1. The First Letter (21)
I was about to die. I thought so as I let out a rough breath that I had stopped for a while.
The last one was a net gamble. A strategy that I wasn’t sure if it would work or not.
It was ‘pretending to be dead’.
Normally, ‘pretending to be dead’ was a method that worked only for dull beasts. It wasn’t strange even if it had the opposite effect against a beast with sharp senses like a beast.
Even if you stop breathing, your heart beats. The unique presence of the living was not something that could be easily hidden. No matter how faint the traces were, beasts with keen senses like witches could distinguish between life and death.
So it was. What I decided to do was pretend to be dead.
It was a monster that looked like the head of the forest. strong and clever But it wasn’t without its weaknesses.
A hunting festival is held every year in this forest. If a monster of that size existed, it would have already been dealt with during last year’s hunting festival.
Hundreds of talented people who are welcomed wherever they go on the continent form groups and roam the entire forest, so where can they hide that gigantic body?
If that’s the case, that means it’s still less than a year old. He was too young to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the vicious monsters famous on the continent.
Besides, when I saw him bragging about his ‘hunts’ that he spilled his intestines on, he seemed to have an arrogant and boastful personality.
Beings with such temperament, whether human or beast, were overconfident.
Every time I showed signs of exhaustion, he got even more excited. I guess it was the first match I met in my life. With such an enemy facing victory, it was inevitable that a wildness that could not be hidden would be revealed.
So I decided to gamble. It was a dead life anyway.
If he could gamble his life with the stake, that would have been more profitable. So I deliberately allowed the wolf to strike me with magic all over my body.
To be honest, the moment my body flew through the air at that terrifying collision, I regretted it a little in my heart.
It was such a strong shock. It was not my will that I crashed into the tree with a thump, and my body slid, not because of my will, but simply because I had momentarily lost my mind.
And the moment I came back to my senses, I inadvertently tried to take a deep breath, but I managed to hold it back.
I was out of breath. I wanted to breathe right away. Every inch of his body, which had been beaten by the living bugs, desperately demanded oxygen.
but endured He didn’t even breathe, and he did his best to cool his heartbeat, which had been heated by the excitement of battle.
Still, the breath leaks out, and the heart beats. It was an unavoidable phenomenon because it was the fate of the living.
He wasn’t the kind of guy who wouldn’t notice. However, there was one corner that I believed in.
The potion given by Emma, the medicinal effect of which is to hide the presence.
Presence is a combination of several factors. The sound was the same, but numerous factors such as movement and life were combined to form a ‘presence’.
However, the most significant factor was auditory stimulation, such as breathing or heartbeat.
Not to mention the sounds he made while moving his body. And Emma’s potion had the effect of greatly reducing the sound of her breath and heartbeat.
The first time he took the potion and ambush the wolves, his heartbeat slowed down and his body movements became dull because of that reason. I felt like I was a ghost, literally floating.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t wary of this either. In the process of killing 10 of his subordinates, the potion that hides his presence did a great job.
However, when the excitement of battle heats up the brain and awakens the hidden ferocity, this fact is easily forgotten.
No matter how smart, a beast was a beast. My memory couldn’t last that long, and I didn’t have many means to resist my instincts.
If it was a name class, I wouldn’t have known. However, he was just an immature witchbeast who hadn’t had a name yet.
So it was a plan worth trying. But I couldn’t be sure of the results. Truly a gamble.
The result of that gamble was right in front of my eyes.
The figure of a wolf pouring out blood while looking at me in disbelief as if I couldn’t believe it.
While he was examining my body with ecstatic eyes, magic slowly formed on the sword. A stronger, sharper magical blade.
Never in my life had I raised such a brilliant light from a sword. But today, as the battle continued, my aura continued to increase in saturation.
The climax was now piercing the wolf’s neck.
The dense muscles were torn like sheets of paper. As soon as you push with force, the feeling that your skin is being torn apart.
The wolf struggled with its front paws and tried to attack me, probably in its final fervor. However, when I pushed the sword in as if to support it from below, the strength of the forepaws released with a scream.
