Beware of the Red Thread

Chapter 31

Ex, excuse me? Wait, Karein? He called my name in a wet voice, and even after that, he hugged me for a long time and didn’t let me go.

I pushed him gently, but he didn’t budge. I can’t push a sick person away. Not knowing what to do with embarrassment, I endured that time with my hands floating in the air and my pupils wriggling anxiously.

“Uhhumm! Uhuum hmm!”

It was Sleipnir who saved me. He couldn’t get through the door due to his size and was coughing with only his head sticking out.

“Sleipnir? You are safe.”

“You came back safely.”

“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”

Karein let go of his hugging arm, but he still looked at me frantically. I seemed to know how worried he had been all this time, and I felt sorry for him. After confirming several times that I was fine, Karein went back to bed.

“You’re safe, it’s like a dream.”

My expression frowned as I tried to remove the red thread that had been tangled again due to his rough movements. However, due to Karein who kept his eyes on me throughout the treatment, I had to hold my mouth shut.

“I followed the trail, because the temple was on fire… ”

Karein, who blurred his words, clenched his teeth.

“……I thought I was wrong.”

“You must have suffered a lot. So, how have you been?”

At Sleipnir’s question, he slowly unraveled what had happened. Karein then took out the demons and followed our trail, but there was the temple on fire. He said he was shocked, but fortunately, discovered that Abel’s characteristic energy was still there, and he followed suit.

However, due to his innate power of light and the strong scent of blood emanating from the wounds, the monsters were constantly gathering. It was difficult for even Karein to withstand the endless crowds, and when he almost gave up and lost his consciousness, I found him in a timely manner.

“…… sorry.”

It felt like I was rolling on a cushion of thorns. I felt very guilty. Very. He risked his life to escape, but I didn’t listen and went back to the temple on my own terms.

What was Karein thinking when he saw the ashes of the Immortal Temple? He hated Abel, so he might have thought it was for the good. Or maybe he blamed himself for it. Considering Karein’s good demeanor, it must have been closer to the latter, so I became even more sorry. I’m a bad person. Damn it.

“I’m so sorry. Karein. I’m acting my way,”

“No. There is nothing for Miss Lian to be sorry for.”

“…… still.”

“I’m afraid I was too late. It’s all because of me.”

So don’t make that face. When I met his eyes, Karein smiled softly. If he hadn’t stopped the demons at that time, I wouldn’t have even thought of going back to the temple and saving Abel.

“Then why are you here? Don’t tell me you are caught… ?”

“No, no. not that.”

I quickly explained what I was doing to his hardened face. While wandering around to break the curse, I met Caesar, Abel came to the Dark Age because of the trap, and the Dark Lord misunderstood me as a saint, so I decided to stay here until the real Saint Lucia awakens.

“…… Abel has caused trouble again.”

I glanced up at him at the momentary low voice, but Karein’s expression was still soft. Again, it must have been a misunderstanding that the word was somehow sharp.

It’s not rude though. Of course, it is true that Abel attacked Caesar and came to the Dark Age. As I calmed him down, I placed my hand on his arm.

“I will finish the treatment first.”

Perhaps it was because I was anxious, so I took a deep breath and tried to absorb his red thread again. But every once in a while, the red thread gets entangled in the empty space again. Karein’s complexion is still pale. Hey, what is wrong with this? Sleipnir, who was watching me when I was flustered, gave me a hint.

“Karein is originally from Luce. His resilience will be greatly diminished in this place without light.”

It was because of the space. But he can’t leave this place for a while, and I was worried about letting Karein go alone. No, it is questionable whether he will even be able to get out of the Dark Age because of the demons in the first place. He’d be lucky if he didn’t get killed as soon as he left the house.

“Maybe it would be helpful to have something that glows. But that’s very rare in the Dark Age, hmm. This is difficult.”

Something that glows? Something. Okay. A thing! I thought of someone to make it for me. Huh? Where are you going? As I was getting ready to go out, Sleipnir asked me curiously, but I headed to the blacksmith’s without delay.

*

“Balkan, Balkan! You there?”

Bang! After knocking on the heavy iron door a couple of times, I heard the hard squeak of scrap metal inside. Are you sleeping already?

