Episode 50
***
Leaving behind the winter land where the cold mercilessly scratched their tender skin, the three climbed the last hill of the Kelkov Hills, covered in thin snow.
Before them, standing on the hilltop, there was a plain of low grass and bushes. It was like the boundary between the wilderness and its surrounding winter.
The land was frozen and barren, like winter before spring. 1The land they are talking about is the land between the snow covered land behind them and the grass filled land in the distance.
And although there were still patches of snow that had not yet melted and covered the plains, Brody and Kyle were thrilled just to see the grassy fields in the distance.
After much hardship, they finally escaped the snow lands.
Looking at the sunset that painted the horizon of the wilderness red, Brody opened her mouth.
“We finally made it here.”
Kyle also agreed with her admiring words.
“…That’s right.”
Even though there was still a long way to go, the two people could not easily lift their feet from the top of the hill and stared blankly at the horizon.
The events of the past came to mind again, making them feel emotional for a moment.
A moment later, as if to awaken their spirits, Ron, who was nestled in Brody’s arms, gazed with round eyes at Brody’s hair blowing in the wind before reaching out and tugging at it.
Along with that, a small scream echoed through their minds, breaking their thoughts.
“Ouch!”
Ron burst into laughter, seemingly amused as he heard Brody scream.
Brody, who unluckily had her hair pulled, poked the little mischievous boy’s nose with her finger and said,
“Are you excited about meeting your mom soon?”
Ron grinned, not understanding what Brody was saying, but Brody took it as if he had understood and continued to whisper to him.
“Yeah. You’re excited too? I can see it in your eyes.”
“Seriously, it just keeps getting ridiculous.”
Kyle grumbled as he watched Brody having a serious conversation with a baby who couldn’t speak.
But Brody paid no attention to that, and after chatting with her new friend, she said to Kyle.
“You don’t know, but Ron and I can communicate with each other just by looking at each other’s eyes.”
“Is that something a person, who trembles all over when the baby starts crying, should say?”
“…Because it breaks my heart when Ron cries.”
“Then, just ask him not to cry with a look or something; his crying hurts my ears.”
Still, Ron didn’t cry even once while passing through the Kelkov Hills.
Brody snorted at Kyle’s words and engaged in a one-sided conversation with Ron as they continued down the hill.
In fact, the reason she talked to Ron so much was because she had heard from the women of the Yak tribe that if you talk to your baby a lot, the baby will learn to speak quickly.
Because of that, Brody ended up taking Ron as her talking buddy.
By the time the sun sank below the horizon and a purple mist descended.
They descended the Kelkov Hills and entered the moorland bordered by faded grass.
It was the first time in a long while that they had stepped on dirt. Of course, the ground was frozen solid, but Brody and Kyle were already moved by this, having entered a new phase of their journey.
***
That night.
To protect themselves from the wind, the two people set up a small tent in a small depression in the plain.
Kyle tied the goat to a pole in the tent he had just set up.
The tent was barely big enough for two people to lie down in. And Brody was perfectly happy with the size.
“My goodness, they gave us such a thoughtful size of the tent. It’s not for nothing that they say yaks are wise.”
Kyle said, throwing a small wooden shovel at Brody’s feet, who was applauding the yaks facing towards the northwest.
“Stop talking nonsense and come and get me some goat dung, you idiot.”
“Yes, I understand, honey.”
It was a vengeful reply to Kyle for ruining the mood, but now that he had gotten used to the word ‘honey’, Kyle simply ignored it and focused on gathering dry brushwood and making a fire.
When he didn’t respond, Brody, who was getting bored, clicked her tongue and went to get some dung from the goat grazing nearby.
While Kyle built the fire, Brody milked the goat that was grazing to feed the baby.
Having learned from the women of the Yak tribe for several days, she was familiar with the way of milking goats.
Then she put the milk-filled pot on the fire that Kyle had prepared and boiled the goat milk.
The boiled goat milk was then cooled and transferred to several bottles because it had to be fed to the baby several times a day, from morning to evening the next day.
Brody wrapped all the milk bottles in cloth and put them in the backpack she carried.
The two people, who had always lived simply, were having their first time lighting a fire, pitching a tent, and taking care of a child, but they were able to finish their work without difficulty and entered the tent.
Of course, Kyle’s complaints were bound to come.
“We have to repeatedly do all of this until we reach Volcan.”
At Kyle’s words, who was sighing while chewing on beef jerky, Brody, who was the one who brought Ron, looked into his eyes and tried to cheer him up.
“But isn’t it better to have a baby than to just live alone together?”
“Not at all. It’s just annoying.”
As the answer suggested, Kyle really had no interest in Ron.
