41 – Complaining

Apis shuddered at the chill, as if sharp icicles had run down his spine.

When the pulse of conversation is cut off, the intelligent beings who live as the subject of communication instinctively wander in search of a means that can serve as a substitute for language.

Looking at the other person’s expression, watching their hand gestures and their actions.

After all, it is my own resistance to protect myself from the weight of silence that weighs down my consciousness. It is safe to say that it is a kind of defense instinct deeply rooted in the inner side of the intelligent body.

”Yo, hero…”

I saw nothing, nothing.

There was no expression, no gesture, no action, nothing that could be read.

Even if you open your eyes and try hard to gather the whitish light in the air, the creatures that live under the sun are so helpless in the darkness that suddenly covers your sight.

In the end, Apis had to calmly accept the absurdity of the night that took away his sight without warning.

”okay! mistaken! You’re mistaken!”

Originally, the sonorous voice that undulated in the darkness should have known the place where the source of the sound was located.

For some reason, Apis couldn’t figure out where the hero was now, front, side, or back.

yes. As if the mouth sprouting from the darkness itself was talking.

”Fine! apis! Don’t worry too much! I also made the mistake of misjudging the priest’s collection just the other day! hahahaha! Even Apis, who was always meticulous, had a corner like that! On the contrary, I was deeply relieved to find a clumsy comrade!”

”yes····.”

As Apis gradually got used to the darkness, he saw the warrior’s lower crown with a bright smile.

It was because he looked like he was looking at a bizarre figure painting with only the upper part of his face painted over with black paint.

Far from relaxing, Apis was even experiencing a new type of fear he had never experienced before.

”Please don’t worry! I’m responsible for the dishes here! without exception! I will eat them all! Leaving a prepared meal behind is something that shouldn’t happen to a warrior who should be an example to everyone! Even if there is a stomach ache! I will definitely finish it!”

”Me too… I’ll help you… First, turn on the lights again… I’ll get the oil from the warehouse, so wait a bit…”

”Yeah! Thank you for your thoughtful assistance! apis!”

From the vague afterimage just before the light faded, Apis, guessing where she was standing, stretched out her hand, groped for the wall, and turned away from the hero’s voice.

intuition. No, it was more like instinct.

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Just as a wild animal with sensitive senses unknowingly avoids an unstable ground or predicts an impending natural disaster in advance.

We must get out of here as soon as possible.

The mortal survival alert that the deep consciousness cried out was urgently urging the frozen legs of Apis in an unexpected situation.

However.

”apis.”

It sounded so dingy that I couldn’t even dare to guess its brightness.

A sticky voice reminiscent of sticky mud clinging to clothes enveloped Apis’ consciousness.

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Kwak.

Something grabbed Apis’ hand.

At that moment, the pitiful words of the beast that fell into the swamp flickered in Apis’s retinas.

Not knowing that their hollow limbs had already been eaten by the floor, they were just dying in vain after repeating futile struggles to get out of the spot and live.

Apis felt it.

Now, he is that blessing. And, holding onto his arm, this is the bottomless swamp.

”Yo, hero…?”

A feeling of tension as if thorny vines were gripping the heart. Apis, who had done his best to shake off the intangible shackles, groaned with difficulty.

Then, the subject of power that held Apis’ hand tightly began to breathe ominously like a thick fog, hiding his expression in the dark.

”apis. Are we allies?”

”Warrior····. Suddenly, what kind of cow… Wow!”

”apis. us are colleague. Right?”

”Keugh! Warrior····!”

The warrior who firmly gripped Apis’ arm as if pulling a huge rope, repeated the words he had uttered once again and again, urging a clear answer to the question he had been asked.

”All right, of course! We dong····. Ugh!”

”Yes! We are colleagues! It’s a colleague! We got through all the hardships and hardships together! A valuable colleague who can trust and entrust each other’s backs anytime, anywhere!”

”Warrior! Once the arm! Letting go of your arms and talking…”

”Then—!!!”

Apis’ consciousness soared.

The reason was not because the hero suddenly raised his voice.

