102 – 102. Infiltrating the Octagon (4)
Dawn rises. Even in this shabby house, the dawn breaks, and the morning sun rises and the sunlight comes in and out.
Worrying that such sunlight would somehow disturb Lumia’s sound sleep, Cain carefully drew the curtains with the temporary cloth he had made.
He pulled the curtains like that… But couldn’t you see all the holes drilled through? I was not very good at it, so I stitched it together with thread to fill in the hole.
You won’t see it anymore.
Rumia was already awake when Cain, who smiled with a satisfied smile at that thought, closed her curtains.
Cain’s kind touch covered Rumia’s blanket again. After handing over Rumia’s hair as she slept, Cain went out to get breakfast and her medicine.
“…”
As soon as the door closed, Rumia opened her eyes. Then, she gently grabbed the blanket that Cain had touched and touched it, muttering,
“Where do you get hurt again…”
Cain didn’t show it, but Rumia took a closer look at Cain’s body, which was being hurt because of her.
She arrived covered in dirt sometime, and then found bruises, and it was not uncommon to see cuts on her.
That’s why she said to Cain, “Please give up on me,” As she shed her tears yesterday.
This time she was hurt so much that her clothes were soaked in blood, so she could naturally guess how badly she was hurt.
Anyway, she will nag when Cain comes back.
She will tell you now that she won’t get hurt anywhere, and that if she keeps getting hurt, she won’t even take the medicine she brings you.
No more… Because she didn’t want Cain to get hurt because of her.
She herself knew very well that this disease would not be cured by taking her medicine anyway.
As if he had listened to Rumia’s heart, the door opened.
However, the girl’s bold ambition to nag her disappears like the morning dew in the sunlight when a strange man appears.
A man with black hair. Of course she was the first person Rumia had ever seen.
And fear prevailed because the first person to visit this place.
The fact that someone had arrived in this place where no one would know except Cain and himself was terrifying in itself.
But she bites her lip and tries to force her composure.
“If your purpose is to take me, take me quickly.”
Rumia barely opened her mouth.
Actually, since a stranger came to visit me, who are you? Should come out first, but it can’t.
Rumia is the only daughter of a fallen family who committed a crime. It was something she couldn’t see with her eyes open that her damage was going to Cain who helped her.
However, the black-haired man leaned against the wall with his arms folded and made the sound of Lumia’s body collapsing.
“It won’t change even if I take you. It’s Cain’s business.”
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“Yes…?”
What did this man just say?
I spoke as if I knew that Cain frequented this place.
Come to think of it, it could be said that the timing was really out of sync. Coincidentally, she came right in as soon as Cain went out. She couldn’t help but think.
In the meantime, it was as if she had been found out about her relationship with Cain.
Therefore, Rumia had only one option left.
“I beg you… Rather, rather, take me with you. Let Cain go without guilt…!”
Getting on her knees and bowing her head in prayer.
Because she saved herself, she asked Cain to take her to her detention center quickly so that she would not be guilty of her crime.
She couldn’t do anything, so this was the best she could do.
“Please… Please leave Cain alone…”
“…”
It must have been clear that he said this out of desperation.
How could he be so obedient in asking her to admit her guilt and take her away?
I can feel all the feelings I have for Cain, but the conversation doesn’t progress at this rate.
For now, calm down first.
“I didn’t come here with the intention of making an accusation.”
Of course, saying this didn’t dispel Rumia’s suspicions. In this case, you need to give certain trust.
She said, “She’s not like Cain has no idea what she’s been doing. She’s the way she would be today.”
“…”
You can tell just by looking at Rumia’s reaction, but she didn’t know or didn’t do it at all. She nodded her head slightly with a sad face.
“I came because I wanted you to convince Cain to escape from there. I’m sure there will be other stories as well.”
“Is it really…?”
“If anything, I’ll tell you where it went. That guy became a plaything for nobles in the largest gambling hall in Mir Park.”
“Huh?!”
In an instant, Rumia’s eyes were stained with bewilderment.
As Junon explained about her Octagon step by step, Rumia bit her lip and showed her miserable heart.
‘This should be enough for that girl to seize Cain.’
And just in time, footsteps were heard outside. Eventually, the door opened—
“Rumia. Wake up…”
“Are you here?”
His face, which seemed to be in a good mood thanks to today’s hearty breakfast, immediately distorted the moment he confirmed the existence of a strange man.
“Run away, Lumia!”
As soon as she caught sight of her intruder, Cain moved her body ahead of her head.
