#138

It was a face he couldn’t mistake. It was Lasano, his companion and the High Priest. Surprisingly, the boy had grown into an adult while retaining his youthful features.

As his red eyes, pooled with rainwater, widened in surprise at his own reflection, pain spread across his back. A heavy, thick whip sliced sharply across his back.

‘Ah, aagh!’

A scream erupted, independent of Cullen’s will. No, it was Lasano who screamed. His exhausted body trembled and contorted in pain. An act most strictly forbidden by the Empire was being carried out as if it were nothing.

The whip cracked again! It was swung with a sharp sound. Exhausted by the extreme pain, his body seemed to have lost the strength to scream, and this time, it convulsed.

‘Hey, Village Chief. Isn’t this too much this time?’

Just then, someone spoke from above Lasano, who was being beaten. Fear flickered in the voice. The village chief sternly denied the words of the woman, presumed to be middle-aged.

‘No. You were too lenient before. Ever since this demon was born, so many disasters have occurred, yet we couldn’t make a decision. Didn’t you all see? With the appearance of that demon brat, the East burned, and the repercussions almost reached here.’

The others murmured in agreement with the one called the village chief. Every voice was filled with madness.

‘That’s right! We’ve already suffered damage. Ever since then, it’s always raining, isn’t it? The fruits that used to grow well have all withered, and the land has become muddy, making it difficult to farm.’

‘And the sky is always gray!’

Cullen listened blankly to the illogical words and raised his head. He turned towards the direction of the voice that had tried to stop the village chief.

With his face barely lifted, he met their gaze. The woman, who appeared plain, held a child in her arms.

However, the woman was not pitying Lasano.

‘But he’ll die like this. The strangers who just arrived seemed like clueless nobles; if they see something like this happening in the village, won’t they run away? Then the deal might fall through.’

She was merely afraid that he would die and ruin things.

‘Die!’

The man beating Lasano scoffed.

‘This monster brat survives and recovers no matter what! How could he possibly die?’

As if to prove it, he swung the whip across Lasano’s back. The pain flashed before his eyes, and his torn throat stung.

This situation, whether an illusion, a delusion, or truly Lasano’s past, was as vivid as reality. Even Cullen, who had endured countless pains, found it overwhelming. It was likely because the body enduring it was that of a child.

‘Look, look.’

‘It’s disgusting no matter how many times I see it.’

As he felt his wounds faintly begin to heal, the people whispered. Their voices were genuinely disgusted. As if the healing power, a symbol of their ‘goddess,’ was something wicked.

‘If we cut off his limbs, he might die?’

They spoke such chilling words with ease. It would have been more fitting to call them demons.

‘If the sun doesn’t rise this year either, it would be best to do so. Since the mother who tried so hard is also dead, there’s no need for us to hoard food anymore.’

‘Yes, let’s do that.’

A death sentence was passed. The moment he heard the words ‘kill him,’ Cullen felt fear swell within him. The instinct to survive took over. Lasano began to crawl towards the woman holding the child. Moving his trembling, mud-covered arms, he grabbed the woman’s shoe.

‘P-p-p-please, s-save me…….’

His pronunciation slurred with a trembling jaw. Fear overwhelmed the boy, beyond Cullen’s control. A weak voice, which might have evoked pity, or rather guilt, escaped.

But the woman merely squinted and shook her foot as if to brush off the dirt on her shoe. With a flick, her foot recoiled. The man beside her exclaimed in disgust.

‘How dare you touch me with your filthy hands!’

Lasano’s action incited the crowd’s fury. The whip, now much fiercer, tore Lasano’s back to shreds. As the merciless abuse continued, his vision gradually blurred, and darkness enveloped him. All sounds, all pain, all sensation vanished, replaced by a hollow darkness.

Within it, Cullen shuddered at the vivid sensations he had just experienced. His consciousness drifted like a floating soul.

Only after the ripples of pain subsided slightly could Cullen think. Due to his strong assimilation with Lasano’s memories, it took a moment to realize who he was. The aftereffects were immense.

As his self slowly returned, Cullen tried hard to understand the current situation.

Cullen, stay calm. Think carefully. This is probably Lasano’s memory. Why am I seeing this all of a sudden?

The voice he heard just before collapsing in the fog came to mind. He remembered hearing the phrase ‘the weight of memories’ along with words about undergoing a trial. He didn’t know exactly what was happening, but he was clearly within Lasano’s memories.

Is the trial about facing the most agonizing moments?

Cullen continued his thoughts with difficulty. What he had just experienced was a fleeting moment, yet it felt eternally long and horrific.

If this was truly Lasano’s past, he had lived in an unbelievable place. The people spoke of the goddess but failed to recognize silver hair and red eyes. Despite the arrival of nobles, they inflicted forbidden acts upon a child.

He had never imagined such a place could exist, but perhaps this was a village where common sense simply didn’t apply. If it were a truly remote place, it might be possible. They seemed unaware of the cause of the East’s fire, a disaster of near-apocalyptic proportions, and blaming Lasano for the climate change caused by the fire was proof of that.

As Cullen slowly regained his composure, his vision wavered. The pain, which had momentarily disappeared, surged back. A faint moan escaped his lips. His flickering vision gradually sharpened, and his senses became clear. He smelled damp earth and the metallic scent of blood. It was Lasano’s.

In the pitch-black darkness, the barn-like space was silent. Only loneliness and despair lingered darkly. Without the sound of chirping insects or rustling creatures, only the sound of rain cruelly echoed in his ears. With his face buried in the floor, Cullen merged with Lasano’s thoughts.

Fear and longing filled the boy’s heart. The father he never had since birth, the sick mother who waited for such a man, flashed through his mind. As he was drowning in despair with nowhere to go, he heard footsteps approaching. Reflexively convulsing, he sat up, and a voice spoke.

