#099

“How can you remember something like that now?”

Cullen asked again with a bewildered expression at the unexpected information. Everyone else seemed to think similarly, staring at Arne. The villagers still looked wary, not understanding the situation. As a cold silence fell, Arne’s smiling face gradually became dejected.

“Well…… I only heard it in passing…… and my teacher made me call her by a title, not her name……. Until I heard it just now, I couldn’t recall it no matter how hard I tried.”

Arne’s voice faded to an inaudible whisper. Lasano broke the tense atmosphere.

“Well, it’s possible you couldn’t remember.”

Arne’s face brightened again at his words of support. Since Lasano had awakened, Arne, who had started to follow him even more, shyly smiled and quickly moved to his side. As Arne, who was the second tallest after Kiyen, approached, people flinched, but they gradually relaxed, thinking he was Lasano’s mercenary.

“Do you know Ruena?”

Haman, who had bravely stepped forward, asked Arne cautiously.

“Yes. She is my teacher. I am from the Exion Territory, and I was taken in by my teacher there.”

“Your teacher?”

“Ah, I am also a priest. A mere Common Priest, insignificant compared to Lord Lasano here.”

At the word “priest,” the villagers’ faces brightened considerably. They seemed to welcome Arne more than Lasano, the High Priest.

“Ruena is also a Common Priest! You said you were in the Exion Territory before coming here, so is that true?”

In an instant, people swarmed in, pushing Cullen and the other two back. Ulli whispered with a displeased look.

“Somehow, you always get the least attention, Cullen?”

While that might be true if one strictly followed hierarchy, he had lived his entire life as a commoner, so it held little meaning.

“That’s more comfortable.”

“You’re really strange.”

Cullen chuckled at Ulli’s cheerful laughter.

“You are no different.”

As they were exchanging words, his wrist was grabbed. The soft touch was unmistakable to Cullen. Startled, he turned his head and saw Kiyen’s narrowed pupils. It was a sign that he was displeased.

“Lord Kiyen? Are you alright?”

Although he clearly seemed displeased, Kiyen did not answer the question. As Cullen approached, worried, Kiyen pulled his wrist tighter. Because of that, their bodies pressed close together. His heart began to race instantly.

“……Lord Kiyen?”

Kiyen simply stared down at him. His blue eyes, deepened with gold, scanned Cullen for a long time, then he turned his gaze to Ulli behind him, who had an exasperated expression. Then, he said abruptly,

“I don’t like it.”

Since he didn’t specify what he disliked, the questions only deepened. However, he felt good. He liked that Kiyen had pulled him closer of his own volition, and he liked that he could smell Kiyen’s scent being so close.

“What is bothering you?”

“……Hmm.”

He seemed to be contemplating. As if he himself didn’t know the reason for his displeasure.

“Lord Cullen! They’re asking everyone to come inside!”

Just then, Arne shouted from afar. He had seamlessly blended into the crowd, just like when he was at the temple, and was smiling innocently as if he were already one of them. Ulli let out a hollow laugh.

The party was led into a small building that appeared to be an inn. As Kiyen had said before they entered, it was clearly of old construction. Even to Cullen, who had wandered the continent, the structure was unfamiliar. It had a foundation built of stone, which he had never seen before, and was decorated with mud; it was cool inside and solid outside. In the small space, barely large enough for ten people, was a long wooden table.

“Our village rarely has visitors, so when guests arrive, everyone stays here together. We see maybe one person a year.”

The mother of the young man named Haman told them.

Small pickled fruits and cool water were placed before each of them. Being hot, Ulli and Arne immediately drank the water. Cullen, too, reached out unconsciously due to thirst, but stopped abruptly. It was better to endure for now, just in case.

The woman’s gaze flickered towards Cullen and then away. It wasn’t a chilling sensation, but it felt wary.

“When did my teacher come here?”

“It was about four years ago. We thought she was a beggar. We found her collapsed from exhaustion and brought her in.”

“You didn’t come here immediately after leaving me……”

As Arne fell into thought for a moment, Lasano asked,

“What kind of person is she that you all cherish her so much?”

“She has done so much for us. Saying she was repaying a debt, she stayed in the village and acted as a doctor, and she told the children, who hadn’t learned to read, many things. We don’t have many literate people, nor books…… Haman also learned to read from Ruena.”

Then, Haman, who had been peeking at Ulli from behind, blushed. He said to the woman, flustered,

“M-Mother!”

“What is it?”

“You don’t really need to say that……”

Haman, who was hard to believe was the young man who had wielded a club so bravely, blushed. Looking closely at his shy face, he had a gentle, likable appearance.

“The Duke’s Territory is right nearby, so why live separately here? If you lived there, educating the children wouldn’t be difficult.”

As always, Kiyen, who had only been listening, posed a sharp question. He opened his mouth, stared intently at the water glass, then raised his eyes to look at the woman. The woman feigned a flustered expression before soon replying.

