Ch82 Fear of truth

"Haa... Where should I go first?"

With a small sigh, I roamed outside the hospital corridor unsure of where I should go first.

Tak—

Hearing footsteps I turned my head to look back, A man with frenzy green hair was walking down the stairs, his head down, seemingly depressed.

What's with this sudden trend in depression? First me, then Elda and now even Franz. Is depression moving in the air?

"...Franz!" Without much delay I called out his name, he looked up and finally saw me... his eyes swollen. Was he crying?

"...Asher." He muttered in a small voice then sighed as he walked towards me.

"Sorry... I was unable to give you a visit." Franz said stopping in front of me.

"It's alright, I was planning to give you and your team a visit today anyway... Is everything okay— You, Um... look rather depressed."

Not wanting to embarrass him, I chose my words carefully.

He was not looking well, he gazed down his stare stuck on the floor before speaking.

"No, it's not okay. Anything actually— Everything has been messed up. My team is broken and beaten, one has died while the other is still in a critical situation, her life is still in danger... I don't know what to do." His hands moved to grab his head, seemingly in pain.

I could see the pain in his eyes as he spoke, the weight of his words hanging in the air. The silence was heavy, filled with the echo of his sorrow.

Franz sighed and looked me in the eyes, I knew that look. I had made such faces many times by now.

It was a look of despair and guilt. That was eating him from the inside.

I put my hand on his shoulders, making him flinch below my hand's weight.

"I–I don't have any words on how I can console you, I am not good with that. But… I am a good listener. If there is something you would like to rant about and anything I can help with don't hesitate to ask me for help."

I offered, trying to be as supportive as I could.

Franz took a deep breath, his eyes searching my face as if looking for a solution to his troubles.

"Thank you... I will keep your words in my mind."

With a sigh he walked over to the bench and sat on it, looking at the clear blue sky. I followed after and took a seat beside him.

"...How did this happen? And is everyone's condition very serious?"

I kept my voice low before asking, looking at me he smiled and rubbed his face.

"You don't need to change your way of speaking with me, this is not my first time seeing them injured... or dead, my team I mean."

Franz's voice was laced with sadness, his eyes never leaving the horizon.

"But it still hurt, doesn't it... I understand the pain of losing someone, maybe even more than anyone else in this world." With a small pause, I remembered some of Morgana's words before adding. "All the world's actually."

I don't know if we could consider different dimensions a world, but I should not be far from the truth.

Franz pursed his lips before looking at me, he looked rather confused over my words but in the end, he let out a small chuckle.

"Yeah... you are right it always hurts, no matter how many times we face it. But this is the kind of work we do, this is our job." He paused and looked straight outside the small garden we were sitting in, his gaze looked for something but seemingly couldn't find it.

"It was Victor... the guy you escaped from last time." He added in a slow voice.

Saying that he stood up, shaking his head he looked at Asher whose eyes were wide open in shock.

"Let's meet others, I am sure you wanted to give them a visit, right?"

I licked my lips unsure of what to say.

"Yes, please lead the way." I slowly nodded keeping my calm, not letting my shock show anymore.

We walked down the corridor, the walls adorned with medical scrolls, the air thick with the scent of herbs and medicines.

Franz's steps were calm but he didn't look carefree, he still had his guilt. Some simple words can not heal his pain. But time will, after all, we are humans. Time had the power to heal even the deepest wounds and give the fate to undo the mistakes made in the past.

But not everyone gets that chance, like me. I didn't know how far my powers would go, or how they would change with time. But, I still hope they will give me the choice to live the life I wish for.

Franz paused beside a door and held its handle calmly in his palm, he turned to look at me gave and a small gaze of contemplation before opening the door with a soft clicking sound.

Click—

Inside the room, a girl with black hair and grey eyes was lying on the bed, beside her was a man of the same age as her sitting on a chair. He looked nervous and gave a scholar aura due to his glasses.

"I have brought a friend... He wanted to meet you all, after hearing about your condition."

Franz spoke as we stepped into the room, his tone slightly lighter as if trying to lift the mood. The man in glasses looked up, his eyes widening in surprise before he quickly composed himself and stood up.

The girl on the bed, however, remained still, unresponsive to the new presence in the room.

"I am Peter and she is Rose... sorry for her unresponsive behavior, she is still sad as you can see."

He extended his hand toward me for a handshake, taking his hand, I held it firmly before introducing myself.

