Blue Veins
After I came down from the Tower, the first week passed without any major trouble.
“Giseok! Nobody’s gonna snatch it from you. Eat a little slower.”
In front of Aiham sat a man devouring food like a man possessed.
Crunch, crunch—
Chicken leg in his left hand, beer in his right. A man with rare black hair and apricot-colored skin.
That man was me—Giseok.
“Why am I still starving no matter how much I eat these days? Mmph…”
Five bare chicken bones already lay piled in front of me.
Aiham just stared, mouth hanging open.
“You sure nothing’s wrong with you? You’ve always been a big eater, but this is ridiculous.”
Cheeks stuffed full like a squirrel’s, I called out to a passing restaurant auntie.
“Auntie, three more chicken legs and another beer over here. And the spicy chili meat stew, please!”
“Hey! Stop ordering! What’s the point of running every morning if you’re just gonna shovel it all back in?”
I worked the bone free inside my mouth and spat it out.
“I can’t stop… mmph… At this rate my food budget’s gonna wipe me out!”
“Of course it will if you keep eating expensive meat like that. You even going into the Tower these days?”
“Only the lower floors!”
After coming down from the Tower, my record of clearing the fifth floor had promoted me all the way to Soldier Leader.
Soldier Leader was a junior command rank just below Knight—perfectly respectable for settling down and starting a family. But ever since I left the Tower my appetite had only grown worse, and the savings I’d carefully built up were vanishing fast.
“You doing okay for money?”
“It’s almost gone already. Starting tomorrow I’ll probably have to push into the seventh floor and higher.”
A body that still itched for a fight even after killing monsters, and this monstrous hunger.
Both symptoms had started on the third day and, by the end of the week, had become unbearable.
Even I—who had come down from the Tower chasing nothing but safety—was now forced to climb past the seventh floor whether I liked it or not.
“Hearing you’d beaten the fifth-floor boss was shocking enough, but the way you look right now is even more shocking.”
“How are the Guildmaster, Aera, and Butler Lu doing these days?”
“Everyone’s fine. But we’ve run into a little problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
Aiham let out a long sigh.
“In a week we have to go to the Cardin Empire.”
“Cardin?!”
The Cardin Empire—the nation of thugs that had crushed the elf kingdom of Elinor, Bartier’s homeland.
Well, Bartier had turned out to be just as much of a piece of trash herself, but still.
“Why the happy face? Anyway, we’re short on adventurers willing to escort us all the way there.”
“It’s the neighboring country. Shouldn’t there be plenty of people who want the job?”
“That country still has slavery. The roads around it are crawling with slave traders and bandits.”
Escorting a merchant caravan was usually a popular request.
But the opposition would be slave traders—groups large enough to wipe out entire villages like Bartier’s.
“So here’s the thing.”
“Hm?”
“I was hoping you’d take the escort job.”
“Me?”
If they were having trouble finding escorts even for a short trip, the danger level had to be high.
Still, this wasn’t just any request—it was from the Medici Merchant Guild. I didn’t feel like turning it down.
“Sure, I’m in.”
“Whew, thanks, Giseok. Knew I could count on my friend.”
Looking relieved, Aiham speared a piece of chicken breast with his fork.
“Hey, is it really that dangerous? Everyone seems to be avoiding it.”
Aiham crossed his arms and nodded.
“Dangerous? About five times more dangerous than usual.”
“Hah—can’t exactly refuse a friend’s request, can I?”
“Thanks! But don’t worry too much. My master’s coming along too.”
“Your master? Right, you mentioned someone training you. Who is it? I don’t think I’ve seen him at the guild.”
Aiham suddenly squared his shoulders, a smug look on his face.
“You’ll find out when we get there. Who my master really is.”
We talked a while longer and then parted ways.
Another week passed, and something strange began happening to my body.
A throbbing ache.
The sensation on the back of my hand jolted me awake.
When I sat up, dawn was already approaching—the sky outside a cool blue-gray streaked with golden light.
“Woke up way too early.”
