EP: 106
“Thank you.”
It was when Muriel heard the news that they’d arrived at Rockford’s hometown and dashed out like an arrow. Onda spoke sheepishly to the back of Kaiton’s head, which was about to follow Muriel out. It was at the last moment when he mustered up the courage to say what he’d been hesitating to decide to say or not throughout the entire journey.
“I…I didn’t think…I properly thanked you…”
Kaiton raised an eyebrow, looking at Ondal, who was fidgeting and unable to meet his gaze. There was no reason for Ondal to look down, since Kaiton had cast a disguise spell on Muriel and Ondal before the carriage had stopped. Instead of a unique appearance that attracted attention wherever Ondal went, he now had an ordinary face that didn’t catch anyone’s eye.
Nevertheless, Ondal rolled his eyes and averted his gaze, fluttering his eyelashes. Kaiton considered it was a lack of confidence, but that wasn’t it for Ondal.
Ondal felt gratitude towards Kaiton. The more beautiful the world that met his eyes, the greater the grace he owed to Kaiton grew. Yet, the wariness and jealousy he felt towards him didn’t disappear, and his mind felt complicated. Even with Muriel’s pacio and heart, he still despised and disliked Kaiton for being heartless and cruel. But there was immense gratitude beside that, so he was at an embarrassing loss. He didn’t know how to see Kaiton.
In addition, hidden under the cover of intense jealousy and wariness, the sense of awe and admiration that had been crouching down all this time suddenly spread its wings and began to fly energetically, making the inside of his heart gradually grow noisy.
“Um… I will definitely… repay the favor. Someday, I will also help you, Kaiton…”
“Not really.”
Ondal squeezed his courage and stuttered as he spoke, but Kaiton’s sour reply cut him off.
“I didn’t do anything just for you.”
“…Well, I still received help…”
Kaiton looked down at Ondal, who was desperately talking. Seeing his eyes narrow, he seemed to have something to say. Ondal waited for a long time for his words to fall, careful not to make the sound of even a gulp. However, Kaiton’s momentarily opened lips closed firmly with an irritated click of his tongue.
“…Don’t get all worked up.”
“…Yes.”
Ondal nodded with a melancholic expression in response to Kaiton’s remark that was thrown so casually. It wasn’t until he felt a sense of disappointment that he realized deep down his wish to become closer with Kaiton. But his wish was over before he could even try. He just thanked the cold Kaiton, for he felt that he would not offer him any companionship other than that.
Contrary to Ondal’s thoughts, however, it was Kaiton’s own childish jealousy which made his face stiff. When Ondal said he would repay the favor, Kaiton embarrassingly recalled the image of On Dal hugging and crying with Muriel. Although Muriel and Ondal were immediately separated, the sight of the two who seemed to have a close bond lingered in his mind the whole time.
So, foolishly, he almost said, “If you’re grateful to me, don’t freely hug Muriel in front of me, don’t act flirtatiously, don’t stare at her recklessly, don’t act so friendly, don’t laugh.” He managed to hold back thanks to his magic disguise. If he had seen the white hair and red eyes that Muriel praised throughout the journey in the carriage with compliments like pretty, shiny as a jewel, cute like Fen, he would have been unable to contain himself and said shameful things in the end.
However, what Kaiton didn’t realize was that he had yielded in a way to Ondal. Just as Ondal had changed, so had Kaiton. After seeing Ondal release the anger and solitude he had been holding back, he felt a sense of alikeness and compassion for Ondal. It was because he saw his own past in On Dal. Although he had ignored the idea of Sharan and Ur becoming close, the fact remained that Kaiton had unconsciously offered his companionship to Ondal.
Ondal and Kaiton, both feeling down due to their misunderstandings, heard a loud explosion as they disembarked the carriage. Small pieces of wood scattered in all directions, fragments of an explosion, while a cloud of dust rose from the ground, obscuring their vision.
