120 – The person we should trust and follow – 1

***

It was the first monster I had ever seen.

He recovers no matter how much he attacks, and uses hundreds of hook-like tentacles like whips to catch people and put them in his body.

Claire was at a loss for words at the horrendous sight before her eyes.

Dried and twisted corpses, completely drained of life, were strewn about in front of the ruins.

In their bare chests without even wearing clothes.

All had hourglass-shaped scars.

“What the hell is this…”

What’s going on?

What the hell is going on here?

Could it be that all the captives became like this?

Claire hesitated in tension.

It is dangerous to explore these ruins alone.

So, it would be better to bring the soldiers from the garrison and prepare before exploring.

But I couldn’t help but worry.

Both Leventia and Evangeline were fighting in different battlefields, and unfortunately, among the adventurers staying in the garrison, there were no strong enough to search for ruins.

In other words, even if you bring someone with you now, it will take quite a while.

People who get caught waiting for that…

Claire swallowed lightly and eventually entered the ruins with a nervous gait.

Thinking of escaping using the portal and calling for support in case of an emergency.

So after a while she went in.

The door of the ruins closed and three eyes that were not there before appeared at the entrance of the ruins.

‘Explore the ruins…’

The hallway inside the ruins had a cold stone floor like other ruins she had seen.

Stepping on that stone floor reminds me of the past.

It was during the journey to defeat the demon lord. When Leventia and Evangeline got away from the party for a while because of work.

Scholars came to the inn where the sage stayed.

I found an unusual ruin and asked for help in the exploration.

If there is any equipment that can be used to fight the demon lord there, it will be handed over unconditionally.

The more I traveled, the more I felt that the Demon King’s subordinates were getting stronger.

Claire was also aware of the need for new equipment, so the two of them explored the ruins together with the sage.

‘At that time, something like this happened.’

The boots stopped on the stone floor. Claire stared silently down the hallway.

-Grrr

As Claire stopped and did not proceed, the hallway began to change in response.

The stone floor, which shook as if it were alive, was actually mimicking slime.

-Grrr…

The slime wriggles and raises itself. Watching it, Claire slowly drew the warrior’s sword and swung it at the slime without hesitation.

-Roaring!!

Even if you attack the slime with a normal weapon, you won’t be able to damage it. It was because hitting and slashing attacks had no great effect on slimes.

But the warrior’s sword was different.

– Fire… Fire…

The slime that was hit by the holy sword that contained the energy of the sun began to burn as if it had been hit by fire-attribute magic.

A flame more powerful than any magic.

The power of the sun annihilated the slimes in an instant, and only a small statue the size of a palm remained in the place where the slime was mimicking.

“…This?”

Could it have been inside the slime? However, even though it must have been affected by the power of the sun, the statue was clean without a trace of scorch.

“Hourglass…?”

It was a statue that looked like the pattern on the corpses earlier.

hourglass.

What does this mean?

Holding the hourglass statue, Claire remembered what the sage had said in the past.

‘Time can’t be turned back, and anyone who says it can be turned back is a cheater, so attack them as soon as you find them.’

At that time, he said it out of the blue, so I wondered why he said that.

But Hyeonu is someone who knows everything. Not a single word he said could be ignored.

That’s why I didn’t forget it while leaving it in a corner of my memory.

no, maybe

He may have remembered everything he said.

“…ha.”

I thought of Leventia and Evangeline, who recently returned from hunting for demons at the request of the elves.

When they returned, their condition looked pretty bad.

The knights of the dukedom who came to the battlefield to escort them did not explain the situation, but only said that Hyeonu was with them when they exterminated the demon.

What the hell happened then?

But there was no way to know. Leventia and Evangeline too.

Both of them kept their mouths shut and just focused on fighting monsters.

“Haa… Hyeonu.”

I wanted to open the portal right away and go to Hyeonu’s place to ask what this hourglass was and what happened at that time.

But I don’t stand a chance to meet him.

What do you mean you met him?

What do you mean by interrogating and questioning him?

I don’t know if it’s someone else, but I didn’t have the slightest idea that Hyeonu would have persecuted and harassed those two.

As far as Claire knew, Hyeonu was never that kind of person.

“For now, let’s keep going.”

With this statue alone, there was no way to find out what kind of ruins this place was and what the monster was.

Then there is only one answer.

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Just keep going

Steps on the stone floor give strength.

How many floors are these ruins? What pitfalls are there, and what dangers are lurking?

– I don’t know if it’s someone else, but it’s okay to explore dungeons or ruins by yourself.

Hyeonu’s advice comes to mind.

When I heard that Hyeonu went to the dungeon by himself in the past, I was quite worried about him.

But, as always, he just smiled and told me.

It’s okay because I can use all skills.

And you are fine too.

It’s possible to retreat through the portal if necessary.

So, until your life is not in danger, explore the ruins or dungeons alone.

Insight and attention when exploring alone rather than in groups.

Besides that, you can develop your own strength in various areas.

If you use the great advantage of being able to escape if you need to, you can become strong that way.

Recalling the unforgettable advice, Claire took another step.

I found another hourglass in the remains of an unknown monster that had collapsed while being engulfed in the flames of the sun.

Slime first got this hourglass statue.

The characteristic of slime is that it swallows anything inside itself.

And what has life is melted and used as its own nourishment.

But what about inanimate things?

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Just leave it inside yourself.

That’s why I thought this statue was only eaten by slime somewhere.

However, the more I progressed through the ruins and battled, the more I realized that I was wrong.

That would be the case, since I was able to get this hourglass statue from all the monsters in the ruins.

It seems like a simple piece of junk, but just holding this statue can feel the stamina and mana recovering little by little.

