Ch. 66
“You bitch! Ruining my business wasn’t enough? Messing up my brother should’ve satisfied you already!”
To break the man’s neck, Rai needed a bit of mana from me to unleash his strength.
But right now, I didn’t even have that much mana to spare.
Just then, a commotion broke out upstairs, and dust trickled down from the ceiling.
It sounded like the knights had reached the upper floor. It was a shame to let him go now.
“If that’s how you wanna play, I’ll kill your friend too!”
Well, that was a problem.
The woman, clearly desperate, grabbed Iruze by her clothes again and screamed like a madwoman.
I had no choice but to let the man go.
It was too difficult to protect an unconscious Iruze.
“Fine. I get it… Just let her go.”
“Now!”
Thud, thud—the knights’ footsteps were drawing closer, and the woman grew increasingly frantic.
“Rai, drop the man and protect Iruze.”
[Protect Iruze? I… I… I will comply.]
Rai slithered toward Iruze with jerky, unnatural movements, like a broken toy snake.
While the woman supported her freed brother and examined his injuries—
A sudden, sharp throb shot through my gut, and Undine’s figure began to flicker.
[Master! I have to go back!]
A spirit forcibly dismissed due to mana depletion always caused severe internal injury.
I felt blood welling up my throat, gushing uncontrollably as I watched Undine vanish against my will.
It left me with a hollow feeling.
[Master…]
Undine reached out to me before her form scattered completely into the air.
“Miss Crowell! Miss Feiru! Where are you? Please respond!”
Footsteps thundered in along with a familiar voice calling for me and Iruze. It sounded like Philo.
This place must’ve been some sort of maze, because the voice came from right behind me.
But I couldn’t afford to feel relieved.
Just because I heard a familiar voice, just because Rai was protecting Iruze, didn’t mean it was safe to relax.
“Miss Crowell!”
My mind was already scattered trying to hold back the blood gushing from my mouth, and I was also distracted by Ash suddenly opening his eyes in my arms.
“Bitch!”
Drawn by the shriek that echoed like a scream, I turned my head.
The woman had thrown something at me.
I thought of Rai, but the dagger flew far too fast. Was it the same one she used to threaten Iruze?
A flash of white came hurtling toward me.
I’m going to die. Just like this. How stupid.
That thought came, but I didn’t even manage to close my eyes.
Bright red blood sprayed out.
—
It wasn’t my blood. Whatever had intervened in that split second wasn’t Rai.
“Ash!”
It was a very small hand.
Ash’s pained scream pierced my ears, and I saw the sharp blade protruding from the hand it had pierced through.
“Aaagh! Nngh, hhk.”
Ash.
Ash!
Why did you do that?!
I stared blankly at him, clutching his pierced hand and curling up from the pain, completely lost in this incomprehensible situation.
Panting from the pain, Ash tried to pull the dagger out of his hand.
“No! Don’t pull it out!”
Only then did I come to my senses and stopped him.
This kid must be an idiot. If it were me, I wouldn’t have saved you! I wouldn’t have taken the stab for you!
“Hrk, it hurts…!”
“Just hold on. Don’t pull it out carelessly! The knights are coming… so just, show them first…!”
Tears streamed down.
Tears without a reason. I was too overwhelmed—confused, breathless, and in agony.
Everything felt like it was spinning, and I coughed up blood again.
[Master!]
When I turned around, the woman was gone. She must have fled right after throwing the dagger—only the empty doorway remained.
“Rai… go after her.”
[But Master, will you be okay alone?]
“Just go! And don’t come back unless she’s dead.”
[Uh, I’m not exactly built for tracking…]
“Now.”
When I got too angry, my voice practically boiled over.
Rai, unsure of himself, dragged his bloodied body slowly out of the cell.
“That way! It’s Miss Crowell’s snake!”
That was the last thing I remembered before I lost consciousness.
I think I collapsed over Ash.
—
I don’t remember much, but it felt like I was wandering endlessly through some deep abyss.
As if I were submerged in boiling water, endlessly sinking, never knowing when I’d hit bottom, always tense with fear.
The helpless sensation of being pulled down sent chills through me again and again, until suddenly—I opened my eyes.
Flash. I woke up in the middle of the night.
“……”
It was a dark room.
Seemed like my room at the inn.
The curtains were drawn tight over the window, but the silence and the cool, still air told me it was very late.
I was lying in bed, changed into clean sleepwear. When I sat up, the wet towel that had been on my forehead slipped down onto the blanket.
My body felt so heavy and clammy that it took a moment to figure out what was happening.
[Master.]
As I sat dazed, Rai slithered out from under the blanket.
Only then did my head start to clear.
The white snake flicked his tongue toward me—it was oddly comforting.
[You had a high fever. You were delirious.]
“Me?”
[Yes, you pushed yourself too hard. The internal injuries caused the fever. You were unconscious for two days. Even the clerics came by during the day.]
“I don’t remember much.”
Right. The headache must’ve been from the fever.
I rubbed my forehead, trying to piece my memories back together. But it was all hazy.
I only vaguely remembered being terribly thirsty and being fed some kind of medicine.
And the moment I realized I was truly sick, the pain in my gut flared up terribly.
I’d heard about internal injuries plenty of times—but now I knew what they actually felt like.
“Ngh… Ash?”
[Ash?]
“Yeah. Is Ash okay?”
[Not sure who that is.]
“The black-haired boy who was with me.”
[Ah, the one who was there…]
Rai seemed to think for a moment, then shook his tiny snake head.
[I don’t know. When I came back, you were already like this. I didn’t have the presence of mind to check anything else.]
“How many days has it been since then?”
[Two days.]
First, I got up and stepped down from the bed.
The moment my feet touched the floor, I realized just how bad my condition was. Since when did standing feel like such a chore?
[Please don’t overdo it.]
“You. Rai.”
[Yes?]
“What did you do with those people?”
[…Teehee?]
This little brat. Where the hell did he learn to act cutesy?
“I told you to kill them!”
I shouted, only a little—but even that made my stomach churn as if I were going to vomit.
Ugh. I’d never experienced this kind of physical state before.
[I did chase after them, but you know how I’m pretty useless in wide-open spaces, right? I’m fine in tight spots that are good for jumping.]
“Just get to the point.”
[Those people were really fast.]
“You’re fast too.”
[There’s a speed limit when you’re crawling on the ground, you know. And there were so many secret passages—I needed to liquefy to pass through them, but that’s impossible without your mana. On top of that, it had to be during the festival, so the streets were packed. I couldn’t distinguish anyone’s presence.]
In the end, Rai had failed, and he was rambling on with excuse after excuse.
[By the time I finally found them, they were already on horseback and riding out through the city gates. I couldn’t chase them any farther. Being away from you any longer would’ve been risky for me too.]
“Don’t give me that. You always wander off just fine on your own.”
[That’s not true. I always keep within a certain range of you. I can’t exactly go off to another country just to catch those guys, can I?]
To think I could feel this furious just because someone wasn’t killed.
Grinding my teeth with a murderous rage I’d never known before, I had no intention of letting it go.
