The Path of Refuge
The Path of Refuge
Three years had passed since Dane left.
Anna was now fourteen.
Her silver hair, which reached her waist, was washed clean and shone like a jewel. Leather shoes were worn on the feet that used to step on mud, and instead of the loose clothes Dane had left behind, she wore clothes made by the village women.
The altar was empty.
The stone floor where offerings were placed daily was now covered in green moss.
There was a decent house in the center of the village.
It was the house the villagers had given to Anna.
Life here was much more comfortable than when Dane was around. Every morning, the village women would bring Anna freshly baked bread and soup.
In the cold winter, they filled the fireplace with firewood, and she slept under a soft fur blanket beneath a roof that didn't leak.
Whenever Anna summoned spirits to sprinkle the right amount of rain on the fields, the people would bow and thank her.
No one gossiped anymore about how Anna should be left alone.
A succession of abundant and warm days.
"....."
Yet, Anna's heart was always empty.
The dark circles under her eyes grew darker by the day.
She remembered the coldest, hungriest days. Back when she had nowhere to hide from the cold rain, and didn't even think to try, there was a warmth that held an umbrella over her head.
She still clutched the umbrella he had given her, holding it over her head.
'I'll definitely come back alive.'
Dane's voice, shared while linking pinkies, echoed in her ears.
"Anna, eat this too."
When Hams' wife spread jam thickly on a piece of bread and offered it, Anna quietly took it and ate.
After looking around the village, Anna had been caught by Hams' wife and ended up eating lunch at the village chief's house, where Hans, sitting across from her at the table, awkwardly slurped his soup.
"Ah, Father, is there any news about Hyung?"
Hams' spoon paused for a moment.
"Dane will be back soon once the situation at the Lord's castle improves."
Hams replied with a kind smile.
It was the same answer.
The same words as a year ago, half a year ago, and last month.
Anna took a bite of the bread and chewed.
Lately, she had stopped believing people's words.
Dane will be back soon, what kind of feat could a mere hunter accomplish, since Dane, a Gold-ranked hunter who led a Platinum Party, has stepped up, he will surely resolve the situation and return.
The villagers all sang the same lies in unison.
They didn't know.
The fact that the spirits heard all their gossip.
Every night, when the spirits heard news about Dane, they would whisper it into Anna's ears.
News of the Lord's castle.
The ominous news mentioned by the merchants fleeing the Lord's territory like they were running for their lives.
"Thank you for the meal."
Anna stood up and went outside.
The villagers waved at her as they saw her.
The waiting tightened around her throat every single day.
It was an afternoon like any other.
"Anna, you look pretty today."
"Can you stop the rain? I need to hang the laundry today."
Anna, who was walking around the village with an umbrella, nodded at the villagers' requests and cleared the clouds from the sky.
The villagers laughed.
Anna also curled the corners of her lips to follow them.
Jeobeok jeobeok.
She stepped on the dirt road, walked around the village once, and reached the outskirts.
The Hunter's house.
Anna visited this place every day.
Because Dane might be here without her knowing.
A trivial expectation to be the first one to meet him made her step foot here every day.
She sat in the spot where she used to sit and watch Dane during the few years they lived together.
As her arms and legs grew longer and her body grew bigger than before, she felt the years that had passed since Dane left.
"He said he'd come back."
She recalled the warmth remaining on her pinky finger.
Three years had passed, but the sensation hadn't faded.
"Dane, when are you coming back?"
It was that evening.
Dageudak. Dageudak.
The sound of horse hooves reached the spirit's ears.
Anna was awakened by the spirit.
Anna, who had fallen asleep for a moment in Dane's house, left the house and headed toward where the spirit was leading her.
There, a blood-soaked horse stumbled, carrying its master who had collapsed on its back, and knelt before Anna before falling.
Silver-white armor was thrown onto the ground.
"Jake?"
Knight Jake had appeared after three years.
