A few days lying sick from the aftermath of the blessing.
And a few more days sailing to Raxia.
I tried hard to learn how to communicate with the Demon Race.
The aftereffects of the blessing that had me bedridden were now barely noticeable, allowing me to move without much trouble, but it still gnawed at me subtly.
Not being able to communicate was becoming frustrating.
As a result, I was able to achieve a measure of success.
While it was still difficult to understand entire sentences, I could grasp what was being said.
For example, if someone said, ‘The apples are really cheap and delicious,’ I would get the message as ‘apple, cheap, delicious.’
It was somewhat flawed, fragmented information that broke off awkwardly.
The directness of the intent made it sufficient to understand the meanings.
Sometimes, it was even easier than having a full conversation.
Connecting the fragmented pieces of information was possible as long as I had the vocabulary to read the context.
Even though I’ve lived a life far from education, I had that level of vocabulary.
Sure, my skills were still lacking, so I often missed things and couldn’t convey my words, but I wasn’t too worried; I’d improve gradually.
“Is it an attack…?”
So I understood when Selin, seeing the corpses, spoke with a horrified expression.
“No.”
I approached one of the bodies sprawled on the beach.
It had started to decay a bit, but its shape was still largely intact, allowing me to guess the cause of death.
“Since there’s no major injury, it doesn’t seem like that.”
The other corpses I briefly glimpsed looked the same.
They had minor injuries but no significant marks that could lead to death.
“Ugh…!”
Da-eun was constantly heaving.
Well, it wasn’t like she’d ever encountered such a scene back on Earth.
Unless she lived in a conflict zone, which didn’t seem to be the case.
And although not as shaken as Da-eun, Selin also appeared quite affected.
“…Then why are there so many dead…?”
“Who knows.”
I was also in the same situation, having just arrived.
“We need to find out why.”
What caused the deaths.
And why the bodies were left like this.
‘…Do Demons not have a burial culture?’
But then again, I’d seen Atysha running around diligently gathering the dead.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I was sinking into a maze, so I stopped my thoughts momentarily.
In the meantime, Da-eun, finally managing to stop her retching, staggered over.
“Uh, huh… Kana, are you okay…?”
“I’m used to it.”
It wasn’t my first time seeing a decaying corpse; I’d seen them often since childhood, so it was laughable to act like I was fazed.
I’d seen much worse.
Above all, after all the craziness on the battlefield, if I were to act queasy like Da-eun now, the dead would probably be laughing at me.
“…”
If I hadn’t killed them, I would have died, so I didn’t regret killing them.
However, there were moments when I wondered how things might have been if I had listened to my father and lived a peaceful life.
Of course, if I went back to the past, I’d likely make the same choices, but it’s okay to think about it, right?
I let out a short breath and turned my body around.
Selin, eyes closed in prayer, Da-eun, with a pale face.
I spoke while looking at Da-eun’s ring, which was shining noticeably brighter than before.
“We don’t have time. Let’s go now.”
While it was tragic, it was still tragic, and we couldn’t just linger here to mourn forever.
I didn’t come all the way from the far eastern edge just for that.
In any case, whether I wanted to or not, I would find out the truth as we headed toward the center.
According to Atysha, it seemed there were still living Demons left there.
“Uh, uh….”
“…”
I looked worriedly at Da-eun, who was mumbling like a dazed person.
I hoped she was okay….
I had dragged her along because of my selfishness, but seeing her so uneasy made me wonder if I should have brought her at all.
“Should I send you back even now?”
Though Atysha’s ship had drifted quite far, we could probably still catch up.
Of course, we couldn’t catch up with the little boat we had switched to, so I’d need to put in some effort.
“No! I’m really okay!”
“…Really?”
“Of course! Can’t you see these bulging muscles?!”
“I can’t see them.”
“Eh? There’s no way I’ve worked this hard for nothing! Come on, Kana! Look closely.”
“If you win in an arm-wrestling match against me, I’ll admit it.”
“I’m like tender chicken. Please eat me deliciously. …Ow! Did you bite me?! For real?!”
Da-eun hastily pulled her arm back.
There was a clear bite mark on the pale skin of Da-eun’s arm, leftover from her earlier display of useless muscles.
I casually wiped my mouth as if nothing had happened.
“…Eww. You told me to eat you deliciously.”
“That was just a figure of speech; who actually means it?!”
“Hmm, here.”
“…Ah! Why do you listen to me when I don’t normally want you to?!”
“If you start listening from now on, isn’t that a good thing?”
“That’s true, but…”
Da-eun, pretending to agree, suddenly lit up.
“Kana wouldn’t do that!”
