Chapter 141

Hasan seemed to be saying something to Asad, but Kinaine couldn't hear it. His mind was foggy and there was a ringing in his ears. He only belatedly realized that he had coughed up blood.

He felt his body collapsing. What followed was pain.

For Kinaine, pain had always been something he could overcome. But now, he wasn't so sure.

'I don't know why you're lying, but you don't have to anymore.'

Perhaps it was at that moment?

Kinaine felt something inside him breaking irreversibly. Something that had always lifted him up from pain.

Only then did he realize. The fact that he still hadn't given up hope. Ridiculously, he had thought that if he told the truth, Asad would surely believe him...

What a shameless heart this was. What a selfish hope.

Even if he were Asad, he wouldn't have believed his own words. Who in the world would believe someone who only ever told lies?

But even thinking that... it hurt. The broken heart felt like shards of glass embedded in him.

In the midst of pain, Kinaine thought.

'Isn't it enough now?'

He had done everything he could. He hadn't rested for a moment. He had given everything to get this far.

If he died, the people of Jinaks would be freed from black magic. Wasn't that enough? Why should he save Tiron and Jane, the horned tribe's guardian spirit, and others?

Why did he want to save them?

'Let's stop now...'

Kinaine clenched his jaw. He wanted to use a more certain method, but for some reason his body wouldn't move, so this was all he could do at the moment.

'In one go...'

He had to end it in one go. Even a slight hesitation would ruin everything. But at the moment Kinaine made his decision.

"You keep doing this."

A low voice was heard. At the same time, something abruptly entered his open mouth.

A long finger wedged between his teeth and tongue, preventing him from biting his tongue.

Kinaine struggled to break free from the hand. But his body wouldn't budge. It felt like he was being held by something.

"Even when I put him to sleep, he keeps waking up, probably from the pain. You're a doctor specializing in humans, so why don't you understand his condition well?"

"...I-I've done everything I can. Given that he's still suffering despite the fever being controlled, there seems to be another problem. It's not normal for someone who has lost sensation to the point of not noticing glass in their foot to feel this much pain."

"Glass in his foot, you say?"

The voices murmuring in his ears suddenly stopped.

"...Since when has he been like this?"

"The stitched wound seems to have opened. I'll treat it again."

There was a clattering sound as if objects were colliding with each other. Someone seemed to be touching the sole of his foot, but he wasn't sure.

Kinaine suddenly realized that his whole body was trembling. The reason his teeth weren't chattering or his tongue wasn't being bitten was because there was still a finger in his mouth. As a result, the finger was being bitten, but its owner didn't seem to feel any pain and showed no sign of withdrawing it.

Normally, he would have tried to spit out the finger out of consideration for the other person, but right now, he wasn't his normal self.

'Please, take this out.'

Why are you interfering with me? Out of indignation, Kinaine bit down harder on the finger in protest. Though he lacked the energy to control his strength and seemed to have bitten quite painfully, there was no reaction from the other side. It was the same even after biting several more times.

...And Asad, whose finger was being bitten, thought.

'It tickles.'

The small teeth gnawing at his finger made him feel strange.

This was because the act reminded him of a similar situation that had occurred before.

But he wasn't crazy enough to feel desire in this situation, so he cast another sleep spell on Kinaine and calmly said to the doctor.

"Aren't you fiddling with it too much?"

"M...me?"

The doctor, who was wrapping a new bandage around the foot, was startled. Though the doctor seemed to be trying hard to stay calm since seeing the dragon, it didn't appear to be very effective.

"I-I'll be careful."

As Asad's gaze sharpened, the hands wrapping the bandage trembled. His face showed confusion about why he was doing this while trying to minimize contact with the skin.

If healing magic had worked, there would have been no reason for the doctor to massage the foot.

'Is the ineffectiveness of healing magic also due to black magic?'

Asad had somewhat guessed the source of the demonic energy. Even without inheriting anything from his predecessor, as a dragon, he couldn't help but know. Because he could sense the energy of powerful magic from the demonic energy.

There was only one being in this world who could use magic.

Demonic energy was created by dragon magic.

The gods had placed restrictions on dragon magic. Magic powerful enough to change the order of the world could only be used once, and that was when fulfilling the first wish of a full-grown dragon, that is, the wish of their mate.

So in the end, it meant that a dragon's mate had made a very nasty wish, causing demonic energy to appear in this world...

Anyway, the reason healing magic couldn't work was probably due to its conflict with the nature of demonic energy.

It felt like one question had finally been resolved. Though it wasn't pleasant at all.

Then suddenly another question came to mind.

"Why isn't he wearing shoes?"

"P-pardon?"

Only now did Asad realize that the human wasn't wearing shoes. How could the human's fragile skin endure walking barefoot on the floor?

"W-well, those who have committed crimes are not allowed to wear shoes. That's the law of the kingdom."

"Just for killing a few humans?"

Asad recalled the thought he had when he first saw Kinaine in the human realm.

With magical beasts rapidly increasing, the human realm would soon perish...

Indeed, couldn't he make it happen even faster?

At that moment, Asad saw black scales rising on the back of his hand.

'As expected, in this unstable state, it reacts immediately.'

Though the black scales soon disappeared, he couldn't be at ease. If he turned into a magical beast, not only himself but also Nine would not be safe. Controlling anger was something he had never done and wasn't good at...

But he had to endure it. There were still many things he needed to ask Kinaine.

Asad clenched and unclenched his fist. Looking at Kinaine's face, he carefully wiped away the tears that were flowing down.

"When your condition stabilizes, I'll bring Shinsurial. So just hang on a little longer."

The doctor, Tiron, stared blankly at that sight.

Seeing the dragon's face, which had been cold all along, soften was a scene so mysterious it was like watching life being breathed into an inanimate object.

It was a strange feeling. While saying he didn't care if humans died, he was clearly cherishing the human in his arms for all to see. Though the relationship between the dragon and the black mage was unclear, it was evident that it was not ordinary.

Tiron lowered his head. He thought the black mage should pay for his crimes. But if the dragon stood in the way...

Just then, the bandage he was holding suddenly floated into the air.

"I'll do it, so leave. You're not much help anyway."

Tiron stared blankly at the bandage floating in the air before coming to his senses.

Though he wasn't sure if the dragon knew how to wrap a bandage, that was not his concern.

"T-then I'll take my leave."

Tiron hurriedly left the room and the door closed.

Asad snorted.

"As if wrapping a bandage is difficult."

The floating bandage unfolded by itself. However, the bandage didn't move further and remained fixed in place.

Asad laid Kinaine, whom he had been holding, on the bed and moved to the lower part of the bed himself. Asad's eyes wavered as he grabbed Kinaine's ankle to check the condition of his foot.

The foot was a mess. Even though it had been treated now, it was clear how severe the condition had been before. Such wounds couldn't have occurred without continuously walking with glass shards embedded in the foot.

If he had felt pain, he wouldn't have done that. He hadn't felt the pain. The doctor had said Kinaine had lost most of his sensations.

Something hot welled up from deep in his chest.

"If it was going to be like this, why did you run away? Did you really not know this would happen?"

See, wouldn't it have been better if you had just stayed as I said? That's what he would have said normally.

Or he would have asked what he was curious about. Why does the ring you had fit my hand so perfectly? Why is your brother in my memories?

But the first words that came out of Asad's mouth were none of these.

"...Did you run away because I was too cruel to you?"