Chapter 242
“Lloyd-nim. May I ask you something?”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“Why are you going alone?”
“To Hell Castle?”
“Yes.”
Javier nodded.
He was looking up at Lloyd, who was seated on Ggoming’s back.
“I was wondering whether there was something I needed to stay behind and handle alone.”
“Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be?”
A faint smile spread across the corner of Lloyd’s mouth.
“You need to guard this place while I go report to the King of Hell. You know how the world works, right? Another Lava Giant like last time could show up and go on a rampage. The railroad we just finished could get smashed to pieces. Right?”
“So that’s what it was.”
“What do you mean, ‘that’s what it was’?”
“I thought you were trying to abandon me here.”
“Whoa. Seriously?”
“Yes. You are exactly the kind of person who could do that at any time.”
“What kind of person do you think I am?”
“Underhanded, petty, and vindictive.”
“…Now you’re giving summaries.”
“It’s more convenient. In any case—”
The silver-haired knight gave a small shrug.
Then, in a rare sight for him, a faint smile touched his lips.
“I will guard this place as ordered. Please travel safely.”
“Yeah, sure. And if I do abandon you, just find your own way home.”
“Find my own way… how, exactly?”
“You see that?”
Lloyd pointed up at the sky.
The sky above Hell.
There, Hellgate stood wide open.
Lloyd continued.
“Anyway, I have no intention of closing that. The cold wind blowing out of it helps lower the temperature around here. The lava will harden faster, and the tracks and ground will stay more stable. So I’m leaving it open.”
“Then don’t tell me…”
“Yeah, exactly that ‘don’t tell me.’ Why would I abandon you? If something happens, you can just cross through Hellgate. Then you can escape Hell easily enough, right? Sure, the other side is a polar region, so it might be a little cold, but a Grand Master wouldn’t shiver to death from that, would he?”
“……”
“So from there, you can just swim back to Frontera Estate. Wow. Amazing. Applause, everyone.”
“……”
“Ahem.”
“……”
“Sorry. I’m joking.”
“It sounded sincere enough.”
“Oh, you caught that?”
“I also caught that your apology was a joke.”
“Tch. You’re perceptive in the most unnecessary ways.”
“Thank you. Then please return quickly.”
“Alright.”
Lloyd took off on Ggoming.
For a while, they flew on in silence.
Only after putting a considerable distance between themselves and the edge of Hell did he finally let out the breath he had been holding.
“Whew. Success.”
He had succeeded in going to Hell Castle alone, leaving Javier behind.
‘I was worried he might stubbornly insist on coming as my escort.’
Unexpectedly, Javier had let it go without pressing the issue.
In its own way, that was fortunate.
The reason was simple.
He felt uneasy taking Javier with him to Hell Castle.
‘Because I have to meet the King of Hell. But the King of Hell keeps openly calling me Kim Suho.’
That part bothered him.
Javier was not dull.
If he heard the King of Hell calling him by that strange name over and over, he would obviously start asking questions.
‘I want to avoid that situation if I can.’
His identity might be exposed.
And if that happened, how would Javier react?
How would he treat him after that?
Honestly, Lloyd could not even imagine it.
That was why he felt even more uneasy about bringing him along.
‘Still, it’s a relief. I get to meet the King of Hell alone.’
The thought made him feel a little lighter.
Right then, something squirmed inside his chest.
A moment later, a dissatisfied grumble rose from inside his inner pocket.
…Hey. There’s no one around now, right? Then can’t you at least take me out at a time like this?
The one he had been hiding in his inner pocket this whole time.
The wraith Frontera was grumbling.
Lloyd shook his head.
“Yeah, no.”
– Why not?
“Because it’s a pain.”
– What?
“If I take you out, you’ll just start whining and clinging to me again. Won’t you?”
– Hey, that’s—
“Right. Exactly. So I’m not taking you out. Because you’re loud and annoying.”
– Ha. So you’re just going to keep me locked up in here?
“Locked up is a bit harsh. Let’s call it protection.”
– That’s the same thing! Ugh, damn it!
He could feel something writhing and struggling inside the pocket.
Then the button on the inner pocket popped open.
