Chapter 53

A long, ringing sound echoed in his ears.

The world turned black, then white again as surrounding objects came into view.

The bare soil ground that couldn't be seen from inside the carriage.

Fragments of the shattered carriage and its collapsed frame.

The horse struggling on the ground.

A rolling wheel, and.

"Your Grace, are you conscious!"

A voice shouting from afar.

As he barely raised his body after lying face down, his head ached terribly and nausea welled up.

It seemed he had been thrown out of the carriage when it reached this state and hit his head.

The massive shadow visible in the distance resembled a spider.

No, an existence more terrible and bizarre than a spider.

Leandros was blocking the monster with a single sword.

"Your Grace!"

"I, I'm fine."

Probably?

In this situation, a mild concussion would be considered fine, right?

That thing, which did not resemble a human form, had elongated legs and sharp teeth that pierced through its jaw.

It was no longer wearing the uniform of Baron Arnold's employee.

It must have been quite urgent.

He had gone into the reception room alone with Amelia, and Leandros had blocked the door.

In the end, it seemed that after hesitating, it had chased after them before the carriage could get too far.

Looking around, there was not a single house to call for help.

Literally between one manor and another.

Even though it was broad daylight, there was no better place with so few people.

Clever.

"Your Grace, please escape on horseback first. If you head in this direction, you'll soon reach a village!"

There was a grating sound as teeth caught on the sword.

Leandros was the protagonist, so he wouldn't die.

But the situation was different now.

The monster was targeting him.

Yet could Leandros defeat the monster while protecting a hostage?

Even if the protagonist's grandfather came, he would trip the 'hostage=weakness' flag and lose an arm! That's the cliché!

He couldn't sacrifice Leandros's arm!

The horse that had been kneeling on the ground let out a long neigh in surprise.

The horse, tied by its reins, struggled as if trying to get up, and in that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through his mind.

"Your Grace, hurry...!"

While Leandros and the monster were engaged in a test of strength, he removed his cumbersome cloak and untied the reins from the horse.

After mounting the horse without a saddle, he kicked its side while gripping and shaking the old necklace string he had received from Amelia.

"Look over here!"

The moment he felt the monster's head turn toward him.

His already tilted head became even more distorted, and a strange sound emerged.

For a moment, he felt chilled.

Was this the best he could do?

But the water was already spilled.

The horse galloped at a terrifying speed with a long neigh, and the chaotic sounds behind him faded into the distance.

Flat ground, grassland, and then a forest path.

There was no need to worry about whether it would chase him.

As soon as he entered the forest, the sound of breaking branches and rustling leaves began to grow louder from somewhere.

Bizarre sounds that could not be made by forest animals were heard.

Echoes bounced off trees,

And returned with even greater volume.

When those sounds filled the surroundings to the point where he could no longer hear anything else.

The frightened horse ran faster and faster, eventually caught on something and collapsed on the spot.

He, who had been clinging tightly to the horse, fell to the ground and rolled several more turns before finally stopping.

His whole body ached after being thrown onto the bumpy road.

Nevertheless, he couldn't just lie there.

He checked the string he was holding and raised his body again.

He didn't think he could go far in this state.

But even if just for a few seconds.

If he could buy more time.

The moment he took a step, an abnormally elongated arm stretched out from the bushes right in front of him.

The monster had already taken on a form even less resembling a human.

Six limbs elongated for pursuit.

The remaining skin was dripping down like stalactites.

From holes pierced all over its face, replacing the function of its crumpled eyes, disgusting breathing sounds emerged.

It was watching him,

Slowly approaching.

The horse was struggling under its feet, but when the monster's fifth foot trampled the horse's neck, it stopped moving with a final cry.

Unbearable pressure and revulsion.

He could neither retreat nor escape.

The tentacles of what had once been Yurik's spy wavered.

[A shallow trick.]

"Seeing as I left Leandros behind, it's not so shallow, is it?"

[Both dying is the same. Just a matter of time.]

A particularly long and sticky tentacle extended from what was presumed to be the monster's mouth.

It wrapped tightly around the arm where he was clenching his fist and lifted it.

An uneasy cracking sound came from his shoulder and elbow joints, tightly constricted by the tentacle.

"Before that, let me ask one thing."

The monster's head tilted further.

Without an answer, could it be taken as permission?

Yurik had a strange mercy.

How should he put it, like...

"There should be one more thing Yurik has, but it wasn't originally his, was it?"

A generosity shown to a person on the verge of death, perhaps.

The monster, surprisingly, made a sound resembling laughter.

[What matters is that he wants it now.]

"Is that so? But what a pity."

He barely spread his hand, which was trembling due to lack of blood flow.

On his palm was,

Only the old necklace string, nothing more.

The black stone was nowhere to be found.

"You've got the wrong address."

Stupid fool.

Did it think he would have brought the real bait?

From the beginning, there's no way someone like him, who didn't know how to fight, would have taken it and run.

The monster let out an angry roar, tore off his arm, and threw it to the side.

His body, flying like a rag doll, hit a tree.

Of course, an ordinary body couldn't withstand such an impact.

"Cough."

Gastric fluid and blood poured out of his mouth simultaneously.

Even though the ground was dyed red and soaked, the flowing blood showed no sign of lessening.

