Elf's Elixir (2)
Ciela squeezed her eyes shut as the centipede, even larger than a massive serpent, bared its venomous claws and charged straight at her.
“Eek! G-Gross…!”
She simply couldn’t bring herself to look. Closing her eyes in a situation where the centipede could attack at any moment was poor judgment, but the horror was so overwhelming that she felt biting her tongue and dying might be preferable.
“Shaaaak!”
“Kyaa!! Stay away…!”
To her astonishment, she learned that such a gigantic centipede could even make a sound resembling a shriek. Ciela clamped her hands over her ears as well.
Thud!
In that instant, she heard Seong Hyun-jin kick off the ground beside her.
Spirit Exorcism Sword, First Form.
“Ghost Strike Kill!”
Creeeak—!!!
A sharp slicing sound followed, then the clattering of the centipede’s segmented body colliding, until silence finally fell.
Seong Hyun-jin had severed the beast’s midsection with a single stroke. The massive centipede thrashed wildly in its death throes before going still.
Even then, Ciela remained crouched on the ground, eyes tightly shut and ears covered, trembling uncontrollably.
“Sunbae.”
She didn’t even hear Seong Hyun-jin calling out to her.
“Sunbae, it’s over.”
“……Hic… Stay away…”
Crunch, crunch. Only when the sound of footsteps crushing fallen leaves drew near did Ciela slowly open her eyes.
By then, the repulsive centipede was gone. Well, precisely, it lay bisected on the ground—but Seong Hyun-jin’s outstretched hand blocked her view of it.
“You were really scared, huh. You okay?”
“…Hubae?”
Seeing him offer his hand so gently made a pang stir in Ciela’s chest.
It had been the same during the Shamash Prophecy. She always seemed to be the one receiving his help. He knew her weaknesses that others didn’t and swooped in to save her. It was obvious what feelings such a person would stir in her.
Oblivious to her emotions, Seong Hyun-jin spoke plainly.
“It’s all done, so relax.”
“……Really?”
He nodded and lightly took her hand, helping her to her feet. Ciela was slightly startled by the firm, callused texture of his grip.
Once standing, she got a full view of the halved, dead centipede.
“Ugh…”
“Hang on just a sec. I’ll extract the venom and clear it away.”
Ciela gave a small nod, and Seong Hyun-jin, after telling her to wait, approached the grotesque corpse without hesitation. He lifted one of its venomous claws and fitted it over the mouth of the glass vial he’d brought.
The nerves must not have fully died yet, for the claw clamped down with a snap, dripping venom into the bottle.
Watching the vial fill, Ciela asked hesitantly.
“Doesn’t it gross you out, Hubae…?”
“Huh? Well, kinda, but I’m used to it now.”
“Used to it?”
“I lived on that mountain, remember?”
“……Oh.”
Seong Hyun-jin had spent twenty years in the mountain cabin with Karin. Intelligent beasts sensed her danger and stayed away, but mindless insects crawled and flew about without a care. Surrounded by mountains, bugs were a daily occurrence.
If Karin had been afraid, he might have been too—but would the Sword Star, of all people, flinch at something like bugs? She’d slice flying mosquitoes out of the air with her sword, and Seong Hyun-jin had grown up watching her. He was accustomed to dealing with them.
Centipedes were no different. This one was the largest he’d ever seen, but they all looked much the same, so its size didn’t faze him much.
“Being a big one, it’s already half full.”
“…Half?”
Ciela glanced at the vial, then pointed at it and asked Seong Hyun-jin.
“Do we have to fill it all the way?”
“Yeah, that’s what we were told.”
“Then…”
Her face drained of color.
“We need… one more?”
“……”
Seong Hyun-jin just gave a faint, wordless smile. As Ciela started backing away, he flashed a sly grin and grabbed her wrist.
“No running away, Sunbae.”
“Sorry! Spare me…! I can’t take any more…!!”
“Haha, we agreed to hunt together, right? Going alone would be cheating.”
He dragged the fleeing Ciela along as he pressed forward. Overpowered physically, she clung to his arm and yelled.
“Hubae, Hubae!! My bad! I’m sorry!!”
“Why apologize? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Then can’t you let go…?”
“Nope. We’re in this together. And we’re comrades sharing makeup classes, aren’t we? Betraying a comrade here isn’t cool.”
“……”
Speechless, Ciela let him lead her deeper into the woods. Just as Jerman had said they’d spot them wandering around, they soon encountered another giant centipede.
“Kiyaaak—!!!”
And Ciela’s piercing scream echoed through the forest.
#
Seong Hyun-jin returned with the vial brimming with centipede venom.
“You got it quick.”
“Yeah, easier than expected.”
Ciela sat on the ground behind him, utterly drained, but Jerman took it in stride.
