By Zephyria =======
Wolf opened his eyes.
It felt similar to the moment he had discovered the slender crack in the hull, though he couldn’t recall when that was. Suddenly, his mind became crystal clear.
The room was dark. The fire in the brazier had died down, staining only the nearest wall a faint red. The sound of the rain, which had been noisy before he fell asleep, was now low. Everything was calm, like a faded rural landscape painting. Except for one thing.
The sound of Silver’s breathing beside him. It wasn’t right. It was irregular and far too fast. It was the kind of sound that escaped when breath pushed through a half-swollen throat.
Wolf sat up immediately and looked down at Silver. He was panting, having kicked the blanket down to his ankles. Even in the dim darkness, the flush of his face was clearly visible. Only then did a memory resurface.
〔A Thunder-Estimated Human Entity did stop by here briefly.〕
〔5 hours and 23 minutes after you showed a febrile response.〕
This guy, had he been outside for a full eighteen hours? In that torrential rain?
Now Wolf understood why Silver was the only one who hadn’t taken off his robe in the kitchen, and why he had headed to the newcomers’ quarters so abruptly. He had already been unwell back then—enough to decide to endure that noisy woodpecker of a colleague and stay in the quarters.
Crazy bastard! No matter how twisted his personality is, this is excessive!
Wolf placed a hand on Silver’s forehead. A high fever was raging.
“Hey.”
He shook his shoulder and called out softly. Silver’s head simply lolled to one side. His tightly closed eyelids flickered with tremors. Incoherent mutterings spilled through his lips. By all appearances, he was in a coma.
And his clothes. They were drenched and clinging tightly to his body. Did this idiot believe he could recover easily with just a roof to avoid the rain and a single blanket?
Wolf hurried up and headed for the brazier. He added charcoal and stirred the ashes. The fire soon roared back to life, and warmth gradually spread.
Returning to the bed, Wolf untied the strings of Silver’s top. The strings, soaked with rainwater, were as stiff as tendons. Silver pushed Wolf’s hand away and shook his head.
“Stay still.”
Wolf spat out the words as he worked.
“Just behave for once.”
He managed to undo the knots. He pulled the top, which was plastered to the skin, up to the chest. The collarbones, momentarily revealed by the light of the brazier, were soon buried in darkness again. Silver’s body was firmer than he looked. Lean muscles were packed tightly beneath skin that felt as hot as heated iron.
As he removed the top, Wolf’s fingertips brushed against Silver’s shoulder. Wolf paused at a sudden, random feeling that washed over him. A cramped room. Just the two of them. And a hot body touching his fingertips. Perhaps because of this combination, the emergency treatment felt as though it were riding a current quite different from its original purpose. It was so absurd that he couldn’t even manage a hollow laugh.
Focus.
He tossed the top toward the brazier. The pale upper body was fully revealed. Wolf’s gaze shifted to Silver’s flank. There was a mole, cleverly disguised as a constellation-shaped tattoo.
〔The Mark. A mole forms on the flank after age 10. The shape of the mole is inconsistent, making it difficult to distinguish from an ordinary Stoll Person by appearance alone.〕
From the overwhelming strength to the mole on the flank, it was certain. Silver was a Thunder. Unlike Wolf, who had survived by luck, Silver must have escaped that hellish Evil Spirit’s Den solely through his own power. But?
Looking at him now, it was puzzling. There were no burn scars anywhere except for his face. From below the jaw, his skin was as white and smooth as a field of snow. It was almost artificially clean. Had someone shoved Silver’s face into boiling oil as retaliation? But even in that case, it would be more natural for oil droplets to have splattered elsewhere…
Stop. Now is not the time for these thoughts. Next, the pants.
Wolf slid his hands beneath Silver’s waist and carefully pulled the clothes down. Silver arched his back and tossed and turned.
“Cooperate. I’m the caregiver here.”
The pants were stuck to the skin and didn’t come off easily. In the midst of this, Silver even resisted by tensing his legs. Wolf suppressed his anger and dragged the clothes down. The fabric caught at the ankles finally came free.
He covered Silver up to his neck with a blanket and layered his own blanket on top of it. He brought a dry cloth from the shelf and wiped Silver’s body beneath the blankets. Warm moisture quickly seeped into the cloth.
He dampened the cloth with rainwater, wrung it out, and placed it on Silver’s forehead. Repeat. Each time, the cloth became warm shortly after.
This isn’t enough.
Wolf stood up abruptly. He pulled a dagger from Silver’s robe, which was sprawled on the floor.
“I’m borrowing this.”
Without waiting for an answer, he closed the door with his heel and stepped out. The rain, which had intensified in the meantime, battered his entire body. Black fog filled every direction.
