Chapter 145
The ruins, which seemed like they would collapse at any moment, ceased their trembling as soon as the visitors left.
“Well…”
The black-haired man standing blankly in the middle of the passage chuckled as he observed the now silent ruins.
(What are you doing?)
But soon after, a fierce voice accompanied by a penetrating gaze came from behind.
The man just turned his head with a blank expression.
“Could you stop glaring at me like that? I haven’t done anything to deserve your scrutiny, have I?”
(I clearly warned you not to interfere, didn’t I? Did you forget your determination to live?)
“Yeah! Just as you said, I didn’t interfere and stayed quiet. Did I disturb you two fighting? I just helped that little lady I rescued a bit! Is that any of your concern? I didn’t think so.”
(….)
For a moment, Sabulom couldn’t speak, his mouth remained shut.
“You said it yourself. Whether I save a worthless human or not is none of your business. But why are you questioning me now? I find it quite absurd.”
(Even now, your nature remains unchanged….)
“Although it’s a bit ambiguous, I’ll take it as a compliment.”
The man smirked, smoothly brushing off the somewhat sensitive remark.
– Ooooo
In no time, a brief light emitted from the man’s body, and he began to gradually fade away.
“Now that the summoned demon is dead, and my pieces have been moved outside, there’s no reason for me to stay here anymore. It wasn’t very comfortable, but I still had a good time, goodbye~!”
The man waved his hand cordially as he said his final goodbye.
Without changing his expression, Sabulom opened his mouth slowly.
(I don’t care what you do. However, the aftermath should not spill over into this land. Remember my words, Remiharam.)
“I don’t know how many times you’ve said the same thing. If you have time to advise me, you should do it to your followers. That big guy I saw earlier, he didn’t seem like he could live long. It would be unfair if he got sick and died, wouldn’t it?”
With those words, the man disappeared as if evaporating into thin air.
* * *
“You don’t remember?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry for what happened to you. Sometimes things like this happen. Some stranger gets into my head and starts babbling strange things, and then suddenly everything goes blank…”
Set kept apologizing, still holding onto his throbbing head.
While it varies from person to person, those who fell into a ‘deep coma’ generally don’t remember what happened at that time.
It’s probably the same for that guy.
I don’t think remembering would do any good.
“The ruins have quieted down.”
The ruins, which seemed like they would collapse at any moment, became quiet as soon as we left.
It seems the divine energy of the sand deity in the ruins couldn’t reach outside.
That sand deity must have been quite bewildered.
Surely that little mage standing behind me didn’t know how to use spatial transitions.
Spatial transition.
In simple terms, it’s a magic that moves people within a certain range to another space.
Even though it’s a high-level magic that can only be achieved at the level of 7th grade or higher, it’s not something that can be easily used just because the magic level is high.
Not only do you have to estimate the distance between the spaces you want to move, but you also have to mentally grasp and calculate complex factors such as the flow of mana, the surrounding terrain of the destination, and so on, and materialize them with magic in order to realize it.
Even considering the pure distance between the ruins and the entrance, it was by no means a short distance,
Wasn’t she already out of mana from the beginning?
Unless someone injected a large amount of mana, the current situation could never have happened.
“Anyway, are you okay, junior? I heard those scrawny guys from the Society were after you.”
“I’m fine. I received help from some special individuals.”
The word ‘individuals’ caught my attention, but I didn’t show it.
“I’m sorry. I unintentionally caused trouble for the seniors too.”
“No need to apologize. If anything, I’ve caused more trouble, not less.”
Set got up from his seat with a strong voice and stretched his body.
“But what about you guys from the society? Doesn’t seem like we got out first?”
“That’s…”
Luna’s gaze naturally turned towards me.
“Just in case, I’ll go check near the entrance! You guys take a break for a moment!”
Before I could respond, he swiftly ran towards the entrance.
Once again, unintentionally, Luna and I were left alone.
“….”
It’s awkward.
I didn’t feel like this just a moment ago.
I have no idea what expression to make or what to say.
As I was pondering how long to maintain the silence, an uncertain feeling washed over me,
She finally spoke up.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you feeling tired or uncomfortable anywhere?”
“Do you really think that’s a question for you to ask?”
“Well, excuse me for worrying, Senior…”
She seemed a bit flustered, pursing her lips as if hesitating.
“What about members of the Garam Magic Society? What happened to them?”
“I killed them.”
Now there was no need to hide it, so I affirmed with a brief answer.
“Will you kill me too?”
I couldn’t answer that question directly.
“As I said before, I have no intention of telling anyone about you, Senior. It’s been that way from the start. Whatever the Senior’s identity or power may be, that’s the Senior’s business. I don’t think I have the right to blabber about it.”
