Ch.2The Cabin in the Woods (1)

*

Creaking ankles, rattling knees.

With each labored step, a metallic scream escaped from my mouth.

Only after walking for some time did I realize that my left foot was twisted so severely it almost faced backward.

My legs weren’t the only broken parts.

One arm was bent in an inexplicable direction, and my abdomen near the navel bulged unnaturally, suggesting twisted internal organs.

And though I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, small pools of blood had formed in each footprint I left behind.

Perhaps to others, I looked more like an undead than a human.

Without the wooden stick I’d torn from the carriage frame, I wouldn’t have made it this far.

My vision blurred momentarily from the dizzying pain each time my twisted left foot dragged along, but I continued toward the flickering light ahead, one step at a time.

If I wasn’t hallucinating, that light must surely be from a house or campfire.

If I’m truly lucky, perhaps the clever Laila had already taken refuge there.

Even if not, if I could just meet someone, I could ask for help.

Wait,

Could that light possibly be from our pursuers?

I shook my head, dismissing the ominous thought.

There was no need to crush the hope that had just emerged.

If that light turned out to be the camp of the assassins targeting Laila and me, my life would end cleanly there.

I’ve tried hard enough; I wouldn’t regret giving up then.

It couldn’t get any worse anyway.

I’m already as good as a corpse.

“Kuk, move… now!”

With the terrible pain making me want to tear off my foot, I pressed my lips with curses and forced myself forward.

When my mind grew hazy, my body slowed and the pain dulled slightly, but the moment I regained consciousness and moved, the pain returned with such intensity I felt I might faint.

The one fortunate thing was that the ground had changed from rough dirt to slightly soft fallen leaves.

Damn, they looked so comfortable that I was overwhelmed with the urge to lie down.

Like a freshly dried, fluffy bed tempting you to rest when you have work that must be finished overnight, the soft forest path covered in fallen leaves beckoned me to close my eyes for a moment.

But just as lying on that bed would inevitably lead to sleep, surrendering to the ground now would surely mean death.

Gritting my teeth, I used the maddening pain as a stimulant to keep moving.

Though the agony made death seem preferable, I endured it, spitting curses.

I could die anytime.

But this might be my only chance to save Laila.

The light grew closer.

“Huff, kugh,”

I couldn’t understand it myself.

How was I still able to walk?

How could I even think of enduring such terrible pain?

I had never been anything close to a warrior in my life.

Naturally, I had never trudged along a mountain path under such adverse conditions.

Yet my feet, though slowing, never stopped.

Strangely, that light seemed to ignite a will within me.

And finally, I reached it.

It was an old ruin.

Though difficult to see clearly in the night, the remnants of small log cabins scattered about suggested this had once been a small village.

The vision of what must have been a humble but warm mountain village flashed through my fading consciousness.

I gritted my teeth and focused on the light ahead.

Most of the log cabins here had collapsed, leaving only their foundations, and even the relatively intact ones had fallen doors and roofs.

However, in one corner of the village, a single structure remained standing.

It was small, closer to a hut than a house, but unlike the other collapsed buildings, it was well-maintained, with fresh vegetables growing in what looked like a small garden.

Most importantly, smoke rose from the chimney, and light leaked from the windows.

Signs of human presence.

I had finally reached this place with my twisted body.

Ah, perhaps from the relief, my consciousness began to fade.

In my urgency, I rushed toward the door of the house, dragging my left foot with brutal force.

Bang!

Predictably, the door was locked.

I banged my head against it and shouted.

Despite the crushing pain in my abdomen, the creaking in my chest, and my throat feeling like it was tearing, I had to call out.

“Help… he-help me!”

No response.

No longer having the strength to raise my hands, I banged my head against the door and cried out.

“Please! Please, us… uwek,”

A clot of blood surged up my throat.

I slumped down against the door, spitting blood.

Could there really be no one here?

Seeing the light, it couldn’t be an empty house, but perhaps they had stepped out momentarily?

After making it all this way, dying because someone happened to be away would be the cruelest joke.

I raised my voice even louder to dispel my anxiety.

“I-I’ve been in a carriage accident… Please, my little sister is missing… I’m badly injured…”

Suddenly, my heart sank.

I could feel my already weak and irregular heartbeat gradually slowing.

I stopped speaking.

I needed to be careful.

This might be the last thing I ever say.

“Please… save… me…”

No, this can’t be happening.

My consciousness was slipping away.

A level of weakness incomparable to anything I’d felt before enveloped my body.

The sensation of all strength being drained in an instant.

No,

No…

I pressed my body tightly against the door.

As my legs could no longer support me, my shoulders and face began sliding down the door.

The door was rough with splinters, as if it hadn’t been properly finished.

Blood beaded up where the splinters pierced and scraped my face, forehead, and shoulders.

But I didn’t care.

Sitting slumped before the door, I murmured with a fading voice.

“…save me… please, save my little sister… please…”

It was now barely a whisper, too faint even for my own ears to hear.

My body wouldn’t move.

Unable to lift my neck, my head and gaze fell downward.

Naturally, the light seeping from beneath the door came into view.

For some reason, there was a shadow in the middle of the door.

A shadow.

A silhouette.

That meant someone was standing behind this door.

I tried to force out my voice.

I needed to plead loud enough for that person to hear.

