By Zephyria =======
Wolf’s expression shifted.
“Silver, it’s true that I deceived you… but calling me cunning is a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? You practiced climbing cave walls while I was gone! Am I wrong?”
“That’s…”
Wolf trailed off and eventually fell silent. Seeing this, Silver’s mind went blank.
He had wondered, just in case, but…
The Ice Armor Warrior had been right.
The two boys stared at each other in silence. Silver clenched his fists. Those amber eyes staring back without wavering. The blonde hair shining silently under the sunlight. The clean, sweeping line of his eyebrows…
His face was like a wooden ruler placed in a blood-stained scabbard. A face where an inexperienced boy and a dangerous warrior overlapped. Silver was familiar with that face. If you removed the smile that lingered on his lips like the southern sun, it was the typical face of a boy from the warrior class.
That wooden ruler would turn into a greatsword within a few years. The jawline would harden, the eyes would grow sharper, and deep shadows would settle beneath the brow bone. If he lost that boyhood smile by then, Wolf would be completed as a man with a rough and cold impression, no different from Black Weasel.
It was an ordinary face. Except for the color of the eyes.
However, the first moment that face entered his sight, Silver had been swept away by a strange sensation. It was as if a thick fog blocking his vision had cleared all at once, and the whole world was filled with dazzling sunlight… It was truly a bizarre experience. What was even stranger was that, for some reason, this ‘ordinary face’ kept feeling like a ‘very handsome face.’ Damn it, I’ve spent too long looking at the Ice Armor Warrior’s withered mug.
“Silver. Please understand the Prince and me.”
Silver snapped back to his senses at the sound of Wolf’s voice.
“The Prince and I thought we were going to die at Uncle’s hands. In the process of trying to survive, we had no choice but to deceive you. It wasn’t about money or clothes; our lives were on the line. It might sound shameless, but I have no intention of apologizing for secretly practicing climbing cave walls. But I truly want your understanding.”
Silver’s interest was piqued by Wolf’s explanation. It was because the expression Black Weasel had worn while intimidating the Prince and the Attendant at the hot spring looked exactly like the face a butcher makes when choosing the first beast of the day. If that face had been any more intense, Silver might have unconsciously called for his mother.
“Then, tell me.”
Silver asked back with a hint of anticipation.
“When you guys were playing around and joking, you weren’t thinking much, right? You were acting normally, right?”
“Yeah, I acted normally. Though I did have some thoughts. I was trying to lower your guard. The Prince and I wanted to get you on our side so we could escape.”
What!
Silver was appalled. The Ice Armor Warrior had seen everything exactly as it was!
Wolf took a step closer.
“Uh, Silver? As I said before, we had no choice…”
“Shut up,” Silver said. “If you don’t want to die by my hand right here.”
Though his voice was barely audible, Wolf’s face turned pale. Silver spun around and walked away. He felt like he had won a game of dice decisively, only to have a massive amount of money ripped away from him. His insides were bubbling like stew in a heated pot. He became twice as angry at himself for feeling this way. Is it really something to be this pissed off about just because some Attendant stabbed me in the back?
Right. It’s not something to be pissed off about. He’d only known the Attendant for a short time, and they were tied together by work anyway. From that guy’s perspective, it makes sense to betray me. Their lives were at stake; what else could they do? Fuck, but I’m still pissed. Why? Why!
Why…?
Huh?
…
Wait, really? This is weird. Why am I like this?
The very act of continuing to think about Wolf was strange. Silver’s central axis of behavior was just one thing: instinct. In short, he lived without thinking. The act of thinking deeply, for a long time, or frequently was no different from a chicken wandering a yard suddenly flying into the sky. And yet, when it came to Wolf…
Could this be…
Silver was overcome by a chilling suspicion. That bizarre sensation that had enveloped his entire body the moment he first saw Wolf. Could that be?
Is it that ‘love at first sight’ thing he’d only heard about? Is that why that guy’s face kept feeling incredibly handsome?
He couldn’t just scoff and dismiss it. There were subsequent memories.
“Is it a characteristic of people from the warm south? A relaxed and pleasant impression that suits the white sunlight, blue sea, and palm trees. Faces like that are popular.”
