A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 4.2
‘How dare a rolling stone glare at a stone already set in place?’
If it weren’t for that damn ability, we wouldn’t even be standing face to face right now.
“Yes, sir.”
I smiled harmlessly.
Originally, Edith would speak informally to Ethan, but I answered in formal speech, to make it look like I had really lost my memory.
“Who are you? Judging by your appearance, are you my father’s… no, the Duke’s adjutant?”
“……”
“Or maybe someone close to me…?”
“……”
“For example, my boyf—”
“Don’t say anything unnecessary.”
Ethan suddenly cut me off with a scowl.
Seeing his face full of annoyance, I cheered inwardly.
It was obvious what set off someone like him.
Status. Blood.
Being linked to someone they detest.
Just like how my biological father’s clever third adopted son had beaten up the kid who spread rumors that he lived under the same roof as me.
“If nothing comes to mind, then that’s fine.”
“Aren’t you going to tell me what our relationship is?”
“Why should I tell you that?”
Ethan, who had been sharply responding to my words, soon turned his head away coldly.
“Figure it out. On your own.”
With that mocking remark, he finally turned to leave the room.
Just then, my vision suddenly warped and something flashed quickly before my eyes.
― Ugh…!
― Ethan, it’s okay. Breathe in, and out, slowly. Good…
― Edith! Edith…! Please, help me…! Huuhk!
― Shh……
A man, shirtless, clinging at Edith’s feet.
Edith, gently holding his face and whispering to him.
The man’s hair, reflecting the moonlight streaming through the window…
“What the hell is this?”
I blurted out loud, even before Ethan left the room.
That’s how nonsensical the scene was.
‘Am I dreaming with my eyes open? Why would I be in that position with that guy…’
Flash—!
But before I could even process the thought, the vision vanished as if it had never happened.
And in its place was Ethan’s frosty face.
“…What did you just say?”
He asked in a tone that said, ‘Did you just insult me?’
If I’d been thinking straight, I would have shamelessly replied, “No? I didn’t say anything?” but…
My heart was still pounding from the dream or hallucination I’d just witnessed.
So, in the end, I stammered out a clumsy excuse.
“Ah… th-that’s…”
“……”
“A bug! I thought I saw a bug. It startled me before I even realized it…”
“A bug?”
Ethan immediately responded, lifting one eyebrow.
“A bug, in the dead of winter?”
At that, I instinctively glanced out the window.
Snow had piled up on the sill. Damn it.
But it was too late to take it back.
So I just stubbornly stuck to my story.
“Yes. I’m sure I saw one crawling around here, but where did it go? Ha ha…”
“Died and came back to life, and now you’re completely insane.”
Ethan looked at me with contempt, then shook his head as if I wasn’t worth his time.
As I watched him walk away, I suddenly couldn’t believe my eyes.
Because a number had suddenly appeared above his head.
‘64%…?’
Unlike the earlier vision, that number didn’t disappear right away.
I stared intently at it, blinking several times, but it wouldn’t go away.
‘What on earth is that…’
At that moment, something strange also appeared on Ethan’s body, aside from the numbers.
Whoooom…
From his feet, a sinister aura began to rise.
Black, translucent smoke surged up around his body like water overflowing from a cup.
For a moment I thought I should stop him, but Ethan moved as if he didn’t notice anything.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the smoke stopped at his waist and went no higher.
Wavering, black smoke.
‘Miasma.’
There was no doubt. It was miasma.
‘Then that 64% must be…’
As I looked back and forth between the number above Ethan’s head and the miasma swirling at his waist in shock—
Clack—!
He left the room without a backward glance.
But I still couldn’t tear my eyes away from where he had been standing.
“…I can see the rampage meter?”
I couldn’t believe it.
I’d never heard of an ability like this.
Even with modern technology, it was impossible to determine how much black mist an Awakened had accumulated in their body.
That’s why Awakened sent to the Gates were basically walking time bombs.
It was the reason the older generation, like my father, desperately tried to avoid the Gate sites, going so far as to send adopted children in their place.
And the reason I resolved to fight against him and remove the black mist.
But even though I had the purification ability, I’d never had the power to see when an Awakened was about to rampage.
“In that case…”
I realized instinctively.
This was Edith’s ability.
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