"I am Asher, but you both might know me... as the Reaper."

Franz's eyes widened in surprise as he heard. He had not expected me to reveal myself here. But I felt it was my responsibility that they were in this state right now.

"R-Reaper...?" Peter stuttered, his eyes wide with shock.

My words seem to have also caught Rose's attention as she was also staring at me.

"Asher... you said that you wanted to remain hidden. Why will you reveal your identity right now?"

Franz asked in disbelief as he took a step closer.

"I just wanted them to know that I was part of the battle they fought. But yeah I will appreciate it if you can keep this fact hidden."

Rose who had been silent all this time looked at me in the eyes, before saying. "You... don't need to feel guilty, we got injured because we were not strong enough to fight that man.—And this is our job."

Seeing her determination I could only nod, there was no reason for me to do anything else.

But why was he afraid? I looked at Peter who seemed rather nervous by my presence.

"Are there any problems?" I asked.

"No, rather I was just left stunned for a moment" He paused and took a seat, seeing that Franz also followed his steps taking a seat beside the bed.

"....Victor that man was very strong we couldn't harm him at all, but he was looking for you. So I was at a loss of words for how strong you might be."

"Ah, I see." I hesitated for a moment and also took a seat beside them.

"To tell the truth instead of being strong... I would say I am lucky."

I chuckled a bit, trying to ease the tension in the room, but my heart was heavy. Luck had brought me here, but it had also painted a target on my back.

I wanted to sigh again but kept it inside me.

"Anyway, how are you all doing?"

I turned to Peter, trying to shift the focus from myself to the current state of his group.

"We're holding on," Peter said, his voice strained. "But we're not in the best of conditions. Rose took the brunt of the attack. She's a tough one, though." He glanced at her, his expression a mix of admiration and concern.

"I was not injured as he ignored me after knocking both of us out, the one who suffered the most is our other companions...Tylor, you may not know him but was a very strong and impressive fighter. He fought to his last breath.— While Nena... she is alive but her insides have been twisted, the doctors said she will survive, it will take time, maybe months but she will wake up." He smiled before adding.

"...She is not here but in the observation ward on the upper floors, when she wakes up I hope you can visit her as well."

"I will," I responded solemnly. " Um... did that bastard say anything else? To any of you."

Peter looked at Rose, she had not heard anything after being knocked out but Peter did, he was the last one who saw everyone before losing consciousness.

"He was looking for you, are you aware of that?" Peter asked.

His tone was serious, as if sick and disgusted by something.

"He did come to meet me later, I am sorry but he escaped from me once again."

Peter was not disappointed rather he looked... relief.

"That's good to hear... It means we can kill him ourselves when the time comes.— —Oh also he said that if we had not attacked him first, he would have left without fighting."

The room went silent as we heard Peter's words, I could tell how much anger and resentment would have built up in them by now.

But there was a fact, that I couldn't share with them.

Maybe Victor was telling the truth— His personality no matter how twisted and weird may seem to the world. I could tell one fact he would not lie, simply because he doesn't need to.

He had the confidence to fight them— Kill them even, yet some of them are still alive. He could have even said it to bring them to the brink of despair, so he kept them alive.

Hence, proving his word as the truth.

"You know," Peter spoke up, breaking the heavy silence. "It's strange, but when we first heard about the Reaper, we were all scared. But now, after what we've seen and what you've done, it feels like... you're one of us."

"Not much should be known about me though?" I asked with a small smile, "There must be some unusual rumors going around by now."

"There are not many, but each one depicted you either as a demon or a hero... Not many could just kill so many awakened and awakeners alike."

Rose spoke up, her voice was soft but it held a certain strength to it. It was clear she had accepted the harsh truth of this world, where survival was the only thing that mattered.

"I see, luckily I have not heard them myself."

The reality looked much worse than I had thought, I could only hope that these rumors would soon calm down.

"Anyway, we would need to leave soon as well, the memorial ceremony will start soon."

Franz said as he stood up, and looked at me.

"...And Asher you should meet Lady Morgana after that, she had asked for your presence later."

"Got it."

I paused for a moment and looked at Peter.

"Are you also going?" I asked.

Peter thought for a moment before looking at Rose.

"I don't think... We all will do one after Nena wakes up... We still need to respect Tylor's death together."

They were teammates, and all of them were close I could tell this. Even a bit envious, to tell the truth.

But it will be alright in the future.