34 – encounter (4)

To a place where there are few people as soon as possible.

Shortly after the ferocious red flame in the shape of an arrow melted away the iron gate that was used as a shield without leaving even a trace.

That was the only thought that flickered in my thought circuit, which just repeatedly turned on and off without power, like an old street lamp that only produced distorted blue light at the end of its lifespan.

It was impossible to let the incarnation of Mother Nature, which spreads explosions everywhere with every step, unleashed on the main road in the village.

”It’s the wind. Come on—”

Even if I devoted my attention to both legs, it was not enough, so I ended up looking back foolishly.

However, this was inevitable.

My body, which I have seen, heard, and experienced so far, was scolding my mind, which had become loose in peace, saying that I should never turn my eyes away from that mysterious melody.

I hurriedly withdrew my promise to myself that I would never stop even if my lungs were burning, and then I turned around and resolutely faced the owner of the voice.

At that very moment, a raging storm pierced my cheek, and shabby old memories that had faded from the turbulent journey flashed through my mind.

In the clumsy days when wind was considered something that could be recognized, but not acknowledged. Wind can exist, but the foolishness of the past days, which have been dismissed as something that cannot take shape, spread across the retina like paint dissolved in water.

”Ha ha…”

To the point where a self-deprecating laugh leaked out inadvertently.

It couldn’t have been anything but embarrassing and stupid past.

I will try to correct that mistake now.

The wind has a form, it has a will, and it has tusks to bite someone’s neck.

Fain!

Before I could find someone to preach that realization to, my body was hovering over the air for a moment by a mighty force, then I rolled over on the floor and hit a dead end.

There’s no way that the heavens and the earth would have turned upside down. It would be correct to say that my body turned upside down.

Watching the ugliness of my pitiful legs dangling above my sight.

I couldn’t easily shake off the embarrassment of being an upside-down turtle on a flat floor, so I tried my best to dissipate those feelings with a modest smile.

”Spiritual magic is against the law… apis····.”

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Kwajik.

Right at that moment, the spot where my face is located. Even at a glance, in the seat next to it, there was a kick that seemed to have strong emotions.

”Let it grow.”

Yes. I’ll stay.

It was clear to me that if I opened my mouth now, it would not end with one or two arrows.

As she demanded, I responded silently to the harsh voice that fell on me, only in my heart.

◈◈◈

”Now, blow properly. Where have you been and what have you been doing?”

”Let’s go on a little self-discovery trip…”

”···· backwards?”

Whenever he kept his mouth shut, Apis’ barrage of questions that did not allow silence was truly limitless.

The image of a mother visiting her child’s homeroom shimmering as she pryed at even trivial matters such as where she ate and lived, why she hadn’t contacted her, and whether there had been any minor illnesses.

In fact, it wasn’t a sight that felt so strange.

Everyone in the party knows that Apis, who is in charge of the eldest position in the party, treats all party members, including me, as if he were his younger brother or nephew, due to the longevity of the long-lived tribe, but only Apis himself is unaware of it. because it was true

Apis and Dauna.

I thought that this aspect of Apis played a big part in the most fundamental cause of conflict between the girls, who had a reputation as dog mates both inside and outside the party.

Downa’s lifestyle, where she spends the majority of her day reading and seemingly ignoring her own health, must have seemed quite noble in the eyes of Apis, who considered her colleagues like family.

A child who has just entered puberty and a clumsy parent who is not sure how to deal with the child’s deviation.

At least that’s the impression I felt when I saw the two people who were busy quarreling every day over trivial matters.

”So you mean, while we were struggling to the bone in the dungeon, you were living in a nearby monastery all the time, without any problems, eating well and living well. You mean this?”

”Yeah····. That’s right····. I really don’t know where to put myself after committing a mortal sin…”

”Really?”

”Yeah?”

”Look me in the eye and tell me. Is that true?”

His tone is resolute enough to remind us of the faces of parents trying to decipher their children’s lies.

Even I, who could not say that the time I spent with her was short, was dumbfounded by the unfamiliar atmosphere that only felt unfamiliar.

