Lloyd smirked coldly, the edge of his lips curling into a sharp line as he looked from one boy to the other.
"Why are you two just standing there…" he said slowly, his voice low and cutting. "Aren't you going to help bury this trash?"
Both boys froze. Their faces were pale, their eyes flickering nervously from Lloyd to Noah's body, and then back again.
For a second, it looked like they were about to say something—to protest, or at least speak up—but before they could, Lloyd waved his hand once, sharply.
That simple motion was enough to shut them up completely.
*
A few minutes later, the three of them were standing in front of a crude heap of soil.
The hands of the two beside Lloyd was stained in soil and blood from Noah's corpse.
As one would expect, he made them do all the dirty work while merely passing arrogant instructions.
However, since the heap was hastily made, it was far from perfect.
A pale hand stuck out awkwardly from the right side of it, fingers curled slightly, half-buried in mud.
The sight of it made one of the boys shudder visibly, his stomach twisting at the thought of what—who—that hand belonged to.
Lloyd noticed it almost immediately. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took a step forward, glancing back at the other two, who immediately shrunk back.
'They can't even do such a simple task properly.' he thought, clicking his tongue in annoyance.
He then slowly lifted one hand, his fingers twitching slightly in the air.
He mumbled a few incoherent words under his breath, his face squeezing with each breath.
The ground in front of him responded immediately.
A small lump of soil rose up from the ground beside the heap, almost as if it had been pulled by invisible threads.
It floated briefly in the air before dropping down neatly over the hand, covering it completely.
The moment it settled, the air went quiet again. The only sound was the faint drip of water from the trees above.
Lloyd clapped his hands lightly once, a faint smile spreading across his lips.
"Now that's better," he said softly, brushing off the dirt that had stuck to his palms. "I easily did what you two failed to do."
The two boys behind him didn't respond. They were still standing there, their eyes darting nervously from the mound of soil to Lloyd. Their breathing was shaky, and their hands wouldn't stop trembling.
Unlike him, they couldn't calm down. They couldn't stop replaying what had just happened—the sight of Noah's body lying still, the feel of the soil in their hands as they buried him, the coldness of it all.
They were flustered, their hearts pounding hard against their ribs.
Lloyd turned to look at them, still wearing that same faint smile. He stepped closer, his boots crunching softly against the wet ground before he reached out and casually wrapped an arm around both their shoulders.
The gesture might have looked friendly at a glance, but there was nothing warm about it.
His hand pressed down firmly against one boy's shoulder, and his tone, though calm, carried a quiet threat that made the air feel suffocating.
"What's wrong with you two?" he said softly, almost as if he was amused. "Don't tell me…"
He tilted his head slightly, his eyes narrowing into slits as he looked at them both in turn. "You saw anything happen here?"
Both boys froze completely, their bodies going rigid under his grip.
Lloyd's gaze darkened, and the faint smirk on his lips sharpened into something colder. His eyes glinted faintly under the gray light filtering through the canopy above.
"Something like…" he said slowly, his voice dropping to a low, whisper. "…a dead body?"
The two boys immediately shook their heads, fast and frantic, their faces pale with fear. They didn't even dare to speak. The mere thought of answering the wrong way made their throats tighten.
Lloyd studied them both for a long, tense moment before nodding slowly, his expression softening slightly — though his eyes stayed as cold as ever.
"Good," he said finally, his tone smooth again. "That's really good."
He gave their shoulders a light pat before taking a step back, brushing off his hands as though wiping away invisible dust.
"Nothing happened here," he continued, his voice firm but casual. "In fact, we were never here… understood?"
They both nodded quickly, their heads moving up and down like they were on strings.
They didn't even have a choice in this scenario.
Unlike Lloyd, they weren't from a noble background, which was why they stuck to him and used his reputation to their advantage.
Lloyd was also using them in his own way.
As someone who loved the feeling of being above others, he decided to hang around these 'losers' who he consisted beneath him, using that to exalt his ego.
Lloyd's expression didn't change. He simply turned away, his coat swaying lightly as he began walking away from the forest.
The other two exchanged a nervous glance before hurrying after him.
They didnt dare look back, feeling like if they did, Noah's ghost would appear and torment them.
*
Noah suddenly found himself in a large, dark space.
He didn't know when or how he got there. One moment, everything had gone cold and quiet, and the next, he was surrounded by endless darkness stretching out in every direction.
There was no ground beneath him, no sky above—only emptiness.
He blinked slowly, though he couldn't tell if his eyes were even open. His voice came out weak, uncertain, as he thought to himself, 'Where am… I?'
There was no answer.
He tried to move, but he couldn't feel anything. His arms, his legs, his body—they were all gone.
There was no sense of touch, no warmth, not even the faint rhythm of his heartbeat.
The cold hand that had once seemed to wrap around his heart was no longer there. In fact, he didn't feel anything at all now—not even his own flesh.
He tried again to move, to reach out, but it was useless. It was like he didn't exist in any real sense anymore — only his consciousness drifting in a void that had no beginning or end.
'So this is it…' he thought bitterly. 'This is death.'