Thump.
My heart began to race at the sight of them.
These women had many names. In the underworld, they were known as Ruelberta’s hunting dogs, on the battlefield as the saints of death, or even as annihilation maids.
Yet, no one knew their real names. They were victims of inhumane experiments conducted by the Ruelberta family under the guise of magical research.
“Kill them!”
“-Cough!?”
The maids, moving faster than the eye could follow, methodically eliminated the assassins one by one.
Their power was terrifying. One was pinned to the wall after blocking a maid’s kick with both arms. Another had their jaw shattered by a slender fist. Another’s spine was broken, resulting in instant death.
The unarmed maids were overpowering the assassins armed with various hidden weapons.
They were like reapers, unafraid of death. The assassins desperately fought to escape their grasp.
“These monsters!!!”
“Die!”
They roared in the darkness, hurling poisoned darts, slashing arteries with daggers, and striking vital points with hidden weapons.
But it was futile. The poison didn’t work. They kept moving even after being stabbed multiple times. They pressed on, even with blades stuck in their vital points, not stopping until their target was dead.
Fear spread across the assassins’ faces. The fight became one-sided, no longer a battle but a one-sided massacre.
[Personality Assimilation Progressing!]
[Your Assimilation Level is now 30%.]
In front of this gruesome scene, I was being consumed by emotion. Initially, I didn’t understand what ‘personality assimilation’ meant, but now I seemed to grasp it.
[Personality Assimilation Progressing!]
[Your Assimilation Level is now 40%.]
The maids weren’t unscathed in their battle. One had her fingers cut off, another had her ribs exposed from a sword wound, and yet another lost part of her shoulder.
However, none of them bled. They were like lifeless dolls, unable to feel pain.
Next to me, a maid’s blindfold had come off, revealing the face of a young woman with unfocused eyes. Underneath her eyes, the assassin’s blood ran like tears.
[Personality Assimilation Progressing!]
[Your Assimilation Level is now
50%.]
Milium watched them indifferently. His gaze held no emotion: no sympathy, no sorrow, not even a hint of fear. That was the nature of the man named Milium.
And then I realized the nature of the intense emotion boiling deep within me. It was ‘anger’.
[Warning!]
[Personality Assimilation is rapidly progressing!]
[Your sense of self is fading!]
[Your Assimilation Level is now 60%.]
A searing headache struck, unbearable, making me collapse where I stood.
“You damned wretches!”
It was the worst possible timing. Thick arms wrapped around my neck.
“Count! If you don’t want to see your son die, tell those women to stop right now!”
It was the bloodied leader of the assassin group. None of his fellow assassins were alive anymore.
“Hurry up! Before I shove this knife into your son’s throat!”
The cold sensation on my neck was real. He meant it.
Then Milium nonchalantly gestured with his hand. The maids approaching us stopped immediately.
The leader of the assassins scoffed.
“Ha! Thought you had no heart or tears, but you’re a parent after all?”
“A question for you.”
“What?”
Milium slowly rose from his chair.
“What’s the value of personal emotions?”
“What? Count, what are you babbling about now?”
“Seems like the ignorant beast doesn’t know. Answer for him, Tristan.”
“…….”
Suddenly the question was directed at me, but I was in no state to answer. My mind clouded by the excruciating headache and the assassin’s tight grip.
Milium spoke again.
“Too difficult for you? Then let’s change the question. How much is the love between a parent and a child worth?”
I knew the answer. I knew the kind of person Milium was. The response he expected was clear.
“That is…”
With great effort, I managed to utter a response.
“…worthless.”
“Correct.”
Milium then pulled out something that wasn’t his usual silver watch.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. The bullet pierced the assassin leader’s head in an instant, his body collapsing with a faint puff of smoke.
“Hmm… I should have this gun recalibrated. The firing pin seems to be malfunctioning.”
Unaffected by the lifeless body before him, Milium coolly made a mental note.
“Cough…!”
Finally free from the assassin’s grip, I coughed painfully. Milium’s indifference remained, but it no longer mattered to me.
[Warning!]
[Personality Assimilation is rapidly progressing!]
[Your Assimilation Level is nearing 70%!]
[It’s becoming difficult to maintain your sense of self!]
Already consumed by anger, I confronted Milium.
“Why? Why do all this?”
“What exactly are you referring to?”
Milium thought for a moment, then seemed to understand.
“Ah, you mean capturing him alive for interrogation? That would have been more valuable, right? You are indeed insightful.”
“Stop it with your nonsense!”
I was surprised at my own outburst, but Milium remained calm, continuing to look at me, his only son, emotionlessly.
“Can you justify these atrocities?”
“Ah, you mean ‘this’.”
Milium pointed towards the maids.
“The significant investment in them was worth it. They never tire, obey commands, and are excellent tools.”
“They are human beings!”
[Warning!]
[Personality Assimilation is rapidly progressing!]
[Your Assimilation Level is nearing 80%!]
[It’s becoming difficult to maintain your sense of self!]