The Frontera wraith stuck his head out.
– Whew! Damn! I almost suffocated to death in there!
“……”
– What’s with that serious face? I’m not coming all the way out. I’m just sticking my head out like this. What, is even that not allowed?
“Whew.”
– I’m the one who should be sighing. Think about it. I’ve been trapped in this pocket for an entire month. Crushed under all those fluffy things or whatever they are.
“That sounds nice. Warm, soft, and cozy.”
– Nice, my ass.
“……”
-“So after a whole month, I just want to poke my head out and get a little fresh air, and you won’t even allow that? You bastard, are you even human?
“Yeah, I’m human. You’re the wraith.”
– ……
“You were about to curse me just now, weren’t you?”
– Of course!
“But then you hesitated because the first curse that came to mind was about my parents. Wasn’t it?”
– …Damn. You’re annoyingly perceptive.
“Thanks. For finding me annoying.”
– ……
The Frontera wraith shut his mouth.
Lloyd, having successfully silenced him, enjoyed the satisfying quiet as well.
How long did they fly like that in silence?
In the end, it was the Frontera wraith who broke it first.
– Hey, fake.
“……”
– Hey.
“……”
– Ah, seriously. Aren’t you going to answer?
“Call me by name, and I’ll answer.”
– …Hey, Lloyd. Happy now?
“Yeah. What is it?”
– That thing. About helping me.
The Frontera wraith had both arms draped over the opening of the pocket as he looked outside.
Then he lifted his gaze to Lloyd.
His eyes were unusually serious.
The moment Lloyd saw that, he understood.
The reason this guy had stayed quiet all month.
The reason he had suddenly forced his way out of the pocket now.
It was to have this conversation.
‘Now that the railroad construction is finished, he must think it’s finally his turn. Or maybe he’s anxious I’ll just leave Hell like this.’
Probably both.
That was why he had stubbornly forced an opening to talk.
And as expected, the wraith asked in a suspicious tone.
– What’s going on? You said you’d look for a way.
An unwelcome question.
No, more than that, an awkward one.
Pretending to stay calm, Lloyd answered.
“I still haven’t found one.”
– What? Still?
“Yeah.”
– Why haven’t you found one?
He could see the Frontera wraith’s brows twist slightly.
Lloyd’s own brow creased in response.
‘Tsk. This is exactly why talking to this guy is so uncomfortable.’
He was the kind of person who kept making Lloyd feel a strange sense of guilt.
The kind who made it impossible to just brush off his complaints.
It was annoying.
It was bothersome.
But at the same time, Lloyd felt sorry for him.
And that left him not knowing how to deal with him.
So Lloyd answered in the flattest voice he could manage.
“I just haven’t. Really.”
– You haven’t found one?
“Yeah.”
– Really?
“Yeah.”
– Not that you haven’t even looked?
“……”
The Frontera wraith’s questions were starting to feel like needles.
And they kept coming.
– Be honest with me. You never really intended to look for a way to help me, did you?
“Hey. Why are you putting it like that…?”
– Because it’s true.
“……”
– Tell me. Have you even tried?
“I’ve been thinking about it too, trying to figure something out.”
– Liar.
“What?”
– Did you think I wouldn’t know? Thinking, my ass. You don’t think about it at all. No, all day long, all you thought about was how to build that railroad the King of Hell ordered, wasn’t it? Isn’t that right?
“Hey.”
-Did you think I spent the last month just fooling around in your pocket? I was listening. I was thinking too. Can you honestly say it isn’t true? That you never once seriously thought about helping me, you bastard?
“…Hey. Isn’t that going a little too far?”
Lloyd ground his teeth.
“Helping you isn’t easy for me either. You don’t know the method yourself. And yet you want me to find one. Do you think something like that can be figured out in just one month? Really?”
– Ha. Smooth talker. You’ve already moved on to excuses.
“What? Excuses?”
– Yeah. Excuses.
The Frontera wraith suppressed a sneer.
– Did you think I wouldn’t see through what you were really planning?
“My real plan?”
– You were going to deal with your own urgent matters first and buy time. Then later, you’d say you looked but couldn’t find anything, make a show of feeling sorry, and abandon me. That’s what you were going to do.
