episode_0179

“Huh? Corpse?”

There’s no way someone took it.

You die just by touching it, and it is a corpse soaked in a rotten swamp.

The rotten swamp water was so toxic that even an adult Shir felt pain as if he had been burned.

“Heeek······?!”

Shir’s tail was also swollen like a fox’s.

It means that you are scared. I had a headache.

─Someone cleaned it up while I wasn’t looking.

Cleaning up a body in less than ten minutes?

There’s a person… so silently that you don’t even notice that Shir is there?

“The swamp took it.”

Before I knew it, the swamp keeper followed me and spoke in a low voice.

“The swamp is watching us. The reason you robbed the swamp, and the reason you entered the swamp.”

“What do you mean?”

“I should have said that. The swamp is alive.”

···I have to wash it anyway.

If the swamp is alive as the swamp keeper said, there must be a body in it. Need to check.

I walked straight to the swamp.

“Sihyeon, don’t go!”

Shir was scared and ran towards me.

“What’s wrong?”

“···I am rotten in the swamp.”

“That’s what happened earlier.”

“It’s much worse. It’s boiling over!”

In other words, the servant does not want it.

Since what I wanted was to fry the servant, it was like a milestone.

As Shir came closer, he couldn’t move closer or farther away, and just waved his hand at me half-heartedly.

Still, he gritted his teeth, and in the end, he grabbed my shoulder and showed arrogance.

Cheap!

Swamp water splashed on my shoulder!

I couldn’t hastily touch Shir.

“Hands off! What are you doing?!”

“It’s not the same smell as before! If you go, you’ll die. Definitely die!”

Shir grabbed my shoulder tightly like a tree frog and looked at me with desperate eyes. Why on earth are you doing this?

“Okay! I understand, so please stop!”

Only then did Shir withdraw his hand.

The water is still clear.

Still spotless…

·

·

·

Rolling——!

Something black and irregular moves quickly in the swamp. It’s like a shadow, but it’s not a shadow. It is fast, flexible, and detailed like the movements of living things.

It makes me…

no.

It’s not me. I’m looking at Sur. Even though I had no eyes, it felt that way.

The water was so clear that there were no waves, and in contrast, it was as dark as a black hole, with no outlines or reflected light visible. Is there anything so black in the world?

‘There was nothing like that before.’

Where did it come from? when? why?

“Shir. Wait here.”

I’ve tried staying away from Shir, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in me.

“Go outside. Right now.”

It waits quietly like a praying mantis waiting for its prey on the land closest to Shir. What is Shir reacting to? Why did it come out now in the first place?

Anyway, thanks to that, I don’t have the courage to go in.

I got goosebumps and walked away to find the man I had rescued.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s something in the swamp.”

We took ten steps further away from the swamp.

How long have you been exploring the swamp?

Eventually, I was able to find the man.

‘It returned to its original place.’

The peeled skin, like a swollen dumpling skin, sticks back to its original state and is no different from before it was picked up.

Only then did I know.

That black thing.

It’s clear that it was returned.

···First, you’d better get the head.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh? Ugh, yes…”

I don’t know why it reacts to Shir. Nana Shirna has received the blessings of the servant, and Nana Shirna is equally a living person.

If Shir is a hosot and thus incurred the spirit’s wrath, then the undead’s statement that he cannot think because he has no head would be incorrect.

The gravedigger went into the house without seeing me off, and Shir carefully took my clothes and started following behind me.

“Ugh!”

The elf at the guard post closes his nose.

“I am sorry.”

I greeted him politely.

The elf sent me off with an expression as if he had seen something strange.

*

After washing my body in the nearby river, I gathered my thoughts. To me, I can see what the servant is trying to hide, and I cannot see what he is trying to show.

This is because Dantalian does not collaborate with any servants.

In other words, the smell, color, and pain of the rotten swamp are what the servant wanted, and that black thing is the essence of the swamp.

‘What is a trigger?’

The guy suddenly jumped out.

When certain conditions are met, like Sorshei’s time, that black guy pops out.

“I don’t know what the hell is.”

“Me too.”

Let’s think about something that has no solution.

What I need is not a sealed monster, but a face to face with Pluto, and what I need is the human head buried there.

“What are you going to do with your underwear?”

“It stinks, so what can I do? I have to throw it away.”

I threw away my underwear and got dressed.

Shir glanced at my naked body.

This kind of lewd- ” isn’t that kind of thing. Because a lot has changed, I’m just curious.”

I accepted the rest of the clothes from Shir, who hesitated.

“Yes.”

“Can’t you explain to me what’s going on?”

“It’s all a hypothesis. Even if you listen to it, it just confuses you.”

