I, Who Was Betrayed By The People I Loved Most - Chapter 20

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The moment I ducked into the alleyway, a powerful grip twisted my arm behind my back.

“Well, well. Duke Rubert—former Duke, that is. Took us long enough to find you.”

The voice was low and laced with restrained fury. Cold, emotionless eyes stared down at me.

I tried to struggle, but my body was too thin and weak to put up any real resistance.

Debt collectors.

“You’ve run up a bit too much of a tab, you see. And we can’t just let it slide. So we’ve decided… to sell you.”

“Sell me…?”
My throat tightened. I wanted to believe he was joking, but there was no hint of humor in his eyes.

Bound with rope and a sack over my head, I was thrown into a carriage. Marie, too, had been captured and was shoved into a different one.

We were never told where we were going.
Blindfolded, wrists and ankles tied, all I could do was endure the rocking of the carriage in the dark.

It felt like being trapped inside a coffin.

I don’t know how much time passed, but when the sack was finally removed, I found myself standing before a massive ship towering above me.

“Onboard,” they ordered, shoving me toward the cargo hold.

It was a dim, poorly ventilated space. I was thrown into a corner, given only a bit of food and water, and kept there for three days.

Where we arrived was… surprisingly beautiful.

Rolling grasslands stretched out endlessly under a sky so high and blue it looked painted.
The breeze brushing my cheek was gentle, like something from a distant, peaceful land.

But the calm didn’t last.

Two figures emerged, a man and a woman, both radiating an unmistakable aura of authority. Just their presence made me straighten my back instinctively.

“This is Grana-Virides. Uncharted land,” said the burly man.
“Not that you’re here for sightseeing.”

His body was broad and powerful. A large burn scar marred the left side of his face, and one of his eyes was cloudy and white.

“Starting today, you’ll work as part of the Land Sweeper Unit. It’s noble work—saving children’s lives.”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

“Landmines. Old-fashioned magical ones, scattered all across this region during the war.”

The one explaining now was a young woman in a dark robe—a mage. Her voice was cold and flat, utterly emotionless.

“You don’t have to be a mage to handle them. These detection devices will do the job.”

She held up a palm-sized, box-shaped tool with a lens.

“Scan the ground with this crystal scope. If it picks up a reaction, use the seismic rod to strike the mine’s core and disarm it.”

Then, after a beat of silence, she added without a hint of warmth:

“If you mess up… you’ll explode. Every last piece of you.”

Behind me, someone swallowed audibly.

Others like me had been brought here—people drowning in debt, criminals with nowhere else to go.

The work was far more nerve-racking than I’d imagined.

We had to move slowly, tracing the shadowy outlines of buried mines through the lens, confirming each reaction, then digging with utmost care.

If you managed to safely disarm one, your reward was a few pieces of dry bread and a cup of water.
For a bed, a thin layer of straw on the ground.

Even so, some of the local children would sometimes approach us with a smile and say, “Thank you.”

Some of the others said that was enough to make it worthwhile.

But I didn’t see it that way.

Why would risking my life for someone else’s child ever be worth it?

One morning, a man whose name I never even knew was blown to pieces during work.

He was the third one that week.

But no one screamed. No one cried.
Everyone simply returned to their tasks.

They were used to it now.
Death had become part of the routine.

“If we can give the children here even a sliver of freedom—to run through the fields without fear—then it’s worth it.”

The one who said that… was the woman mage.

“Why should I care about someone else’s children? Why the hell should I risk my life for a bunch of kids I don’t even know?”

I snapped bitterly, spitting the words with all the venom I had left.

The mage simply stared at me, silent and unreadable.

“That attitude suits this place perfectly,” she said at last.
“If you were even a little kind, it would be painful to watch. This is the kind of work where death is always right beside you.”

◆◇◆

I’ve lost track of how many days have passed. I don’t even know what day it is anymore.

“Thank you, mister!”
The children, covered in mud, wave at us as we pass.

It’s probably their way of showing gratitude.

But I never waved back.

I couldn’t bring myself to.

How could I?

I once lived in a mansion of opulence, surrounded by luxury. People bowed when I walked past. I lived as one born of noble bl00d.
There was royal blue running through these veins—wasn’t there?

Now look at me.
Dirt under my fingernails, cracked and calloused skin. My hands are ruined.

The stress has taken its toll—my hair is falling out. I can’t even bear to look in a mirror anymore.

At night, I lie on the straw that serves as a bed and shut my eyes.

And without fail, I dream of stepping on a magical landmine—of my body being blown to pieces.

And I wonder, in the haze of exhaustion:

Will I survive tomorrow?

This place…
This place is hell.

And I will keep defusing magic landmines until the day I die.