The Paladin Owns the Relic

75 – Search for Paramer (21)

There was a monster.

A monster who loved humans.

And there was a human who did not love the monster, but pretended to love it because he needed it.

The story before Paramer was alive and well. The story of when it was just a small town, let alone development.

A tale of a time when a clock tower was all they had flowed from Per Bach’s lips.

“…Ariswa is my ancestor. She is a different person from Aris, the slave of the Clock Tower. A person from hundreds of years ago…That is, Bach’s wife. When Para Mer was still a village, she was reputed to be the prettiest. If there was a flaw, it was only that the body was very weak.”

Perbach pointed down.

“At that time, Paramer had a legend. Scary sounds sometimes flow from the underdeveloped underground lighthouse. They say it makes a strange sound like a monster’s cry.”

Flora interrupted the conversation.

“…Is he the cause of Paramere?”

“That’s right. And Aris was a weak but brave girl. The ambition was also great. Allowing her own aching body to step more freely, she wanted to grow the whole Para Mer.”

“…With that monster…”

“You are right. Aris took Bach as her attendant wherever she went. And Bach had her love for her. Aris was the same. And between them, a monster came in. A monster of subterranean luminosity. A monster that you don’t know how long it’s been living in the far underground under the clock tower.”

Perbach sighed.

“Aris encountered the monster. It was terribly intentional. She wanted to meet the monster from the start. Longed to be her own strength. Aris was a very clever woman. She visited the underground luminary every day to whisper her love to avoid being eaten by monsters, and to relieve her loneliness. Her ancestor, Bach, was also always attached to her. This is a story that can be found in his diary.”

“…Ugh. All I see here is a phrase filled with jealousy? Even a lot of swear words…”

“As I said before, the two were in a romantic relationship. Wouldn’t you be angry to see the woman you love seduce someone who doesn’t even look like a human being, and you didn’t tell the monster? But Aris and Bach both persevered. It was because I saw the future in monsters.”

The bookshelf was overturned. Flora frowned.

“…What is this?”

“It is the truth.”

“But this…”

List.

All the names written are crossed out.

“The murder list… Is the truth?”

“It was the power of a monster. All the monsters were involved in anything that would help Paramer. The monster helped a lot in the growth of the small town of Paramer. Eliminate competitors and make Paramer a metropolis. Aris, who praised her for her achievements and even received her title of nobility, seemed to have fulfilled her own ambitions. But…”

“…Wait a minute.”

Flora hurriedly turned her bookshelf back.

“Hey, here it is… Was this also written by Bach? All of these curse words?”

“Bach and Aris were lovers. Like I said before, you must have felt like your spouse had been taken away. Even if it’s all a play.”

“Ha, but this…”

Dry saliva went down her throat.

“Sah, can a person… Write something that slanders and hates someone like this? Are you still a monster who helped you?”

“To them, the monster was just a ‘monster’ with a human heart. It wasn’t treated as a single person. He was an errand boy, no more, no less. If the monster’s usefulness ended, they were always ready to seal him.”

“Ha, but this is still too harsh…”

I looked over Flora’s shoulder. Red letters. Words of curse that seemed to contain the intent to kill each letter.

His head was pounding. Even just looking at the letters, I can feel hostility.

A diary written by a woman who mixed her body with a monster she hates for her own ambitions, and a man who had to stare at her.

Ferbach said calmly. His eyes were infinitely sunken.

“Paramer has become a big city. Aris’ house was overflowing with money and power. With the lift of one of his hands, he could command a private soldier, so he didn’t need a monster anymore.”

“Eh, since he used everything he could use, he sealed the road?! What nonsense is that…!”

“He was such a person. And surprisingly, the monster also cooperated. As Aris’ enemies grew, and he realized that he was behind them, the Order, which was the core force of the Empire at the time, moved. If the connection between the monster and Paramer was revealed, even the woman he loved would be involved, so the monster wanted to sleep on its own. One side was a lie, but it was a love that could have given one’s life to someone.”

“…You are too… Cruel…”

“After the monster disappeared, Aris married Bach. As a mere servant, he was able to raise the name Bach to the position of lord of Paramer. Aris lived happily, and Bach did not play a small role until he died of old age. There were some troubles written in the diary…But it wasn’t a big deal. Both had a happy ending.”

It was a happy ending for a piece of trash.

“…And.”

Perbach sighed.

“It has been hundreds of years since Paramer became a metropolis. We kept digging and going down. There was an abundance of underground resources, and it was the driving force behind Paramer’s wealth. Digging… And digging… I kept digging and going down like that…”

“…Is the sleeping monster awake?”

“Yes. The sound of the excavator reached the deep underground pit where the monster walked down alone.”

The story behind that, well, can be found in the letter. Wandering around, digging up traces of an ex-lover, and that’s how I realized the truth.

A love that was dotted with false love. But even so, the memories of the past that I couldn’t forget.

