yeah. More precisely, it’s the boundary of everything: past and future, my world and yours, consciousness and unconsciousness....”

It sounded complicated.

Meanwhile, I felt my body growing faint. I realized I wouldn’t be able to stay here much longer.

Maybe my injuries weren’t that serious after all.

But I had no intention of letting this rare opportunity slip by.

“Elves—Elves are worshipping a cult! And there is even a traitor in the Yurdina Family!”

I needed to gather as much information as possible.

If anyone knew the answers, it would be him.

“What’s really going on in the North? And what’s Dark Order plotting this time—?!”

“I can’t tell you.”

However, my request was outright refused.

The man rested his chin on his hand with a disinterested expression.

“Didn’t I tell you I can’t help you anymore... As it is, I already need to lie low for a while, and now you suddenly show up asking for information on top of that?”

He wasn’t wrong.

But I knew something else, too.

Even if he couldn’t hand over information directly, he could hint at it, maybe through metaphors or something. That would cost him much less of his ‘power.’

So I tried again.

“So many people have died already! The Yurdina troops, the elves... and I’ve even killed some myself. And yet I still don’t have a single clue—”

“Kiddo”

It was just one word that he tossed out nonchalantly.

Yet the weight it carried was anything but light. His gaze, fixed on me, had grown solemn at some point.

“I’m not your nanny... I can’t keep helping you and looking after you. You’ve already chosen a different path than mine, so you’ve got to bear the responsibility yourself.”

Tap. He tapped the armrest of his chair with his remaining hand.

Responsibility.

I felt my breath catch under the weight of that word.

“Do you know why I can’t help you? During the last incident, you forcibly summoned me, and on top of that, you recklessly pried into my memories. This is the consequence.”

Each of his words was spoken plainly, but not a single one failed to stab my heart.

In the end, unable to retort, I could only bite my lip.

“Same goes for the elves you killed, kiddo... Does it hurt?”

Does it hurt? he says...

I did feel disgusted and sad. But I wasn’t certain if I’d call it pain. So I was about to shake my head when—

The man suddenly gestured with his eyes.

The moment I looked where he indicated, I had no choice but to clamp my mouth shut again.

“It must hurt, doesn’t it?”

My hands were already soaked in blood without me even realizing it.

To the point where I had to wonder why I hadn’t noticed until now.

“That’s what responsibility is. It’s the guilt you’ll carry for the rest of your life... Sure, you’re acting tough because the assimilation rate is high, but you’re still just a brat who doesn’t know the first thing about taking responsibility.”

At those words, a surge of burning anger rose in my throat.

Responsibility?

How could he talk to me about responsibility?

I was nothing more than an average student who was content with my lot in life. After graduating, I would have either become a vassal or would have joined the central army.

Then one day, a letter showed up out of nowhere in my life.

My life completely changed from that day on..

I’d had my bones crushed and coughed up blood more times than I could count.

Sure, I got help from the future, but I was the one who had to endure that searing pain.

There were moments I could barely breathe, terrified of dying and weighed down by the fear that if I failed, the world would end.

I had given it my all.

In less than a year, I’d thrown myself into countless trials and never truly crumbled. And yet I was still just a ‘brat’?

Unable to bear it any longer, I let my frustration burst out.

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do?!”

The man’s heavy gaze fell upon me. Meeting those golden eyes, I poured out my pent-up feelings.

“I gave it everything I had! I’ve already suffered so much... And now you’re saying I’m supposed to suffer even more and endure greater hardship? How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“By hitting rock bottom.”

His answer was as painfully straightforward as always.

So much so that it was almost absurd.

“So you’re in pain and struggling, and you think you’ve taken responsibility? No, not even close... All you’ve done until now is pick the option that hurts you less. You were scared of people getting hurt because of you, or that the world might end if you lost, right?”

“And does that make my pain any less real?”

“No. I’m just telling you to go and see the very bottom.”

