Chapter 143
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Chapter 143
"Damn it. Margaret, be careful."
"If it gets dangerous, run without hesitation. You're more important."
Kaiden and Enoch urged me with worried expressions, and I nodded in acknowledgment.
Holding a flare with considerable destructive power, I led the way alongside Silver Earthworm while Yuanna handled the stragglers coming from behind.
Whenever danger arose, Asdal assisted with his crossbow, and Enoch and Kaiden fought while running with swords in one hand.
After such a grueling battle, we fortunately managed to return to where Asdal was waiting.
Behind Asdal lay a passage that seemed to lead deeper into the cave, and he gestured for us to follow before rushing inside.
The moment we entered that narrow passage, the entrance collapsed as if by a ghost's hand, blocking our way. Fortunately, it seemed we wouldn't be pursued by Monsters anymore, so I felt some relief.
"The passage is short, so we'll get out quickly. Just a bit further, and we'll be outside."
Yuanna led the way with Asdal, navigating through the dark cave.
We emerged outside soon enough, just as she had said.
The moment bright light poured down, I collapsed where I stood.
"There's a Cabin we spotted on the way here. We should take refuge there."
At Asdal's words, we nodded and moved together.
* * *
We had many questions for each other, but there was no time to share the emotions of our reunion.
Entering the narrow one-story Cabin, we first checked on Diego and Rujeep's conditions. They remained unconscious.
Among them, Diego's condition was the most critical, having been pierced through the abdomen.
Next, I examined Asdal, who had reportedly sustained injuries. He bore quite a number of wounds.
However, having exhausted all my mana treating Diego, I couldn't use Kaiden's healing magic on Asdal.
I retrieved a first-aid kit from the backpack Kaiden had brought. After selecting appropriate medicines to treat Asdal's wounds, I examined them carefully. They were covered with scratches and lacerations.
"Your bones are broken? But if your bones were actually broken, you wouldn't have been able to catch me falling from that height?"
At my question, Asdal slightly furrowed his brow before breaking into a leisurely smile. Even in such a serious situation, he strived to maintain his dignity. How very princely of him.
Asdal quietly rolled up his shirt, revealing bruised ribs as he spoke.
"It seems to be similar to the symptoms the Young Lady had before. You said it was cracked, didn't you?"
But I'm no doctor—how would I know just by looking? It's not as if we could take a CT scan.
"Still, the wounds seem to heal quickly. There's been noticeable recovery. Though my condition did worsen somewhat from catching the Young Lady as you said."
So he had been shooting his crossbow to help us while in such pain. In a way, Asdal was truly remarkable and formidable.
Judging by his reaction when I pressed lightly on the wound, it did seem the bone was cracked. If it were a simple fracture rather than a severe break, movement would likely have been difficult.
Asdal, who had been uttering pained groans, took a deep breath and spoke to me.
"Now that I've experienced it myself, I understand. I've been sorry all this time."
I looked up from applying medicine to his wound. It was such an unexpected thing to hear.
Asdal seemed embarrassed too, subtly averting his gaze. This was the first time I'd seen him, who always carried himself so smoothly, looking flustered.
"Still, I hope you'll understand. I needed to have lived a life where I sacrificed myself and considered others' positions."
I let out a hollow laugh at those words.
"Should I thank you for understanding now?"
"There's no need to thank me."
"You don't understand irony, do you?"
"I've never lived a twisted life, so I don't understand twisted words well."
"Being a politician must be quite taxing."
"How kind of you to worry. I'm delighted. I've missed you terribly, Young Lady. The emptiness felt immense, truly."
Asdal's eyes gleamed with genuine warmth at my presence. His affable nature still reminded me of Manager Kim—that easy-going charm remained unchanged.
"I didn't miss you much. If anything, I was relieved. So why didn't you do better when you had the chance? Even now, if you prove useless, I'll abandon you here and leave."
"My, that's harsh. I came all this way to find you, Young Lady. I promise to do better from now on."
Asdal remained as talkative as ever. As always, I let his words go in one ear and out the other.
The group surrounding us remained silent, not exchanging a single word.
Though I'd reunited with Yuanna after so long, everyone seemed to be waiting for me to speak first.
"Enoch, Kaiden. Come here. Show me your wounds."
Afterward, I examined Enoch and Kaiden's injuries and closed the medical kit.
As I treated their wounds, Asdal stood beside me, chattering away incessantly.
"Did you obtain those clothes from the supply depot as well, Young Lady? They seemed rather... revealing at first glance. Quite scandalous, I must say."
Enoch, unable to contain himself any longer, glared at Asdal irritably.
"Enough joking. Tell us what's happened in the meantime."
"Half-Emperor, why be so cold? It would be nice if you asked about my wellbeing with more warmth. We're friends, after all."
"Listen here, you insolent fool. You'd do well to keep your mouth shut while I'm being civil. Were we ever truly friends?"
It had been a while since I heard Enoch call the Cracker Prince by that name. The fact that only the Cracker Prince could draw out such childish behavior from Enoch remained unchanged.
In any case, we organized ourselves and discussed Diego and Rujeep.