Thinking it might be better to just die, he closed his eyes as the monster approached.

At that moment,

Behind the roaring monster's head, a sharp light flashed once.

-Thud.

Leandros, unable to even sheathe his sword, wiped the blood splattered on his face while breathing heavily.

The monster, with its head and body separated in one stroke, didn't even twitch.

After confirming the monster's death, he rushed over and couldn't speak upon seeing his condition.

"Your Grace."

"...A mess, isn't it."

One arm was gone,

From the inability to move his body, his spine seemed broken.

Blood was everywhere, and he looked on the verge of death.

A fleeting despair crossed Leandros's shadowed face.

He knelt beside him and tried to salvage the situation somehow, but it wasn't easy.

"Why you made such a choice, I really."

"...Burden."

Because his presence was a penalty for Leandros.

It must have been because Leandros didn't think he had to protect him just now that he was able to kill it like that.

But Leandros, considerably flustered, reached for the empty space where his arm had been.

His hand was dampened with blood.

"No, I never once thought."

"......"

"...I never once thought that."

Leandros murmured.

Whether he had such thoughts or not was beside the point.

What mattered now wasn't that, but what would happen after he died.

He could probably come back to life, but Leandros shouldn't be by his side when that happened.

Because a situation might arise where he eliminated the protagonist with his own hands.

So the best method was to be alone in a safe place.

Especially given the uncertain situation of how Yurik would react after the monster's death.

"I have a request."

"Yes."

"Return to the castle and..."

If he remained dead, Leandros would probably move him to the castle.

After that, he could manage somehow, couldn't he?

Arndt would have a hard time, but that was a problem for later.

And so, unable to resist the overwhelming sleep, he closed his eyes.

* * *

Two people had left Hartmann Castle, but only one returned.

Plus one more already cold body.

Arndt couldn't blame Leandros.

It was the result of a choice the Duke had made himself.

So Arndt had to alleviate his surging anger by shouting alone.

The two of them didn't know where the monster had come from,

Or why it specifically attacked Leandros and Arenheit.

The Duke, who had volunteered as bait as if he knew something, had been dead for a long time.

Strangely, the corpse didn't decay.

Thinking it was due to the cooling climate, the two decided to keep the body in the bedroom for the time being, following Arenheit's last wishes.

It was also because the two didn't have the courage to open the chapel where the Hartmann family members had been laid to rest for generations.

Would the Hartmann family disappear like this?

After trying to do something, would it end here?

Arndt questioned himself.

He was not the Duke, and he had no purpose to somehow revive the family.

That was the Duke's goal.

Arndt tossed and turned every night with such thoughts.

On the fourth night after the dead Arenheit had returned home, in the early dawn.

That day too, Arndt, suffering from persistent insomnia, got up from his bed.

It seemed better to ponder how to dispose of the property and where to settle with Leandros.

Rising from his bed, Arndt lit a new lamp and headed for the kitchen.

The fire in the hearth would still be alive if he went now.

He wanted to bask in the hot heat and drink some water.

On his way down to the basement kitchen, Arndt discovered someone standing in front of the arched entrance to the kitchen.

It was Leandros.

He still had his sword at his side, as if he hadn't slept.

What was he doing here?

"Sir Leandros, why are you in the kitchen in the middle of the night..."

"Shh."

Shh?

Leandros was looking into the kitchen.

From the way he was just looking, it didn't seem like a thief, but what was he watching so intently?

Arndt peeked his head slightly beside him.

Arndt almost screamed.

Someone was standing in front of the large counter in the kitchen.

The face illuminated by the dying fire from the hearth was undoubtedly Arenheit.

A person thought to be dead, in the kitchen at dawn out of nowhere?

Unlike the confused Arndt, Arenheit in the kitchen moved around like a ghost, making no sound.

On the counter were a basket full of vegetables, pickled meat, and an uncut loaf of bread.

These were ingredients that Arndt had prepared for the next day's meal.

Arenheit was eating the ingredients.

From the leftover soup from dinner to two loaves of bread, cabbage, raw potatoes, raw carrots, uncooked peas, cheese.

Arenheit continued to munch quietly, emptying the counter.

Neither greedy nor hasty, but the speed and quantity of his eating were formidable.

The meal ended with him finally tearing and eating the pickled meat without even cooking it.

Arenheit looked around and then took a seat in front of the hearth.

Crouched on the hard, ash-covered floor, he closed his eyes while receiving the soft firelight.

It resembled a hungry beast seeking sleep after a feast.

After a considerable time passed, and Arenheit showed no sign of movement, Leandros entered the kitchen first.

Arndt followed and looked down at Arenheit, who had fallen into a deep sleep.

The counter with only food crumbs remaining.

The gentle breathing sound audible if one listened closely.

The chest rising and falling regularly.

Arndt placed his hand on the sleeping man's cheek, then removed it.

A sentiment flowed out unconsciously.

"It's warm..."

Wasn't he dead?

Was he actually alive?

Even if the Duke had entered a state of apparent death, it was incomprehensible that the missing shoulder and arm were now attached.

Arndt looked at Leandros, and Leandros looked down at Arenheit with an expression that made it impossible to discern what he was thinking.

Was the Duke before them really the Arenheit they knew?