Chapter 15: He Cried Quietly

---

I heard a sound—

a cold, familiar tone from the System.

But I ignored it.

My eyes were fixed on a lifeless body lying in the dirt.

A small child.

A little girl I had placed there gently before facing the Bandit Leader in battle.

Her name was Ruru.

One of the most cheerful children in the village.

Always running around barefoot, clinging, laughing, teasing, full of mischief.

And now—

still, cold, broken.

I walked toward her slowly, each step feeling heavier than the last.

It was as if the ground itself resisted me, weighed down by ash and grief.

Some homes were still burning, devoured by flames—Nathan's among them.

The air was thick with smoke, with blood, with sorrow.

Ash mixed with crimson on the ground.

The once joyful village was now drowned in screams and despair.

Ruru was just one among many.

Slain in this walking nightmare.

I knelt beside her and cupped her cheek gently with both hands.

Her skin was already cold.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, voice trembling.

The Bandit Leader's cruelty, the torment she endured—

And it broke something in me.

I lifted her small body into my arms.

Not far from us, I spotted a vacant table still standing.

I laid her down gently, brushing the dirt from her hair as if she were only sleeping.

Then I stood.

And I searched for the rest of them.

Every bandit I came across—I cut them down.

No hesitation.

I let my sword speak for me.

Blood painted the earth. Limbs flew. Heads rolled.

Those who tried to flee saw what I did to one of their own—beheaded in a single slash—and they ran. But none of them escaped.

I wasn't myself anymore.

As I moved through the ruins, I saw the aftermath of what they had done.

Mothers and young girls—violated.

Children—hiding in terror beneath shattered tables.

The village's guards—dead, scattered across the ground like discarded dolls.

Rage consumed me.

The System kept whispering in the background—but I shut it out completely.

I used the power of Fin's Ring.

It pulsed faintly, revealing the presence of those still alive—still hiding.

I found them.

One by one.

And I slaughtered them all.

Some cried.

Some dropped their weapons and begged.

But every voice that I heard from them brought back Ruru's lifeless body in my mind.

I approached the town center, where the last group had gathered—just a handful now.

They looked shaken, confused.

They were searching for something.

No—someone.

I reached into my inventory bag.

And pulled out the head of their leader.

Their eyes widened in horror as I threw it at their feet.

It hit the ground with a sickening thud and rolled before them.

Their expressions—

Terror.

Disbelief.

Trembling hands gripped blood-stained weapons, sweat trickling down pale faces.

I clenched my teeth, biting back a scream of hatred.

The blood on their armor made my stomach turn.

I activated my skill.

In a flash, I vanished from their sight.

The first bandit collapsed after seeing his comrades fall, one after another—throats cut, heads lopped off before they could react.

Only one was left.

We stared at each other.

He stood frozen in fear, staring at me as I approached—my body drenched in blood, eyes blazing.

I tossed my sword aside.

It was too stained to keep holding.

He slowly reached for a dagger—

turned it toward his own throat.

No.

Not like that.

I moved in an instant, slicing off both of his arms before he could plunge the blade into his neck.

His body dropped, writhing, screaming.

"A-ha… ha… ha-ha-ha…"

I laughed.

A low, broken laugh.

Not out of joy.

Not even out of rage.

Just emptiness.

I crouched beside him, grabbed his blood-drenched hair, and pulled his face up to mine.

We stared—

Eye to eye.

His tears mixed with the sweat and filth caking his cheeks.

"You don't get to kill yourself," I snarled.

"You don't deserve that mercy. I'll be the one to end you. Just like you ended the lives of the innocent—without hesitation, without pity."

He sobbed, trying to form words.

"Please… I'll change… I'll—"

Before he could finish, I shoved a dagger into the side of his head.

My other hand gripped his hair tightly.

Blood rushed out like a whisper, warm and sickening.

I let his corpse fall to the ground.

I stood again, staring down at the bodies surrounding me.

My dagger slipped from my fingers and landed beside them.

And then I fell to my knees.

Tears welled in my eyes and poured down my cheeks—hot, bitter, shameful.

The memories returned like knives to the chest.

The guilt. The powerlessness.

I had played Alfiria Saga for over two decades.

I knew every inch of the world. Every hidden system.

But none of it mattered.

Not now.

Hidden Savepoints. Hidden Scenarios?

Damn it all.

"Leben."

A voice.

I turned slowly.

Nathan stood behind me.

He looked hollow. Grieving.

His eyes were red, voice trembling, crushed under the weight of loss.

Behind him were the few survivors—mothers, elders, trembling children.

They moved forward quietly.

And one by one, they knelt on the blood-soaked earth.

"Thank you, Leben," Nathan said, bowing until his forehead touched the ground.

"Even at the end… you protected us."

I looked at them.

But I couldn't say a word.

I couldn't move.

I let the tears fall.

And I stayed there, motionless, surrounded by ash, blood, and the ghosts of those I couldn't save.

---

(Nathan's PoV)

I screamed until my throat gave out.

I begged the bandits to stop.

To spare them.

To spare anyone.

But they only laughed.

Monsters in human skin—

Drunk on violence, gorging themselves on the suffering of others.

They dragged women into the open and tore their clothes from their bodies like animals.

They kicked down doors, pulled crying children from their hiding places.

And they laughed.

I wanted to move.

I wanted to fight.

But my knees were shaking.

My hands, gripping the spear, trembled with every step.

Then I saw it.

