Chapter 7

【Once upon a time, in a certain country, there was a certain family.

As is often the case with those at the center of stories, the family had one eerie secret that had been passed down for generations.】

【One day, the family had a dream.

It was a strange dream cast by a being that was unpleasant, marvelous, ecstatic, and disgusting all at once.

Ten months after having the dream, the family had a baby.

The family expected that the baby would surely become an important figure.】

【But at some point, everything became strange.】

【The central axis of the story shifted, and the family was pushed to one side of the narrative.

Known facts and newly born truths became intermingled.

In the midst of chaos and confusion, they prayed to their god who resided in another world.

The chaos responded by calling a visitor from another world, but ■ was an anomaly that could never be applied to this world, a non-existent ■.】

【Therefore, ■ inevitably died.

One dies, and one returns.

Destinies overlap, and the declining mind retreats.

Thus, ■ finally found a place in the corner of the story.】

* * *

-Why are my hands like this?

He clenched and unclenched the plump, white, small hands.

Around his neck was something cumbersome like a white scarf, and his clothes were cleanly ironed without a single wrinkle.

Why am I here?

Confused, he looked around and noticed something strange.

People dressed in servant uniforms were all kneeling.

Some of them were even walking on their knees.

He was in a room with these people.

The moment he realized this, a large door swung open.

A noblewoman entered majestically, dragging along another group of servants.

As soon as she saw him, she exclaimed.

-My lovely child, Arenheit!

-Mother!

Who is this person?

His mind questioned, but his body was already running to her as if about to fly.

His still young and light body was enveloped in the lady's skirt.

-Mother, Mother.

-Were you playing well? I was worried because you said it was uncomfortable to look up at the servants, but how is it now?

He turned around.

The servants who had been crawling on their knees were bowing their heads respectfully.

-I... like it.

-Oh my, you found a good method. Was this mother right?

Despite the awkward answer, a cold hand caressed his cheek affectionately.

Finding it not unpleasant, he nuzzled his face against the skirt with rough lace.

As the hand gently stroked his hair, the child's heart began to pound.

At that moment, he realized.

This lady was his mother.

Beautiful, wise, sagacious, kind, and willing to do anything he desired—his mother.

His only protector.

His understanding one.

His world.

His possession.

The being who reigned over almost everything in a young child's world.

She whispered.

-Arenheit, you are my everything. You are our everything.

The creepily affectionate words whispered like a snake near his ear.

Loving it so much, he closed his eyes.

Ah, Mother. I promise you.

I can do anything for you...

* * *

Moonlight was quietly falling over the collapsed ruins.

On top of the messily tangled rotten wood and ropes, two bodies were intertwined.

The sight resembled dolls that a child had played with and then discarded.

This was because they had been thrown away like trash at the bottom of a cliff where no one could see.

A strange change occurred in the scene that seemed like it would never change.

The head, which had not taken shape, moved.

The blood clot, which had not yet congealed, made a sloshing sound as it flowed down.

Following that, as if receiving some unholy command, various parts of the body found their places.

Places that were terribly bent, twisted, and broken fused together and joined with the sound of bones cracking.

Torn muscles reconnected, and spilled blood gathered.

The heart sent coagulated blood throughout the body, and the lungs inflated greatly.

The corpse, which had not been granted death and could not even exit, rose.

The breath that was the last as Yerabijeye and the first as Yu Yesung burst forth.

"Huh, huh-uck, hack, cough, cough!"

The body, which had momentarily been a corpse, writhed and then rolled off the debris.

After several thudding sounds, the body that had fallen to the ground crawled forward.

His clothes were soaked in blood and covered in dirt.

Behind the crawling body, a long dark mark was drawn.

But the body, the newly revived corpse, persistently moved forward.

It was an instinctive movement, like a pupa shedding its shell.

Where the body arrived was in front of another pool of blood.

The Vormi's tongue, pierced by a huge pillar, was stretched out long.

It was waiting for death, unable to move.

But Yu Yesung knew that it was not dead.

The one who had died and come back to life buried his head in the still hot, dark red pool.

It was a terrible and cruel sight.

Drink was provided without limit, and the body enthusiastically welcomed the unexpected feast.

How much time had passed?

Yu Yesung stood up properly.

The hand that was wiping his wet face and smoothing his dirt-covered clothes suddenly stopped.

A look of perplexity passed over Yerabijeye's face, which was now his.

Yu Yesung's gaze lingered on the pool of blood and the dead mutated Vormi.

What did I just do?

What have I done?

His memory blurred hazily, then became clear, and then distorted.

The world was becoming strange.

I need to find someone.

Yu Yesung began to run aimlessly.

He continued running even as stones were kicked away and his shoes came off.

The horror of having done something, and the fear of not being able to clearly know what it was, closely followed behind.

Just as he was about to run out of breath, a scream-like shout finally burst from Yu Yesung's mouth.

"Leandros!"

Almost simultaneously, strange cries were heard from the other side of the forest.

One, two, three.

Different strange cries overlapped but soon quieted down. After that, a response came back.

"Your Grace!"

"I'm here, I'm here!"

An expression of barely surviving flashed across his youthful face.

His knight, who had rushed through the black trees in one breath, was holding a sword that was missing teeth and soaked in an unidentifiable liquid.

"Your Grace."

The wet sword glinted.

But what actually reflected in Yu Yesung's eyes were the pale letters covering Leandros's back.

