HEO 94

Wolf closed his eyes. He counted backward from twenty to one, then opened them.

Silver was lying diagonally across the bed. His face, turned to one side, was covered in burn scars. Everything was back to normal. The tattoo around his eyes, which looked like smudged charcoal, and his mouth, twisted to one side.

Wolf shut his eyes once more, then opened them. Silver’s disfigured face remained the same.

Is that to be expected? Is that really how it should be? Which one is the real face? No, I’m an idiot for even thinking this. There’s no need to doubt it, that face covered in burn scars is the real one. But…Stop it, you idiot!

“Well, I suppose that’s possible.”

Wolf feigned nonchalance as he picked up the teapot. Unlike his voice, laced with laughter, the hand holding the teapot trembled. Tea splashed out of the cup.

“I’ve been inhaling so much drug-laced smoke that I’m hallucinating. Right?”

Pretending to talk to himself, he asked Flea.

〔Correction. Your physical condition is currently confirmed to be normal.〕

Fuck me, so it isn’t that?

Wolf set the teapot down. His hands were shaking too much to pour the tea. ​visit our site​He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and murmured to himself.

Calm down, you just saw a mirage. You suffered from a fever for a full day, and as soon as you recovered, you did manual labor without even swallowing a single bite of bread, and at night, you ran around in the pouring rain. It’d be stranger if you didn’t start seeing things. Right?

Wolf picked up the teapot again. This time, he poured the tea precisely. He gave Silver another cup of tea and helped him lie down.

Before he knew it, Silver’s breathing had improved. At least it was much better than before he drank the tea. Steam was rising from the thyme pot, and the room was warm. He had done everything he could in terms of first aid. The rest was up to Silver.

Wolf rubbed his face with both hands and stood up. He went outside, washed his flushed face with rainwater, and returned. He checked on Silver one more time and lay down beside him.

The bitter smell of thyme and the astringent scent of willow drifted around like a swarm of bees. It felt like a street in Levenon in late autumn. Trampled and discarded citrus peels filled the alleyways with a bitter, astringent scent. Wolf couldn’t sleep and just stared at the ceiling. His pounding heart wouldn’t calm down. Endless thoughts linked together like a chain.

Was that pretty face just a figment of his imagination? Yes, it was. A Thunder with superhuman strength couldn’t possibly be that good-looking. But they say you see all sorts of things when you’re tired, yet isn’t that just too convenient an explanation?

It would be a shame if it really was just a figment of my imagination… But why would you be disappointed? It wasn’t even your face, you little bastard. You saw with your own eyes that his face was covered in burn scars! That’s the end of it!

Wolf closed his eyes. That very face appeared. It was pale and beautiful, like a white statue guarding a dark sanctuary. The more he looked at it, the more it pierced a spot deep in his heart.

I know that face.

Wolf fell into a delusional reverie. A serious one, at that.

I’ve seen it before. But where? When?

His suspicion fell first on his dreams. Maybe he’d seen it once while napping. If he’d seen a face that beautiful in real life, there’s no way he wouldn’t remember.

Wolf let out a scoff and rolled onto his side. Sleep was slow to come. Only when Silver’s breathing had completely quieted did his consciousness drift away.

***

The battering ram slammed into the castle gate. The warriors let out a war cry. Bronze-Billed Hawk aimed his greatsword at the castle and shouted.

‘Stop this fucking rain!’

Huh…?

Wolf’s eyes flew open. He felt confused. Why had his father blurted out such nonsense in the heat of battle? Why was he lying here instead of fighting? And why was the surface beneath him so hard?

Could I be dead…? Whoa!

Damn it, pull yourself together! Silver!

Wolf tried to sit up but paused. Silver was sitting with his back against the opposite wall. A blanket covered him up to his waist, and a human skin mask covered his face. The pale blue irises visible through the eye slits were staring right at him.

“Well, well, brother. You’re not dead after all?”

Wolf said this in a tone that sounded disappointed. Silver, who had been as still as a stone coffin, finally moved. He slowly raised his arm and gave him the middle finger.

“Confirmed alive. Go back to sleep.”

Wolf paused just as he was about to fling himself onto the bed. A blanket covered his body. It was the blanket he’d draped over Silver the night before, now returned to him.

