Chapter 59: Rule (1)

 

“How are you feeling now?”

 

I asked Arwin as I headed toward the place where my team members were gathering.

 

I still hadn’t received an immediate answer.

 

Obedient, she nodded her head and said.

 

“...I’m fine now.”

 

“Then pack your things. Let’s leave this territory immediately.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Arwin looked a little surprised at my words. I didn’t think we would be in any danger, especially since Ascal brought up the conflict... But there was no reason to stay here any longer.

 

And it didn’t seem like a good idea anyway.

 

Arwin’s sacrificing ritual was over, and she said she was fine.

 

The elders were not likely to look at me kindly either.

 

So it was better to follow Hyung who had left this morning.

 

Lost in such thoughts, as I kept walking, I could see the place where my team members were gathered.

 

They were practicing with their swords next to our lodgings, chuckling among themselves.

 

Feeling my presence, Baran raised his hand when he saw me.

 

“Vice captain... Vice-captain!”

 

Seeing my body covered in blood and grime, he immediately rushed towards me.

 

Shawn and Jackson, who had been guarding him, approached me, looking alert.

 

“Blood...! What happened to you?”

 

Though Baran had questions, I chose not to explain.

 

“I’ve taken care of it. Prepare yourselves. We’re following Adam Hyung.”

 

“Are we running away?”

 

“I said I’ve taken care of it. We can leave now without any issues. Don’t worry.”

 

They seemed not to fully understand the situation but nodded anyway.

 

Some started to fetch our horses, while others began packing up what remained of our belongings.

 

I sat Arwin down.

 

“...You should pack up too.”

 

“...”

 

“You don’t have to rush.”

 

“You...”

 

“I’ll go get Ner. And take care of some wounds...”

 

As I was saying this, blood trickled down from my cheek again, and stained the ground.

 

Unable to watch any longer, Arwin pulled out a small handkerchief from her pocket.

 

She hesitated for a moment as she brought the handkerchief to my cheek... then handed it to me.

 

“...Thank you.”

 

I took the handkerchief she offered and pressed it against my cheek. Her handkerchief began to stain with my blood.

 

“Now, go get ready.”

 

At my subsequent words, Arwin nodded and turned away.

 

I let out a sigh and headed towards Ner.

 

.

.

.

 

“Berg!”

 

Ner was startled by my appearance.

 

I had lost count of how many times I’d seen her so startled.

 

“Why...no...what happened?”

 

She shouted, almost as if she was angry.

 

“Something happened, Ner. We have to go. Pack your-”

 

“-Explain properly!”

 

But Ner cut me off, demanding an explanation.

 

“...”

 

I knew she was genuinely angry, but... it only made me smile.

 

Perhaps fighting with Gallias had made her anger seem lighter to me.

 

Wanting to tease her a bit, I threw her a tactless joke. But half of me also wanted to assure her I was alright.

 

“Weren’t the werewolf people don’t explain things like this?”

 

“No...! You...!”

 

Ner cycled between sighing and huffing angrily before explaining.

 

“Not asking each other where we’re going is a sign of being considerate, Berg. It’s a culture that means ‘I trust you, so I won’t ask.’ It’s not like the curiosity vanishes! We don’t ask because it feels like we’re monitoring or constraining each other, which would be rude! Your current situation is hardly one where such consideration matters!”

 

“Is that so?”

 

While getting to know her culture more clearly, drops of blood dribbled down once again.

 

At that, Ner quickly pulled me into a chair.

 

She brought out the medical supplies she had used a few days ago.

 

“Let’s take care of your wounds first. Then you explain...!”

 

She spoke with a voice blend of worry and anger.

 

I looked at her intently.

 

Somehow, she seemed even more distressed than I was.

 

With hurried hands, she pulled out some herbs and crushed them. Then she grabbed the hem of my blood-soaked shirt, attempting to lift it.

 

“...”