They wondered what the hell had happened in that brief moment. Kaiton, covering his nose and mouth with his clothes, quickly scanned the area for Muriel. With her distinctive blue hair, she would stand out even in such a situation. But since he had put a disguise spell on her, she wasn’t easy to find.
Then, a massive figure standing somewhere suddenly stiffened and fell back like a stone. Only then did Muriel, who had been behind that figure, come into view. She had a mischievous and sinister smile that would always appear when she was angry.
“Look. We want a peaceful resolution for both sides.”
“Whoo….”
“For everyone’s sake.”
It was unmistakably his Muriel Storm, with her habit of brushing back her hair and raising her eyes fiercely. Despite the magic distorting her facial features, Muriel Storm was still Muriel Storm.
As the dust settled, the chaotic scene around them became apparent. The massive wooden barrier that had surrounded the house, seemingly built to isolate the demon, was shattered into pieces. Nearby, knights wearing armor similar to the fallen knight who had fallen like a tree by an axe were lying on the ground.
Although the explosion had spared the house, due to having been abandoned and isolated for a long time, it had already turned into ruins. Seeing the miserable sight, Rockford dropped to his knees and sobbed sorrowfully.
“Honey… I’m here.”
***
“Go in. We’ll guard the outside.”
Even though she must have been tired from running around tirelessly for five days, Debbie immediately took out the magic circle. She said she would surround the house with a defensive barrier to prevent any disruptions to the funeral.
“Are you okay? You can rest for a bit…”
As Rockford began to cry, the children of the thieves’ gang, including Cece, burst into loud wails as well. It was awkward to tell them to wait a little longer, but the black mages needed rest too.
The children of the thieves’ gang had yet to learn how to ride the Murishi, so the ones who had ridden ahead and arrived in just a few days with them were the black wizards. They were the ones on night duty when camping, and they were the ones who captured monsters to prevent them from running.
“It’s fine. Everyone would run away just by looking at the Murishi’s faces. What is there to worry about?”
Even though she must have been exhausted, Debbie jokingly said, entering into preparations for the task at hand. In her hand she held the magic circle for creating a massive defense barrier. It had been meticulously crafted and constantly refined during their travels in anticipation of a confrontation.
When Muriel looked at her with concern, Debbie smiled playfully, showing her the magic circle for the defense barrier. Her tone was as light as her smile, but her serious gaze was pretty reliable.
“We’ve worked hard on this, so we should be able to hold out until the funeral is over. Neither you nor Kaiton will have to run out in the middle of the ceremony. Trust me. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll draw my sword, or something.”
The sword that Debbie mentioned was the one belonging to the fallen knight on the ground. Debbie’s physical strength made lifting such a heavy-looking job seem pretty challenging, but Muriel did not mention that and obediently nodded her head.
“Yes, I’ll leave it to you.”
When did the timid and cautious baby squirrel become so reliable? Rockford stood in front of Debbie, his eyes welling up with tears. As Rockford leaned in closer, Debbie flinched and subtly moved her hips back, but Muriel chose not to mention this either.
“Why… why are you doing this?”
“Can you give me a ribbon? I want to give it as a gift to my wife, to properly send her off… as a token of gratitude of those who have helped us.”
Debbie was only frightened of Rockford’s rough appearance despite his eyes turning red. However, Rockford quickly bowed his head and apologized, assuming that Debbie didn’t want to give him a ribbon.
“Oh… I’m sorry. A wizard wouldn’t have brought a ribbon… I said something silly… I apologize.”
“No, I have… a ribbon… I brought it just in case, since we’re coming for a funeral…”
“You… brought a ribbon?”
As Debbie awkwardly scratched the back of her head and took out a neat ribbon from her pocket, Rockford’s eyes welled up with emotion.
“I was just a little surprised. I brought it, but I didn’t expect you to ask for a ribbon.”
