<Chapter 147>
#16. Hidden Purpose (11)
The peaceful scene turning into chaos happened in an instant. The elite troops who had consumed the antidote that Calix personally made with hard-to-obtain medicinal herbs were completely unaffected by the hallucination flowers. These standby troops continued their silent attack as soon as the Ollua snakes began their assault.
Those who had been leisurely strolling about, perhaps thinking they were in a safe zone, lost their lives without even having a chance to scream under the blades of the elite troops. Since their residence was in an open field, there were limitations to the attack.
Unlike those moving stealthily, Calix moved boldly and directly forward. There was no way someone like Johaim could have gathered random thugs to cause such a large-scale incident. Moreover, judging from the traces left behind and Owen’s statements, all of this had been planned for quite a long time.
“Padrian! It’s Padrian!”
“What? How did that bastard find this place…!”
“Kill him!!”
They all rushed at once, spitting out sentences like third-rate thugs would. Despite their movements, Calix didn’t flinch at all. Those running toward Calix fell to the ground with short screams, their eyes rolled back white.
The Ollua snakes that had already positioned themselves beneath them flicked their tongues. It was a quick and swift movement, as if they wouldn’t tolerate anyone approaching Calix.
“What is this! It’s snakes!”
“It’s the Ollua! The Ollua again…!”
“That! Bring that!”
As soon as the first few who had rushed forward met their pitiful ends, voices grew louder as people searched for something amidst the commotion. Regardless of what they were babbling about, Calix calmly walked along the path cleared by the Ollua snakes. Only the few corpses sprawled on the ground hindered his steps. Lightly kicking aside a corpse, Calix clicked his tongue briefly.
“What is this trash.”
“That, that bastard!”
“This bastard, that bastard. I’m not your bastard, am I?”
Calix shrugged lightly and whispered in a chilling tone. The man shuddered greatly at Calix’s heavily sunken golden eyes and grabbed a round object sleeping at his waist and threw it. Frowning at the object that didn’t look particularly threatening, Calix blocked it with his hand. As soon as he caught it, the thin rubber membrane burst with a ‘pop’ sound, leaking the liquid it contained.
“…So this is it.”
Wrinkles formed between Calix’s brows. A twisted smile appeared on Calix’s lips as he easily recognized it as similar to what they had used when attacking Melty. For Calix, who had received the blessing of immunity, such drugs were completely useless.
“You didn’t even need to confess so readily like this.”
Calix whispered in a languid tone as he applied strength to his toes. The face of the opponent who had thrown the object at him just now was covered in bewilderment. Calix, who grabbed him by the neck and drove him straight to the ground, whispered while applying strength to his hand.
“Where is my fiancé?”
“Gack! Ugh…”
“Oh my, seems like you have no intention of speaking.”
The man’s eyes rolled back white as he struggled. Calix looked down at the corpse that had drawn its last breath with a gurgle and slowly rose. Two clear holes had been pierced in the ankle of the deceased. An Ollua snake flicked its red tongue beneath his feet and looked up at Calix with eyes seeking praise.
“Well done.”
Along with a seemingly indifferent whisper, Calix looked around. Some of those who had been trying to attack him were engaged in fierce battle with the elite troops. Due to the Ollua snakes surrounding Calix, it seemed there was no one willing to directly attack him.
‘Being bait turned out to be meaningless.’
None of the Ollua snakes had found out where Melty was. And the same went for the elite troops. Muttering that they were truly useless, Calix swept back his hair. Despite his calm exterior, his heart pounded with anxiety. The thought that Melty might be nearby made him more urgent.
“You’re always so lacking in manners.”
At the familiar voice reaching his ears, Calix felt his blood run cold. Turning his head, Calix could see Johaim maintaining a state of calm amid the chaos, just like himself.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to say that. After causing all sorts of incidents and pretending you didn’t, did you think you’d get away with it just by acting innocent? You should have kept your little act to a moderate level. You slimy bastard.”
“I don’t want to hear such talk from you.”
“Do I need to listen to you just because you don’t want to hear it?”
Calix shrugged and drew the sword he had been wearing at his waist. Despite the blade being pointed directly at him, Johaim merely pushed up his glasses without any change in expression.
“You managed to find this place quite well. Was it your father?”
“Where is Melty?”
“I always thought you were pathetic, but perhaps I’ve overestimated you. Not even knowing to be ashamed while bowing your head to the Padrians.”
“I asked where you’ve hidden my fiancé.”
“Taking revenge on an enemy is only natural, isn’t it?”
Conversations that failed to reach each other hovered in the air. It was Calix who first cut through the tension that seemed about to snap at any moment. Gripping the sword handle firmly, he quickly rushed at Johaim. Johaim, who had been standing still with an expressionless face, also drew his sword in response.
“I’m surprised. That you know how to wield it.”
“Of course. It’s a basic skill.”
“That’s precisely what I mean. It’s surprising that someone like you who doesn’t know manners knows basic skills.”
Calix let out a hollow laugh at Johaim’s retort, not yielding a single word. Yet his eyes glanced sideways at the building Johaim had just come from. Strength naturally entered Johaim’s hand.
“Do you even have time to look elsewhere?”
“If my opponent is someone like you, plenty?”
