“…Stop crying, it’s unsightly.”
At the voice heard from above his head, Anya let out a shrill scream.
“E-Evernight-kyung!”
Evernight raised his upper body and spat out blood-mixed saliva onto the snow with a ptooey. Damn it. He looked up at the sky with a small sigh. A massive wall blocked the front, and behind him was a wasteland covered in snow. The fortunate thing was that they were at least close to the Wall.
“You….”
Evernight looked at the boy whose appearance was as much a mess as his own. His cheeks were already swollen red, and his face was completely covered in tears and snot. His long hair was disheveled.
Ha, fuck.
Evernight, who had been scrutinizing Anya, let out another long sigh.
“Darkness will descend soon. You can gather light with magic, right?”
Anya nodded his head fervently. The boy immediately gathered mana and spread out the most basic technique of magic on his palm.
“From now on, that’s your torch. At this position… there should be a cave nearby. We need to go there first.”
The fortunate thing was that thanks to frequenting this place incessantly for nearly four years, he could roughly draw the terrain in his head even without a map. This place was the very entrance to the dead land, and there was a place nearby that had been made into a base camp with the Tildyen bastards before.
However, while he could somehow endure, this half-wit… well….
Evernight narrowed his brow at the burning pain he felt from his back. The feeling wasn’t good. As darkness closed in, the moon began to reveal its presence.
Fucking full moon.
Evernight threw off his glove that had a hole in it. Dark blue veins protruded on the back of his hand.
“……Wh-what should we do?”
Anya, who had already carefully picked up Haebing that had been cast far away, looked at the back of Evernight’s hand with tears welling up.
“I-I’m sorry. Be-because of me….”
It looked obviously serious. Blue thread-like lines wriggled over the wound on the back of his hand. They were like living, moving worms.
“Don’t whine. There’s nothing you can do.”
Evernight’s voice was firm, as if drawing an invisible line between them.
“First, we need to take shelter in the nearby cave. Before those things come running after smelling blood.”
‘Those things’ referred to ‘the dead ones.’ Only then did Anya realize that where he had fallen was somewhere beyond the Wall.
“You don’t want to become like this, do you?”
Evernight raised the corner of his mouth crookedly and thrust the back of his hand forward. Anya stepped backward and ended up rolling across the ground once more.
“I-I-I’m sorry.”
Anya jumped up like a roly-poly toy and hastily offered an apology. To react this way to someone who was injured because of him—he really was a bundle of nuisance itself, just as he said.
“Ugh….”
The wound gouged by the monster’s claws stung due to the moisture from rolling in the snow field just now. Evernight clicked his tongue lightly with a look of pathetic disdain.
“Follow me.”
Anya followed behind Evernight with a dejected face. His entire body hurt as if he’d been thoroughly beaten, and he was terribly cold. Anya’s body was swept here and there by the strong wind as if he would collapse at any moment. But if he collapsed here, he might someday become a ghoul and wander the nine heavens. Anya struck his own cheek hard. He needed to pull himself together. The boy diligently followed behind Evernight, who was already walking far ahead.
* * *
Beyond the Wall, the path was very treacherous as human footsteps didn’t reach there. With each step, his feet sank deep up to his knees. Moreover, due to the aftermath of the snowstorm, all directions were white as if a white curtain had been drawn. Snow poured down rumbling from the distant mountain range, and occasionally a roar echoed. Anya had to struggle to calm his startled heart.
In the midst of this, Evernight’s pace was so fast that he had to almost run to catch up with him. White breath endlessly poured out along with rough breathing.
“Get up. Greenhorn.”
When Anya fell flat into the snow that had risen up to his knees, Evernight turned around and shouted. Anya struggled to get up, but the more he did, the more his body sank beneath the snow. Strength wouldn’t enter his entire body. Evernight grabbed the boy’s nape and roughly pulled him up.
His young head bowed deeply in shame and guilt.
“……”
Evernight turned his back again without lingering and proceeded forward. Anya chased after him with all his might.
The distance to the cave wasn’t long by any means, but by the time they arrived there, he was already completely exhausted.