Funerals held a special meaning to the people of Bulrion. It was a farewell to this life and a send-off for the departed, preparing them for their next life. That’s why the funeral casket always contained fire for their pacio and soul, water and fruits for their physical body, and a ribbon symbolizing their connections. Among them, the ribbon represented the precious ties of the current life and the desire to meet again in the next life. Placing a ribbon in the casket was more than just a ceremonial act; it was a solemn promise to continue the ties they had with each other and the most profound way of mourning.
So when Rockford asked Debbie for a ribbon, and Debbie pulled one out of her pocket, Muriel was also surprised. It was now clear to her that they had truly become tightly connected, true comrades.
As Debbie handed the split ribbon to Rockford, the other black wizards also took out ribbons they had kept in their pockets and handed them to Rockford. Rockford’s hands were soon filled with neatly made ribbons. Looking at the ribbons in his hands, Rockford sobbed again, and Muriel, as well as the little members of the thief gang, had reddened eyes.
“I will treasure them.”
***
Muriel cut down the demon in one fell swoop. Contrary to her desire to do it with piety and caution, the reality was rough and urgent. She had to protect people from the white ghost that gorged on pacio. It descended on her mercilessly, much like when Muriel cut down the thing.
Muriel realized her mistake only when she saw the startled and hardened Rockford. She should have blocked him from the end. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, so she should have ordered him not to enter until she’d taken care of it. Foolishly however, Muriel allowed Rockford and the little thieves to come in with her together.
What did she expect? A demon who had lost her reason and pacio, no longer human, recognizing her husband and shedding tears of poignant reunion? Due to her amateurish and naive expectations, Rockford had been forced to experience the tragedy of his wife turning into a beast once more and lunging at him.
Rockford said that his wife had a warm heart and always a striking laughter on her face. However, the person Muriel saw… was not like that. Could anyone call that appearance a person? Muriel shuddered at the thought of the pale ghost that sent chills down her spine with just a passing glance.
The tragedy of a loved one experienced up close for the first time. It clung to the skin so coldly and persistently. Muriel’s gaze involuntarily turned to Kaiton. If her skin could feel such agony even with Rockford’s situation, if she were to explore a tragedy more closer to her… would she be able to bear it?
Muriel tried to cut off the idea of leading ominously. But it wasn’t that easy, as Rockford cried, embracing the pieces of wood that remained at the bottom of the ruins, instead of his wife, who had disappeared into ashes. The grief of the one left behind was so desolate.
***
A small coffin was placed neatly in the center of the tidied house, even if not as tidy as what it would have been like before. Though there was no body of the deceased, various colored knots put in by the people of the ghost estate took their flames. Magic flames flickered delicately inside glass bottles, and bread made with care by Chen and fruits gathered from the surrounding forest filled the space beside it. With a clean water bottle being the final addition, the preparations for the funeral were complete.
As Muriel watched Rockford’s tears fall into the water bottle, she quietly stepped back.
“Kaiton.”
It bothered her that Kaiton had been keeping his distance from everyone throughout. He seemed to want to hide it, but his somber mood weighed heavily on her mind.
“Are you okay?”
His eyes, silently looking down at Muriel, were clearly sunk, hiding their loneliness. They were empty, as if he had chosen to feel desolate rather than torment. Yet, in a low voice, he pretended in a sarcastic, low voice.
“There’s no reason for me to not be okay.”
“I know… Just, I’m worried.”
Then why do you have that expression? Like you’re about to cry.
Instead of asking about his sincerity, Muriel stood by his side and quietly held his hand. She just wanted to comfort him. She didn’t know why he suddenly had pained eyes as if he was enduring bitter wounds all of a sudden. She wanted to tell him that it’s okay, that she’s here, but his hand fell away from hers. Kaiton skillfully avoided eye contact and distanced himself from Muriel.
“I’ll be outside. The shield is shaking.”