“The Duke’s territory is too vast… and we were born and raised here long ago, so we don’t have the means to live in a place like that. We have no foundation to settle.”

Kiyen wore a peculiar expression. With a crooked smile, he slowly drank his water. The woman, her eyes tense, observed Kiyen before asking Cullen,

“Aren’t you thirsty in this heat? Shall I bring you something else?”

It was suspicious. Cullen looked at her with a blank face, then glanced at Ulli and Arne. Both had emptied their water glasses in one go and were eating preserved fruit.

“I’m fine.”

“Still…”

“Are you forcing me?”

When Cullen asked in a low voice, the woman flinched and stepped back. Haman, his face flushing, quickly stepped in front of his mother at the sight.

“What are you doing to my mother?”

Before Haman’s words had even finished, Ulli and Arne slammed their faces onto the table. Thump! The loud sound made Lasano blink. He, who had just lifted his water glass, quietly set it down, while Cullen drew his sword with a cold gaze. In the blink of an eye, the sword touched Haman’s throat.

“I believe that’s the question I should be asking.”

Before she could even react, the woman screamed as the blade, sharp enough to slit her throat, touched her. At her voice, people from outside rushed in. Haman, his face ashen, stammered.

“So, you’re in league with them too…”

“Weren’t you the ones who attacked us first?”

A thin line of blood appeared on his throat, as if he were about to be decapitated at any moment.

“What are you doing!”

A middle-aged man with a scar on his face shouted. He held a sword that, though rusted, looked quite sharp.

“If you don’t explain immediately what you did to my companions, I will kill you all.”

Cullen’s threat, laced with killing intent, cast a silence over the room. Another person stepped forward. It was Haman’s father.

“Then you won’t be safe either.”

“Will we not?”

Lasano shrugged. The High Priest’s words had clearly had an effect, as the man flinched.

“Lord Cullen here can kill you all without much difficulty. He’s not someone you should treat carelessly.”

At his words, which spoke of death so casually, the middle-aged man retorted,

“Why are you traveling with someone like this? No, are you even the High Priest?”

Lasano smiled faintly.

“If I die, the goddess will let me know.”

Seeing that they showed no signs of backing down, Cullen moved. Then, the scarred middle-aged man threw his sword at Cullen. Before he could even twist his body to dodge it, the blade was automatically deflected elsewhere and embedded near Haman’s mother. The blade, grazing her head as it struck the wall, made the woman collapse.

“H-Hiiik…!”

Ignoring Haman’s scream, Cullen looked down at Kiyen. He sat leisurely, drinking his water, appearing to be the only one at peace in this situation.

“Did Kiyen-nim help?”

Kiyen did not reply. However, since he was undoubtedly the only one capable of such a feat, Cullen couldn’t help but smile.

“Alin, did you put the herbs in properly? Why is that person…”

Haman’s father asked, rushing to his wife.

So, something was put in the water. Just as he was about to ask what herbs were used, Kiyen spoke to Cullen.

“It seems to be Rattl-Pool.” It has a strong sedative effect, but it’s not poisonous, so they’ll wake up if left alone.”

“…It’s the first I’ve heard of such an herb.”

“I thought it was extinct. It seems to have survived here.”

Someone in the crowd spoke at Kiyen’s words.

“Ruena didn’t know about Rattl-full either…”

The voice was raspy. Cullen turned his head. Then, he saw an old woman pushing her way through the crowd. The old woman, her white hair tied up high, looked at Kiyen with a meaningful gaze. Her hand, gripping a cane, trembled.

“You are no ordinary person.”

“You seem to be as well.”

Kiyen slowly stood up. In the darkness, Kiyen’s eyes glowed golden. The old woman stared intently at him, whom she had to look up at for a long time to meet his eyes, then soon put down her cane and knelt.

“Please forgive us, great being…”

A murmur went through the crowd at the voice filled with fear and reverence. The people, looking back and forth between the old woman and Kiyen, knelt down as well.

“We meant no harm. It is true that Ruena-nim was kidnapped and that we were attacked… We only wanted to observe for your safety.”

“How did you know who I am?”

Kiyen bent his waist. His long hair flowed down elegantly in a straight line.

“There is a story passed down in this village for a long time. If there is gold accompanying one with purple eyes, he is a captured, ferocious dragon…”

The old woman said quietly.

“Do not dare to oppose him.”

It was a tale like a folktale, unheard of anywhere else. After finishing her words, the old woman turned her gaze towards Cullen. She said,

“Then you must be the precious descendant of our savior, Carias-nim.”

His mind became instantly complicated. Even the high-ranking nobles in the Imperial Palace hadn’t recognized Kiyen immediately, so how did this person know such a story?

As doubts sprouted, Cullen shifted the direction of his sword. As the sword was pressed against the old woman’s throat, people gasped. However, the old woman remained resolute.

“What kind of place is this?”

The old woman laughed. She slowly surveyed the inn, then bowed her head and said,

“This is Larcielien. A village of old sinners, where Carias-nim was born in ancient times.”