Chapter 29: Deep in the Forest (1)

“…Yuhong!”

Felice immediately rushed to Zhou Yuhong’s side, who had collapsed and lay unmoving on the ground.

“Haa… ugh… fuck.”

Booker, meanwhile, was still in shock, staring blankly at the remains of Gatekeeper Aldrich’s body as it dissolved into a pool of blood.

“Fuck… fuckfuckfuck—Brother Yuhong, that was way too fucking badass!”

Now that the crisis had passed, relief washed over him in a rush, followed closely by a wave of fatigue. All he wanted now was to return to the rotted-face village and pass out on one of those hard-as-a-rock wooden boards they called beds. Even those rotten sheds would be a thousand times better than this godforsaken place.

“Let’s go, let’s go. Ah, the fog fiends are dispersing too, great! Come on, let’s carry Brother Yuhong back! Rena, give me a hand. Rena?”

“…”

No response.

“Rena? Hey, hey?”

Booker looked around, but the ever-smiling young girl was nowhere to be seen.

He scanned the area. Only three people remained: himself, Felice, and Zhou Yuhong.

Where was Rena?

“What the hell… WTF? Rena…? Rena? Don’t mess around and scare us like that! Hey? What are you—uh?”

That was when a sensation struck him—a sharp, bone-deep chill. An ominous premonition gripped his mind, a warning borne straight from instinct.

Suddenly bristling with goosebumps, Booker turned his gaze to the far end of the square, toward the Academy’s main building.

Earlier, Aldrich had pushed open those heavy iron doors—that was where the monster had come from.

Now, of course, the main doors were still wide open.

And that sense of danger was coming from inside.

From this distance, and with the lingering mist, it was hard to see. The building’s interior appeared dim, sunken in shadows. But within that darkness—

“…”

Booker thought he saw something.

A dark shadow crouched silently in the gloom.

Eyes.

Eyes, eyes, eyes.

Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes—countless eyes were staring out.

Staring at them.

“…Ah!?”

Startled, Booker rubbed his eyes hard and looked again toward the open doorway.

But now he saw nothing.

Was it a hallucination?

Or—

“Fuck, this place is seriously cursed. Let’s get the hell out of here! Speaking of which, where the hell is Rena? Where’d that girl go!?”

“…”

Felice said nothing as she helped lift Zhou Yuhong, silently turning to walk away.

“Hey? Hey, hey, hey—you’re just leaving!? Where’s Rena? Rena!? Hey!!! Stop hiding! The monster’s already dead!”

“…”

Still no response.

A chill shot through Booker’s chest. The worst-case scenario rose unbidden to his mind—no, that couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. No way.

“Let’s go, Booker.”

“Go? Go? Go my ass! We haven’t found Rena yet! Where the hell did she go? Fuck!”

“We don’t need to look for her.”

“Don’t need to… What the hell is that supposed to mean? Don’t talk shit like that, you bitch! Rena! Fuck! Rena!”

“It’s no use… she… she’s already…”

***

I had a nightmare.

The worst kind of nightmare.

I dreamed I was inexplicably transported to another world called Yardelan.

Dreamed I was forced to fight monsters alongside others who shared the same fate.

The road was long. The enemies were strong. We faced one desperate trial after another. But I believed there had to be a way through it all, so I tried to stay optimistic.

I killed a monster with spring-loaded limbs. Then I encountered one that devoured its own kind.

And then… a kind, innocent girl among our group died.

If she hadn’t tried to save me—if she hadn’t reached out when I was on the brink—she might have lived. At the very least, she wouldn’t have died then. Even though I killed that monster, it wasn’t revenge. It brought no comfort to her soul.

After all, there’s no such thing as souls. No heaven. No hell. No god.

Revenge is just a way for the living to soothe their own conscience.

My mother was a devout Catholic. My father was a staunch atheist. As a child, I was more influenced by my father.

But right now I wish it had been the other way around. At least then I could believe in something to console myself.

Grief.

Overwhelming grief.

And guilt.

A soul-tearing, gut-wrenching guilt.

But she’s gone now. And grief and guilt mean nothing anymore. They only make the pain worse.

***

“Mmm…”

“Look, he’s awake!”

“Quick, get water!!”

“Divine envoy!”

Through a fog of half-consciousness, I regained awareness.

I felt dazed, like I’d forgotten everything—but no. The moment I woke, my mind snapped into clarity, as though someone had doused me in ice water.

I blinked, and my vision slowly adjusted. I saw the interior of a ramshackle house, dimly lit by firelight, and the rotted-face people bustling anxiously around me. It looked like we’d made it back after all. I must have blacked out from exhaustion after stabbing through Aldrich’s heart, but at least we returned alive.

Alive, my ass.

“…How did we get back?” I rasped, throat dry and sore, turning to the one seated beside me—Chieftain Lund.

He sat upright with a rigid spine, eyes locked on mine, one withered hand pressed to my forehead. A golden-green light flared around me, leaping in arcs across my body. It must’ve been a powerful healing miracle. Though I still felt like hell, the pain had dulled considerably.

