Episode 98
Translator : MIssme
Editor : Aru
His voice of astonishment shuddered.
I opened my mouth at the sight of his body released from custody anyway.
“Congratulations. You found freedom. It’s easy, isn’t it?
“What? Oh, You crazy.….”
The opponent sheepishly opened his mouth, trying to spit out slang, but soon shut up again.
He seemed to have belatedly realized that Ash still had a sword in his right hand that had broken the wall.
The opponent coughed one after another and lowered his head.
“I never thought I’d escape in this stupid way in my life. It’s not even a common wall, it was cast with magic…….”
I listened to his timid mumbling, which I didn’t know if he was talking to himself or not, and then responded.
“Was it a magical wall?”
“Yes, I would’ve broken it if it was a simple wall. Oh, my God, I can’t believe you broke this with force.”
Then the opponent shook off the debris from his head and body with his diligent hand.
Is it just my illusion? He seems to brush his horns the most gently.
“Well, that’s enough, ’cause you got me out anyway. I should take care of this forest monster as I promised.”
“Oh, about that.”
I stopped talking to say that he shouldn’t have to.
No, come to think of it, the fewer the Monsters site in the forest, the better. Moreover, there are groups of them that are brought in by the enchanted cloth.
It’s not unfair exploitation, it’s voluntary return labour, so shouldn’t I just stand up and decline it?
“Why? Not enough?”
While I was lost in thought for a moment, my opponent suddenly said like he had read my mind.
Huh? Is it not enough?
“Huh, I knew this would happen. That’s why human greed is.”
I didn’t say anything.
Even before answering anything, the person who had completed the questions and answers on his own searched something in his arms.
I soon caught him flying something towards me. It was some kind of coin.
“What is this?”
“It’s a medium that can call me out.”
The opponent continued in a grumpy tone.
“Someday, wherever you are, just grab it and call my name and you can summon me.”
“Your name?”
“Gerg.”
Gerg. The other person added the moment when I tried to roll his name in my mouth unconsciously.
“For your information, it’s disposable.”
What? I almost blew it as soon as I got it.
“Write carefully. Because it’s not an opportunity that comes every day.”
No, who asked for it.
Anyways, I’ll take it. I nodded to Gerg.
“Ah, that’s right.”
Suddenly, Gerg opened his mouth. I was about to ask him how to get out of here, but I paused and waited.
“And you. You’ve got a pretty interesting one.”
“Me?”
“That thing in your arm.”
Gerg winked as if he were crawling under my coat.
Do you mean the enchanted cloth? What’s wrong with this?
“It’s an object that can manipulate monsters.”
“What?”
I was startled. What does that mean?
Manipulate what?
“I don’t know who made it, but it’s sophisticated. Did you make it?”
“Come on, hold on. I mean………”
I hurriedly pulled the enchanted cloth out of my arms. The cloth shined light blue even in a dark cave.
“What you mean by now is this cloth has the ability to manipulate monsters?”
“What. Didn’t you know?”
Gerg shrugged. Since I carried it without knowing its real function.
“Well, I don’t think anyone can invoke that ability. But I think you can do it.”
“That’s not…”
“I don’t know the details. I don’t know the principles or the reasons, I just say what I see.”
He then continued his words as if he were being gracious.
“Try it out of here. It’s simple. With that cloth in your body, you just repeat one thought hard on anything. Then the nearest monster will follow that thought.”
“Thinking…….”
“You can try in about 10 minutes. This cave was kept by my mana, and once I’m released, it will disappear.”
“…….”
“Then I’m leaving first. I’ll save you a few monsters around here for the test. Bye-bye!”
“What? Hold…..”
-on.
That gerg vanished without a trace.
I blinked my puzzled eyes.
So in an instant, only me and Ash and the remains of the collapsed wall were left in the cave.
There’s only one missing person, no, half-demon, but suddenly I feel something’s gone.
I stared at the empty seat with an indescribable heart and turned my head to see Ash.
