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167
Rohan’s hand stopped in mid-air, not reaching Arpel. Arpel read intense guilt in him. Even though he should know well that the situation before them wasn’t one to assign blame to anyone.
Arpel tried to comfort him. The throbbing headache had subsided, and the irregularly fluctuating magical power had calmed down.
But the moment he reached out towards Rohan.
Hehehe. Hihihik. An eerie laughter cut between them.
As Arpel stopped his hand, Rohan suddenly lifted his head. A sharp aura, incongruous with his reddened eyes, flowed out.
He held his breath and listened, trying to sense the surroundings. There seemed to be no human presence, but… Druk. Druruk. The sound of something hard scraping against the ground could be heard.
Hihihihik. The laughter drew closer. Front? No, below. Rohan, easily guessing the source of the noise, lowered his gaze.
“Hehik. Hik. Arpe, el.”
“…Arpel. Can you move? Come behind me.”
It was a mask. A half-broken mask. Rolling on the ground, it repeatedly spewed out spine-chilling sounds.
After the laughter that seemed to scratch the throat, a familiar name was attached. Rohan immediately pulled Arpel behind him.
“Arpeel. Ar, pel. Come here. Hehik. Come here.”
“……”
“Hik. Hihihik. Let’s become one, Arpeel.”
That was the last straw.
Rohan, who had been silently listening to the mask’s babbling, could no longer hold back when it said “Let’s become one” and moved his foot. The half-broken mask crumbled easily under his kick, disintegrating into powder.
Smoke rose above the collapsing form of the mask. It was the familiar red smoke.
Only then did some of the tension in Rohan’s body release. From the moment it spoke directly, he had guessed the identity of the mask. It was probably from a Salvation Church executive.
The mask is the symbol of an executive. Rohan, having faced numerous executives, knew this fact very well.
When an executive dies, the mask cracks and disappears into dust. Red smoke often leaked from those affected by the divine arrangement… What he could be certain of was that the owner of this mask had just met a complete death.
He quietly watched its demise. There were no executives nearby. So there should be no immediate threat to Arpel.
But. Unconsciously recalling that word, Rohan slowly inhaled. He still had his back to Arpel, only moving his lips.
“I’m sorry.”
“Rohan. There’s no reason for you to be sorry…”
“I’m sorry……”
A low apology flowed out.
Where did it go wrong? When did it start going wrong? Rohan slowly retraced the past days. Numerous memories flashed through his mind.
‘I didn’t expect you to come so quickly…!’
Why does that statement come to mind? Words he didn’t pay much attention to at the time now started to bother him. It felt like having a thorn stuck in his throat.
Following the executive’s traces, they were lured in, and deep in the Land of Wraiths they entered, Arpel complained of a headache. He tried to get him out, but it was useless. The executive’s mask, from who knows where, even called out his name.
Could all of this really be a coincidence? Probably not. Most likely, they were targeting Arpel. The question of ‘why’ wasn’t important.
He remembered the Salvation Church attackers who had relentlessly pursued them when they were moving to the temple by carriage. Thinking back, their intention was transparent. From beginning to end, they were consistently targeting Arpel. As if they couldn’t do without him.
Perhaps their goal was to make Arpel set foot in the “land teeming with wraiths.” He quietly let out a hollow laugh.
‘If I kill you now, His Majesty will surely praise me. Thanks to this, I’ll fulfill my lifelong wish!’
‘There’s not much I know.’
‘Unless you’re a fool, you wouldn’t tell someone like this.’
‘The, the border… is in danger.’
‘Then we should depart immediately…’
Someone’s intense shout, followed by a brief conversation, jumbled his thoughts. Fragmented memories intertwined, finally forming a single picture.
Now he understood. The reason why the emperor, who seemed to use his head well, deliberately chose a stupid subordinate to send to the temple, and why he didn’t immediately dispose of the priest who came to deliver the ‘urgent message’. He never intended to stop the urgent message. It was to make the temple side, thinking the emperor had intervened, take the incident more seriously and quickly deploy their ‘maximum force’.
From the moment they set foot on this land, they were as good as defeated.
“Rohan. Breathe.”
The chain of thoughts abruptly broke. A contradictory sensation, both cool and warm, settled on his back. Blinking slowly, Rohan belatedly realized he had been holding his breath.
Arpel quietly embraced Rohan. He gently patted the body heaving with rapid breaths and buried his face in Rohan’s back. He could hear a heartbeat slightly faster than usual.
