Chapter 33
Ominous Contract (4)
…How long had it been—seconds, hours? Days? The indescribable flow of time passed until Therion gently pulled on my hand.
It felt like he had pulled me up from the depths of a very deep abyss, but in reality, he had simply tugged on the hand he was already holding. Barely a few seconds had passed.
It was just a blink in the pitch-black darkness.
Breathing heavily as if I had just been pulled from the depths of the ocean, Therion patted my back and watched me carefully.
“I guess I should have said something. I’m sorry.”
“…Hah, ha. Haah…. What, is this.”
I spoke before catching my breath, then belatedly tried to steady my breathing. He closed his mouth and smiled brightly.
The hand patting my back had already stopped.
“Still, it’s nice to see Edith flustered for the first time. Hmm, no. You were this surprised when the humans said they wanted to have a barbecue, weren’t you?”
I was also certainly surprised then. More bewildered, though.
“…..”
No, Therion wasn’t there at that time?
“How do you know about that…”
“Therion.”
“…..”
He emphasized his name, “Therion,” once more as he pulled me to sit on a chair.
There was no strength in my body at all, so after sitting down, I checked where the chair had come from, only to realize it was an altar. This is crazy.
He bent down to pick up the lamp that had fallen to the floor, then straightened up and whined playfully.
“I told you to call me Therion. Come on, Edith. You’ve made a contract with me now. How long are you going to keep addressing me so coldly with ‘you, you’?”
“…Alright. Therion, how do you know about this?”
“I know all about the unknown things that can’t be spoken of.”
So you can eavesdrop on everything, huh.
He answered simply and placed the lamp next to me. Only then could I faintly see his expression. It held some subtle emotion.
…I thought he would be more overwhelmed or happy after seeing my memories. Or maybe even change completely.
He spoke up tentatively with a concerned expression.
“About your memories, Edith. I only got a small taste today, but…”
“Ah.”
Sorry.
I cut off his words abruptly and stood up.
Damn, seeing the light reminded me of something.
“Ethan Behemoth.”
“You… What?”
The serious expression on Rimos Therion’s face shattered.
Regardless, I had an urgent matter at hand. Ethan Behemoth…!
I had completely forgotten.
“Young Lord Behemoth might wake up…! If it’s discovered that I made a contract with a demon in this suspicious cavern, I might be imprisoned for decades without even being able to die in this life.”
“Are you afraid of being accused as a witch?”
“It’s not so much fear as it is horrifying. No, anyway. I need to go check quickly.”
I loosened my ankles and confirmed that I could walk without difficulty.
As I quickly headed towards the entrance of the cavern, Therion followed closely behind. He looked somewhat displeased.
“I was trying to say something important…”
“You said you’d help me finish this life well, but are you already breaking the contract? What could be more urgent and important than this?”
“No… It really was important…”
Important words, well. I’m not really curious.
Just in case, I added.
“Oh, and hide your appearance.”
“…I have some sense too, you know.”
He whined, sounding wronged. But I knew he wasn’t actually that upset.
I’m quite skilled at distinguishing exaggeration.
Hurrying along, unlike before, it took less than a few minutes to reach the entrance of the cavern.
And Ethan Behemoth….
“Phew.”
Fortunately, he was lying in the exact same position I had left him in.
Therion, standing behind me, stared down at him and casually said:
“Shall we get rid of him?”
“Ah, can you take him outside the cavern?”
“Of course I can do that too, but…”
He knelt down and firmly pressed his hand on Ethan Behemoth’s neck. There was no hesitation at all.
“I meant like this?”
“…Therion. Remove your hand.”
I didn’t feel good about this at all.
As I warned him in a low voice, Therion withdrew his hand and lowered his eyebrows.
“This would be simpler…”
“Do you know how many people Ethan Behemoth will save later? He’s a hero. He needs to survive here to grow.”
“Isn’t Edith alone enough?”
…What does that mean?
‘I’m enough alone?’
Unable to understand at all, I tilted my head slightly as I looked at him, and he added:
“I think even Edith is too good for this world.”
