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“I’ll give you something delicious when we get out of here!”
“Why?”
“Because there are no ingredients here, and this isn’t the right situation…”
“Why should I wait?”
If Yeon Ji-ho had ever raised a puppy, would he have been able to maintain his composure in this conversation with Baal?
He was truly impossible to communicate with. Even talking to a child, no, even an animal wouldn’t have been this frustrating.
However, faced with Baal’s strength he had just witnessed, there was nothing Yeon Ji-ho could do. If he angered this enormous beast who had broken through iron bars and escaped, he might really get eaten.
“There’s something delicious right here.”
“Where? What’s delicious?”
“…”
At that question, Baal’s eyes scanned Yeon Ji-ho from top to bottom. Feeling goosebumps from that gaze, Yeon Ji-ho slowly put on the robe he had left in the corner. Of course, he buttoned it up to his neck, not missing a single button.
“The skin is troublesome though…”
Hearing Baal mutter while looking at him, Yeon Ji-ho couldn’t help but sigh.
If he had known this would happen, he would have brought extra chocolate.
It was a method he had only used with children, but looking at Baal, he thought it might work. He only regretted that the chocolate he had shared with Nen was the last he had brought.
“Alright! Let’s just get out of here first, okay? If they notice the guards are gone, people will rush in soon.”
The regular guards Yeon Ji-ho knew would change shifts hourly, and if they realized someone was missing, they would surely come looking. As Yeon Ji-ho anxiously stomped his feet, Baal responded in a bored voice.
“I’m too hungry to move.”
“You were moving just fine a moment ago!”
“That was…”
Baal hummed, rubbing his neck. Then, after glancing at the fallen guards at his feet, he answered in what he thought was a serious voice.
“They were trying to steal my food. Insolent bastards.”
“…Food?”
“You.”
He didn’t seem to be hiding it anymore. The way he kept swallowing while looking at Yeon Ji-ho made it seem like he might open his mouth and swallow him whole at any moment.
It feels like I’m talking to a beast, not a person. Even though they’re called Gorgon’s beasts, I never thought they’d actually be this beast-like.
At that moment, a thought struck Yeon Ji-ho’s mind. If the one he’s talking to is a beast… shouldn’t he act accordingly?
“Mr. Baal.”
“Yeah?”
“Now, look at me carefully.”
Baal’s rolling eyes fixed on Yeon Ji-ho. When he seemed to be looking at him properly, Yeon Ji-ho…
Turned and ran away without any hesitation.
As he sprinted up the stairs as fast as he could, Yeon Ji-ho glanced back. And a smirk appeared on his face as he looked behind him.
Baal was chasing after him like mad.
“Try and catch me if you can!”
When he was young, Yeon Ji-ho once ran away from a dog he encountered on the street because he was scared. Even though that dog was known in the neighborhood for being gentle and good with people, it chased after Yeon Ji-ho panting when he turned his back and ran first.
And the method he used, remembering that dog, worked just the same with Baal. He was chasing Yeon Ji-ho up the stairs noisily, not even knowing why he was doing so.
“But it’s a bit scary… huh.”
Looking back while running, Yeon Ji-ho startled when he saw Baal had already caught up right behind him. He had just started running on impulse, but Baal was following with a grotesque smile on his face.
Bang!
At the same time, Yeon Ji-ho reached the door of the tower and rushed outside without a second thought. With Baal chasing madly behind him, there was no time to think.
“What the-?!”
And as soon as he came out, Yeon Ji-ho ran straight into a guard. However, Yeon Ji-ho was currently more afraid of Baal chasing him than the guard.
Quickly dodging past him and fleeing into the garden, Yeon Ji-ho saw the guard looking at him with a dumbfounded expression. But then he was mercilessly taken down by Baal who appeared from behind.
“Huff, huff… gasp.”
Had he ever run this hard since graduating from school?
As he ran through the beautifully spread garden, gasps kept escaping from Yeon Ji-ho’s mouth. The problem was that while he was confident in short-distance running since childhood, he was weak in long-distance. The more he ran, the more his legs trembled.
