#56 Frost Valley (5)
#56 Frost Valley (5)
Her head was spinning, but Hong Yuri somehow clung to consciousness. Though the Wolf had revealed his true form, all she could see from within his embrace was black fur. She was too shaken to even picture what he looked like.
"...Hik!"
She hiccuped but couldn't lift a hand to cover her mouth. Being held by Alpha (Jirisan Warg) like a teddy bear...
'Why... why has it come to this?'
Wolf had explained, but her mind had gone blank and she hadn't heard a word. What if she moved unnecessarily and he got displeased? He had told her to stay still... but wasn't it weird to just keep being held like this...?
Uncharacteristic worries tangled in her mind. The fear, though diminished, still lingered and made her feel infinitely small. But as time passed and nothing happened, her ragged breathing slowly began to steady. Once she started getting used to the fear, what emerged next was, surprisingly...
'...Warm?'
Without realizing it, she burrowed deeper into his chest. Leaning into the body heat that held her frozen body, she found herself feeling reassured amidst the anxiety. Her heart was pounding, telling her she was still scared, but it didn't feel unpleasant—rather, it felt comfortable.
'...Why?'
A body thawing. A tiny, fluttering heartbeat.
As she focused on the sound of his pulse, fatigue finally washed over her. Her eyelids grew heavy in the warm air, and the last thing Hong Yuri thought was, unexpectedly, how cozy and warm it felt...
"Okay, that's enough..."
He had been about to tell her to get up, but the sound of her steady breathing made the words slip away. At some point, she had fallen asleep. He quietly looked down at her face, its usual venom and fiery temperament drained away.
"Kyuu."
"Yeah. When she's sleeping quietly like this..."
She's actually pretty cute... I found myself poking her cheek. The texture was soft, like a steamed bun. It was then that I suddenly realized I knew almost nothing about Hong Yuri.
'She didn't have much screen time in the novel...'
Why she had become a hunter, why she had developed such a fierce personality... No, well, she seemed to have mellowed out quite a bit since that incident. Feeling a bit sorry for how often she fainted, I glanced at the wrist I'd been forced to eat.
'Has it still not recovered?'
About half of her palm had regenerated, but it still wasn't quite a complete hand. I clicked my tongue and shook my head. It was taking longer than I thought. Still, I couldn't just acquire some useless recovery skill for this.
A while later, when Hong Yuri had fallen deep asleep and her body temperature had returned to normal, I nodded to myself. It seemed about time to head out. Wrapping the sleeping Hong Yuri in my transformed fur, I created a platform. Once I was close to the ceiling, I summoned the Void. There was no need to bore through the snow-filled entrance when I could simply devour the cave ceiling and ascend.
***
"I'm glad you're safe..."
I looked at Baek So-yul, who was stroking her chest in relief, and nodded. The cliff had been higher than I thought, so it had taken some time, but there hadn't been any danger.
"Did you defeat the master of Frost Valley?"
I nodded at the question. Since I had taken down Frost Bone as she'd instructed, there was nothing left that could be considered a threat. Seeing Baek So-yul's anxious expression, I released the transformed fur that was covering Hong Yuri and carefully lowered her to the ground.
"Teacher..."
A startled Baek So-yul approached, and upon seeing Hong Yuri's soundly sleeping face, she stroked her chest as if reassured. No matter how she looked, Hong Yuri didn't seem injured. Just as Baekrok had said, there had been no need to worry...
"It's a relief that you both came back safely. So now..."
"Yeah. We just need to absorb the mana, and it's over."
Once that was done, we could clear the dungeon. After that, all that remained was to prepare to fight the Volcanic Horned Dragon. Judging by the fact that I hadn't fainted, my phobia seemed to have improved quite a bit by now... Wait. Judging by the fact that she hadn't fainted, it seemed her fear had gotten considerably better...
"Once Hong Yuri wakes up, we'll head back in."
Baek So-yul opened her backpack, took out a mat, and laid Hong Yuri down. They had said it would take about two days to absorb the mana anyway. And there was no need to stray far from the dungeon's boundary. I wanted to enter the dungeon immediately, but Perry was still shivering as if cold, and Baek So-yul looked tired even though she tried not to show it... I decided we would take a short break.
—Crackle.
We sat around a black flame that blazed up in place of a campfire, waiting for Hong Yuri to wake.
"Kyuu~!"
Was it really that good? Perry's expression as she ate the flesh chunks was dyed with the utmost bliss. I suddenly wondered if she might like it even more if I cooked it for her, but something about her expression was oddly subtle.
"...Kyuuu."
It wasn't that it tasted bad—maybe it just wasn't her preference? Just as I was about to offer Perry, who was shaking her head, some other meat, Baek So-yul flinched. She had closed her eyes for a moment but soon jolted awake.
"You can sleep more."
Since Hong Yuri hadn't woken up yet, I said, but Baek So-yul shook her head.
"...I can't fall asleep."
Was it because of the Illusion Realm? She didn't look like someone who couldn't sleep—rather, she looked as relaxed as if she'd already had a deep rest. Maybe it had to do with her constitution.
