If The Villain Catches Me Alive

Jeffrey scratched his head, and turned to Theodore. Ha…. His sister asked him to ask for it, but he didn’t like the idea. The thought of giving someone who is already unstable false hope…? Seemed like torture.

 

Theodore was silent for a moment, then pulled a tattered notebook from inside his robes and held it out to Jeffrey. It looked as if he’d treasured it for a long time….

 

It was Dante’s notebook.

 

Ever since his disappearance, Theodore had searched his office for any clues he might have left behind, for the small hope that he might still be alive.

 

And despite everything he’d read about him, he hadn’t found Dante.

 

Only that he wished for a gruesome death. That fact alone proved indisputable.

 

There was only one thing he could not decipher, and that was that notebook.

 

Jeffrey took it, and handed it to the woman beside him, Francia. She flipped through a few pages of the worn notebook, then reached into her bosom and pulled out an old key.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“……?”

 

“We can’t do it here. This place is full of wizards and they won’t react well.”

 

Theodore and Jeffrey walked after her. When they reached their destination, it was one that was familiar to them. It was the temple closest to the Tower of Light. The place he went to in hopes of finding Dante.

 

The temple was deserted as if Francia had already made arrangements with the priests. She dipped her hands into a basin of holy water that had been prepared on the center dais. Then….

 

She turned to glare at Theodore.

 

“You, stop tormenting my brother so.”

 

Francia’s face was stern. She wanted one last reassurance before she proceeded.

 

“This is as far as I’m willing to go. Once you’re sure he’s dead, you stop, no matter what. I’m only helping you on that condition.”

 

“…Sister.”

 

“……I understand.”

 

Jeffrey tried to say something in his native tongue, but Theodore was faster. Theodore nodded his head stoically.

 

“Also, you might die doing this.”

 

“Sis! You didn’t say that!”

 

“What, you think it’s just a matter of just making this thing sparkle? You think it’s that easy?”

 

“…It’s okay.”

 

“Theodore!”

 

Oddly enough, it didn’t matter all that much now. In fact, it was actually good.

 

It had been a while since Theodore had been so unhappy with his life. When Dante disappeared from his life, Theodore was preparing for his end.

 

‘Yes. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to end it all here, in a place he frequented to pray.’

 

Despite Jeffrey’s protests, Theodore didn’t change his mind. Theodore quietly followed Francia’s lead and stood in front of the center podium.

 

“If the key disappears, it will be sent to various places where there is a trace of this notebook.”

 

“……Yes.”

 

“Keep your senses sharp. Unless you want to be lost in your fantasies.”

 

“It’s a holy relic, so it should be trustworthy. It’s comforting to think it’s the last thing I’ll ever see.”

 

The words came out of his mouth without thinking. The siblings’ idea of ‘last’ was not the same as his. Theodore knew it, but he didn’t say it out loud.

 

‘Yes, it’s a holy relic….’

 

Theodore’s gaze shifted to the relic, which Jeffrey watched with concern. There was something odd about the look on his friend’s face, the very definition of human distrust, a man who viewed everything with suspicion. He had seen that kind of look before: the look of a condemned prisoner humbly awaiting his sentence.

 

‘Maybe it’s time to stop yearning for him…’

 

Theodore just wondered. He had never experienced death before, and he wondered what it would be like afterward… Would it be peaceful, or would it be so cold or lonely that it would make Dante sad… If so, maybe then he could go to his side and I could be his companion so he doesn’t have to go down that lonely road alone anymore. Two are better than one.

 

Just as he was thinking this, Francia dipped the notebook and the key together in the holy water.

 

“…….”

 

“…….”

 

No one in the room opened their mouths.

 

The three of them just stared at the holy light that rose like a sun in the air, as if they had been woven together. The meaning was an affirmation. That the owner of the notebook was still here, still in this world.

 

Jeffrey glanced at his friend beside him. There was a fine crack in Theodore’s expression. Sadness, despondency, and the name of the thing that broke through those emotions…. Jeffrey knew it well. Smiling absentmindedly, Jeffrey placed a hand on Theodore’s shoulder, and he let out a low chuckle.

 

“You’re going to be busy.”

 

*** 

 

Oh, how he had missed him…

 

“Hey. Are you lost?”

 

It’s so easy to see you in the presence of death.

 

The man before him was an unfamiliar figure, yet Theodore could instantly recognize that this was Dante. It was inevitable, for the kindness he always showed was not common or easily given.

 

Theodore gazed at him through his limited vision.

 

‘If we meet again……’

 

There were so many things he wanted to say… but his mind went blank. All he could do was squeeze the hand that was held tightly in his own. Don’t disappear. Don’t leave me again.

 

And then, the only words that came out were…

 

“……was terrible.”

 

He was a young fool.

 

The words he could barely manage to pick and choose to say was just a rant. Theodore found it funny, even to himself, but it was genuine. Sincere. All he wanted to do….

 

‘Where…… have you gone?’

 

His mind was turning into a muddled mess.

 

I told you I had something to tell you. Where did you go after you left me? Did you hate me, after all, and that’s why you thought of leaving? But why didn’t you let go of your warmth? If you go that way… then you must live bitterly. Why are you keeping me here like this again…

 

Theodore muttered words that even he couldn’t organize, and therefore couldn’t spit out.

 

“Do you want big brother to take you home?”

 

“……where.

 

It was ridiculous. You, the one who cried for a place to go back to. There’s no place for any of us to go back to now. I lost my sanctuary when you left. Where the hell are you going to take me?

 

“… Did you wish you were dead?”

 

The question tumbled out of Theodore’s mouth. It was an honest question, one he could ask despite the fact that he knew it was an illusion.

 

Dante’s expression changed to one of confusion. That was all it took for Theodore, the look on his face said it all. That one small change was all it took for him to understand. His head dropped, and a self-deprecating chuckle escaped him. So it is, then. You…. Selfishly, he judged and reassured himself on the basis of Dante’s slightest expression.

 

‘So you didn’t want to die, either.’

 

And then he apologized, an apology that wouldn’t be heard. I’m sorry. I’ve had such a hard time, and I’ve spent all this time blaming you, but… no, you were just swept away, too.

 

Theodore lifted his head and looked at Dante again, his expression twisting a little, then turning into something that looked like it might cry. ……I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry…

 

“……You’re not dead.”

 

Theodore spoke hopeful words to the grieving man. Hoping it would make him smile. In fact, it was more directed at himself. Now that he knew he wasn’t dead, he’d turn the world upside down to find him. Now that he had a reason to find him, it would be all right, and then they could live together again.

 

“I’ll find you. Just wait.”

 

Dante smiled a little at the child’s words, for there was a question in them: How will you? He wondered. Who is this child, so small, so insistent, who reminds him so much of his old student?

 

Dante stroked the child’s red cheeks and asked.

 

“……Who are you? Please tell me.”

 

“……Me?”

 

“Then I will wait with you.”

 

Theodore laughed crisply at Dante’s words. No, you… you wouldn’t even care to look, I already know that.

 

“You don’t… need to know me.”

 I'm back, and this story is back as well! I'm sorry it took a long time, but here it is! Also, I love reading your comments and would like to know your thoughts about the chapter! I post my announcement about my translations in our discord server, so if you like to be kept updated, do join us! I do post announcements here but more on there.