Love Letter From The Future

༺ The First Letter (21) ༻

I thought I was about to die. I panted as my breathing stopped for a moment.

The last attack was a pure gamble. A strategy that I was not sure whether it would work or not.

It was ‘pretending to be dead.’

In general, ‘pretending to be dead’ was a method that only worked for demonic beasts with low intellect. It was not strange if the plan ended up counterproductive when used against a creature with sharp senses, especially a demonic beast of that level.

Even if you stopped breathing, your heart still beats. The characteristic attributes of a living being weren’t easily concealed. No matter how faint the traces were, creatures with the sharp senses of a demonic beast were still able to distinguish between life and death.

Even so. I pretended to be dead.

While being a demonic beast that looked like the king of the forest, even if he was strong and clever, it’s not like he didn’t have any weaknesses.

The hunting festival is held every year in this forest. If a beast of that size existed, it would have already been dealt with during last year’s hunting festival.

Hundreds of talents from all over the world visit the forest in groups, so where can that giant wolf hide?

If so, that meant that he was still less than a year old. He was too young to stand on the same level as the other vicious demonic beasts, who already made a name for themselves on the continent.

Besides, when I saw how proud he was of his ‘prey’ as he spilled their guts out for his own pleasure, he seemed to be arrogant and a braggart.

Humans or demonic beasts who possess such traits are usually overconfident.

Every time I showed signs of exhaustion, he got even more excited. Presumably, I was the first worthy challenger he had ever met in all his life. As he was about to win against such a foe, his ferity that could not be hidden was bound to be revealed.

So I decided to gamble. If it went on like this, I would die anyway.

I judged that gambling with my life would still be more profitable than simply lying down and waiting for my death. So, I swathed my body in mana and deliberately allowed the wolf to hit me.

To be honest, the moment my body flew into the air after that brutal collision, I regretted it a little inside.

It was such a strong shock. The reason why I crashed into the tree with a resounding ‘thud,’ as my body gradually fell, was not out of my own will, but simply because I momentarily lost my consciousness.

And the moment I regained it, I unintentionally took a deep breath and managed to hold on to my fading consciousness.

I was out of breath. I desperately wanted to breathe. Every part of my body that had been hit by that living chariot desperately demanded air.

But I endured. I didn’t even calm my breathing, and I did my best to slow my heartbeat down, which had risen due to the excitement of the battle.

Still, intermittent breaths leaked out, and the heart continued to beat. It was the fate of the living, so it was an unavoidable phenomenon.

I knew he would be able to notice it as well, but there was one element I firmly believed in.

The potion Emma gave me. Its medicinal effect is to hide the user’s presence.

To do so, a number of factors have to act in a complex way. Along with sound, numerous elements, such as movement and aura are combined to form a ‘presence’.

However, the most important factor among them all was the auditory stimulus coming from breathing sounds or heartbeat.

Not to mention the sounds you make while moving your body. And Emma’s potion had the effect of dramatically reducing that breathing and heartbeat to almost a still.

It was also for this reason that my heart rate slowed down and my body movements became dull when I attacked the wolves after having taken the first sip of that potion. It really felt like I was a ghost. My body felt like it was gliding rather than moving on the ground.

It wasn’t like the beast wasn’t wary of me, either. In the process of killing 10 of his subordinates, the potion, which hid my presence, made a remarkable achievement.

However, when the excitement of battle heated up his brain and his hidden ferity awakened, that fact was easily pushed aside to the back of his mind.

No matter how smart he was, in the end, a demonic beast was still a beast. His memory didn’t last that long, and he didn’t have any means to resist his instincts, either.

If he was a named class, I wouldn’t be this certain. However, now he was nothing more than an immature beast that didn’t even have a name yet.

So it was a plan worth trying. However, the results were not certain. It was truly a gamble.

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The result of that gamble was right before my eyes.

The image of a wolf gushing out blood while looking at me in vain, as if he couldn’t believe what had just transpired.

While he was examining my body with ecstatic eyes, I gradually infused aura into my sword. A stronger, sharper aura blade than I had ever conjured before.

Never in my life have I ever lit a sword this radiant, this powerful. However, today, as the battle continued, my aura constantly became denser.

Its edge was now piercing the wolf’s neck.

The dense muscles were torn like a piece of paper. The sensation of them being ripped apart as soon as I pushed it deeper with force entered my senses.