【6570】

【Leandros was considerably surprised.

His lord and the one he was guarding was limping, soaked in blood.

Was he seriously injured?

But his sensitive nose smelled a stench similar to that of the Vormi whose heart he had just pierced.】

Seeing the usually cold knight's face contort, Yu Yesung laughed involuntarily.

The impulsively erupted laughter did not stop and gradually became more hysterical.

Ah,

What a dog-like situation this is.

* * *

The hunt was suspended.

Leandros, upon seeing him, found Arndt and sent him back to the castle with Arndt.

He barely remember the way back to the castle.

Somehow he managed to walk, and when he arrived at the castle, he stood for a while before Arndt took care of everything and laid me down in bed.

After that, everything was hazy.

There wasn't much he could remember.

Everything was only drawn as some abstract image.

A pool of blood.

A skewer piercing a huge body.

A shattered head.

An enormous amount of text.

Debris and stone fragments.

A rough sensation.

Terrible fear.

A good fragrance.

An ear-splitting scream.

Intense affection surging from within the chest...

Crushed by all of these, he would lose consciousness and when he woke up, it was either bright or dark outside.

After spending more than 7 days just in the room.

He was finally able to sit up properly on his own.

"Are you really not uncomfortable anywhere? If necessary, once more..."

"I'm fine. My body is just a bit stiff."

Arndt fed him soup carefully, as if handling thin glass.

It was a thin soup with a somewhat strange taste, but since his stomach was about to stick to his back, he decided to just eat it.

"Sir Leandros discovered the collapsed watchtower. It was a terrible accident. It could have cost you your life."

"It must have been because it was neglected for a long time."

"Everyone knew that."

【Why did we forget?

Arndt wanted to ask, but it wasn't a question that the injured Duke could answer.

So instead of asking an impertinent question, he began to ladle out the soup.】

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, he shifted my body, and Arndt withdrew the meal.

"Where is Sir Leandros?"

"He's outside. Shall I call him?"

"Yes."

Leandros was not far away.

Leandros, who had been guarding the door, returned to his bedroom with Arndt and knelt on one knee beside the bed.

It was an action considering that he was sitting.

"You called for me."

"I didn't call you to say anything strange. Arndt told me I've been sleeping for days, and I wanted to ask if you two were alright during that time."

"..."

【Is he in his right mind?

Leandros doubted his ears.

Throughout the seven days and nights that Arenheit had been asleep, the two had not been alright for even a moment.

Leandros decided to maintain silence for a while.】

【Arndt was at a loss for words.

Wasn't the recipient of the question about being alright wrong?

Arndt noticed that Leandros's expression was slightly creasing.】

A pale light dizzied his vision.

After a moment of silence, Leandros opened his mouth.

"It was our mistake. If you wish to punish us, we will accept it willingly."

"I hadn't even thought about punishment."

"With a little more thought, we could have known that all buildings in the forest were dangerous. Blinded by trivial matters, we neglected Your Grace's safety."

"That's something I didn't know either."

Punishment all of a sudden?

Leandros and Arndt had already bowed their heads deeply.

Looking at them, he realized that his situation had become quite awkward.

He knew they considered it their duty to protect his well-being.

In this world and era, they would have nothing to say even if he beheaded them.

But he wasn't a madman who would send those who displeased me to the guillotine.

What to do.

They're not dogs or cats waiting to be scolded.

"You both knew it was dangerous and still came with me. I also forced you to. So fundamentally, I think the responsibility lies with me."

Honestly, it was perplexing.

He was the one who got hurt for being reckless, what sin did they have?

It seemed his brother had shaped the character to be too soft-hearted.

He carefully chose his words and comforted them with caution.

"I don't mean for you to feel burdened. If you two hadn't brought me here, I wouldn't have fared well there either. So if we're being fair, I should be the one thanking you."

He had no intention of making them feel guilty.

His goal was just to feed the characters his brother had created well.

Besides, it was already challenging enough to see the text rising behind the two of them right now.

'No matter how I look at it, that looks exactly like a novel.'

Colorless words being written in real-time, flowing like water.

What on earth was that?

He deliberately turned his eyes away from it.

A change of topic was needed.

"Ah, right. What happened with the hunt?"

"...If you're referring to the hunt, it was suspended as soon as we found you, Your Grace."

"Didn't you hunt any Vormi?"

"It's not that we didn't hunt any. We killed three."

"Three?"

Huh?

His mouth fell open without him realizing.

Three?

Those Vormi?

When? So quickly?

"I don't remember the exact size because it was dark, but they were definitely adults."

At Leandros's confirmation, a bell sound immediately rang in his ears instead of tinnitus.

Hallelujah, hallelujah.

At this point, wasn't Leandros a walking bundle of fortune?

He’s good at hunting, he dispatched the Vormi in such a short time, what can't he do?

"Are you sure it was three?"

"Yes. I couldn't see if they had properly breathed their last, but I brought down three..."

"They're still all in the forest, right?"

"Yes."

Leandros raised his head.

Though his sentence was cut off, which felt unsettling, he seemed to be managing his expression, with the faint wrinkle between his brows being his maximum protest.

But who cares about that?

Three Vormi!

Three times the claws!

Three times the teeth!

"Everyone get ready."

"Pardon? Your Grace, what do you mean?"

Arndt also raised his head and looked at him with round eyes.

He grinned at him.

"We need to see how much will come into our hands."

It was the long-awaited harvest season.