I! Cleaner!-Chapter 1048 - 965: Escape

Sacrificing myself to resurrect the citizens of the East Carleighwen Kingdom, and to preserve the Watcher’s Palace...

So in your eyes, am I really such a "great" person?

Looking at the confident Leon in front of her, the red-haired director remained silent for a moment, then shook her head slightly.

"You’re mistaken."

With a somewhat puzzled expression, Leon watched as the red-haired director lifted a strand of her hair and gazed at the snowy white strands, saying:

"I’m not as good as you think. What truly made me decide to do this wasn’t the responsibility as a Cleaner, nor the guilt over that past event. It was simply a pure desire to escape the pain."

Escape the pain...

Leon pondered upon hearing these words, then frowned and said:

"Slaughter Blood Hair?"

"Yes."

Nodding slightly, the red-haired director lowered her gaze and said softly:

"You’ve touched my hair and know the cost of using it. But no matter how detailed the information you obtain, unless you become the bearer of Slaughter Blood Hair, you can never truly understand what it means to be its bearer.

Slaughter Blood Hair absorbs the acts of [slaughter] committed by its bearer, and as long as my mind remains clear, all those who died because of me continue to ceaselessly curse me, reveal their hatred and resentment to me, and it doesn’t stop even when I’m asleep.

Over the years, only when my consciousness is numbed by alcohol do the billions of voices filled with anger and hatred become a little indistinct, a little further away from my ears..."

Letting go of her hair, no longer stained with blood, she traced a small circle by her ear with her finger, then looked at the silent Leon across from her and said softly:

"Their curses are too fierce, too harsh, and too... correct, Leon, I really can’t hold on much longer."

"..."

In Leon’s rather complex expression, the red-haired director pursed her lips, her expression slightly dimmer as she said:

"I was the one who destroyed the East Carleighwen Kingdom. I’m the sole creator of these over a billion acts of slaughter, the only bearer recognized by [Slaughter Blood Hair], so naturally, their hatred can only be borne by me.

Even if I could cut off all of [Slaughter Blood Hair], letting those innumerable curses that could drown me temporarily disappear from my ears, I’ve listened for so many years. Even if their voices leave my ears, I still clearly know what they would curse.

Those 1,296,000,000 voices, those 1.2 billion people’s curses, can temporarily leave my ears but will never leave my heart."

"..."

Looking at the red-haired director in front of him, who had almost completely changed, no longer joking and scheming, no longer blinking those charming fox eyes mischievously, even though Leon had prepared himself, there was still a pang in his heart, and he couldn’t help but console her:

"It’s not really your fault..."

"Of course, it’s not my fault."

Involuntarily avoiding the light coming in from outside and hiding her body in the shadows of the curtains, the red-haired director averted her gaze, her voice somewhat elusive as she said:

"I’ve never regretted doing it back then. I knew I was doing the right thing. That was the best solution I could think of at the time. The consequences of not doing it would be unbearable for anyone. I know I didn’t do anything wrong... but neither did they."

"..."

"The people I personally killed were not like those ants crawling everywhere in [Thirteen Ant Nests] but were living people like you and me. They had their own joys and sorrows like I did, had their own family and loved ones like you did, and had their own lives.

And even though they did nothing wrong, they were crushed by me in an instant, like a group of ants, completely erased from this world. They couldn’t even leave a trace of their existence.

In less than six hours, by the time the sun rose the next day, those over a billion living people, along with their country, would be completely forgotten by all in the present world...

And all of this was done by me, done by my own hands!"

"..."

Seeing the red-haired director’s arm slightly trembling, Leon hesitated for a moment, swallowing the words he originally intended to say, then tried a different approach, saying earnestly:

"Before I came here, I discussed this with Lord Taurus, and we both believe that those who curse you through [Slaughter Blood Hair] are not really the will or souls of people, they don’t truly exist.

Those voices are merely shadows of [hatred] that accompany [slaughter], reflections of the hatred absorbed by Slaughter Blood Hair when it absorbs the act of [slaughter], so..."

"So when I’m using [Slaughter Blood Hair], as the bearer of an abnormal object, I bear those false hatreds and curses."

"Yes."

"But does that make any difference?"

Glancing in Leon’s direction, the red-haired director pursed her lips and said:

"The people cursing me aren’t real, but their experiences are real, their hatred is real, and my killing them is real."

"..."

"Leon, do you know? What pains me the most isn’t them cursing me but that they aren’t wrong with their curses."

Closing her eyes slightly, the red-haired director leaned back in her chair, her voice eerily soft as she said:

"Facing the executioner who took everything from them, they truly have the right to curse me! And I don’t even have the reason to curse back... so please don’t try to persuade me any further, I’ve always known what I’m doing.

Leon, I’m not as noble as you think. I’m neither intending to sacrifice myself to protect the Watcher’s Palace nor to sacrifice myself to revive the citizens of the East Carleighwen Kingdom. I just don’t want to hear them curse me anymore... so don’t stop me, okay?"

"?!"

Upon hearing the red-haired director’s words, Leon’s breath unconsciously paused, and then he instinctively covered up, saying:

"What are you talking about? Haven’t I already been..."

"Too fake, your intentions are even more obvious than mine."

Pointing to the arm that Leon was desperately clutching around Princess Aerial, the red-haired director shook her head and said:

"This abnormal object that can only be activated with the Queen has almost no limit on release distance and the consumption is incredibly low. Its only weakness is yourself.

With your cautious nature, even if you thought you had everything under control, you must have been prepared for the surrounding situations without maintaining vigilance over [Heart Lake]."

"..."

"Initially, I really thought you were being careless, but after you got caught by me and neither threatened nor persuaded me, instead surrendering without resistance, I knew you must have another plan.

And just as I thought, it wasn’t long before you used being caught by me, already being harmless, as an excuse to constantly probe my plans... Leon, you deliberately lured me here, didn’t you, to draw out my words?"

"..."