The hero’s voice usually boasted a volume close to shouting, and rather, the memories of seeing the hero speaking in a low voice could be counted on one hand.

However, the reason Apis, accustomed to the riotous behavior of such a hero, couldn’t help but feel agitated was because he felt something quite different from usual in that tearing chest voice that sounded like a scream at first glance.

Neither the Humans nor the Elves could fully explain it. It was only because it was clear that something was different from the experience.

anger. Or, longing.

Of the words that popped into his head, he could find only those with a similar color, but Apis could not come up with a word that could clearly define the feelings the hero was exuding.

”With colleagues. lie. Shouldn’t I tell lies? If you are a colleague who calms down and cares for each other. Shouldn’t we just tell each other the truth?’

”Yo, hero…!”

Occasionally, he tried to remove his arm, but the extraordinary grip of the hero who grabbed Apis’s arm did not allow it.

It didn’t feel like a person holding a person’s arm. For example, the feeling of getting your arm caught in a gap in a cliff.

It was obvious that even if he tried to forcefully remove his arm, the arm that had shaken off this mountain-like power would be in an incomplete state.

The current Apis had no choice but to answer the question appropriately.

but.

”apis. From now on, I want you to tell the truth without any lies in what I say. Did Apis really not find the priest today? Or, are you telling me lies that you couldn’t find the priest even though you actually found him?’

”What are you talking about… Warrior····. I was mistaken when I said I found him today…”

”A lie!!!”

”Ugh!”

With a momentum that was in no way inferior to his high voice, the hero added strength to the hand holding Apis’s arm.

”apis. why. why are you lying to me Are we colleagues? As a warrior, I don’t want to commit a lowly act of doubting my comrades.”

”Warrior····. I really…”

”smell.”

”····!”

”It smells… it smells… The bride’s scent… This time… this time is definitely right…”

There was no way that the smell would remain.

To prevent this from happening, I burned incense-erasing herbs in advance and sprinkled the ashes on my body, and walked through the crowded market to let the smells of various races permeate my clothes.

Later on, he even diluted the reverberation that might have lingered on his body for a long time using wind spirit art.

Even more so, isn’t this place a place where the rich smell of food wafts in disorder?

Capturing the smell of that man on Apis’ body right now was an impossible feat no different from finding a single grain of rice in the middle of a vast desert.

”Okay····. Because I know… Let’s start with this first, let’s talk about dragons… buy····.”

like that.

Apis, who believed that he had firmly misunderstood the seriousness of the situation, had finished the judgment that calming the excited hero was the top priority, and was thinking carefully about what to say next.

The bright moonlight that came in from outside the window illuminated the veiled face of the warrior.

”Huh, huh…!

”····!”

The pitiful girl’s face, covered with tears, no, sorrow and sadness, stopped Apis from thinking that he was just about to calm down.

”Now, wrong, mischief! My, I’m so excited! I was wrong… Ah, Apis… Ears, I will become an example. hehehe! I will be an example for everyone… I will become a person worthy of the name of a warrior…

”Warrior····.”

”Yo, I won’t be greedy… I will always prioritize the lives of others over mine… If poison is sprayed on someone, I will take it with my body… Even if my limbs are torn apart, I will try not to bury a single mound of dirt on the body of others… Not a single drop of my strength… not a single word! Black! Yes, I will not use it…”

”You…”

Apis’ arms trembled.

However, the subject of the agitation was not Apis.

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Just as a child who has been lost once cherishes the hand of a parent who can be said to be the only support in the middle of a crowded city.

Even though they were staggering like a bare tree blown by a gust of wind, the strong hands of the warrior who were eagerly holding Apis’ arms fluttered with weakness that did not match the strength of the grip.

”Eh, I’ll eat all kinds of food… I won’t cry even if I have nightmares… Tea, good boy! Because I will be a good child… therefore····.”

That melancholy voice that could no longer be called pleading or pleading, and even lost its assortment of words.

”Please… The bride… Please return the priest to me…”

It was the whining of an innocent child.