It rained. Like a shower.
The rain pooled, and puddles appeared sporadically on the path leading to the imperial palace.
...No, it was my mistake.

It wasn’t rain.
It was blood.
Puddles of blood covered the path to the imperial palace, laid out like a red carpet.
Countless corpses decorated it.
It was truly a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

All the bodies wore similar outfits.
The decorations and badges on their clothing were familiar.

The two knight orders symbolizing the emperor's power.
Sword and shield. They all wore badges symbolizing shields.
The Imperial Guard.

Why were they lying here?
The swords and shields adorned the graves of the corpses.
And I was walking among those graves.

I held a sword in my hand. The sword was stained with blood.
I didn’t need to ask whose blood it was.
The culprit was me.

Thud, thud.