At that moment, Cain’s hands, which had been packing food and medicine for Rumia for her, were only focused on subduing her intruders. I couldn’t even hear Rumia’s words to quit right next to her bed.
But even Cain, whose gray eyes were blinded, could hear her voice as she raised her voice on her bed.
“I told you to calm down!! Can’t you hear me?!”
The sound of rattling vials crashed against the walls, and for a short time there was stillness in the room, as if the world had stopped.
“I heard you didn’t come here with the intention of accusing me… So let go of that hand.”
“Rumia, but…!”
How can you believe that? If she was sent by the nobles, Rumia is denounced and sentenced to death, and put behind her dark bars.
But Rumia wanted to let go of even the collar she was holding now.
“If you don’t listen to me one more time, I’m going to surrender myself like this. Let go of that hand quickly.”
“Oh, okay…”
Cain’s hand, which was filled with hostility, fell.
I don’t know about other people, but when it comes to Rumia’s words, it seems to listen to them.
‘He’s still wary of me.’
Thanks to that, Cain’s face looks very unsatisfied, but she doesn’t think she’ll come running again.
Even if he doesn’t step out, it seems Rumia is about to stop him first.
“Cain, where did you go to make money?”
“Uh… Huh? Just playing around…”
“Are you even going to lie now? Like an idiot, being tricked by nobles! I don’t want to come back hurt like that!!”
“That’s…”
After all, Cain told Rumia her lies and she must have headed to the Octagon. Otherwise, I don’t think Rumia would ever allow it.
As you can see, he’s a good-natured person.
…To the extent that it reminds me of someone.
Perhaps the story will be a bit longer.
Since Rumia seems to be arguing with Cain one by one here.
“Call me when the story is over.”
Junon left the door open and left. Originally, I would have overheard everything, but now I wonder if it is really necessary.
Cain, who had her head down, will only tell Rumia the truth about her.
“Is it possible to proceed with a rough story with this?”
Still, touching people’s hearts. It’s not really something to do. I don’t want to do it twice.
***
After a while, she said that Cain, who had become obedient, opened the door and came out, and that she had finished talking to Rumia and her.
Cain, who came back to his senses, bowed his head over and over again saying he was sorry. She said that at that time, she thought they were the ones who wanted to catch Rumia or get her reward through reporting her, so she went out of her hands.
I didn’t really care about that as the two seemed to be in a special relationship.
In the first place, she knew very well that Cain wasn’t a bad guy with her temper, so she didn’t resist.
Anyway, it was time to get to the point.
To explain why this happened, Rumia revealed her own name.
‘Last year’s winter. She is the only daughter of Baron Penarive, who went extinct for colluding with the Sirens…’
In other words, she was Rumia Penarive, a wanted figure.
She seemed to know why she was trying to make Cain run away as if the seizure button had been pushed in her.
In the winter of the year before last, rumors that the Sirens had kidnapped people were purged after several bodies were found in their residential space, and the Baron Penarive, who was said to have participated in it, became a criminal and was locked up in a detention center.
“In the meantime, we had no choice but to run away. From the village of Lemtert to the hills of Zakilia and the coast of Tevizia, we circled around and finally arrived here.”
That’s as good as completing the sheet week in a clockwise direction.
You must have gone through all the hardships of hardship.
In the midst of that, suffering from an illness and having to depend on one and only friend to survive, the psychological pressure must have been enormous.
In that case, I have to accept this all the more.
“I understand what you’re saying. But Cain. You better not go to the Octagon anymore.”
“I don’t care if I get hurt. But Rumia’s illness…!”
“It’s right that you don’t go to the Octagon even for Lumia’s sake. I’m not nagging you, I mean it. That’s not an illness that can be solved with money.”
When Rumia gets mad at Cain, she recognizes it.
Her lips, which should have been red, are bluish even though she is not hypothermic, and there are also blue spots on her neck and left shoulder.
That is a precursor to the disease.
“Rumia. You should have been able to handle magic in the past, but now you can’t use it at all, are you?”
“How to…”
“…It’s a characteristic of that disease. It’s a magically transmitted disease, so even the doctors must have shook their heads.”
One day, Lumia used magic to deal with that beast, and in the process, she was hit by something that erupted in all directions and was infected.
She was said to have been hiding in the village of Lemtert, but the most likely reason is because of the location of the writer Pena Livnam in the northern part of sh*t.
Why did the Sit subjugation last so long in the past, and why was the all-out war chosen instead of a defensive war?
That was because of the disease Rumia was suffering from.
