"No!" Bram falls back, his hands clutching at his crotch in terror as he tries desperately to put some distance between himself and the ghoul.
The situation worsens for both of them, but Zane finally gets a chance to free himself from the rope when Kael moves away in the direction of the creature.
However, relief hasn’t come to him yet. The conflict in his mind makes him hesitate between choosing his next step. Escape seems logical, but the consequences might be difficult later if he does that. Though, the idea of staying here, even at a distance, tugs at his stomach uncomfortably.
On the other side, Kael pushes the ghoul back again, his sword finally slicing through the ribs of the creature in one sharp horizontal swing. The creature wails in agony, but he keeps thrusting and slices through its body at different places.
Slowly, its cry dies down as it falls completely limp on the ground.
Kael breathes hard, his grip on his sword loosening. Just then, he remembers the other things. Whirling around, he sprints toward Bram’s side and crouches down near him.
A large amount of blood has already been absorbed into the ground. Kael tries to stop the blood from flowing out, but finds himself helpless against the situation.
"Shit..."
Bram doesn’t speak. The tears have dried down his cheeks, his hands limp on the grass as he stares at nothing but the place between his thighs.
Kael’s jaw tightens painfully, his hand snapping toward the other side of the river. Then, his voice tears through his throat, filled with rage and hatred.
"COWARD! Are you happy now!? He’s going to die here!"
...
Zane sits silently on the ground, his knees drawn up to his face, his eyes on them. Kael’s words register in his brain, and despite himself, a flicker of guilt and shame washes over him.
But he pushes it aside quickly and rises from the ground, his fingers tight around the sword hilt.
It’s not my fault. They shouldn’t have focused on me while fighting that thing.
Holding onto this logic, he consoles himself for a moment.
Looking around once, he decides to retreat. The way from this side is unknown to him, but he would find it anyhow. Staying here is far worse for him right now.
Seeing him preparing for the retreat, Kael’s shoulders slump down, and he focuses back on Bram. The man’s life is hanging by a thread now, though even if there is hope for him to live, his eyes have lost their light completely.
Kael understands the reason, and that’s why, without waiting another moment, he also starts moving, leaving Bram’s body lying silently there.
He takes one step, then another toward the clearing.
Just then, a rustle comes from behind the tree near him.
The sound hits his ears with a dreadful familiarity. He turns slowly, his sword rising high again, though weakly now. A murmur leaves him, silent and confused.
"...How?"
...
Zane notices it from afar, just when he is about to disappear into the forest. Another one. One more ghoul lunges at Kael.
But his feet don’t stop. Within seconds, the sight of Kael fighting the ghoul and the dying body of Bram disappears from his vision.
He parts the hanging branches and leaves with his sword, keeping his hands away from anything in the forest in fear that it might come to bite him.
Never in his whole life had he expected something like this to happen to him. Even after waking up in this world, his life had been pretty much normal, with a beautiful wife and some troublesome debt.
This isn’t just a romance or financial crisis anymore.
He might die if he isn’t careful enough.
...
Soon, the clearing enters his view, and he steps out onto an open path of sand. Thankfully, no ghoul or any other kind of beast attacked him during the journey.
A sigh leaves him when he thinks about what happened just now.
Unfortunately, the paper containing the tasks is in Kael’s hands, which means he has no idea what will happen to his own part of the mission.
Will I get punished for escaping from the danger? I couldn’t do anything during the fight. Not to mention...
The irony crashes over him instantly. His earlier plan of finding a moment of vulnerability in them during the task did appear. But the situation was such that it was hard even for him to extort money from them in that situation.
Is it right to extort money from a man who just lost his manhood in a single bite? This is what he thought during the fight earlier. In the end, he had to give up on the money for a moment.
Minutes later, the path he has been walking on diverts toward the river, changing into an old bridge for crossing.
He smiles, his first genuine smile since the moment he left Clara in the morning. Taking a deep breath, he pushes himself toward the bridge.
"Anyhow, I cannot waste my time thinking about this now. I have only three months left. I must reach the capital and visit the academy first. I should find some way to clear the debt afterward, then."
...
"Sir, what happened to the other knights? Did you find what caused Leon to die?" Caspian asks in concern, his fingers twitching against his chin nervously.
Zane glances away briefly at the mention of the ’other knights’, but quickly gives a light cough and nods toward him.
"Yes. Don’t worry. The problem is solved, most likely!"
His words reassure Caspian, but not fully. Leaning forward over the table, he asks again, "Are you sure? But what was the problem exactly? And the knights..."
A muscle twitches at the back of Zane’s hand at the continuous questioning. His mind races to find an answer, but even he is confused.
What should I say? Does that thing have a name? Kael seemed familiar with it...
Organizing his thoughts, he exhales once and answers, "Actually, it was something like... with a large jaw, completely white eyes... and yes! Weird feet."
Caspian’s eyes widen at that, and he immediately sinks back into his chair, his expression suddenly going cold.
"Ghoul... how would they appear here?"
Finishing their small talk, Zane leaves the hut and the village after receiving some gratitude from the villagers. He didn’t tell them the truth about what happened, considering that it would create unnecessary worries if he told them.
He avoided telling Caspian about Kael and Bram too.
The path back to the Crucible is straightforward. After returning the rented sword to the shopkeeper, which he didn’t use at all, he begins his preparation—or rather, the excuses he’s going to tell that lady back at the Crucible.
"They died, unfortunately, and I was barely able to escape..."
He shakes his head frantically. The excuse doesn’t sound good even to his own ears. It’s still unknown whether Kael survived or not. And saying this might create suspicion about how he escaped at all.
Along the way, he thinks of several more excuses, but the lies remain unable to provide him even a single ounce of confidence.
Just when he thought that maybe receiving the punishment was most plausible...
"Okay. Task completed."
The lady from earlier scribbles on the paper, her face as blank as ever.
Zane stares at her silently with his mouth agape. His hands find her desk as he peeks into the paper she’s writing on.
"That’s it? Anything else?"
Her eyes twitch at his action. She shoots him a silent glare for a second, but seeing the genuine confusion on his face, she just massages her forehead once and explains.
"Yes, that’s it. Those two ghouls are most likely the cause of that boy’s death. We will look into it."
She points her quill at him and gestures toward the hall entrance.
"This task was a level higher than yours. You weren’t expected to win against those ghouls anyways. The information you provided is good enough. I have updated your task pending status already. So, leave now."
"But... about them..."
Tch.
She clicks her tongue in annoyance and jerks her hand toward the entrance again.
"Go. We will look into what happened to them. Your work is finished here."
Seeing that she isn’t budging, Zane sighs and gives a single nod before turning away...
The moment he steps out of the building, however, his expression changes. The corner of his mouth twitches up as he wipes a drop of sweat from his forehead and murmurs quietly.
"Not that I care about what happened to them... but, still, I have to show some concern about my ’comrades’ in front of her."
Taking a quick glance over himself, he finally notices his current state. He still wears the clothes he woke up in that morning. Not to speak of his stomach, which...
...makes a crying sound.
He smiles wryly and rubs his belly twice before turning toward the direction of his house.
"First... let’s eat something."