Chapter 147 :

Chapter 147 - Peeking

Jing screamed at the dizzying sensation of his body shattering into pieces.

No, in truth, he could not even tell whether he was screaming himself, or whether he had lost even the mouth needed to make a sound.

Would it feel like this if one were swallowed by a demonic beast and digested whole inside its belly?

If so, that was a relief.

After all, among the subordinates he had lost to demonic beasts over the years, none had been swallowed whole.

If they had been able to meet rest all at once, without long, drawn-out suffering, then that was comforting in its own way.

With his slowly turning mind, Jing mocked himself for thinking such a thing even now.

But no matter how much he tried to organize his scattered thoughts, it was no use.

No matter how much he raised his concentration, his thoughts melted away as if his mind had lost its function, and nothing came to him except simple impressions.

By the time Jing’s consciousness had become so muddled that he could no longer continue thinking,

“Well, well. Feedus’ children are always causing trouble.”

A voice filled with arrogance slipped through what little remained of Jing’s consciousness.

However, Jing did not recognize it.

The monologue, which could hardly be called a conversation, was soon erased from his memory by the shock that felt as though every cell in his body was being sucked in.

It felt as though a body that had been ground into powder and decomposed was being forcibly gathered back together.

Before he could even follow the strange sensation of every cell in his body gathering again, his vision shook.

No, he could not tell whether what shook was his vision or a mirage created by his mind.

The shock that felt as though the entire world was shaking did not end with one time.

From above to below, from below to above, from nothing into something, or from something into nothing.

Without even knowing what he himself was seeing, the sensations throughout his body repeatedly shifted.

The moment he finally realized that the unpleasant repetition had ended, Jing discovered that he was lying on the cold floor, curled up like a pupa.

“Urk.......”

Jing instinctively tried to scream, but no voice came out.

His entire body creaked as though the flesh he had used for sixty years had been forcibly disassembled and then regenerated.

As the pain gradually subsided, Jing raised his head and examined his surroundings.

The first thing his eyes, now accustomed to darkness, caught was a crude wall.

It was so crude that calling it a wall felt embarrassing; calling it a lump of rock seemed more appropriate.

Pushing himself up, Jing realized that this place, where such a thing could be recognized as a wall, was a cave untouched by human hands.

He had pushed Lia away, faced the black smoke pouring from the sword, and been devoured.

Since the instant he recognized that he was being devoured was his last memory, he had no idea what had happened in between.

“It feels as though something important happened in the middle.......”

Jing muttered while pressing his throbbing temples.

However, memories once erased did not return.

—What are you doing there?

Because he was too busy growing tense at the voice echoing through the cave he had thought was left empty.

Reflexively drawing the sword at his waist, Jing backed away.

No matter how dazed he had been, he had failed to notice the other party’s presence at all until they spoke.

It had to be one of two things.

Either he felt fine but his physical condition was actually a mess, or the other party’s physical abilities were too exceptional.

Neither possibility was welcome, so Jing held his breath without relaxing the tension in his entire body.

If the situation was unfavorable, a surprise attack might become necessary.

However, that resolve faded the moment Jing saw the man who appeared from the darkness.

More precisely, it was the moment he confirmed the hair color visible between the robes pulled over the man’s head.

It was a vivid platinum blonde that did not lose its brilliance even in the darkness.

As if stiffening out of ingrained habit, Jing could not even breathe carelessly and could only watch him approach slowly.

—I was quietly hiding here, of course. I had no desire to get caught up in things by wandering around for no reason.

“Hrk!”

But as if to mock his attempt to steady his breathing, Jing let out a startled gasp at another voice coming from behind him.

The presence of the man who had approached without a trace of sound shocked Jing once again.

The shock of failing to notice not one but two other people in the same space was great enough, but what confused Jing even more was their attitude.

They were conversing casually, as though they had not noticed that he was between them.

While looking back and forth between the two people who had appeared from the darkness to understand the situation, Jing soon realized one fact.

He carefully approached them.

As though they could not see a stranger approaching right in front of them, the two continued their conversation.

Until Jing’s cautiously extended hand passed straight through the face of the man who was not a member of the imperial family.

* * *

Jing accepted his situation rather calmly.

“When I opened my eyes, I was in a strange world where no one could perceive me.”

That much was more hopeful than the reality of being devoured by the holy relic.

Perhaps all of this was merely an illusion his mind had created from the shock of being eaten by the holy relic, but that would not be too bad either.

At the very least, Jing had recovered enough peace of mind to be grateful for the fact that he was not dead yet.

Compared to their mysterious appearance, the conversation between the two men was also far too light to create a truly serious atmosphere.

—Who told you to follow me all the way to a place like this?

—You did, sir.

When the slightly small man with the blunt tone answered clearly, the nameless imperial turned his head without replying.

He did not seem offended.

Through this, Jing concluded that this was not a delusion created inside his own mind.

If this had been an imperial created by his imagination, the moment the man answered like that—no, even before he finished speaking—his head would have rolled across the floor.

—When did I tell you to follow me? I said if you were curious, confirm it with your own eyes.

—It is not as though you are unaware of my personality, so saying such a thing is no different from telling me to follow you.

—What is with that way of speaking since earlier? Are you trying to make me angry?

—Who knows?

The imperial briefly glared at the man after his ambiguous answer, then snorted and started moving forward again.

Jing also followed behind the two of them.

Inside the dark cave, where it was impossible to determine direction, the imperial moved around without hesitation.

Even for Jing, following him as he lightly climbed the rugged rock walls was not an easy task.

