Chapter 7: Celler.

“…I’m going crazy, really.”

It was a huge disgrace that I couldn’t even make an excuse for.

Excuse? Excuse, huh. It wasn’t like there was any specific object to make an excuse to.

No. I have to make an excuse to Yukomis.

“To be involved in something like this twice in just about a week.”

It was something that an ordinary person wouldn’t experience even once in their lifetime.

“Are you awake, kid?”

“Yes, well. Thanks for your concern.”

From the moment I came to my senses, a familiar giant had been staring at me in front of me.

“You’re a tough little sh*t indeed.”

“You’re the same.”

The person in front of me was the leader of that group of kidnappers who had kidnapped me in the forest.

The very person whose arm I had stabbed with a dagger.

As expected, his arms, which I pointed to with my chin, were wrapped in thick bandages.

“Hehehe. You still have no fear. I like you more and more.”

And I was kneeling down, bound hand and foot.

“I don’t think I should be happy that a kidnapper likes me?”

However, he didn’t seem that angry with me.

He didn’t have hateful eyes or a the kind of expression that said he was glad to see me today.

He was just looking at me with his arms crossed.

Rather, he seemed to be in a good mood.

“I was in your debt in the forest of the barony, little guy.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I haven’t been doing this for very long, but I’ve never seen a guy as daring as you. Hmm…”

He strode towards me, who was tied up, and then,

“Oops!”

“Keuheok!”

It was a surprise attack.

He suddenly kicked my solar plexus with the end of his thick boots.

“Keuheok! Keuk! Keuheup…!”

“……Hoo. Amazing. You’re not fainting?”

“Kkulheok! Keuheuk…Keuk….”

“You braced your stomach and controlled your breathing right before getting hit. …Little guy. What the hell are you?”

While desperately trying to regain my fading consciousness, he was babbling at will.

“No masters who could teach you such things ever came and went to the barony. Did you learn those techniques on your own?”

“Kkulheok! Keuheuk! Why would I… Kkulheok! Why would I tell you that?”

“Well, good. I was going to put you to sleep again quietly, but you refused.”

His lips curled up to one side.

“Still, you left a scar on my forearm, so let’s just say that the grudge between us is gone. Okay?”

“I don’t want to. Kkulheok! Go to hell. You tried to use me as a human shield, but you want to call it even with just this?”

“You may not believe me, but that was just a bluff. I was really not in a position to stab you.”

“Oh, is it because you’re too nice?”

I sneered, but he didn’t even twitch an eyebrow.

“No. It’s because my employer, who wants you, wouldn’t like it. And don’t misunderstand me. I like you quite a bit, even though I’ve only seen you for a moment.”

“Is that so?”

He nodded.

“Yeah. You have potential. In fact, if it wasn’t for my employer’s enthusiastic request, you might have made a name for yourself as a knight or mercenary. I might have taught you.”

Even while coughing up, his words were hard to resist laughing at.

Teach? Who teaches who?

“Kkulheok..! Because there’s no one to marry, you suddenly want to imitate being a father?”

“Ha. If I could have a promising kid like you under my command, I would have made a lot of money too.”

He calmly accepted my provocation.

“You’re talking about money, so now it sounds a bit sincere.”

“…Haha. Look at this guy’s mouth.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

He’s surprisingly docile.

“The woman who attacked me at the inn… Is that magician the customer you’re talking about?”

“No.”

He immediately denied it.

“Wait a second. She’s not a customer, but… I guess it’s right to say she’s a customer. Well. She’s in the same group.”

He frowned slightly and tilted his head.

Almost at the same time, a loud noise was heard from the entrance.

Crash! Squeak!

“That damn bi*ch! If it wasn’t for that year…!”

One woman was swearing loudly while being supported by another woman.

Judging by their faltering gait, it looked like they had been hit somewhere and came in.

“Manya. Calm down. It’s safe here.”

“But Kati! My status! You and my city!”

“Forget about that for now. If that Princess has the Imperial Princess behind her back, there’s nothing we can do for a while.”

“…Keuk!”

A small woman who seemed calm and another woman who was full of emotion.

Judging by their clothes, they both seemed to be magicians, but neither Kati nor Manya were names that I particularly knew.

If I didn’t know the names, they must have been magicians who had awakened recently, or third-rate magicians.

I felt a little relieved when I learned that fact.

