After I died, Everything Changed - Chapter 56

Chloe had come to check on Abel out of concern, but as she recalled how hastily Irene had left his room, she turned to him with a question.

“She said she came by to ask something about the Hecla border.”

Her gaze drifted to the small table near the sofa where Abel had been sitting.

There was no tea or refreshment served.

Still, her eyes scanned the room, uneasy.

“Why are you so concerned about Irene?”

“Did I seem concerned?”

“Shouldn’t you be trying to crush her at every turn? Instead, you just hand over information like it’s nothing.”

“…She didn’t learn anything. I’m sure of it.”

Even with Abel’s calm response, Chloe’s unease didn’t go away.

He had claimed he would become the head of the family—but to her, it wasn’t enough.

Abel had always been lukewarm.

Not cold, not hot—just… passive.

And she had always wanted to stir his ambition into something real.

“Like so many others…”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Chloe sighed deeply as she looked at his clearly worn face.

She knew it couldn’t possibly be true.

And she couldn’t shake the image of Irene leaving the room—her face pale, her steps uncertain.

Mergen’s treasure vault held more than ceremonial artifacts.

Among the valuables were ancient books—some preserved for generations.

“There’s nothing here about what I saw.”

I had searched through every volume related to monsters, but found nothing that explained what I’d witnessed.

The only thing that stood out was a single line:

“It is always searching for a vessel to contain the root of evil.”

A vessel for the root of evil.

Could that be related to humans turning into monsters?

Still, one vague sentence wasn’t enough to draw any conclusions.

“You need to rest. You’ll wear yourself out,” Elliot said. His face was pale after staying up with me for two straight nights.

“You look worse than I do.”

“Then think of it as saving a person’s life—mine—and please go rest.”

Just as he spoke, there was a crash from the side of the room.

“Wha—?! Is it day or night?!”

Karlin, who had been napping in the corner, bolted upright and wiped drool from his cheek.

“It’s morning now.”

“Ugh… I had a nightmare.”

“A nightmare?”

“I was trapped in a vault reading books for three days straight—wait! It wasn’t a dream?!”

He pointed at the book still in my hands, looking horrified.

“…For the sake of all our sanity, we should leave this place.”

“A wise decision,” Elliot agreed immediately.

We all stood up from where we’d been sitting.

Our joints creaked from sitting in one position too long.

Yawn. “That was such a miserable experience,” Karlin groaned, stretching dramatically.

“So, you’re finally going to get some real rest today, right?” he asked, eyes hopeful.

And truly, part of me wanted to say yes.

But—

“Get the horses ready.”

“No—again?! Why?!”

I still had something to do.

“Seriously, calling me out again like this… do you have no shame?” Solmon complained.

“Better than being stuck at a desk all day,” Lahan replied with a smirk.

Their constant bickering had become oddly familiar.

I looked back and forth between the two men, both dressed in all black, standing side by side.

Their sleek black hair—neat and smooth—looked oddly alike.

“Are you two related, by any chance?”

At my question, they both whipped around instantly.

Neither answered—but their expressions gave everything away.

They looked deeply offended.

Why that reaction?

“How could this ridiculously handsome face possibly be related to his?” Solmon scoffed.

“Ridiculous? Excuse me? Are you saying I’m the ugly one?”

Both men were undeniably good-looking—anyone could see that—but the way they overreacted to one comment…

‘Kind of cute,’ I thought, shaking my head.

“Alright, enough. Let’s go test the weapon.”

Today was the test run of the monster-repelling weapon Lahan had been developing in his research lab.

It had been put together quickly, but since he seemed confident in it, I had some hope.

“It’s a bomb made with a compound that’s lethal to monsters.”

“Isn’t that a bit too wide-ranged? What about civilians?”

“That’s a concern, sure. But for now, these things only appear in remote areas. So having a wide impact zone gives us the advantage. Narrowing the range and increasing accuracy will take more time.”

