The Color Sleeping in the Holy Kingdom (1)
I woke from the nightmare drenched in sweat and looked around. A soft bed, wooden walls—it seemed Damian had carried me to the inn room. “…So it wasn’t just a dream.”
I stared at my empty palm and muttered to myself. The chess piece An Yuho had handed me in the nightmare had vanished like a mirage, leaving only its lingering warmth. It wasn’t a hallucination or auditory trick. My Copy ability hadn’t activated at all. Besides, I had clearly seen it resting in my hand just moments ago.
──Creak.
While I was still lingering on the aftertaste of the nightmare, the white-haired hero opened the door and announced his presence. “Oh, you’re already awake?”
“Damian.”
“I thought you were really dead. I was worried sick. You do know you slept for nearly half a day, right?”
“Liar. You know the future. Whether it’s regression, loops… or some kind of precognition ability.” I chuckled as I watched his expression. The way he rushed over the moment I collapsed after facing the Blood Knight told me he wasn’t ignorant of the future. And now he had opened the door as if he already knew I was awake. The water and porridge he carried confirmed it.
“Ahaha, you’re quite suspicious. And here you are, unable to take a single step off the bed.”
“……Kuh.”
As Damian said, I could barely prop myself against the bed. He gave me a faint smile at the sight. “What do you want? Why are you so obsessed with me when you already know the future? Wait, hold on… Did you take off my clothes and mask?”
I tried to move and noticed the discomfort around my body and face, then questioned him. The nightmare with An Yuho had felt so vivid that my reason seemed to have frayed for a moment.
“Yes. There’s no need to be embarrassed between men, is there? Besides, you looked uncomfortable covered in sweat from the Copy backlash.”
“Your eyes say otherwise.” I narrowed my brows, catching the strange way his gaze lingered on every part of me.
“Should I have gotten hurt worse?” Was this different from the future he knew? Or had I been supposed to sustain some injury while fighting the Blood Knight? Since An Yuho had asked me to make Damian my companion, I had no other choice.
“No, that can’t be. You’re far too precious to me, Shade. I was only checking for any injuries I might have missed.” His voice trembled slightly as he spoke. The concern sounded genuine. “You always push your body too hard. Just like before.”
“You talk like you’ve known me for a long time. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“Well, my pride won’t allow me to tell you directly.” There seemed to be other emotions mixed in, but before I could probe further, Damian’s expression hardened. I didn’t know what I was in the future he knew, but at least I had learned I was someone important to him.
“Fine. Can you call the Saintess Raybi? I have something to say to her.” I asked Damian to summon Raybi to uncover the reason behind An Yuho’s request in the nightmare. In the Holy Kingdom of Elysium, she would know best what lurked beneath the surface.
“…No. Drink the porridge first, then speak.”
Damian cut me off immediately. His face showed clear displeasure, as if he suspected I was trying to approach the women he had his eye on. “I’m not planning to flirt with Raybi. I just have a few questions—mmph.”
“…Chew. Slowly. So you don’t choke. I brought water too, so drink.”
Damian seized the moment my mouth opened and slipped the spoon of porridge in. The sharp emotion in his voice felt too intense to be simple concern for my recovery.
“……”
Slurp. Unable to move more than a little in bed, I had no choice but to obediently eat the porridge Damian fed me.
“…It’s good. Did you make it yourself?” I noticed the peculiar taste on my tongue and looked at him with mild surprise. This wasn’t ordinary market porridge. I could taste the bitter, astringent notes unique to mandragora.
“Yes. I finely chopped jewel abalone, nutritious carrots, and mandragora. Considering the Copy backlash, I chose ingredients that boost natural recovery along with flavor.”
“Mandragora must have been expensive. You can charge it to my guild. I owe you one.” I nodded reluctantly at his proud expression. The backlash from Copy couldn’t be healed by ordinary holy power or potions. Only rest and my body’s own natural healing could see me through.
“It’s fine. My family is quite wealthy. Strict, but…”
The Evansia family. A setting I couldn’t have known from my story as a created character—only a girlfriend would. I could have gathered unknown information from the community, but An Yuho and I enjoyed coming up with our own interpretations from newly discovered details, so I deliberately avoided it. Besides, if the story arc centered on Damian had been revealed, I would have known anyway, and she had been organizing settings and foreshadowing in her notes while theorizing. I didn’t want to ruin that fun for her.
