episode_0101

The three walked in silence, but Shir, who was traveling for the first time, was chattering excitedly alone.

to me.

“Shir. I have to keep walking for several hours. So let’s not lose energy from now on.”

“How about walking for a few hours? I don’t mind walking for days.”

“Shir… I am not.”

“Wow…”

Shir pouts.

From now on, I have no time to spare. Even if you only travel for a week, the fatigue builds up to an unbearable level. It lasts a year, or an average of 9 months.

Of course, you can relieve the travel fatigue by stopping by a village along the way, but since the purpose of the trip is, you cannot rest until the travel poison is completely washed away.

As fatigue continues to accumulate, the body becomes stiff.

Knowing that I didn’t have much time on my mind, Shir clung to Jules and started chattering. Meanwhile, Dennis walks next to me.

“Lee. Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes. It’s okay.”

“If walking is difficult, let me know. I will take you with me even if it means carrying me on my back.”

“If I can’t bear it, I’ll ask you a favor.”

“Good.”

Dennis was holding a bow and arrow in one hand and moving around as if he was holding an unsheathed sword.

It seems like they are going to shoot everyone if they get the chance.

“Seollang.”

Jules, who had been suffering from a barrage of questions from Shir, turns his head.

“Why are you doing that?”

“A giant eagle hovers above our heads. It looks like a wild eagle… It could snatch Lina Amor.”

Jules looked up at the sky and then began to frown.

“Can you guess it?”

“Yes.”

“If you see anything strange, kill without hesitation. Even if Siren protests, I will speak for her.”

“Okay.”

Since I don’t understand the elvish language, I just glance at Denis and Jule here and there. As Dennis said, I looked at the sky and saw a small bird flying around.

It is a bird that flies high.

You can’t gauge the size until you come down.

And the same goes for Dennis.

“How do you know?”

“What?”

“The fact that the eagle in the sky is a monarch eagle.”

“There are a lot of eagles here. The descending eagle is faster than sound, so you must always keep your eyes on the sky.”

I wondered why I felt uncomfortable carrying a bow.

It was because of the eagle.

“So you were holding the bow out?”

Dennis turns his head towards me.

There is puzzlement in those eyes.

“What do you mean? In the southern forest, it is normal to walk with a weapon drawn.”

“Yes?”

“The South is a battlefield for all life. Ain is no exception. Does Lee know the leech snake?”

“No… That name is really unique.”

“Leech snakes do not eat animals like other snakes. First, they clamp down on the prey and inject digestive juices into it. When the prey melts, it sucks out the contents. Do you know why I’m saying this?”

Well, of course.

“That means you have to be careful.”

“No, I just passed by a leech snake. That guy was on guard when he saw Seolrang’s eyes on the tree.”

······.

“If you happen to explore the southern part of the country alone, be especially careful.”

“···Yes.”

I have never heard this warning from Jules, nor have I ever thought about it. Shirdo Hosott, but passed by without noticing the leech snake. Looking back now, my father first taught me how to see the territory and traces of animals.

There was no situation like before where sirens came down and refused to allow me to pass. Rather, the sirens that were often seen even when the sun was bright were not visible today.

The trip went smoothly.

When we arrived at Lamia’s territory without much incident, Shir’s tail was wagging like an excited dog. Since Lexia had seen me and Jules before, she didn’t stop us or ask about the purpose of our visit.

However, some Lamia were showing great interest in this direction. The youth hunters, who posed provocatively while emphasizing their voluptuous breasts with both hands, seduced Dennis by pretending to be flowers.

With his eyes fixed on Dennis, he turned his head and whispered something as if he were criticizing him. Judging from the way Dennis’ ears twitch and move sometimes, it seems to be a very provocative story.

Anyway, if you’re here, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to go and see Julia.

“Are you going to see Julia’s face?”

“I think so. I need Julia’s help on this trip.”

You need Julia’s help?

“Wait a minute.”

I approached the gray Lexia who was glancing in this direction nearby.

Lexia looks at me, looks around, and then looks at me again.

“Hello?”

“···Huh?”

The attention of Lexia around me began to focus on my voice.