And so, in the full light of day, we returned—this time boldly—to the border of Hecla.

The last experience here hadn’t exactly gone well.

“But thinking back to what we saw in the village…”

“We need to improve it. But first—we’ll see if this bomb actually works.”

“So… it explodes?”

“Not exactly. It melts,” Lahan replied. “A monster’s hide is thicker than a human’s. Most weapons don’t even scratch it. But with the chemical combination we developed, it should dissolve the hide.”

I nodded.

Lahan was always confident, so I expected a bit of bluffing this time too—but he seemed serious. It felt different.

“Then why did you drag me along again for this—?”

“Someone’s gotta light the fuse.”

Lahan pulled a large box from the cart as he spoke.

Solmon looked horrified.

“See that? He has no conscience.”

To me, Solmon wasn’t exactly in a position to talk about conscience either.

Is this what people mean when they say like attracts like?

“The soldiers are watching us.”

“It’s fine. I gave them notice ahead of time. We’ll just walk past.”

And so, we moved beyond the soldiers and crossed the border into the Hecla region.

“I’ve heard people live even out here in the desert.”

“Yes. The Empire calls them barbarians.”

“Think they’ve survived the monsters?”

Lahan stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“What? You didn’t see them last time? They’ve definitely been wiped out.”

“Hm.”

“Or maybe not. They’re pretty skilled at either fighting or running.”

To be fair, reports of raids by the nomads—those the Empire called barbarians—had dropped dramatically since the monsters appeared.

Had they all died at the hands of the monsters?

“Let’s head to the place where they showed up last time. If they appeared there once, the odds are good they’ll show up again.”

“You think monsters are stupid enough to keep appearing in the same place? Word hasn’t gotten around that we killed one of them?”

Solmon whistled as he walked ahead, full of confidence.

Turns out, the monsters didn’t communicate with each other.

Despite Solmon’s worries, another one appeared—right on cue.

“They weren’t kidding when they said the number of monsters was rising fast.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have time to stand around and analyze it.”

Lahan’s hands moved quickly as he readied the weapon.

I helped him pull out the bomb.

“Here’s the fire,” Solmon said, bringing over a torch.

So that’s why he’d grabbed one from near the soldiers’ camp on the way out.

“I’ll throw it far, but it’s still dangerous. Start running—now.”

After giving us a quick warning, Lahan lit the fuse with a spark.

Fssssh.

The fuse caught fire.

“Run!” Solmon shouted.

Lahan hurled the bomb a great distance as Solmon and I sprinted away at full speed.

Of course, Lahan—though starting a little later—caught up with me in just a few seconds.

BOOM.

A sharp blast echoed behind us.

I felt the heat brush my back, but didn’t stop to look.

We just kept running.

“It’s not dead!”

“But it worked. Look—it lost half its body.”

“Ugh, disgusting monster! How is it still moving after that?!”

Despite Solmon’s screaming, the weapon had worked. At least partially.

Its effect was real—just not strong enough.

“There’s a crack in its outer shell. That should make it easier to pierce with a sword.”

Lahan slowed his pace.

We’d made it back to the area where the soldiers were stationed.

I also began to ease my pace.

“It can barely move.”

The monster was still alive, but all it could do was crawl forward. It was completely incapacitated.

Then suddenly, Lahan drew his sword.

With a cold metallic whisper, the blade gleamed in the light.

As I watched him prepare, I reached out my hand.

“…?”

He looked at me, puzzled.

“Give it to me. I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

“End it.”

“Huh.”

His gaze shifted from me to the soldiers watching from a distance.

It seemed he understood why I’d asked.

I can’t be seen relying on someone else.

Some might call it reckless.

But for me, it was necessary—even if it meant putting everything on the line.

A weapon that only delivered half results wouldn’t silence doubters. Their words would carry weight unless I showed them something more.

I had to prove the rest myself.

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