“Buuuuu-”
You little brat!
Da-eun squeezed my cheeks tightly with both hands.
If someone saw me now, they would probably think my mouth was sticking out like a pufferfish.
“Hehe, you look like a fish! So cute.”
Sure enough, Selin giggled and made a remark similar to what I had in mind.
“Buuuuu-”
Should I just spit it out?
I thought about it but stopped because I felt a sense of foreboding….
Somehow, it felt like I was about to see the depths of human nature…
Anyway, at least it seemed the tension had eased.
I’m not sure if Da-eun knows how much I cared.
“I should understand, as an adult.”
Yep. That’s right.
“…Is there something wrong with your gaze?”
“-Buu?”
“Sigh… what can I say to a kid….”
“I can hear you.”
“That’s what I intended.”
Da-eun pinched my cheeks firmly, and then let go.
Thanks to having learned a new communication skill, I could now somewhat understand what Da-eun was saying.
“Falling for someone first is a crime… What? Am I a lolicon? Hey! You think ‘I fell for you’ has only that meaning? It also means my heart was purely drawn to you! No, that won’t do. You need to cool your head. All those Arctic Bear nonsense people are getting kicked out!”
Unlike Selin, while I could understand Da-eun’s words, I didn’t really get the point.
…Arctic Bear? Why is that popping up all of a sudden?
The polar bear I remember lives in the Arctic; is there something different?
“I don’t get it…”
Not just Da-eun’s words but what lay ahead as well.
Feeling more unfamiliar than friendly from Da-eun’s actions made me realize that I was, indeed, closer to being a Silian than an Earthling.
Even if I couldn’t erase the memories of the violent experiences and the fierce whirlwinds between dimensions.
“…We still have a bit of time left.”
Let’s think about it then. At that time.
“Rest in peace…”
With Selin’s solemn farewell, we left the shoreline filled with corpses.
Although it seemed to weigh on Selin’s heart to leave the bodies like that, she didn’t insist on burying them.
Instead, she promised to return to the Ardina Continent.
Following Atysha’s words, we set out towards the center of Raxia along the well-trodden path.
After a decent walk…
“…”
“…”
“….”
The condition of the road was hardly good, to put it mildly.
The stone pavement, which had clearly been laid down ages ago, was uneven and cracked all over, and dark-stained brush and debris often blocked the path.
One thing was sure: it didn’t help with walking at all.
Considering that the purpose of making a road is to facilitate passage, it didn’t seem to be serving its purpose very well.
‘But still, it’s probably easier than having nothing at all.’
“Whoa?!”
Da-eun, seemingly disagreeing with my thoughts, stumbled over the uneven stone as soon as I finished thinking.
I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist to prevent her from falling.
“Be careful.”
“Th-thank you.”
I looked around while Da-eun was calming herself down.
“It’s suffocating.”
“Uh, me? Were you talking about me…?”
“No. The air.”
“Phew, I thought you were calling me suffocating…”
“There are suffocating aspects, for sure.”
“What?!”
But this time, I wasn’t referring to Da-eun; I was speaking about the heavy air pressing down on us.
Even simple actions like taking a step required more strength compared to walking elsewhere, all thanks to the magical energy surrounding us.
Well, I don’t know how large Raxia is, but using the term ‘continent’ instead of ‘island’ suggests it must be quite big.
How much more intense the atmosphere would be in the center.
“Still no sign of people.”
“Plenty of corpses though.”
“Uh, um….”
While not as many as the initial beach we stepped onto, we occasionally found cold, lifeless bodies lining the roadside.
“Were these people also heading toward the sea like those earlier ones?”
“Could be.”
I nodded in vague agreement and drew my sword.
To face the monsters growling in the distance.
“Don’t bother me.”
Kyaaaak!
As expected of the creatures still surviving in Raxia, they were quite tough, but that was as far as it went.
The ferocious monster bared its teeth, but soon fell into eternal silence from the sword energy I unleashed.
What could that creature have transformed from?
With those horns, maybe it was a bull?
After dealing with a few monsters that appeared along the way, Da-eun timidly spoke up.
“…Kana, why aren’t you making me fight this time?”
Ah, I see.
So that’s why I was fidgeting, grabbing and releasing my sword, wondering if I should make her fight.
“Those guys are pretty strong.”
Da-eun might be able to win against a monster like the one that just appeared if she went all out.
But I didn’t want her to tire herself unnecessarily and risk being poisoned by the magical energy.
With the magical energy being a ticking time bomb, there wasn’t room for any nonchalance.
Finally—
“I promised to protect you here.”
“Kana…!”
I was just keeping my promise.
So there was no need for such a touched expression.
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