The Worldview Where Everyone is Destined to Die

This is why. The suffering of an innocent son can be called….Ahem, quite a distraction, Arma.

‘Damn it…’

Knock.

The white thing is paper, and the black thing is ink.

He couldn’t afford to lose the valuable classes the academy gave; he paid a high price for them, so he chose to stay.

‘What is it? am I going insane?’

“Arma.”

He wasn’t concentrating at all, to the point where he felt skipping the class would be better.

“Arma!’

“Ack!”

It was then that he was startled at the sight of this middle-aged man with a beard on his face who suddenly appeared before his eyes, making him almost fall off the chair.

Creak!

Just when he expected to fall down, the person who stopped the chair and me from falling was the Wooden Cross'—no, the strongest woman in the Aegis Academy, Shirley.

Shirley is the eldest and only daughter of Spencer Margrave’s four children, and their family is known to have tremendous strength for generations.

But lately, I have been wondering why she is using her incredible strength to swing or grab me, like she did now, rather than using it to hone her specialty, spearmanship.

“Professor, actually, Senior has been sick since morning.”

She can really speak…..

Shirley whispered as if she couldn’t say it out loud and then moved the chair from side to side, looking carefully to see if I was injured.

Why does she have to speak rudely when showing kindness?

And she soon put my chair straight without much effort.

“Your condition is a mess.”

“I will be careful.”

“I don’t think there is any point in going to class like this; just finish your work here for today.”

It was a clear order.

I couldn’t continue taking the classes, at least for the students who paid a high price like me, to listen for the sake of growing with passion.

I nodded and left the classroom, leaving Shirley behind, who had lost interest in me and was looking out the window.

‘Theodore.’

But my mind wasn’t all calm.

This was because in the memory I held, Theodore, the crimson-faced warrior with those red and purple eyes, felt unclear.

‘Is that really my own illusion? Red and purple odd eyes?’

Even if he was like that, imagining things, it shouldn't be this detailed, especially for someone he wasn’t close with.

And this boy with odd eyes was called Theodore White.

“Thre are too many colors and too many variables.”

Does he know Theodore White?

The fact that he couldn’t imagine what he looked like under the eyepatch convinced him that it was the real thing.

I grabbed my head as I began to tell myself to stop with the delusions.

“Sorry for disturbing you, Arma.”

After a few minutes of mumblings, he heard this low female voice which came from above. And when he looked up there she was, Judith Tayler, the class president of Wooden Cross class with her curly blue hair, tied up.

“Ah, sorry…”

“It isn’t something you have to apologize about. It looks like you have been kicked out of divine class.”

Judith waited for me to answer with a small smile, as if she liked seeing me troubled.

Lying is considered undignified, so I nodded to respond honestly.

“Right, I got kicked out.”

“I am sure your mother is still confused by you, just so she can teach you a lesson or two.”

“Why bring it up suddenly?”

Physical violence isn’t the only violence

Judith giggled and waved her hands as she went to the side of the hallway, clutching her chest that had been tattered from a compound fracture.

The sunlight came through the hallway window and fell on Judith's fingers.

-Sparkle.

What felt more distracting was the view and reflection from the ring, which was on Judith’s second finger

Although they were just one year apart in terms of age, the invisible weight of being the matriarch of the family made Judith seem more mature.

I watched Judith's back a little longer and then got up.

‘This is my first time being kicked out, but there is nothing that can be done here but to study.’

I couldn’t continue to crouch down and abuse myself, so I tried to force myself to walk to the dorms, but I realized it too late that there wasn’t much time left.

The Academy, surrounded by the sea on all four sides, was a natural fortress, but it also meant that it was impossible to escape too.

Right, one cannot get out of this place that easily.

Because…

“Because…?”

The shock of being kicked out of the classroom didn't dissipate yet and I had this headache come up.

Unconsciously, I thought about our meeting with Theodore White a little while back and headed to the dorm from the Wooden Cross class.

“Ha~ I cannot believe that I am leaving class at this time.”

Maybe I should have asked Judith to play around with me.

Judith must have a empty schedule considering that she was out in the hallway.

After thinking about it for a moment, I shook my head, remembering those terrible rumors of an affair that followed me and Judith during the one week we spent together.

Strangely, the things that I did without much thought turned into rumors of love and affairs and came back to hit me. And with that repeating over and over again in this academy, I was now known as a promiscuous playboy.

'Let’s not think of that anymore.'

I shook my head and headed for the dorm.

“Hello, Arma.”

“Hello.”

Aegis Academy’s upper and lower grades had different timetables.

Therefore, unlike me, who was in the higher grade, the people I met outside the classroom were students between 14 and 17 years old.

There were still at least 3 years left before entering the advanced class and the master class, so all the students in the intermediate course had this neat school uniform on.

A cape that crosses the shoulders diagonally, this stand-up collar that rises at the end of the neck, and the white blouse collar with this small embroidery that could be seen.

Overall, this outfit had an amazing ascetic vibe, but the details were different, and the attention put into it was amazing.

In any case, this academy was like the microcosm of the world, so it was clear that every kid passing through it was of noble blood, having grown up in a family known to all.

“Hello.”

“…. Hello.”

So, this means that Thedore White and Arthur Usher in front of me are also precious kids of the White and Usher family.

There was this strong smell of ink and dry grass, which was very unique to the Crown of Thorns class which, spoke of magic.

It bothered me that one of them was glaring at me…

‘Did he hear anything from Theodore?’

