“Ah, I need to cast the magic first. Come here.”
“Yeah.”
“<The power to reverse a body tainted by poison….>”
This time it wasn’t a one-time spell. He applied it so the magic would be maintained continuously, like when using Orb of Light magic or Protective Barrier. The implementation wasn’t that difficult. The only regret was that his magic power would continue to drain while the magic was maintained. Still, he had to do it this way so it could resolve curses in real time when afflicted.
“I’ve cast a sustained spell, but it doesn’t infinitely detoxify all curses. If you’re hit by a curse stronger than my power, it might break, so you’ll have to come back to me then.”
“Okay.”
“At any moment. You understand, right?”
“I understand.”
He answered obediently, but somehow it didn’t feel trustworthy. Taeyon was a sincere and reliable person, but he’d only now learned that he often pushed himself too hard when fighting.
Last time when they were surrounded by a horde of monsters, Taeyon had made lightning strike from all directions with his ability, and thanks to that they could escape safely. At that time, he’d just thought that’s how it was.
He only learned that Taeyon had risked the danger of going berserk after Piyod told him.
‘It can’t be helped. I’ll have to pay more attention.’
Since he takes care of other people’s bodies faithfully but doesn’t care about his own body, I have no choice but to take care of him. Kaniel followed behind Taeyon with firm resolve.
And so the search began.
Searching the manor house built in a ‘ㄷ’ shape around the courtyard, floor by floor from the top, was not an easy task. It was especially so because it had to proceed quietly and in a tense state.
Taeyon opened each room one by one, examined the inside, and finally tapped the floor in a unique rhythm.
Tap, tap tap, tap tap tap.
It seemed to be some kind of code shared by Oblyad’s knights. When hiding or tied up in a state where it was difficult to make noise, this sound could announce that an Oblyad knight had arrived.
Just in case Matiel and Piyod were hiding somewhere like a secret room in the manor house, they would come out upon hearing this sound.
“The two of them must be in a dangerous place….”
Kaniel muttered as if sighing.
With each floor they descended, the degree of corrosion on the wallpaper and floor worsened. When they reached the first floor, the wallpaper color had corroded as if charred black, and the floor was a mess as if rotted and crumbled here and there, plus mold had grown. Also, an unpleasant smell seemed to be coming from somewhere.
“That’s why they haven’t escaped yet.”
“Well, if it were a safe place, there’d be no reason they couldn’t escape.”
Though it was an obvious fact, he wished they were in a safe place. That way they could get out without fighting.
Taeyon, who had been searching the first floor in order, stopped at one point. That place was the portrait corridor. The paintings had corroded even more by now. Especially the family portrait depicting the lord and his wife, Matiel and his younger sister—the canvas was half crumbled and parts had fallen to the floor covered in mold. Why had only that portrait corroded especially more?
“It’s… scary.”
It was miserable, as if showing the ruined reality of some family. It had only been about a day since the beast settled in, yet it looked like this.
He wanted to quickly find Matiel and Piyod and take them out.
“The party hall is coming up soon. As I said before, I encountered the beast there this morning. Something dangerous might happen, so you need to be careful.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll hide in a safe place.”
“Right. Hide well.”
That was the condition Taeyon had repeatedly urged Kaniel when they decided to enter the manor house. Because you never know what might happen even with a Protective Barrier, if a situation arose where Taeyon had to fight an enemy, he should stay back.
Taeyon, who moved forward only after urging him once more, stopped at a corner.
Chirp—
Because a small bird sound was heard.
Taeyon listened carefully, cautiously listening to the sounds beyond the corner.
One creature.
Wing flapping sound.
The sound of claws scratching the wooden floor.
The sound of sharpening its beak against the wall came in succession.
“Stay here.”
Taeyon, who whispered softly, drew his sword and rushed out. His body was so fast it looked like it was being shot out.
The sharp sword was swung, aiming for the head of a giant cockatiel monster. However, the cockatiel monster caught the sword firmly with its pointed beak.
Its beak strength was so tremendous that it wouldn’t budge even when Taeyon tried to pull his arm back. Then Taeyon pulled up the corners of his mouth and generated electricity in his hand.
