Chapter 147 : Chapter 147
Chapter 147 - Peeking
Jing screamed at the dizzying sensation of his body being shattered to pieces.
No, in truth, he could not even tell whether he was screaming himself, or whether he had lost even the mouth that could make a sound.
Would it feel like this if he were swallowed by a monster and digested whole inside its stomach?
If so, that was a relief.
Because among the subordinates he had lost to monsters until now, none had been swallowed whole.
If they had been able to meet repose all at once, without long, drawn-out pain, that would be a comfort in its own way.
Jing mocked himself for managing to think of such things with his slowly turning mind.
But even when he tried to organize his thoughts as they bounced here and there, it was no use.
No matter how much he drew up his concentration, his thoughts melted away as if his head had lost its function, and nothing came to mind except simple impressions.
It was around the time Jing’s consciousness had become mush, to the point where he could no longer continue thinking.
“Good grief. The children of Piteos always cause trouble.”
A voice filled with arrogance squeezed between what little remained of Jing’s consciousness.
But Jing did not perceive it.
Because that monologue, which could not even be called a conversation, was soon erased from his memory by the shock that felt as if every cell in his body were being sucked away.
It was a sensation as if his body, which had been pulverized and disassembled, was being forcibly gathered together again.
Before he could even follow the strange sensation of every cell in his body gathering once more, his vision shook.
No, he could not tell whether what was shaking was his vision, or a mirage created by his head.
The shock, as if the entire world were shaking, did not end with one time.
From above to below, from below to above, from nothing to something, or from something to nothing.
Without even knowing what he himself was seeing, the sensations of his entire body repeated that movement.
The moment he finally recognized that the unpleasant repetition had ended, Jing realized he was lying on a cold floor, curled up like a chrysalis.
“Ghk......”
Jing tried to scream without meaning to, but no voice came out.
His entire body creaked as if the flesh he had used for sixty years had been forcibly disassembled and then finished being regenerated.
As the pain gradually subsided, Jing lifted his head and looked around.
The first thing his eyes, accustomed to the dark, caught was a crude wall.
It was embarrassing to even call it a wall. It looked more appropriate to call it a lump of rock.
Jing raised himself up and realized that this place, where something like that could be recognized as a wall, was inside a cave untouched by human hands.
He had pushed Ria away, faced the black smoke that burst from the sword, and been devoured.
Since the moment he recognized he was being devoured was his last memory, he had no way of knowing what had happened in between.
“It feels like something important happened in the middle......”
Jing muttered while pressing his throbbing temples.
But a memory erased once did not return.
-What are you doing there?
He was too busy sharpening his nerves at the voice echoing through the cave he had thought he was alone in.
Reflexively drawing the sword at his waist, Jing pulled his body backward.
No matter how out of sorts he had been, to think he had not even noticed the other party’s presence until that person spoke.
It was one of two things.
Either he felt fine himself, but in reality, his physical condition was a mess, or the opponent’s physical ability was far too excellent.
Neither was welcome, so Jing held his breath without loosening the tension in his entire body.
If the situation was unfavorable, he might need to launch a surprise attack.
But that resolve of Jing’s faded the moment he saw the man emerge from the darkness.
To be exact, the moment he confirmed the hair color visible between the robes the man wore.
It was a clear platinum blond that did not lose its light even in the darkness.
Stiffened as if by a habit engraved into his body, Jing could not even breathe carelessly and could only stare at him as he slowly approached.
-I was hiding here quietly. I didn’t want to get caught up in anything by loitering around for no reason.
“Hah!”
But as if his effort to steady his breathing meant nothing, Jing ended up exhaling sharply at another voice coming from behind him.
The existence of a man who had approached without any sign of presence shocked Jing again.
The shock of not realizing there was not one, but two others in the same space was shocking enough, but what confused Jing even more was the attitude of the two.
They were conversing casually, as if they had not noticed that he was between them.
Jing, who had been looking back and forth between the two who had appeared from the darkness in order to grasp the situation, soon realized one thing.
He cautiously approached the two.
As if they did not see the stranger approaching right in front of them, the two continued their conversation.
Until Jing’s cautiously outstretched hand passed straight through the face of the man who was not royalty.
***
Jing accepted his situation quite calmly.
‘When I opened my eyes, I was in a strange world where no one could perceive me.’
This was more hopeful than the reality of being eaten by the holy object.
Perhaps all of this was an illusion he had created himself from the shock of being eaten by the holy object, but that was not bad in its own way.
Jing had now regained enough mental leeway to be grateful that at least he was not dead yet.
Compared to their mysterious appearance, the conversation between the two men was also far too light to create a seriously heavy atmosphere.
-Who told you to follow me all the way here?
-You did tell me to follow you.
When the somewhat small man with the blunt tone answered clearly, the nameless royal turned his head without answering.
He did not seem offended.
Through that, Jing concluded that this was not a delusion created inside his head.
If it had been a royal created by his imagination, the man’s head would have rolled to the floor the moment he gave such a reply.
No, even before he finished speaking.
-When did I tell you to follow me? I said that if you were curious, you should confirm it with your own eyes.
-It is not as if you do not know my personality. If you said such a thing, then it is no different from telling me to follow you.
-What’s with that tone from earlier? Are you trying to piss me off?
-Who knows?
-......
After glaring at the man for a moment at that ambiguous answer, the royal snorted and moved forward again.
Jing also followed behind the two.
In the dark cave where one could not tell direction, the royal roamed around without hesitation.
Even for Jing, following him as he lightly climbed rough rock walls was not exactly easy.
While catching his breath, Jing startled himself and trembled when the royal suddenly turned his body around.
For a moment, he mistakenly thought that gaze was directed at him, but Jing soon realized what the man was looking at was the other man, who had fallen far behind the two of them.