As soon as they arrived at the cave, Evernight found wood logs that someone had gathered there before. That was fortunate at least. They could light a fire.
He threw off his cloak carelessly onto the dirty floor and said,
“Take it off.”
His cloak was made of high-quality sable fur and didn’t get easily wet in the snow. On the other hand, the woolen robe Anya was wearing was already soaked damply from the snowstorm. Moreover, because it had been used as firewood at Ronan’s house earlier, the hem was cut raggedly.
“Ta-take it off? Bu-but it’s too cold….”
Anya shook his head while clutching the edge of his robe. Evernight answered while skillfully lighting a campfire.
“Then get frostbite and die. Greenhorn.”
Now that it was night, it was so cold that his teeth chattered. If he took off his robe here, he would surely freeze to death.
What a waste of effort saving him.
Evernight muttered as he plopped down on the ground. His hand placed on his knee was trembling finely. The entire back of his hand was already turning blue-black as if bruised. The blue veins in between wriggled like living organisms.
“I-I’m sorry. I-I was wrong. Qu-quickly… this….”
Anya quickly threw off his robe with a reddened face. He shouldn’t dare disobey the words of his husband who was seriously injured because of him…. Guilt consumed Anya. As cold air rushed in through the torn gaps, Anya moved his body carefully near the campfire while crouching.
“Um… um… but, kyung, your hand….”
Anya felt like he was truly going crazy. The current situation didn’t even feel real, and everything seemed like a nightmare.
‘Ronan too, Evernight too, all because of me….’
Nevertheless, Anya didn’t know how to do anything and couldn’t do anything.
“Come here and lie down.”
Evernight, his own husband, looked very tired. Evernight gestured with his chin toward somewhere while leaning his head against the cave wall. There was the cloak he had taken off earlier. At Evernight’s brief command, Anya crawled over there but couldn’t fathom his intention.
“Cover yourself.”
“Wh-what…?”
His expression was very dark, so Anya had no choice but to wrap Evernight’s cloak around his body.
“Li-like this? Bu-but… aren’t you… kyung… cold?”
Evernight’s cloak was warm because it wasn’t wet. Wrapped in it, he felt much better. Anya wiggled his fingers while watching for his reaction. It seemed as if Evernight had taken off his cloak for him. Thinking that way, while his heart pounded, he felt deep self-loathing.
Really pathetic, me.
“E-Evernight-kyung. Let’s co-cover ourselves togeth—”
“Shh. Stop talking.”
But somehow Evernight didn’t look to be in very good condition. He swept up his bangs that were wet from the snow and tilted his head back. His complexion was pale and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
“E-Evernight-kyung!”
Anya crawled on his knees and placed his hand on his forehead. His forehead was hot like a fireball.
Evernight’s large hand covered the back of Anya’s hand. His body temperature was very hot. Even though Northerners originally had high body temperatures, this was abnormally hot. He slowly pulled down Anya’s hand.
“…Take your hand off me.”
Ah….
Evernight doesn’t really like physical contact. Especially with him even more so. Anya muttered in a choked voice.
“It’s-it’s because of the wound, right? I-I’ll get medicinal herbs….”
Before the words were even finished, Evernight’s blue pupils constricted. The faint orange light created by the campfire collided with his blue eyes, creating a subtle color.
Evernight snatched and held the wrist of Anya, who was hurriedly getting up from his seat to escape outside the cave.
“Do… you really want to die that badly? You fucking brat.”
He let out murky groans between his words. The wound had definitely worsened. What attacked Evernight was none other than a monster. That monster’s teeth must have had toxicity.
“If-if only I knew healing magic….”
He regretted not making deadly efforts to gather mana until now.
If only I had tried a little harder, if only I had been a little stronger… I wouldn’t have fallen for the monster’s tricks. Then no one would have been hurt. I could have saved Ronan, and at the very least, I could have treated Evernight too….
“I-I’m sor… sorry.”
“Please, stop saying you’re sorry.”
Evernight growled lowly. Then he banged his head hard against the wall with a thud. Anya was startled and stamped his feet. His mind seemed to be getting hazy as he kept shaking his head.