Blood was dripping down. The wolf’s damp breath gradually died away. The feeling of dying out, at first unpleasant, but not now.
I gritted my teeth and gasped.
“Emma too, heo-eok… Did Emma fall silent like this, haha, like this?”
The wolf did not answer. His throat was completely pierced. Naturally, I found the silence unbearably disgusting.
Suddenly, as I turned the sword blade that had pierced my neck, I heard the sound of my bones cracking. A deeper moan escaped the wolf’s mouth.
Emma, who had a kind smile in front of her, passed by. Even her father, who cried and couldn’t even pray in the temple.
The darker life in my eyes was young.
“So, Haeok… So, Heo Eok, did you think I was dead too? yes?”
The wolf’s body began to limp. It’s already done. was about to die.
The knife that had been piercing his neck as if to support his body was finally pulled out.
Blood poured down like a downpour. There was a sound of blood hitting the soil. As he staggered away, the wolf’s body fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
The groaning wolf’s eyes were focused on me, unfocused.
It seemed to be begging, and it seemed to give up everything.
I cried, and the anger welled up in my chest.
I wanted to have her stomach open and her intestines spilled out while she was still alive. Just like Emma, I wanted to give back a little bit of that pain.
I actually tried to do that too. The hand holding the knife trembled. Right before the soft stomach was opened and the contents spilled onto the ground.
The corpses whose stomachs were split by the Witchbeast came into view.
that was magic Beings who play with life like a prank and enjoy inflicting pain.
And I wasn’t a monster, I was a human. Ian Perkus, the second son of a rural viscount and third-year student at the Empire’s proud academy.
Eventually, I stopped kicking the wolf to show its belly. Instead, he caught his breath and gripped the handle of the sword with both hands.
The magic is formed. It was a silvery aura, a color that symbolized my image.
“The owner of the clothes you spit out, heo-eok… … .”
I couldn’t tell if he was listening. Because even that moan was fading away. It just felt like the gaze was a little wriggling.
It may be because of my mood, but I said one last thing before lowering my sword.
“That person… Haha, I killed you… Be sure to remember.”
Hoping it will be the only revenge for Emma.
Then, with a bang, the blood splattered again.
Perhaps because of the accumulated muscle fatigue, the blade stopped halfway through the wolf’s neck. But that was enough.
It is not enough to give the gift of rest to the dying tough life.
The moment I confirmed that the last breath of the wolf died down, and the eyes of life in those eyes completely faded.
My body collapsed as if it were collapsing.
Now, that was the limit.
**
From the moment Professor Derek heard Seria’s words, he was running like crazy.
If there were many trees in front of him, he swung his sword as it was. Every time that happened, the trees in front of my eyes exploded as if a bomb had hit them.
He was a skilled prosecutor. As soon as I saw Seria’s condition, I was able to deduce an approximate situation.
The exact cause is unknown, but Seria suffered an ankle injury. Then, the monsters attacked Ian and Seria, and Ian sent her to protect Seria and requested reinforcements.
It was not supposed to be a low-level magic beast. If that was the case, Seria wouldn’t have run so desperately.
And if it was just that level of monsters, I wouldn’t even ask for support. Ian and Seria must have tried to deal with it somehow.
Then there was only one answer.
Ian’s life is in danger. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Derek started his full sprint.
Derek was well aware of how dangerous the Beast was. For decades, he wandered all over the continent and hunted countless monsters. Despite this, Derek still did not relax whenever he faced the Witchbeast.
Ian was Derek’s apprentice.
Of course, every student at the academy was precious, but he was especially noticeable to Derek these days.
At first, he overpowered Seria with steps that even he couldn’t understand, but the next week he returned with his life broken.
I wondered if my skills were back to what they were before, but somehow I carved out a word of Derek’s advice and got a draw. And even the magnanimity of showing generosity to juniors who are unable to resist.
Even these days, I heard that he hangs out with that ‘unfriendly’ Seria. Seeing the group today, the rumor seemed to be true.
It was a great attitude. Seria also seemed to follow him strangely, and he was particularly compliant in front of Ian, and he was happy in his heart, wondering if spring had come for that ‘Yurdina’s slut’.
I hope something like this will happen.
I was complacent. Even if it was a forest, as the hunting festival was ahead, the occurrence of high-ranking monsters should have been taken into account.
Derek just wanted Ian to be alive. It was okay to be seriously injured and put into a coma. Because if there is a way to save him, you can do anything.
Derek was a grown man, and he wasn’t cowardly enough to shirk responsibility. He was prepared to pay the appropriate expenses accordingly.
But the dead cannot be brought back to life no matter what. Then, he would have no face in front of his dead disciple, and he would not be able to raise his head in front of his family and friends.
A thick stream of blood brushed the tip of Derek’s nose before he knew it. Derek was even more anxious.
The moment I entered an empty lot, wishing so earnestly that the smell of blood piercing my nose wasn’t just Ian’s.
Derek’s body stood still.
It was bloody. There were huge corpses of wolves all around. At first glance, it wasn’t just one or two. I counted 10 of them.
It was a number beyond imagination. It was a number that Ian he knew could not afford.
But why are there only corpses of witches lined up in this vacant lot?
Derek walked as if possessed, bent his knees and examined the beasts’ corpses closely. My pants were stained with blood, but I didn’t care. Because he was a monster hunter.
Most of the causes of death were surprise attacks. He could not even resist and allowed a fatal blow. Still, there must have been some fighting.
Even in the midst of that, he must have endured the screams that erupted and hid himself to wait for the next prey.
Derek, a seasoned beast hunter, naturally drew such a scene in his mind. Derek felt his hair soften.
It wasn’t because I felt sympathy for the fight that must have been grueling. Rather, it was because it was a very accurate judgment.
It is difficult to deal with many people alone. If so, I had to somehow hide and launch an ambush. Do you scream in the process? I would love to, but the moment I do so, the risk of losing my life increases exponentially.
In that sense, Ian was right. But is that something that an academy student who hasn’t even been through a few real battles can do?
On the other side of my memory, the image of Ian I saw one day came back to life. Those golden eyes that had tired eyes that day.
Those were the eyes of a skilled killer. It was when Derek was so mesmerized.
Out of breath, a small doll burst into the clearing. She was a cute girl with black hair tied back and a lively look.
Celine Haster. She was after Derek.
Her eyes scanned her surroundings urgently. It was a movement that felt like it was desperate while following, as if the nervousness had already reached its peak.
Celine, who looked around several times, spotted Derek and shouted in a tired voice.
“professor! This, Ian’s older brother… Haha, what about Ian?”
“Not here.”
Celine’s expression darkened at Derek’s blank voice and plain words. It was also around that time that the students who wanted to join Derek arrived one by one.
Unlike Celine, who turned her eyes to Ian’s work, the students hesitated as soon as they entered the clearing, perhaps feeling the same sentiment as Derek.
It was a grim sight. Some wolves were killed instantly by the fatal blow, but some wolves were dead with brains and blood dripping from their heads as if they had been hit countless times with an axe. I saw a dead wolf with its nose on the ground.
Celine was the only one in a hurry. That moment when she bit her lip and was about to run in an unknown direction.
“Follow me.”
Derek said that and moved slowly. The students exchanged puzzled glances at that strangely confident voice.
Celine looked in the direction Derek was walking, and ran out in that direction first, as if she couldn’t stand it because she was impatient.
But it didn’t take long before she and Derek met again.
In a clearing not far away, Celine was standing in the middle of nowhere.
Derek arrived next, and the students arrived one after the other.
Everyone stood there, frozen in place, watching the scene.
There, a black-haired man with golden eyes sat down.
Leaning on the enormous wolf, feeling overwhelmed just by looking at it.
The ground was soaked in blood. The wolf with its eyes closed showed no evidence of life. The body was evident.
Does that mean he hunted?
It was inevitable that everyone’s eyes would turn to the man.
Perhaps he was savoring the softness of his fluffy fur, he was burying himself in it.
Then, gasping for breath as if she would run out of breath at any moment, she turned her weary eyes to everyone.
His hand was lifted weakly. It seemed like a sign of happiness.
“… … You’re too late, Professor Derek.”
There was a vague resentment in those words.