I pulled the throbbing hand out from under the blanket to see what had ruined my sleep.
“Why… is it doing this?”
Veins.
Several thick blue veins stood out sharply across the back of my hand.
The largest one pulsed with a dull, insistent pain.
An ugly memory flashed through my mind.
The underground of the Tower—my arm had looked exactly like this then.
A memory I wanted to forget.
“No… no. It’s just because my body’s a little off, that’s all.”
But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I got dressed and left the inn.
The place I headed for was a healer’s house.
Ding-a-ling—
“Anyone home?”
At my call, the healer who’d been sleeping on a cot inside scrambled up, jammed on his glasses, and hurried over.
His name was Mael.
There were plenty of healers in the city, but among those who treated ordinary adventurers, he was one of the best.
“What hurts?”
“My hand’s acting weird.”
“Let’s have a look.”
I pulled off my glove and held out my hand.
Mael adjusted his glasses and peered at it.
Blue veins standing out clearly on the back of my hand.
“When did this start?”
“This morning. It suddenly started throbbing, and then it looked like this.”
Mael sat down and motioned for me to rest my hand on the table.
When I did, he pulled on rubber gloves and began gently probing the back of my hand.
When he touched the smaller veins I felt nothing.
His fingers moved slowly.
The moment they pressed against the large vein, a chill ran down my spine.
Then he pressed hard.
“Ack! That hurts!!”
I yanked my hand free at once.
He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.
“Don’t be such a baby—give it back.”
I stared at him with open distrust.
He barked,
“Kid? You gonna hand it over or not? You want me to fix it or not?”
At Mael’s shout I pouted and reluctantly stuck my hand out again.
He pulled several flasks of suspicious-looking liquids from a drawer.
“If you feel anything, say so.”
One by one he dripped the solutions onto the back of my hand with a dropper.
Plop—
I spoke up.
“It’s cold!”
“For crying out loud… not that!!”
“Then… I don’t feel anything…”
Mael kept dripping other liquids.
Plop—plop—
Still no reaction. He sighed and muttered,
“Maybe…”
He went to a cabinet in the back and returned with a different bottle—a clear, clean-looking liquid.
He drew some up into the dropper and let a single drop fall onto my hand.
The moment it touched my skin it soaked in, and the throbbing in the large vein eased a little.
“How’s that?”
“The pain’s gone down some.”
Mael let out a long, heavy sigh.
“Haa… Don’t freak out when I tell you this.”
“Yes? Okay.”
“This isn’t poison or disease.”
I already knew it wasn’t poison.
I had poison resistance, after all.
If it had been poison, the resistance message would have popped up the way it did before.
But not a disease either? Then what the hell was this…
“Then why is my hand like this?”
“Do you know what that last liquid was?”
“No idea.”
Mael stared into my eyes for a long moment.
Then he picked up the bottle of the final liquid.
“This… is holy water.”
“Holy water?”
I was dumbfounded.
A symptom that reacted to holy water?
“If it’s not a disease, then what is it?”
“A curse? Honestly, even I can’t say for sure. But a curse—or something very close to one.”
His mouth twitched.
Like a man who wanted to ask something but was holding back.
Finally he spoke.
“You wouldn’t happen to be… a heretic, would you?”
“What??”
“I was wondering if you’d received a curse through some heretical ritual.”
“Absolutely not!! Never!!”
I denied it with everything I had.
Being suspected of the kind of people who offered human sacrifices was more than enough reason.
Seeing my reaction, Mael seemed to relax and stood up from his chair.
“Anyway, this isn’t something I can treat.”
“Then what am I supposed to do…?”
“That part I don’t know either. I’ll give you a bottle of holy water—dab some on whenever it hurts. But use it sparingly. Even low-grade holy water isn’t cheap.”
I was already broke from food expenses. This was bad.
I only had six silver coins in my pocket.
“Um… how much is it…?”
“One gold coin a bottle!”
“Could I maybe get just half a bottle…?”
I turned my pocket inside out and showed him the six silver coins in my palm.
Mael sighed.
“Fine, half a bottle.”