As I got dressed, Shir took off his top and started pulling out his wings.

“How are your hands? Didn’t it hurt earlier?”

Shir glanced at his palm and showed it to me.

···These hands are no different from usual.

“As you can see, there is no problem with me. I’m more worried about you. You have light skin too. The first time it was just a slight burn, but the last time I touched it for a long time, the leather on my hand melted.”

···.

“If it hurts, let it go.”

I feel so embarrassed.

Shir sulked and held out his jacket to me.

“It felt like something was warning me. As if telling you not to come here…”

The fact that I felt told not to come was probably a warning from the Rotten Swamp. Because Shir won’t be able to see the black thing.

“Okay. You were right. Thanks for letting me know.”

As I folded the clothes Shir gave me and wrapped my arms around his waist, Shir hugged me in a familiar way. Five days have passed. From now on, it will take 15 days just to travel around the rotten swamp.

The time spent looking for the hair basket should be reduced as much as possible.

Soon, Shir flew up into the sky.

*

As soon as I got back, I headed straight to Dennis’ house.

Dennis seemed to be away from home, and about three quarters of the wooden barrel filled with the Precious Blood remained.

Could it be that he is awake?

Despite these expectations, Jules was still asleep.

“Please wait a little longer.”

Without realizing it, I was fiddling with Jules’ soft hands as if I was doing acupressure. It’s a 5-6 year habit.

We lived together for 6 years.

I accepted that I couldn’t go back now – no, I had never been there in the first place.

Six years is the time for couples to get married and have children in their newlywed homes. Now these people and Shir are my family.

After wiping the back of Jules’ hand, I stood up.

It looks like Dennis was away for a while.

On the table, the remaining twigs of the pruned grave tree are placed in a glass jar. After Denis brought Heinrich here, he had never been to his parents’ graves.

“Let’s go.”

We headed straight to Ymir’s grave.

The guards guarding the moat watched us closely and blocked our path as if they had been waiting.

“Stop.”

“Yes.”

The watchman looks at me.

“Half-elf?”

It seems that some half-elves have round ears.

“I am human. An honorary Unarian. I came here to meet Consul Douglas.”

“Not possible.”

Of course, appearance has great significance in a person’s daily life, but isn’t that too adamant?

He held out his hand.

“What are you doing?”

“I heard from Douglas that all you have to do is show the mark on your hand. Isn’t it true?”

The guards’ expressions became perplexed.

Immediately, he pulls my hand and scans the clothespin with his eyes.

The guard, who was examining the clothes pin with his hand, probably because he didn’t believe it, eventually let go of my hand.

“I’m sorry. Follow me.”

The guards led the way across the moat.

I walk after him, and soon a guide from inside comes out to meet me.

“Who are you coming to see?”

“This is Consul Douglas. Please guide me.”

“Okay. I will take over from here.”

“Handed over.”

The watchman and guide exchange brief greetings.

Soon the watchman crossed the moat again and walked to the main gate, and the guide silently began to walk ahead.

“Wow… This is my first time coming here.”

Shir was looking around in admiration.

“I also used to wear an eye patch when I came here, but this is my first time coming in without one.”

Ymir’s tomb seemed similar in principle to Root Village. Instead, it seems that the road was made by driving wedges or nails, perhaps because it was difficult to dig up the trees.

Profit, Profit, Profit─

The wooden spiral staircase makes a scary sound.

···This is a live tree. It’s a square tree, but it’s a live tree.

Then I realized. All the plants grafted onto Ymir’s grave came to life.

Perhaps it was a pity that he couldn’t see the inside, but he kept glancing inside whenever there was an open door.

How far did you walk up like that?

Slowly, I thought, ‘If I fall, I’ll end up in the goal.’ About the time I thought,

“You can go inside.”

Finally, the guide stopped.

Thinking about walking up this street every day makes me feel sorry for Douglas.

Even if you estimate it, it is the height of an apartment building on the 15th floor.

It looks like there are up to 100 floors above. You have to knock first. When I knocked on the door, the guide suddenly stretched out his hand and opened the door.

“This is the hallway.”

····.

“Yes.”

I was dazed and went inside, but the guide closed the door. In an instant, the sunlight disappeared.

I felt it when I first came here, but it seems they are very sensitive to security. How come this is so dark…

“Wow…! Look at this! They are all luminous flowers-!”

The flowers are shining.

I don’t know what kind of flower it was, but it was blooming all over the ground, ceiling, and walls.

Thanks to this, it feels very dreamy.

A flower shining in the dark showed me the path to take. The floor is flat so there is nothing to get caught on.

Like Shir, I have also been interested in Ymir’s tomb ever since I came up. The place where I was tried was also a very mysterious place.

