Chapter 147.1

Chapter 147.1

The gaping empty eye socket was so dark that at first, she thought she had seen it wrong. But upon closer inspection, he truly had no eyeball.

As the distance closed, the man’s decayed eye became clearer. Could it be that he had harmed himself in the eye?

“Come closer.”

Rigay shook his thin wrist, making a metallic sound. By the time the rosary he was wearing on his wrist became visible, he thrust his face forward.

Perhaps he had been sitting and couldn’t gauge it, but despite his hunched back, Rigay was quite tall.

Seoryeong flinched and took a step back, but she couldn’t completely shake him off.

His emaciated body leaned in closely, looking down at her. One eye socket was completely empty, while the other was unable to open due to dozens of cuts on the eyelid.

Yet, Rigay buried his gaze deep into Seoryeong’s hair.

“Black hair…”

After confirming her hair, the man sat back down and hunched over again. Treating her like a transparent person was the same as before, but for some reason, it felt like she had passed through a gate.

–  He has no eyes?

Suddenly, a cold voice flowed through the in-ear that had been silent. She knew that responding quickly would reassure Wooshin, who had been on edge lately, but her mind was completely occupied by the Rigay in front of her.

“Diaspora… diaspora….”

Seoryeong moved a little closer to hear his muttering. What on earth was CEO Kang Taegon collecting, and what kind of significant information could lead to the deaths of the personnel assigned to the security detail? She gripped the armrest of the chair with a cold, hardened face.

“I’m sorry, Prime Minister… I’m sorry, Madam… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you… I’m sorry, Prime Minister… I’m sorry, Madam… I’m sorry for the diaspora… just the children… I’m sorry, Madam….”

He repeated words that sounded like regret or apology. She had seen many patients in the nursing home who repeated similar phrases. It resembled the behavior of dementia patients, trapped in a single time frame and unable to escape.

What could diaspora mean? Seoryeong silently mouthed the unfamiliar word.

At that moment, as if he had heard that faint sound, Rigay suddenly lifted his head and grabbed Seoryeong’s wrist tightly.

“Child!”

The strength with which he pulled her was so intense that she frowned.

“I’ve actually discovered the truth.”

His face, oddly shiny despite having no eyeballs, was grotesque. Could the information that CEO Kang wanted be related to that truth? Seoryeong’s nerves were on edge at Rigay’s whispering words.

“I have ultimately found the real truth.”

However, the empty eye socket that had been groping in the air suddenly crumbled down as if laughing.

“The world has no interest in the weak.”

Rigay placed the rosary he had been wearing onto Seoryeong. Even until that moment, the chuckling metallic sound continued.

“Even morality was a luxury created by the strong.”

“….”

“Still, I had no choice but to keep believing that I had saved it…. I am still protecting and guarding it. Even if it’s fake, I had to live believing it. Because if I didn’t believe, I couldn’t endure. Ugh, ugh! I’m sorry, Prime Minister, I’m sorry, Madam.”

Seoryeong’s expression hardened as she looked at the rosary that had crossed over to her wrist. She didn’t know this man’s story, but it seemed his mind was completely shattered.

He looked like someone who had collapsed under the weight of something he couldn’t bear.

“Ugh!”

The man buried his forehead in the back of his rough hand and groaned. Then, suddenly, as if having a seizure, he began to scream, “Aaaah!”

To calm him down, Seoryeong grabbed his arms, but she was hit in the head by his flailing arm.

“Bring me my eyes. Bring me my eyes. My eyes! Bring me my eyes right now!”

Dazed, she quietly watched Rigay point to one of his eyes before stepping out the door. She then shouted at the foreigner who was standing still.

“глаз!”

Eyes! The bodyguard, who understood her words immediately, pulled out the key he had at his waist. From the deep room, Rigay’s screams could still be heard.

Despite the bodyguard’s insistence that he couldn’t leave his post, she began to run straight to the rectory where Rigay had stayed.

The ached screams seemed to push against her damp back continuously. As soon as Seoryeong stepped outside, she pressed the in-ear tightly.

“Instructor, what does ‘diaspora’ mean?”

– Seoryeong!

The deafening shout echoed here as well.

–  If you’re going to ignore communications as you please, why are you even wearing the earpiece?!

“The situation wasn’t exactly ideal.”

–  You don’t think about me waiting outside at all!

“So I’m contacting you now.”

–  What are you so calm about… Haah! Stop driving people to madness!

“So, have you ever heard the term ‘diaspora’?”

Ignoring Wooshin’s worries, she brushed them aside, and the breath that struck her eardrums immediately turned cold.

You really… The voice that came through was suppressing many emotions. He answered, as cold as the distance that had pushed him away.

–  Diaspora refers to a people living outside their homeland.

In the meantime, Seoryeong had safely entered the rectory and began to scan the room thoroughly. What caught her eye immediately was a transparent, elongated container holding a prosthetic eye.

“….”

Floating in the disinfectant, it looked so lifelike that even the blood vessels were visible. She had heard that modern prosthetic eyes were sophisticated enough to recognize irises. Not wanting to look at it in detail, she quickly put it in her pocket.

“I’m going back now.”