Chapter 103: Encounter (3)

Slowly opening the door, three people entered the room.

Two young boys who looked to be around 14 or 15 years old and a girl.

“Oh, you’re really awake,” muttered the big boy as he looked at me with some surprise.

As I looked at them, wondering what was going on, the girl came over to the chair next to the bed and sat down. The boys followed suit and stood near the girl.

The girl, who was sitting on the chair with her arms on the backrest, staring at me, soon opened her mouth.

“Who are you, Uncle?”

“…”

Uncle?

I was momentarily speechless at the unfamiliar title.

“And who are you guys?”

The big boy enthusiastically replied, “I’m Tom. And these are Heron and Erica. What’s your name, Uncle?”

“…It’s Ethan. But I wasn’t asking for your names.”

Looking at Tom as if he was pathetic, Heron said, “We are children who live in this monastery. And we are the ones who found you unconscious in the forest.”

Ah.

Come to think of it, didn’t that priest mention these children earlier?

I realized immediately that these were the children who had found me when I was unconscious.

“Is that all the reaction you have? Don’t you have any words of thanks?”

As I looked at the three of them for a moment, Erica, the girl, said that.

I answered immediately.

“Thank you very much. Thanks to you, I survived.”

Anyway, if they hadn’t found me, I don’t know what kind of trouble I would have gotten into while I was unconscious.

Since I had received a lot of help, I expressed my sincere gratitude briefly.

“Are you children raised in this monastery?”

The monastery was basically a place where clergy members lived, but it’s also a cradle where children who have nowhere to go were taken in and raised.

In the game, when you visit a monastery, there were usually children being cared for, like in an orphanage. And later, they became full-fledged clergy members.

Judging by their young age, I thought they might be in that category, too.

At that moment, the girl with a skeptical look scanned my body up and down and asked again.

“So, who are you, Uncle? You were lying in the forest like that, but you’re not from the nearby village, are you?”

I answered her, just as I had explained to the priest earlier.

“I’m just a traveler passing by. I don’t remember why I collapsed in the forest.”

But the answer didn’t seem to satisfy the girl, as she furrowed her brows a little.

“You don’t remember? Are you lying?”

“No.”

“Then why can’t you remember? It sounds like a flimsy excuse. It’s not like you had a head injury or anything.”

“Well, it could be that way.”

“…For someone who has lost their memory, you seem unusually calm?”

The girl persisted in questioning me, not believing my words.

Feeling annoyed, I responded in a cheeky manner.

“I just don’t remember the brief moment before I passed out. And my mind is just as confused.”

The girl, who was staring at me with an uncomfortable expression, spoke.

“Then I’ll just call you a pervert.”

“What?”

“You were lying naked on the ground. Isn’t that perverted?”

I looked at the girl in complete bewilderment.

Naked on the ground? What was she talking about?

Ah.

Come to think of it, was that what happened?

As I searched through my hazy memories, the last moment before I lost consciousness came to mind. I was definitely naked. It was only natural since the flames had burned my clothes to a crisp, along with my body. What I was wearing now was someone else’s clothes.

“Wait a minute.”

So, they brought me here while I was lying naked on the ground?

My lips quivered, and I gulped as the thought crossed my mind.

“You’re trying to avoid answering by saying you don’t remember because something embarrassing happened, right?”

“No…”

“Then please answer properly.”

In that moment, a mix of indignation and embarrassment overcame me, leaving me speechless.

It was then that the boy named Heron stepped forward and reprimanded the girl.

“Erica, stop it. You’re being too rude.”

She let out a huff and decided to hold her tongue.

Kkorureuk.

At that moment, an unexpected sound echoed. The source of the sound was my stomach.

After a moment of silence, the girl got up from her seat.

“I’ll tell the priest to bring you food.”

“…Okay, thank you.”

I added.

“And I’m not really that kind of person. I hope you don’t misunderstand.”

“Don’t misunderstand? I’ll keep thinking that way until I hear your answer.”

The girl stuck out her tongue and walked towards the door.

Heron sighed and bowed his head to apologize.

“I’m sorry. She’s just naturally rude, so don’t take it personally.”

“Yeah. There’s no one in the monastery who acts as recklessly as she does, is there?”

Tom stopped drumming his fingers and shut his mouth as soon as he saw the girl’s angry glare.

“Anyway, rest well. We’ll be on our way.”

Suddenly, the three of them left.

As their presence faded beyond the door, the sound of their conversation could be heard.

“Is he a nobleman? The air around him is not that of an ordinary person.”

“Why would a nobleman be wandering alone in the woods without any attendants?”

