Chapter 24: Sin

His name was Hailer.

He was the kind boy who first brought us water when Lowell and I arrived in Kashin Village.

“I knew you’d survive. I truly prayed I was wrong, but… if it were you, I figured you’d make it to the end.”

“…Yeah.”

Kashin Village was the true starting point of our journey, Lowell’s and mine.

We took care of a band of thieves who were threatening the village, demanding tribute, and harassing the people.

But as I said before, we were still inexperienced back then—and it was just the two of us.

“You must’ve gone through a lot. It couldn’t have been easy to gather enough money to commission this kind of request.”

I tried not to look at his severed arm as I spoke, but then, the red-haired man who had been quiet until now suddenly cut in.

“Haha. Truth is, we didn’t take the request for the money. Honestly, with the kind of money this kid has? Maybe enough to deal with some noble brat. But one of the heroes who saved the world—the Deceiver of Summons? The math doesn’t work.”

With exaggerated gestures like a clown, he slung his arm around Hailer’s shoulder and shook his ragged empty sleeve.

“But this guy here showed some interesting resolve. Hahaha.”

Hailer tried to pull away from him, as if the laughter had stirred up bad memories, but the red-haired man only gripped him tighter.

“So I decided to pay for the request myself. I was looking for an opportunity like this anyway.”

In that brief, fleeting moment, I saw something.

Amid the madness and mischief, there was something else—madness with a clear purpose.

“But you really shocked me. I’d heard the Vice Apostle of Providence was different from the other heroes, but I didn’t expect that.”

Don’t say another word.

At the very least, those words shouldn’t come from your mouth, not in that tone.

That accusation… those words should come from Hailer himself, with hatred and curses in his voice.

But he didn’t care what I wanted.

He said it anyway.

“To think you personally burned a young girl to death.”

Hailer turned his head away and bit his lip.

A cold silence fell, and the past swept down hard and fast, swallowing the present whole.

When we first arrived in Kashin Village, as I mentioned, the place was suffering under a band of thieves.

Not only did they demand tribute, but they kidnapped young women and little girls, locking them up.

There’s no need to explain why—and frankly, I don’t want to.

Lowell wanted to help, and I didn’t mind lending my strength.

We stormed the bandits’ den with a few villagers, including Hailer, who insisted on coming along to rescue his younger sister.

With Lowell’s brilliant fighting and my summoned spirits, the bandits were quickly overwhelmed.

But our experience at the time was limited to academy sparring, duel classes, combat training, and fighting wild monsters.

Neither of us had ever taken a human life.

Even kind-hearted Lowell struggled with that, and our hesitation opened up a small but fatal gap.

The bandit leader, realizing he couldn’t win, seized a hostage.

“Drop your swords! One wrong move and this girl dies!”

He pressed a dagger to the young girl’s throat, even drawing a thin line of blood to prove he meant it.

The girl was so terrified she couldn’t even scream.

That girl… was Hailer’s little sister.

If it were now, I could’ve summoned something powerful enough to help.

Or Lowell might have leapt in to save her himself.

But back then, we were too inexperienced.

The best I could summon were elemental spirits or low-level monsters—nothing that could help.

Lowell, too, was frozen in shock and concern.

Worse yet, the bandit leader was serious.

We had no choice but to lower our weapons and dismiss the spirits.

Even disarmed, we still outnumbered him.

A rational person might have tried to escape—but a man who’d lost everything overnight couldn’t be expected to act rationally.

He looked around like a madman, and his eyes locked onto Lowell.

Understandable, given how much damage Lowell had done.

“Cut off his arm! Or this girl dies!”

He ordered the villagers behind us to maim Lowell.

No one dared move.

But their hesitation only agitated the leader further.

“You won’t? Fine!”

He pressed the dagger harder to the girl’s neck and shouted wildly.

“I-I’ll do it!”

That’s when Hailer stepped forward.

His hands and feet trembled as he picked up a fallen sword and stood in front of Lowell.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

He kept repeating those words through tears, and Lowell said nothing.

Instead, he silently extended his arm and closed his eyes.

In that moment, my heart was pounding like crazy.

Lowell was ready to give up his arm.

Even though it wouldn’t guarantee the girl’s safety, he was willing to make the sacrifice.

Hailer raised the sword, and my consciousness seemed to float away.

Lowell was going to lose his arm.

Maybe even his life.

That can’t happen.

That can’t happen.

That can’t happen.

Those thoughts filled my mind as mana gathered in my hands.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…!”

But Hailer couldn’t bring himself to strike quickly.

“Do it! Or do you want to watch this girl die?!”