In the end, there is only one ending.

In the buried time capsule, the monster saw a record it shouldn’t have seen.

The monster that gave up its humanity stopped making choices for itself. He approached a slave in the clock tower who looked like Aris and begged him to use himself as a tool like before.

The slave of the clock tower, the girl named ‘Aris’ accepted his request. It was also a request from a friend she kept secret from others, and when the ‘freedom’ she so longed for came out of his mouth, she couldn’t bear to refuse.

The story of the two started like that, but it ended quickly. Aris was imprisoned in the Clock Tower without gaining her desired freedom, and as a result of her monster colliding with the last of Para Mer’s powers, Aris was separated from her and sealed at the top of her Clock Tower.

But…

This is where the Corruptor intervened. Originally, the guys who should have met their end separately met.

I stood up. I felt like I was getting my homework checked, probably because I knew it all.

“Per Bach. Is the story over?”

“…Yes. It’s done.”

“Then you have to leave?”

“……”

Ferbach looked up at the swaying Paramer. A shaking that never stopped.

“…Aris is getting ready to go out. The slaves of the Clock Tower wanted freedom. She probably also… She wanted freedom.”

“Don’t pretend to be sentimental. You don’t even deserve that.”

“I know. Priest. But… Aris, until she finds real freedom, she won’t stop. For her, her freedom is a world without adults oppressing her. In other words, she will try to exterminate most humans.”

Perbach whispered.

“Priest.”

“……”

“Will you please stop Aris?”

“Isn’t it too shameless to say it to atone for sins? I will put the final responsibility on me.”

“I know. But…”

Ferbach closed his eyes.

“Belatedly, I saw it properly, so I will take responsibility. I’ll teach you how to take control of the city security devices hidden beneath the city of Paramer. If it’s that magic mechanism sleeping deep inside the treasure house… It should be able to stop Aris.”

What?

Is that the first time you’ve heard of it? Isn’t that a setting you didn’t know about in the game?

“…Is there such a thing? Why didn’t you write that sooner?”

“I didn’t expect the situation to spread to this extent. And that’s a siege weapon. There was an ambiguous feeling to write about on that plague-like night. If you fire it inside, the citizens of Paramer will surely get involved, so you can’t use it. I’ll also give you the key to the treasure house. If you need anything, you can use it right there.”

Flora bit her lip.

“If you’re going to regret it now, why would you regret it, you’d rather know that it’s the clock tower…!”

“As the priest said, it is already too late to regret it. No matter what you say to me in the past who thought of slaves as mere numbers, there is no way the reality will change.”

Perbach raised his head.

“Priest. Would you please pray for me?”

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue. But, well, they say they give you everything you don’t have, but pray at least once.

“I won’t lie. Perbach. You will suffer even in death.”

“That sounds terrible.”

Perbach laughed.

“But I’m glad the last one wasn’t ugly.”

. . .

Aris, the slave of the clock tower, opened her eyes.

「You can’t do it alone! It takes a lot to get out of here!」

Who said that? I slowly retrace my memory.

…Ah.

That’s what Ferris said. Short hair. Lively personality. The child who was in charge of the bottom gear.

It was a friend. Aris hugged her lap.

…She was a friend.

Honestly, I don’t know. Because now I can’t ask even if I want to ask.

That we were friends… I hope she thinks…

“…….”

Monster, whispered Pierre. Aris nodded her head.

Pierre granted what he wanted. If he wanted help he would lead me on the right path.

But unlike before, I couldn’t have a proper conversation. When he first came to the clock tower, he was obviously human. But he was different now.

I can’t talk anymore. From the moment he said to write himself, the monster became a non-human monster.

If you ask one-sidedly, the other side will only answer one-sidedly.

Aris looked blankly in front of her from within the rotten throne.

“…I want to go out.”

What kind of freedom did she dream of in the clock tower?

Aris was curious. Looking down from the clock tower, Paramer was very pretty. The world that was immersed in the calm sunset made my eyes sparkle.

The city was like that, but what about outside?

I wonder if there is endless water like Ferris said. She had heard that there was only ice somewhere, but could that be real?

…I’m curious.

Aris stroked the standing shadow. Countless eyes in the dark quietly closed their eyes.

As if dreaming of her, Aris also closed her eyes.

It’s the same inside the clock tower and here.

From noble mtl dot com.

When I close my eyes, as always… I hear the sound of a carriage.

. . .

The beginning was unfamiliar. The sound of the carriage stopped, and the world that unfolded before my eyes was too much for a child to handle.

“Get off.”

Among the numerous children, a girl was also included. Because of the shackles on her feet, she had to walk with a limp.

Adults.

There were many adults there. But not a single one made eye contact.

“Isn’t it okay to steal one or two?”

“Where are you going to use these blood clots?”

“I have to sell it to Paramer again.”