“Um… is that so? Still, at least he doesn’t seem like a pervert, like Erica said. He’s very handsome with his clean face.”

“What are you talking about? If he looks like that, there’s even more possibility of him being one.”

…That’s how it ended.

After a while, time passed.

The door opened again, and a nun came in with a meal.

“Thank you.”

I thanked her and accepted the meal.

Bread and butter, and soup with meat.

It was quite a feast for an outsider like me.

I started eating right away, since I was weak and hungry. Let’s see how it tasted.

***

Asher looked down at the vast forest below with a stern expression.

The day had brightened, and time had passed.

She tried to suppress the anxiety and restlessness in her heart.

Where the hell are you?

She rode Ti-Yong away from the battle site as ordered by the Seventh Lord.

All that remained at the site were completely destroyed ruins and the corpse of the unknown demon he had faced.

The Seventh Lords disappeared without a trace, as if evaporating into thin air, and his whereabouts were completely unknown.

Despite continuing to search the surrounding area, the Seventh Lord could not be found anywhere.

Shoooo.

After going around a few times, Asher finally returned to where she started.

Serun, the spy, guarded the site where the Seventh Lord disappeared, greeted her.

“Have you returned?”

Serun was about to ask if the other had gained anything, but seeing Asher’s dark expression, she gave up.

Asher looked at the demon’s corpse with a bleak expression.

Serun had already found out the identity of the demon. It was one of the archdemons, and that it was a demon ranked seventh among them.

It wasn’t difficult for her, a top elite spy directly under the Overlord’s command, to deduce the identity of the demon who solely based on his outward appearance.

At that moment, Serun glanced at Asher and finally spoke cautiously, “It’s dangerous to continue staying here. With the death of the tower master and one of the demons revealing their appearance in person…”

Other mages from the Magic Tower side could come here at any time, or another demon could appear again.

From Serun’s perspective, the best course of action was to leave the scene immediately. However, she couldn’t do that because of Asher.

Asher, who had been silent, spoke up. “We still haven’t found Sir Ron.”

“If Lord Ron was safe and sound, he would have revealed himself first. But it’s already daylight, and still no sign of him…”

Asher turned her head sharply and glared at Serun.

Overwhelmed by the hostility that emanated from Asher’s entire body, Serun paled and couldn’t continue speaking.

“Sir Ron said that this was a task assigned to him directly by the Overlord.”

“…”

“Explain yourself. Is this the Overlord’s scheme to take care of Sir Ron, or to trap him?” Asher spoke in an icy voice, her hostility intensifying.

Serun barely managed to speak. “Ah… no. I had no idea that even the Seventh Lord would come here.”

“…”

“Please calm down… and think rationally. What is the reason for the Overlord to harm the Seventh Lord?”

At the earnest plea of Serun, Asher slowly gathered her strength and closed her eyes tightly.

She knew that her words just now were completely forced, even she herself knew that.

Meeting Serun, who was being chased by the tower master, was also completely coincidental. It didn’t seem like even the Overlord had planned that.

She was just venting her frustration and anxiety, unable to hold it in.

“Damn it.”

She didn’t want to think like that, not even once.

Asher would never admit the death of the Seventh Lord. No, she couldn’t admit it.

Believing that he was still alive somewhere, she calmed her trembling heart.

Creak.

Hearing a loud whimper from beside her, she stroked Ti-Yong’s neck.

“Don’t worry. He’s definitely alive. He’s not someone who will die easily…”

***

After finishing the meal, I stepped heavily and looked up at the clear sky outside the monastery.

There’s really no answer…

I was fortunate that my life was saved, but my situation had become quite difficult.

What is Asher doing now?

I wondered if she was desperately searching for my whereabouts since I suddenly disappeared. Maybe she even thought I was dead.

The truth was that the demon’s ability teleported me here, but she couldn’t have known that.

So I had to return to the Lord’s Castle as soon as possible, but without Ti-Yong and with a long distance to cover, it would take a while.

And my body is not in good condition either.

Even though I was unconscious, it seemed like my body had been continuously regenerating and the trauma had been completely healed.

The problem was the internal injuries. It felt heavy just to move my body even a bit, probably because the injuries were so severe. It was to the point where I was sweating just from walking a short distance.

In short, moving immediately was not an option.

It would be better to recover my body to some extent and leave rather than leaving in a hurry.

Should I stay here for a little while?

I thought, feeling a secret gaze from somewhere.

It was the gaze of a knight standing near the monastery building.

As an outsider, it was natural for me to be treated with at least some caution from their perspective.

However, it seemed like they had no intention of kicking me out, so it wouldn’t be a problem to ask for their understanding and stay here for a while.