Chapter 98

098.

Splash.

Splash.

It was a place that might be a cave, but quite an impressive sight.

The light shimmered gently.

The stones around were clean and sparkling like mirrors.

Crystal Cave.

Perhaps that name would suit it.

And in that Crystal Cave, reflected in the mirror-like stones, were the figures of a boy and a girl.

The girl seemed unconscious, and the boy was carrying her on his back as he moved deeper into the cave.

Had they fallen through the waterfall that guarded the entrance to the Crystal Cave?

Water dripped heavily whenever the boy moved, and his legs limped as if they were injured.

The boy, Kalen, was carrying Laris like that and heading deeper into the cave.

It was a stroke of incredible luck.

Dying as it was, hoping for a miraculous escape by diving into the waterfall.

At that dire crossroads, Kalen had managed to make the right choice.

No, the word “right” doesn’t entirely capture it.

He had blindly followed a mysterious, sorrowful presence whose appearance he couldn’t explain, submitting to the silent, incomprehensible magic it conjured.

Though it wasn’t easy to survive after diving into the Latia Waterfall, the price was indeed high.

Though he managed to disperse the ice spikes into many branches, the water pressure of the Latia Waterfall was not something to be underestimated.

Considering he also had to protect Laris, surviving was almost miraculous.

Kalen continued deeper into the cave and soon found a suitable hollow where he leaned against the wall.

He gently placed Laris against the wall, then slumped against it himself.

Though there didn’t seem to be any draft in the cave to worry about frostbite, Laris was unconscious.

Though they had been battered by the waterfall, the upper garment Kalen took off was still enough to preserve body heat, which he placed over Laris.

Kalen confirmed that Laris’s trembling had subsided and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.

It was bizarre.

There had been no sound or premonition, but the strange presence had just appeared.

The déjà vu Kalen felt before entering the water spray was different.

When Kalen looked at Laris and closed his eyes then opened them again, the presence was there as if it had always been.

“…Magic.”

And those explosion spells.

They were full of mysteries too.

As far as magic goes, it was difficult to nod in agreement.

It felt more akin to elemental magic.

If it weren’t for communicating with Felicious and Tia-se and piercing the fourth rank, they would’ve been swept away by the explosion without notice.

Kalen looked down at his left hand where blood had dried and wouldn’t run off easily.

The necklace Laris had treasured was slightly stained red in his left hand.

It was caught as the upstream of the Latia Falls exploded, and amidst the confusion, Kalen had instinctively acted—something that struck him as absurd, and he chuckled softly.

In doing so, his gaze naturally fell on Laris.

Covered with Kalen’s top, she lay there quietly, so peaceful that it was almost like she was sleeping, making one wonder.

Because this sight somehow seemed familiar,

Kalen sighed deeply and smiled widely.

How does he always end up tangled with young ladies of noble lineage like this?

Accidental, one-in-a-lifetime occurrences, and already the fourth instance.

Had everything gone according to the original plan, he would’ve provoked the Lail Caravan to initiate combat, using it to fulfill the “death crisis.”

But Laris earnestly wished for the old wish to be fulfilled, making the situation diverge from the plan.

Anyways, if he had followed the original plan, the “death crisis” would’ve been satisfied, but it would’ve failed to capture the beautiful scenery and the grand view of the landscape as it appeared in his memory.

Was this way perhaps more plausible?

Who would jump into the Latia Waterfall anyway?

Had he not discovered this Crystal Cave hidden by the great waterfall, Kalen himself would’ve met his demise.

The heartbeat raced, and the adrenaline rush from the fourth experience didn’t feel any less intense as it pierced through his entire body.

Should he deal with it right there on the cliff, or should he flee the explosion by jumping into the Latia Waterfall?

Had it been only a little later, he wouldn’t have even felt this rush.

Kalen had bet on himself at that pivotal moment.

And once again he emerged victorious.

Kalen, looking slightly uncomfortable in the head, leaned against the cave wall and chuckled.

After all, the winner of a life-or-death gamble was always himself.

*

“…”

Shudder.

“…”

Shudder, shudder.

“Ahhh…”

Slurrrp.

Just as Kalen was savoring the unbroken high of victory,

Laris, who had been quietly frowning as if annoyed by some noise, slowly opened her eyes.

“…”

Blink, blink.

What she saw when she opened her eyes was Kalen leaning his head against the wall, staring at the ceiling.

With his upper body bare, Kalen was laughing maniacally.

“…”

Laris stared at him like that for a while before silently shifting her gaze around the surroundings.

A cave filled with stones that shimmered gently, like beautiful mirrors.

Someone else’s top covering her body.

And finally, again, Kalen, who was chuckling with his shirt off.

“…”

Laris’s eyes went back and forth between her own body, covered with the shirt, and Kalen’s bare chest.

…Hwaak.

“…”

Laris was so startled that she hiccuped.

“Thud.”

“…”

“…”

Stopping his laughter, Kalen slowly opened his eyes and tilted his head toward Laris who was sitting beside him.