“……”
– You stole the body of someone who was living just fine. You stole his family, stole everything, and now you’re stringing around the wraith too. Ha. Damn bastard. You filthy thief.
“Hey.”
– What. If you’ve got something to say, say it.
“Stop talking like that. What changes if you do this?”
– Nothing changes. That’s exactly why I’m doing it.
“What?”
The Frontera wraith’s mocking tone deepened.
– You’re not going to help me anyway. I already know that, you bastard.
“…Ha. Seriously. Do you always have to treat me like I’m the criminal here?”
– Of course. Can you even deny it?
“I really didn’t want to say this.”
At last, Lloyd spat out the words he had been holding back.
“Even if I hadn’t stolen your body, you were going to die in a year and a half anyway. Did you know that?”
– What?
“The tavern where you went every day to cause trouble. You were fated to die in one of its back rooms, coughing up bowlfuls of blood.”
– You bastard… what kind of nonsense are you spouting?
“Want me to tell you the rest?”
– ……
The Frontera wraith fell silent.
Lloyd began to speak.
He finally said the things he had never been able to bring himself to say before.
The downfall of the Frontera barony that he had seen while reading Iron Blooded Knight.
The miserable ends waiting for Lloyd Frontera, the baron and his wife, and Julian.
He recounted all of it calmly.
Throughout that story, the Frontera wraith remained silent.
He simply listened.
And when Lloyd finally finished speaking, the wraith let out a bitter laugh.
– Ha. So you expect me to believe that?
“……”
– Fine. Let’s say I believe it, just to be generous. So what now, you bastard? Do you want me to bow my head and thank you for changing my family’s doomed fate? Do you want praise?
“Praise, my ass. I don’t want that.”
– Then what are you trying to say?
“Just that it’s the truth. So you should know it too. Because it was your life.”
Lloyd spoke like he was cutting the words out with a knife.
He was sick of arguing with this guy.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right. Maybe I am a thief. I have nothing to say, even if you curse me. And even now, honestly, I have no clue how to help you. It’s vague, and it’s overwhelming. But is that wrong?”
– ……
“Yeah, if that’s wrong too, then fine. Call it wrong. If I can’t find a way to help you, then I’ll become a sinner in your eyes. But what am I supposed to do? If I can’t find a way, then should I just go on living as your sinner? Then what? Should I die? That’s not it. I don’t have any other choice.”
– ……
“I don’t know anymore either. I’ve done what I could, in my own way, after entering your body. But if you’re just going to keep blaming me for everything, then I honestly don’t know what else I’m supposed to do. Don’t you think?”
– So I was a man doomed to die anyway. You stole my body, but you saved my family, so I should be grateful. Is that what you’re saying?
“Hey, that’s not what I meant.”
– What do you mean it isn’t? To me, it’s the same thing.
“What do you mean—”
Lloyd tried to argue back.
But he couldn’t.
Because the instant he turned to look at him, he saw it.
The Frontera wraith was crying.
– Yeah. I was a man doomed to die anyway. But that’s not the point. If I had died the way you said, a year and a half later, if I had died coughing up blood in the back room of a tavern, then at least I could’ve come to Hell and been judged, right?
“……”
– Yeah. If I had died like that, then at least I could have been punished in Hell. And after enduring it, I could have held on to the hope of reincarnation. But what am I now? What am I supposed to be? Why am I stuck like this? Belonging neither to this world nor the underworld. As a wraith. Why can’t I reincarnate? Why do I have to wander forever like this?
“Hey…”
– Enough. Sorry for whining so pathetically, bastard. Just do whatever you want and get lost.
That was the end of it.
The Frontera wraith scrambled back into the inner pocket.
He never stuck his head back out again, nor did he stubbornly insist on being let out.
Even when Lloyd spoke to him, he did not answer.
“……”
Lloyd had no idea what he was supposed to say in moments like this.
With mixed feelings, he let out a sigh.
Then, quietly stroking Ggoming’s feathers, he fixed his attention on the flight alone and pretended not to care.
And so the uncomfortable flight eventually came to an end.