“Ash…”
“Yes.”
“…… is that real?”
I asked, fiddling with the enchanted cloth.
There was nothing unshocked about what Gerg had left behind.
Not only can the enchanted fabric actually bring monsters together, but it can also manipulate them.
And the premonition that I’ll be able to draw out that ability.
All of them were only white things to accept right away.
Especially the latter. Even if it was true that the enchanted cloth had such power, I couldn’t understand why I was the one who could use it.
When I buried myself in the feeling of being thrown in the lake of confusion and kept my mouth shut, Ash said.
“Should I burn it?”
“…… eh?”
“That cloth. Do you want me to burn it?”
Ash’s expression and voice were extremely serene and routine, but the content was not.
I shook my head in surprise.
“No?”
“Then shall we actually try it, whether it’s true or not, to control and burn the monster?”
“No, no…”
If it’s true, then the reason why I shouldn’t burn is increased.
This is an issue that should never be hidden or just covered up.
It was different from simply bringing in monsters. It’s very intense.
Why do you keep saying “burn”?
“Noonim.”
Ash continued in a non-hurried tone.
“No matter how extraordinary that piece of cloth is, burying the truth about it was nothing serious.”
“……. .”
“I don’t care if the temple that created it has ambition behind it, nor does the imperial family’s reaction concern me.”
Ash slowly swept my hair off with his right hand. A calm hand brushed my forehead.
“So if it makes you uncomfortable, just burn it out of here.”
“Because no one can say anything.”
A slow tone lingered in my ears.
A gentle touch that touches my forehead and passes behind my ears; a firm, unforced, just sweet, but a determined way of speaking. I felt them in my skin, and soon my lips were flushed.
“……yes.”
“…….”
“But that’s okay. I won’t burn it.”
I felt as confused as a lie. My anxiety disappeared, and I felt at ease.
“I’m going to go out and make sure what that half-demon said is right, and if it’s true, I’ll let the imperial family know.”
It’s funny. Now that I’m told to burn up the cloth, I’m so relieved.
“I’d like to do that.”
Ash said nothing about my decision.
But as always–
“Yes. If that’s what you want.”
-he just said.
I looked up at Ash.
Under the dreary brightness of the cave, Ash’s sleek and beautiful features caught my eye.
Suddenly my heart leapt.
At the same time, the dryness went over, and I was thirsty.
The hand that had let go of Ash’s hand while receiving the coin thrown by Gerg suddenly felt very empty.
In this cave.
It was only possible to enter through magic, and it was also a space maintained by mana.
That is, this is a place separated from the outside.
In this space was just me and Ash.
“Ash.”
I knew this thirsty sensation wasn’t a sensation that I really wanted to drink water. I could tell intuitively. Or, as a matter of seeing,
“To you…”
The impulse that had been cut off followed. The words that had to be swallowed unintentionally earlier tickled the inside of my throat. Unbearably.
“What do I mean?”
“….”
“Do you like me?”
I pulled up my chin and looked inside Ash’s golden pupil.
Because of the height difference, my neck hurt if I kept this gaze for a long time, but now it didn’t matter.
“Not because as a sister, not because as a family……… Do you just like me? As someone else and a woman?”
Upon being asked a straightforward question, Ash stared at me for a moment.
I had a feeling that I didn’t know what he was thinking.
Soon the hand that stayed around my ears moved carefully and touched my cheek. The warmth brushed the cheek.
“Yes.”
“……..”
“Like crazy.”
“…….. .”
“That I don’t need any other things.”
Would it be like this if words were sweet?
I felt dizzy as if I had swallowed a very sweet dessert.
I squeezed the enchanted cloth roughly out of my hand and held Ash’s hand with another hand.
It was also to avoid falling down even if my legs were loosened, and on the other hand, it was a ceremony to strengthen the determination to say the next word.
I opened my mouth with a heart that was about to burst.
“……but why aren’t you doing anything?”
—————
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