Laris, her eyes wide open, had her hand clamped over her mouth.

Kalen, likewise, quietly stared at her before calmly asking,

“Are you feeling better now?”

“…C-calm…?”

“Then, give me back my shirt. I’m starting to feel cold.”

“Ah, uh… Yes…”

Though Laris inwardly tilted her head a few times, she obediently followed Kalen’s words.

And once Kalen had leisurely put his shirt back on, she couldn’t help but ask,

“Why, why are you laughing…”

“Is there any part of your body that hurts?”

However, Kalen quietly asked,

Laris blinked her eyes a few times and nodded.

“Thank you for covering me with your shirt.”

“Hmm. It’s good to hear you’re okay.”

“By the way, where are we…?”

“We found a cave concealed by the waterfall. The assailant might still be in pursuit.”

By now, any lingering heat in Laris’s head from earlier had dissipated, and she recalled the events that happened on top of the cliff.

There was definitely a massive explosion, and Laris herself had been carried by Kalen as they dropped into the waterfall below.

Since they were alive now, it meant that she had lost consciousness during the fall.

Laris suddenly remembered what she saw just before falling.

A strange, sorrowful face.

What was that?

There had been no hiding spots for someone to wait in that flat area.

It was only Kalen and herself there, so unless it had literally fallen from the sky, there was no explanation.

The explosion must surely have been caused by that strange entity.

Because of it, Kalen’s back…

“Ahh…!”

Realizing that, Laris exclaimed briefly and moved hastily.

“Kalen…! Your back…?”

“…”

“During the fall…”

“Hmm. It’s nothing much.”

Kalen tried to brush it off as if it was nothing.

However, Laris was unexpectedly firm.

“How is this nothing…! Your skin was burnt to a crisp!”

While briefly pondering how she had seen so clearly,

Laris reached out to Kalen with a trembling hand.

“…Why are you doing this?”

“Let me see. I will look.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, it’s not fine.”

Kalen understands.

His body isn’t something that should be seen by others.

That’s why he tried to stop Laris, but Laris firmly shook her head.

“If it’s because of the scars… it’s alright. I saw them accidentally earlier…”

The small hand tightly gripping the fabric was trembling.

Kalen, who had been about to stop her forcibly, stopped when he noticed this and looked at Laris’s face.

Her eyes were trembling like they were about to cry, filled with guilt.

It meant Laris believed Kalen’s injuries were her fault.

Though a bit of thought would reveal it wasn’t her fault, Kalen still remembered Laris’s words on top of the cliff.

“Thank you for humoring my request…”

If Laris’s sense of guilt included the fact that she had involved him up to that cliff, it wasn’t an unfathomable emotion.

“Let me see it…”

That hunch was confirmed by Laris’s trembling voice.

Kalen hesitated for a moment but then relaxed the hand that was about to stop her. He let all the tension out of his body.

Laris, understanding that as permission, took a deep breath and began to slowly take off Kalen’s shirt.

“…”

When she had first opened her eyes, she hadn’t been fully aware.

Distracted by the fact that “Kalen had taken off his shirt and she had covered herself with it,” she hadn’t been able to look properly.

She only noticed then that Kalen’s body was far from normal, clearly showing signs of being in poor health.

And now that Kalen’s shirt was off and she could examine him closely, the sight was so terrifying she couldn’t bear to look.

Kalen’s back was completely charred, turned a dark red.

Some of the scars, older ones, looked far worse than the burns on his back, wounds from long ago.

Especially the dark marks around his heart and the huge hole on his stomach that had been forcibly patched up were glaring examples.

“…”

Only just.

He was only just a boy, around the same age as Laris herself.

She had had a vague idea that the boy hadn’t lived a normal life, but this… this was far beyond what she had imagined.

Laris slowly moved her hand, careful not to cause him any pain, and traced Kalen’s scars with her small hand.

“…”

“Miss?”

“…”

Laris calls herself a strong person.

And that might be true in part, but also not.

She’s a person who has endured the pressure from the Lail Caravan after losing her mother and sister and being rejected by her father.

Yet at the same time, the tender part of herself she’s trying to deny is just a girl who loves third-rate plays.

How much pain must this boy have endured to end up in such a state?

The tender part of herself she had buried deep began to turn toward Kalen.

When Laris fell silent while touching the scars,

Kalen, slightly embarrassed by her reaction, wanted to shift focus.

Having been unprepared for such a reaction to his ugly body, Kalen raised the necklace in his left hand.

“Miss. This.”

“…”

Laris absentmindedly stared at what Kalen offered her.

A small pearl-inlaid necklace.

That which she treasured in memory of her mother, should have disappeared alongside the explosion on the cliff.

But Kalen had saved it.

Not only had he endured the risk to follow her request and saved her life, but he also guarded her most important possession.

The boy who offered that necklace was speaking to her.

Though she blankly gazed at it, the expression on Laris’s face was something Kalen couldn’t comprehend.