Ignore Pain

A few minutes later, outside the palace gates.

"I see. I understand now."

Luther listened to Justice Audrey's explanation and nodded slightly. Then, under her uneasy gaze, he fell silent for a moment.

He recalled what M had once told him.

"You have actually always been in pain. You simply forgot about it."

On the island where Saint of Darkness Leomaster had been imprisoned, the red-haired, golden-eyed woman had said those words to Luther. At the time, Luther had just devoured the cowardly and despairing personality he had split off from himself. That split personality had kept crying out about how much pain it was in, yet he himself had noticed nothing.

So she had been telling the truth...

My pain has always existed. I simply ignored it.

That was why this had happened. Clearly, my inner voice in Hall of Truth was so loud. Clearly, the other two heard it distinctly. Yet I discovered nothing... because, on a psychological level, I had already treated that pain as though it did not exist.

Perhaps this was a human self-protection mechanism. In order to prevent a mental breakdown, one instinctively ignored those violent emotions that wounded the soul. That pained and despairing self had been wailing every moment, enduring torment for a long time in a world where no one noticed it.

...It didn't matter.

"Heh."

After figuring this out, Luther gave a self-mocking chuckle. He raised his head and said to the other two, "Don't worry. This is merely a normal condition of mine."

In short, I'm fine. I won't go mad.

66

Upon hearing that, Justice Audrey and World Klein exchanged a subtle glance.

A normal condition?

Did he mean that heavy, terrifying inner voice filled with pain was normal?

What a joke!

Klein knew what Luther had gone