* *
I was forced to lay down for two days.
It was the price of ignorantly flattening out my own powers.
Drinking water alone did not restore my body strength.
I heard that the priest, who had previously treated the man, has not yet come to his senses.
My fingertips were still trembling, but I forced myself to wake up because tomorrow is the semifinals.
“The Fire Moths will win, right? Last time I saw The Berserker, he was already like a corpse with a red flag hanging on his neck.”
“I think The Berserker will win tomorrow. I heard that his body has recovered.”
“How can that be?”
There was astonishment in the muffled voice, as if it was unbelievable.
‘Of course, it’s because I treated that guy’s body everyday.’
I don’t know if the final victor would change because of me.
It wasn’t that I didn’t take that into account.
I just couldn’t pretend not to know the man who was dying.
‘Maybe there’s a possibility that the guy is Valhail, isn’t it?’
People naturally predicted the victory or defeat of The Fire Moths and The Berserker.
“Maybe he’s really not a human…?”
Same goes for The Fire Moths, there have been much such as rumours followed.
Especially regarding the man in the quarantine room.
“I heard that he uses black magic.”
The muffled voice suddenly lowered even more.
“Because he doesn’t die and he doesn’t get old.”
“Is it okay for such a person to join the Holy Knights? We don’t even know where he’s from.”
“Isn’t that the reason why everyone in the Holy Knights is scary?”
It was not an exaggeration for the man to call the Holy Knights a “fanatic group.”
Because the Holy Knights were never holy.
Everyone in the Holy Knights were close to executioners specialized in torture, intimidation, and killing.
‘How did Shanon bring Valhail from there? It was said that he was bought with money.’
The process was not described, so it was unknown.
Selina, who is about to get married, was given an escort (more like a watchman).
Jealous of this, Shanon brought Valhail from the temple one day.
Until then, Valhail had no name. He was just called as an escort.
Shannon used to call him “Lowly Toono” as if it was her habit.
How much did Valhail love Shannon to endure such insults and stay by her side?
‘Is Shanon’s face his type? Because I couldn’t imagine him falling for her because of her personality.’
Whether it was The Fire Moth, The Raven, or even the man in the quarantine room, all three of them did not seem to be able match her personality.
‘Hmm, I wonder who will win?’
While I was measuring who Valhail was, I reached the door of the quarantine room.
I brought my lantern well today.
Squeak!
When I opened the door carefully, I saw the man sitting with his knees bent and leaning his back against the wall.
He turned his head toward me, but there was no other reaction.
He just stayed still.
Whether he knew that the intruders did not mean any harm, he did not show extreme vigilance today as before.
But I didn’t move one more step at the entrance and only reflected the lantern here and there.
‘Where’s the knife?’
Ah, it was in the corner.
In half.
The knife split in half.
‘What the?’
Judging from the bloodstains on the blade, the man must have held it with his hand and broken it.
Furthermore, broken glass was scattered nearby.
It was a medicine bottle with poppy juices.
‘Is he protesting? Saying that he didn’t want to take the medicine?’
Was he angry because I forced him to take the medicine when he didn’t want to?
Well, in the first place, it was said that he was put in the quarantine room because of his temper.
‘But he was gentle to me…’
Did his pride get torn late?
While I was thinking what the man thought, the man did not move at all.
After swallowing my saliva, I put the lantern down by the door.
This could also be a weapon.
As I moved carefully, I felt his gaze catching up with me.
“I guess you’re not in pain anymore.”
It was a stinging question of why he did such a mean thing, like breaking the knife and the medicine bottle.
“… Thanks to someone.”
The quiet answer seemed to ring the quarantine room.
The man’s voice was small but deep.
“I don’t know if you know tomorrow is your match. It’s the semifinals.”
There was no answer back.
Most of the Toono, which goes back and forth between life and death, cannot count the dates.
Even if they slept and woke up all day, they have no way to know if it’s day or night.
Furthermore, if they were put in the quarantine room like this man, there was no one to tell them the date of the game.
“Your opponent is… Everyone calls him The Fire Moths. Have you heard of him?”
“……”
“He always rushed to his opponents even before the whistle rings. So, you’ll have to be careful.”
The man was silent until I took a step forward.
The lantern was on the floor so he could only see up to my waist.
While I could see him clearly sitting there.
‘Does he need more treatment?’
I couldn’t believe that his torn body recovered so quickly that he could sit down without difficulty.
‘He was like a living corpse just a few days ago.’
Didn’t his shoulder and abdomen get pierced with a knife?
In particular, I remember that blood did not stop from his abdomen.
As I was looking around his shoulders and chest which looked as hard as iron, I paused at the moment.
His brown hair looked quite soft.
While still looking down at him from above, my hand reached out on its own.
The texture between my fingers was so fine that it didn’t look like hair from a person who was just lying down like a corpse.
Even so…
‘It’s softer than Tori. Why?’
It was amazing to me that it was soft to the touch, it was not dry or greasy at all.
The moment when I was relieved by the smell of fragrant herbal ointment from the man.
He gently moved his head.
“……!”
I raised my hand.
It was because of the experience of being bitten while touching Tori because I thought we became close.
‘I must be crazy.’