Don’t Concern Yourself With That Book - Side Story 6-1

Side Story 6-1

Translator: yun

Side Story 6: Rosé and Castor

The man slowly opened his eyes. He blinked them slowly. But his clear gaze was then covered by his large hands.

Rubbing his face lazily, he tilted his head.

His blinking eyes were that of a beautiful gold–what might have been the colour of the sun when it first shone down on this earth–but nothing was captured within. And they would remain that way even after a thousand blinks.

When did this begin? It was a day he could no longer recall anything of. Keeping track of time was difficult for a man who had lived for hundreds, or possibly, thousands of years.

To him, all of time felt slow. The world had always continued flowing and changing leaving him behind.

It was an obvious outcome. Because only he had been regressing in time. No matter how many times he regressed, he would always be amazed by how much would change.

A friend would turn into foe. And in some instances, his foe would turn into his ally. But he realised something after regressing countless times. Foes, friends and allies–they were all meaningless.

People could not remember the times he had regressed from. The [Curse of the Lord], something that was inflicted on the most powerful of Templars of the Lord. He knew that anyone who suffered from this curse would go insane.

If he had to guess how the lives of those who were cursed had ended, right, they must have had messy endings. To escape the curse, he had to kill everyone he loved with his own hands.

But what should he do now that he has become strong enough to disobey the rules that formulated the world? What would happen to the man who continued to become stronger when all he wanted was to die and yet he couldn’t?

Those who had been inflicted with the [Curse of the Lord] would have reached a limit in their powers. But he was a man who was fated to destroy the Empire. In the end, because of the previous emperor’s greed, he had become strong enough to be the most evil being in history.

A man who had been shunned by death. He was the monster the previous emperor had created in order to prevent the looming destruction.

The man slowly raised his head.

He still could not see what was in front of him. It was due to a curse a certain woman had placed on him. It was only when he no longer thought about her could he see. He knew his longing for her was getting in his way but he could not help himself even though he was aware. The more he thought about her, the less he could see.

The more he longed for her, the more he thought about her.

He blinked. No matter how many times he blinked, he knew he would never get to see the person he wanted to.

“Kya–ack!”

It was at that moment. A loud scream came from the middle of the bushes. The shrill voice sounded like it belonged to a young girl.

The man turned away from the sound indifferently. He obviously heard the scream but he didn’t feel the need to do anything. His expression remained vacant.

‘Is she coming this way?’

Thud thud.

He could hear the rushed footsteps stepping over the bushes. Finally, the sound of her breaths had gotten closer. For a templar like him, he could hear her clearly as though he was standing right next to her.

There was a beast chasing after her. One… no, three? They were wolves.

The man slowly got up. Even though he could not see, he weaved through the bushes.

He was still hidden but he knew that trouble was ahead. The trembling girl pushed her back against a tree trunk. Three wolves were blocking her escape as they growled and barked at her.

The three wolves looked down on their feeble prey and bared their teeth. Wanting to bite into it quickly, the wolf from the furthest right rushed in.

“Kya!”

The child pressed her eyes shut tightly. But even after some time passed, she could not feel any pain.

Drip drop.

When she opened her eyes again, blood enraptured her attention. She noticed a man holding a sword in front of her. A gust of wind shook his long hair and made it flutter like waves.

This child had never seen anyone with black hair like his. He looked like a humanoid figure that had been moulded from darkness.

Staring at the being more beautiful than the statue that was built in the centre of her town, she gulped nervously. The blood splattered on the man’s cheek only made his pale skin stand out even more. The man’s closed eyes opened slowly.

She only managed to catch a glimpse of his bright golden eyes, that seemed to have been made from melting the golden sun, from the side. His eyes continued to disappear behind his hair.

“… This has happened to me before.”

Castor hung his head down loosely and said. The girl hiccupped.

He might have opened his eyes but he was still blind. He noticed, from the sounds of her breathing, that the child was so small she would barely reach the height of his thighs. He wondered if it was a girl because of her weak pants.

Castor did not turn towards the girl. He turned his head away and recalled the time he first met Ashley in the Forbidden Forest so long ago. Did he capture the hounds?

