episode_0094

Crack.

After pulling her legs out of bed, I urgently grabbed Pia’s shoulders and lifted her up.

“Pia, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Uh, uh…”

With her face flushed red, Pia looked at me with a vacant expression as if she were possessed. I lightly shook her shoulders and said,

“Did an enemy come in by any chance? Did you fall under dark magic… This won’t do. I need to call someone else.”

“Yes, I will go get them.”

Pia blankly listened to my words, then suddenly got up and went outside. Things happened so quickly that there was no time to catch her.

“Hey!? Wait, Pia! Don’t go alone, let’s go together!”

I belatedly followed Pia, getting off the bed and rushing towards the door.

Clang!

“Ah…”

The chain connected to my ankle tightened right in front of the door. It was longer than expected, making it seem impossible to escape from the room.

‘If Pia is under some kind of magic, it might be a dangerous situation. I should probably cut off my ankle or something to remove the shackles.’

After coming to that conclusion, I called Gargandoa. Unlike usual, the summoned demon appeared without much impact and spoke urgently.

[Partner! Are you okay?!]

“Uh, I’m fine.”

[What could have happened for me to be summoned like this? I wouldn’t be summoned just because my partner fainted…]

As the demon started muttering to himself lost in thought, I walked towards the bathroom. It would be easier to clean up in case things got messy.

Thud.

“As expected, those guys who disappeared back then must have done something. Maybe they cast dark magic or—”

Listening vaguely to the demon’s muttering, I opened the bathroom door and went inside. The length of the chain connected to the shackles allowed me to enter the bathroom easily, but the door wouldn’t close.

I brought a folding chair from one side and placed it inside the bathroom. Sitting on it, I lifted the leg with the shackle onto the other leg and raised the demon.

“Since such incidents may happen again, we should be prepared… Huh? Partner, what’s with these shackles?”

“I put them on because I was worried about the kids. They’re uncomfortable, so I want to take them off.”

“Hmph, if I were a powerful demon like myself, I could easily split these chains in half.”

At that statement, a realization struck me.

“…Wait, instead of the ankle, wouldn’t breaking the shackles solve the problem?”

Internally shouting ‘Eureka!’, I said to the demon,

“Would you like to cut it yourself?”

“Alright! Watch and admire my skills!”

Swish.

Taking control, the demon began moving the sword lightly. With a gesture more focused on style than practicality, it grazed past the ankle.

Thunk.

The beautifully carved shackle fell to the ground. In awe of the surreal scene, I exclaimed,

“That’s truly impressive.”

“Hehehe, hahaha… Keep praising my greatness even more!”

Clapping like praising a puppy, I cheered, “Well done, well done,” causing the demon to shiver with excitement.

After disposing of the broken shackles in the trash and rotating my ankle, which was slightly swollen due to the heavy iron shackles, I showered it with cold water and left the bathroom.

“Now, let’s go follow her.”

Lian headed straight towards the door. When he got close to the entrance.

“Lian oppa?”

“Yeah, I called for you.”

…!

The voices of Lily and Pia talking outside the door were clearly audible. It was evidence that they were close by. My gaze shifted downwards.

‘Oh, if the shackles are undone, he’ll surely try to fill them again!’

Without turning back, I dashed towards the bed at an incredible speed and dived in as I slipped under the blanket.

Knock, knock.

I heard a knocking sound. Quickly re-summoning the dark sword I held in my hand, I spoke.

“Uh, who is it?”

“Oppa, it’s me, Lily. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, come in.”

As soon as I gave permission, the door opened immediately, and Pia and Lily entered the room.

“Oppa, where does it hurt?!”

Thinking that Lily approached because she thought I was in pain while flipping the blanket, I calmly pulled down the blanket and said,

“No, there’s no pain. I was just lying comfortably under the blanket.”

“Really? You’re not really in pain?”

“No, I’m not.”

As I raised my upper body and raised both hands, Lily breathed a sigh of relief and said,

“Well, that’s a relief. If you’re hurting anywhere, you have to tell me right away, okay?”

Nodding vigorously, I tried to reassure Lily, who had a worried expression.

“But why did you call me?”

“Oh, that’s…”

Just as I was about to say that Pia seemed strange, a stain on Lily’s sleeve caught my eye.