Commonly known as Lemteert Plague. One by one, bluish spots appear on the bodies of those who fought a defensive battle in Lemtert Village, their energy declined, and even their magic power was eaten away by a disease nestled inside them, and they could not even generate power as a single person.
And if treated late, all magic power will be consumed and death will occur.
Thus, Rumia needs to be treated with a cure during this time, but…
‘There’s no way it exists at this time.’
The cure for Lemteert’s Plague will spread throughout the duchy at least after the Great Subjugation of Sheet.
Even those are limited in quantity, to the extent that nobles have to pay a hefty price to buy them.
It is a disease that touches me all the more because the other members of Thembris had suffered hardships until Professor Dahlia’s new drug, which identified the source of the plague, was manufactured.
It’s cruel, but it’s necessary to tell the truth.
“If this continues, Rumia will continue to eat away at her mana and die. Even in this situation, is she going to stop by the Octagon?”
Rumia will soon die from the Lemtert Plague.
Cain’s eyes begin to blush again at Junon’s realistic remarks, which he spat out in raw form because he was plain.
“How can I… Accept that…! Are you saying that I should at least accept it coldly since Lumia is about to die?!”
He knew that, but she couldn’t accept it.
“I don’t like it. I’ll try something. I’ll go to the Octagon and use the money I earn to buy even unknown medicines that may not have any medicinal effect. It’s too cruel to just watch Rumia die!! Even if you do, you can’t suppress my will!!”
It felt quite familiar to see her resisting her fate. It must have looked very similar to my denial of reality.
You must have entered the Octagon because you were so desperate.
For Cain, Rumia’s existence probably has more value than that.
In that case. Now, the story will make some sense.
“I assure you. I’d rather use my hands right away than give you that kind of medicine.”
“…What?”
“The spots on Lumia’s skin and her blue lips are typical symptoms of a disease that comes from her mana being eaten away. Why do you think I know this in such detail?”
Cain’s eyes flashed. Does that just sound like you can heal yourself, so it has to be.
“But it’s not a cure. It’s all about buying time until a cure is developed. Even if it does, I don’t know how much time it will buy. Will you accept it though?”
“…”
Cain was silent for a moment, then calmed her excitement by recalling Junon’s realistic advice she had heard earlier.
She actually knew him too.
Rumia’s disease only worsened, and no matter how expensive the medicines she bought and fed, she never showed any noticeable change.
Now all that was left was to aim for rare medicines that only nobles could take in the Octagon, which is said to be attended by nobles.
Then caught the eye of the moderator. Although such a drug is very expensive, I was seduced by the fact that it was available.
Practically nothing was gained from the Octagon. I wondered if I could even cure her illness, and now I’m sure. Even if they had the medicine, they wouldn’t give it to them.
Then this way would be better, Cain took her heart and bowed her head again.
“I’ll do anything. That’s fine, please.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I will choose the side that showed the potential in front of me.”
I managed to make the right choice. Then how about this one?
“Rumia, I’d like to hear from you too.”
Actually, Rumia wanted to ask how much Junon would ask of Cain. Of course, I don’t want that if I’m asked to do worse than in the Octagon.
However, that anxiety does not last long.
This situation itself would have been a conversation that would not have happened without Junon’s help, and it would have been unknown information.
“I will follow Cain’s will. Instead…”
“Don’t worry, I won’t roll too hard.”
“…Thank you, senpai.”
“Then, relax your body, Rumia.”
“Yes? Why is my hand…”
“Senior…? What suddenly…”
I didn’t know what Cain or Lumia was thinking, and I glared at Junon with my eyes wide open.
He suddenly held Rumia’s hand, then closed her eyes and seemed to be concentrating on something.
I know very well that he is not someone to harm, but I couldn’t understand what he was trying to do. That is, until it takes effect.
“Uh, huh…?”
“The spots…!”
The size of her spots on Rumia’s skin has visibly diminished, and her complexion has returned.
The method is simple. It was all about supplementing Rumia’s mana that was being eaten away by her.
Of course you should never do this against the Lemtert Plague, but there are always exceptions to disease.
“I only slowed down the progression of the disease by infusing magic. It’s not a cure, so it’s strictly forbidden to use magic.”
“Yes? Then you will be infected too…!”
“I’m immune to this disease. But don’t ask anyone else. If you do something wrong, the symptoms will get worse and that person will be infected.”
It was a blatant sniping at Cain, who seemed like he would ask her to tell me what he did.
First of all, we’ve done everything we can, and if we can’t stand it, it really can’t be helped.
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“I’ve done everything I can, now it’s your turn to help me, Cain.”
It was time for her to enter the Octagon again.