Johaim frowned at Calix’s sneering tone and twisted his wrist to deflect his sword. Calix, who stepped back a couple of paces, clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“He’s too good for you.”
“I don’t think it’s something for a third party like you to be involved in.”
Calix, who made no attempt to hide his displeasure and displayed it fully, retorted with a light click of his tongue and added additional words.
“Besides, you’re the kidnapper, aren’t you?”
“…I’m just protecting him from falling into the clutches of a beast.”
“Protection? Killing countless people including family through disease, forcibly taking him away – it’s the first I’ve heard of calling that protection.”
With a hollow laugh, Calix finished speaking and coldly snapped.
“Why don’t you just say you’re bitter about being rejected?”
“I don’t look at him that way.”
A flash of contempt passed through Johaim’s eyes. Staring at Johaim, who was acting rigid while dismissing any unfavorable talk, Calix opened his mouth.
“Then how do you look at him?”
“He is…”
Johaim stiffened his expression as he hesitated, unable to open his mouth readily. Calix, who had immediately seen through what he was thinking, opened his mouth with sharp eyes.
“Melty Crosel is not a Sarvie.”
“I know that.”
“Really? It doesn’t seem like you know at all.”
At Calix’s still sneering tone, Johaim bit the soft flesh inside his cheek with all his might. Without being intimidated in the least by his murderous glare, Calix returned the gaze.
“I’m only trying to save him! To prevent another person from being bewitched by someone like you who’s immersed in slaughter!”
Johaim shouted at the top of his lungs and rushed at Calix. It wasn’t too difficult to block Johaim, who had never properly learned swordsmanship and was rampaging, giving himself over to excitement.
“Who’s immersed in slaughter?”
“Ha! I suppose you wouldn’t know. There must be countless people who have died because of you! Isn’t that right?”
Along with his mocking tone, Johaim wielded his sword more and more roughly. Blocking Johaim’s sword with relaxed movements, Calix applied strength to his hand and struck him with all his might. With a clang, the sword flew through the air, doing a somersault before sticking into the ground. Unable to withstand the recoil, Johaim landed on his backside, and Calix’s sword touched his neck.
“If you blame me like that, does something get better?”
“…Blame… That was really because of you!”
“Me?”
At Calix’s question, Johaim clenched his fist, scratching the ground. Laughing mockingly at his vicious gaze, Calix retorted.
“Did I spread poisonous herbs? Or did I artificially drive people to their deaths by spreading an epidemic?”
“……”
“That wasn’t me, it was you.”
Johaim’s eyes trembled anxiously at Calix’s response full of mockery. There was nothing wrong with what Calix said. It was all directly planned and committed by Johaim – spreading Avartia across the continent to cause drought and causing this epidemic as a result.
“…Just because of that, the things you neglected don’t disappear. Every day!! Every day my siblings are crying!”
“That’s why I asked.”
Calix cut off Johaim’s words in a calm tone.
“Does blaming me make anything better?”
“……”
“Do you think you’re the only one who lost family during the epidemic four years ago? Of course, you’re the only one who couldn’t accept reality and spread an epidemic again.”
The inside of his mouth, cut by the words Calix had spat out, stung more than his neck grazed by the blade at his throat. He heard the sound of blood spewing from a wound that had festered somewhere for a long time.
– Johaim, big brother!
– Brother…
The voices of his siblings calling him spread faintly in his mind. He could barely remember the faces of his siblings who had been gasping in pain. They flickered and disappeared repeatedly.
Although the Padrian and Sarvie families pursued different directions, they were similar in that they helped treat people. But people’s eyes easily changed at the different outcomes of two children who caught the same epidemic at the same time. They began to doubt the Sarvie’s medical practices.
They didn’t care about the grief of those who had lost family. They just disparaged and criticized that Sarvie’s medical skills were less impressive than they thought. The fact that Padrian’s survival was due to a blessing didn’t attract anyone’s attention. And at the same time, interest in the Padrians grew.
And at his sibling’s funeral, Johaim heard people’s whispers that all of this scheming must surely be the Padrians’ plot to elevate their family’s status. It was then that he recalled the image of his younger sister dying, gasping and searching for Calix. Despite his siblings’ deaths, Johaim quietly nurtured his anger at Owen’s indifferent attitude.
‘That’s why I…’
He always felt nauseous at the sight of Calix living peacefully as if he knew nothing. He had to suffer equally. Like his two siblings who met their deaths because of Calix, he too had to writhe in pain at the bottom. Calix Kuse Padrian was someone who should not be allowed to be happy.
“I’m not interested in your pathetically weak mental state. But whatever the reason, you shouldn’t have touched my fiancé. Especially knowing what kind of person I am.”
Johaim lowered his eyes at the cold sensation of the blade against his neck. A red straight line was engraved where the sword blade pressed, and red liquid slowly flowed along the blade.
“Where is Melty Crosel?”
At his repeated question, Johaim swallowed dryly. His throat felt as sore as if there were unspoken words clumped together. In his mind, which always ached with crying, he faintly heard his siblings’ laughter. Johaim’s lips parted slowly as if his soul had left him. And at the same time, the voice of an elite troop member rang out loudly.
“Master Calix! I think you should come see this!”