It was morning when Jake woke up.
The village healer attended to Jake, caring for his body and wrapping him in bandages from head to toe.
The smell of medicinal herbs was pungent, and the foul odor of festering wounds filled the room.
Jake called for the village chief, Hams.
When the two tried to talk, the villagers blocked them. Anna, hiding her presence with the power of the spirits, eavesdropped on their conversation from outside the window.
Jake told the chief.
"Chief, listen. Prepare to leave the village from now on."
"Yes?"
Jake coughed up phlegm mixed with blood and continued.
"The Lord has been killed in battle."
His voice was boiling with rage.
Hatred toward the Demon Beast King's army bloomed as magical power and gathered on his shoulders.
"The castle walls have fallen. From now on, the entire territory will be trampled by the Demon Beast King's army. Even if you stay here, you won't survive."
Hams gasped.
"Oh, my god..."
The thing they had feared had actually happened.
"Th-then what happened to Dane? I don't think Dane would have been defeated. He must have escaped safely, right?"
"...."
The silence from Jake cut off all sound in the room.
Under the pressure of waiting for him to open his mouth, Jake reported the news.
"It will be hard for him to survive."
Jake's voice cracked.
"That guy... he bought us time. He drew their attention to buy time for me and the Young Master to escape. When the castle walls were breached, he had already set traps. He made the Demon Beast King's henchman, whom even three knights couldn't handle, look absolutely ragged. Cough!"
He coughed painfully.
A cough mixed with blood.
"Even if I wanted to lie... it will be hard for him to survive."
Silence flowed.
Hams' voice was low.
He let out a deep sigh.
"Hans, do not let Anna know about this."
"Father."
"It's not news that child can handle. You go and pack the luggage. You just need to make up an excuse to Anna that we need to evacuate for a while."
It was then.
Kkiik.
The window opened, and the wind rushed into the room.
The gazes in the room turned to the window all at once.
"Ah, Anna!"
Hams jumped up in shock.
Hans also froze, his mouth shut tight.
Anna took a step forward.
The wall supporting the window frame crumbled and broke, opening a path for her.
She made eye contact with Jake, who was sitting on the bed.
Jake's eyes, crusted with dried blood, widened.
Three years.
During that time, Anna had grown noticeably, and the little kid he remembered was nowhere to be found.
Her silver hair was moistened by the water droplets of the Water Spirit and sparkled in the sunlight. Her cheeks had a healthy glow. From her tall stature to her neatly dressed appearance.
Except for the dark circles under her eyes, she had become a dazzling woman who would capture anyone's gaze.
"You..."
Jake let out a hollow laugh.
"You've grown a lot."
Even while distorting his face as if his wounds were stinging, the corners of Jake's mouth rose faintly.
"That punk... he was keeping such a beauty waiting."
A hoarse voice mixed with envy.
Jake's head slumped helplessly to the side.
His body collapsed onto the bed, and he lost consciousness completely.
"Sir Jake!"
Hams and Hans rushed to the bed urgently and called the healer to check his condition.
Anna stood there blankly.
No laughter came out.
Her legs didn't give out, and she didn't collapse.
He stood against the Demon Beast King's army.
There's no way he's alive.
The words that had been pounding in her ears until just a moment ago cluttered her mind.
The Water Spirit hovering around Anna was assimilated into its master's emotions and created ripples, but in the end, not a single raindrop formed.
Anna's eyes were strangely dry, and the spirit tensed up just from her gaze.
'Liar.'
That can't be true.
Anna felt suffocated.
He promised me.
He promised me by linking pinkies that he would definitely come back.
Anna's head turned slowly toward the window.
In the distance, the bloody wind caused by the monsters blew from the Lord's castle.
The spirits hovering around her discovered a group that had stepped into their territory.
Heavy footsteps dragged along the dirt road.
The refugee procession leading the survivors of the Lord's castle to the neighboring territory was miserable.