He also realized that the man had not made even one complaint, no, not even a proper sound of breathing, despite sweating profusely.
What kind of patience was that?
No, what kind of pride?
While Jing clicked his tongue in disbelief, the man, who seemed to have slowly reached his limit, approached the royal at a slow pace, his breathing growing rougher and rougher.
-Are we...... th-there...... yet?
Perhaps wanting to pretend to be calm even while sweating profusely, the man asked in broken words.
The royal, who had been watching him, clicked his tongue loudly.
It was the next moment.
The royal’s hand passed through Jing, who had been standing between the two, and struck the man in the solar plexus.
With one clean blow, the man collapsed without even screaming.
It was an accurate movement, without a single unnecessary motion.
Jing realized that, unlike his generous personality, this man was accustomed to attacking people.
-So stiff. If you just said one word asking for help, you wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.
The royal muttered as if he could not understand, then lightly lifted the man with one hand.
Then he began hurrying his steps again.
Separate from the chill Jing felt at the royal’s merciless handling, he had no particular choice, so he followed behind him as well.
Jing received the impression that the royal before his eyes was somehow different from the Abalan blood relatives he had met until now.
After all, he had accepted the unconscious man’s somewhat arrogant words and actions, and though in a rather rough manner, he had shown the kindness of carrying him.
The royal stopped for a moment before the three-way fork that appeared before them.
Though he tilted his head briefly as if thinking, he soon chose a direction.
There was no further hesitation in his steps as he headed down the left path.
Jing moved his feet diligently so he would not lose sight of him.
Without noticing the small voice falling behind him.
“There’s a limit to how much time I can buy.”
Nor would Jing ever hear those ominous words.
“Pray those children can make it in time if possible, child of Piteos. Though I am not sure whether there is anyone to hear your prayer.”
Nor would Jing ever notice the strange expectation or delight held in that mysterious voice.
***
Unlike Ratel, who wanted to climb the rock wall as quickly as possible, the leader wanted to buy time below to recover his stamina for as long as time allowed.
Fortunately for the leader, because Ratel had cut up the rope before, we needed time to repair the rope.
While I tied the severed rope back together, Ratel got up, saying he would check the thickness of the rock, and the half-wit stuffed himself full of fish as if he could not miss this chance.
In the end, that meant the only one left around me was the leader, who was glaring at the back of Ratel’s head as if he wanted to kill him.
I was the one who spoke first.
“Kkwek, I’m saying this out of needless worry, but give up on the idea of killing that human while I’m not watching.”
“Kkwe, kkwek!! What are you talking about?!”
The leader stammered, as if anyone could see that he had been thinking of about fifty ways to kill Ratel inside his head.
“Kkwek, stop. Kkwek, whether you fail or succeed, nothing good will come of it for you.”
If he failed, that would truly be when I could not guarantee the bastard’s life, and even if all the miracles, luck, and blessings in the world gathered around the leader in a single moment and he succeeded in killing Ratel, the bastard would still die at someone’s hands.
“Kkwek, are you saying you’ll kill me if I touch that human?”
“Kkwek, who knows. Even if it isn’t me, there are plenty of people who’d move if you touched that bastard.”
Whether it was the half-wit, Jing arriving a little late, or, if absolutely necessary, me.
How much blood, sweat, and tears had I shed dragging that bastard all the way here?
Just imagining it made me feel wronged.
As I gripped the rope tightly, feeling like I might strangle the bastard’s neck in payment for that, I felt a stinging gaze from above my head.
When I lifted my head, my eyes met the leader’s as he looked down at me with narrowed eyes.
My warning seemed to have touched the bastard’s pride again, but for once, the leader did not throw a troublesome temper tantrum.
“Kkwek, you know other humans besides that foul-tempered bastard?”
It seemed the part that had touched the bastard’s nerves was something else.
It was surprising if one called it surprising, and yet curiosity fitting of him if one called it fitting.
After all, he had shown more interest in the human side than in the fact that I had given him another order.
I knew them far too well, even knowing their life stories, but I did not want the explanation to grow long.
Talking about other people to someone whose death was imminent was not exactly pleasant.
“Kkwek, I heard it from him. Kkwek, that human must’ve had companions originally too.”
When I roughly talked around it, the leader’s expression turned strange again.
By strange, I meant it was an expression I had never seen from the bastard until now.
The bastard looked at Ratel with eyes that held some odd emotion, neither anger nor irritation, then noticed my gaze and hardened his expression again.
That emotion, erased before I could read it, was soon replaced by spite.
“Kkwek, seeing as they sent that young bastard to a place like this alone, those so-called companions must be worthless humans too.”
The fact that words judging what true comrades were could come from that mouth was so absurd that I stared straight at him.
As befitted a leader from whom it had been hard to find any trace of conscience from the start, the bastard continued speaking without any concern.
“Kkwek, if you’re expecting something like that from that human too, that’s a stupid thing to do. Kkwek, humans betray easily and break promises. Kkwek, don’t delude yourself into thinking that just because you follow that human outside, he’ll follow you like he does now.”
Delude myself? For a moment, I wondered whether I should correct the bastard’s words by saying that human bastards had never followed me from the beginning until now.
After finishing that brief thought, I decided to solve the small question I had been putting off since before instead.
Because after the bastard died, I would have to repeat the annoying and tedious process of coaxing or threatening that half-wit.
“Kkwek, was the previous leader similar to you?”
“Kkwek, what?”
The leader, who had been quietly glaring at the half-wit, looked at me as if this was the first time in his life he had ever heard such a question.
“Kkwek, I mean the boss you ate. Kkwek, was that bastard similar to you too?”
This time, I could clearly tell what state the bastard was in.
The leader was flustered.