“Lily, that thing on your clothes…”

“Huh? Oh…”

Following my gaze, Lily looked towards her sleeve. A red stain was spreading on her beige shirt. With a flustered face, Lily turned her body to the side and said,

“Oh, it’s nothing. I think something spilled earlier. It must be because of that.”

“Really?”

“Of course -”

Before Lily could finish speaking,

“That’s a lie.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah?”

Pia, who seemed to be standing there quietly, suddenly approached and firmly grabbed Lily’s wrist. She then pushed up the sleeve, revealing blood seeping from a wound.

“Ouch! U-unnie?!”

“It’s not a spill; it’s blood from a wound.”

Pia looked at me with a face that seemed to ask, “Did I do well?” and showed me the gauze soaked in blood. After Lily urgently pushed Pia away and lowered her sleeve,

“It’s really nothing. Just a scratch from something like a corner…”

Lily bit her lip without continuing her words. Watching Lily like that, I thought,

“If the residents of the dark fantasy world get worse wounds, they will die. They’re not inhabitants of a comedy world.”

As this thought crossed my mind, Lily seemed to look like someone afflicted with an incurable disease.

“I should be the one lying down, not you! Come here! Lie down quickly!”

“Huh? Wha-what?”

I pulled Lily to the bed and laid her down. In turn, I got off the bed and covered Lily up to her neck with the blanket. Lily looked up at me with a surprised face. She didn’t seem to notice that there were no shackles on my ankles, thankfully.

“I’ll go get a doctor… No, a healer.”

“But I’m the healer…?”

“Isn’t there anyone else?”

“There is, but…”

Caught off guard by the sudden situation, Lily’s eyes darted around. At that moment, Pia, who was standing beside her, approached me and said,

“Oh, as expected, Lord Lian…”

“Huh?”

“Struggling in pain, unable to do anything about it…”

Pia mumbled incomprehensible words quickly, then suddenly knelt down in front of me.

“I, too, will follow your will.”

“U-uh, why?”

“Lily, does Pia look strange to you too? Could she be under a spell?”

Seeing Pia looking worse than Lily, I urgently asked questions. Lily nodded and tried to get off the bed. I raised my hand to stop her and said, “It might be best for both of you to lie down. Lily, is it okay if we lay Pia down together?”

“I’m fine, brother. So let’s just lay Pia down.”

“What are you talking about! There’s blood coming from her arm!”

Lily started staring at me intently with pursed lips. Her dilated pupils seemed to have a lot to say. Instinctively, I turned away and said, “Let’s lay Pia down first.”

As I bent my knees and grabbed Pia’s shoulders…

Crack!

The back of my left hand began to glow brightly.

“Huh?”

A faint golden white light radiated as if it would dispel all darkness in the room. With a dazed face, I looked down at the back of my hand, which shone brightly but did not hurt my eyes.

“Oh my! Gods above!”

Pia was so shocked that it was hard to tell if she said anything. The bright light gradually diminished over time.

Silence fell in the room for a moment.

“What, what is this?”

“Gasp…”

As I muttered while looking at my left hand, I heard Lily gasping beside me. Lily, who had come down from the bed, was now looking down at my left hand. Pia, on the other hand, was muttering incomprehensibly with her head against the ground.

In the chaos, I looked at the imprint on my hand without being able to help Pia up. A geometric pattern was engraved on the back of my hand, radiating from a central feather motif like a beautiful plant extending its stem.

The white stem extended not only on the back of my hand but also up to my wrist, resembling a white plant rooting in my hand.

‘This is clearly… where a deity from the dark fantasy world has engraved an imprint.’

Staring blankly at the obviously sacred pattern, incomprehensible information flooded into my mind.

“Ah.”

I sighed softly and stood up to look at Lily. She was so shocked that she couldn’t speak properly, her lips pouting.

Approaching Lily, I reached out my hand towards her injured arm.

‘Surely this is how it’s done.’

With that conviction, I focused my consciousness on the back of my left hand.

Crack!

The fading ecstatic light began to pour out. A warm sensation swept over Lily’s arm, reminiscent of a comforting embrace.

And just like that, the wound disappeared.