No Dark Secrets In This Book

Episode 156

‘This bastard has been pretending to be normal…’

I have to deceive the deceiver. Who do you think I am!

‘I’m Jeong Ian! I’m much better at pretending to be normal!’

In that sense, I declare.

Ryuseong right now… is crazy. The reason I’m criticizing others when I’m unquestionably crazy myself is because Ryuseong is truly crazy…

He originally has no will to live. He lacks the emotions that anyone alive should have. He has no desire to live.

I had it. I’m someone who desperately held on because I wanted to live. It’s just that there were often times when I was tired and wanted to let go.

But Ryuseong has no particular will to live and finds many things futile.

He continues to live only because he likes the lingering attachments, relationships, and people he holds in his hands, but he thinks this world is fleeting.

The opposite of me. I felt empty because I had nothing to hold on to, but I liked this world.

Is that why? Ryuseong doesn’t hesitate to commit acts that one shouldn’t do if they want to live. He jumps off a cliff with me, gets eaten by monsters, and shows no traumatic response… I can let that slide. But there is no sign of the aversion to killing and conflict with ethics that drove me crazy as the non-killing dark fantasy protagonist in the original work.

I ask again. How many do you think we killed to get here?

How much blood is flowing around us?

The whole world is drenched in blood, but even as he steps through the puddles of blood, Ryuseong has an indifferent face.

Something fundamental about the character has been turned upside down. It’s gone haywire. It’s lost its way.

‘So that bastard is not in his right mind right now…’

How chilling it was when I realized that.

On the way here, Ryuseong didn’t personally kill a single person trying to kill me. Instead, he turned them into monster feed.

While doing so, he had a serene expression.

At the time, I thought it was fortunate, but now that I think about it, it’s unspeakably creepy. Is it okay to turn people into monster feed because it’s not directly killing them? But if he had a conscience that could be conveniently justified in that way, he wouldn’t have been able to insist on non-killing throughout the fierce struggles in the original work. But why?

‘Why have you changed?’

Meanwhile, the crowd was staring at us with their mouths wide open. I glanced at them with a smile, and I don’t know how they took it, but no one opened their mouth about the matter anymore.

Perhaps it was because the head of the Hanra clan opened his mouth.

“Young Clan Leader. Now that it’s come to this, I’ll ask frankly. I don’t think you’re someone who will have your position as the young clan leader taken away. Anyway, there are too many suspicious things. In the first place, if he was the clan leader, couldn’t he revoke your position as the young clan leader? But why did he handle this in such a public way? I think you would have some idea.”

“It’s not that I don’t…”

The clan leader uses honorifics, considering the meeting as an official occasion. He’s approaching me so politely that it makes me a bit hesitant. Even though I’m not Cassis Demillang, I still have some experience. It’s been several months since I’ve been possessed, so I should be able to use my head, right?

“…But it’s too dangerous to tell just anyone.”

“Are you insulting our clan leader now?”

Just anyone, perhaps offended by those words, the clan leader’s guard stepped forward with a growl. The “anyone” I was targeting was more the elders and family members rather than the head of the Hanra clan, but… since their behavior seemed quite immature, I was about to watch with a quiet smile when I heard the sound of gripping a sword. At the murderous sound coming from behind my back, I instantly tensed my muscles and turned around to see Ryuseong staring at the guard with a stance just before drawing his sword.

Ryuseong was standing in the deepest seat behind the head seat, even inside the shadowed tent, and the candlelight was placed in the center of the table. So Ryuseong’s eyes flickered with a burning color, and behind that, a long shadow was swaying darkly like a shadow.

“Don’t come.”

“You…”

“I am in charge of the young clan leader’s full guard duties by the clan leader’s order. I cannot exclude you from being a target of vigilance just because you are an elder. Even today’s event was like that. Putting aside the unidentifiable people in black, even the assassins from the Demon Realm all flocked here. I am well acquainted with your character, but can a foolish junior believe that your approach is not an assassination attempt?”

As the warrior swept back his hair as if frustrated, his rough voice became thick with murderous energy.

“I warned you.”

“…”

“Next time, I’ll cut you.”

Only then did the guard relax his arm. I found even that ridiculous and laughed out loud a little.

‘Are you saying I’m a kite with a broken string…?’

You bastard, aren’t you afraid of Cassis Demillang? I wanted to retort, but the problem was that I knew the reason. Cassis Demillang was being disrespected because I didn’t act like Cassis Demillang.

If it were normal, he would have slapped his face or cut off his legs, easily crushing the insult with force…

Because I couldn’t do that to someone Ryuseong knew, he was getting cocky…

‘Do I need to fix my habits too?’

But how do I really fix it? Both Ryuseong and me.

Feeling upset, I decided to realistically lead the meaningless and worthless discussion by leisurely snatching the muddled atmosphere of the meeting.

Even so, there’s not much I can say “now.”

“The clan leader would have only conveyed “certain facts” to the media, right? Then we just have to wait a little longer.”

“What do you mean wait for what?”

“Hmm. Who knows?”

“Please, can’t you be a little more cooperative?”

“Isn’t it only in dreams that the relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is good?”

“…”

Oh… The clan leader’s expression seems to have reached a dangerous level.

‘Oops.’

But what can he do about it?

‘I’m not really Cassis Demillang.’

“It’s fine, so feel free to talk meaninglessly like you were doing earlier. Even if you can’t solve anything, it will ease your anxieties.”

“…Such leisurely words…”

But there is something only I, who has read the original work, can know. The future that only I know. What only I know…

“If you don’t want to talk, I’ll open my mouth. Do you know anything about Demillang’s Council of Elders?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m an insider, so I’m curious about the outside perspective. Is there any information known to the public?”

“No…”

Most of the people around, except for a few European-based families, are elders of the Korean clan association, and they all have quite uncomfortable expressions. Are they thinking what nonsense this young fellow is spouting? Oh my, I can’t even go all out because it’s in front of Ryuseong. Just as I was thinking that Cassis Demillang would never tolerate such a reaction, the guard opened his mouth.

“Isn’t everything about Demillang’s Council of Elders a secret? Even who belongs to it… It’s not something everyone can join just because they get old, and even those who have risen to the position of elder all maintain confidentiality. They say the Council of Elders can change the clan leader if they reach a unanimous decision, but since they don’t even know each other’s identities, such a thing almost never happens…”

“Ah, so that’s the impression people have. Mysticism?”

That’s bullshit.

Suddenly, I burst out laughing. Laughing alone, people started looking at me like I was crazy.

But I couldn’t help laughing.

“Hahaha… Yes, well…”

As expected, there is no information about Demillang’s Council of Elders known to the outside world.

Then it will soon come to a conclusion.

“One hour. We’ll be able to read the ending within that time…”

Even though I knew no one would understand me, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Ryuseong silently watched me like that.

***

Let’s talk about Jeong Ian for a moment. The Department of Astronomy is a department that you can only get into if you study like crazy, and this is Korea University, the best university in South Korea. In that sense, I was always an irregular when I was in university. I was always hanging out with the art students of bad quality, drinking heavily, and even casually mixing into the gatherings of other departments, charming people and making girls cry by saying I had no feelings for them. That’s my reputation, I heard. I think such things happened often because I, a crazy person, pretended to be normal. I was just trying to live an ordinary daily life like others, but apparently, I was too kind or something. Crazy…

‘I was just being nice… But I’m sorry for causing misunderstandings…’