So I can’t throw it away, so I keep carrying it, but I’ve already surpassed ten and filled my pocket.

“It would have been nice if I had an emotion skill…”

Whenever this happens, I miss Hyeonu. At a party without an appraiser, Hyeonu took on that role alone.

Ruins, dungeons, or objects obtained from defeating monsters were easily appraised by him, and thanks to that, he was able to quickly distinguish between usable and useless items and reduce his burden.

“ha…”

Did you mean to learn it somehow?

Not wanting to burden Hyeonu alone with such things, Claire once asked him to teach him.

At that time, Hyeonu tried to teach him without any hint of dislike, but he couldn’t learn the emotion skill.

In the first place, Claire had no talent other than combat.

Feeling regretful about it, I wanted to do something with the equipment, but that plan was also in vain.

It was because most of the magic tools that could store emotion skills were rings, and most of her fingers were filled with rings for strengthening to defeat the demon king.

Claire looked at her hands. As I slowly peeled off the gloves, each of the exposed white hands had a ring on it, one by one.

“…Hyunwoo…”

Claire stared at the ring on her left index finger.

Of the ten rings worn on her fingers, this one is the only one that has anything to do with combat.

No, it wasn’t even a magic item, it was a ring with no effect.

He would have to, because this was what he received when he went to a summer festival with Hyeonu before they fell out with each other.

Become his partner at the summer festival, circling stalls, playing games.

It was time to watch the fireworks at the last riverside.

At that time, Hyeonu gave me a ring, saying he had gotten it as a prize in the game.

It was the first time I had ever been given a ring by a man.

That’s why he held out his hand with a lot of excitement, and he put it on his index finger.

The ring finger would have been better.

At that time, Claire felt sorry for her, but she had no choice but to move on.

And someday.

It was expected that the ring would be worn on the other finger at the festival that would come again after the world became peaceful.

It wasn’t too far in the future to find out that it was a vain hope and dream.

“Ahh…”

A good past always brings a gloomy past together.

their faults, their own mistakes.

It is a reversal of his helplessness and cowardice in not being able to help Hyun-woo, who is struggling and suffering.

Claire closed her eyes as she recalled the terrible, forgotten past that had followed behind the sweet past.

Still, I couldn’t remove this ring.

Because the moment I took this off, it seemed like I was giving up all of my relationship with Hyeonu.

And, because I wanted to cherish the past that was as beautiful as a jewel.

“…this year… it won’t be…”

I heard that the kingdom capital’s summer festival will start again this year.

The summer festival, which has been suspended so far, is resuming.

It will be so grand and splendid.

But I wouldn’t be able to be by Hyeonu’s side.

“eww…”

A groan comes out.

Who is next to Hyeonu?

Princess Lucille?

Or Cardinal Veronica?

No, maybe it’s another woman.

Along with jealousy, self-loathing soars.

It was me who didn’t help him.

I was the one who didn’t reach out to him when he was having a hard time.

But now, with what qualifications do you want me to be his partner?

Claire shook her head and moved on again.

like that

On the ceiling of the hallway she left.

Three eyes appeared and began to glow.

“…This.”

It was like a long corridor with no end in sight.

There were no monsters, no traps, no defense facilities.

If so, what should be done.

But Claire couldn’t bear to take a step.

As soon as I entered this room, there was a picture on the wall, and what was in that picture.

“…Me and… Hyeonu…?”

It was a very vivid picture.

To the extent that it seems as if he went in and came out of himself.

Why is there a picture of himself and Hyeonu in this ruin?

But that wasn’t the problem.

The relationship between Claire and the wise man in the picture was different in many ways from their current relationship.

Claire hugging the arm of the sage.

The wise man smiles and looks at her with a warm gaze.

What could never be achieved was depicted in the picture.

That’s why Claire moved her eyes to another picture as if possessed.

They are sitting at the same table and eating. Sauce is smeared on Claire’s face, and the sage wipes it off with his hand, then takes it to his lips and licks it.

A subtle movement in her chest was grabbing Claire’s mind bit by bit.

Normally, he would have noticed that, but it was impossible for Claire now.

because it was so sweet

She couldn’t achieve it, and she knows she couldn’t achieve it, but because what she had only imagined materialized and unfolded before her eyes.

So, Claire walked around the room as if possessed, concentrating only on the painting.

Both of them were holding a large paper wrapper in one hand, but the other hand was holding them tight as if they didn’t want to miss each other for a second.

On his ring finger in the picture.

There was a ring on it that I couldn’t bear to move to another finger.

“Ah… ah ah…”

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Just like the summer festival they went to for the first time, the two continue to have fun and play around the stalls.

Illustration of going camping together in the fall.

A picture of a wise man hugging himself from behind while covering himself with the same blanket in front of a fireplace in a cold winter.

A picture of a slow kiss while looking at each other with affection in a field of flowers in full bloom in spring.

painting.

painting.

All the paintings in this endlessly wide room.

Claire stared at the pictures frantically, like a person shipwrecked on the open sea drinking water voraciously.

Even if the water is salt water.

As if to quench her unbearable thirst, she just stared at the pictures.

My legs, barely holding on, trembled.

This is an impossible future.

But it’s the future she so desperately wants.

If, during the journey to defeat the demon king, he had stepped forward for Hyeonu, who was in pain.

If only Evangeline and Leventia had stopped selling him and reached out to him.

if you haven’t turned away from your duties.

It was a happy future she might have had.

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Just blankly

The moment when she shed a single tear after sitting here for a long time and concentrating only on the paintings.

-Pereouk!!

A strong shock pierced Claire’s cheek.

“Aren’t you out of your mind?”

The voice was real enough to pull her out of a sweet future that couldn’t come true.