“It’s okay.”
A muffled voice leaked out. The sound was blocked and resonated due to his face being pressed against Rohan’s back. He repeatedly inhaled and exhaled slowly. Although he hadn’t explicitly told Rohan to regulate his breathing, Rohan instinctively followed Arpel’s breathing pattern. His unstable breath gradually calmed down.
“It’s okay. I’m not in pain. Because you’re by my side… it’ll be alright.”
Arpel whispered once more. It was a promise of an uncertain future, but that alone was enough. Ridiculously, it seemed like everything was becoming okay. Quietly biting his lip, Rohan undid Arpel’s hands and turned around.
His hands moved quickly to check if there were really no painful spots. He lightly scanned Arpel’s body and placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature. Arpel kept his mouth shut and simply accepted Rohan’s touch. Even though he knew these actions were of little use to someone who only had the outward appearance of a human.
“Do you remember what happened in Bemos Village?”
He spoke calmly in Rohan’s stead. Rohan, who had been slowly but surely regaining his composure, lifted his lowered gaze.
“Back then, you said there was a device the Salvation Church was experimenting with buried in the forest. ‘Aspiration’, was it? It felt similar to what I felt in that forest.”
It can’t be said to be completely the same. The unpleasant sensation of a throbbing head and constricted breath remained, but this time there was no sign of arbitrarily draining his inner power. However, it was certain that these two things were on a similar level.
“I probably can’t leave this area because of that device. So, if we just find it…”
“…Lord Rohan! Where are you, Lord Rohan!”
An urgent voice pierced through while he was calmly continuing his explanation. Arpel, who had taken a step back from Rohan, quickly turned his head and…
“Huh, huff, Lord Rohan! You, you were here! Quickly, you must come quickly! At this rate…”
A priest in a disheveled state stood there. His breath was rough as if he had run in a great hurry, and his clothes were excessively disheveled. What stood out most was his pale face. Beads of cold sweat clung to his trembling countenance.
Rohan grabbed Arpel. His eyes looking down were particularly desperate.
“…I think I need to go. Promise me. I’ll be back soon. So stay right here, don’t move. Understand?”
“…Alright. Come back safely.”
Although he was silent for a moment, Rohan shook Arpel’s arm as if urging for an answer. In the end, having no choice but to give an affirmative response, Arpel had to see off Rohan’s retreating figure.
“Ah.”
Only after he had completely disappeared did Arpel let out a short sigh. His fist kept clenching involuntarily.
Worry… is it worry? Arpel quickly understood his own feelings. He hoped Rohan wouldn’t get hurt. He wished he could be by his side too. He wanted to stay by his side and protect him. But for now, it was a wish that couldn’t be fulfilled.
‘I’d only be a hindrance.’
Even if he went in this state, he wouldn’t be able to help Rohan. If anything, he might be a hindrance.
Rohan went back in the direction the priest had come from. So it wasn’t difficult to predict the future. If he set foot there again, he would end up in the same situation as before.
So he held back. He didn’t want to put Rohan in danger, even if he couldn’t help. He tried hard to control the impulses that kept jutting out. Here, staying still.
Arpel quietly closed his eyes.
***
Rohan repeatedly exhaled slowly, trying to calm his anxious heart. It should be fine since he left Arpel behind. It had to be.
“Are we still far?”
“Almost, we’re almost there! Ah, there. Over there. Can you see it?”
The priest leading the way spat out words like a scream. Then he raised his hand to point ahead. Rohan turned his head following the gesture.
No, he tried to turn. If only it weren’t for the chilling sensation that crept up his body before he could face what the priest was pointing at. He slowly raised his head, his breath suddenly stopping.
“Graaaargh!”
A monster in the form of a giant wolf was there. It looked no different from the executives he had encountered before.
The one facing the executive was Leriana. Holy power scattered brilliantly along the trajectory of the sword she wielded. The opponent’s strength seemed greater than expected as they were evenly matched, but she showed no signs of being pushed back.
So if he just joined in, they could deal with this executive without much difficulty. That seemed to be the reason why this priest had urgently sought him out. He knew, he understood all of this… Rohan clenched his fist tightly.
‘But why am I so…’
Anxious?
His heart fluttered. His wide-open eyes kept watching the front incessantly. His heartbeat and exhaled breath kept ringing in his ears.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
