By Zephyria ========
What is the appropriate way to phrase a question to someone whose face changes from yesterday to today, while carefully considering the tragic situation they are currently facing?
At the very least, Wolf had never learned about this specific combination in any book. Furthermore, there was a high possibility that the facial transformation was a top secret to Silver. Even putting that aside, Silver was the type to suddenly bare his fangs at a single insignificant remark.
Eh, whatever! I’ll just do it my way!
“Hey.”
Wolf spoke lightly. In terms of military tactics, it was a ‘surprise attack.’
“Listen, I just can’t stand it anymore. I know this isn’t the appropriate time to act, given that your precious bug friend is seriously injured, but…”
He mixed in a slight tone of concern. This was to make it easier to throw out a quick “sorry” and flee immediately if the surprise attack failed.
“I don’t know how to put this, but…”
Wolf rubbed his knee with his fingertips. He was genuinely at a loss as to how to ask.
“Unless my eyes are playing tricks on me, this is quite troubling…”
Wolf stole a glance at Silver. Silver was staring intently only at his bug friend. Good, he doesn’t look angry.
“I mean, your face right now is different from the face I know.”
Now that he had said it, it sounded so absurd that he almost laughed. Wolf shrugged and spread both hands.
“I wondered if a witch or a wizard cast a curse on you that makes your face change every other day. It sounds stupid, but if I don’t attach an explanation like this, there’s no way I can make sense of the strange phenomenon in front of me.”
No answer came back. However, no dagger flew at him either. At the very least, it meant the facial transformation wasn’t a top secret. Fine, I’ll push forward boldly!
“It’s not just a matter of your impression changing depending on your hairstyle or how you feel that day. It’s very different. It’s a completely different person’s face. If I wrote down how surprised I was, it would fill the entire land of Stohl and still have room left. So, it doesn’t have to be right now, but I’d be happy if you could explain this strange phenomenon to me later when you feel better—”
“Different?”
Silver’s voice cut him off. Wolf flinched. In truth, he hadn’t even expected an answer. He was certain that his question would simply pass through Silver’s ears like a transparent breeze.
“What’s different?”
Silver’s tone was low and calm. Wolf turned his face away and cleared his throat.
“First of all, there are no burn scars. Your skin is as clear as a pearl. And… you might not like hearing this from a guy, but it’s an incredibly pretty face. I don’t know your age, but your face is like a beautiful boy… Ah, no, I absolutely don’t mean you look fragile…”
“Your eyes have gone on an unauthorized outing.”
“Huh?”
Wolf instinctively pulled his shoulders back.
“What did you just say?”
“I said your eyes ran away from their owner. My face is indeed that face full of burn scars. You’re seeing things.”
“I… don’t think so…”
Half-doubting, Wolf squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. Silver’s face had not changed. The clean jawline, the curve of the thick eyelashes, the faint shadow beneath the cheekbones—everything was the same. He was still absurdly beautiful.
“Don’t panic. It’s only natural.”
Silver’s tone was utterly composed. He sounded like a teacher explaining addition to an exceptionally dim-witted student.
“Your body has barely recovered from a fever. Yesterday, you labored in the kitchen all day. Today, you ran around in the rain fighting. And a while ago, you left the quarters and walked in the rain for a long time before returning, right? Hallucinations are a reasonable result.”
“I’m not sick.”
Even as he said that, Wolf pretended to brush his hair over his shoulder while touching his forehead with his fingertips. There was no fever.
This bastard! If you’re going to insist on something, insist on something believable!
Wolf looked at Silver with a stern expression.
“Stop talking nonsense. I’m perfectly fine and healthy.”
“Wait. Do you not even realize that you’re sick right now?”
“I told you, I’m not sick!”
“Don’t you remember what you said to me when you came back from your outing? You said, ‘I’m freezing to death. I feel the chills.’”
“I don’t remember. Because I never said such a thing to you in the first place!”
“Sigh… your condition is worse than I thought. At this rate, you might kick the bucket before my bug friend does.”
“Excuse me? Hey!”
“Just cover yourself with a blanket. You’re shivering so hard that the floor is vibrating all the way over here.”
