Ch.119Ill Fate (2)

Yesterday, on the fourth day since arriving here, Kain rushed to the hospital room upon hearing that Maria had regained consciousness.

Maria, who had been unconscious for so long, was sitting on the bed looking out the window. As he approached with relief, the perceptive nurses discreetly left the room.

“How are you feeling? Are you alright?”

At the sound of his voice, Maria slowly turned her head. The moment their eyes met, Kain sensed it. Something was wrong.

To be frank, Maria is quite beautiful. Whether men or women, passersby would turn their heads to look at her at least once.

But what truly makes Maria herself is her fiery personality.

Sometimes she’s so rough you’d question if she’s really a clergy member, cursing freely when things go wrong, and occasionally jumping to conclusions with bursts of anger—but never because she has a bad heart.

Maria is good and righteous. She has the ability to do what’s right, rages against injustice, and loves justice. Above all, she’s always confident and unafraid to express herself.

True to her confident nature, Maria always looked Kain straight in the eye. It might be different when she was angry, glaring, or giving him side-eye when she thought he was being frustrating.

But never once had she looked at him obliquely, as if sizing him up like she was doing now.

“Of course. I’ve always been fine.”

Though her face was clearly smiling, it was directed toward the wall rather than at Kain. As if she didn’t want to show her face directly.

Her eyes were closed to the point of coldness, yet the smile formed by her slightly parted lips was almost sensual. It was the beauty of a snake with prey before it. Elegant terror. Predatory allure. The kind that holds its prey in fear and excitement before devouring it head first.

“…Maria?”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Are you really alright?”

“Well… not exactly fine. As you might guess.” Maria pulled the blanket closer, revealing her small, white bare feet.

“Lying in bed so long has made me feel unwell all over.”

She stretched with her arms spread wide and chest out, as if showing off. Sensing Kain’s gaze, Maria hugged the blanket a little tighter. Deliberately exposing her ankle bones, she straightened her legs.

“My body doesn’t seem to obey me well. If someone could give me a massage, I might feel better…”

“…I’ll call a nurse.”

“I don’t want a nurse.” Maria frowned. “They have no delicacy. They’re so rough it’s hard to tell if they’re handling patients or prisoners. Couldn’t you do it for me?”

Maria twisted her body slightly and perched on the edge of the bed. She swung her legs lazily, stretching her toes out and then curling them back. She languidly stretched her shoulders and tilted her head slightly, revealing her white neck.

“Who are you?”

“How strange, Kain. I’m Maria. Don’t you recognize me?”

“You’re not Maria.” Kain stepped back. It was half instinctive, half experiential. Avoidance of something dangerous and ominous.

“Kain, what’s wrong… it’s me… Maria…”

Maria’s feet touched the stone floor. With a groan, she put weight on her legs to stand. She took a step or two forward before gasping and starting to fall forward.

‘It’s a trap.’

It was a trap so obvious anyone could see through it.

The smirk that blatantly revealed she was falling on purpose, arms already extended to prevent her knees from getting hurt. But no matter how prepared she was, Maria would get hurt if she hit the stone floor. After all, she had been bedridden for three days.

Kain quickly rushed forward and caught Maria. She didn’t miss the opportunity. Clinging to Kain’s chest, she muttered something incomprehensible.

The next moment, Kain’s body collapsed. His legs weakened and buckled, and somehow he found himself on the floor looking up at Maria.

But her face, looking down at him, was filled only with puzzlement.

“Why?”

“…What…?”

Though his tongue seemed paralyzed and his pronunciation unclear, Kain managed to squeeze out an answer. Meanwhile, Maria looked down at him with her arms crossed, as if truly unable to understand.

“You knew. That it was a trick. So why did you fall for it anyway?”

“…I couldn’t let you get hurt.” Kain struggled to continue. “You’ve been… lying down for three days. If you fell… you might get seriously hurt…”

“Interesting.” Maria snapped her fingers. Like she would when summoning holy fire, but no fire appeared.

Instead, a surgical knife and a bone saw floated up. Silently, the knife hovered above Kain’s eyes, while the saw moved back and forth as if ready to cut his throat at any moment.

“Kain. I’ll ask you an easy question, try to answer it. Will I hurt you, or will I not?”

“…You will not hurt me.”

“Oh dear.”

Maria shook her head as if pitying him.

“Wrong.”

The knife spun around once. Then it plunged deep into Kain’s thigh. Yet Kain couldn’t even scream. His mouth and throat were bound as if by some force, unable to open or breathe. Maria gently bent her upper body.

“If that was too difficult, I’ll ask an easier question.”

Maria removed the knife from his thigh with just a flick of her finger. Blood gushed out, quickly soaking the floor. Pain like burning fire rushed in, but Kain, unable to breathe, could only gape like a fish pulled from water.

“Where’s the leather strap?”

Kain gasped as if trying to say something. But since he couldn’t inhale or exhale, he couldn’t speak.

Maria twirled her finger, and suddenly air rushed into his lungs as if a blocked passage had opened. Violent coughing followed, but Maria showed no intention of being merciful.

“Tell me, where is the leather strap!”

The cold saw blade touched the corner of Kain’s mouth. Sharp and pointed. It seemed ready to tear his mouth open with a sawing motion at any moment.

‘Never hand it over.’

Maria’s warning echoed in his ears.

“I’ll ask again, where is the leather strap!”

The thick handle of the saw struck Kain’s face.

‘Never hand it over.’

Maria’s angry kicks battered Kain indiscriminately. Invisible hands strangled his neck. His airway closed again. He couldn’t exhale or inhale. He couldn’t even make a gasping sound.

He could only bulge his eyes, twist his body in agony, and clench his teeth. Maria climbed on top of Kain. Gripping the knife firmly with both hands, she raised it high.

