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Bad memories surfaced.

Memories that I don’t want to forget, but ones I never want to experience again.

The sight of my brother bleeding. His shallow, faint breaths that seemed like they could stop at any moment. His unmoving hand. His limp body.

The memories of that day seemed to overlap with Razen’s current state.

A dark hand rose from deep within the ground. It was the hand of anxiety. Anxiety gripped my legs and ankles, trying to drag me into the depths.

No. This is too much to handle. Get your hands off me.

Not yet. I managed to shake off the anxiety in my heart.

“Razen. Snap out of it, Razen.”

“......”

Razen lost consciousness.

My heart felt like it was dropping.

But listening closely, I realized he was still breathing well. This situation was better than when my brother passed away.

I could still save him. As long as I stayed focused, I wouldn’t have to let Razen go.

With some effort, I dragged Razen into the cave.

I didn’t want him to be caught in the rain outside. The forest was still full of monsters, so the cave was much safer.

Razen was taller and bulkier than me. There was no way I could lift or carry him with my strength.

By the time I dragged him to the cave, I was drenched in sweat. But it wasn’t a big deal.

Razen was a bit safer now.

“I’ll clean the wounds first. Sorry. It might hurt a bit, but please bear with it.”

Thankfully, I had learned a few things while tending to Razen’s wounds.

The first thing to do when you get a wound is to clean the surrounding area with a clean, damp cloth.

Luckily, I had a towel I had washed earlier. I used my drinking water to clean the wounds, removing the torn pieces of cloth.

Razen groaned every time the towel touched his wounds.

He usually said it was nothing, but he had been enduring the pain all along. My heart ached.

“Bandages... I don’t have any bandages. What should I do?”

We had already used up all the bandages we took from the cabin.

I had been reusing old bandages by only replacing the parts that touched the wounds, but I had finally thrown them away recently.

Then, a memory of Hena flashed in my mind. She had torn her clothes to bandage wounds.

This time, it would be best to use the cleanest part possible.

Though I didn’t understand the logic, Razen never allowed anything dirty near his wounds.

He would rather burn the wound than let a dirty cloth touch it.

I couldn’t bring myself to put a fire to Razen’s body.

Using the dagger from Razen’s belongings, I tore my clothes.

I had to cut away a lot to find a clean part.

As a result, my clothes turned into complete rags. Razen might tease me when he wakes up.

I wanted to hear those teasing jokes.

“Thank goodness. It looks like the bleeding is stopping.”

Aside from the injury on his shoulder, the rest weren’t too severe.

Once I carefully wrapped the new bandage around the wounds, the bleeding quickly subsided.

The problem was Razen’s body temperature was rising.

It was as if he had caught a severe cold; his face was burning up, and he was sweating profusely.

His expression grew increasingly pained.

But now, there was nothing more I could do.

Helplessness. Anxiety. Those were the emotions I was feeling.

My lips felt parched.

The fact that I was doing nothing weighed heavily on me.

“Oh, right. Water. I should fetch some water. Hold on. I’ll be right back.”

He might be thirsty.

I drank a lot of water when I had a fever too.

There was a spring nearby where we used to fetch water, so that would be my destination.

I gathered everything that could hold water: blood-soaked cloths, towels, and even blood-stained blades.

I wasn’t sure how I managed to get to the spring and back. It felt like I was doing everything on my own.

Slowly, I let the water trickle into Razen’s mouth.

Little by little. Very slowly.

Thankfully, Razen swallowed the water with a gulp.

“My knight... my treasure. I won’t let anyone take you away. I won’t let you die.”

I spent the entire day wiping Razen’s sweat and making him drink water.

Not knowing which herbs were effective, I applied the ones I was most familiar with.

However, even after a day had passed, Razen’s condition did not improve.

No, it seemed to be getting worse. I hadn’t slept at all, but I didn’t feel like sleeping either.

I buried my face in my knees. I held back tears.

I gave Razen more water.

This time, I gave him a lot, as I would be away for a while.

There seemed to be nothing more I could do in this cave.

But it wasn’t true that I could do nothing.

“Don’t worry, Razen. I’ll handle everything. All of it. When you wake up after a nap, you’ll feel better. I’ll make sure of it.”

Just one thing.