During the whole trip, he didn’t even try to look at the baby, and he didn’t respond even when Brody made a fuss about how cute the baby was. In the first place, he didn’t understand why Brody was interested in Ron and why she liked him.
Knowing this, Brody hoped Ron wouldn’t cry so much.
Kyle already hated babies, so how much more would he hate them if he continued to cry and make a fuss without being able to speak about what he wanted?
Of course, it was also because she didn’t want to get on his nerves with the baby’s business.
He was already going through unnecessary hardships just carrying the load, lighting the fire, and pulling the goat.
“Hey.”
Brody didn’t hear the first time Kyle called her because of all these thoughts, but she came to her senses the second time he called her.
“Hey.”
“Huh? What?”
“Why have you been scratching there since a while ago?”
He pointed to her collarbone, where she kept scratching, with an annoyed expression.
Brody, who had no idea what she was doing, put her hand down with an embarrassed expression and said, “Ah.”
“I don’t know. I think I got bitten by a bug.”
“If the weather weren’t so cold, that could have been possible.”
“Oh…”
Brody smiled awkwardly and continued speaking.
“Come to think of it, remember what Ason said last time? There are things in the wilderness that torment the mind. Could it be bugs or something? Mosquitoes torment not only the body but also the mind.”
Kyle furrowed his brows as he listened to Brody’s guess.
Brody thought he was ignoring her as if she was talking nonsense, but he soon nodded and answered.
“That makes sense.”
So the two of them were wondering what the ‘delusion’ that Ason had said meant and tried to figure it out before going to bed.
When they fell into a deep sleep, everything around them became silent.
It was a strangely deep silence.
The wind stopped blowing and the grass became silent, as if they were cautious of something.
Soon after, creatures that fed on the souls of the broken ones appeared in this wilderness.
They then seeped into the clouded minds of the strangers.
***
Kyle, for the first time in a long time, had a dream about the place where he used to live.
It was the valley of Roden, his hometown, which was green all year round.
In his dream, he was lying in the middle of an emerald lake as clear as a mirror, younger than he was now.
As soon as Kyle saw himself floating in the lake, he knew why he was there.
‘You, a man who can’t even control his anger, are going to follow in my footsteps and lead the pack?’
‘Kyle, wake up and look at your little brother Abel. Please, watch him and learn from his prudence. How long are you going to be the older brother who is worse than his younger brother?’
As the unpleasant voice came to mind, Kyle, who was lying on the water, closed his eyes and sank.
He was submerged in water for a long time, without anyone saying anything or disturbing him.
It was a habit of his. Ever since he was little, whenever he fought with his father and felt upset, he would always spend time at this lake.
This was because there was no one to lean on and no place to rest comfortably in his house.
However, once he entered the water, he was safe from everything.
From his father’s words that always bring up his younger brother and compare and belittle him, from all the words and gazes of those who criticize him and say he was a loser.
The young Kyle was submerged in the water like that and swam out when he was almost out of breath.
As he emerged from the lake, only sadness remained in his eyes, slowly welling up and then sinking to the bottom.
‘Did you fight with the leader again?’
A crow sitting on a tree branch asked him.
Ignoring the question, Kyle picked up his clothes and walked through the forest surrounding the lake, shaking the water off his head.
But on his way out of the forest, he ran into a girl.
She was a beautiful girl with dark brown hair and blue eyes.
The girl recognized Kyle and greeted him, but Kyle passed by without responding to her greeting.
The time they faced each other was only a moment, so little that they did not make any special impression on each other.
But when Kyle and the girl had grown some distance apart, the crow that had been following him spoke excitedly.
‘Mr. Kyle, don’t you know? That young lady is none other than Miss Zelda Arsha! She is rumored to be the strongest and most beautiful woman among the young ladies of her age. ‘
Kyle, who had not been interested enough to look back until then, stopped in his tracks at the words that followed.
‘You’re friends with Abel, right? Rumor has it that Abel has a crush on Miss Zelda.’
A crack appeared on his once expressionless face.
Kyle stopped and looked back.
In his empty eyes, curiosity flashed for a moment, then turned into twisted interest, like a thorn.
Perhaps sensing his intense gaze, the girl stopped after walking a few steps and turned to face Kyle.
Soon, the two people’s blue gazes became entangled in the air.
Although the two did not realize it, it was not just their gazes that were entangled.
Through this brief moment, they became entangled in each other’s futures.
Very deeply, very intensely. And very viciously.
***
“Kyle.”
Kyle woke up with a start, hearing a voice calling him from outside his dream.
When he opened his eyes, there was a different woman from the one in his dream before him.
Brody looked down at him and said.
“Kyle, wake up.”
