Chapter 87. Just smile
Shin’s questions piled up with no answers, swirling in his head as his mana dropped lower with every second, now barely holding at 20MP. The throbbing headache didn’t help. Paired with the constant mana loss, it was only a matter of time before he collapsed into unconsciousness, helpless as his body gave in. Slumped beneath his sheets, sweat clinging to his skin, he was a prince of power rendered nothing more than a fragile shell.
His weapons lay beside the bed like loyal hounds awaiting orders—the twin hooking daggers, still stained with blood, and the scavenged rifle, freshly claimed from the corpse of Leonel’s comrade.
Near him, the tension in the air was thick enough to choke on. His two servants kept silent vigil, fear etched deep into their eyes.
"Do you think the master will be alright...?" Sylvia whispered, her voice frayed with uncertainty. Her loyalty meter for Shin had quietly climbed upto 40—a digital number with very real meaning in this cruel world. But it did little to ease her dread.
Lilian didn’t answer at first. She was pacing in the room, her boots thudding against the bare concrete floor of the hideout. "Something’s wrong with him," she finally muttered. "Really wrong. I don’t know what it is, but I can feel it in my bones—this isn’t just some flu or mana sickness. It’s deeper."
She stopped pacing and glared at the sealed windows. "Everyone out there hates the master. We can’t let them know he’s down. If they even suspect he’s vulnerable... they’ll strike. Like hyenas."
Sylvia clenched her fists as she nodded slowly, her face pale. Shin was the only reason she was still breathing. Her kind had been wiped from existence. Now, her only purpose in life was to serve this child of the gods. If anything happened to him...
"No!" she growled, shaking her head violently. "Nothing will happen to him! The master’s strong—stronger than all of them combined! He won’t fall!"
Lilian nodded sharply. "Then we keep moving like everything’s normal. He’ll need food when he wakes. I’ll get it. You stay here. Armed. Anyone tries something—kill first, no questions."
Sylvia grabbed her axe with a firm nod.
They kept the curtains drawn. Letting in fresh air meant letting the outside world peek inside and that couldn’t happen. Lilian changed clothes quickly into a casual outfit as if everything was okay: tight yoga shorts, a loose top, cheap slippers, and a wide-brimmed sunhat to hide her striking silver hair. She stepped outside like a casual citizen.