I thanked him and left his shop.
From that day on I hunted harder than ever.
Just to earn the money for more holy water…
But my hunger only grew worse.
The pain was manageable thanks to the holy water, yet the blue veins kept spreading—now reaching past my elbow.
What the hell is wrong with this arm…
I hated the way my hand and forearm were turning blue like a sick man’s, but there was nothing I could do.
I wrapped the arm in bandages.
If anyone saw it they might think I was diseased.
Today at noon the Medici Merchant Guild’s caravan was scheduled to depart.
I stuffed my inventory with one bottle of holy water and as many preserved rations as I could buy after shaking out every last coin.
Then I set off toward the Medici guild.
A short while later I spotted Aera and Aiham in the distance.
“Hey! I’m here~”
They greeted me warmly.
“You made it? Two weeks already, Giseok. Thanks for coming!”
“Of course. What are friends for?”
Beside him, Aera’s lower lip pushed out in a tiny pout.
“Giseok, why don’t you ever greet me first when it’s been even longer since we last met?”
“Sorry, Aera. Hahaha.”
Her cute little jealousy actually put me in a good mood.
Looking at the number of carriages, this was clearly a major deal.
Nine wagons stood ready, and including me there were about seven adventurers who’d taken the escort job.
“Quite a few wagons today.”
“Yeah. We’re dealing with a noble this time, so there’s more cargo. Most of it’s top-grade merchandise.”
While we waited in front of the carriages, the guild doors opened and Simon and old man Lu stepped out.
Simon spotted me waiting and came straight over.
“Well now, if it isn’t Giseok! It’s been too long.”
“Haha, good to see you too, Guildmaster.”
“I heard you were promoted to Soldier Leader recently. Impressive—climbing so quickly.”
“Haha, just luck.”
I felt a little embarrassed.
I hadn’t even dared challenge the tenth floor and had come running down from the Tower in fear.
“There’s no such thing as luck in the Tower. It’s a place that proves your skill. And thank you for accepting our escort request this time. Aera is going along as well, so I’ve been more than a little worried.”
This deal was with a noble, so the guild had no choice but to send either the Guildmaster or the Vice-leader.
Simon was Guildmaster; Aera was Vice-leader.
“Don’t worry about Aera. I’ll keep her safe.”
“Hahaha, knowing you’re with her puts my mind at ease.”
Once the laborers finished loading the wagons, we set the caravan in motion.
“I’ll be back soon, Father!”
At Aera’s call, Simon waved.
“It’s far… so far.”
The carriages rolled on without rest.
Yet we still hadn’t even left Tebe.
“Farther than you expected, right? Even though it’s the next country over, just reaching the border takes three days.”
“How long to the final destination, then?”
“Hmm, about a week.”
This was bad.
I could stretch the holy water by using it sparingly, but food was going to be a problem.
The guild provided meals for the escorts as a matter of course, but I ate far too much.
“Would it be possible for me to buy extra food from the wagons on credit?”
“Oh my, Giseok, you’re joking. We provide all the food, of course. And those goods are for sale to our clients.”
Then Aera’s expression shifted.
“And credit? That’s simply not possible~ Haha.”
The merchant blood never lies.
Truly the Guildmaster’s daughter.
As we neared the border, figures appeared in the distance.
They didn’t look like adventurers.
Roughly twenty of them.
Aiham, watching them, spoke up.
“Bandit group’s a bit large, isn’t it?”
Bandits?
The closer we got, the clearer it became—they looked exactly like the first bandits I’d ever seen.
Scarred faces, swaggering walks. Pure thugs.
“What the hell?! Everyone get ready!”
Then old man Lu, seated beside Aera, spoke calmly.
“I shall go alone.”
“What? Butler, why would you—”
I started to protest in confusion, but Aiham held me back with a hand.
“It’s fine, Giseok.”
“Come on, what strength does an old man have? We should be the ones fighting!”
“That’s him.”
“What is?”
Aiham watched Lu Hargen’s retreating back and said,
“That man is Lu Hargen—my master.”