“Arthur. If you get caught, your neck will fly.”

It’s the same.

She is all like herself with her eyes looking at her stuff.

The girl’s life began anew there. He was able to take care of the clock tower’s parts, sleep in the basement of the clock tower, live inside the clock tower, and look down on Paramer from the top of the clock tower once a day.

Ten minutes a day.

That was her only free time.

“Can you see?”

The manager of the clock tower grinned as he showed Paramer in the setting sun.

“Paramer is a beautiful city. Do not forget that you have to work harder to make that city shine more beautifully.”

It was a breathtaking sight. Shiny roof. Countless people bathed in brilliant light. Delicious smell. White mist rising from the chimney.

Someone muttered.

“…I want to go out.”

The answer came back with a threshing.

“You guys only think about repairing the clock tower! Stop talking nonsense!”

The girl swallowed her words that she was pretty. Because those words seemed right the moment I spit them out.

Life was repeated as if it were rolling on a treadmill. The girl worked quietly. If the parts she was in charge of were broken, she had to starve herself for the rest of the day.

Bread tasteless. A glass of water.

Even the food that can barely move the body disappears.

”Don’t eat too much! If you eat, your body grows! Eat as little as possible! Keep in mind that if you eat too much and your body swells up, you will become useless!”

The manager always carried a whip. If there was a problem at the clock tower, he called the child and hit him on the back painfully.

The girl has also been beaten a few times. It was a pain she never wanted to go through again. It was too much for my poor body to handle because I couldn’t eat.

“Make no mistake! Make no mistake!”

A mistake.

The girl knew what that mistake meant on the third day after she came in.

A child got stuck in a cog wheel. The girl whose eyes met her reached out her hand.

But she splattered blood first.

The mouth that was secretly talking was crushed. She was dirty from unwashed, but her pretty red hair was deeply tangled in her gears.

Kwadeudeuk.

The sound was terrible.

“…Ah.”

The girl looked at the stopped clock tower. What was her child slowly shook her chunk of meat.

She didn’t move it anymore. She just dangled from side to side of her.

“You stupid bastards! How many times have I told you not to make mistakes!”

Everyone was beaten that night. The girl slowly cleaned her soiled parts, because it was next to her corpse. I ripped off her skin and put her pursed lips in her puddle.

She then thought for the first time.

I want to get out of here.

“Let’s run away together.”

Everyone listened to the words of her child, Ferris, whom she had whispered before going to bed. He was lively and sparkling with dreams. She was a child whom even girls often glanced at.

“If you want to escape from here, you can’t do it alone. I need a lot of people. Everyone is helping me to subdue the manager.”

“Ooh, can we be together…?”

“You can do it! As long as you get out of here, you’re free. You’re sick of the clock tower now, aren’t you? Yes?”

Ferris smiled broadly.

“Let’s escape the adults who imprison us and create our own village! Eat as much as you can, sleep as much as you can!”

He glanced at the girl. It was the first moment our eyes met.

“Are you going with me?”

The girl nodded her head. She took his hand.

Tomorrow you will finally be free.

Barely suppressing her swollen breasts, the girl stood up the next day. She and she saw.

The head of a child named Ferris is hanging underground.

“Your home is here. If you conspire with a strange plan, you know this will happen.”

A corpse with its tongue out. Her face, which had been smiling broadly, was strangely rigid. The girl stared blankly at him.

Muttered the manager.

“You have to buy another slave. After all, there is at least one person. These stupid bastards.”

The girl wanted to talk.

He wasn’t stupid at all.

He was rather a wonderful person.

“……”

But no voice came out. She didn’t want to be like him.

I didn’t want to die. The girl wanted to get her freedom.

Freedom, not death.

Time has passed. The girl’s body gradually grew, but her growth stopped at the last minute. Her uneaten body was as small as a child, and her height remained in place even as she grew older.

The girl became a slave to the clock tower where she served the longest. But she still longed for her freedom.

Ten minutes a day.

The time to visit Paramer.

Even on that day when everyone was tired of it and decided to take a break, the girl was looking down at the outside. And she ran into him.

“…Aris?”

The moment I first got the name ‘Aris’.

That day, the girl’s stopped time also moved.

As the clock tower’s minute hand chimed in time, she reached out her hand.

“…Yeah.”

The voice I hadn’t heard in a long time was unfamiliar.

But she didn’t like it.

. . .

Aris opened her eyes. The surroundings were quiet. Rotten flesh wriggled silently, forming an endless army.

In this way, said Pierre, she would gain ‘freedom’. Aris nodded her head.

She builds an army, and when she’s ready, let’s go out of Para Mer.

Kill all the adults who get in your way and go see what you want to see.

That’s real freedom.

“…Aris.”

Muttering her name given to herself, the girl hugged her knees.

“Aris… Will be free.”

That will happen.

… She must be.

Because she had always dreamed of it.