CH 34

It was in the middle of the night, in a dangerous forest.

In the dangerous area of the forest that’s always been quiet, another group wandering after the first one left.

Unlike the group before, this one wasn’t concerned about dangerous monsters. In the first place, the creatures ran away as soon as they appeared, so there wasn’t any chance to run into each other.

“Point with your hand.”

“Yes…”

Among the group, a pale woman was carried by someone wearing a black robe. When the woman barely raised her hand and pointed in a specific direction, a man walked towards it.

The bearded man growled, “Can’t you point properly? You know I can’t tolerate useless people.”

“There, that way. I’m sure it’s there… Broken…”

“If we don’t find it, I’ll feed you alive to the monsters.”

“…”

The man stared at her in disbelief before giving orders. “Go and check.”

At the man’s command, his men moved in unison toward the direction the woman pointed.

There was no pity in the man’s eyes as he watched her pant.

As the man’s short patience revealed its limit, a voice came from the direction the woman was pointing.

“I found it!”

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The man smirked and went there. So did the knight carrying a woman.

But when he found the ogres’ bodies at the entrance to the cave, he frowned.

“What? Why are these big guys dead here?”

One of his subordinates answered the man’s question, “Big monsters sometimes fight with each other in their territory. They probably died fighting each other.”

“Of all places, in front of this…”

Clicking his tongue, the man hastened his steps because there were more urgent matters.

The cave was small enough that it was unnoticeable unless one looked closely. The entrance was small, but once inside, it was quite spacious.

Above all, ores glimmering were embedded in the cave walls and ceiling.

“Ooh, it’s here. I’ve been searching for it for so long, but now I’ve found it,” The man murmured with great joy, stroking the glowing ore with his hand. “These are all magic stones. Amazing, just amazing. Lol, put it down on the floor! Hah, put her down.”

The knight carrying the woman roughly lowered her to the floor.

The bearded man kicked the woman and said, “You go in first. You summoned the monster, so shouldn’t you check it out first?”

The woman leaned against the wall as she tried to stand, but eventually, she fell again.

“Cough, cough.”

The woman looked at the man with sad eyes, but the man seemed unmoved. The woman eventually had to crawl because of the man’s glare.

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The man walked two steps behind the woman, never closer.

He looked wary, as if there was something dangerous inside. But, on the other hand, he eyed the gemstones embedded in the wall ecstatically.

The woman crawled to a darker place and directly checked the corpse that had fallen to the floor. Unfortunately, the monster’s corpse decayed rapidly, making it almost impossible to recognize its original form.

“…As expected, he’s dead.”

“Tsk, a pity. But it’s been proven that monsters can find magic stone caves.”

Although monsters themselves emitted magic energy, they also required a large amount of magic energy. The place with the most magic in this world other than the Demon Realm was this Magic Stone Cave.*

Therefore, they argued that if a monster released its magic, it would visit the cave on its own to survive.*

“…King, stop it… Cough–.” The woman collapsed, coughing as if she coudn’t stand it any longer. She was pale and weak, looking like she could die at any moment. It was because she had used up all her energy summoning monsters.

“What a weakling.” The man approached the woman and clicked his tongue. “I don’t like the speed of your work, but you’re useful anyway, so I’ll spare your life.”

“…Uck, Thank you.”

The man grabbed her chin to lift her head up and bent his waist to meet her eyes.

Their lips briefly met, and when they broke apart, dark energy that they could not swallow spread around them.

When the man straightened, the woman’s complexion was much better than before.

“That woman, Rupert’s wife, who fell?”

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“After she fell into this forest…”

The woman touched the floor and found a necklace with a pendant the same shape as the ring she was wearing. She then recalled Rupert’s words.

The woman smirked. “…she seems to have become food for the monsters here.”

“Oh, my. How unfortunate. She was a pretty kid.” The man fiddled with his beard, looking disappointed yet pleased. “Then, nothing more is in your way.”

“There’s still the Duke.”

“Proceed gently and unnoticed. He’s a weak old man anyway.”

At the end of that order, the man grabbed the woman’s hand and pulled her up before disappearing in a small storm.