Wolf lifted the blanket slightly.

“Thanks for this.”

Silver said nothing.

Lying on his side with his arm as a pillow, Wolf rolled his eyes to look around. The angle of the ashen sunlight streaming in through the window. It was early morning.

His night shift had ended past midnight, so he’d slept quite a long time, yet the fire in the hearth was still blazing. A thin wisp of white steam rose from the thyme pot. While he was asleep, Silver must have added charcoal to the stove and filled the pot with water. It made sense, since he probably hadn’t fully shaken off his fever yet…

But Wolf remembered clearly. Silver was the kind of guy who could lounge around nonchalantly even in a dump with holes in the roof. And a guy like that, the moment he wakes up, puts charcoal in the brazier looking all disheveled? Fills the pot with water? Even covers his noisy companion with a blanket?

Hmm. I see.

Are you paying me back?

It must have felt awkward to say “thank you” out loud. Silver was the type who repaid with actions. The kind who wasn’t used to receiving consideration from others, nor to showing it to others. The middle finger he gave him was the rough-hewn shield characteristic of that sort. He understood completely. Wolf had often felt that urge to put up a wall between himself and others.

Wolf closed his eyes. Instead of sleep, memories of the past few days rushed in like warriors marching on a fortress. Looking back, it was ridiculous.

What the hell?

When he first clashed with Silver on board, the encounter had been so intense that he’d actually wanted to see him again. There had even been nights when he’d recalled that guy’s eyes while weathering a storm. Yes, he’d wanted to meet him again. He’d wanted to share some warrior-like exchange, pounding the other guy’s head with his fists until the skull cracked. But the reality?

Everything went completely against his expectations. The moment he opened his eyes on the beach, a skin mask filled his entire field of vision (he’ll carry the memory of the hideous scream he let out when he saw that thing right in front of him until the day he dies). The fact that Silver wasn’t the pirate captain but just a lowly underling. Even the fact that Silver and him had crossed paths once long ago.

He’d been craving a battle where greatswords clashed and blood spattered, but in reality, all he did was nurse him back to health. Brewing willow bark tea and letting him breathe in the steam from the thyme.

How great.

This unpredictability is perhaps inevitable. After all, neither good fortune nor misfortune ever announces itself before it strikes.

Did he ever once expect to be dragged into a damn skeleton evil spirit’s lair?

Looking at it another way, this situation wasn’t so bad. Considering he’d eventually have to tell Silver that he was that “servant,” it was better to keep piling up this debt now. Still, he couldn’t just wallow in this drug den forever. He needed to make a decision soon.

But wait, what was that pretty face all about? Was it just a figment of my imagination after all?

Yes, it was! Stop it, you idiot! Why are you so persistent!

He couldn’t string his thoughts together any longer. Suddenly, it got noisy outside. Someone was kicking the door to the lodging. Wolf’s mind raced.

Damn this torrential rain, another facility must have collapsed like melting snow!

Wolf and Silver’s eyes met. In Silver’s tense gaze, Wolf’s inner thoughts were laid bare: “Are they trying to make us do hard labor again?!”

Wolf quickly gestured to his side. Silver lay down next to him without a word. The two lackeys pulled their blankets up to their necks in perfect unison and let out groans of discomfort.

Just then, the door burst open. Two pirates stormed in. Both were clad in rags and clutching axes. These were the worst kind of rags, the sort even the scum of the docks would refuse to wear without hesitation. To make matters worse, they reeked of a stench beyond imagination.

Ugh, my nose! Did those guys swim through a pile of shit to get here?!

The two lackeys simultaneously covered their noses with their hands. Wolf gave Silver a look that said, “You want to go first?” Silver shook his head.

“Brothers… what… is going on…? We… are sick…”

Wolf turned his head and spoke in a voice that sounded like he was about to die. He naturally covered his nose with the blanket. Silver supported him from the rear, coughing loudly.

“Yesterday at the kitchen… we both stolen contentgot sick from carrying water… We can’t possibly do hard labor in this weakened state… Uh, what’s going on?”

Out of nowhere, a pirate swung an axe down toward them. Wolf rolled aside by a hair’s breadth. The axe plunged deep into the bed.