Four Split Personalities

I looked around at the tired faces surrounding me, wanting to engrave them firmly into my mind.

"What do you think, how many of us will make it back alive after we charge in?"

A Dwarf thief I didn’t recognize suddenly winked at me and asked a somewhat cryptic question.

"I don’t know."

Not very talkative by nature, I honestly whispered back and countered, "What do you think?"

"Me? I don’t know either."

He shrugged noncommittally at me and said in a carefree tone, "The more the better, of course, but even if we all die here, as long as we can completely exterminate those things, it’s still a worthwhile deal."

I nodded gently in agreement with his thinking.

"I’m Bruce, Bruce Dice."

The Dwarf thief clad in a brown leather armor seemed eager to talk more, smiling familiarly, "Was helping out at the blockade line in Ina Town before, just got transferred here a few days ago, you can call me Dice."

Maybe it was an illusion, but I always felt that he looked at me with a heavy heart, his smile notwithstanding; the aura he gave off was somewhat oppressive... or rather, sorrowful.

He was evidently an NPC with quite a story.

"Pleased to meet you, Dice. I’m Seria, a rookie mercenary from Hover City."

I also introduced myself briefly and then asked him directly, "You seem troubled."

It wasn’t hard to guess, as a person without worries wouldn’t have that kind of expression. I just hoped his concerns were of the ordinary kind and not because I resembled his ex-girlfriend or an old classmate—as that would be an awful reason. I really felt the need to talk to someone at the time, even if it was just idle chatter.

"Heh, you could say that because you suddenly reminded me of someone..."

To my surprise, he actually said something like that, almost making me think the ’Diary’ series was finally veering into melodramatic territory.

I chuckled dryly, and wanting to end this conversation quickly, I replied less than wholeheartedly, "Oh, that’s quite a coincidence."

"That girl was an Elf too."

The Dwarf thief calling himself Dice sighed wistfully and stated blankly, "She had green hair like you, small in stature, very young, probably not even a hundred years old..."

Truth be told, being called ’small in stature’ by a Dwarf was a rather peculiar feeling. As for the last part, ’very young, probably not even a hundred years old,’ I didn’t even bother to comment since Elves do tend to live long lives.

I responded with an "Oh," showing neither impatience nor enthusiasm.

Then he added with a bitter smile, "When I killed that girl, I didn’t even know her name."

My expression must have been quite something because Dice quickly gestured with his hands, "Err, don’t get me wrong..."

I couldn’t help but misunderstand, I was about to turn tail and run.

’You look like someone, I killed that person, such a shame I didn’t get to ask her name.’

Listen to that... What a thing to say...

He shifted the mood from melodrama to the macabre.

"That girl was infected with the Plague."

Just as I was about to make an excuse to leave, he turned his head and spoke softly, "She tried to cross the blockade line at Ina Town, to leave Misha County which was quickly turning into a hell on earth. But she was infected, no matter how young, no matter how innocent she was, she was still infected."

I was taken aback, suddenly understanding why his gaze had been so bitter, and felt ashamed of my previous wild speculations. It took me a while to softly ask, "So you... killed her?"

"The Priest who was with me wasn’t much capable, but identifying whether a common girl was infected was still effortless for him."

Dice shrugged as if recalling something from many years ago and told me, "I asked him to check twice, and the result was the same. It wasn’t a widespread infection, but the Plague had indeed taken root in that girl. How long could she have lived? Upon realizing she couldn’t leave, she panicked and chose to flee. You know how terrible this Plague is... We couldn’t let a potential Seed spread the infection to thousands; I had no choice but to pursue her."

I had no words, only managing to nod silently in response.

"The girl didn’t suffer much, and afterwards, I even found a passing Priest to pray for her,"

Dice’s face turned somewhat pale, yet he continued on, "Her last words were ’Sorry for the trouble.’ Heh, she was actually a very sensible child."

I still didn’t know what to say. Although Dice seemed to mention it offhandedly, he was clearly tormented by guilt, suffering despite having done the right thing.

I didn’t know how to comfort him.

"It’s just sentimentality brought on by the sight, if it weren’t for the fact that you really resemble that girl, I probably wouldn’t have even remembered it." He obviously lied, then smiled and said, "By the way, do you know who that passing Priest was?"

I shook my head blankly.

"He said his name was Hei Fan."