Squawk—!
A scream completely different from the beautiful chirping sound burst out. And the cockatiel monster, whose wings trembled from electrocution, soon fell backward with a thud and sprawled out.
“Is it dead…?”
It was the moment Kaniel unconsciously muttered.
The cockatiel monster’s chest heaved and a chirping sound was heard. It seemed it wasn’t dead.
Taeyon, without being flustered, swung his sword and cut the creature’s shoulder. With a wound so deep it cracked bone, the cockatiel monster screamed and pulled its body back.
Taeyon was quietly watching that scene.
With a sizzling sound, the bone regenerated and the wound stuck together and healed. Eventually, even the severed feathers regenerated and it returned to its original appearance.
“The nest was completed in the meantime.”
Taeyon clicked his tongue.
Monsters originally didn’t care about pain and charged in, making them difficult to deal with in many cases, but now that they rushed in undaunted even by death, it became even more troublesome.
The knights outside the manor house facing many monsters must be suffering considerably.
Of course, that story didn’t apply to Taeyon.
The fact that monsters with a nest behind them were difficult to deal with only applied to those who couldn’t cut off their heads in one strike.
Swoosh—!
The moment the cockatiel monster, having finished regenerating and regained consciousness, spread both wings and tried to rush in, Taeyon quickly crouched then straightened while swinging his sword.
It was a movement almost invisible to Kaniel.
The monster with its head cut off scattered as black smoke.
“Taeyon! Are you hurt anywhere?”
As soon as the situation ended, Kaniel ran to Taeyon and asked while feeling his hands and body.
“No.”
“Thank goodness….”
“One monster or so is nothing.”
“But it was big.”
“Being big actually made it easier. The corridor was too narrow for it to spread both arms, so it had trouble moving.”
He’d been tense because it was a giant monster he’d seen in a long time, but it seemed there was such a problem.
“The beast will be inside the party hall. Stay back.”
Kaniel checked his magic power amount like a habit with a tense face. Though magic power was draining because of the detoxification spell, it wasn’t to a dangerous degree. At most about 8%.
Creak— With an unpleasant sound made by corroded hinges, the door to the party hall opened wide.
However, Taeyon, who had been tense and ready to swing his sword at any moment, took a few steps inside and made a perplexed expression.
“…It’s not here.”
The interior, corroded as if decades had passed without anyone visiting, was empty. Only the sound of broken windows creaking and swaying in the wind was heard intermittently.
“What’s going on?”
Kaniel, who followed in after him, was examining the floor that was entirely rotting and covered in mold when he discovered something.
“Taeyon, look at this!”
“Yeah.”
“This… is Piyod’s.”
What Kaniel picked up from the floor and showed him was an earring with a pink jewel. When they went on an outing to the lake together, Matiel had suddenly knelt down and presented it with an attitude as if proposing—that earring. Matiel had even put the earring on Piyod right there on the spot.
“Piyod was here.”
* * *
Piyod, in squirrel form, hid his body behind a jar, trembling. The tiger beast with its huge body was strolling around beyond it. The tiger beast, which seemed to stop in front of the jar, soon made a snorting sound and moved on again.
Piyod, who had been holding his breath the whole time, finally exhaled only after the tiger beast disappeared toward the kitchen. But his heart still beat anxiously, and fear crushed his entire body.
Barely maintaining his breathing, Piyod scurried on all fours toward the dining room door. Just as he was about to finally escape the dining room after reaching the door, hot breath was felt from above his head and sharp teeth bit and lifted his scruff.
“Hyak…!”
A sound that didn’t quite become a scream got stuck in his throat. Piyod shed tears with a patter. It was because of frustration and anger rather than fear or terror.
“This is already the seventh time! Why are you doing this to me?”
The tiger beast, which couldn’t understand words, carried him dangling back to the dining room. Inside there was a fluffy bed made of straw. Piyod was placed on top of it.
The tiger beast rolled a sausage toward him and lay down long on its side.
Piyod threw the sausage away and lay face down. He couldn’t stand it because he was resentful and upset.
‘It’s definitely playing with me.’
Otherwise this couldn’t be happening.