The wolf tried to attack me with its front paws as a last resort. However, when I pushed the sword in as if I was supporting him from below, it howled in agony and eased the strength exerted in his forepaws.

Blood dripped down. The wolf’s damp breath gradually subsided. The feeling of taking a life that seemed unpleasant at first, now it didn’t seem like that anymore.

I uttered while clenching my teeth and gasping for breath.

“This was for Emma… did Emma collapse without a word like you, beast?”

The wolf did not answer. His neck had been completely pierced. Naturally, I found the silence unbearably disgusting.

Crack, as I rotated the sword pierced through his throat in a clockwise direction, the sound of bones cracking resounded. A deeper groan escaped the wolf’s mouth.

The image of Emma, who had a friendly smile on her face, flashed through my mind. Her father, who could not even pray in the temple because he was too busy crying.

My eyes were getting darker, as it kept struggling.

“Sigh… So, beast, did you think I was dead? Huh?”

The wolf’s body began to droop. The deed was already done. He was on the verge of death.

The sword that had pierced his neck while supporting his body was pulled out just then.

Blood poured down like a torrential rain. The sound of blood pouring against the soil resounded. As Ian staggeringly trudged away, the wolf’s body fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

The gradually dimming eyes of the groaning wolf were directed at me.

He was begging for mercy. He seemed willing to give up everything.

I groaned, and the anger that had been brimming in my chest erupted.

I wanted to rip his stomach apart while he was still alive and let his guts spill out. Just like what he did to Emma, I wanted to return even an ounce of that pain and humiliation.

I actually intended to do that. The hand holding the sword trembled. Just before I ripped his tender belly apart and spilled his guts on the ground.

The corpses that the demon had torn apart caught my eye.

He was a demonic beast, a being who enjoyed making fun of life and who inflicted pain and wrote it off as a joke.

And I wasn’t a beast, I was a human. Ian Percus, the second son of a countryside Viscountcy, and a third-year student of the proud Imperial Academy.

Eventually, I stopped kicking the wolf in order to expose his belly. Instead, holding my breath, I grabbed the handle of the sword with both of my hands.

Mana accumulated. A silver aura, the color that symbolizes my image.

“Beast, you hurt the owner of those clothes…….”

I didn’t know if he was listening. Even those faint moans of pain were fading away. It just felt like his eyes were wriggling a little.

It may be because of my mood, but I uttered one last line before I lowered my sword.

“Be sure to remember… I killed you… because you touched that person.”

Hoping that would avenge Emma.

As such, blood spattered again.

Perhaps because of the fatigue accumulated in my muscles, the blade stopped midway while being pierced into the wolf’s throat. But that was enough.

To give the gift of eternal rest to a pitiful life gradually slipping into death’s embrace.

The moment when I confirmed that the wolf’s last breath had subsided, and the last trace of life was completely extinguished from his eye.

My body collapsed as if I had just passed out.

Now, that was my limit.

****

Professor Derek had been running like a maniac from the moment he heard Seria.

If there were many trees in front of him, he would just swing his sword. Every time that happened, the trees in front of him would burst out as if they had been hit by a bomb.

He was a seasoned swordsman. As soon as he saw Seria’s condition, he was able to deduce the approximate situation.

The exact cause is unknown, but Seria suffered an ankle injury. demonic beasts have attacked Ian and Seria, and Ian sent Seria away to protect her and to request for reinforcements.

It must not have been a low-level demonic beast. If it were, Seria wouldn’t have run so desperately.

And if it was just a beast of that level, they wouldn’t even have asked for support. Ian and Seria, they would have tried to deal with it somehow.

Then there was only one answer.

Ian’s life is in danger. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Derek began running with all his might.

Derek was well aware of how dangerous demonic beasts were. For decades, he wandered the entire continent and hunted numerous monsters. Despite this, Derek still did not let his guard down whenever he faced a demonic beast.

Ian was Derek’s disciple.

Of course, all the academy’s students were precious, but he’s been particularly noticeable to Derek these days.

At first, he overwhelms Seria with a footwork that even he could not fathom, but the next week when he returned his strength had astonishingly decreased.

When he wondered whether his skills had regressed, he took Derek’s advice and managed to get a draw. He even had the magnanimity of showing generosity to a junior who was unable to resist.

I even heard that these days, he hangs out with that ‘loner’ Seria. Looking at them teaming up today, the rumor seemed to be true.