"You sealed the Monster's progenitor within his body?"
Yuanna asked me gravely, her expression serious.
"Yes. As the Holy Maiden, you would know this. It seems all priests are aware of such matters."
"Ah, yes. We learn it during doctrine lessons. Though only in theory."
Yuanna nodded in agreement, then rested her chin on the back of her hand, her face deep in thought as she gazed at the unconscious Rujeep. We all waited for her to speak again.
After a long silence, she finally opened her mouth.
"I fear the Bishop will pose a problem when he awakens."
"Why?"
"If you've sealed it within his body, you haven't completely eradicated the vengeful spirit, have you?"
"Ah... that's true."
"A vengeful spirit potent enough to trigger Monster evolution would surely exert tremendous influence over this Island..."
Her words were correct. Wasn't Jenath himself seemingly powerless against such an entity?
"The Monsters aren't newly created beings—they're animals native to the Island that have evolved. If something goes wrong with that..."
Yuanna stroked her chin thoughtfully before reaching her conclusion.
"I believe the Island's structural composition will begin to collapse. The elements that comprise the Island are organically interconnected. If one deteriorates, the connecting links weaken, making the rest susceptible to collapse as well."
"Isn't that good for us?"
Kaiden, who had been listening quietly to our conversation, posed the question. Yuanna shrugged in response.
"We cannot know. Whether this would benefit us or benefit Jenath."
Hearing her words, a thought crossed my mind, and I exhaled slowly.
"It might actually benefit Jenath. It was Jenath himself who told me that destroying the Monster's progenitor would halt their evolution."
I have no way to distinguish whether his words were sincere or an elaborate trap. Such is the conversation between a test subject and an experimenter. From the beginning, it was an unfair fight.
"We must prepare for when the Bishop awakens."
Kaiden, who had been listening to our conversation with his arms crossed and sitting at an angle, interjected at my murmur.
"We should set up a Barrier around the tree. Just in case."
"Right now I've exhausted all my mana...."
As I trailed off with a flustered expression, Kaiden waved his hand in surprise.
"Of course I'm not asking you to do it now. We'll wait until your body recovers. If it wakes up before then, well, that's just our fate."
"That's quite a carefree thing to say."
Asdal, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, added a leisurely comment, and Kaiden turned to him with a sneer.
"And does the Crown Prince have a different method in mind?"
"...."
"If you don't even speak, I'll take it as a half-agreement."
"Who says that?"
"Margaret."
Even Enoch and Yuanna, who had been listening to the conversation, turned to look at me, and I felt embarrassed.
"I apologize, Young Lady. I wasn't trying to contradict what you said."
Asdal apologized to me very quickly. His demeanor was truly strikingly different from before.
I couldn't find words to say and only moved my lips before eventually changing the subject.
"For now, wouldn't it be better if we rested for a day today and recovered our strength before making a plan?"
Everyone nodded in agreement with my words. Except for the injured Asdal and me, who needed to recover my mana, they decided to take turns keeping watch through the night.
Even Yuanna and the injured Asdal were standing watch, so it felt terribly sorry to sleep alone. However, they told me not to mind and just get some rest.
In the end, we decided to spend the night in the Cabin and prepared our sleeping places.
"Flone Young Lady."
I lifted my head as I was laying down leaves where I would sleep. Reddish-brown short hair came into view.
Yuanna tilted her head gently and smiled at me with her eyes.
"It's nice to see you again. I missed you. We have a lot to talk about between us, don't we?"
I understood the meaning of those words all too clearly. This was definitely something being said to Margaret before the regression.
"Holy Maiden. Don't get too close to Margaret."
Kaiden stood right beside me, wary of Yuanna.
"I have something to discuss with Flone Young Lady. Would you step aside? You're in the way."
Of course, Yuanna was not a woman of ordinary temperament. She didn't back down with her smile and retorted to Kaiden.
Now that I think about it, the two of them seemed to dislike each other as if they harbored mutual disdain.
I looked at Yuanna and spoke.
"Do you remember? Everything?"
At my question, Yuanna smiled with an unperturbed expression.
"I only remembered everything recently. It seems you saw 'that' in the Underground Bunker. So are you the Flone Young Lady I know?"
"Wait, why do your questions and answers sound like that? Are you exchanging codes?"
Asdal, unable to grasp the situation, interrupted our conversation. Then Kaiden clicked his tongue.
"If you don't understand, just stay quiet and keep your mouth shut. Don't count seconds."
At Kaiden's words, Asdal voiced his displeasure, then received another scolding from Enoch and closed his mouth.
"Margaret is correct, but I'm not Margaret."
With just this much said, Yuanna would certainly understand. At my answer, Yuanna's expression became unreadable as she stared at me for a moment.
Soon, she bit her lower lip and scrunched her face—as if holding back tears.
"So the conclusion is that it's Margaret?"
"Yes. Margaret is correct, but...."
Yuanna suddenly pulled me into an embrace.
"Thank you. For coming back safely."
Her voice trembled faintly with suppressed emotion. The back of her shoulders quivered against me as she held me close.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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