Thanks to this, it felt like I was at a theme park. Shir also looked around with admiration.

The light from the glow-in-the-dark flowers was weak, but the outline of the wall was clearly visible thanks to the vine climbing up the wall and the glowing leaves, so there was no way it would hit the wall.

It was just a hallway, but I didn’t feel like passing through this place quickly, so I walked slowly with Shir.

“Cool… It was my dream to raise one myself…”

“Is this flower difficult to find?”

“Huh? I don’t know? Glow-in-the-dark flowers are parasitic plants. It only grows on grave trees. And when you see the light, you die.”

···Some plants die when they see light.

Anyway, it’s a really amazing place.

Digging up a tree is never easy. There is no way this kind of thing is good for the tree’s health in the first place. And yet you dig this deep.

“First time with you in a place like this──.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, but let’s say it somewhere without Douglas.”

Because daylight was coming in from the door in front of me.

“Come in.”

When I opened the door and entered, there were still several candles lit inside. Douglas was reading something there with his glasses on, and the desk next to him was full of what seemed like hundreds of pages of documents.

Compared to the splendor of the entrance hallway, the place where Douglas worked was extremely shabby. A desk, a chair, a wall-mounted candle holder, a shelf, a bed, and a bed are all you need.

“Is this Sihyeon Lee? Could you go and find out something?”

···Even if you tell lies, your words will only get twisted.

“There was a dead person.”

“Dead? What is that? Is it the name of a group?”

“Dead and rotting, but moving.”

Douglas, who was reading the document, froze.

Then he immediately turns his eyes and looks up at me.

“What are you talking about?”

“The body moves. When asked to prove that he was dead, he pulled out his blackened heart and showed it to me.”

“···I didn’t send you there to listen to that nonsense.”

“But that’s the truth.”

“Good. Leave out the clothespin. Let’s have Ratyul admitted to the medical center.”

I knew it would be like this.

Who would tolerate the use of psychic phenomena as an excuse to exercise public power? Here we have to make them understand somehow.

“What I say is not a lie.”

“Think with common sense. The dead move? And it makes no sense to have been to a rotten swamp in just 10 days. Even if you go by horse, the round trip takes two weeks──.”

“Would it be okay if I showed you something that would break common sense?”

I feel dispirited because my words stop.

I can clearly see the wrinkles between my eyebrows.

No matter how good I am, I am ultimately an honorary citizen. I am Jool’s slave.

“I really… Okay, let me give it a try.”

Douglas puts down the document he was reading and looks at me.

“First of all, I would like you not to reveal this matter to anyone. We both get tired.”

“Of course. Come on, try to convince me.”

Once they see it, if they are not convinced, they look like they are ready to take action. When I looked towards Shir, Shir, who made eye contact with me, nodded and took off his top, draping it across his chest.

At the same time, Douglas’s expression began to harden.

“···What on earth are you doing in this situation?”

“You can just watch.”

Wow! Wood-dud-duk!

Shir began to pull out black wings from his back.

Douglas’s eyes, who were looking at this side, are getting bigger and bigger.

like that····.

“Woah, it must be some kind of trick!”

Denied reality.

I knew it would be like this.

“Shir. Show me a different side too.”

Shir looks at me with a sullen expression.

“···Okay.”

Soon, Shir’s frame began to shrink.

Eventually, the final figure that appeared was the widow Grand Duke. What a beautiful person. So much so that my heart aches just looking at it.

But, Shir is glaring at me.

“Oh my gosh…!”

Douglas took a deep breath and fell backwards along with the chair, but ended up getting caught on the shelf behind the chair, making an awkward appearance and starting a fight.

“Monster, monster…!”

“Now I want you to believe me.”

As a voice sweeter than a siren’s rang out, Douglas froze and stared blankly at Shir.

Then he nods his head as if fascinated.

He then put his head down on the floor and covered his face with the document he was reading.

“Please straighten your clothes first.”

····.

Shir glanced at Douglas, then smiled and started to get dressed.

Douglas had his face buried in his papers even after Shirga was fully dressed.

Shir frowned and put his mouth to my ear.

“That guy, he had an erection in a bad way.”

“Pugh!”

Douglas ended up falling over with the chair.

Boom!

I don’t know why the sound of your head hitting the shelf is so bloody. It’s as if he feels ashamed and wants to commit suicide.

“What’s happening now is related to servants. Can you believe it now?”

“···Yes.”

A mesmerizing voice.

Despite being forty, this person is not yet married.

Although she refuses to marry because she cannot see her children, she has no experience whatsoever, so she is bound to be vulnerable to such sexual abuse.

I felt a little sorry for Douglas, my uncle.