He slowly closed his eyes as he reminisced her wheat-blonde hair. Even her pale face distancing herself from him could be visibly seen. He would often think of her because of his longing. Even if he was drinking seawater because of his thirst.

Where could you be?

He could not see but he had no trouble getting rid of trifling beings. In the first place, it was easier getting rid of beasts than knights because their desire to live was stronger. He didn’t even need to use any divinity.

Soaked in blood and lost in his thoughts, he suddenly noticed the distancing footsteps. Castor knew that the child had fled while he had been in the midst of pondering. He was not disappointed. Nonetheless, he had no intentions of showing the child any mercy. The child would have died regardless unless he changed his mind. She could just blame her bad luck.

He closed his eyes again. To savour the face of the woman who crossed his mind.

There was no one who did not fear his bloodstained appearance. Other than a small number of people. So, there was no wonder that little girl vanished from fear.

But it was not long till he realised that he had been mistaken.

***

“Who are you?”

Castor opened his eyes slightly. He was still blind but he did that out of reflex.

He wandered wherever he could but sometimes he would linger in one place for days on end to think about the past. The days when Ashley’s face would vividly come to mind was precious to him.

He might have opened his eyes but he didn’t do it to answer the child. He gripped his sword lightly.

He had lost the only thing he ever wanted. However, that did not mean he had become a changed man. Rather than talking, this would have been easier.

“My dad told me. That you were still here, mister.”

Even though he could not see, he habitually shifted his gaze to the sound of her voice. It seemed like he was not invisible to the people here.

The father whom the child seemed to be referring to must be the man who had been hanging around this area a day ago. As they were still in the middle of a forest where wolves roamed, she had been foolish for making any hasty moves.

Even if he didn’t kill her, there was a high likelihood she would die here regardless. That was why he closed his eyes again so that he could focus on something else.

There was not enough time for him to think about her.

‘Why do you only appear when I close my eyes?’

He had become desensitised to killing people. No, other than from one thing, he could not feel much else.

His memories would not last for eternity so they kept vanishing from him like mirages and what had been so clear to him before was now blurring like a water stain.

Now only traces of her remained. Eventually, as though she was telling him that he was not even allowed to have her in his memories, she kept disappearing.

But the uninvited guest did not let him go.

“Mister, why are you closing your eyes? Are you hurt somewhere?”

He could have sliced her head off with his sword like lightning so that the child could be quiet. It was purely because he was in a good mood that he didn’t.

“Does it hurt a lot? Did you get hurt while saving me?”

There was nothing in the world that could stop Castor. However, Castor then recalled how Ashley glared at him hatefully as he bled in front of her.

“Mister?”

Castor lowered his sword and revealed his exhausted expression. Everything seemed boring. And his longing only grew stronger.

“What do you want from me?”

Castor could not see but he knew the child tilted her face.

“For you to be treated?”

“I don’t need it.”

He could smell the strange scent of grass and it seemed to be coming from a medicinal herb. He was not ignorant of herbs. No, there was nothing he did not know. There was once… he dreamed of being a wise benevolent king.

Now, he could not even recall when he did.

“Oh, you were right. You really aren’t hurt anywhere.”

The child circled Castor before hopping. She sat down in front of him.

“Mister, what is your name?”

“…..”

“Dad and his friends said that they couldn’t approach because of your b-blood-bloodthirst! I wanted to thank you for providing food.”

Certainly, he did create a space around himself to stay in because he did not want anyone–human or animal–to approach.

“I don’t know about that.”

Energy was intangible which was why children, especially those who were insensitive, would not be able to feel it. That was how he could have time to wander in his thoughts and relax.

“Mister, mister. What is your name? If I don’t know your name, I can’t introduce myself.”

“…..”

“Mister.”

Castor turned his head slowly. He ignored the child and shifted his gaze slightly.

“You, do you have blonde hair the colour of a wheat field at sunset?”

“Huh? Uhm…. My hair is blue! Very blue!”

“Do you have purple eyes?”

“No. They’re orange…”

“Then, there’s no point in you living.”

Castor stood up lightly and waved his arm. The sound of air being sliced along with a body collapsing on the ground could be heard.

He lowered his head without a word. Perhaps to face the child who was suppressing her hiccups.