”Oh, Apis?”

”Really? I’m asking.”

A dead-end wall in a shabby alley. With her back there, Apis blocks both sides of me with both arms, narrowing the distance to me until the bridges of our noses touch each other.

As for me, who was only worried about getting an arrow pierced somewhere in my body, there was nothing I could do other than soften the atmosphere by drawing arc lines around my mouth in front of Apis’ sorrowful eyes as if he was trying to slander me.

”Mu, of course.”

”····yes. I guess so. Of course.”

As if to relieve a lot of trouble, Apis suddenly let out a deep breath with a clear sign of relief.

However, without even having time to be suspicious of such a meaningful action of Apis.

”Finally found! This Namchang baby! ‘

The high-pitched voice of a man calling out a name that was really uncomfortable to hear resonated in the quiet alleyway.

◈◈◈

”brother! It’s him! that guy! That bastard who threw me into the wall and freezes to death!”

”under! as soon as! You mean you!? A bastard who threw my dear little brother against the wall and tore it to death!”

Two voices that were so gruff that one could easily guess their physique and social status even if they only glanced at the way they spoke. One of them was a voice he was quite familiar with, and it was inevitable that he would turn his gaze in the direction from which the sound came.

The man with that familiar voice was the giant man whom I accidentally threw against the wall just a moment ago.

And next to him is a figure who looks exactly like him, only with a bushy beard, presumed to be his older brother.

Behind them, there were at least 20 rugged rice cakes in a row, each holding a tool stained with old blood in their hand, filling the narrow alleyway with the smell of hot sweat.

”They caught me on the way! I was in the middle of taking care of the guy who was talking bullshit about being a lumberjack who would come out once in a hundred years or not and become a male prostitute of the century! He helped him without hesitation and ran away together! It looks exactly like a parasitic aura! It’s clear that he’s on the same team!”

”yes! That’s right! My one and only brother suffered such a disgrace! If I stay here, I’m not qualified to be your big brother! Isn’t that right, guys!”

”Yes! you’re right! brother!”

As he repeatedly pointed at me with his finger and vented his anger, the men who gathered their wills together, using that grievous voice as a spark in the bonfire, began honing their fighting spirit with a roaring spirit.

It seemed that the man I unintentionally threw into the wall was a person with a reliable back to avenge his humiliation.

Their tearful comradeship, sympathizing with the pain of their colleagues as if it were their own, was very touching, but no tears came out.

Because the current me, biting into the tips of my teeth, the resentment of being unintentionally wronged, was beyond my strength.

A small good deed caused an appropriate misunderstanding, and I saw a miracle that bears fruit with such a great misfortune at close range. It was not unusual to have a headache.

”there····. There seems to have been a minor misunderstanding between us…”

”under! Misunderstanding freezes to death! Guys! Right now, with that bastard’s skin alive…”

”It’s water. Come on—”

It was then.

The very moment I tried to mediate the misunderstanding between them and myself with words.

A sharp raging wave swept through my vision once, and by the time my dull perception stutteredly realized that whitish screams were mixed in the roar of the waves crashing into my ears.

I, too belatedly, noticed that the shimmering white foam was wriggling like a beast’s fangs whenever the breaking wave, which appeared without even a word of warning, sometimes twisted its body.

In order to stop the likely culprit who caused this murderous spray, he hurriedly cried out with a cracked chest.

”apis!”

Right after that, the waves crashed, and the tragedy that the blue curtain was hiding slowly revealed itself.

”Koo, cool!”

”Gagging!”

”Quaaa! my arm! An arm!”

It was like watching a scene after a tsunami swept through a private house.

Broken walls everywhere. sunken floor. From the pain-filled wails of those who have been bitten here and there by the angry waves.

However, the time to devote my consciousness to such things did not exist for me now.

”you····! What are you talking about…! Namchangi····ra····ni····.”

Her golden pupils, swaying violently with a surge of emotion, were sliding ferociously toward my exposed wet top.