Chapter 115 : Chapter 115
Chapter 115 : Save Me
Gasp!!!
Lacking oxygen rushed in through my mouth and nose, which opened before my eyes did.
My chest hurt as my stiffened lungs absorbed the scarce air, but quenching this thirst was a higher priority than the pain.
However, even as I tried to inflate my lungs to take in as much oxygen as possible, air did not come in as much as I expected.
It didn't take long to realize that a strange stuffiness in my chest was interfering with my breathing.
Damn it, why is it so stifling?
As oxygen began to circulate through my body, the desire to resolve the cause of this stuffiness became more desperate.
When I struggled to open my eyes and looked down, the first thing that caught my sight was…… a rope.
And it was coiled tightly around my body.
My last memory was clearly the sight of that protagonist brat biting and clinging to my pant leg like a water ghost, so why am I tied up like this?
As I lowered my gaze a bit more at the sight that was hard to understand, this time, something black and large positioned near my legs caught my vision.
As I gasped at the naturally terrifying shape and quickly jerked my legs, a large silhouette raised its head.
The owner of the face revealed in the darkness was someone I knew very well.
As my strength left me at the sight of those familiar golden eyes, I opened my mouth, feeling a surge of futility.
“……What are you doing now?”
“Can't you tell? I'm tying you up so you can't move as you please.”
Did I ask because I didn't know that?
The fellow, who didn't look even slightly flustered despite being caught in the middle of binding a person, tied the final knot with a deft touch.
My bag, hanging from his shoulder, dangled.
He even took this rope out of my bag, didn't he?
“I left some room between your legs, so you'll be able to walk.”
Ratel spoke to me, as I stood speechless from the absurdity, like a person granting great mercy.
I tried pulling the rope that dangled just about shoulder-width between my two legs.
Just as he said, there was some leeway between my two legs that were skillfully bound, so it seemed I would be able to walk, albeit uncomfortably.
Though I wouldn't be able to run to my heart's content.
“……Am I supposed to be grateful?”
“Of course you should be grateful.”
The fellow replied to my question, which I asked out of sheer ridiculousness.
The protagonist, who had already snatched my bag and put it on before standing up, looked down at me with cold eyes.
“I'm giving you one last chance to make an excuse.”
***
Actually, from the moment I decided to jump off the boat, I had prepared myself to some extent.
I wasn't optimistic enough to hope that Ratel, who possessed senses as sharp as his nasty personality, wouldn't notice anything.
However, I didn't know I would be caught like this before I even had time to prepare an excuse.
“Even so, shouldn't you have some common sense not to tie up someone who has swallowed water so tightly like this?”
I couldn't help but point out the behavior of the fellow who had tied up an unconscious person with a rope just as they were.
“You're not just a 'person'. Your body must be twice as sturdy as ordinary humans.”
It was an answer filled with the conviction that I was already hiding Manis.
“You've got it wrong. If my body were that sturdy, I wouldn't have been handled so helplessly by Idan. No, there's no need to even go back that far. I don't think I would have fainted just from falling into the river.”
“…….”
There was no particular rebuttal, but at the gaze that didn't seem to particularly believe my words, I sighed and pushed myself up.
In the process, I suffered the humiliation of staggering once thanks to my two arms being restrained along with my torso.
I checked my torso, which was tied firmly, and my two legs, which were tied just enough to barely walk with the rope skillfully loosened between them, and let out a sigh.
I suppose I should say it's a relief he tied them so I can at least walk.
“I'm sure you have a lot to say, but there's something I absolutely want to ask you before that.”
I opened the conversation a step ahead of the fellow who was about to press me right away.
Ratel, who looked at me as if it were absurd, crossed his arms and twitched an eyebrow as if telling me to go ahead and try.
“Are you really crazy?”
The fellow let out a hollow laugh.
But whether he had completely lost what little sense he had left or not, I had to address this ridiculous situation.
Ratel also didn't seem to be in a very good mood, as he uncrossed his arms and took a step forward.
“You're the one who's crazy. I don't think those are words to say to the savior of your life.”
“How are you the savior of my life?”
At my rebuttal, Ratel tilted his head to the side.
“I dragged a lump of luggage that had lost consciousness and was hanging limp all the way here; is there any other way to describe it besides being the savior of your life?”
“From my perspective, it's also called unnecessary interference.”
In the first place, the reason he jumped in after me wasn't purely to save me either.
But I didn't want to dig deep into the unpleasant abyss beneath this whim.
I glared straight into Ratel's golden eyes as he looked down at me impassively.
“Don't ever butt in again saying you're going to save me.”
At my warning, Ratel curled one side of his mouth into a sneer.
“You have no consistency. One moment you're telling me to save you if I want to achieve my goal.”
Right, I did say something like that.
That was back when I was worried he might kill me.
On the contrary, if I had known he would be so stubborn about saving me, I wouldn't have given such a warning.
“I decide when I need your help. Today was just a hindrance.”
Because if the protagonist brat hadn't clung to me, I would have safely landed on top of the island by now.
