163
“My body might burst at this rate. If my body splits in half, what will happen to guiding those Baekya guys?”
Siwoo thought various things with a dazed mind.
Even in a situation where his lower body might burst, he was more concerned about his espers. It was the instinct of a guide.
Fortunately, Siwoo’s body didn’t burst. His lower body, which he was sure had been damaged, was fine. He couldn’t avoid muscle pain, but it wasn’t to the extent that it couldn’t function.
“Ugh…”
Siwoo, who regained consciousness while being carried on Geonho’s back, lifted his swollen eyelids. He had been unconscious longer than when he fell into the swamp.
He didn’t know when he had lost consciousness. He had no memory after crying that his bottom felt like it was going to burst.
“Are you awake?”
Geonho, sensing Siwoo stirring, suddenly stopped walking. He was holding a large stone of unknown purpose in his hand. He was supporting Siwoo’s bottom with that cold stone.
“Guide, are you up?”
Jihan, who had been walking a step away, came closer and asked. Siwoo’s vision was still dark. All he could see were their blurry figures.
“How do you feel?”
Jihan tilted his head as he wrapped his hand around Siwoo’s clenched fist. When they had given the unconscious Siwoo a barrier stone along with an acorn, his hand had instinctively grasped both objects.
Although they didn’t know what effect the acorn had, it seemed to play a beneficial role like the barrier stone. As expected, Jihan had good instincts.
“Thirsty.”
Siwoo felt thirsty and looked for water. His cracked voice was stretched out. It was natural to be exhausted after dealing with two espers simultaneously.
Geonho and Jihan made troubled faces in the darkness without answering. They were thirsty too, but there was no water to drink. They had been worried that Siwoo would ask for water when he woke up.
“Wait a bit. I’ll get you water soon.”
While Jihan was pondering what to say, Geonho answered confidently and resumed walking. He was acting bold despite having no solution.
“What’s this?”
Siwoo mumbled as if sleep-talking and wiggled his bottom. The hard stone touching his lower part felt strange.
“It’s to cool you down. You’re very swollen.”
Geonho supported Siwoo more securely and gripped the stone tightly. He had placed the cold stone to cool down the swollen lower part.
Siwoo frowned and tried to focus his eyes as he learned the stone’s purpose.
“…I don’t need it.”
As his mind became clearer, his cheeks flushed. The embarrassment and shame that had retreated in the urgent situation came rushing back as if shouting, “Right now!”
He didn’t regret anything. He was just mortified.
“I want to get down.”
Siwoo shook his arms and legs, trying to walk on his own. Geonho hesitated but obediently let Siwoo down.
“Can you walk?”
Siwoo’s embarrassment doubled at the overly cautious attitude. He nodded roughly and changed the subject.
“Where’s your shirt?”
Geonho was shirtless. Siwoo had noticed when he was carried that bare skin was touching him. Just in case, he lightly touched his leg and was relieved to find that Geonho was wearing pants.
“I used it to wipe and then threw it away.”
Siwoo quickly understood. That explained why his body was clean. It seemed Kang Geonho had used his clothes as a towel.
“Hold onto my arm while walking. You might fall.”
Geonho held out his arm to Siwoo. It was time to start moving in earnest now that he had regained enough strength.
“Are we inside the gate?”
Siwoo tried to ignore his embarrassment and deliberately raised his chin higher. Geonho and Jihan, who had been examining the long cave while Siwoo was unconscious, simultaneously said yes. That was the extent of their explanation.
“…”
What’s with these guys? Why are they so quiet?
Even the talkative Yoo Jihan was uncharacteristically silent. He could sense their presence beside him, but they weren’t saying anything.
When Siwoo turned his head towards Jihan, he quietly took Siwoo’s empty hand.
“Is walking uncomfortable?”
His tone was as cautious as Geonho’s. No wonder they were uncharacteristically quiet. They seemed to be watching his reaction.
Siwoo was about to snap at them out of embarrassment but decided to let them keep being considerate. After all, they had both pushed him too hard. He thought he was going to die stuck between those two.
Anyway, both Yoo Jihan and Kang Geonho’s wavelengths had stabilized, so his job was done. That’s all that mattered.
“I’m fine, so we can move faster. We need to find the leader and Ha Seojun quickly.”
Siwoo pulled their hands forcefully and increased his pace. However, his stride shortened after a short while.
Ah… it stings like hell.
The chafed areas bothered him with every step. Not only did it hurt inside, but his entire bottom ached. Muscle pain occurred even in places where he wondered why they hurt.
Siwoo briefly let go of their hands and gently massaged his body. He pressed his waist and bottom, then pretended to pat his thighs while secretly touching between his legs.
Geonho and Jihan watched Siwoo from the corner of their eyes. They wanted to ask if he was in a lot of pain but couldn’t, fearing it would embarrass him more. In truth, even if he said he was in pain, there wasn’t much they could do right away.
Their worried gazes met briefly. Geonho glared at Jihan with sharp eyes, and Jihan openly gave a sour smile.
At least now they were only cursing each other with their eyes, but when Siwoo had been unconscious, all sorts of profanities had been exchanged.
Over the unconscious Siwoo, one had cursed saying it was because the other had covered his mouth so he couldn’t breathe, while the other had scolded saying it was because he had forcefully entered even when Siwoo was crying.
Even while cleaning Siwoo’s body, they had fought so much. Geonho would clean a spot, then Jihan would clean it again, and Geonho would re-clean where Jihan had touched, repeating this cycle.
They had also bickered over who would carry Siwoo, until finally Jihan stepped back. Realizing he was engaging in a childish fight with Geonho, he inwardly lamented deeply.
It felt absurd to be exchanging curses with Geonho in a situation where they were separated from the leader and Seojun. He wondered if his mental age had dropped from being stuck with Geonho. He tried to regain his composure by thinking thoughts that would drive Geonho crazy if he heard them.
“Han Siwoo, just let me carry you.”
Geonho finally spoke up, unable to watch Siwoo massaging his waist. It was hard to just stand by while Siwoo was in pain.
“It’s fine. I’ll walk.”
“But you’re in pain. I’ll carry you.”
“I said it’s fine! I don’t want to!”
Geonho tried to forcibly carry Siwoo. Before he could, Jihan intervened to stop him.
“He said he doesn’t want to, Geonho. You should listen when someone says no.”
“You stay out of this. You can’t even use your power.”
Jihan, who was already stressed about not being able to use his ability, broadened his smile.
“Your telekinesis is blocked too. Don’t you need to retake the grade assessment? Does an SS-grade get taken down this easily?”
“What the fuck?”
“That damn ‘fuck’ again, really.”
Their childish argument started again. Jihan, who had resolved to act more maturely, got caught up in Geonho’s pace once more.
Siwoo, caught between Geonho and Jihan’s ominous atmosphere, quietly stepped back. He left them to fight it out and distanced himself just a step away.
He had been wanting to distance himself from them for a moment anyway. Thinking this was a good opportunity, he quickly slipped his hand into his pants.
Although it seemed they had wiped him clean inside too, he kept feeling like his underwear was getting damp. Siwoo touched his underwear, wondering if he might be bleeding. It was too bothersome to ignore.
What is this… It doesn’t seem to be blood.
As Siwoo tilted his head and adjusted his pants again, suddenly his body tilted backward.
“Uh…”
At the same time, Geonho reached out towards Siwoo. It was a sufficiently fast movement, but a hand protruding from the wall was faster. If only a stone wall rising from the ground hadn’t blocked him, he could have caught Siwoo.
However, an unexpected ability tied up Geonho and Jihan. Not just the stone wall, but a strong wind slowed their movements.
“Han Siwoo!”
Geonho let out a roar, having lost Siwoo in such a ridiculous way.
“Your voice is disgustingly loud.”
A man clicked his tongue as he hid Siwoo deep in the cave, rubbing his ringing ears.
Siwoo, caught in the man’s grip, could only widen his eyes, unable to keep up with the sudden situation. The hands holding Siwoo weren’t real hands. Fake hands created from thin air were gripping Siwoo’s arms and legs.
The man looked Siwoo over while layering multiple shields on the wall. The voice in the air had sounded thin, and he looked young even at a glance. He seemed like a youngster who had just become an adult.
“What are you doing crawling in here? Did the Center force you to come?”
He didn’t seem to expect an answer as he quickly averted his gaze. Instead, he set up a strong barrier on the violently shaking wall.
“…”
Siwoo kept blinking at the man visible in his brightened vision. His face showed more confusion than when he had fallen into the swamp. His brain seemed to have temporarily stopped working as unexpected events piled up.
“Now they’re even sending rookie espers. Geez.”
The man kept muttering incomprehensible things while shaking his head. Despite having set up sufficient barriers, he smirked saying “See this” at the shaking wall. This time, thinking a quite strong one had entered, he prepared to use his full power.
“Hey, kid.”
Siwoo flinched at the man’s voice calling him and clenched his fists. What could he do with those cotton fists?
“Those two were bullying you, right?”
“…What?”
“Never mind. If you don’t want to talk, don’t.”
The man, his purple eyes flashing, sent a powerful lightning bolt through the wall. He used quite strong power for the first time in a while to punish those terrible guys.
He was under a deep misunderstanding. He thought two big guys were unilaterally bullying a thin, weak one. Because Siwoo’s crying had sounded particularly loud, he misunderstood that Siwoo had been forcibly taken advantage of.
…What on earth is he talking about?
Siwoo, composing himself, shook off the fake hands holding him. The hands easily retreated. They hadn’t been gripping him with much force to begin with.
“You…”
“Don’t worry. They can’t get in here.”
Siwoo, his lips quivering, looked at the black man’s back. The triangular ears protruding from his black hair and the long tail extending behind his slender waist were not unfamiliar at all. In fact, just seeing his face gave him an idea. He was certainly…
“I’ll have you know, I’m S-grade.”
The man looked back at Siwoo, raising his chin high.
“S-grade, I said.”
He spoke a bit louder, thinking Siwoo hadn’t heard. But the reaction didn’t change.
He had expected an admiring response, but no.
The snow-white face just tilted his head blankly. Instead of admiration, his expression was full of question marks. The man’s eyebrows twitched slightly in confusion.
S-grade is really amazing though. Maybe he doesn’t know because he’s young?
The man snorted with a sour expression, not getting the reaction he expected. He decided to show his power directly. Since Siwoo didn’t seem to believe him, there was no choice but to demonstrate.
“Watch carefully, young one.”
The man raised his chin high and stretched out both hands. Just as he was about to push the two away along with the wall using telekinesis, his body was pushed back instead.
“Wh-what.”
Simultaneously, with a loud crack, the flawlessly built barrier shattered. Through the gaps in the crumbling wall, two arms with thick veins bulging rushed towards the man.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