At least they’re not all strong opponents. But…

‘I don’t like having two more magicians, even if I don’t know that giant. I really don’t like it… It’s hard to deal with in this body.’

“Um… Manya, you had a rough day, but I have one piece of good news that you might like.”

“What is it?”

The magician who was called Kati lit the torch next to the entrance with a trembling hand, and then cupped it with her right hand.

After holding the fire in her hand and shaking it a few times, she shook her fist as if scattering it inside the room. Then, the torches and various candles inside the dark basement started to burn all at once, finding their places on their own.

‘Elegant ignition magic.’

That was telling me that the magician in front of me had some skill.

Thanks to the brightened interior, the witch named Manya seemed to notice me for the first time.

“This is… This child is!”

“Yeah, that’s right. The very child you’ve been eyeing for a long time.”

Kati maintained a blank expression, but seemed subtly proud.

“Um… He woke up while I was gone. Hey Al. This kid hasn’t done anything strange, has he?”

“Don’t worry, mistress.”

“Really, I can’t trust anyone. To think that I had to come out myself because you couldn’t even suppress a twelve-year-old kid properly.”

The man’s expression seemed to twist for a moment as if those words had touched his pride, but it seemed that I was the only one who noticed it.

His expression returned in an instant, and he bowed his head apologetically.

“I’m sorry. I have nothing to say.”

“…Well. I was supposed to bring five more people, but it’s all gone to waste.”

Whatever the case, the woman called Manya seemed to have no interest in anything else now.

“Th, this child is…”

With her unpleasant gaze nailed on me, she approached me staggeringly with the expression she had just had on her face completely gone.

“Oh my, it’s been four years since I’ve seen you again, my love!”

What are you saying?

“Aaa… To think that you’ve grown up so nicely while I haven’t seen you!”

It was a voice full of joy that you couldn’t believe came from someone who had been so angry until just now.

“Ah… You’re exactly the boy I wanted! Kati, I really don’t need anything else! All I need is this! You’re really the best!”

“…Is that so?”

An unknown chill ran down my spine when I saw that expression.

I looked at the man with eyes asking for an explanation, but

he shrugged his shoulders slightly, avoiding my gaze as if to say ‘That’s how it is’.

“To be honest, I was so disappointed when I heard that I had missed you, but now that I’ve met you again, all my anger melts away, you!”

…I think I finally knew who the ‘customer’ the giant was talking about was.

“Manya. I still don’t know if this is something to do this far. I brought him to you because you wanted him, but…”

“Don’t say that! You’ll know when you get to this age, Kati.”

“…Hmm. I’m not that young either.”

The magician named Kati wasn’t someone with such rich expressions, but somehow she looked complicated.

“You’ve lost your ruling power, you’ve lost your property, and all that’s left is this boy. I hope he’s really the ‘subject’ that Manya is talking about. What do you think, Al?”

“Are you referring to me?”

The name of the man I had first encountered in the forest seemed to be ‘Al’.

‘Yeah. A huge deficit. The loss is not that small. You’ve lost your gang, too?”

“Yes. It seems that I’m the only survivor.”

“Yeah. Well. It was Yukomis who was your opponent. It’s a headache…”

Kati put her hand on her forehead.

“I’m sorry about your gang.”

“…It’s nothing. They were just third-rate criminals I had scraped together from the pubs anyway. But Manya-nim might be right. This boy is really something.”

“Hoo.”

Kati looked up at Al, who was much taller than her, with shining eyes.

“How so?”

“Yes. It was this boy who scarred my arm in the forest. He’s a very nimble and fearless guy.”

“…Hmm.”

“Frankly speaking, if we were still at war, this kid would have grown up to be a great warrior. And, that emotionless ‘torturer’ Yukomis brought him, so there must be a reason for that.”

“That’s right. But I just want to know if he’s really the test subject that Manya wants. That’s different from this.”

Torturer?

The name I heard in the forest was repeated again.

…It’s strange. She must be treated as the savior of the world right now. Why do they call her by a brutal nickname like Torturer?

She wouldn’t have ever tortured anyone.

Well. It’s possible if I did something similar. I never made her do such dirty work.

“By the way, you hate that woman so much.”

“Of course. That damn bi*ch has crossed the line too much. I agree with you about that, Kati-nim. Even though we didn’t get along…”

What happened after I died?