 

When I didn’t cooperate, Ner finally seemed to come to her senses and looked at me. A spoonful of embarrassment blended into her flustered anger.

 

“Are you going to keep joking around?” she shouted and her face turned red.

 

I chuckled and finally removed my shirt.

 

Seeing the marks Gallias had left on my body, Ner’s expression hardened once more.

 

“...”

 

Still, she began treating each wound with awkward but careful touches.

 

“So, what happened?” Ner asked, kneeling before me as she treated my injuries from the chair where I sat.

 

“I fought with Gallias, an elf swordsman of the territory.”

 

Ner took a difficult breath before asking, “Why would you do something so reckless—”

 

“It was for Arwin,” But I interrupted.

 

Ner’s hands momentarily frozen.

 

“...”

 

She then continued to treat the wounds. The mere mention that it was for Arwin seemed to indicate that no further explanation was needed.

 

Perhaps she had a similar experience, which was why she understood.

 

Ner wiped away my blood, applied the herbs to my wounds, and wrapped them up with clean bandages.

 

The pain in my body started to ease considerably.

 

And the more she worked, the more solace I found in her presence.

 

Maybe I had been in need of this kind of comfort all along.

 

Finally, she stood up from her seat.

 

Slowly, she brought her hand to my face.

 

With a worried expression, she lightly touched my cheek.

 

At her touch, I removed the handkerchief that had been pressed against my cheek.

 

Her lips tightened, and her expression contorted.

 

“...This needs to be stitched up.”

 

“Can you do it?”

 

Ner’s eyes flickered with uncertainty.

 

“...I have medical knowledge, but I’ve never done something like this before.”

 

“It’s okay, go ahead. If you can’t, we’ll have to catch up with Hyung.”

 

Among the remaining members of my team, none knew how to stitch up wounds.

 

Most probably they wouldn’t even know how to tie a knot. I was no exception.

 

Finally, Ner seemed to realize that she was the only one left who could treat me.

 

I waited for her to make her decision.

 

“...I’ll give it a try.”

 

I smiled at her choice.

 

Soon, Ner pulled out a thread and a needle and approached me.

 

She seemed even more nervous than I was.

 

Perhaps she still wasn’t used to seeing such wounds; her expression was painfully contorted as well.

 

A thought crossed my mind: How often would a noble young lady like her encounter such raw injuries?

 

This could be yet another experience she should not have to go through.

 

“Berg...tell me if it hurts?”

 

I burst into laughter at her words.

 

“...”

 

As if to tell me not to laugh, Ner lightly slapped my arm and then took a deep breath, focusing her attention.

 

- ...Tak.

 

The needle pierced my wound for the first time.

 

A sharp pain emanated from my cheek.

 

But I held back any reaction, to make it easier for Ner.

 

And so, she began stitching up my wounds.

 

Silence enveloped the room.

 

The needle pierced the wound multiple times.

 

“...Ah.”

 

I flinched briefly at the tingling pain.

 

Ner looked startled and asked me,

 

“Did...did that hurt?”

 

“It’s fine. Keep going.”

 

If it was amusing that she treated me with such a tender heart, then I was amused.

 

The warmth I felt outweighed the pain.

 

Though it was a sentiment still far from love, it was enough for now.

 

It felt like watering the seed of feelings that would grow later.

 

.

.

.

.

 

Arwin was preparing to leave the territory, gathering her remaining belongings.

 

It was situation that had arisen for the first time in 170 years.

 

Yet, Arwin was quietly conflicted.

 

“........”

 

Arwin stared intently at a thumb-sized glass bottle as if frozen.

 

Mel’s Tears.

 

A poison she had thought would be used someday.

 

Until just a moment ago, it was a given that she would bring it with her.

 

However, a significant change had occurred within her in a short period of time.

 

She knew she should bring it, yet her body froze, as if immobilized.

 

Arwin was not foolish.