I understand.
Even if it’s not a human but a god who comes, she won’t say anything about me.
I know better than anyone how heavy her lips can be.
“I’m someone who was saved by a senior. It may sound extreme, but if the senior wants me to live, I’ll live, and if they want me to die, I’ll die. That’s how precious the senior is to me.”
It’s not just a little extreme.
To live if I want you to live and to die if I want you to die?
At that moment, I remembered some fool from a past life who lived with such a trivial mentality and met a miserable end.
“…How did you know?”
“About what?”
“That I saved you. How did you know?”
It couldn’t have been just intuition.
Luna was completely unconscious and couldn’t be aware of her surroundings at that time.
Even during the removal of the Heart Curve, I thought I wouldn’t leave any traces, so there was no way she could be sure that I saved her.
On what basis did she have the confidence that I had saved her?
“By feeling?”
It was truly a disappointing answer.
“When I was kidnapped by the Society, I was in a state of unconsciousness. I was carelessly abandoned in the darkness. Suddenly, a mist appeared before me.”
“Mist?”
“Yes. It was a very strange mist, eerie yet strangely comforting. It warmly enveloped me, who was left alone. I can’t forget how warm it was when I woke up. And the feeling that was the same as that….”
“Did you just feel it from me?”
Luna nodded with a completely blank face.
In the end, did I sow the seeds and reap them myself?
Despite her extraordinary intuition, the fundamental reason must be my own sympathy.
“How did you manage to use Spatial Transition? You weren’t even in a state to use it.”
“Oh, I’m also curious about that. I was gathering mana when suddenly, a strange energy came from behind…”
Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly spaced out.
Then, as if enlightened, she began nodding her head abruptly.
“I don’t think you can kill me.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I met Remiharam.”
Still shocked, I grabbed her shoulders and asked.
“You, you met who?!”
“Remiharam. Re! Mi! Ha! Ram!”
As if engraving it firmly in my mind, she shouted into my ear emphatically.
What’s this?
She’s not someone to lie about something like this, right?
Come to think of it, she mentioned special individuals to Set earlier too.
Did she really receive help from the Tome?
What’s going on with the Tome…
“Curious, aren’t you?”
Luna looked at me with a confident expression, as if she had taken control of the situation.
“But what should I do? I don’t want to talk about it.”
“….”
“To satisfy the Senior’s curiosity, I might not be able to die yet.”
Her face, full of satisfaction, sharply contrasted with my bewildered expression due to the unexpected situation.
“Then I’ll go to Senior Set for a moment. We never know when another accident might happen.”
I couldn’t stop her confidently walking away, so I just stared at her back.
“Oh right.”
Suddenly turning around, she…
“…..!”
…hugged me tightly without any warning.
“What are you doing?”
“Just feeling a bit regretful. I thought it might have been better to lie flat on the ground in this state…”
With incomprehensible words, Luna moved back towards where Set was.
In many ways, the situation had become quite complex, leaving my head extremely confused.
However, there was no time to calm down my bewildered mind.
As soon as she left, mist rose from where she had been embraced.
[How can you make such a stupid expression?]
With a mischievous grin, Kaeram poked my cheek firmly.
“Is what she said true?”
[What]
“That she met Remiharam! That guy just shows up out of nowhere to any human?”
[How would I know? With his unpredictable nature, he could very well do that… Ah, forget it! Don’t bring up that bastard in front of me!]
She was rather indignant about discussing it.
[Don’t push it…]
“What?”
[Forget it! Just talking to myself!]
She seemed to have some idea, but judging by her way of speaking, she wasn’t going to spill.
In the end, all I got was a piece of parchment supposedly from Tome.
It seemed like a significant achievement, but rather than feeling pleased, I felt uneasy.
“Hey, you guys over there!”
Amidst all this, a desperate call came from behind.
Set, Luna, and I, all turned our heads towards the source of the urgency near the entrance of the ruins.
“Everyone’s safe! Thank goodness!”
It was one of the villagers I’d seen passing by earlier, looking quite frantic as if he had rushed here.
“What’s going on? Why are you all here?”
Set asked, looking puzzled.
“I, I’m not sure what’s happening right now! Some of the people who went to the ruins with you all have returned and started attacking the remaining members of their group in the village! It seemed like there was some kind of altercation…”
Set was the first to react.
“W-What about the villagers?”
“The villagers are unharmed! But we’re in a situation where we can’t intervene! If we continue like this, the village…”
Without waiting for more information, Set immediately dashed towards the village.
“It seems like the Garam Society has finally shown their true colors…”
Without hesitation, Luna followed Set hastily.
It seemed like the situation was far from over.
———