His attitude was great. Strangely enough, Seria also seems to follow him faithfully, and she was very docile in front of Ian, so he was happy inside, wondering if spring had come for the ‘Yurdina’s bastard’.

Hopefully something like this will happen.

It was weird. No matter how safe the forest was, the occurrence of high-ranking demonic beasts must have been taken into consideration with the hunting festival ahead.

Derek just wished Ian was still alive. It was okay to be seriously injured and fall into a coma. He would do whatever it takes to save him.

Derek was an adult. He wasn’t cowardly enough to shirk away from his responsibilities. He was prepared to properly pay the appropriate expenses.

But the dead cannot be brought back to life by any means. He then would have no face left in front of his dead disciple, and he would not be able to raise his head in front of his family and friends.

Suddenly, a thick stench of blood brushed the tip of Derek’s nose. Derek was even more worried.

Please, He prayed sincerely, and the moment he entered the glade, the scent of blood that stung his nose didn’t just belong to Ian.

Derek’s body stood still.

It was bloody. The carcasses of giant wolves were lined up around them. At first glance, it wasn’t just one or two. He counted and there were 10.

It was a number beyond his imagination. It was a number that the Ian he knew would pose no chance against.

But why are there only corpses of demonic beasts in this glade?

Derek walked as if possessed, bending his knees and examining the corpses of the beasts. His pants were stained with blood, but he didn’t care, as originally he was a monster hunter.

Most of the deaths were due to a surprise attack. They could not even resist and were dealt a fatal blow. Still, there should have been some struggle.

In that fraction of time, Ian must have clenched his teeth at the screams that were about to erupt from him and hid himself to wait for the next prey.

Such a scene was naturally pictured in front of Derek, a seasoned monster hunter. Derek felt like his bones were trembling.

It wasn’t because he felt sympathy for that gruesome battle. Rather, it was because it was a very accurate decision.

It is difficult to fight against an opponent with the numerical advantage, all alone. If so, you had to hide yourself somehow and conduct a surprise attack. Screaming in the process? You would love to, but the risk of losing your life would also increase exponentially.

In that sense, Ian was right. But, is that something an academy student who has never actually had any real life experience before can do?

Ian’s figure that he saw that day was revived in his memory. He remembered those cold and bleak golden eyes.

It was the eyes of a skilled murderer. It was when Derek felt so lost that…

Gasping for breath, a small girl broke into the glade. She was a cute girl with black hair tied behind her back and seemed cheerful.

Celine Haster. She was following Derek.

Her eyes quickly scanned her surroundings. It was a desperate movement as her anxiety had already reached its peak while following him.

Celine, who looked around over and over again, found Derek and cried out in a worn-out voice.

“Professor! I-Ian oppa… Gasp, what about Ian?”

“Not here.”

Upon hearing Derek’s dazed voice and his forthright words, Celine’s expression darkened. It was around that time that the students who decided to join Derek arrived one by one.

Unlike Celine, who ran to search for Ian, the students hesitated as soon as they entered the glade, perhaps having similar feelings to Derek’s.

It was a gruesome sight. Some wolves had their lives taken away from them in an instant, due to a fatal blow. Others were killed with brains and blood spurting out of their heads as if they had been struck down countless times with an ax. A dead wolf with its nose stuck to the ground was also seen.

Celine was the only one in a hurry. When she bit her lips and was about to run in an unknown direction.

“Follow me.”

Derek said so and sauntered. The students exchanged bewildered glances upon hearing his strangely confident tone.

Celine looked in the direction Derek was walking and ran in that direction because she couldn’t stand to waste any more time.

But it didn’t take long for them and Derek to meet again.

In the glade not far away, Celine was standing there.

Derek, who arrived next, and the students who arrived one after another.

Everyone stood there frozen, watching the scene.

There, a black-haired man with golden eyes was sitting.

Leaning his back against a colossal wolf.

Just the mere sight of that scene was overwhelming.

The ground was soaked in blood.

The wolf, with its eyes closed, showed no signs of life.

It had obviously become a corpse.

.

So, did he hunt that?

It was inevitable that everyone’s eyes turned to the man.

The man was deeply buried in his body, perhaps savoring the softness of the wolf’s fluffy fur.

And while panting as if he was going to run out of breath at any moment, he turned his tired gaze towards everyone.

He raised his hand weakly. It seemed like a sign that he was delighted to see them.

“…… You’re too late, Professor Derek.”

Although, a vague sense of resentment still lingered in his tone…