But I had no more chances.

Ah, this is the end.

This is as far as I go.

Please, at least,

Laila…

My body stopped functioning.

Unable to close my eyelids, I would die with my eyes open.

Sounds grew distant.

My vision gradually faded.

At that moment, the door supporting my body opened.

“…”

The door opened inward.

As a result, my body, which had been leaning against it, fell forward like a broken toy, head first.

My fading vision plummeted toward the wooden floor.

“…I shouldn’t have opened it.”

With those words, the world disappeared into darkness.

*

I was born an unremarkable commoner.

It was only natural, as both my father and mother were commoners too.

I had no complaints.

Though not abundant, we lacked nothing either.

My father worked in the kitchen of a count’s mansion, and my mother was a maid there.

Thanks to the countess, who had always been fond of my mother, we siblings were able to grow up in a separate building within the noble estate.

Thankfully, the count treated our family with kindness.

He even arranged for my sister to study alongside his daughter, Lady Alice, saying she needed a study companion.

My foolishly cheerful sister would whine about not wanting to study, despite being given an opportunity most commoners could only dream of.

But who could have known?

That my foolish sister would turn out to be a genius magician, the kind that appears perhaps once in a century.

Magic was fundamentally an academic discipline.

For ordinary people to learn magic, they had to sense mana, study theory, memorize formulas, master incantations, and go through many other processes.

But my sister was different.

She could use magic without any of those steps.

Like the difference between humans who must learn to swim to avoid drowning and fish that naturally swim from birth, my sister was born with a talent of an entirely different dimension.

While below average in all other subjects, she could immediately replicate any magic after just one lesson, proudly showing off her newly learned spells to Laila and me every day.

The count gave me the same educational opportunity, just in case, but unfortunately, I didn’t possess my sister’s talent.

My sister was undoubtedly a genius.

Not only our parents but also the count and Lady Alice were proud of her.

With the count’s investment and recommendation, my sister entered a prestigious academy alongside Lady Alice.

Even at that academy, filled with outstanding prodigies and children from renowned families, my sister’s talent never dimmed.

A few years later, even before graduating from the academy, she had already received the title of Grand Magician.

Due to the academy’s boarding system and extremely short holidays, our family, having not seen her for several years, waited for her return without attending her graduation ceremony, fearing our commoner status might burden her.

But what returned to us was only a royal delegation and a letter from my sister.

The letter stated that upon graduation, she had embarked on a journey with the Hero and strong companions gathered from various places to defeat the Demon King.

And the delegation, arriving in a carriage bearing the royal crest, read the king’s decree appointing our family to the rank of baron.

My sister, who had suffered at the academy due to her commoner status, had requested a noble title in exchange for joining the Demon King subjugation party.

Thus, through my sister’s achievements, our family became nobility.

Of course, it was merely an honorary title without any domain, but even that was too generous a gift.

Naturally, it would have been better if my sister had appeared in person, as we hadn’t seen her for years, but we were still overjoyed.

More than becoming nobles, I was happier to have such a great and proud sister.

My parents surely felt the same.

Our family waited for my sister with joyful hearts.

We studied the duties of nobility, tried to repay the count who had helped us so much, and prepared a place for our sister’s return, all while waiting for her.

Until we heard the news that the Hero had fallen in battle and my sister had died too.

*

“…Sis, Sister.”

Before I could even open my eyes, the cherished word escaped my lips.

And then an immense pain and chill assaulted my entire body.

It was a pain as if bones were breaking and a chill as if skin was cracking.

“Khaak,”

Good heavens,

As that violent wave of sensation crashed into my brain like an avalanche, I jerked awake as if yanked up by the collar.

It was so painful and cold.

I couldn’t even identify which parts hurt or which parts were cold, but the pain, with its overwhelming presence, wrapped around my entire body with cursed vividness.

Completely overwhelmed by the massive pain that made my brain throb, I squeezed a groan from my compressed lungs into the air and slowly blinked my eyelids.

As I slowly closed and opened my eyes, counting the patterns on the ceiling made of roughly placed logs to endure the pain, I finally began to wonder about something strange after a while.

Wait…

Am I alive?

How am I still alive?

And… where am I?

That’s when it happened.

Something rustled near my arm, and then a woman’s voice sounded beside me.

It was a thin, soft voice of a young woman.

“Ah, you’ve opened your eyes.”

Due to the pain so severe I couldn’t even attempt to turn my head, I hadn’t realized that the owner of the voice had apparently been by my side all along.

I rolled my eyes toward the direction of the voice.

But before I could see her appearance, her hand covered my eyes and gently pushed my eyelids closed.

“Don’t strain yourself. You won’t be able to move a finger yet.”

After saying this, she gently removed her hand from my closed eyes and stood up.

From what I glimpsed before her rough and firm hand—quite unsuited to her voice—covered my face, her appearance was rather unusual.

She wore a long, thick robe that covered her entire body as if wrapped in a blanket, and her face was completely hidden by bandages.

As if that wasn’t enough, she wore a large mask over those bandages that covered her entire face.

“You’ve been through a lot. Rest a bit more.”

Her voice was so soft it felt like a lullaby.

Despite the brief time, my body, suffering from terrible pain, was already exhausted.

Unable to resist the fatigue, I drifted off to sleep before I even realized it.

.