Chapter 249 - Will It Mean Anything? (3)

["Well... I wasn't going to say anything."]

I dreamed that something bright red... soft and wet, was wrapped around my entire body.

["Is this really the best you could do...?"]

Here and there I felt something hard, too, lined up so evenly that I wondered if it was a railing.

["Couldn't you have found a better way than carrying him in your mouth?"]

Oh... right. In that dream, wind and rain kept battering me. They were so fierce that rain continually blew in through the open sides. It even dripped from the ceiling.

Granted, the rain falling from the ceiling was oddly sticky, with such enormous drops that I wondered whether it really was rain... but in my dreamy haze, I dismissed it as my imagination.

["I give up..."]

Anyway, it was a very strange dream. Not one I particularly wanted to have again.

* * *

"...!"

And here was an unfamiliar ceiling. No. A cave ceiling?

I slowly relaxed the tension around my eyes and rolled them to the side, cautiously taking in my surroundings. In that tilted world, marvelous nature awaited me in gentle colors.

This really was beautiful.

I blinked in wonder. An enormous cavern with an opening in the middle of its ceiling, sunlight streaming through it, all manner of plants nourished by that light, clear spring water flowing between them...

Again, it was a sight I couldn't help but marvel at.

"Do you like the scenery of the swamp?"

But however beautiful the scenery, I should have taken stock of my situation first.

I'd forgotten to do that, leaving me with no choice but to press my lips together at the unexpected question.

Why had I woken up here, and who on earth was speaking to me? Had this person helped me knowing who I was, or not? Those belated questions were hammering at my skull, insisting it wasn't too late to ask.

"You mustn't move."

In the process, I'd also tried to sit up and reach for my sword, but that attempt ended in failure. Being stopped was part of it, but the decisive problem was that my body wouldn't obey me.

Having barely lifted off the layers of cloth, my body flopped back down.

"Your fever hasn't fully broken yet."

So this was what it meant to weigh a ton. With that thought, I let a groan escape through my teeth.

Wasn't that out of character? Well, staying in character was only possible up to a certain level of pain, and this was the worst muscle ache I'd ever experienced. My whole body was shaking and heavy, and I couldn't muster any strength in my limbs.

Honestly, I thought it was a wonder I'd even regained consciousness. This body, which couldn't feel cold—or had equipment that kept it from feeling cold?—was wracked with chills, its fingers twitching.

"... Why, why am I here?"

The one saving grace was that the face I'd glimpsed while falling back looked very familiar. I breathlessly addressed the priestess of Serhang—or the person I remembered as such.

She shrugged, just as she was dipping a dry cloth into the bowl of water she'd brought.

"You don't seem to remember. The Mountain Lord brought you here."

Once the cloth was thoroughly soaked, she lifted it out and wrung it dry. Perhaps it was because she had so many hands, but pouring water into a cup with her other hands while preparing the wet cloth looked quite efficient.

"... When?"

"You first arrived here seven days ago."

What? Seven days? I'd been bedridden for an entire week?

"Before anything else... please have some water."

I was so dumbfounded that I wanted to ask more, but she beat me to it.

As she wiped the sweat from my skin—it was only then that I realized my upper body was bare; lacking both the strength and the desire to get angry, I pretended I hadn't noticed—she brought the freshly filled cup to my lips.

"It's a tea brewed with pain-relieving berries and herbs that reduce fever."

Perhaps she thought I might refuse it, because she even offered a brief explanation of its effects. Not that I had the strength to refuse anyway.

I opened my parched mouth and swallowed the water trickling into it.

【Aori, how is the Thunder Snake?】

【He just woke up. We will have to monitor him a little longer... but I think he is at least out of immediate danger.】

I must have spent about five minutes sipping water like a baby and having every inch of my bare torso wiped down when an unfamiliar face approached.

Of course, I might have seen this person before and simply failed to recognize them. Maybe it was because my whole body felt as heavy and stiff as stone, but instead of clearing as time passed, my mind was only growing hazier.

【Thank heavens. I was worried when we couldn't even find his pulse yesterday...】

【He is no ordinary man, after all.】

But falling asleep like this would surely cause trouble... Not for my health, but for my safety in other ways...

I forced my drooping eyelids to stay open and ran my rough tongue along the insides of my teeth. There was an unpleasant bitterness, like when a cold dried out my tongue, despite having drunk enough water to moisten my throat. I really must be in bad shape.

【I'll continue nursing him for now. Could you bring him something light to eat?】

【Of course. I'll bring it shortly.】

Still, while I struggled to stay conscious, their conversation ended. Which meant the priestess of Serhang returned to my side and began wiping off my sweat again.

Each time the lukewarm cloth approached, chills shivered over my skin.

"... I."

But I couldn't let a little cold defeat me.

Somehow, I dragged out my thickened voice. It was unfortunate that all that effort squeezing my throat produced a sound as cracked as drought-stricken earth, but I'd have to make do.

"Who else... knows... I'm here?"

More importantly, when would that medicine I'd drunk kick in? I felt like I'd be a little better if it would just start working.

"Please don't worry. Only the Priestesses of the Swamp and the Great Chief have been told you are here, Thunder Snake."