Darn it.
Gripping my head, hot with rage, I spoke.
“Those women, you say…”
“…Is that so?”
Milium tilted his head as if he didn’t quite understand. His black hair, tied like mine, shook with the movement.
“It’s strange. Those women have no emotions, no thoughts. They’re no different from dolls. But can you still refer to them as ‘her’?”
“Disgusting. Your way of thinking. It’s nauseating.”
“Indeed…. I’ll take note.”
Milium nodded, and my anger surged again.
“Are you even human?”
“I am unquestionably human.”
“Don’t make me laugh! You’re not human!”
“Is that so?”
Moonlight poured through the window. My fist, clenched in the cold light, felt like it was the only thing keeping me from striking the man before me.
Milium spoke again.
“Human beings… Most of their childhood memories are forgotten. Do you know why?”
I didn’t answer. Milium didn’t seem to expect one, continuing on his own.
“Because they’re not important. That’s why they’re forgotten.”
He moved towards the window.
“I, too, have forgotten things from the past.”
Milium’s face, bathed in moonlight, looked the same as always. He spoke to me in a mechanical, unflustered voice.
“You’re still young, Tristan. That’s why…”
I swallowed hard.
“You’ll forget today’s events as well.”
“Don’t make me laugh. What gives you the right to decide that?”
Milium shook his head at my question.
“You’re still naive.”
“What…?”
“You’ve already forgotten. Your own past.”
“What are you talking about?”
I asked, sensing something ominous. Milium sighed and pointed at the maids.
“You just referred to these things as ‘them’.”
“…?”
“Muri, Rika, Cynthia, and Beth.”
He listed their names one by one, matching the number of maids present. But something felt off.
‘I’ should not know these names. Yet why did hearing them ignite such uncontrollable anger in me?
Milium gestured, and the tallest maid removed her blindfold. A simple-faced woman’s face was revealed.
“Muri used to change your diapers.”
Thump.
The next maid removed her blindfold. A young maid with a severed arm.
“Rika took care of your snacks in the kitchen.”
Thump.
Then another maid unveiled her face. Her shoulder missing, she too was young.
“Cynthia was responsible for your education.”
Thump.
Finally, the last maid beside me, the youngest-looking, was addressed.
“And Beth… was a girl who foolishly harbored a crush on the ‘young master’ she served.”
Stop it.
[Warning!]
[Personality Assimilation is rapidly progressing!]
[Your Assimilation Level is nearing 90%!]
[It’s becoming difficult to maintain your sense of self!]
Milium looked at me pitifully.
“You’ve even forgotten the names of the nannies who raised you.”
“…!”
I was internally screaming, the revelation hitting me like a tidal wave.
[Condition met!]
[Tristan’s locked memories are flowing in!]
The memories Tristan desperately tried to forget, those he couldn’t bear to remember, flooded into my consciousness.
I lunged at Milium.
“Muri…! Muri was like a kind mother to me!”
Whack!
I swung my fist hard into his face.
“Rika always smiled in the busy kitchen!”
Whack!
“Cynthia was my only teacher!”
Whack!
Looking at the girl beside me, who was Beth, I sighed.
“Beth… Beth was the first girl who ever said she liked me!”
My fist trembled. It hurt. More than that, my heart was in excruciating pain.
After venting my boiling rage, my eyes grew hot.
“You…! You took everything! Everything!”
Tears started to flow, the voices of those women echoing in my head. This wasn’t ‘my’ memory. It was Tristan’s, the memories he had tried to forget, wanted to forget.
Before I knew it, I had grabbed Milium by the throat. Even then, Milium remained composed, simply looking at me. He spoke.
“…Be angry, Tristan.”
[Your Assimilation Level is nearing 95%!]
“Just as I had with my predecessor, you too must accept the rage that befalls the Ruelberta house.”
[Your Assimilation Level is nearing 99%!]
As he said this, Milium placed something in my hand.
The cool, heavy metal felt unmistakable. The barrel of a revolver pointed at his chest.
Click.
“Shoot. This is your rage.”
My trigger finger hesitated.
The dark history of the Ruelberta house, witnessed by me, filled me with despair and anger.
Hatred towards my father, towards Milium, towards the Ruelberta house swirled within me. But…
I removed my finger from the trigger, swallowing the rage rising in my throat.
“This curse of the Ruelberta house ends with me.”
It’s too early to succumb to rage.
Until I uncover all the truths hidden within this house.
Until I save the world that fell to the player’s hands.
I will endure.
“…Is that your answer.”
I locked eyes with Milium. His gaze was different from usual. Not the empty look, but one that truly saw his son.
“Understood…”
Milium grabbed the revolver in my hand.
“You don’t need to forgive me.”
Bang!
The sound of a gunshot enveloped in a mist of blood.
[The trial has ended!]
[You have withstood the personality ‘Rage’!]
[A shift in setting occurs!]
[A new personality trait emerges!]
[You have gained the personality trait ‘Patience’!]