“Come to think of it, your attitude has softened quite a bit. A few days ago you were like a porcupine with its quills out.” Damian continued feeding me while I struggled to move. Every gesture of his hands was filled with worry and care.
“…I’m not the type to speak rudely to my lifesaver. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve died from the Copy backlash for sure.” I spoke a little more warmly to him. Thanks to his knowledge of the future, my injuries had ended up this minor.
“You got some on your mouth. Don’t talk, just eat.” Damian wiped the corner of my lips with his finger, then chuckled softly with concern. This level of attentiveness was why the female characters paid no attention to the player and fell for him instead. Watching the meticulous and considerate Damian, I felt a slight wall between us. If I had been that quick-witted and perceptive, I might have noticed An Yuho’s lies sooner.
“You finished it all. I’ll call Raybi in a bit. I’ll bring the others too, so don’t get any strange ideas.”
“Yeah. Got it.”
“I trust your ‘got it’ the least.” Damian said while clearing the empty porridge bowl and water cup, scraped clean to the bottom. In the future he knew, had I crossed a line with the women? Otherwise, I couldn’t see why he was so wary of me.
“First, let’s put your clothes and mask back on. You don’t want the ladies seeing you like this.”
“I can do it myself… Kuh!”
“See? You can’t. Shade, just leave it to me and rest easy.”
Damian spoke in a blunt tone as he slowly dressed me and replaced my mask. Perhaps the sight of me fighting the Blood Knight had frightened him—his fingertips trembled whenever they touched my body. The miracle shown by an ordinary thief who was neither warrior, mage, priest, nor barbarian.
“…You have a lot of scars on your body and face. Doesn’t it hurt? It must have been incredibly painful.”
“They’re all old wounds now. Almost none are recent.”
Humans tended to judge by appearance rather than what lay inside. That was why I hid my face with a mask and avoided exposing my skin as much as possible. If my first impression was fixed as someone bad or frightening, it would make negotiations and deals harder—I couldn’t deceive or persuade the other party as easily.
“I think they’re cool. Scars like these are like medals for men, aren’t they?”
“That’s because you’re a hero and don’t understand. With the Holy Sword, you can slice through most monsters and demons easily. You rarely get hurt.” I heard Damian trying to defend my painful past, but I sensed another intention and decided to ignore it. He was probably reassuring himself that the women around him wouldn’t fall for or like my hideous face.
— Raybi’s Favorability: -90% —
A faint woody scent filled the small, shabby inn room. Raybi, along with the others, gathered near my bed where I could barely move a single step.
“What is it you wish to discuss, Shade?”
My favorability with Raybi sat at a staggering minus ninety percent, yet as the Saintess, she maintained the utmost polite and respectful demeanor toward me. The crows that served as her eyes and ears perched on the windowsill, whispering my condition to her. After overexerting myself against the Blood Knight, I looked as though I could barely move a single finger.
“What’s beneath the Holy Kingdom of Elysium? Can you tell me everything you know, Raybi?”
“…Wouldn’t you know that better than I, Shade? As the leader of the thief guild Moonshadow, you should possess the most information.”
Clear wariness. The Crow Saintess Raybi’s expression asked why I was questioning her in return. I had some idea of what lurked beneath Elysium, but hearing it from the Saintess herself would be more accurate.
‘Damian looks quietly satisfied. Does he really believe the player won’t gain any favorability with me?’ I clenched my fist as I glanced at Damian, whose lips were slightly upturned beside me.
“I just want to cross-verify what I already know.”
In an ordinary story game I might not have cared, but having my favorite character stolen in a gacha game with collection elements without even attempting to romance her felt unfair. Unlike An Yuho who played as Damian, I had started the game largely because Raybi’s illustration as the first pickup character was beautiful.
“The sacred relic that emits its own light. In the Holy Kingdom of Elysium, it is called the holy relic left behind by the First Saintess…”
I began calmly recounting what I knew to Saintess Raybi.
“……!”
With every word I spoke, Raybi’s face grew rigid. Yet I continued without hesitation, laying out all the information as if piercing through her.
“I’ve heard rumors that the remains of the First Saintess lie sleeping beneath Elysium. Is that true?”
The stage of Story Chapter 2, the Holy Kingdom of Elysium, was a place with the setting that it had been ruined while attempting to resurrect the First Saintess. In the actual game I couldn’t access the underground, but now that it had become reality, I could uncover the truth.