Wolf walked forward, brushing the hair clinging to his face.
“Hey.”
〔Yes.〕
“You know, right? High fever, chills, coma. What’s a remedy I can get quickly on this drug island?”
〔Willow bark tea is recommended for body aches and fever.〕
〔Peel the bark from willow branches. The inner bark is most effective. Boil a handful in water; once the liquid darkens, strain and administer.〕
〔Keep the entity’s body warm. Fluid intake is recommended. Heavy sweating is a good sign.〕
“What about the throat? He can’t breathe properly.”
〔Boil water and have the patient inhale the steam. The steam opens the airways. Dried thyme or mint should be added to the water.〕
“Willow bark. Steam. Thyme.”
〔Kitchen storage. Thyme is in a sack hanging from the beam. The storage key is in the gap below the entrance. You must obtain the willow bark yourself. The hill behind the kitchen.〕
“Good thing I toured the island facilities.”
Wolf ran quickly. Rain poured down relentlessly from the sky, the ground, and the roofs. The trees on the hill behind the kitchen were drooping like drunken old men in a tavern.
Wolf soon found a willow tree. A faint, bitter scent that spread clearly even in the rain signaled its location. He used the dagger to peel a forearm’s length of inner willow bark and descended the hill.
The area around the communal kitchen was quiet. Perhaps everyone was too busy doing drugs, as there wasn’t a single guard in sight. The kitchen furnace was asleep, holding onto a few embers.
Wolf first revived the flames in the furnace. He filled a pot with rainwater, placed it on the hearth, and added the willow bark. As the water boiled, the liquid turned a pale yellow. While the tea steeped, he searched the kitchen storage. He gathered everything Byeoruki mentioned. While he was at it, he took a cup and some honey.
When he returned to the kitchen after finishing his theft, the willow bark tea had turned a deep brown. He slightly burned his finger while straining the tea through linen, but in the end, he had everything.
With a teapot hanging from one arm and a small pot of thyme and a cup tucked under his other side, Wolf ran through the darkness.
“Hey. You alive?”
He asked as he pushed open the door to the quarters with his shoulder. The brazier fire was still alive. Silver also signaled his survival with ragged breathing.
Wolf placed the Thyme Pot on a shelf near the brazier. Taking the teapot and cup, he sat on the bed and supported Silver’s upper body with one arm. The body heat seeping into his forearm was still hot. Silver’s head rested against Wolf’s chest, which was soaked with rainwater. Deep shadows lay across the ruined face.
Wolf pulled Silver’s head closer into his embrace. The hair touched Wolf’s forearm softly.
“Drink.”
Wolf poured the willow bark tea into the cup and held it to Silver. The tea entered through Silver’s lips. A trickle of tea flowed down his chin. The moment Wolf lowered the cup, a cracked voice suddenly flew out.
“You keep… walking around… half-naked…”
“Huh?”
Wolf looked up. At some point, a blue light had begun to leak through the gaps of Silver’s closed eyes, pushing past the thick eyelashes.
“If you do that… you’ll catch it again… the fever… next time, you might actually die…”
“Stop meddling.”
Wolf let out a hollow laugh and brought the cup back to Silver’s lips. Silver swallowed a bit of tea, coughed, and swallowed again. After barely emptying one cup, he spoke once more.
“You almost… died… Worry about yourself…”
“I am.”
Wolf replied as he poured more tea into the cup.
“Right now, my problem is you. I’m solving it. So, uh—”
Suddenly, Silver slid to the side. Slowly, like a leaf swirling on a calm water surface. The hair that had been leaning on Wolf’s forearm just a moment ago slid down. Wolf hurriedly set the cup down and hugged Silver.
The flickering light of the brazier suddenly brushed across Silver’s face. In the next instant, Wolf doubted his own eyes.
What… what is this?
The burn scars on Silver’s face were gone. They hadn’t faded or been hidden by the darkness. They had literally vanished.
It was like a silver coin rolling out of spilled dirty water. The face that appeared out of nowhere was beautiful beyond any possible criticism. The distorted flesh, the melted depressions, the twisted cheeks—there was no trace of them. Only smooth, pale skin, an arrogantly high bridge of the nose, and a sharp jawline dominated Wolf’s vision. The tattoo, which had looked like charcoal smeared haphazardly, had changed into a sharp ring shape.
The strength left Wolf’s hands involuntarily. His heart pounded. He had thought that after witnessing Red Eagle transform into a parrot, nothing would surprise him anymore, but he had been completely wrong. A storm of confusion surged through him.
What is this? What? Fuck, what the hell is this!
94 – Hell’s Execution Order