<Chapter 140>
#16. Hidden Purpose (4)
With a clunk, the sound of a door opening and closing was heard. At the same time, Melty’s closed eyelids lifted. Blinking his eyes a couple of times while looking at the ceiling, he turned to look beyond the bars as if sleepwalking.
There was no sign of the man who had been guarding him all this time, confirming that the door sound he’d heard wasn’t a trick. Squirming along the floor, Melty reached the firmly locked iron bars.
Carefully extending his hand through the bars, Melty fingered the area around the keyhole. Relying on his fingertips to examine the shape and form of the keyhole, a sigh of relief escaped Melty’s lips. He had suspected it when looking with his eyes, but after checking properly up close, it was a familiar shape.
“It’s a good thing I learned how to dismantle traps and cages from my hyungs.”
Though he hadn’t learned hunting by running around the mountains directly with his brothers, Melty was still a member of the Crosel family. After his coming-of-age ceremony, when his body became healthier, the first things he learned were animals’ vital points, dismembering methods, and how to set up and dismantle these cages and traps.
‘I didn’t expect to be the one caged… but how is this any different from a large animal cage?’
Snorting air through his nose, Melty fingered the back of the dagger he had tucked at his waist. The flat, round shape was just the right size for smashing something.
‘It would be too noisy to do it directly.’
Looking around, Melty pulled the blanket from the floor. He wrapped the back of the dagger with a thin strip of cloth torn with the dagger. Then he wrapped the cloth around the square metal plate where the keyhole was. Old-style iron doors were prone to malfunction. That’s why, in case of a malfunction, there was a way to open it besides the keyhole.
Though it was rather violent.
After taking a deep breath, Melty pushed the blade of the dagger into the gap at the bottom of the square metal plate with the keyhole. The slightly open gap widened a bit more. After feeling with his fingers to check the condition again, this time Melty pushed the cloth-wrapped back of the dagger in with all his might.
Along with a weak rattling sound, there was a noise of the tightly interlocked metal plate becoming misaligned. Though he had wrapped it thoroughly with cloth to reduce the sound, it was louder than expected. Startled, Melty stared at the door while covering the metal plate.
His heart pounded loudly. Fortunately, no one seemed to have heard, as no one came in from outside. Placing a hand on his chest, Melty let out a long sigh of relief as he successfully managed to completely destroy the area around the keyhole.
‘I did it!! Now I need to get out.’
This was where the real problem began. Swallowing a dry gulp, Melty tiptoed carefully. Pressing his body near the door, Melty perked up his ears.
‘Inhale- exhale. Inhale- exhale.’
Taking deep breaths repeatedly to relax his tense body, Melty recharged his confidence once more. At that moment, his ears perked up at the sound from outside.
‘Oh no! What do I do! What do I do!’
Though he didn’t know who it was, they were clearly coming this way. Fidgeting anxiously, Melty tightened his grip on the dagger.
– Melty Crosel. Listen well. You lack strength, so you need to learn technique. Hunting isn’t that difficult.
– This noona will teach you how to take them down in one shot.
Indeed, at times like these, advice from family members was comforting. Hearing the footsteps approaching closer and closer, Melty recalled what he had learned one by one. He relaxed his tense body with deep breaths and gripped his dagger correctly.
‘Next, lower your posture…’
The most important thing in hunting was surprise. Lowering his body and holding his breath, Melty waited for the right timing.
As the door creaked open, instead of the small-bodied person who had been monitoring Melty all along, a large-bodied man entered the room. Seeing the smashed, dangling keyhole plate and the empty prison, a startled voice escaped his lips.
“Wh-what? Where did he escape to…”
Now was the moment.
Moving with all his might, Melty extended his hand gripping the dagger with full force.
– You have no strength in your hands, so grab a suitable object. And hit with all your might.
– Hit anywhere with force?
– No! Of course the balls!
WHACK!
“Huuurghhh…!”
The man grabbed his groin with both hands. Despite his large build, his scream and groan were just a gasp as he collapsed to the floor. The ominous face of the man turned pale. Curled up on the floor without being able to make a sound, the man let out groans like “ugh, ughh…” while shedding tears.