“Then mind the forge for a bit. I’ll gather the other materials.”
“Got it.”
Once Jerman stepped away, Seong Hyun-jin looked at the exhausted Ciela and said.
“Sunbae, you’ll get your clothes dirty like that. Lots of ash from the firewood here. Sit on this instead.”
“…My legs won’t move.”
She glanced at him sidelong.
“This is your fault for dragging me along.”
“Haha.”
Seong Hyun-jin chuckled lightly and approached, offering his hand.
“Grab on and stand.”
“……”
Ciela took it. As he pulled her up, she asked quietly.
“Hubae… shouldn’t you stop being so nice to me?”
“Huh?”
“I might get the wrong idea.”
Seong Hyun-jin froze at her provocative words. Seeing that, Ciela added.
“Kidding.”
“……”
“Heehee.”
She giggled softly and took a seat, while he scratched his head. As the awkward air lingered, someone caught Seong Hyun-jin’s eye.
A hooded man in a robe approaching from afar.
“Oh, Cadernan’s here.”
“Huh?”
It was Cadernan, captain of the Yggdrasil Watchers guarding Igrasil Forest. He approached the pair—specifically, eyeing Seong Hyun-jin.
“Young student.”
“Yes?”
Cadernan gestured behind him.
“Is this friend of yours the student’s friend?”
“My friend?”
Seong Hyun-jin tilted his head and looked back. There stood Serena, pale-faced and legs wobbling.
“Ah, Serena. You made it?”
She looked like she’d barely kept up with Cadernan.
“Serena, what’s wrong?”
“Th-There was this huge spider here…… I thought I was gonna die for real…”
“…Spider?”
“Bigger than a person…”
Apparently, Serena hated bugs too.
“Sp-Spiders too…?”
Ciela looked shocked, and Seong Hyun-jin realized they couldn’t stay here long.
He turned to Cadernan.
“Yeah, she’s my friend. Jerman said it was okay to bring her, so I called her over.”
“Got it. Let’s go then.”
“Thanks for escorting her.”
Cadernan nodded and left.
“Sorry for calling you on short notice.”
“It’s fine. If your issue needs my blood, I had to come myself.”
Seong Hyun-jin gazed at her touched by her dutiful response. Noticing his look, Serena asked shyly.
“A-Anything else you need?”
“We can get the other materials. We even got the century-old centipede venom.”
“Where’d you get that much centipede venom?”
Serena tilted her head at the full vial, and Ciela chimed in.
“It’s not just spiders here, Hubae-nim. There are huge centipedes too. Bigger than snakes…”
“……”
Serena shuddered and looked at Seong Hyun-jin.
“…I won’t have to see one, right?”
“Probably not? No need to hunt more.”
“If you hadn’t been here, I might’ve bitten my tongue and died on the spot.”
As Ciela lamented, Seong Hyun-jin chuckled wryly.
“You said you’d come along though…”
“I thought it’d be normal-sized ones…!”
“Haha.”
Watching the two bicker and laugh, Serena felt a strange twinge. She poked Seong Hyun-jin’s shoulder.
“…You two seem closer now?”
He startled and turned to her. Memories flashed of her pounding his chest recently—he worried she might be hurt again.
Sure enough, jealousy flickered in her eyes.
“It’s not like that…”
“…Hm.”
Her skeptical hum left him flustered. Then Ciela cut in.
“Hubae and I have always gotten along fine. Serena-sunbae, you’re getting too jealous.”
She furrowed her brow slightly.
“Even if he’s your boyfriend, smothering him like that—he needs room to breathe.”
Ciela wasn’t clueless about Serena’s feelings. She’d be jealous too in her shoes. The issue was seeing Seong Hyun-jin squirm under it—a precious person to her, no less. It bothered her deeply.
So she reacted sharply, and Serena didn’t back down.
“…When did I smother him?”
“You’re doing it right now. Look, he doesn’t know what to do.”
Ciela’s expression hardened coldly.
“Know your limits.”
“…Sunbae.”
Serena smiled faintly at Ciela’s stiff face—but it wasn’t her usual pretty smile; it bordered on a sneer.
“Why should I take orders from you on how to handle my boyfriend?”
“He’s your boyfriend, sure, but seeing my precious junior like this, how can I not care?”
“Precious? I said he’s my boyfriend. Who are you to call him precious…!”
“I just meant he’s a precious junior who helped me when I was in a bind. Aren’t you overinterpreting out of jealousy?”
Seong Hyun-jin panicked. Moments ago, they’d bonded over shared bug horrors; now the air crackled with tension.
Pondering how to intervene and drawing a blank, he sighed inwardly.
‘…Jerman, please come back soon.’
He could only hope Jerman returned to defuse the situation.