Before she could even respond or hold him back, Kaiton strode out of the house, leaving behind only an obvious excuse.
Why?
The unease of the question rang in her mind like an alarm.
***
It was a sight straight out of hell. The procession of demons writhed and stretched endlessly. No matter how much he looked around, all he could see were pure white demons, giving him the illusion that he’d returned to the plateau.
Kaiton flew low over the remnants of the dreadful disaster and stood before the sealed gate. His face, confronting his own guilt and mistakes so blatantly, became pensive. He desperately tried to seal the gate. Yet, even after squeezing every drop of power and pacio, pushing himself to the point of freezing his own heart, all he managed to do was patch up the barely torn seams.
The seal would break soon. The seal that barely held the demons back would shatter and plunge the kingdom into chaos. The unfortunate ghosts behind it were Kaiton’s mistakes. They were mirrors reflecting his wretched past. Here were the tombs of those who had sacrificed their pacio to the orb of Ur that he had split into seven pieces.
His seal to confine the demons was imperfect, often breaking and attacking the surroundings. It was like a wildfire ignited by a small spark. As the wildfire spread, those attacked by the demons created new demons, exponentially multiplying their numbers.
This wasn’t Kaiton’s intention, but he felt no remorse. If eventually, the seal couldn’t hold and burst open, and if this colossal demon’s catastrophe were to engulf the kingdom, he had wanted to consider it a success in his own revenge.
But not anymore. Now he regretted all that arrogance.
‘Can you give me a ribbon? I will cherish it for the rest of my life.’
The face of the rugged man who asked him for a ribbon, saying he would hold a funeral for his demonized wife, flashed before him. The sound of crying children as they sniffled in front of the empty coffin echoed in his ears. Muriel’s eyes, red as she looked at them, and her tears of remorse painfully rebuked his guilt.
Kaiton felt powerless as he cradled his face with his hands. The unfortunate ghosts who couldn’t approach him because of the pieces of Ur but were eagerly eyeing his pacio hovered around him and cried out with mournful voices.
What kind of expression will you have?
You, who became contemplative just by seeing your colleague’s wife in her demonized state, if you find out about this hell I have created… What will you say to me?
Kaiton became afraid. For in the end, after failing to taint Muriel with his darkness, he fell in love with her. He became breathtakingly terrified of the shadows he couldn’t reveal to Muriel.
***
Was it because he suddenly left and quickly reappeared? Or Was it because of his sluggish and stooped footsteps unlike usual? Muriel noticed at once that the white creature crossing the room in the moonlight was not Fen.
“Kaiton?”
It seemed like she was right. Muriel pulled back the blanket from her bed and stood up, and Kaiton, pretending to be Fennir, silently stared at her.
“Why…”
What’s wrong with you?
Are you okay?
What’s wrong?
Even if she asked the habitual questions that had become a part of their exchanges, there would be no answer. Muriel breathed deeply like a sigh and lightly tapped the seat next to her.
“Come here.”
Wow. The bed shook excessively, and the cool body temperature burrowing into Murriel’s arms was Kaiton, who had returned to his original form. His round head, flickering as if seeking warmth, was moist, as if it had been touched by the night dew. At the end of it, there was a faint hint of the unfamiliar scent of the forest and the pungent smell of smoke, indicating that he had gone out for a night stroll somewhere again today.
“I’d like you to tell me what’s going on…”
Muriel eventually asked again when he was hugging her so hard that she couldn’t breathe. His desperate and clinging gestures seemed so pitiful and desperate that she could not help it. If you tell me what the hell is going on, I’ll comfort you. As she gently stroked his wet hair, as if coaxing him, his black eyes looked up at her and said,
“I love you.”
AAAAA
I love Kaiton ngl, i really do, he’s such a well-written character, what with his pride and stubbornness. He’s really given a fair stage, and I love that.
Also love how Muriel never falls for his bs acting as Fenrir but he tries everytime