“Balkaan!”

“…… What a fuss in the middle of the night! We’re closed!”

In a rush, bang! Bang bang! As soon as I knocked on it, the wooden door next to the forge swung open and a small-sized dwarf came out. It seemed to be the studio and house he was living in.

“Did you sleep? I’m really sorry. But, there is no such thing as something that collects light…… Ouch!”

“What! Are you looking for light in the Dark Age?”

This is the sound of finding a cigarette in the sea! I was beaten in the head by the cane and wept. It had been a long time since I had been hit, and it was so painful, let alone avoiding it, but there was no time to groan, so I grabbed his hand from far below and pleaded with him.

“I know it’s rude, but it’s because it’s too urgent. It can be anything that can collect light even for a short time, like a magnifying glass. It’s good for a little while.”

“Are you going to bring it to that celestial bastard?”

“How did you know…… Yes.”

Trying to nod my head, realizing that he couldn’t see, I replied quickly. The rumors of Dark Age are really fast.

“You are the benefactor who saved me. Balkan, please.”

“…… Hearing your voice, it sounds like you’re in a hurry. It’s old, take this.”

Balkan, who was rummaging through the drawers and shelves, held out a pocket. When I opened it, there were several small stones inside. It looks like an ordinary pebble, but it is unusually transparent enough that you can see the palm of your hand. It was just like pebble ice.

“It is a luminescent stone. It is a special stone that emits light by itself when exposed to sunlight for a certain period of time.”

“Thank you so much! Really!”

“In the underworld, I put this on instead of a light. Now, I can’t see, so it’s useless.”

Staring somewhere in the air with eyes that have turned white. Contrary to his calm voice, he looked very bitter, and I asked while fiddling with the stone.

“Do you want me to bring you one, Balkan? Gathering the light.”

“Are you kidding me? I can’t even see it, so take it and use it for whatever you want!”

“No, holding a heated stone makes you warm. I thought it would be nice to feel the light like that.”

“……… ”

Balkan stared at me for a moment. No, he turned his head toward the way he heard my voice rather than looking at me. The dwarf who looked at me like that for a while is Ack! and swung his cane. Ouch!

“Ouch!”

“Glowstone has nothing to do with temperature, you bastard! Get out and get some sleep!”

Oh, why are you hitting me! Frightened and running away, Wazowski followed. But it was enough because I got it.

*

I grabbed my pocket and headed towards the entrance of the Dark Age. It was still buzzing with angry monsters. Laytan, of course, wasn’t there. What to do? Should I ask Slepnir this time? I hid behind a thick tree and looked, but the top of the tree was fuzzy.

“…… Lian?”

On the face that appeared in front of me! I was about to scream. Damian poked his head upside down. Perhaps he was resting with a hammock of cobwebs, his whole body was wrapped in white cobwebs.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ah, this. I have to go outside to collect the light. There are monsters.”

“…… Because of that celestial god?”

Yes. It’s so fast. He nodded his head and made a strange expression. No, where did the rumors spread? Well, even Laytan and Silverwing also brought in the riot, so it’s strange if he don’t know.

“Give me that.”

Damian, who had erased his strange expression in the midst of contemplation, raised his hand. This? As he suddenly held out the bag containing the glowstone, he whistled low. Whoo! This time I really almost screamed. A spider the size of my body descended from the tree.

“Go to a sunny place. as soon as possible.”

Either way, Damian used a web to attach glowstone to the back of the spider, one after another, and sent it towards the entrance. Tip tap tip tap, moving quickly on its eight legs, riding on a spider’s web and swishes away. …… this is genius? In admiration, Damian turned his head and returned the empty pocket.

“The reaper’s house? When I’m done, I’ll send it there.”

“Ah, thank you!”

“…… Why, what’s wrong?”

Thank you very much. You’re so smart, you’re a genius! Impressedly, I grab his hand and he raises the corners of his mouth awkwardly in a moment of embarrassment.

“I agreed to help with anything.”

“Thank you though. Oh, I’m thinking of sending a letter to the Cherkopian Priest. Is there anything you want to say?”

As soon as I recall the letter I had written and ask, even the eyes in his forehead begin to shake violently as if an earthquake has occurred.