No, at least if it weren't for the fellow who grabbed my leg like a yaksha, I wouldn't have been so startled and helplessly swept away by the movement of the water.
I might have even been able to get some clue about the owner of the mysterious voice that had spoken to me.
It meant I wouldn't have just struggled in panic and been dragged along as the waterway led.
At the biting evaluation, Ratel bent his legs and brought his eye level to mine.
“The biggest cause of my growing suspicion is exactly that groundless confidence of yours. How can you jump into that whirlpool when you have no abilities and then tell me not to be suspicious?”
“Right, the reason I was confident I would survive wasn't because of my abilities, but because of my bloodline.”
“…….”
At my firm explanation, Ratel's mouth opened as if to say something, but in the end, no rebuttal came out.
He must know too.
During our not-so-long journey, both Jing and I had consciously avoided talking about my origins or bloodline as much as possible.
I also didn't want to emphasize the connection between me and the protagonist's enemy.
After letting out a short breath, I slowly and clearly repeated the words I had said, enough for him to chew over them.
“I'm saying I had the confidence that the Abalan blood flowing in me would save me.”
My answer seemed to cool his head more chillingly than the early winter river water.
The fellow, who had been cornering me as if he would charge at any moment, became quiet.
Normally, I wouldn't have emphasized what my bloodline was to him.
Because there was no need to provoke him by bringing up the uncomfortable truth.
But it wasn't like that now.
To be a bit cowardly, I realized that he would no longer kill me for such a reason, and to be a bit more cowardly, I hoped he would snap out of his delusion on his own.
It had some effect too.
Taking advantage of the gap while Ratel kept his mouth shut, I raised my bound wrists and held out my palm.
Fortunately, the wound that was created when the fellow grabbed and clung to me on the boat remained.
The pupils of Ratel's eyes shook slightly as he discovered the wound crossing my palm that hadn't been able to heal.
“See? It's just a wound. It hasn't healed, and it's just as it was. If I had the power of Abalan, a wound like this should have healed a long time ago. What the water reacted to wasn't my power, but the blood flowing in my body.”
“…….”
While he stared at my wound without a word, I looked around the cave surrounded by damp stone walls.
Since it was all rocks, I couldn't establish a reference point.
Was this the path Ratel passed through in the original work? Or maybe we had entered a completely new path.
In the original work, the river dries up and Ratel's party invades the Orc pack's lair where they are gathered through here.
All that caught my sight as I looked around were the massive stalagmites supporting the entire cave.
The problem was that there were dozens more like this in the vicinity.
I had to decide whether to find the way out or fulfill my original purpose with Ratel attached to my tail.
There was a sound that woke my mind as I was contemplating which would be less bothersome.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
“……What is that sound just now?”
“Have you forgotten where this is?”
Ratel replied as I muttered at the huge and heavy sound echoing inside the cave.
It was an annoying but clearly brilliant answer for my stupid question.
This was an Orc cave; if there was a presence, especially with a sound boasting such a massive presence, there was only one owner.
“Hey, you said you dragged me all the way here. Do you remember which hole you entered the island through?”
As I asked hurriedly out of urgency, Ratel slowly shook his head.
“The current was so strong that I can't know exactly which path we came through. I couldn't even open my eyes after being swept away by the water.”
Why couldn't a guy who's supposed to be the protagonist even open his eyes underwater?
In the end, I clutched my head at the fact that we were perfectly lost.
Since I didn't know the starting point, there was no way to know our current position, and I couldn't tell which direction was the safe path.
Even so, I couldn't just sit here stupidly and wait for the Orcs.
I held up my bound hands.
“Untie this, you savior fellow. We have to run away for now, don't we? If a fight breaks out here, we'll end up calling every single Orc in the cave.”
However, despite my urging, Ratel did not move an inch.
Ill omens crept up at the sight of him stalling for time in a situation where every second was precious.
“What are you doing right now?”
At my question filled with anxiety, the protagonist brat tilted his head to the side.
“Didn't you tell me not to save you earlier?”
“I told you to save me only when I ask you to. And this is just killing me.”
I argued at the nonsensical stubbornness, but the protagonist brat was still unyielding.
Until the moment right before I realized my unsightly plan to run away even by crawling.
The moment I felt the cries of the Orcs getting threateningly close, he finally opened his mouth.
“Then try asking me to save you.”
“What?”
“Say it directly, that you want me to save you because you desperately need my help.”
What a childish guy.
My mouth hung open unconsciously at the absurd demand.
Is this a protest?
A protest that since I got angry for him saving me as he pleased, he won't move this time unless I directly ask for help as I said?
Or did he think I would be offended in my pride by something like this?
It didn't matter either way.
Although I felt a bit of irritation, I could play along with a childish prank like this as much as I wanted for the sake of survival.
“Are you joking right now? This is exactly the time to save me that I talked about. Untie this right now and save me!”
At the same time as I shouted, Orcs poured out from both passages simultaneously.
I swallowed a curse as I felt the grip strength snatching the scruff of my neck.
Because although my pride wasn't hurt, seeing his satisfied face was truly infuriating.