I Became a Foreign Worker Loved by Transcendents

Chapter 204: The Calamity Borne Of The Sage King

“...I see.”

How much time had passed since the anguish burst forth?

Finally, breaking the silence, the Knight of Death spoke...

Boudoin Briton seemed to regain his composure as he gazed steadily at me and began to speak.

“I wondered why you had the same aura as the Red Knight... So you had inherited her persona even before you faced her.”

The Red Knight of War. Another persona of mine, with whom I had once fought a fierce battle.

Sensing the familiarity, he recognized my identity and then asked me a question.

“Then let me ask you one thing. Are you Woo Hyo-sung now, or are you Tacchia?”

“...What do you mean by that?”

“Are you claiming to be Tacchia, who has already left this world? Or are you just a living person who inherited her memories?”

“......”

“...I see, you are Woo Hyo-sung, not Tacchia.”

Boudoin took my silence as confirmation and bowed his head slightly.

His hollow eyes slowly turned to his bony hand.

“And so am I.”

His voice, empty and hollow, flowed out in that state.@@@@

“I, too, am nothing more than a replica, a body created out of someone’s longing, love, and reverence... A copy made to find something to cling to.”

Those were not words I expected to hear from the mouth of an undead.

The undead were resurrected by lingering regrets, wandering the world in their corpse-like bodies to fulfill their unfulfilled desires.

For an undead, who was solely driven by such a purpose, to express doubt about their own existence was an utterly alien concept.

“Boudoin, you...”

“Even for someone like me, if you want an explanation, follow me. I’ll tell you what happened in this land.”

But before I could comment on that strange feeling, he had already risen from the throne and was walking somewhere.

His back looked so forlorn, and there was no vitality in his steps.

It was as if he had become a completely different person from the wise king who had once ruled his people with passion.

Boudoin Briton.

The Boudoin Briton that Tacchia remembered was the only king known for striving for peace during a time when humans were at war with each other.

Of course, in times of war, he might have also been seen as an ally.

But regardless of that assessment, Tacchia had always considered him the only ruler who could have taken her in.

Even in the final moments before her death.

And even now, having inherited those memories, that sentiment remained unchanged.

‘...You, what is that appearance?’

‘My apologies, Your Majesty. I sensed an enemy attack before the audience and went to deal with it, forgetting to tidy myself before coming here.’

‘I apologize for presenting myself in such a state and causing you displeasure.’

Yes, from the very first meeting, he was different from other leaders.

All the employers she had met so far kept their distance, viewing mercenaries as dirty and barbaric, but he had even come down from his throne to wipe the blood from her face himself. ɌΆΝ∅BƐS

‘Your Majesty, you will get dirty.’

‘What does it matter if I get dirty when the hero who defended this land stands before me? Do not decline. I am only doing what I must to show my gratitude to you.’

‘I only did what was required of me as a mercenary, and your body is far too precious to concern itself with my humble form. Many eyes are watching, Your Majesty, please maintain your dignity.’

‘If maintaining dignity means refusing to embrace the dirt, I would sooner lay down my crown and accept the filth. If being a leader means turning my back on those who support me, I would gladly give up this position and stand beside someone like you.’

‘...Your Majesty.’

‘If you find me foolish for this, you are free to leave. I would respect that decision and would not try to hold you back.’

He was someone who cared for people above all else and spared no gratitude or love for those who supported him.

He might have been the least suited leader for a time of war, but it was precisely because of this that Tacchia felt a deep connection to him.

For someone like her, who had gone through countless massacres and longed to break free, what she needed was someone who would see her not as a weapon but as a human being.

‘It’s all because I’m lacking.’

“May the king be eternal...”

Despite the miserable end to his long life, the lingering attachment to keep his righteousness alive on this land remained before us even after his death.

Why, then, did the leader himself look so desolate as he faced the traces of these people at this very moment?

“...If not for that hope.”

The reason began to slip out from his parted lips.

“If I hadn’t offered them the painkiller of hope... Perhaps everyone who followed me, including her, would have accepted their deaths with dignity.”

The Corpse Lord.

The being who endlessly resurrected the dead, with the ambition to turn the world into one for the dead alone.

Toward the companion who had become the greatest calamity in this world, he now poured out genuine sorrow.

“If the calamity that befell us were to spread to the whole world, we should have at least preserved the traces of the world’s former beauty... But instead, they resurrected me with that ideal, forcing me to carry on hope, thereby desecrating the lives of the living.”

And such understanding became a dagger aimed at himself.

Because he was a king who had been more righteous than anyone, the calamities rooted in his influence weighed down on him as his responsibility.

“It’s all my fault. I was such a foolish leader that even in death, I’ve defiled those who followed me.”

“That’s not true.”

I firmly rejected such self-criticism.

Tacchia’s persona within me asserted as much.

And so did Woo Hyo-sung.

There was no way I could think of the one who had taught me the value of life, something even the living had failed to impart, as the root of all evil.

“This was too large of an event to blame on anyone. The problem lies with the world as it is, not with the circumstances. You don’t need to deny the hearts of those who followed you just because things didn’t go well.”

That was what I wanted to believe.

Even if I hadn’t been there, I wanted to believe that those who died in the end met their deaths with hope, despite the misery.

I hoped that the harshness of this world wouldn’t lead to even the life of the leader I truly wanted to serve being denied.

“...Then you.”

But it seemed that even my desperate cry didn’t reach him, as only emptiness filled his eyes as he turned to face me.

“Do you think that even the actions of those who inherited his righteous spirit, who committed those deeds, can be forgiven?”

In his voice, as he directed his empty gaze at me, there was only despair, so different from when he had once extolled the beauty of life.

“In this world that will continue to crumble beyond this land... Do you think that the act of taking lives in order to remember the beauty of life can ever be justified?”

Perhaps this was the best that could be done in such a world.

From that mindset, everything he had done until now, remembering his teachings and taking the throne, had completely collapsed after his companion, who had ascended as ruler, disappeared.

“...That.”

Sympathizing with him, what could I possibly say here?

To this foolish, noble king who had wished for the world to be beautiful even in times of war...

To this pitiful undead who had been crushed by continuous calamities, despite his noble desires... What words of comfort could I possibly offer to someone I had sincerely respected?

“H-Hero! Woo Hyo-sung, where are you?!”

Just as I was about to force myself to speak, a familiar voice burst in.

Realizing it was Sanson, who should be with the refugees in the ark, I quickly turned toward the direction of the voice.

The voice hadn’t come from the road but from the sky...

Sanson, who had flown here holding onto the leg of a Zoin tribe member, quickly landed in front of me and grabbed my hand.

“H-Hero, you must come quickly.”

“Wait, Sanson. What on earth is—”

“Ga-ram... Miss Ga-ram...!”

What spilled from the breathless Sanson’s lips was news so disturbing that I couldn’t remain calm.

“Miss Ga-ram... is not breathing right now!”

Despair struck in an unexpected moment.

It overwhelmed me in the worst possible way.