Chapter 95 — The Only Possibility
The two of them stood on the steps at the village entrance.
Below them, the village bustled with noise and laughter.
Elias felt a faint sense of curiosity.
What kind of world did Robin want to show him?
"—Damn wretch!"
A coarse shout rang out behind Elias, making him turn.
A fisherman with a rough cloth tied around his head and sun-darkened skin was stomping up the steps, cursing under his breath.
In his hand was a thick hemp rope.
At the other end of the rope was a gray, filthy figure being dragged along.
Brown hair matted with sand and mud.
A thin, fragile body that looked as if it might collapse at any moment.
Elias recognized her at once.
It was Robin—older now, already grown.
The fisherman dragged her up the steps and passed straight through Elias's body, as if Elias were nothing more than air.
They reached the crowded open square.
—Smack!
In full view of the villagers, the fisherman slapped Robin across the face, sending her crashing to the ground.
"Useless trash!"
"I give you food so you can use that thing of yours to help me fish!"
"And what do you do instead? One wave of your hand and the fish explode into bits!"
"You scared off the rest of them too!"
Robin lay on the ground, trembling.
"I… I'm sorry!"
"I'll try harder tomorrow, I promise!"
"—Tomorrow?"
The fisherman's face twisted further.
"I should never have let you live to see today!"
He grabbed Robin by the hair and dragged her toward a water bucket.
—Splash!
Grinding his teeth, he shoved her head into the water.
He watched her struggle.
Watched her thrash.
Until she finally stopped moving.
At that moment, the owner of the bucket rushed out of the house, screaming in outrage.
"Hey! That's my water!"
"You drowned that monster in my bucket—how am I supposed to use it now?!"
"Pay for it! You're paying me for this!"
As Elias watched, the fisherman and the bucket's owner gradually faded from view.
All that remained was Robin's body—
Kneeling in the bucket.
Like a dead fish floating at the surface of the water.
...
Soon after, a pregnant woman appeared at the village entrance, hesitating as she peered inside.
Though her belly was swollen, Elias recognized her at once.
It was Robin—in her thirties.
Pregnant Robin hesitated again and again.
At last, she made up her mind.
Lowering her head, she quietly stepped into the village.
She had barely taken a few steps when a freckle-faced man blocked her path.
"—Hold it."
"Robin, are you using pregnancy as an excuse not to crawl through the dog hole?"
Robin avoided his gaze and replied haltingly,
"I… I crawled through it this morning."
"It was just… a bit too cramped…"
"—Heh."
"That's your excuse for entering the village?"
The freckled man sneered.
"I don't know whose bastard you're carrying,"
"But men always have one or two… unusual tastes."
"Still, tell me—will the thing in your belly turn out to be a monster too?"
Robin shook her head frantically.
"No!"
"My child—ah!"
Before she could finish, the freckled man kicked her hard in the stomach.
She screamed as her body flew backward, tumbling down the slope.
The man followed her down, approaching her dying form, and raised his stick.
After a single, piercing scream—
The freckled man vanished as well.
...
Not long after, Elias saw another figure appear.
An elderly Robin, hair gone gray, hunched over with a cane, slowly approached, a single carrot clutched in her hand.
Behind her came a group of children, singing a bright, cruel rhyme:
"Old monster~ old monster~
Lives in a cave, gnawing carrots~
When the carrots are all gone~
She runs to the forest, gnawing trees~"
Suddenly, the leading child snatched away Robin's cane.
Robin whimpered as she fell to the ground.
The carrot was kicked away.
The children gathered around her, laughing gleefully.
Then the child holding the cane had an idea.
"Hey, old monster—adults say you can't die, right?"
"I'll test that for you!"
—Bang!
The cane smashed down hard on the back of Robin's head.
Her body jerked once—
Then went completely still.
The child raised the cane and laughed loudly.
"Hahahaha!"
"I killed an immortal monster with one hit!"
"I'm amazing!!"
...
Again and again, murders unfolded before Elias's eyes.
Robins of every age.
Deaths of every kind.
Their bodies piled higher and higher throughout the village.
On every face—
Beyond shock, panic, fear, and pain—
Was a deep, overwhelming ignorance.
As though they had come into this world without reason,
And died without ever understanding why.
"Elias, now you've seen it."
Beside him, the only living Robin spoke calmly, gazing at her countless corpses.
"For two thousand years, I remained here."
"Simulating the world where you never appeared."
"This was always the result."
"In ignorance, I would die—again and again—without knowing why."
For the first time, a ripple appeared in Robin's eyes.
"Elias."
"It was your arrival that changed everything."
"What you called a 'casual act' allowed me to understand."
"And most importantly—"
"That night, you gave me the courage to light that fire."
As her words fell, the village before Elias suddenly burst into flames.
Scalding fire swept through the settlement, reducing every one of Robin's bodies to ash.
Just like that night two thousand years ago—
When the girl burned the monsters,
And dyed the sky blood-red.
When the flames died out, only ruins remained.
Robin turned to face Elias.
Fire had once filled her eyes.
Now it was extinguished by glistening tears.
"Elias, do you still want to ask me why I devoted my entire life to repaying your kindness?"
"Even if you can't understand it, I'll say it anyway."
"Elias—"
"You were the only possibility that allowed me to live."
...
"Robin… I understand now."
As Elias spoke, her tears fell to the ground.
They dissolved into shifting light.
In the next instant, the two of them were back at the seaside.
Following Robin's gaze, Elias looked toward the small boat by the shore.
"Is it time to leave?"
"—You can come back anytime."
Robin smiled gently.
"Both Elias and this memory have already been sealed into your mind."
"And more than that—I'll always be here."
"Protecting your mental world."
"—Protecting…"
Elias murmured thoughtfully.
"What a strange kind of magic."
Robin looked up at the darkened sky.
Suddenly, she remembered something.
"By the way…"
"Not long ago, I sensed a malicious mental spell."
"Something tried to force me out of my host's mind."
"I managed to repel the intrusion—but I felt how powerful it was."
"So I suspect…"
"That creature has already succeeded elsewhere."
...
At those words—
Elias fell completely silent.