“I ask for the last time. Where is the leather strap!”

His breath was suddenly released again. His tongue rolled back into his throat, touching the roof of his mouth and uvula. His stomach churned, and his vision blurred.

Kain did the only thing he could.

For a moment, silence fell.

“You’re laughing?”

Sensing Maria’s bewilderment, Kain laughed even louder. Yes. Kill me. Torture me all you want. If I don’t open my mouth, you’ll never know where the leather strap is.

“Ah. So that’s what you’re thinking…”

Maria threw the knife away. She grabbed Kain’s neck as if to tear it apart. Kain, unable to move a finger, felt his skin tearing.

Kain was pulled up by his collar. It was incomprehensible. What he saw below was clearly his own body. Yet Kain was definitely being “pulled upward.”

“You’ve never had your soul torn out, have you? You say torture me? Kill me? I can torture you plenty while you’re still alive. All I have to do is extract your soul separately.”

Kain saw it.

The stone floor was stained with blood, vines, and withered leaves.

The vines climbing the walls were spread densely like blood vessels but were as dry as an old miser’s hands. The sun visible through the window was black, and the sky was reddish. Countless crows flew like clouds.

Below. A massive tree writhed. More precisely, the shadow of a tree. The tree was dancing. No, could that be called dancing? Could the writhing of a naked person on a hot plate be called dancing? That tree. The agony of that massive tree being consumed by pain…

Lightning struck. Dry lightning in a sky without moisture. A flash of light swept through. Shadows instantly reversed. In this inverted world, Maria was gone. A human-shaped shadow, a specter, black smoke burning fiercely, held Kain’s neck.

“…”

Kain’s lips moved slightly.

“What, speak up! Don’t mumble!”

“…Is this…”

“This?”

“…Is this… the world… you see…?”

“What…”

Lightning struck again. The shadow could be seen writhing. Somehow, Kain read “bewilderment” in that meaninglessness.

The world. Time. Went backward. As if rewinding everything that had happened until now. Back. Back. Back.

To the moment when Kain, having heard the good news, opened the door and entered.

Maria, who had been unconscious for so long, was sitting on the bed looking out the window. As he approached with relief, the perceptive nurses discreetly left the room.

Kain said nothing. Maria continued to look out the window. Kain recalled what Heinrich, Maria’s father, had told him.

A witch. Maria’s mother was a witch, he’d said.

* * * * *

As expected, she was Maria’s mother. The great witch who normally slept but would rise to the surface in place of her daughter’s soul when Maria’s consciousness weakened.

“Elisabet.”

Maria—no, Elisabet—offered her hand. Kain carefully took it.

“I’m Kain.”

“Why don’t you lighten up?”

“I’m not in a particularly cheerful mood.”

“Is that something to say from someone who hit my daughter on the head with a club the moment you met?”

Kain opened his mouth with an “Ah.” Maria’s movements back then had been quite strange. When Maria fainted from Kain’s surprise attack, her mother Elisabet had taken over her body instead.

“I’ve been thinking I should settle things with you someday, and it seems today is the day. Kain.”

“…You hold quite a grudge.”

“I apologized to my daughter, not to you.”

Kain dropped his slightly raised arms.

“I’m sorry about that time. And.”

“And?”

“I’d like an apology for what just happened.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because I swung that club at your daughter, not at you.”

“Aren’t you being too petty about a little prank?”

Kain thought it was an absurd statement.

Not only was the violence too extreme to be dismissed as a prank, but the fact that she cast a “prank-level” spell while barely able to control her daughter’s body was also troubling.

“Did you really think I would give you the leather strap?”

“Do you even know what it is?”

“I know that if it breaks completely, something very bad will happen to Maria. Maria also told me never to hand it over. That’s enough for me.”

“So you’re saying you don’t actually know what it is.”

“I can guess. I saw Maria cut the leather strap to pull you out, Elisabet. However, when I swung that club and now, the leather strap hasn’t broken, yet you’re at the forefront of consciousness.”

“That’s right.”

“What’s the difference?”

Elisabet didn’t answer. She smiled slightly, yawned softly, and lay down comfortably on the bed. Despite Kain’s urging, Elisabet drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

And today. Elisabet was still full of mischief.

“By the way, why did you ask me that yesterday?”

Kain held back his anger as she looked at him with a bright smile. Even if the soul was different, the body sitting on the hospital bed was Maria’s.

“There were times when I had to summon you out of necessity. Each time, what you showed resembled that scenery I saw. Barren. A desolate landscape full of dead trees and vines. That’s why I asked if that was your world.”

“Yes. That’s the world I belong to, and the world Maria is halfway into.”

“How is Maria?”

Instead of answering, “she” stared up at Kain.

“What do you think?”

“Please.” Kain finally sighed. “Can’t you put aside the pranks?”

“As you’ve seen, there’s nothing fun over there. But here there’s lots of green, many living people walking around, and an interesting daughter’s friend who stiffens up at the slightest touch. Is there any reason I should hold back my pranks?”

“I understand your situation, but we can’t stay like this forever. There’s much to do…”

“Thanks for understanding. But I don’t particularly want to accommodate your situation. And you seem to be forgetting something—I’m already dead. There’s no rush in the world for me.”

Though he knew it was said in jest, Kain felt darkness descend before his eyes. The dead woman’s words were not wrong. For someone already dead, what could possibly be urgent?

Finally, Kain gave up and stood. With Maria still missing and Elisabet being uncooperative, he intended to find another way.

As he reached for the doorknob, Elisabet murmured.

“She’s deeply submerged right now.”

Kain took his hand off the doorknob and turned toward Elisabet. The powerful witch looked at him from where she lay on the monastery hospital bed.