But……

I started to feel a little bad as I heard the curses being poured on my younger sister.

Strictly speaking, we’re no longer related in this life, but.

Still, it couldn’t have felt good to hear her trash talk.

“Hey. What did Yukomis do, no, what did Yukomis-nim do? Why do you hate her, no, why do you hate her so much?”

I asked, ignoring Manya, who had her face almost right in front of mine.

She was poking my cheek with a spaced-out expression with her mouth open in front of my eyes.

“It’s not something for you to worry about, kid.”

Al replied, raising his eyebrows threateningly.

However, I wasn’t someone who would be intimidated by that.

“No. It is something for me to worry about. Anyway, I’m now on familiar terms with her, so it’s difficult if you pour out bad words like that in front of me.”

“…Hey. There’s a limit to how much I’ll tolerate you being a kid.”

“I just asked a question. If there’s a plausible reason, you can just tell me, right?”

“This guy…”

“Hey, kid.”

Kati intervened during the war of nerves between Al and me.

“Al is right. You better know your place. You’re a test subject that I brought for Manya. It’s difficult if you spout off like that without permission. Isn’t that right, Manya?”

“Ah, ah, euung?”

Manya, who had been staring at me without getting tired of it, seemed to come to her senses at those words.

“…Manya. What are you doing?”

“No, I just thought that even the way you get angry is so similar…”

“Haa…”

…She was a more creepy person than I thought.

Similar? But who does she resemble?

Kati, who was worried about Manya, continued to speak.

“Hey. Kid. Your name was Signo Irendel, right? I don’t know what you grew up hearing about the ‘Wyvern Knight Order’, but that woman named Yukomis is a very terrible year. You should consider it fortunate that you will be living with Manya here rather than following that woman.”

“Fortunate? It’s fortunate to live with this crazy p*edophile?”

“P*edophile…? What’s that?”

Kati made an expression as if she couldn’t understand what I was saying.

However, she didn’t deny the part about being crazy.

“You don’t know anything about Yukomis. I don’t know how that woman fascinated you. There is a very different personality under that brazen mask.”

“I don’t think she’s such a terrible person.”

“Really? You didn’t feel even a little bit of that?”

As she pressed, I suddenly began to remember one thing that Yukomis had done as soon as we met.

What did she do?

Ah. After immediately buying me, who my sister had put up for sale, she drove me to death in the training ground under the pretense of sparring.

‘Huh?’

…Come to think of it, that’s right.

If you take out the fact that it was a legal process, it was an act that was not that different from what these guys were doing.

Maybe she is a little bit of a terrible person.

“Even though you might be a slightly terrible person, you’re still much better than you guys, who kidnap innocent people and lock them in the basement, right? So, I don’t really want to be here as you guys want.”

“My lovely little boy. It’s sad, but what Kati and Al said is right. That woman named Yukomis is a crazy sadist.”

Manya said something meaningful for the first time there.

“…A sadist?”

“…What did you say?”

“Honey. Her reputation as a hero is all fake. It’s fabricated and made up.”

“I’m sorry to break your dreams, but she’s not a hero. Her achievements and exploits are all stolen from others.”

What nonsense is this woman talking about?

My (former) younger sister is a swindler and a sadist?

Was she?

Um… She might be a little bit like that, but.

No, maybe she’s a lot like that, but.

Anyway, since this woman’s words were full of poison, it seemed that what she was saying wasn’t that kind of meaning.

“You stole her accomplishments?”

“Yes.”

“From who?”

“Oh my, isn’t that obvious?”

Manya gave a light snort. It was an attitude that said it goes without saying.

“Why, it’s her sister, Thermis Solenas.”

“What?”

“…Nim! Mistress! Are you awake?”

‘That crazy sadist’ Yukomis first saw Karat’s face, which was spinning wildly, as she opened her eyes slightly.

“Eueu…eueum…”

“Are you safe, Mistress?”

“Karat… My head… is dizzy. Stop moving.”

“Yes?”

“How… How are you spinning around so fast…”

“What are you talking about, Mistress? I’m standing still. You were caught in an explosion, Mistress.”

“…Ah?”

Suddenly. Yukomis jump up. She suddenly raised her upper body.

“Ah… Aht!”

Then a splitting headache immediately followed.

Clutching her head with one hand, Yukomis asked Karat.