“···What’s going on?”

“If you don’t mind, I have a favor to ask.”

Lexia’s eyes wander and scan the group.

Judging from the long time he stayed with Juul, it seems like he probably knows him.

“What happened?”

“My master wants to see Julia. Could you please put a message inside?”

“Wait a moment.”

While the gatekeepers are talking to each other, one enters the cave. Meanwhile, Shir approached me.

“Sihyeon. When you say Julias, do you mean the Great Witch of the Wetlands?”

Sur! If you say something like that here, you will be beaten to death! I was very nervous and looked around. Fortunately, it seems like the language is different and I don’t understand it.

“Shir. Watch your mouth.”

“Yes?”

“What you said was extremely rude.”

Shir closed his mouth at Jules’ blunt voice.

And then he looks at me. As if asking me to tell you what the situation is. Do you think calling someone a witch is normal speech or action?

······What can I do when I’m young?

Just sing along like everyone else sings.

“That’s the same as calling you a monster.”

“···Ah. Sorry.”

The reason Julias started to despise life was because of Yunaira’s pressure. Because I knew that, my heart became frustrated. Shir, who read my feelings, kept his mouth shut. And soon a large Lexia came out of the cave and approached us.

“They say you can come in.”

*

“Oh my! Who is this handsome elf?”

Julias approached Jules warmly… passed Jules and stood in front of Dennis. As the bus-length body approached, Shir became so frightened that he hid using Jool as a shield.

“This is Dennis Nightglory, who was in charge of escorting the group.”

As Julia glances at Dennis, something catches his eye, and then he chuckles and looks back at Jules with a strange look.

“A bitch like that needs an escort? It’s clear that since he can’t get married, he has other feelings. Then suddenly at night when the full moon rose───.”

“Don’t talk nonsense in front of the kids.”

Blue ghost energy began to overflow from the corners of Jules’ eyes.

“Uh, wow. Okay!”

Julias’s eyes, weighed down by Jules’ force, glance at Dennis again.

“If an elf’s last name includes the name knight, isn’t he a subsidiary of the moon priest?”

“That’s right.”

Julia’s unique strange eyes look into Dennis’s eyes.

“Then you could live inside Ymir’s tomb, so why are you here?”

“Because I suffered from company sickness.”

A look of puzzlement appeared in Julias’ eyes.

“Caught…? Is hwasa disease an incurable disease?”

Julias’s gaze, which was looking at Dennis, lost focus and landed on me.

“I guess Sihyeon cured me.”

“···It just so happened that it happened like that.”

As if there were no more questions, Julias’ eyes immediately turned to Jules’ side. To be precise, to Shir, who used Juul as a shield.

“Who is this young Hosott that is so scared of me?”

Shir, who had been calling Julia the Great Witch outside, was actually very scared in front of Julia. Certainly, when you look at Julias and look at his body rather than his face, you are overwhelmed and at the same time get goosebumps. I, too, unconsciously tried not to pay attention to Julia’s body.

“That’s my nephew.”

“What? Are you going on a family trip?”

“I’m on my way to meet the root snake. I want to go as fast as possible, so I want to pass through the Black Forest.”

Julias’s smile stiffens and begins to relax.

“···Have you decided?”

The laughter had completely disappeared from Julias’s mouth, and an unusually serious voice flowed out.

Jules shakes his head.

“It’s not because of that. The root snake said it wanted to see me after a long time.”

“···Yes. First, come inside.”

Julia turned around and crawled into the cave first.

“I know you like shortcuts, but going through the Black Forest is crazy.”

Julia, who was talking to Jules, decided to cut it off. But Jules looks at Julias with an unconcerned expression.

“You have a medicine to repel blind ants, right?”

“Is that the problem? From Cookie Cutter to Corpsekeeper and Strider, what are you going to do when Snally Gaster takes you away? What about El Cuero? What about strangler bugs? What about jumping spiders?”

Striding feet?

The fact that Julias was making such a fuss probably meant that Grima was so big that it was terrifying.

“It’s not something I said without thinking. I plan to cross with a burning torch. Because Snally Gaster hates light. If you avoid the swamps of the Black Forest, you will never encounter El Quero. You know I don’t say impossible things.”

