By Zephyria 
Pipi looked at me silently with his beady black eyes, bobbing his head busily. No matter how long I waited, he only made high, clear sounds, beep, beep, and didn’t answer.
“Did I give the wrong example, or is he dying like a plant without water and sunlight, not just regressing?”
So I asked again precisely. If it was the former, it didn’t matter, but if it was the latter, there was a problem. Of course, Aska wouldn’t do something that would kill him without a plan, but I still felt uneasy.
“Aska is…”
Pipi, who had been silent all along, finally opened his mouth. But I had to stop before I could hear everything. Two corpses were sprawled at the end of the spiral staircase.
“…”
When I paused, Pipi also stopped talking and sat on my head. Did Aska kill them first? As I was about to step over the corpses blocking the way, I had to stop again.
“They’re not corpses?”
“Knocked out. Hit on the back of the head.”
“Won’t they wake up soon if we leave them like this?”
“Then let’s hit them one more time and go.”
Pipi’s words made me seriously consider it, but I just left them alone. It would be a headache if I accidentally touched them and they woke up. I carefully passed the corpses and went deeper inside.
But I had to stop again.
My head spun, and my vision flipped in an instant. Bone-chilling cold, scattering white frozen breath, and every time I inhaled, sharp shards of ice seemed to tear my lungs to shreds.
“…”
The surroundings, as silent as death, were all a pure white world. The high-piled snow was untouched, without a single footprint, and beyond the horizon, there was a burning sunset…
“Birch forest.”
Then I heard a strange voice in my ear. It was so small that you wouldn’t hear it if you didn’t listen carefully, but strangely, it was a voice that made me feel comfortable.
“Lily of the valley blooming by the spring.”
Fortunately or unfortunately, the voice was getting louder and louder. But rather than the size of the voice itself increasing, it felt like the distance was getting closer.
“Dogwood berries on the tree.”
And just when I thought it was almost whispering in my ear, a huge Reindeer and an unidentified girl appeared before my eyes.
“…”
She seemed to be on the border between a girl and a woman. Long golden hair that reached the snowfield, bright blue eyes like a clear sky, dazzling skin… At first glance, she was so excessively beautiful that it was hard to believe, but I couldn’t purely admire her.
Maybe it was because her ears were long, but she was barefoot in this cold mountain, without even shoes. Moreover, she was only wearing a very thin cloth that showed her skin.
Besides, isn’t this a dream? How can she be looking at me so directly? I suddenly felt a chill and tried to step back without realizing it, but my body wouldn’t move.
“A stump with mushrooms growing on it.”
“…”
“…Ta…Munbina…”
“…”
The sound was fading, and the scenery was scattering in confusion. My body rose higher and higher, as if floating with buoyancy. The girl left on the ground seemed to stand alone in a collapsing world.
In the increasingly collapsing scenery, she smiled kindly and looked up at me, constantly moving her lips. But now I couldn’t hear any sound. No matter how much I looked at her lip movements, I couldn’t even guess what she was saying.
“Beeeep!”
I opened my eyes wide at Pipi’s scream, which pierced my eardrums like lightning. The humid, musty smell of the underground was the first thing I felt. When I turned my head, I was in the same state as before I had the dream.
No, is it right to call that a dream?
“Sleeps standing up.”
“I wasn’t sleeping.”
“Kyle sleeps standing up like a horse. Horses also sleep standing up. But horses sometimes have to lie down to sleep, and then…”
Pipi, finding something so funny, laughed strangely and started chattering noisily with useless words again. I was still dizzy and dazed, so I shook my head lightly.
The voice, which was like a whisper and an echo, was deeply engraved like a scar. I was so confused that I couldn’t hear it properly, but the memory was clear as if it had been mine from the beginning.
I closed my eyes for a moment and calmed my mind.
Thump, thump.
I stopped breathing and relaxed my body, and naturally, I felt my heartbeat. Focusing on the steady sound seemed to calm me down.