While catching his breath, Jing flinched in surprise when the imperial suddenly turned his body around.

For a brief moment, Jing mistakenly thought that gaze was directed at him, but he soon realized that the imperial was looking at the man, who had fallen far behind them.

He also realized that the man, despite sweating profusely, had not uttered a single complaint—or even a proper breath.

What kind of patience was that?

Or was it pride?

While Jing clicked his tongue in amazement, the man slowly approaching the imperial seemed to be reaching his limit, and his breathing grew gradually rougher.

—Have we...finally...arrived?

Perhaps wanting to pretend to remain calm despite sweating heavily, the man asked in broken intervals.

The imperial watched him and clicked his tongue loudly.

Then, in the next instant, the imperial’s hand passed through Jing, who had been standing between them, and struck the man in the solar plexus.

With one clean blow, the man collapsed without even screaming.

It was a precise movement with no waste.

Jing realized that, despite his generous personality, this imperial was quite accustomed to attacking people.

—So stiff. If you had simply asked for help, you would not have needed to suffer like this.

Muttering as though he could not understand, the imperial lightly lifted the man with one hand.

Then he hurried onward again.

Apart from the chill Jing felt at the imperial’s merciless methods, he had no other choice, so he followed behind him.

Jing had the impression that the imperial before him was somehow different from the Abiran bloodline he had met so far.

After all, he had tolerated the rather insolent words and actions of the unconscious man, and although the method was rather rough, he was still showing kindness by carrying him.

The imperial briefly stopped before three paths that appeared in front of him.

He tilted his head as though considering for a moment, but soon chose a direction.

There was no further hesitation in his steps as he headed toward the left path.

Jing moved his feet diligently so as not to lose sight of him.

Without noticing the small voice falling behind him.

“There is a limit to how much time I can buy.”

“I pray those children can make it in time if possible, child of Feedus. Though I do not know whether there is anyone who will hear that prayer.”

Jing had no chance to hear those ominous words.

Nor did Jing have any chance to notice the strange anticipation or delight contained in that mysterious voice.

* * *

Unlike Ratel, who wanted to climb the rock wall as quickly as possible, the leader wanted to buy as much time as possible below to recover his strength.

Fortunately for the leader, because Ratel had cut up the rope earlier, we needed time to fix it.

While I tied the severed rope back together, Ratel stood up, saying he would gauge the thickness of the rock, and the dimwit filled his stomach with fish as though he could not miss this opportunity.

In the end, that meant the only one left around me was the leader, who was glaring at the back of Ratel’s head as if he wanted to kill him.

I was the first to speak.

“Kweek, I am saying this out of concern, but give up on the idea of killing that human while I am not watching.”

“K-Kweek!! What are you talking about!”

The leader stammered as though anyone could see he had been thinking of about fifty ways to kill Ratel.

“Kweek, stop it. Kweek, whether you fail or succeed, nothing good will come of it for you.”

If he failed, then that would truly be the moment I could no longer guarantee his life, and even if every miracle, fortune, and blessing in the world gathered upon the leader for one instant and he succeeded in killing Ratel, he would still end up dying by someone’s hand.

“Kweek, are you saying you will kill me if I touch that human?”

“Kweek, who knows? Even if it is not me, there are many who would move if you touched him.”

Whether it was the dimwit, Jing arriving a little late, or, if necessary, even me.

Do you have any idea how much sweat and blood I shed dragging him all the way here?

Just imagining it made me feel wronged.

As I tightened my grip on the rope because I felt as though I might strangle him in return, I felt a sharp gaze above my head.

When I raised my head, my eyes met the leader’s as he looked down at me with narrowed eyes.

My warning seemed to have wounded his pride again, but for some reason, the leader did not throw an annoying fit.

“Kweek, do you know other humans besides that foul-tempered bastard?”

It seemed a different part had touched his nerves.

It was unexpected, and yet also a curiosity rather like him.

After all, he had shown more interest in the human side than in the fact that I had issued another order.

I did not merely know them; I knew their life stories.

But I did not want the explanation to grow long.

Talking about other people to someone whose death was imminent was not very pleasant.

“Kweek, I heard it from him. Kweek, that human must originally have had companions too.”

When I roughly evaded the question, the leader’s expression became strange again.

By strange, I meant that it was an expression I had not seen from him until now.

He looked at Ratel with eyes containing some odd emotion that was neither anger nor irritation, then noticed my gaze and hardened his expression again.

The emotion disappeared before I could read it, and spite soon took its place.

“Kweek, seeing as they sent that young one alone to a place like this, those companions must not be much either.”

I stared at him, dumbfounded that words judging what true companions were could come out of that mouth.

As expected of the leader, in whom it had been difficult to find even a trace of conscience from the beginning, he continued speaking casually.

“Kweek, if you are also expecting something like that from that human, then that is a foolish thing. Kweek, humans quickly betray and break promises. Kweek, do not mistakenly believe that just because you follow that human outside, he will treat you the same way he does now.”

A mistake?

For a moment, I wondered whether I should correct his words by telling him that this human bastard had never once followed me from beginning to end.

After a brief moment of thought, I decided instead to resolve a small curiosity I had been putting off for some time.

After he died, I would have to repeat the troublesome and sluggish process of coaxing or threatening the dimwit.

“Kweek, was the previous leader similar to you?”

“Kweek, what?”

The leader, who had been quietly glaring at the dimwit, looked at me as though he had never heard such a question in his life.

“Kweek, I am talking about the leader you devoured. Kweek, was that one similar to you?”

This time, I could clearly tell what state he was in.

The leader was flustered.