“Br-brother…!”

With that scream, the girl who had been frozen in fear finally spoke.

Hearing his sister’s voice, Hailer brought the sword down.

It was as if time had stopped.

I couldn’t move.

I didn’t even realize my hands were glowing with mana.

The world just felt like it was ending.

But then—

“…I’m sorry, Anna.”

The sword struck the ground beside Lowell.

Even though his sister was being held hostage, Hailer couldn’t bring himself to cut off Lowell’s arm.

Only then did Lowell open his eyes, and Hailer dropped the sword, tears flowing.

My head finally started working again.

I remembered the mana in my hand.

I remembered that if I did nothing, Lowell would die.

“You didn’t listen, huh? Fine! I told you—I always do what I say!”

“Wait!”

As the bandit leader moved his arm to strike, Lowell reached for the sword Hailer had dropped.

For a brief instant, I imagined him throwing it at the leader’s head.

Or maybe leaping forward to cut the man’s arm and save the girl.

If it were now, it might have been possible.

But back then, no matter how capable Lowell was, he was still too young.

Not as calm as Hailer, but even Lowell’s arms were trembling.

And he was simply too kind to gamble with a girl’s life.

“I’ll cut it off myself!”

With those words, Lowell raised his sword and brought the blade to his left armpit.

Then, as if bracing himself, he took a deep breath.

“Innerbursting!”

At that moment, I recited the spell without a second of hesitation.

From my fingertips, intense flames shot toward the bandit leader and the girl.

Even now, I don’t know exactly why I used that spell, or how I managed to cast one of such power.

But the flames I summoned enveloped both the girl and the bandit leader.

Rather than burning the outside, the flames invaded through their mouths, noses, and ears—searing their throats, lungs, and brains from within.

Both the girl and the bandit leader collapsed backward, and were soon engulfed in flames that erupted from inside their bodies.

Their bodies convulsed as fire burst out from various parts, but it was merely a reaction to the explosions and flames—they were already dead.

And I can say this with certainty: their pain was brief.

“OH, OHLH!”

Hailer screamed, and Lowell and the villagers stood frozen, unable to grasp what had just happened.

“A-Anak… why…?”

When the girl’s body had turned to pitch-black ash in the flames, Lowell finally looked directly at me.

What filled his eyes was sorrow.

A deep, intense sorrow full of helplessness and guilt—emotions I had never seen in his eyes before.

“…I couldn’t lose you.”

That was the truth.

And that was all I could say.

But those words only deepened the sorrow in Lowell’s eyes.

They were full of guilt and regret—toward the girl, toward Hailer, and also toward me.

Back then, I couldn’t begin to comprehend the depth of Lowell’s grief and pain.

All I knew was that it was immense—so deep that just watching it hurt.

And I understood that this was the unchangeable, fundamental difference between him and me, a gap that could never be bridged.

Lowell, without hesitation, was willing to give up his arm for the girl.

Whether that was rational or not, whether the consequences were good or bad—it didn’t matter.

What mattered was that he could make that choice.

Not out of logic or reason, but because deep down, in any situation, Lowell was someone who would choose good.

But I was different.

If the bandit leader had asked for my arm instead of Lowell’s, would my choice have been any different?

Would I have even hesitated this long?

No.

My choice would have been the same.

The terrified girl begging for help, the love of a brother for his sister—none of that would have influenced my actions.

Because I was someone who, from the beginning, chose myself, not through calculation or reason, but simply by nature.

It was an unavoidable decision.

I made it for Lowell.

In the end, the world was saved.

But that means nothing.

Even if the roles were reversed and Lowell had made the same choice to save me, the reason, the method, the time spent agonizing, and the weight he bore afterward—none of that would have been the same as mine.

A person who chooses themselves first and tries to justify it afterward can never be the same as someone who, from the start, chooses good.

“Murderer! Murderer! You… you killed Anna…!”

Hailer ran to me, pulling at my arms and clothes, crying out.

His eyes had lost all focus, and his hands had no strength.

I knew this was simply a natural reaction—a response to overwhelming pain and shock.

A young boy had just watched his sister be burned alive in the most gruesome way imaginable, right before his eyes.

Of course he wasn’t in his right mind.

Of course he couldn’t cling to even a shred of reason.

But by then, I had already seen the sorrow and pain in Lowell’s eyes.

I had come face-to-face with the fundamental difference between us—something I had vaguely sensed but tried to ignore.

I was watching that ever-radiant Lowell be swallowed by helpless sorrow.

I had seen the sun that always guided me now shrouded in clouds.