‘It’s you. My cousin.’

The voice, heard for the first time, sounded like someone around Lasano’s age, but it possessed a dignity unlike anyone else’s. It was calm and refined. As he blankly raised his gaze, lamplight fell upon him. As his eyes closed from the sudden light, the words continued.

‘How pathetic.’

Beyond the dry voice, a hint of sadness flickered.

‘Your uncle would have been terribly sad if he were alive.’

Incomprehensible words followed, and Lasano finally opened his eyes and looked up. At the end of his gaze, he saw silver hair, unlike any he had seen in the village. However, the eyes beneath the crimson were not the same terrible red as his own, but held a gentle hue.

‘Do you want to leave here?’

Lasano, staring blankly ahead, nodded without any hesitation at the words. An overwhelming desire propelled him. With no strength, he crawled on the dirt floor with his arms, and the boy whispered, sobbing.

‘Please…… please, let me leave…….’

Crawling like that, Lasano grabbed the boy’s boots, just as he had grabbed the middle-aged woman’s foot. The boy looked down at him with a pained expression.

‘Still, it won’t be freedom. It won’t be all good. Your mother won’t let you go like that.’

The gentle voice, heard for the first time from someone other than his mother, felt unfamiliar. Despite the highly suspicious content, Lasano nodded blindly. He was parched for this small warmth.

‘Anything, as long as I can leave…… it’s fine…….’

‘You will be bound to the shrine, just as I am bound to the Imperial Palace. Will you still go?’

The moment the word ‘Imperial Palace’ was heard, Cullen’s consciousness, which had been sinking into Lasano’s memories, surfaced. Through Lasano’s eyes, he tried to examine the other person’s face closely.

As the events he had experienced pieced together, giving Cullen a clue, his consciousness began to separate. It was a sensation he had never felt before, but he simply knew.

As his consciousness detached as if being torn away, dizziness washed over him. His vision became a jumbled mess, just like before, and the background slowly began to change.

The sky was cloudy, though it wasn’t raining. The air touching his skin was cool. The remnants of everything that had burned to ash reached his nostrils. A pitch-black, pitch-black smell.

Just feeling that, Cullen froze. He knew this place. It was a place he couldn’t possibly not know. This, this is…….

This was his village.

An emotion entirely different from the fear Lasano felt overwhelmed Cullen. His pupils contracted, and his entire body stiffened.

Cullen stood on the ash-covered ground. His eyes, which had been looking at the sky, slowly, slowly lowered. He knew what scene awaited him directly in his line of sight, yet he couldn’t stop himself. Because young Cullen hadn’t been able to.

He didn’t want to see it. It was a scene he couldn’t erase even in his sleep. There was no need to show him like this; Cullen always carried the terrible pain. But his body wouldn’t obey.

Slowly, a pitch-black torso appeared.

‘Ah…… ah…….’

His lips parted. His wide-open purple eyes blinked not, and instead, captured the corpses of his family exactly as they were. Charred black outer skin, stiff, discolored, horrific bodies. The spear and sword that pierced his father’s broad back, and the two people embraced within it…….

‘Ah, h-h-h, ah……!’

The moment he saw his small hands, frozen blue and limp, sobs began to flow. Unbearable shock struck Cullen. It was different from the nightmares that had repeated countless times. The immense pain that had driven Cullen mad for a year began to tear at his heart. There was no way to stop it.

None of the knowledge that this situation was a trial, that it was a past event, was of any use in his mind. The moment his unprotectable family appeared before him, Cullen began to crumble. He wanted to lose his mind right then and there. That would be easier on his heart.

The desire to just die consumed Cullen at that moment.

The sweet longing that always lurked around him tempted Cullen for this very moment. It was over if he just slit his throat. A sharp sword, whether it cut his belly or his throat, would kill him quickly. The moment he thought that, his hand moved.

Before he knew it, Cullen held the long sword he always carried. The young boy’s hand held the hilt of the sword very lightly and tenderly.

It would only take a few seconds. Then he could be free. He wouldn’t have to be sad anymore and wouldn’t have to feel anything. And not only that. His wavering heart because of Kiyen…….

‘Cullen.’

As he thought of Kiyen’s name, strangely, he heard his voice. Cullen blinked. In that moment, the sword had reached his neck without him realizing it.

‘Cullen, wake up.’

Warmth began to spread through his wrist. The hand holding the sword trembled. The voice grew clearer.

“Cullen!”

A hurried, surprised voice boomed in his ears. The voice, which sounded as if heard from beyond water, had now come close. The feeling of being buried in endless earth disappeared, and he could breathe. Coughing out ragged breaths, he curled up, and warmth enveloped him.

“Let go of the sword. Come on, that’s it.”

As he coughed, a large hand wrapped around his back. The hand of the person holding his wrist slowly released his sword-gripping hand. His reddened eyes stung.

Cullen slowly raised his head in a daze. He saw blue eyes filled with a serious light. The eyes, beautifully spread with gold, the eyes Cullen loved the most.

“Kiyen, sir……”

“You followed well. You almost got swept away and pulled in by the god’s trial.”

Listening to Kiyen’s voice, Cullen looked around. The hazy fog surrounding them remained, but the area Kiyen faced was different. He saw a massive pillar shrouded in darkness.

“……How, how is this possible?”

Kiyen, somehow understanding Cullen’s words, which were on the border between the past and reality, gently brushed Cullen’s sweat-soaked forehead and tilted his head slightly to look behind him. His jaw seemed to stiffen for a moment as he thought.

After observing the pillar intently, Kiyen spoke a moment later.

“It seems we’ve discovered an ancient shrine.”