“…… Just, uh, just tell him I’m alive. Don’t worry.”

After hesitating for a while, he smiled proudly at the words he barely spit. The priest will love it very much.

*

A few hours later, a large spider delivered a fully charged glowstone.

It was really scary when I had to remove the stones from its back, but it’s a pet. It’s just a pet with a lot of legs! I brainwashed myself, and achieved the feat of shaking its hairy legs with my hands. It seems that the five years of training were not in vain.

I immediately laid them out around Karein’s bed. The glowstone reacted to the darkness and started to glow like a glow-in-the-dark sticker. The room shone brightly as if a lamp had been turned on. The demons were terrified and hid all over the house, not even showing their faces.

Wazowski, who likes to sit on my shoulder – from that day on, it prefer my shoulder to my arms –

Flapped sullenly to the door. So it certainly seemed right that sunlight had a bad effect on Abel’s power.

Karein visibly regained his energy overnight. As proof of that, his long hair, which used to be silver hair, turned into the familiar black hair. The wound faded like it was never there before, and the red thread is immediately removed when my hand touches it.

It didn’t mean that the pain was lessened, but I didn’t really want to express it in front of Karein. However, Karein was more tactful than expected.

“Are you okay?”

The next afternoon, as I entered the room to change the glowstone and to finish the treatment, he asked the first question. Yes? Me? Bewildered, I asked.

“No matter how you look at it, that’s what I’m supposed to say. How is your body?”

After staying up all night while caring for him, my eyes darkened slightly, and Karein’s expression darkened.

“I am fine now. The rest will heal on their own, so you don’t have to try to cure it completely.”

“No. It’s nothing compared to Karein’s injuries. It’s okay. Let me see.”

“No. I don’t think it’s…… ”

“Ugh! Stay still! Oh my God, look at this face!”

Restlessly dragging him down and immersed myself in getting rid of his bruises. I don’t know about anywhere else, but not the face. Scratching this handsome face is a social loss. Karein, who was staring at me while watching my face, suddenly smiled.

“Miss Lian is still the same.”

“Yes?”

“At that time, even at the temple, you treated me like this.”

Was it? As I pondered over the distant memories, I wrinkled his brows at the throbbing pain felt in my cheekbones. It looks fine from the outside, but he must have had bruises.

When it healed, I clearly realized how badly Karein was injured. All the large and frequent wounds on Karein’s body were not caused by one or two injuries. I seemed to know better than anyone how hard he had been through the past few weeks.

Unfortunately, only pain was transmitted to me, and when I thought that Karein must have felt anemia, fear and pressure of not knowing when to die, and even loneliness, my head was dizzy. It was one of the reasons I never wanted to express my pain in front of Karein. Why on earth, I spit out the words in a reproachful tone unknowingly.

“You should rather run away, why did you find us with that body?”

Even if you run away, no one will say anything to you. He’s such a nice person. I spit it out like a frustration, and I looked into his eyes to see the black eyes that had subsided and calmly touched me directly.

“Because I promised to go see you. I just wanted to check with my own eyes to see if you were alive or not.”

Karein looked into my eyes and smiled softly. Oh, he’s really handsome. In an instant, my heart melted, but soon I became contemplative at the cough that I spit out. Even after the decoction of herbs, the effect was still minimal.

There was almost no red thread left externally, so it was clear that there was a problem inside his body. There’s only one way! My voice of conscience was shouting, but I tried to ignore it and looked through the first aid kit.

“Until then, I was a person who was faithful to my orders, so I thought it was my responsibility to follow Abel’s orders to the end.”

The bandage touched my hand as I was rummaging through the first aid kit. Ugh. Embarrassed, I pulled my hand away without realizing it, but Karein held my hand strong and painlessly. A faint spark flickered in the black eyes, perhaps because the light of the glowstones placed here and was reflecting.

“But the moment I saw the temple on fire, my heart sank and my head turned white. …… Only then did I realize.”

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The bewildered image of me is contained in the dark eyes that have sunk in earnest. Karein, who held my hand dearly, slowly parted his lips.

“Lian.”

“Hey, you have a lover and you haven’t come out to see me…… !”

Kuang! It was then that the door broke open.