Arthur bowed his head with this attitude, which looked a bit insincere and even a bit provocative, which could be considered the wrong way to treat a senior, and then looked away.

Theodore, on the other hand, had this polite attitude and changed the winter unfirom to a thin blouse and pants.

But the black eye patch across the face was the same as before; perhaps it was a seasonal outfit.

“Are there any classes here that Crown of Thorns majoring in magic arts can take?”

“Arthur has a double major.”

“Ah.”

Theodore gave this brief answer instead of Arthur who was silent.

Arthur didn’t seem to want to talk to me or get my attention, so he took a few hardcover books to the side and turned his head.

‘Arthur Usher is taking Sword Master course.’

If one's speciality as a Sword Master is based on magical talent like Arthur, they usually take the Crown of Thorns class, and if their speciality is based on martial arts like Judith, they advance to Wooden Cross class.

But actually, when a person stands at the top of the field, all these turn vague.

So, in the case of the students taking the Sword Master course, like Arthur, they are supposed to make up for their shortcomings by doing double major.

“Yes, right. I forgot because I am a single major.”

Another unique feature of the academy is its free major system for majors, which is chosen by a small number of people.

Since I majored in shooting, which is more of an art than general martial arts, I belonged to an independent major in Wooden Cross class.

There is a slightly more complicated and shady adult situation regarding this issue. To put it simply, it can be called my mother rolling up her sleeves to get me admitted to elite training class.

I glanced at Theodore’s gaze and said.

“Just now…”

“Before that…”

Theodore followed the words like he had forgotten everything that happened before and just stared at me.

“It isn't an uncommon thing.”

“Oh my, I am really ashamed. Because I contributed to the situation that isn’t uncommon, I am sorry.”

“… yes.”

Theodore White bowed his head and walked past me. Arthur, standing next to Theodore without any presence, also followed him.

‘Be quiet now'

The quiet exit without a single sound of footsteps made them feel like birds and not people.

I shook my head against the discomfort that had been floating around me for the past few hours. This is obviously because of that dream.

I grabbed my pounding head and walked to the dorm.

‘I think I will have the same dream if I sleep again.’

A dream in which Theodore quietly bows the head in front of me like obeying the fate, and I look down at him and press the trigger.

A murder, but it is a murder without a reason or significance.

-thud.

Even though I didn’t commit the murder, I felt so tired.

Due to the strong fatigue, I ended up all curled up in bed and closed my eyes.

‘Ah, that dream again…’

This faint image behind my closed eyes broke into the darkness.

I was back to dreaming again. It was as if I knew this would happen.

Right, it's weird to say, but I knew it.

I need to escape from this dream. No, to be more accurate, it's the fact that I didn’t break free from this chain and allowed it to affect the comfortable world I live in.

But like fate, I knew that this choice would come to bite me in the…

‘Is it going to be theodore this time too? Do I have to kill him again then?’

The change in thought was swift.

My thoughts were already beyond boundaries, as if I had a separate self here, like an observer.

-rumble.

And again, I came out of some space in the dark.

I got out of the narrow darkness that could barely fit my body and started walking.

The ground shook as if I had been drinking a lot. My mind was spinning to the point where it felt impossible to stand, and I just awkwardly stumbled.

“Euk….”

The puke rose up.

It might be a dream, but it felt so real to me.

I smiled a little and then held the guy in my hand, which was shining in the moonlight.

“…”

Feeling unsure, I tried to throw the gun into the grass, but the more conscious I was, the tighter the grip against the gun turned up.

“Damn it, what now?”

Although I couldn’t throw the gun away, I held on tighter and continued to run through the bushes, looking like a maniac walking around with a gun.

When I gave up the thought of throwing the gun, my hands moved and put the gun at my waist.

Each step felt so painful; even when I moved, I felt so out of breath.

The cold sweat began to flow and took away the body's temperature from the entire body rather than cooling off the heat, and now it began to feel cold.

The place I was heading to with this much effort was none other than a cliff. Moreover, at the edge of the cliff stood a slender woman with curly blue hair.

“Judith?”

There was no way I wouldn’t recognize Judith. Judith slowly turned to confirm it.

But something felt odd.

To be exact, it was strange that I was moving my sick body in the middle of the night towards the cliff, but the strangest thing was Judith's expression.

“Arma. In the end…’

In the end, what?

I wanted to hear more, but what happened later wasn’t based on my will. I shook off Judith;s hand reaching towards me and struggled to get something.

But with my strength, I couldn’t defeat Judith, who was close to the level of a sword master. Judith shook me off as if it were natural and then grabbed my arm.

As if I was waiting, I threw myself off the cliff.

“Arma!’

With Judith screaming, I was hanging off the cliff, just holding her right hand.

“Since this happened… I should apologize.”

I spoke, but I wasn’t saying anything I wanted to. And slowly, I pulled out the gun from my waist and pointed it at the right hand of Judith.

‘Wait! Wait, what's going on?!’

Even when she saw the gun, Judith didn’t let go of my hand.

Click-

Bang!!

I pulled the trigger with Judith’s right hand holding me. I didn’t even want to imagine it, but I felt the fingers that were holding me disappear right away.

The bullet went through Judith's finger and lodged in the middle of her arm.

Judith ended up falling down with me.

I closed my eyes tightly as the pain spread and the burning began.

‘A terrifying dream.'

This was clearly the second, so called serial murder, which occurred in the dream.