With those words, the man slowly rose to his feet.

It was the first time he stood up straight since I arrived in this space..

Then, slightly bending his knees, he crouched down to meet my gaze directly.

“Unlike you, there are countless people who never even had the luxury of choices. People who aren’t as strong or as fortunate as you. Go and see it for yourself... Otherwise, you’ll never be able to defeat Delphirem.”

Just as I was about to ask what he meant by that—

With a thud, my body broke through the floor and started to plummet.

The shattered floor burst into fragments, scattering in all directions. As I fell endlessly, all I could see were those golden eyes peering down at me.

Plunging deeper and deeper.

There wasn’t even time to scream. Before I knew it, my body was immobilized, stripped of its freedom.

It was only seconds later that I regained control of myself.

“...Hah!”

I gasped, struggling for breath.

Only now did I feel truly awake. My senses returned, and dry, cold air filled my lungs.

I was in a shabby place.

It looked like a warehouse, patched up in places—evidence that it had been used for a very long time.

Or perhaps it had been poorly built to begin with.

At least there was a primitive stove made of stone and clay in the center, which was fortunate. Otherwise, I might have frozen to death in the northern cold.

I stifled a groan and took a better look around.

No matter how I looked at it, I wasn’t being treated well.

Just the fact that I was tied up and left unattended in a shabby warehouse made that obvious. Normally, I would have been allowed to rest comfortably in a warm house.

But my current situation was—well.

‘Locked up’ was a better way to put it.

I was glad I wasn’t dead, but that didn’t stop the feeling of despair from creeping in.

A long sigh escaped my lips.

I wonder what sort of trouble awaits me this time...

At least I wasn’t alone. Lying next to me was Aviang, in a state just as pitiable.

Judging by her wheezing breaths, she didn’t seem to have regained consciousness yet.

Her complexion was slightly flushed. Come to think of it, unlike me, Aviang had a frail physique. Being left out in this cold, she was likely coming down with a chill.

I decided to wake her up right away.

Stealthily, I moved closer to Aviang and whispered into her ear,

“Aviang, Aviang! Wake up!”

But no matter how many times I called her, she only let out faint groans and remained unconscious.

I considered freeing myself from the restraints for a moment.

Whoever tied me up seemed to put some effort into it, but I was an Expert. I could easily undo ropes like these.

It also seemed that my body had somewhat recovered while I was unconscious.

The reason I hesitated was that staying bound might make it easier to avoid suspicion.

If the situation called for it, I could even attempt a surprise attack.

Just as I was seriously weighing my options—

“Aah, uh... B-Betty...”

Aviang suddenly murmured in a desperate tone.

It sounded like someone’s name.

Probably of that younger sibling she’d mentioned before—the only family she had left.

I could understand that feeling, even though we were of different races..

I remembered how she’d rushed headlong when she heard her sibling might be in danger.

It reminded me so much of someone from my own past.

A wry smile tugged at my lips, and that was when Aviang stirred and opened her eyes.

Her wide-open eyes spoke volumes about her state of mind.

She jerked upright, trembling all over, and asked me,

“W-Wh-What...! Just what happened...?”

“I don’t know either.”

I calmly replied.

At that, Aviang stiffened and looked around.

That was when she began to react strangely.

At first, she just darted her gaze around in confusion, but soon a look of doubt formed in her eyes.

Then her brows furrowed as she fixed her eyes on the stove in the center.

I couldn’t help but ask in a puzzled tone,

“What are you doing?”

“Th-This place...”

Stammering, she revealed something shocking.

“This is an Elven village?”

An elven village...

So this was one of those hidden settlements that were said to lie deep within the coniferous forest?

Watching Aviang’s complexion grow brighter, all I could do was let out a wry laugh.

I was right in the middle of enemy territory.

And the person who’d ended up here with me was the very elf I had forced into submission through violence and threats.

“Well, shit.”

As always, a thorny path lay ahead of me.