He arrived at Hell Castle.
Passing through the now-familiar entrance, he entered the King of Hell’s office.
“Lloyd Frontera greets the rightful ruler of Hell.”
He bowed before the King of Hell.
The office looked no different from before.
A large office chair.
An even larger, plain desk.
Documents piled high like a mountain.
And the King of Hell, glancing over at him while continuing to work without pause.
“You’re here. State your business first.”
That attitude, completely buried beneath the mountain of paperwork, was unchanged as ever.
Lloyd swallowed a wry smile and replied.
“Yes. I have completed all the railroad construction you entrusted to me before.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, Ruler of Hell.”
“From what I hear, you also defeated a Lava Giant.”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“You must have had a difficult time.”
“Yes. Thank you for acknowledging it.”
“Huh. You don’t even pretend to be modest.”
“There’s no reason to.”
“Is that so. In any case, well done. Thanks to you, I was able to learn quite a bit about railroad construction techniques.”
“Don’t tell me you watched my entire construction process?”
“Of course.”
The King of Hell had already set down his pen and the documents.
Behind his rimless glasses, his eyes glinted sharply.
“I would say I’ve grasped the basic principles. Thanks to that, I think I have a rough understanding of how the tracks should be maintained.”
“Will it really be fine even if I don’t explain the rest?”
“I would be even more grateful if you explained it in detail. And the compensation for that will be sufficient.”
“Compensation?”
“If there is receiving, there must also be giving.”
The King of Hell answered as though that were the most natural thing in the world.
At those words, Lloyd secretly clenched his fist.
‘As expected of the King of Hell.’
He truly disliked getting something for nothing.
He preferred fair exchange.
Just as Lloyd had expected.
Then the King of Hell continued.
“Kim Suho. If you teach me the know-how for managing the railroad, I will grant you the right to use the Hell Railroad once.”
“The Hell Railroad Pass?”
“That’s right.”
The King of Hell nodded.
“If you use that pass, then in the future, when you die, even if you are judged and sentenced to fall into Purgatory for the many sins you have committed, you will unconditionally be allowed to use the Hell Railroad once.”
“That means…”
“It means you will be able to board the Hell Railroad and enter the Gate of Rebirth at the edge of Hell.”
“Whoa.”
Lloyd swallowed hard without meaning to.
He couldn’t help it.
Because in that instant, he fully understood the true meaning of the one-time Hell Railroad Pass the King of Hell was offering him.
‘This is basically a one-time exemption from Hell, isn’t it?’
No matter how evil the person.
No matter how much that soul deserved to be locked away in Hell’s Purgatory and made to suffer.
With the Hell Railroad Pass, they could ride to the edge of Hell and enter the Gate of Rebirth.
In other words, it meant they could escape punishment once, no matter what, and reincarnate.
‘…This is insane?’
A completely unexpected pass that exempted him from Hell.
Did this mean he had secured a way to enjoy the benefits not just while alive, but even after death?
The thought made his heart pound on its own.
His fist clenched on its own as well.
The reward had far exceeded his expectations.
Naturally, he found himself thinking that coming to Hell had really been the right choice.
And then, all of a sudden, he stopped.
Something occurred to him.
“……”
Lloyd’s attitude changed.
The fist he had clenched slowly relaxed.
His pounding heart also settled down.
A quiet look of contemplation spread across his face.
It was enough of a change for the King of Hell, who was watching him, to find it strange.
“Kim Suho, what is it? Is there something wrong with the compensation I’m offering?”
Perhaps he dislikes the Hell Railroad Pass.
The King of Hell tilted his head.
Lloyd slowly raised his gaze.
With a thoughtful expression, he replied.
“Ah, that’s not it. I have no complaints about the Hell Railroad Pass you’re offering me. However—”
“However?”
“There’s one thing I’m curious about.”
“What are you curious about?”
“This, perhaps.”
Lloyd slowly took a breath.
He organized his thoughts inwardly.
He let go of his lingering attachments.
He hardened his resolve.
And then he asked.
“The railroad pass you’re giving me—if I use it… can even a Wraith, wandering without a place to go, be reborn?”