 

She didn’t intend to entrust her fate to the image of Berg that he showed just a while ago.

 

She couldn’t judge the whole by one aspect alone.

 

She still couldn’t believe he saved her just for the reason that they were a couple.

 

Left alone, various thoughts filled her mind.

 

The desire for freedom she had harbored for 170 years didn’t easily disappear.

 

The emotional attachment wasn’t something she could just casually dismiss, just because he fought for her.

 

If asked whether she could kill him, she couldn’t answer that right now.

 

That wasn’t even important.

 

What Arwin needed to focus on was worrying about what she would think in the future.

 

Even the ritual of sacrifice seemed bearable at first.

 

However, as the rituals became more frequent over time, Arwin finally broke down.

 

The Berg of now was...

 

“...”

 

But who knows what he will become in the future.

 

In Arwin’s memory, there also existed an image of Berg mercilessly beating Gallias, drenched in blood.

 

He was a man capable of such actions.

 

Wouldn’t it be foolish not to be prepared?

 

-Knock Knock.

 

‘Arwin, are you ready?’

 

At that moment, Berg’s voice echoed from outside the door.

 

“..Ah.”

 

Startled by the sound, Arwin finally tucked Mel’s Tears deep into her luggage.

 

Even as she packed it, a wave of heavy guilt rosed within her.

 

However, this was a problem for future Arwin to think about.

 

If she ended up not using it, so be it.

 

For now, she was just expanding her options.

 

****

 

Everyone had mounted their horses.

 

Due to bandages wrapped around various parts of his body, Berg decided not to wear his outer garment.

 

There was nothing he could wear anyway.

 

Ner heard that it was because Adam, the Captain of the Red Flames, had taken all the belongings for the convenience of the Berg team members.

 

And there was no way Berg could wear his blood-stained outer garment after fighting against Gallias.

 

“Is it okay not to say goodbye to the elder?”

 

Ner looked at Berg as he spoke to Arwin.

 

Their time together had been short, but it was the first time Ner had seen Berg engaged in conversation like this with another woman.

 

She continued to gaze at this seemingly insignificant act.

 

Arwin avoided eye contact as she replied.

 

“...It’s fine.”

 

As if she had been preparing for this farewell for a long time.

 

Berg did not further press the issue.

 

He nodded and began to guide his horse.

 

Arwin directly stared at the retreating figure of Berg as he turned away.

 

The coldness that once adorned her expression was nowhere to be found now.

 

The accompanying aura of authority also seemed to have dissipated.

 

“...”

 

Ner stared at this transformed version of Arwin.

 

She couldn’t take her eyes off even the smallest movements.

 

Soon, perhaps sensing her gaze, Arwin turned her head.

 

Their eyes met.

 

Up until now, whenever their eyes had locked, a smile or a nod had followed as a form of greeting. But not this time.

 

Even Ner couldn’t explain why.

 

She simply responded with a neutral expression.

 

Perhaps it was because it felt inappropriate to smile when Berg was so wounded.

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

They stared at each other for a long time.

 

Ner harbored no ill feelings towards Arwin.

 

The injuries sustained by Berg had been entirely his own choice.

 

It wasn’t Arwin’s fault.

 

“...”

 

But the very fact she thought this way might mean she was blaming someone after all.

 

Ner frowned at this impure thought.

 

At the same time, she found herself puzzled by what could possibly be on Arwin’s mind.

 

Hadn’t she decided to leave Berg?

 

Ner shifted her gaze forward, away from Arwin.

 

She should actually be grateful for Arwin’s presence.

 

Ner looked at Berg’s retreating figure as he moved ahead.

 

His battered body came into view again.

 

Having seen all of his injuries up close, Ner was the only one who understood how hurt he acutely was.

 

“...”

 

It wasn’t Arwin’s fault.

 

But, unnoticed, Ner’s fist, gripping the reins, had tightened.

 

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –