<Episode 35>

“Let’s go separately from here.”

“Moving alone is dangerous.”

Eveline needed time to move alone.

She needed a hideout to escape from the Alpha pack. A hideout sturdy enough to shelter from the rain.

Therefore, she needed time to search alone.

She knew of two caves. One was on the beach, and the other was far from here, atop the waterfall where she had spent a day with Abellard.

And if you climb to the top of one of the many mountains, there’s a blue temple.

Despite being at the mountain top, the trees grew so high that it was difficult to see the terrain below. That’s why she and Prince had climbed to a place with a clear view.

Even if it felt uncomfortable, she thought she had to visit that place once more.

“Eveline.”

“Oh, yes.”

She snapped out of her thoughts when Elkais blocked her way with his arm.

There was a large tree in front of her, and if she had taken one more step, she would have hit her face against it.

“What were you so deep in thought about?”

“It’s nothing special. I didn’t see anything unusual yesterday. So, did you or my brother see anything?”

As she started walking properly again, Elkais resumed leading the way.

“There is an identical island on the other side.”

“What? But we didn’t see it from the beach.”

“It was strange, so I didn’t mention it.”

It was impossible not to see an island near the beach.

Eveline frowned.

“From the place we went, you can only see the opposite island. It doesn’t appear from any other location.”

“It might be magic.”

“Yes.”

Eveline thought it strange that she, Elkais, Abellard, and even Grand Duke Croppers had no reason to come to this place.

Moreover, it was odd that Rubellite Croppers, who had been declared dead, was alive.

When he died, the Emperor was so grief-stricken that he mourned more for his beloved son Rubellite than he did for the Empress when she passed away.

How did he come back to life? Or had he never died in the first place?

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.

Illegal experiments by sorcerers.

“Elkais, I remember reading in the newspaper about you capturing all those sorcerers conducting illegal experiments.”

She referred to an article she had read before.

It was a well-known story, so even someone who rarely left the duke’s mansion like her knew about it.

“Did you know about that?”

“Yes. Please tell me more. I don’t remember the details.”

He drew his sword, ready to strike at anything that might appear. But today, no animals were in sight, which made him a bit concerned.

As he looked around, he continued speaking.

“The sorcerers I captured were modifying bodies. They were trying to create artificial Omegas using Betas.”

“Oh my.”

“But all the experiments failed. There wasn’t a single success.”

“Then what am I?”

“I don’t know. But I personally checked all those who failed. They couldn’t even emit pheromones.”

Elkais looked at Eveline reassuringly, his eyes filled with confidence, which gave her a small sense of relief.

“The subjects who were artificially turned into Omegas didn’t survive for more than an hour. Those born as Betas couldn’t endure the Omega constitution. Their hearts would become abnormal and burst.”

“….”

“Your case is clearly different. So, don’t worry.”

Sensing her anxiety, he spoke to comfort her.

But she remained uneasy, worrying about the possibility that she might be an experiment subject.

“Then what about experiments to turn an Omega into an Alpha?”

“There were no such experiments. Alphas and Omegas are completely different. Just transfusing their blood would be fatal, so it’s impossible.”

His firm words made her exhale a breath of relief.

“Don’t worry. Your breathing and pulse are normal. And you don’t feel any pain anywhere, right?”

Eveline felt grateful for his reassuring words.

“Can a Sword Master tell all that?”

“Mostly.”

After walking for a while, Elkais suddenly stopped. Then, to change the atmosphere, he spoke again.

“How about a bird’s nest?”

“Are you suggesting we take bird eggs?”

“Yes.”

Eveline laughed and said, “We’ll need quite a lot to feed all four of us.”

“I’ll climb the tree.”

He said this as he handed his sword to Eveline. It seemed she could hear the birds singing again.

She watched as Elkais leapt up the tree, wondering if she had been too burdened to hear the birds earlier.

He climbed the tree as effortlessly as if he were walking on the ground, without even losing his breath.

The forest was so dense that the trees were packed tightly together.

She observed as he shooed away the birds and collected the nests. Somehow, seeing him like this felt different from his usual dignified self, and she couldn’t help but chuckle.

He soon moved to a nearby tree and collected a similar nest.

There were many bird nests nearby, probably because there were so many trees. He moved around a few trees, collecting bird nests.

Then he jumped down from the high place without a sound.

“Not a sound when you land.”

“That’s basic.”

He said arrogantly, intending to lighten her mood, and as he hoped, she gave a silly laugh.

Elkais untied the pouch from inside his red cloak and showed it to her.

“There are so many.”

“Quite a lot, indeed.”

“Shall we just take these for today?”

“Let’s pick some raspberries on the way back. You seemed to like them last time.”

“Raspberries are delicious.”

Elkais laughed softly as he looked into her eyes.

“Then let’s pick some.”

With that, they headed to the place where they had seen the raspberries.

* * *

“The yucca should be around here.”

Abellard pouted as he searched for the yucca leaves he had seen nearby.

Yucca leaves were not only tasty but could also be used as natural soap.

He had often used yucca during the year he survived on the island.

Of course, with his divine power, he didn’t need to wash to stay clean, so he didn’t use it as soap.

What he had learned in that year was more about thinking of Eveline to regain his strength rather than survival skills.

The knowledge he had acquired was incidental.

“Is this it?”

He picked a similar long leaf and tasted it.

“Yuck. This isn’t it.”

He spat out what he had bitten immediately.

Abellard tried to recall the shape of the yucca leaves as he closely examined the surroundings, but there were so many similar plants that he couldn’t tell which were yucca leaves.

However, thinking back on what he had used before, he could make some distinctions.

“It’s much easier to find them over there.”

He remembered there were many yucca leaves near the temple of Yulias, where he originally stayed.

All the marked leaves were yucca leaves, so there was no confusion.

“Oh, I have a lot of blood on me.”

If he had blood on him, Eveline might get suspicious.

He didn’t care what others thought of him, but he didn’t want Eveline to see him that way.

“Let’s find it quickly.”

With that thought, he began tearing off one plant after another and shoving them into his mouth.

“Yuck. This isn’t it either.”

Then he quickly bit another leaf.

After several rounds of gagging, he finally found the yucca.

“After eating so much, I can’t even tell if this is the right taste.”

He picked up the only bland-tasting leaf among the nausea and bit it again. It seemed to be yucca, as it was quite edible.

He cut a bunch of yucca leaves from the nearby area. Using his divine power to cut them cleanly, he suddenly remembered that Eveline didn’t know how to use such things.

Holding a handful of yucca leaves in his left hand, he made a jagged cut on the edge of the leaf, shaking his hand to make it look as if it had been torn by hand.

“Ha, now it’s done.”

Feeling good about bringing this to Eveline, he happily headed back to the hut, thinking it might help her wash up.

At that moment, a blue note appeared before him.

[Illegal intruder allowance (1/0)

D-Day 4

Eliminate Grand Duke Rubellite Croppers.]

“Damn.”

He immediately understood the note’s meaning. With a cold expression, he sighed and placed the yucca leaves in the hut.

He hid the leaves under a pile of clothes, thinking she wouldn’t be able to use them if they were too visible, and then he had to climb the mountain again.

This time, to ensure the complete death of Grand Duke Croppers.