‘I’m scared.’

I had a dream that long tentacles rushed in, clenched my limbs, and gnawed at my heart.

The monster had already died, but I continued to suffer from the after-effects of the monster’s mental attack.

As I struggled to wake up from the nightmare, I felt someone holding my hand. My body was hot and cold, and I was in pain.

“It’s fine now. Don’t worry about anything,” I heard a reassuring voice next to me.

I felt my breathing slow, and I fell into a deep sleep once more.

Later, the fragrance of herbs woke me up. I was conscious, but my body felt so heavy that I couldn’t open my eyes yet.

“Tell her to take this medicine when she wakes up.”

“Okay.”

I could hear two people talking seriously. One was obviously Enoch, but the other person’s voice wasn’t familiar to me.

“Then, this brooch… Surely…”

“…Yes, Your Highness. I will go to the temple and request it.”

My eyelids were still heavy.

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I wanted to sleep more because I liked hearing Enoch’s voice next to me.

I still remember going out of the cave with Enoch… and he hugged me. Huh?

The sudden shame I felt made me bolt up from the bed. The two people sitting and talking to each other next to me jumped in surprise.

“Are you awake, Count?”

“Ah… Your Highness.”

As expected, Enoch was sitting nearby, and guessing by the man’s attire beside him, the other man was a priest. Did he come here for treatment?

“My name is Antonio.”

“I’m Erin… Spilet.”

For a moment, I debated between ‘Clifford’ and ‘Spilet’ and ended up choosing the latter. My decision to file for divorce early had finally solidified; besides, Enoch always called me that.

Come to think of it; it seemed like priests also served as doctors in this world. Saving lives was a sacred duty or something.

“You still have a slight fever and bruises in some places, but fortunately, there are no major injuries. It’s a relief it’s nothing too bad.”

As I listened to his explanation, I could see traces of healing wounds all over my body, including my wrists. All of those injuries were from falling down the hill.

Monsters also attacked me, but it was surprising that I suffered no injuries from it. Was it all just metal attacks?

Still, I was relieved to hear that I didn’t sustain serious injuries. I had a lot of work to do in the future, and it would be a waste to spend a long time lying in bed because of pain.

Enoch handed me a cup that contained the medicinal herbs that I’d smelled a while ago. I didn’t like bitter things… When I peeked at them, they were both staring at me.

In the end, I only handed back the cup after drinking it all.

“Thank you, Father.”

“It was nothing.”

Even after I thanked him, he continued to stare at me. Finally, when he met my puzzled eyes, he smiled happily but said nothing.

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“Father?”

“I can’t give you a definitive answer because I haven’t looked closely, but you seem to have a slightly different energy from other people. If you have any questions later, please stop by the temple.”

“…”

Maybe he knew that I was a soul from another world? That was the only thing different about me.

Father Antonio showed a benevolent smile once more and stood up.

“Your Highness, I shall take my leave.”

“You’ve done well.”

After saying goodbye to the priest, Enoch immediately sat back down and tried to touch my forehead.

I instinctively pulled back. His hand froze in the air, looking embarrassed, and I looked away, just as flustered.

“Ah…”

He must have been trying to check my temperature, but I still couldn’t get over the shame of sleeping in his arms, so I reacted sensitively by myself.

Enoch gestured towards my forehead, waiting for me to give my consent. When I felt his cool hand on my skin, I could see that I really was feverish.

“Um, I, I guess I fell asleep…”

“Yes. You should sleep a little more. It’s still dawn.”

“I see.”

I looked around and realized it wasn’t my barracks. When I turned to Enoch, about to ask him where we were, he smiled sheepishly and said, “I was in a hurry, so I brought you somewhere else.”

“Why? Is it too far to go to the headquarters?”

“There’s a reason for that.”

I glanced around, but Enoch tried to make me sit down again.

“For now, you should take a break. I’ll tell you after you sleep.”

I was curious, but as he said, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t talk anymore.

Enoch pulled the blanket to my neck, and I fell asleep, feeling his presence by my side.

*I’m not 100% sure about the translations, so take it with a grain of salt.