Erich slumped back onto the ground, his back hitting the low rooftop wall with a dull thud.
Isabella turned her head to look at him, her eyes filled with a trace of confusion. Just a moment ago, this guy had been completely tense, looking as if he was about to charge downstairs and fight for his life at any second. Why had he suddenly deflated?
“What's wrong with you?” she asked. “You were so aggressive just a moment ago. Why are you so listless now?”
“It's nothing,” Erich replied feebly.
He tilted his head back and stared at the dark purple barrier overhead. The barrier blocked out all sound from the outside world, pressing down on him until it was hard to breathe.
Erich suddenly found it a bit funny.
It had been so long since he transmigrated. He had fought tooth and nail to climb his way up, but in the end, what was meant to happen was still happening, wasn't it? He couldn't escape this script.
Isabella didn't press further. She just stood a few paces away, quietly watching him, as if waiting for him to speak, yet also seemingly not caring at all whether he did or not.
Erich ignored her, lost in his own thoughts.
When he first transmigrated, before he could even figure out what was going on, he had been kicked out of his family and sent to the Abyss. The first person to die right before his eyes was Isa. Then, with great difficulty, he had made it to the academy, only to be crushed by a hefty tuition fee, followed by endless expenses for magic practice.
To support himself, he had to work part-time, take on odd jobs, and calculate where every single copper coin was spent. During the day, he researched magic, and at night, he had to ponder how to continue down the path of a Gravekeeper.
But what was the point of it all?
He had spent plenty of money, yet he still couldn't even grasp the basics of second-tier magic. After leveling up his first-tier magic to the maximum, there was no way to increase its power further. After all, it was only first-tier, and its upper limit was right there.
His attribute growth was also ridiculously slow. While the total mana of his peers was visibly skyrocketing, his Spirit and Willpower felt as if they were being choked, remaining completely stagnant.
He had originally thought that as long as he was strong enough, he could solve anything.
But as it turned out, even the path to becoming stronger was completely blocked.
Erich exhaled a breath, leaning the back of his head against the cold wall.
“Do you know why I come to watch the sunset every day?” he suddenly spoke up.
Isabella glanced at him but didn't respond.
“The scenery is nice here,” he said. “Watching the sun go down makes me feel like the day is over, and I don't have to think about all those pointless things anymore.”
It sounded a bit overly sentimental, but he had indeed relied on this to get through many days.
Except today, the barrier covered the sky as well, and he couldn't even see the full sunset.
Those images in his memory surfaced once more. What was Erich Edmond's ending in the game again? He couldn't remember the details clearly, but no matter which route was taken, Erich was destined to perish. From beginning to end, he was nothing but a pathetic villain.
With a destiny like that, what right did he have to think he could change anything?
Everything he had suppressed in his heart suddenly came rushing back, piling heavily upon his chest. Erich lowered his head, ran his fingers through his hair, and sat there in silence.
Isabella sat down beside him as well, just like every other time they had watched the sunset together on the rooftop.
After a moment of silence, she said, “The princess is about to get into trouble. Aren't you going to do something?”
Erich didn't raise his head, and his voice lacked any energy. “Lorraine will protect her.”
Lorraine was the protagonist of this story, with talent so absurdly good, and even a psionic teacher assigned by the headmaster giving her private lessons in secret. By comparison, what was he? A villain who couldn't even grasp second-tier magic and whose attributes wouldn't grow.
This kind of hero-saves-the-beauty trope was meant to be played out by a real hero in the first place.
“Is that so,” Isabella said, her tone devoid of any emotion.
And that was the end of it.
Erich didn't mind either. He kept his head lowered, staring blankly at the dusty floor. His mind was a jumbled mess, thinking about many things and yet seemingly nothing at all. One moment it was the way Isa looked right before she died, the next it was that tuition fee that made his heart bleed, and the next it was the figure of the young princess hurriedly fleeing behind Lorraine.
Isabella sat quietly beside him.
She indeed had no need to say more. After all, her identity was that of a demon spy. Whether it was scouting talent, disrupting order, or even weeding out the promising sprouts of the human race, it was all part of her job. Erich not wanting to act cost her nothing. There was no need for her to persuade him, and even less need to worry about the people trapped in this building.
The two of them sat on the rooftop in silence.
Not a single sound from downstairs reached them. That thin, dark purple film seemed to isolate the entire world outside. Erich didn't move, and neither did Isabella. One sat with his head lowered, lost in thought, while the other stared straight ahead, also lost in thoughts of her own.
The sky had turned completely dark.
Rate on N.U.