Polica gripped the reins of his horse so hard that the veins stood out.
His father was dead.
The night the Lord's castle fell.
His father's attendant grabbed Polica and ran. He saw the back of his father drawing his sword beyond the burning castle walls for the last time.
From that day on, Polica became the Lord of Fontaine.
"Young Master, please drink some water."
When the attendant handed him a water bottle, Polica moistened his parched throat.
He looked back at the numerous refugees following him. The lives of hundreds of servants who had worked at the Lord's castle depended on him.
He felt suffocated by the weight of responsibility he hadn't known until now.
"Kuaaaak!"
A scream erupted from the rear of the procession.
A knight soared into the air.
Every time the giant wings covering the sky flapped, a gust of wind blew, and the refugees were crushed and tumbled to the ground.
The knights shouted.
The army led by the Demon Beast King.
The leader leading a group of the army.
Four Heavenly Kings, Jiz.
The Upper-level Monster with the appearance of an eagle grabbed a knight with its talons.
The bastard was enjoying the reaction of the knight, who was terrified by the rising altitude, even though it could have ended his life right away.
When it let go of its talons, the knight fell to the ground, and Jiz's monsters rushed toward the knight who had fallen far from the group.
The knight's scream rang out from beyond the forest and then cut off.
The Demon Beast King had sent pursuers.
Whether it was lucky or unlucky.
Jiz had no intention of killing them immediately.
Even if they ran further, they couldn't escape being rats in a trap.
As the forced march continued due to Jiz's threats, the knights' breathing became shorter.
The light of their Sword Aura grew dull.
'How long can we hold out?'
Polica clenched his fists.
Kkieeeeek!
That eagle monster circled the sky, letting out an unpleasant cry.
Polica bit his lip.
Blood flowed from his lip.
The hand holding the reins trembled.
Human destiny and the pride of the territory were being mocked by a beast.
He wanted to draw his sword right now and end that monster's life.
But he didn't have the strength.
He hated his own weakness.
It was then.
Jiz's blood-red eyes, circling the sky, turned toward Polica.
It had recognized who the most valuable person in the group was.
It folded its giant wings and dived like an arrow.
The target was precisely the horse Polica was riding.
"Lord!"
"Protect the Lord!!"
The knights threw their bodies to block Jiz, but the knights, who were already exhausted, were swept away like fallen leaves by the strong wind Jiz created as it stopped right in front of them.
Jiz stood in front of Polica and looked down at him.
Facing a monster the size of a house, the boy was terrified and instinctively closed his eyes.
The moment Jiz's mouth opened.
Paaaaat!!!!
A lump of water flew from the side and burst on Jiz's back.
Jiz reflexively spread its wings and flew up.
The strong wind pressed down on Polica.
"Kieeeeek!!!!"
Jiz cried out loudly.
A sound he had heard several times at the Lord's castle.
The bastard turned its back and flew away.
"D-did it run away?"
That Jiz?
The monster that even toyed with the Knights?
Polica's gaze turned to where the lump of water had flown from.
Jeobeok.
A girl scattered her silver hair in the wind.
She held an umbrella in one hand, and the water droplets hovering around her shattered in the sunlight, shedding rainbow colors.
The girl's gaze scanned Polica and the group he was leading once.
"...He's not here."
The girl, who frowned, lifted her head, and her gaze turned toward Jiz, who had risen above the clouds.
The girl opened her eyes wide.
The clouds gathered together and turned pitch black.
Ureureung.
Thunder rumbled.
Kwagwang!!!!!
Lightning struck.
Lightning struck Jiz, who was high in the sky, several times, and Jiz fell to the ground.
"W-wait."
Despite Polica's restraint, the girl ignored him and walked toward the fallen Jiz.
The monsters Jiz had led realized their leader's death and ran away in a hurry.
The refugee procession that had started from the Fontaine Lord's castle met peace for the first time then.