Yulias glanced at me and Shir and was about to say something more, but under Jules’ bored gaze, he chewed up his words and turned them into a sigh.

“···How can I break your stubbornness? Are you going to sleep today?”

I guess I’ve given up.

“That would be a good idea.”

Shir clung to me like a leech, killing time by scanning Julia’s tail and estimating its length. Dennis drained all the water from the leather canteen and began to diligently fill it from the side where the water was being purified.

The sky outside the collapsed mud ceiling is blue.

Anyway, the shir has been strangely stuck together since before.

“Sihyeon-a···.”

“Why?”

“I heard a strange noise inside there from earlier.”

Shir points with his hand toward Julias’ laboratory.

I am so exhausted, as if I have seen a ghost. ···Could it be that the watchman is still alive? Now that I think about it, how much research has been done on the Precious Blood that was entrusted to me at that time?

“Julias.”

“Huh?”

When Julia turned towards this direction, Shir froze like a man who had met Medusa’s eyes.

“How was the research?”

Julia patted Shir’s head.

“There is no significant income yet, but there is something unique about it.”

“What is it?”

“There was something strange mixed in the blood.”

“···Something mixed up? Wasn’t it magic?”

Julias’ eyes scan Denis and Shir, then look at me.

“First, I’ll go in and let you know.”

As Shir said, the watchman was still alive.

They were looking into space with blurry eyes, and when they spotted Julia, they began to moan in fear.

Julia passed by as if she wasn’t interested, but their delirium continued. The lab was still the same.

Numerous chalets, microscopes, books, distillation equipment, etc.

Julia closes the lab door. He then held out a chair for me and sat down sideways, resting his arms on the desk.

I buried myself in the chair.

Julia took out a notebook from her gown and opened it.

“Now… where should I start explaining?”

“I’m an outsider, so I don’t know too many details.”

Julia’s resentful gaze falls on me.

“Really? Well, it can’t be helped. In conclusion, the essence of the Precious Blood is not the blood, but the fruit mixed with the blood.”

Fruit···?

Does this mean that the flower that blooms in Shir’s heart will bear fruit?

“What do you mean by fruit?”

“I don’t know either. Can you believe that it’s a fruit the size of a microorganism? I wanted to investigate, but when the fruit burst, the seeds dissolved right away. It was the same even when I split it myself. I couldn’t help it.”

In other words, Mother Earth is reluctant to investigate her own origins.

“Is there anything else besides that? The reason why wounds heal…”

Julia shakes her head.

“This is not recovery, but manipulating the body into a set framework.”

ah?

“···Manipulating it?”

“Okay. For example, let’s say my arm is cut off. like this! Snap!”

Julia pretends to cut off his arm.

“So even if you treat your arm, it doesn’t mean it will grow back, right?”

“Yes. A severed arm will not grow back.”

“But if you take the sacred blood, your arms will grow slowly. Just like the fine roots of a potted plant!”

what is this sound?

“······Your arms will grow back?”

Julias laughs happily.

“That’s right. The same goes for birth defects. It is ‘manipulated’ into an ideal body, even if it means contorting the body, in proportion to the person’s weight and body. This was not recovery.”

···This doesn’t make sense.

The body── What kind of clay is organic matter?

“I saw Horus’ Dragonia use magic.”

A strange look appears in Julias’ eyes.

“But?”

“The dragonia spent hours and cast hundreds… thousands of spells to revive one person. There were even people in the family who could not be resuscitated right away because they did not have samples. However, even if there is no original to copy the Precious Blood───.”

Julia cut me off with a show of approval.

“Don’t try to understand the servant. The creators created by Maal have power and intelligence beyond recognition. It’s a world they created, so there’s no way they don’t know how to make demi-humans or their body structure.”

… That’s right. We are on our way to disrupt what that servant is trying to achieve.

“I want to ask you something.”

Yulias hints and looks at me.

Do we need more Precious Blood? Just one glass of soju was not that much. Of course, I still brought spares with me.

“What is it?”

“I will die soon.”