By Zephyria ========
When heat and chills alternate sweeping through the body, bodily fluids rush to the head, blurring the eyes and ears. That is how it was written in the medical books he had rummaged through in the boarding house library. When combined with lack of sleep and overwork, even a sane person sees hallucinations. This is common sense, requiring no medical text. The conditions for delirium caused by hypothermia were more than sufficient.
Still. Still!
His intuition leaned toward the idea that Silver was lying. I mean, could a hallucination be this vivid? Moreover, only Silver’s face had changed while everything else remained the same. The lodging, which was beyond shabby and bordering on miserable, was all unchanged… Ah, damn it! Byeoruki!
Wolf almost let out a groan. In a succession of mind-boggling situations, he had completely forgotten about Byeoruki. If he asked that Parasitic Wraith, he could find out the truth.
Let’s sleep quickly.
He immediately began counting sheep. One. Two. Thirty-seven. One hundred twelve. Two hundred eighty-nine. Four hundred. Five hundred fifty. Six hundred.
Around seven hundred, Wolf’s consciousness faded.
Darkness.
* * *
History class—the time Meyer Public School students hated the most.
Every student had their head slammed onto the desk, fast asleep. The sound of snoring erupted here and there. Wolf also had his eyes tightly shut and his head on the desk, but his ears were diligently listening to the teacher’s voice. Walking among the students, the history teacher spoke.
“Omen-birds are stupid.”
Wolf’s brow instinctively twitched and furrowed. Dammit, that again.
How old is that story? I heard the academic consensus is that Omen-birds simply lack social skills, not that they are stupid. Update your knowledge to the latest… Huh?
Suddenly, a finger poked him in the shoulder. Wolf’s heart dropped. At some point, the history teacher had approached him. Of all the students, why me…? Does he know I’m from Stohl?
The finger continued to poke Wolf’s shoulder. He could feel an intense determination: Stop pretending to sleep, will you? I’ll keep poking until you lift your head! A vein popped in Wolf’s temple. Why is this old geezer picking on only me? Should I give him a refreshing lecture the Stohl way! Should I!
Wolf snapped his eyes open. He jerked his upper body up and raised his fist high, then froze. Silver was looking down at him. So close that he could smell the faint scent of fish wafting from the black robe.
Wolf forgot to lower his fist and stared at Silver. Silver’s face… was a ruin. He looked as if a tattered, torn sail had covered the figurehead of a ship.
It felt like a dream. The smooth skin, the sharp jawline, the eyelashes that cast crescent-shaped shadows on pale cheeks, the lips that seemed too delicate for such a strong warrior—all of it was gone. Like a fresco worn away by weathering, leaving only a rough gray wall.
Silver grinned.
“Well? Do I still look like a pretty boy to you?”
“…No.”
A voice, sounding incredibly small even to Wolf, came out. In a daze, he slowly lowered his fist.
Was I the problem after all? Was I really suffering from delirium?
Silver put on the human-skin mask. The ruin was hidden.
“See, I told you. You were delirious yesterday because you were sick.”
“I guess so. But…”
Wolf added cautiously after a pause.
“What about your bug friend? Did he come back from the brink? Or should I prepare a funeral?”
“He recovered.”
“Huh?”
Wolf was surprised by the unexpected answer. He survived looking like that?
“Not completely, but almost. Anyway, I won the bet. Give me your head.”
“Give me a discount of two hits. They say when something happy happens, one should be generous to others.”
“No.”
He was as precise with calculations as an Atania tax collector. The fist exploding against his head felt like a blacksmith’s hammer. Still, this was Silver hitting him very gently. According to Byeoruki, Thunder Strength is ‘an output of about 10 to 20 times that of a normal human relative to body weight.’ Dammit.
Silver threw himself onto the bed.
“I’m going to shut my eyes. You go out and get some food or something. Oh, I ate all the bread you brought yesterday.”
“Uh, good job. I’ll bring something for you when I come back.”
Wolf got up quickly. Byeoruki. Byeoruki!
Silver spoke casually while using his arm as a pillow.
“If you need clothes, go to the net repair warehouse. There’s more than just nets there.”
“I know. I already got clothes.”
