In the Exiled Mansion
Haahh…
Seven groaned as he finally woke up.
Glancing around, he noticed that he was no longer inside the carriage.
Instead, he was now inside his room.
He tried to piece together what happened.
But the only thing that surfaced was a blurry image of two knights holding him like some kind of royal princess as they carried his frail body all the way up his room.
"The fudge…?"
Step.
He ran a hand through his hair as he walked towards the window.
It was a full moon, and its light bathed the garden below in a dreamlike glow.
Creak.
He pushed the window open.
The breeze stirred the curtains and made the trees sway as their leaves fell in a slow and rhythmic dance.
But beneath one of those trees was a wolf pup that was barely lit by the moonlight.
Its fur was patchy, and a gash ran down its side. One of its legs looked out of place as it trembled under his thin and starved frame.
Its eyes were dull.
Yet… their gazes met for a brief second.
"Wait…"
He leaned a little further out the window as if getting closer would make the sight clearer.
After all… he recognized that pup.
It was the same one that chased after the eyeball he extracted from his eyes with a joyous howl.
Yet, now… it looked like it could not even run.
"...Fudge."
Step.
Seven rushed out of his room and the mansion without bothering to close the door behind him.
Step. Step.
By the time he reached the pup, he did not hesitate to imagine the items clearly in his mind.
'Retrieve: 1 piece of bread'
'Retrieve: Stainless Bowl'
'Retrieve: Water'
The bowl landed softly on the grass as he set it down carefully before putting the stale bread and added a little amount of water.
The water slowly soaked into the bread and softened the hardened crust until it began to fall apart into soggy pieces. He stirred it lightly with his finger to make sure it would be gentle on its damaged stomach.
Step.
He took a step back and crouched just a few steps away so as not to threaten the pup.
The pup dragged its body forward with a pitiful shuffle and collapsed beside the bowl.
It did not sit.
It did not lift its tail or raise its head in pride.
It simply started to eat with snout half in the water and bread that stuck to its whiskers.
He watched it in silence.
"Why did I…?"
He asked himself.
After all, he did not know why he came running to help the pup.
But…
'Retrieve: 1 piece of bread'
Once the pup finished the bowl, he repeated the process by placing another piece of bread and enough water to soak the bread.
But this time, he did not stay to watch.
Step.
Instead, he walked back toward the mansion.
But only a few steps in, a memory resurfaced and he immediately clutched his left eye.
The vision did not change, given that he still saw his palm touch his face a second earlier. That meant the artifact was working.
But something was off.
There was no hint of dizziness that crept inside his skull.
In fact, he had not even noticed the one-second vision during the Academy's registration steps much, almost like he was already used to it.
Step.
He lowered his hand and walked towards the gate of the exiled mansion.
'That reader…'
He thought.
He was referring to the memory that resurfaced: the assassin who had attempted his life and was also a reader.
Step.
But just as he neared the gates, the older knight (one of the two knights of the exiled mansion) was walking away from the entrance and heading behind the mansion.
Seven narrowed his eyes.
Quietly, he slipped into the shadow by the faint moonlight and followed him.
Behind the mansion, the knight stopped in front of a wooden crate stacked with hay. It looked normal, and he thought the knight would grab a handful to feed the horse.
But that was not the case.
Instead, the knight pushed it aside with a grunt and it revealed a hole underneath.
'The fudge is that…?'
The knight climbed down without even looking around like he had already done it a hundred times before.
Step.
Seven followed quickly and careful not to make a sound
But.
The moment he climbed down, he froze.
"..."
Prison.
It was a prison.
Crumbling bricks lined the walls, and broken stones were scattered across the uneven floor.
There were seven cells in total.
He instinctively covered his nose as the air reeked of rot. As he walked past each cell, the same sight greeted him again and again.
Bones.
Skulls.
Skeletal remains that slumped in corners or sprawled across the floor.
At the far end, in the very center cell, the knight stood in front of a prisoner tied to a chair with enchanted cuffs, Speculorum.
The prisoner had a gag stuffed in his mouth and cuffs glowing faintly around his wrists and ankles. His head hung low like he had not slept in days.
The knight was holding a short dagger that looked expensive.
Damascus steel.
Seven recognized it right away.
'...Death by a thousand cuts.'
After all, what better is there to do for a total shut-in than to read novels and explore a little bit into the dark web?
Curiosity did that to most people.
Yet even though he did not explore the web to the last bit, it was enough for him to recognize famous and common techniques and devices for these types of situations.
Still, he frowned.
The last thing the assassin said back in the forest when they fought echoed in his head.
'...Gift.
'...Immortality.'
He thought.
"That's no use."
Seven mumbled it under his breath.
His voice was not loud, but it traveled far in the silence. The only other sounds were the knight's slow breathing and the metal edge scraping gently on a whetstone.
The prisoner lifted his head and their eyes met.
"...?!"
"..."
The knight, however, flinched after hearing Seven's voice.
"Y-Young Lord?! How did you— No, wait. What are you doing here?"
The knight spun around and quickly hid the dagger behind his back like a kid caught stealing cookies.
But Seven did not reply.
Step.
He just walked closer until he stood right outside the cell and just stared with his blank look that made people uncomfortable the longer it lasted.
A system interface appeared.
|| Basic Information ||
|| Character: Lythian Ace ||
|| Age: 16 ||
|| Talent: Assassination ||
|| Gift: ??? ||
"Immortality."
He spoke calmly.
"Even death by a thousand cuts won't kill someone who can't die."
"…Pardon?"
The knight blinked as he was confused by what he just heard.
'Someone who… can't die…?'
The knight thought.
He had his doubts before. After all, no matter how many cuts he made or how cruel the technique, the prisoner kept healing again and again.
"Young Lord, what did you mean by someone who can't die?"
But then again, Seven did not bother repeating himself. He just stared at the prisoner again with brows slightly furrowed.
He was sure of it.
The gift of Lythian.
Immortality.
Given that he was still alive after all the bloodstains on the walls, floor, and rusted iron bars along with the countless nails scattered on the floor that seemed like they were owned by a hundred persons.
When in fact, they only belonged to the prisoner alone.
Yet even after all these, the system still displayed [ ??? ], but he did not need confirmation to do what he wanted.
Step.
Again, he stepped forward.
The knight panicked.
"Y-Young Lord, you can't—"
Step.
Seven ignored him and reached for the dagger.
The knight tried to pull it back, but Seven's hand moved first as he already saw where it would end up. A vision of one-second into the future was more than enough.
By all logic, it should not have been possible to snatch a blade from a trained knight.
But this time, it was.
Because the knight did not expect it. He did not expect a quiet and pale kid to casually walk into a basement prison, let alone try to take the dagger from his hands.
And before the knight could say anything else, Seven spoke.
"Watch."
He adjusted his grip on the handle and studied it for a few seconds before he looked at Lythian— the prisoner in the chair.
"Let me show you how to make an immortal wish for death."