“Manya? What happened to him?

“I’m sorry. I missed her. First of all, my priority was to take the Mistress to a safe place. Toxic gas was flowing out of that grenade.”

“Keuk…!”

It was regrettable, but it was the right decision.

‘I was completely caught. Not checking behind me is clearly my mistake…’

Yukomis quickly admitted her mistake as soon as she grasped the situation, but

she didn’t bother to say such a thing to Karat.

‘Sorry. Thank you for protecting me.’ The same went for words like these.

Yukomis wasn’t the kind of person to bother saying such embarrassing words.

‘I guess I can’t do it like before…’

Looking down at her own hands, Yukomis smiled bitterly.

Has she fallen this far?

…This me.

‘If it was during the Great War…’

She shook her head.

There was no use in thinking about the past or thinking about things that couldn’t be undone.

Right now, she had to deal with the situation even with the strength she had.

Looking around, she saw that the whole room was filled with sickbeds and soldiers writhing on them.

They were all the soldiers of Kipol, who were guarding the conference room until just now, who Manya was using.

Lacerations and burns caused by the explosion. And the pain that the toxic gas had left in their respiratory system.

Every one of them was groaning and babbling in the air.

Is this a barrack?

“She did it without caring about friend or foe.”

“It seems so.”

“Smart.”

It was a bland comment.

“…And it’s also dishonorable.”

Karat cautiously objected to that comment.

Then Yukomis snorted.

“Honor? You can’t expect that from that thieving year.”

“That’s right.”

“We have to find her.”

“How would we do that?”

“I have to find out now. A magician like that, who has a shady past, must have a secret hideout in addition to this official magic tower.”

“…That’s right.”

“A witch like Manya, who is materialistic and pleasure-seeking, doesn’t want to be separated from power and money even for a moment. She’ll want a place where she can cover up all kinds of illegal activities with her power as a ruler. So she won’t be outside Kipol.”

Yukomis had seen countless magicians who had been consumed by distorted desires while living in the imperial palace.

She knew experientially that the habits of such magicians were all the same.

“I see.”

“Let’s go back to the Three Lamps Inn for now. We have to take care of that pixilated kid.”

“Are you referring to Signo Irendel?”

“Who else would I be talking about? Seeing the way Manya was talking, she must have already known that I was coming. If so, she would have also known about the existence of him, who was part of the group. If that’s the case…”

Karat, who shared an ominous premonition with his master, nodded.

“We have to hurry.”

“Yeah.”

Yukomis, who had forcibly raised her body, realized through the location of the pain that there were large wounds left by the fragments on her shoulder and the back of her calf.

“Did you do the first aid?”

“Yes. I thought you would say that it wasn’t necessary, but…”

Karat replied awkwardly, watching Yukomis disapprovingly unravel the bandages and gauze.

“Yeah. It’s a waste of medicine. I’ve said this many times, but don’t do things like this.”

After replying coldly, Yukomis grabbed her brass staff and placed it on the floor.

This time, on a smaller scale, the magical power that Manya had received the impression of ‘disgusting and grotesque’ gathered again on the staff.

It soon changed into a form of magic that was activated, which even Karat, who was not a magician, could see.

A black mass, wriggling like slime, began to crawl up Yukomis’s flesh from the floor, and soon dug into the wound.

And just a few seconds later.

New flesh and tissue grew thinly like threads from the wound and began to stick together.

One layer, two layers, three layers. The torn flesh closed again, healed, and just a few seconds later, there was no trace left on the jade-like skin.

You couldn’t even know where the wound had been until just now.

Karat admired the elegant skill that no one could imitate in his heart.

‘To be honest, the process is a bit too gruesome, but that effect is…’

He still vividly remembered the memory of being treated with that magic for the first time.

When he was first wounded in actual combat, his mistress had graciously used healing magic directly on him.

But when the pieces of ominous and grotesque magical power forcibly dug into his skin for the first time…

Even he had no choice but to be terrified and make all sorts of dying faces.

As expected, a few of the soldiers around, who were glancing at the scene of his mistress using magic, were making faces as if they were swallowing vomit.

“Let’s go.”

“What about those soldiers?”

Karat pointed to the place where there were still plenty of groaning soldiers.

“It’s just right that Manya’s henchmen are that hurt without dying.”

Saying that, Yukomis left the place without looking back.