“Then why do you always walk around naked? Is showing off your body a hobby?”
“Well, strangely enough, I haven’t had a moment to put them on…”
Wolf put on the human-skin mask and pulled a worn top from the shelf. Impatience surged within him. Besides Silver’s face, there was a mountain of things to discuss with Byeoruki. He hurriedly left the lodging carrying a lunch basket.
Faded autumn sunlight spread. The torrential rain that had indiscriminately washed the island was nowhere to be seen. Only mud remained like debris, splashing underfoot.
The corpses that had been scattered throughout the paths yesterday were gone. The smoke drifting from the houses lined along both sides of the hill road was thinner than usual. The pirates had finally come to their senses after being taught a hard lesson. Three or four people were huddling near a rainwater barrel.
“Who the hell was it? Looking at the wounds, one guy handled everything. He wasn’t ordinary.”
“It was Charcoal Fire Bear, obviously. He was always bragging about being stronger than the seniors.”
“He was that strong? Fuck, I’d let the Captain have my ass.”
“Dream on. Charcoal Fire Bear doesn’t take women’s backdoors.”
Wolf kept his head down and passed them. Turning past the communal kitchen, a vegetable garden where root vegetables and fruit trees competed for space unfolded. He picked three late-autumn apples and placed them in the lunch basket.
He headed toward the back mountain. The trail quickly became steep. Shrubs, birch, pine, and beech trees stretched out in a row. The scent of wet bark, resin, and rotting fallen leaves floated, mixed with a light mist.
He easily found the tree where the birdhouse was installed. It was an old beech tree with foliage so thick that almost no rain had entered even during the torrential downpour. Wolf looked into the birdhouse. It was empty. Only several white feathers rolled around on the floor covered with dry moss and straw.
Where did he go? Could there have been an accident?
Wolf hurriedly looked around. His gaze, scanning the soaked trees and bushes, caught a glimpse of white revealed between green leaves.
“Prin—”
Wolf froze after taking a few steps. The white parrot was sitting on a branch side-by-side with a sparrow. Moreover, they were chirping a song together. Not the screeching scream used to defend territory, but a very happy and joyful song!
For a brief moment, the world turned dark. The image of the white parrot flying toward a sparrow with a seed-dowry in its beak passed before his eyes.
“Prince…?”
Wolf tried to remain calm as he approached, calling out to Red Eagle. Like an adulterous couple ambushed by a spouse, the two birds froze in their tracks. The sparrow immediately kicked off the branch and flew away. The white parrot, watching the sparrow disappear into the distance, turned its black eyes toward Wolf.
“Wolf! That mask again!”
Red Eagle flew up and landed on the forearm Wolf held out. Claws like small fishhooks pierced through the sleeve of the top and pricked his forearm slightly.
“Isn’t your face itchy? Can’t you just walk around without it?”
“I can’t take it off because of the druggies’ regulations. This is a gift.”
Wolf took an apple out of the lunch basket and offered it.
“I’m sorry, things were hectic for a few days so I couldn’t stop by. The rain was severe; did anything happen?”
“Nothing happened! You picked that apple from the garden behind the kitchen, right? I already ate one this morning.”
“Then I’ll put it in the house. Eat it later.”
Wolf placed the apples in the birdhouse one by one. The parrot hopped from his forearm to his shoulder. A small, warm weight settled on his shoulder.
“I’m really fine. You eat the apple, Wolf.”
“You shouldn’t refuse a gift. By the way, about that cute sparrow from earlier… is she a girlfriend?”
Wolf asked slyly, pretending it was an afterthought. Red Eagle shook its head.
“No. Just a singing friend.”
“Ah. A singing friend. You looked so well-matched chirping together that I thought you were dating. They say many couples were originally friends.”
“What are you talking about! We’re different species.”
“I’m joking. Right, different species.”
Wolf smiled broadly, emphasizing the word ‘species.’ You brat, I went to the Underworld because of you!
“But Wolf, how much longer are you staying here? The rain has stopped, so shouldn’t you be leaving soon? The pirates here are truly terrible! I’m worried you might learn how to make drugs here.”
“More importantly, step back for a second. I have something to show you.”
“What are you trying to show me?”
102 – Hell’s Execution Order