"... Why?"

"The Mountain Lord ordered us to keep it secret."

Hmm... That was something of a relief. I'd been worried that the outsiders who'd begun interacting with the Great Forest might have heard of my presence...

"So please rest without worry. Unless you or the Mountain Lord give us further instructions, our lips will remain sealed forever."

Hearing that eased my mind a little more. Not completely, just a very little.

"I'm... being hunted."

"... I see."

After all... their attitude might change once they learned the truth. And if it didn't, if they kept trying to help me—unlikely as that was—that would be a problem in its own right. If outsiders learned they'd sheltered and helped me, the entire Great Forest would suffer.

"Protecting me... goes against... what is right."

"Does it?"

But.

"If the Order finds out, they'll surely..."

"Black Thunder Snake, first of all, we do not worship the god the outsiders believe in. We revere only the Mountain Lord and nature, and his will is the will of us all."

But...

"Furthermore, Black Snake, you protected young lives with your blade and used violence to save the persecuted."

I exhaled a hot breath. If I could feel the heat even in my wheezing breath, it must be worse inside my body. I was cold, yet hot, and it hurt so much.

"While others used those things to bring only blood and death, you alone restored life to them."

And I felt so wretched.

I had nowhere to go, nowhere to rest my heart, and now I was sick on top of it all. I simply felt wretched.

"Knowing that about you, we gladly carry out his wishes, sincerely rather than under duress, through action rather than pretense. So gladly, in fact, that his will and ours can no longer be distinguished."

And it was so sweet.

"So please leave the rest unsaid. The Great Chief would be saddened to hear it."

Sweet enough to make me want to ask if I could stay a little longer, even though I knew full well that I shouldn't.

* * *

"... I'll leave in three days. Nothing good can come of my staying here."

* * *

Yukkwi lay quietly in the spot provided for him, enjoying a leisurely afternoon after the typhoon. The cave, which the Mountain Lord had apparently once occupied alone, was spacious and peaceful: perfect for relaxing.

【Revered one, is there anything you need?】

["No."]

That wasn't all. Perhaps because these humans had revered his descendants for generations, the attendants were wonderfully perceptive.

They asked what he needed, cleaned around him, and replaced things without disturbing the pleasant quiet.

He also liked the bed they'd made him in a suitably sunny spot, though it probably looked like a bird's nest to human eyes. Generously sized, with half in the sunlight and half beneath the ceiling, it let him sleep comfortably wherever he pleased.

For instance, he could sleep in the shade when it rained, or move into the sunny half to enjoy a nap on a fine day like this.

Yukkwi rumbled contentedly at the warmth of the sunlight on his shell.

【Please call whenever you have something for us to do.】

["Very well."]

He said that, but would he actually have occasion to call? Not because he disliked ordering others around; he simply couldn't imagine the need arising.

Even his meals were served punctually, and snacks had already been set out nearby.

They didn't simply leave them there, either. The moment something he'd neglected to eat began looking less than fresh, they replaced it. Under these circumstances, he wondered whether there would ever be anything to ask of them.

"... Hah."

... He really did wonder.

Yukkwi glared at the one thing in this cave that displeased him. It was a little bed in a corner, on ground lower than his nest. More precisely, the human occupying that bed.

["Hmm."]

He looked down at the human, whose breathing still sounded poor even after a week—though admittedly half of that had been spent traveling through the rain.

If he was in pain, he ought to say so. Yukkwi couldn't understand why he suffered alone in silence. The same went for his preparations to leave before he had properly healed. Utterly foolish.

["He'll die at this rate..."]

His earlier announcement that he would leave in three days was rather laughable, too.

Did that human think he'd be well in three days? When the swelling in his sodden, ravaged feet had only just subsided, and his fever hadn't changed?

Yukkwi didn't know much about human bodies, but he could tell this wasn't something that would heal in three days. In the end, it was nothing but human stubbornness. Foolish.

["If the Order finds out, they'll surely..."]

Truly stupid.

["Ancestor, I'm back."]

["Yes."]

How strange. He'd thought that human had run because he didn't want to die, that he must therefore be the same selfish sort as the humans he'd seen in that city.

["I picked a few wild berries on the way. Would you like some? They're nice and sweet."]

Yet something didn't fit the idea that he was leaving out of fear the humans here would turn him in. As long as the Mountain Lord protected him, these humans could never act against him.

And yet, even after being told that, he still intended to leave. Why? What were the words the attending priestess had asked him to leave unsaid?

["... Never mind that. Do something about that human."]

["Why? Has something happened?"]

["He says he's leaving in three days."]

["Whaaat???"]

["Well, I don't care whether he lives or dies."]

["Oh dear, that knight."]

... Well, whatever the answer was, it was hardly his concern.

After all, that thing was merely a vessel holding a demon.

["This won't do. I'll have to stick right by him and hold him back so he can't leave."]

["Good luck."]

For that reason, Yukkwi decided to let whatever the Mountain Lord said go in one ear and out the other. This was back when he still didn't fully understand that one should never be certain of the future.

Is It a Problem if the Protagonist Is Obsessed with Staying in Character? (Serial)

Author │ Hae Inseol

Publisher │ Kim Juhyeong

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