"In the end, Baekrok was right."
Instead of answering, I silently listened to her words.
"She said there was no need to worry... It really was true."
Sitting on the mat, she leaned her upper body against me. Using me as a pillow, Baek So-yul reached her hand toward the ceiling. Looking at the sight embroidered with a sea instead of sky and phantom beasts instead of stars, she spoke as if mesmerized.
"...It's so beautiful."
A place she had longed for even in her dreams. Earlier, when she had briefly closed her eyes, Baek So-yul had been able to escape her nightmares for the first time in a long while. Was it because this was the Illusion Realm? No, it was probably...
"...When the work here is done, where are you going next?"
"Yeah."
A mountain of work still remained. I had to prevent the Phantom Butterfly from being scouted and defeat the Prodigal Sons. Neverland still hadn't been cleared, and the Purple Black Tiger remained. I had to eliminate the Calamity of the Sea, the Plague, and the Disease. And eventually, I would have to stop The End itself. It was a job that had been dumped on me, but I couldn't just refuse. If I did, the Illusion Realm, Perry, and all of humanity would die. I found myself stroking the head of the soundly sleeping Perry.
"...I'm envious."
I turned my gaze at the small voice, but she shook her head as if it was nothing. As we were looking around like that, Baek So-yul suddenly brought up something rather unexpected.
"If you're leaving, I want to go with you."
These were words I had heard back when we first met. I didn't answer this time, either. She knew perfectly well how absurd that request was. The only reason I'd given her the spiritual medicine and brought her to the Illusion Realm was solely so she could learn to protect herself. Though I couldn't deny that I was receiving help from her in the process.
"Right...?"
I tapped the crown of her head as she hugged her knees dejectedly. It seemed she had quietly given up. Leaning back against me, I couldn't see her expression, so I thought so—but Baek So-yul's eyes were actually shining.
"—Don't you two ever sleep?"
At the voice that suddenly rang out, Wolf turned his head. Baekrok was looking at us with narrowed eyes.
"Did we wake you? I'm sorry."
"...It's not a body that necessarily requires sleep."
I was a little surprised by those words. The two of them were conversing calmly—Baekrok was fluently speaking human language, not the fairy tongue.
"Baekrok..."
"Come to think of it, I believe this is the first time I've spoken human words in front of you. It's been quite a while since I last used it."
"A while?"
"Well... I'd say it's been a few hundred years or so."
I was astonished by his indifferent answer. It's easy to say 'a few hundred years,' but can we even imagine that span of time? Moreover, his attitude of dismissing those years as nothing... It really hit me anew that Baekrok was a phantom beast.
"Isn't that... weird?"
Baek So-yul revealed her puzzlement. She seemed to be gauging the reaction before she finally opened her mouth.
"I learned that things like magic power and monsters only appeared about 50 years ago. Of course, I don't mean that Baekrok is a monster. It's not that I think you're lying, but..."
Her vague words contained the implication: if what she learned was true, wouldn't it be strange? Baekrok calmly answered the question.
"Because the Illusion Realm has existed since long ago."
"Long ago?"
The Illusion Realm was a mirror of the World. If the Reality Realm met its end, the Illusion Realm would be the same. The Illusion Realms of countless Parallel Worlds would have similarly vanished... But then a thought occurred to me, and I frowned.
'If Baekrok doesn't know about The End, then as I thought...'
"That's right. Aren't there often legends handed down from ancient times?"
"Don't tell me those are..."
"Unless they are completely absurd. You just couldn't see us or believe in us. We were always here."
While the two were talking, Hong Yuri finally woke up. Yawning and tapping her mouth, she stretched—and then froze completely. With her arms still raised, she stammered for a moment before squeezing her eyes shut.
'Ah.'
Come to think of it, I was in my true form right now. She hadn't been able to see it inside the cave. It seemed she could manage physical contact somehow now, but having my true form revealed was still difficult for her. Just as I was about to shrink my body again, Hong Yuri took a deep breath and calmed her breathing.
'Is she surprisingly okay?'
Back then, it had been the Shadow Wolf, so the slight change in appearance might have had an effect. Hong Yuri swallowed and eventually turned her head, but she didn't collapse. I nodded at this.
'Good for you.'
"Alright, let's head out."
***
When we entered the dungeon again, I could sense the presence of monsters buried deep in the snow. There weren't many left. If even those few disappeared, the dungeon would collapse. I laughed hollowly at this somewhat absurd situation.
"I'll be right back."
Leaving the eyes staring at me behind, I leaped up. Spreading my detection, I scanned the surroundings. Extending my tentacles deep toward the closest presence, I caught the monster and yanked it out of the snow.
"......"
The few remaining monsters seemed to gasp for breath before charging at me, but their leg tendons were severed and they collapsed.
'I need to keep them alive.'
Most had been swept away and killed by the avalanche, but a few tenacious ones had managed to survive. I had to keep them alive until the mana was absorbed. I repeated the process: digging out the monsters buried in the snow, then slicing their tendons. And just like that, time passed, and two days went by.