The man’s reaction was so intense that even Melty, who was using this in a real situation for the first time, was taken aback. He almost hesitated and asked “Are you okay?” but managed to regain his senses. Escaping was the priority.
“S-sorry.”
After offering a tiny apology, Melty rushed out the door. He hadn’t known that the fatal move his noona had taught him was this dangerous. The kidnappers were bad people, so technically there was no need to apologize. But seeing him unable to breathe properly, with a pale face and streaming tears, an apology naturally came out.
The first thing he saw after escaping the narrow space was an open view. Taking a deep breath, Melty moved to a place with few traces of people before figuring out where he was.
‘Naru. I’m sorry. I’ll come rescue you soon.’
After apologizing to Naru in his heart, Melty moved his feet quickly. Escaping was the urgent matter. If he was caught again, there would be no point in having escaped. Since this was a chance gained with difficulty, he had to make good use of it. After running until his breath reached his chin and his belly started to pull, Melty’s steps gradually slowed.
“Haa, huu, huu… I’m hun-gry.”
The strength completely drained from his trembling legs. Sitting down on the ground, Melty rubbed his round belly. All he had eaten throughout the evening was one hard piece of bread.
Recently, Melty’s food intake had increased to two or three times his usual amount. He was always hungry, and as a result, he always had snacks with him. Perhaps that’s why his body lost strength after just moving a little.
“That bastard couldn’t have gone far! Search thoroughly!”
“Ah, you idiot! Where was your brain when you let him escape?”
“Shut up!”
The sound coming through the bushes made his limp body tense up immediately. Hurriedly getting up, Melty looked around with shaky eyes. He couldn’t readily decide which way to run.
“Did he go this way?”
“The traces make it clear, so shut up and follow me!”
A rattling voice and a rough voice alternated. If he ran carelessly, he would surely be discovered by the sound of footsteps. But there was nothing particularly noticeable to hide behind. While frowning anxiously, a good idea occurred to Melty.
Without further thought, Melty quickly moved his body. He was desperately hoping they would pass by without noticing him as he held his breath. The rustling sound of bushes bending sideways was accompanied by their voices growing louder.
“Hah… We’ll arrive by daybreak, but what excuse will you make?”
“If we had broken his legs from the start, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Didn’t you hear the condition not to injure the body?”
“We could have inadvertently broken one leg. What matters is that he’s alive.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
Melty quietly covered his mouth with both hands. Although he hadn’t actually been harmed, his ankle seemed to ache. The nonchalant man agreeing seemed just as dangerous as the rough person casually bringing up scary stories.
Thankfully I escaped.
Fleeing up a tree was truly a brilliant move. Melty finally let out a sigh of relief after holding his breath until their figures disappeared. If he were to be caught by them, a state without a single injury like now might be impossible.
‘I need to get to Calix-ssi quickly…’
For his hyung’s sake, he needed to deliver the cure he discovered through his gift to Calix. Now that he had lost the paper, he couldn’t clearly remember what items were in the cure and how to make it. But that was a problem that could be solved by using his gift again.
‘Isn’t he looking for me by now?’
As soon as he thought about Calix, a stream of associated thoughts flowed out. Perhaps he was angry right now, or he might be worrying while searching for him.
The Calix Kuse Padrian that Melty Crosel knew was a smart and diligent person, so he was confident that Calix would quickly grasp the situation and definitely come to rescue him.
‘It’s also unreasonable to escape alone from a mountain I don’t even know without anything.’
I miss him. I miss him. Ah, I really miss him.
Calix’s face floating around in his mind interfered with other thoughts. A small smile escaped through Melty’s lips at the image of an imaginary Calix insisting that he should think more about himself in this time rather than thinking about such things.
“Melty-ssi.”
Startled by the voice calling him like a whisper, Melty tensed his body and lowered his head. The man calling him from under the tree was pushing up his glasses with his hand and smiling gently.
“What are you doing up there?”
Belatedly recognizing his face at the soft voice, no different from usual, Melty released the tension in his shoulders. Then, imitating the faint smile on the man’s lips, he said,
“Johaim-ssi! Did you come with Calix-ssi?”
Looking at Melty’s face, clearly showing delight, Johaim curved his lips into a smile.
“I came to pick you up.”