“…”
Doubt gradually crept in. Even if he washed his ears and listened again, Silver’s voice sounded truthful.
“I wasn’t shivering. My mind is clear.”
Wolf brushed his hair back again and naturally touched his forehead. As expected, there was no fever. Damn, I almost fell for it!
“Stop joking around! Don’t try to paint me as a patient!”
“I wish I were joking too.”
Silver sighed.
“I didn’t really want to say this, but you’re currently in a state of delirium. Your mind has gone haywire.”
It was becoming a swamp. Hallucinations and body tremors were absurd enough, but now delirium? The one who’s crazy is probably you!
“Stop talking bullshit. I don’t have a fever!”
“Of course you don’t, because you’re hypothermic. Memory loss, a confused psychological state, and symptoms of delirium are typical signs when hypothermia is severe. Why did you keep walking around half-naked? The fabric of your pants is thin, too.”
“Don’t try to force it. I’m not falling for it.”
“Think logically. Can a person’s face change overnight? How could such a thing happen in this world? Isn’t it obvious who the one in the wrong is? Try to refute me if you can.”
He couldn’t refute it. Silver was undoubtedly the one lying, but damn it, a logical rebuttal was impossible. Moreover, Silver’s tone was consistently firm. During three years on the battlefield, Wolf had encountered numerous swindlers and learned several signals of lying. Rapidly moving pupils. The bobbing of the Adam’s apple when swallowing. Fingers fidgeting with something.
Not a single one of those signals was detected from Silver. Far from lying, he looked as if he were calmly stating facts exactly as they were. As if saying fire is hot, the ocean is vast, and Stoll People are dim-witted.
But. But!
“If I were hypothermic, I wouldn’t even be able to talk to you.”
“Did you know? You just said it like this: ‘If I’m low-temp-ic, I can’t talk-to-you-like-this-ly.’ I only understood because it was me.”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
“What?”
Suddenly, Silver snapped his gaze toward Wolf. Wolf was startled by the surprised expression on Silver’s face.
“You… what…?”
“What? I said don’t make fun of me.”
“Is that true? Are you actually the King of the Bronze-beaked Hawks?”
“…What are you doing right now?”
“Don’t make me laugh, the Bronze-beaked Hawk is an old Uncle. I’ve seen his face twice with my own eyes. His eyes were barely visible because of the facial scars.”
“Wait. Hey.”
“Fine, I’ll call you King, so calm down. I’ll be understanding since you’re sick.”
Silver shook his head and looked away. Wolf opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. If he followed his temper, he would have exploded in anger and thrown a punch. But his opponent was Silver.
Had he ever seen Silver joke? No.
Did Silver seem like the type to spout nonsense? No.
It was quite the opposite. Silver was like a gloomy beast deeply wounded. Whenever he opened his mouth, he spat out only cynical and twisted words. There was a darkness settled over him, like the deep shadow of high noon. He was thunder with a powerful charisma.
…
…
Then the one who’s wrong is… me…?
“Cover yourself with a blanket and just sleep. You look in worse shape than when you were on the brink of death from the fever the other day.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You look serious.”
At the very end, Wolf skipped the pretense of brushing his hair and touched his forehead. It was cold. But it was absolutely not hypothermia.
“I… think I’m normal…”
Even to his own ears, his voice sounded devoid of confidence.
“Believe that if you want to. Just sleep for now.”
Silver replied while staring only at the mantis fairy.
“Want to bet? Whether my face still looks pretty after you’ve had a deep sleep and woken up. If I have a face full of burn scars, you get three flicks to the forehead. Of course, I’ll win this bet.”
“Hey.”
“Shut your mouth now. My mood is very bad because of my bug friend. If you talk more, I might shut your mouth with my fist. One more thing, I’m not a particularly merciful person.”
When a wounded beast barked, there was no other choice. Wolf lay on the bed without a word and pulled the blanket up to his chin. He stared at the ceiling for a long time before closing his eyes.
Let’s analyze. Am I really sick?
Immediately after the residual heat of the fever left, I was mobilized for harsh labor while half-naked. The next day, I ran around in the rain half-naked again. After that, I worked in front of the kitchen furnace where heat poured out, and then I got hit by the rain again.
101 – Hell’s Execution Order