There was one way to get out of this crisis.

* * *

When I stepped out of the cave, it was already dark.

Though Razen preferred not to move at night, there was no other choice this time.

Thankfully, there was no fear of losing my way.

The path might be treacherous, but at least I knew the direction.

I just had to follow the scent that had started to waft through the forest at some point. Razen couldn’t smell it, but it was clear to me.

To follow the scent, I had to retrace our steps.

Even in a forest that looked the same everywhere, there were a few memorable spots.

There was the place where Razen fought the giant.

The signs of the giant’s fall were still evident. For some reason, the body was no longer there.

When I thought Razen had died there, it felt like I had lost everything.

I never wanted to feel that way again.

The further I walked, the stronger the distinctive scent became.

The only concerns were the rough path and the potential encounter with monsters, but neither proved to be significant problems.

Maybe because of the deep darkness obscuring my vision, my hearing and sense of smell seemed more sensitive than usual.

That didn’t mean the journey was easy.

- Grrr! Thump. Grunt...

“These damn beasts just keep coming. Ugh, what a pain. What kind of suffering is this after days of this?”

“Hey, do you think the kids are already dead? There haven’t been any signs for a while.”

“How should I know? The boss says to keep going, so we keep going. We’re going to end up dead without any pay at this rate.”

“Ugh. Let’s stop. If we get caught chatting, we’ll get another earful.”

There were strangers in the forest.

It was the right decision not to approach them recklessly upon seeing them.

From their conversation, it seemed they were a tracking party sent by Count Roxen.

‘I knew they were close, but...’

I didn’t expect them to get this close.

Even though I had been moving diligently to avoid the trackers, the blade was already at my throat.

‘If these people get near the cave, Razen will be in danger.’

I needed to hurry.

I waited for the men to leave and then quickened my pace.

My clothes were torn in several places, allowing twigs and grass to scratch my skin.

Thin cuts appeared on my arms and legs. My thigh got scraped by a thorny bush, making it sting.

If Razen were nearby, I might have whined to get some comfort.

This is nothing.

Razen is much more injured than I am right now.

The scent grew stronger as I walked.

Then it happened.

Rustle.

Something moved a bit far behind me.

Having encountered many wild animals and monsters, I sensed something was off.

It wasn’t a natural sound; it seemed like someone tried to move quietly but made a mistake.

The faint sound quickly disappeared.

‘I’ve been discovered…!’

Panic set in. I ran without looking back.

Running up a steep slope quickly left me breathless.

Huff. Huff.

I nearly slipped on the wet rocks.

No. I slipped after a few more steps and really hurt my knee.

I remembered how my knee had bled red when I fell at the castle.

I wanted to sit down. I was scared of how close those men might be.

If they had come shouting ‘Catch her!’ it would have been less frightening, but the quiet footsteps following me were terrifying.

It felt like an invisible shadow was chasing me.

“Hah, ha! Ouch...! Hah.”

I kept running.

I slipped and fell, trying not to, cutting my hand on a plant’s thorn, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall.

I ran harder than I ever had in my life.

I was gasping for breath. My chest and throat felt like they would burst.

I wanted to rest, even for a moment.

But no. Get a grip, Sirien Eilencia.

Razen is in danger. Razen has endured pain like this all along.

Don’t whine over this.

Did my desperate running pay off?

Something orange glowed in the dark forest.

‘There’s something there. It’s a light!’

If I could get up that hill, might I find the man who killed the giant?

That same scent came from him.

I studied theology at the castle.

Though I hadn’t thought of it when I first saw the man in black or since then, I knew of a Church that might have settled in a place like this.

It was an ancient name I had learned was long extinct, so I didn’t recognize it immediately.

Why had that man, despite his reluctance, saved Razen?

What was the presence that had followed us from the edge of the forest?

And most importantly, what was the scent I kept smelling?

A scent.

It too obviously hinted at death and rest.

‘Hibras Church… I’m almost there.’

Chills ran down my spine. Footsteps were close behind me.

The trackers were nearly upon me. But at the same time, I heard a voice I wanted to hear.

“I told you, no mercy a second time. Didn’t your comrade tell you?”

“Hah, hah. Hah...”

“I’ll give you one chance. Explain why I shouldn’t throw you to those rude guests.”

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