Defying the Fate of Beheading

Louis nodded:

"Do you want to hear it? The story of Teacher Jino and his wife."

Beatrice said:

"I've actually heard it before, but I want to hear it again... You tell it to me."

She paused and said:

"And haven't you noticed? Now you don't call him an instructor, you call him a teacher."

"Louis, you actually acknowledge Mr. Jino, don't you?"

Louis hesitated a bit:

"Haven't I always acknowledged Teacher Jino?"

Beatrice shook her head:

"It's different, don't you see? When you deal with many people, you always carry an indescribable feeling of distance."

"It's as if no one can get close to your heart."

"Sometimes, I even feel you are quite indifferent."

Louis was stunned for a moment.

He understood the root of the issue after a moment.

He mocked himself:

"A lonely wanderer in a foreign land, how easy is it to get close to others?"

The feeling of longing for one's homeland is something only those who have lost it can deeply understand.

He said to Beatrice:

"You know I have a habit of writing a diary, and it's in my hometown's language."

"At that time, I thought if one day we're all gone, I would scatter the diary across the world. This way, maybe one day, a fellow dear to my land would see it."

"At least he would know that he is not alone in this world."

"But I never told you why I started Mayer Commerce Association, did I?"

Beatrice quietly watched him, suddenly feeling like Louis had a lot to say today.

She had sensed it long ago.

Beneath Louis' seemingly unrestrained exterior, there was a heart she could never quite grasp.

She couldn't understand.

But she wanted to hear him speak.

To tell his past stories.

She just felt that by doing so, she might get a little closer to him.

So, she handled it like cradling a cracked raw egg.

Carefully peeling away the broken shell, fearing to touch the fragile membrane inside.

Perhaps he noticed her caution too.

That's why today, he finally wanted to say more to her.

Louis smiled and said:

"I mentioned that Chinese food is from my hometown, right?"

Beatrice nodded.

Louis said:

"I write diaries and established Mayer Commerce Association to let the things from my hometown take root and flourish on this land."

"So that when someone from back home comes here, tasting a bit of their homeland's food, maybe they won't feel so lonely."

At this moment, Beatrice suddenly felt a sting in her heart.

What bullshit, the compatriot won't be lonely.

He is the one wandering in a foreign land!

The compatriots can at least remember their homeland through the treasures he left behind.

But what about you?

You have to rely on your own memories to recreate the taste of your homeland.

You can only dream of returning home in your dreams.

Only to wake up and remember you can't go back.

In a flash, she remembered what her father had said to her.

The emperor said:

"The Seven Deadly Sins represent seven human sins, but also seven different desires."

"When you desire something extremely strongly, the Seven Deadly Sins will respond to your call as they ascend."

"This is probably the last tenderness the sins leave for their host."

It was also at this moment that Beatrice finally understood why Louis awakened the [Greedy Quest for Knowledge].

What he was greedy for wasn't so-called knowledge.

He was just afraid.

Afraid that the scissors of time would slowly cut his memories apart.

Afraid that the shadows of the past he left behind would be chopped into piece after piece.

And then.

With a snap.

One day, month, year, waking up.

His memories would shatter like bubbles.

He would surely be very saddened, wouldn't he?

He doesn't want to forget.

At least, he wants to remember in his dreams?

[Greedy Quest for Knowledge] was Louis's first skill.

It represented Louis's ultimate desire at that time.

She could even imagine how, at the moment the sin of greed responded to Louis's call, waves of echoes washed over Louis's heart.

"Greed, if you are really that great, then protect my memories, at least don't let me forget."

So at that moment, it answered his call.

The Greedy Quest for Knowledge was born.

"Louis, is this why you are always out of place with others?"

Beatrice seemed to understand.

But inexplicably, an unspeakable anger welled up inside her.

Louis's hometown was no longer there.

That area had become a wasteland.

She knew about this even before she met Louis.

If there was any trace left at all,

She could at least... at least do something to make him happier.

"The Abyssal Church truly deserves damnation. Believing in the abyss, they should be sent straight to hell to reunite with their lord."

Beatrice reaffirmed this thought in her heart again.

Perhaps sensing the heavy atmosphere at the scene,

Louis looked at her speechlessly:

"Don't look at me with those pitying eyes, Beatrice. Even though I may be sentimental sometimes, I'm not stuck in the past and can't move forward."

"Besides, didn't you say just now? I now call Jino a teacher, which already shows I'm accepting everything as it is now."

Beatrice nodded.

She understood.

Men are always like this.

Always wanting to bear everything alone.

Until they can't bear it anymore, they express it almost like a release.

If Louis were aware of the thoughts in Beatrice's mind now, he probably would feel a bit helpless.

He really was just doing it out of interest...

Isn't that right?