“Lady Felice and Lord Booker carried you to the granary, then returned with Jols and the others.”

“They…”

“Both survived. And neither suffered serious injuries.”

“Just the two of them?”

“There was also Lady Jelena, and Lord Mizan—gravely wounded.”

“And?”

“That’s all.”

“…”

A sharp stab gripped my chest. I took several deep breaths and turned my face into the shadows. I didn’t want anyone to see my expression right now.

“Please accept my condolences. Sacrifices are unavoidable in such battles… I know words are meaningless, the departed never return, but you truly did incredibly well.”

“‘Incredibly well’?”

“We’ve received a detailed report from the other divine envoys. You single-handedly defeated the spring-limbed monster, and then—on the brink of death—you slew the one that devoured its own kind. Both were formidable threats, and you eliminated them in a single day.”

“Jack was only killed because I had the terrain advantage. As for Aldrich… it was a group effort, at least at the start. And if I’d been more careful… she wouldn’t have…”

“Even so, your contribution was extraordinary. There’s no doubt you’re a warrior capable of leading us to—”

“Enough!”

“Forgive me.”

“…”

“…”

“Sorry. That was… I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“No, the fault is mine. I spoke out of turn.”

I took another long breath, hoping the damp, cold air might dull the pain inside, but it felt like the air itself was filled with broken glass, and each breath only shredded my lungs further.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“So, how’s my body?”

“Your injuries are no longer a concern. Lady Rena’s timely intervention, combined with my own efforts, should prevent any lasting effects. There may be some scarring, but…”

“I’m not asking about that.”

“…”

“The corruption. The spread of the toxin, how bad is it?”

I yanked off the bandages on my arm, revealing my elbow and the festering rot that healing magic hadn’t been able to erase.

I’d been watching it closely.

Day by day, the blotches had spread farther. The infection was getting harder to hide, no longer something I could pass off as a scrape or bruise. They must have noticed it too by now.

“In my judgment, within three days, the necrosis will begin to spread in earnest.”

“Tch.”

***

Once I’d confirmed I could move properly, I followed the chieftain to his residence. His home stood at the center of the settlement—a building far larger than the others, often used as a meeting hall.

When we arrived, the others were already there.

The atmosphere was heavy.

Oppressively so.

Among the potted-face people, only Jols was present besides the chieftain. The rest were us—the few survivors.

Felice leaned against the wooden wall near a torch, her expression more rigid than usual, even more withdrawn than her normal emotionless self.

Booker alternated between sitting in a chair and pacing in circles around the central fire pit. He looked terrible.

Jelena stood awkwardly in a corner, unsure what to do with herself—too restless to sit, too uncomfortable to stand still. The shock and disbelief still hadn’t faded from her face.

And then, there was one more—

“Mizan?”

At the sound of my voice, the figure huddled in the shadowy corner stirred slightly.

It had only been a few hours, yet he looked twenty years older. He glanced at me, lips twitching as if to mouth a “thank you,” but in the end, no sound came out. He lay on a cushion by the wall, wrapped in a blanket. Following the blanket’s contours down his body, the bulge where his legs should’ve been ended just above the thighs.

So it was true. His legs were never coming back.

The chieftain had said that if a limb was severed cleanly and reattached quickly enough, he might just be able to reconnect it using all his abilities. But Mizan had lost his legs deep within the town. No one even knew where they’d ended up—reattachment was out of the question.

“Ah… Yuhong…”

Felice was the only one who greeted me, her voice calm. Jelena hesitated, then gave me a small wave. Booker just nodded stiffly.

But when Booker saw the chieftain, his expression twisted instantly.

“You old bastard!!!”

He lunged at the chieftain. I reacted a beat too late; he grabbed the front of Lund’s robes.

“You! Mother! Fucker! Why the hell didn’t you say anything from the start?! That thing—that thing was in the deepest part—and you knew! Do you even know how much shit we went through!? God damn it!”

“I’m truly sorry. But I—”

“Calm down, Booker!” I forced myself between them and wrenched him back. “The rotted-face people didn’t know either! They told us from the beginning, didn’t they? That the deeper areas were unreachable because of the fog, and Aldrich never left its territory. They couldn’t give a full report, it’s not their fault!”

“So these fucking useless people can’t do anything, huh?! Mizan’s legs are gone! Rena is dead! If there had been—no, there must have been a way to prevent this! It wasn’t supposed to be like this! Just earlier we were joking around, and now she’s—fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuck!! If you people had been even a little useful, none of this shit would’ve happened!”

“Rena died saving me!”

“What the hell—what?! She died for you?”

It was like Booker had taken a punch to the face. Jelena’s eyes widened. Mizan stirred where he lay in the corner. Only Felice, who had seen it all, remained unchanged.

The pain in my chest spiked sharply. I forced myself to steady my voice, to swallow the tremble.

And then I began to speak.