But the more I listened, the stranger it felt. Was the beat too fast? The Royal Physician had said something similar to me… At first, I thought it was offbeat, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
I raised my hand and groped around my chest. It felt like two things of different sizes were beating alternately…
“…”
With a puzzled expression, I touched my left chest and naturally ran my fingers near my collarbone, and something caught on my fingertip. It was the pendant Aska had given me. The problem was that the core was broken.
“Crazy.”
I was startled and took off the necklace to examine it closely. It wasn’t just slightly cracked, it was completely shattered. I looked at it with a bewildered expression and then frantically touched my earlobe.
“Ha…”
I didn’t think so, but the feeling of touching it was strange. I exhaled and took off the earring to examine it closely. The black core was nowhere to be found, and only the post and gem setting remained.
“…”
Did it break when I fought Herald? But how could only the gem part be so cleanly shattered? I think I was kicked in the chest area, but I don’t think I allowed him near my face.
Heat was gradually boiling inside me. It wasn’t just anything, but the first gift Aska had bought with the money he had worked so hard to earn…
Could that sound of something breaking during the sparring have been this? I didn’t know what it was at the time, so I ignored it… If I had known then, I would never have let Herald live.
“Did Aska give you that?”
Pipi, who had been rattling off the habits of horses, said as he looked at the miserably broken earring and pendant in my hand.
“If a fairy breathes on it and gives it a blessing, it will prevent misfortune.”
“What are you talking about?”
When I frowned at the sudden words, Pipi started chattering again.
“Fairies can prevent human misfortune. They can’t prevent too much misfortune, but they can definitely prevent the small things that happen in everyday life. Even if you trip over a stone, you’ll be fine without a scratch. Even if a fish bone gets stuck in your throat, it won’t hurt and it’ll go down easily.”
“This is what a fairy blessed?”
To be honest, I was a little suspicious of Aska’s taste when I received the gift. After all, he chose such a black toy out of all the accessories.
But there was a reason for it.
“This is a bigger blessing than that, so it can block direct malice. It looks like it’s already run out of its effect since it’s broken.”
“Malice? What malice?”
“Attacks with murderous intent or curses shot with the purpose of harming you.”
“…”
Could it be that this broke not because of a physical attack? No wonder the injury was lighter than I thought for being attacked. I thought this was a healing that wasn’t completed…
Then, if I was less injured because of the fairy’s blessing that Aska gave me, what happened to the existing healing ability? Is it not working? Or does it not manifest at the same time as the fairy’s blessing?
As my thoughts continued, my anxiety was also growing at the same time. Did something really happen to Aska? Is that why this ability is also broken?
To confirm, I had no choice but to raise my fingernails and scratch my forearm. Blood immediately seeped over the deeply scratched mark. The wound wasn’t so deep that it was flowing.
“Aska is going to cry again because of you. He’s definitely going to cry again. Crybaby Aska!”
Pipi beeped noisily next to me, but I ignored him and kept staring at the wound. But it only tingled, and it didn’t heal.
“Could something have happened to Aska?”
“He always has problems.”
“Don’t joke around. I’m serious now.”
Pipi, who was looking at me with a serious face in a subdued voice, said.
“I’m not joking? Aska is in an emergency situation every day.”
I wanted to ask what that meant, but I didn’t have time to do so. I quickly walked into the narrow path and said.
“Let’s go to Aska first. Where do we have to go now? This is a dead end.”
I came into the narrow path at the end of the stairs, but there was only a small space. Treasure chests and old books were arranged everywhere, but Aska was nowhere to be seen.
Pipi circled around the secret room, beeping.
“It’s here. He’s here.”
At those words, I frowned. Could there be a hidden device somewhere in this area? Something like a secret door opening.
I was carefully examining the walls and floor for awkward parts when it happened again. My heart beat loudly again as it did earlier. It was such a strong shock that I stopped breathing.
The difference from before was that hot blood came up into my throat.
“…”
Unable to spit out or swallow the blood I was holding in, I only blinked in bewilderment.