Leben and the Bandit Leader, sword drawn. Wounded, bloodied— but standing.

And then, in one brutal motion, the Bandit Leader's blade tore through him.

I watched as Leben's body dropped to the dirt like a broken puppet.

A moment later, I saw a small figure beside him.

Ruru.

No… no, please…

I staggered forward, the spear slipping from my hands as I fell to my knees.

My vision blurred.

The world was spinning.

I wanted to run to them—

But my legs wouldn't move.

The pain in my chest felt like fire.

Was this the judgment of the Goddess Alfiria?

Was this… punishment?

And then—

Leben's body vanished.

Like mist in the morning.

Even the Bandit Leader paused, confused.

He looked around, cautious.

That's when Leben reappeared.

Behind him.

Steel flashed.

The Bandit Leader reeled back, a deep gash across his back.

And then he too vanished.

What followed…

I couldn't follow.

They were too fast.

I only caught glimpses.

A spray of blood.

A severed arm.

A flash of movement.

Leben struck again—then again.

His limbs were torn. He fell. He vanished.

Reappeared. Struck. Vanished again.

And then—

Silence.

The Bandit Leader fell to the ground with a Dagger pierced in his head.

Leben stood over him.

Victorious.

He walked back to where Ruru lay.

He lifted her tiny body into his arms.

And placed her gently on a table, brushing her hair aside.

I tried to approach, but I stopped when I saw his eyes.

Those weren't the eyes of a man.

They were fire—burning, wild, inhuman.

He disappeared again.

A moment later, the village square echoed with screams.

Not from us—

From them.

The bandits.

Their laughter turned into shrieks of panic.

One by one, they were hunted.

One by one, they were butchered.

We heard them beg.

We heard them cry.

But Leben was relentless.

Until nothing remained—

but silence.

And him.

Kneeling alone in the center of the village, covered in blood, shoulders trembling.

We approached slowly.

No one said a word.

I led them—what few of us were left.

Those who had survived by miracle or chance.

And when we stood before him, I dropped to my knees.

Pressed my forehead to the blood-soaked earth.

"Thank you, Leben," I whispered, voice cracked and hollow.

"Even at the end… you protected us."

He didn't speak.

Didn't move.

His tears fell freely.

And somehow, that broke me even more.

Because even after everything,

Leben still cried.

---

A few days passed.

The remains of those slain by the bandits were buried just beyond the village, a few meters away. The survivors worked together—hands calloused and hearts heavy—to give them the peaceful rest they deserved.

I stood there in silence, staring at the rows of humble graves.

In my hand, I held a brown scarf, delicately embroidered with the words "Kuya Leben."

Ruru's mother had sewn it herself.

It was meant to be a gift that night.

Ruru had worn it before… before everything. Before life left her tiny body.

I couldn't feel my eyes anymore—

Only the slow, steady fall of tears down my cheeks.

"Leben," a soft voice called beside me.

It was Nathan.

"You did everything to protect us," he said gently.

"If Ruru saw you crying right now… she'd probably start crying too. You know how she was."

He tried to smile.

But when I looked at him, I saw tears in his eyes as well.

He wasn't fooling anyone.

I couldn't respond.

I just stood there—

Watching him, watching the graves.

"I'll rebuild the village, Leben," Nathan said, voice filled with steel.

"I swear I'll make this place safe. I swear nothing like this will ever happen again."

I spoke, my voice colder than the wind.

"I'll wipe them out."

Nathan turned to me slowly.

There was something in his eyes—a flicker of fear.

I wasn't the same man anymore.

"Every last bandit on the map…

I will erase them."

He didn't say anything.

He just stood there, looking at me—

As if trying to see the soul that used to live behind my eyes.

---

(Nathan's PoV)

Five months passed.

And like a phoenix from the ash, the village rose again.

Thanks to Leben's donation of three Alfiria Coins, we were able to rebuild—stronger than before.

We named the new settlement Gram Village.

We established a local Adventurers' Department, with mercenaries and trained guards who swore to defend Gram at all costs.

We built a blacksmith's forge.

An apothecary.

An orphanage for the children left behind.

And homes for refugees who came from faraway lands, searching for safety.

Even the nobles from the capital took notice.

Some came to invest—offering donations and assistance, curious how a single village had destroyed an entire bandit syndicate.

They were in awe of what Leben had done.

We erected a sacred barrier, blessed by the Church of Goddess Alfiria, to protect the village from roaming monsters and future attacks.

I was in charge of it all.

Most of my days were spent in my small office—

Stacks of parchment, books, and mission scrolls lining the walls.

I processed new quests, reviewed requests, and handled registration for new families settling in Gram.

Then, one quiet afternoon, the door creaked open.

A man stepped inside—

Tall, quiet, cloaked in black.

His clothes were stained with dried blood.

His long, dark hair flowed like waves, and his eyes… empty.

He wore a brown scarf.

"Leben," I said softly, standing from my desk.

He said nothing at first.

He dropped a heavy sack to the floor.

It thudded like it was full of stone. But I knew better.

"Display these in the village square," Leben said, voice hollow.

"Post their names on every wooden beam."

He approached my desk, picked up a handful of new wanted posters from the pile—

Then turned to leave.

I wanted to offer him food.

Water.

Rest.

Anything.

But he vanished before I could speak.

I looked down at the sack.

I didn't need to open it to know.

Inside were the severed heads of bandit leaders.

He was still out there.

Still hunting.

Still carrying the grief of one small girl—

And the weight of an entire village.

---