‘Like your face, right?’
“Huh? What?”
‘You’re popular with women, aren’t you?’
Back then, he had been unable to sleep because he felt inexplicably gloomy… Ugh, looking back, I was being damn suggestive, wasn’t I?
Once the suspicion took root, everything became suspicious. He questioned the act of saving Wolf from Black Weasel’s hands, and even more so, the act of going hunting every day to feed him. Why had he, who had never given a single penny to a beggar, been so generous to the Attendant?
A headache bloomed. He finally realized that thinking too much could make one’s head ache even without drinking. Suppressing his bewilderment, Silver pulled a bottle of liquor from inside his robe and brought it to his lips. He swallowed a gulp of alcohol and closed his eyes. Though he didn’t want to, he imagined himself kissing Wolf with a burning gaze.
“Gah!”
Before his lips could even touch Wolf’s, the alcohol surged back up. Silver covered his mouth with one hand and bent over.
“Ugh… blegh! Blegh!”
“Silver, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Wolf rushed over and patted Silver on the back. Silver wiped his mouth and straightened up.
“It’s nothing. I think it’s because I drank on an empty stomach.”
“Let’s take a break before we go. It’s dangerous to climb cave walls in this state.”
“Who are you to interfere? Don’t talk to me, you cunning bastard. Did you forget me telling you to shut up if you don’t want to die?”
Silver brushed off Wolf’s hand and turned away. Although he had undergone a rigorous test and suffered the humiliation of vomiting, his heart felt relieved. There were absolutely no dangerous emotions toward Wolf. All those suspicious behaviors… well, it must have been because the Attendant was the same age. That feeling of ‘the whole world being filled with sunlight’… he must have mistaken it for the glare of the sun.
Wolf continued to follow him, talking.
“Silver, I want to clear up at least this one misunderstanding. The feelings I had for you as a friend were absolutely not a lie. You are my friend.”
I’m not falling for it, punk.
Silver continued to walk ploddingly, drinking only liquor.
“Believe me, you were the first person I looked for as soon as I left the cave. I saw campfire smoke rising from a distant forest and followed it, wondering if it was you. I even decided to build up my martial arts skills to go find you and Uncle. To liberate you from Uncle…”
A hollow laugh escaped. With your skills?
“But, you know… I have a question, Silver.”
The next moment,
“Do you… like Uncle… a lot?”
At the unimaginable question, Silver spat out the liquor he was drinking—pffft.
“Silver! You again!”
Wolf rushed over and patted Silver’s back. Silver, who had been coughing, suddenly froze. An unexpected scent wafted over him. The scent of sandalwood holding a moist humidity. It felt as if he were smelling freshly shaved sandalwood by a sunny window from very close range. The scent instantly pierced through his throat and dug deep into his lungs. A sudden dizziness surged. His legs gave way, and Silver almost collapsed.
W-what is this?
The scent vanished as if it had been washed away. Was it… a hallucination from the alcohol? No, a wonderfully splendid scent of sandalwood had definitely drifted in on the breeze.
He had no time to look for sandalwood. Wolf was shouting at the top of his lungs while pounding Silver’s back with all his might.
“Silver! Are you okay? The butcher in my hometown died while drinking!”
“…Stop hitting me, you brat. I’m coughing more because of you.”
Silver pushed Wolf away and looked up.
“What’s with the sudden… Do you know your tone just now was incredibly suggestive?”
“What… Ah? Ahhh! I-I absolutely didn’t mean it that way! I meant, in a pure heart, no, respect? Awe? I meant if you like Uncle with those kinds of emotions.”
Wolf’s ears turned bright red as he waved both hands frantically.
“Actually, the reason the Prince and I gave up on you was… you didn’t try to run away even though you could have if you’d set your mind to it. I wondered if Uncle was holding your family hostage, but seeing you earlier, that didn’t seem to be the case. You and Uncle seemed to get along better than I thought. Like how you went out to meet him…”
Silver’s face hardened.
“Are you and Uncle in a teacher-student relationship?”
“No,” Silver snapped back shortly. “We’re enemies. That man killed my mother.”
29 – Hell Execution Order