“That’s because you’re a demon, Therion.”
Good grief. Clicking my tongue, I knelt down where he had been kneeling and examined Ethan Behemoth’s condition.
‘…It’s serious.’
Seeing that he didn’t react even to Therion’s murderous intent when pressing his neck, it seemed he had fallen into a severe state of unconsciousness.
I suppose it’s natural, given how he overexerted himself and was then left unattended for a while. Perhaps it’s a side effect of consuming too much of a monster’s core at such a young age.
‘…Maybe I shouldn’t have told him.’
I felt a bit heavy-hearted, thinking that the information I had given with good intentions might have ended up hurting him instead.
Turning to Therion, I reached out my hand.
“Do you have any elixir?”
“…Pardon?”
“Elixir. Elixir. Don’t you know what it is?”
“No. I know. Here….”
“Thank you. I’ll repay you later.”
I had saved mine only to give it to Camilla and Yan, who were better off than me.
‘Come to think of it, I wonder if they survived.’
I hope they’re alive.
Thinking vaguely, I took the elixir Therion handed me and gently opened Ethan Behemoth’s mouth to pour it in little by little.
After confirming that his Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed the elixir, I carefully laid his head back on the ground.
“That should give him some relief. …Ah, Therion. You said we could get out of here, right?”
“Of course. …But you’re planning to take Young Lord Behemoth too, aren’t you?”
“Why would I have given him the elixir if I was going to leave him here? Come on, let’s go quickly.”
At my urging, he obediently held out one hand. It seemed physical contact was necessary to leave the cavern.
‘Should I shamelessly take advantage of this?’
I placed one hand on Ethan Behemoth’s shoulder and reached out with the other to hold Therion’s hand. He closed his eyes and was about to use magic…
…but suddenly opened them again.
“Edith.”
‘What is it?’
“…Is there a problem?”
“No, that’s not it. I just have something to ask…”
“What is it…?”
With an expressionless face, he looked down at me kneeling and asked, as if genuinely curious:
“Are you saving Lord Behemoth because he ‘can save people’?”
“If I had to say, yes.”
“I see.”
“But why are you—”
Why are you asking this?
Before I could finish my sentence, he closed his eyes once and opened them, and we were outside.
A magic power quite different from that of humans, murky and intense, spread throughout my body and then dissipated.
‘…It’s indeed different from what I felt in that barrier.’
Who on earth is the real owner of the curse?
“Ugh.”
The dawn, stained with blood, had already passed, and the sun was rising.
My eyes stung from the beautiful sunlight shining between the ravines.
“The sun…”
I muttered absent-mindedly, like someone seeing the sun for the first time, forgetting to shield my eyes.
At that moment, Ethan Behemoth, sprawled on the ground, let out a groan.
“Urgh…”
‘Has he regained consciousness?’
“…! Ethan, are you awake?”
“……”
Is he conscious? It didn’t seem like it.
Ethan tightly closed his eyes, furrowing his sculptured brow, and muttered something in a small voice, his words spaced out.
I couldn’t hear well, so I brought my ear closer. What is he saying?
As I concentrated, I could barely make out his voice.
What he was saying was…
“Edith Crowell…”
…My name? I got goosebumps.
Why is he muttering my name while on the verge of death?
Don’t tell me Ethan Behemoth is about to regress too?
‘…He shouldn’t die since I gave him the elixir.’
I rubbed my arms, trying to calm the goosebumps that had risen.
‘This feels unsettling somehow.’
Removing my hand from his shoulder, I hastily called out to Therion.
“Therion, can you help support Ethan?”
“After I take care of what you asked.”
Therion smiled slightly as he took off the hood he had been wearing all along.
The sunlight shattered on his delicate white hair, giving off an aura that felt almost divine.
‘Wow….’
Despite knowing his true nature, I found myself staring at his face for a while.
Until Therion slyly raised a hand to his cheek, feigning modesty.
“Do you like my face?”
“Ah… No, that’s not it.”
I quickly averted my gaze and sighed.
‘His face is truly unfair…’
🥀
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