And finally…
“Got you.”
Yeon Ji-ho’s nape was firmly grasped. His legs, which had been running albeit with difficulty, were lifted into the air.
Finally giving up on everything, Yeon Ji-ho looked to the side while barely catching his breath, and saw Baal staring at him with his face thrust close. Baal was looking at the finally caught Yeon Ji-ho with a satisfied smile.
“Ah, I don’t know anymore…”
The conversation with Baal had failed, and he still didn’t know how to handle him. There seemed to be no way to escape with Baal in this situation.
It was when Yeon Ji-ho, having given up on everything, tightly closed his eyes.
“…?”
Yeon Ji-ho thought it wouldn’t be strange if Baal shoved him into his mouth right now. But what came to his arm wasn’t Baal’s teeth, but a hot and hard body temperature.
“…What are you doing?”
“Carrying you.”
Baal was walking steadily while holding Yeon Ji-ho in his arms. It wasn’t as gentle and careful as when Set held him, but once in his arms, it was quite comfortable.
“I’m going to eat you sparingly.”
“Ah, yes… Do that.”
Yeon Ji-ho, who no longer had the strength to run, relaxed his body, thinking this might be for the best. Glancing down, he saw that Baal was walking just fine while carrying chains on both arms and ankles, and Yeon Ji-ho in his arms.
How long had they walked like that?
For now, he was staying still in Baal’s arms, as running any further would have made his heart leap out of his throat… But as oxygen started flowing to his brain again, he became curious.
“Where are we going, by any chance?”
“Set.”
“What?”
“We’re going to meet him. You said he came, right?”
Baal, seemingly annoyed by Yeon Ji-ho’s questions while in his arms, answered diligently even while furrowing his brows.
He thought Baal had ignored everything he said earlier, but it seemed he had retained more than expected. Yeon Ji-ho asked again in a more relieved voice.
“Do you know where he is?”
“No.”
“…Then how are we going to find him?”
“We’ll run into him if we wander around.”
I think we’re more likely to run into someone else before Mr. Set…
Just as that thought crossed his mind, something blocked Yeon Ji-ho and Baal’s path. Yeon Ji-ho looked up to see a group of knights lined up in formation.
“Ah…”
Now he felt dizzy. All the reasons for hiding and running away until now had vanished. At this rate, he would end up imprisoned in the same cell as the escaped Baal.
While Yeon Ji-ho’s mind went blank, Baal moved first. He remained calm and indifferent even in front of the knights who were all pointing their swords at him.
Baal slowly put Yeon Ji-ho down behind him. As Yeon Ji-ho, freed from his arms, looked up at Baal with puzzled eyes, he spoke.
“If you run away, you’ll die.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ll chase you to the ends of the earth and devour everything.”
Gulp.
Yeon Ji-ho unconsciously swallowed at those words spoken while looking at him with clear eyes devoid of any lies. He was clearly one of the cruel beasts, but like all beasts, he was innocently pure.
With those words, Baal turned around. He was clearly alone, and in front of him were dozens of knights in full armor staring at him.
Nevertheless, Baal’s back showed no sign of intimidation. Rather, he seemed full of annoyance.
“Charge!”
With someone’s shout, the knights all rushed towards Baal at once. Baal grabbed the neck of the first knight to reach him and broke it in one go.
His hands were weapons, and his legs were stronger than steel.
Even while facing multiple opponents, Baal didn’t allow a single one to approach Yeon Ji-ho behind him. If he missed one, he would swing the chains on his wrists to pull them back.
Yeon Ji-ho’s shoulders suddenly trembled as he sat behind, blankly watching the scene. Instead of just sitting there, wouldn’t it be more helpful to move away a bit so he could focus on the battle?
“Tsk!”
As Yeon Ji-ho was slowly moving, he froze at the sound of Baal’s voice from somewhere. Thinking “No way,” he turned his head to look back and saw Baal staring intently at him even while engaged in battle.
Then he opened his mouth wide. He just moved his lips to convey his message to Yeon Ji-ho.
If you run away, you’ll die.
