Chapter 25

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Chapter 25

The man couldn’t see Yuria’s face right away because he was standing with his back to the door, however, Fren, who was facing it, was able to see her. Her appearance was blurred due to him slowly losing consciousness, but Fren was still convinced of Yuria’s existence. He couldn’t let the man and Yuria meet. He no longer had the power to stop the man. If the man found Yuria and tried to take her away, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. Fren gathered all his strength and struggled to open his mouth.

“Run…away Yu–”

Yuri.

Fren desperately said, unable to spit out Yuria’s name. However, because it was difficult to even stand, Fren’s voice was so small and fragile that even the person in front of him couldn’t hear it.

“This–” Yuria’s face contorted with anxiety as she checked Fren’s condition through the man standing in front of her. Fren’s voice was so low that she couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she could roughly understand it from the movement of his mouth. However, as Fren desperately wished, Yuria could not run away from him. The child reflected in her eyes was so precarious and injured that he seemed about to die at any moment.

‘Why the hell, why… How…’ She couldn’t grasp the current situation. She just stared absentmindedly for a while.

She needed money to make a living, and to earn that money, she had to wander far to collect medicinal herbs. She even came back earlier than usual because she didn’t want to leave Fren waiting…

It wasn’t Fren’s sparkling eyes that greeted her when she returned, but fading eyes.

“Fren!”

After being dazed at the unbelievable situation for a moment, Yuria quickly ran to Fren. But she couldn’t reach him. It was because the man had caught her before that.

“Let go!”

Yuria couldn’t even tell who her opponent was and instinctively shouted. Something was wrong with Fren. She had to go right there and check his condition. Thinking she would be reassured by confirming that he was okay. All of Yuria’s nerves were reacting only toward Fren.

“You’ll get hurt.” The man easily blocked Yuria’s strong rebellion and said in a friendly tone. He wasn’t pleased to meet her in such a situation, but her safety was the most important thing.

Currently, Fren was in a very dangerous state. Yuria could be injured by his unruly energy if she stayed by his side. It would be a miracle if she just got hurt. With her fragile human body, she couldn’t handle Fren’s energy, which ran wild, and she might even lose her strength.

“…Fren is more important than me.”

It didn’t matter if she could get hurt. Rather, Fren’s safety was the most important.

“Is that little kid precious to you?”

The man asked with a relaxed look even in such a situation.

“Yeah- Yes… Fren is my everything.” Answering in a thin voice as if she would collapse at any moment, Yuria’s mind was blank to the point she was speaking casually.

[tl/n: As you may know translating the formal and informal speech is quite difficult but she basically dropped honorifics.]

The man frowned at her.

‘Everything.’ What a sweet and friendly expression it was. He felt bad that it wasn’t directed at him, but if that little boy was her everything, he would be willing to help her.

Meanwhile, Fren vomited blood and fainted. Just before he collapsed, Fren’s mournful hand reached out toward Yuria. Fren didn’t take his eyes off her until the moment he lost consciousness. He was trying to protect her somehow. If he fainted like this, he might not be able to see her ever again, so he tried to hold onto her somehow. However, his body had long ago reached its limit, and could not maintain any longer. And Fren was greatly devastated by that fact.

“Fren!”

Seeing him collapse helplessly, Yuria shouted. She wanted to run to Fren and make sure he was okay, but her body was still restrained by the man. At that, her gaze which had been directed at Fren turned to the man.

“Was it you? Did you make Fren like that?”

For every reaction, there is a cause. Fren couldn’t have ended up like that on his own. That meant that it was the man’s fault that Fren had lost consciousness. The moment she realized it, hostility filled Yuria’s eyes. It didn’t matter who the man was. What was important to her was the fact that Fren had collapsed and the cause of it was the man standing right in front of her.

‘Who comes… Why? What did Fren do wrong?’

At first, she didn’t recognize the man, but the moment she faced him properly Yuria immediately recalled who he was. The strange man she had met in the forest a few days ago. At that time, even if it was a bit strange, she had thought he wasn’t a bad person.

But not anymore.

To Yuria, the person who had hurt Fren and made him sick was an unconditionally bad person.

“He just couldn’t overcome his own energy.”

The man noticed Yuria’s hatred in her glare and replied as if it was unfair.

I didn’t do anything. I just came to her house to meet her, and all I did was ask the kid at the house where she was. It was the kid who suddenly rushed and poured out his energy toward me. The little boy vomited blood and collapsed because he was forcibly raising his energy, not because of me.

“What– what does that mean…?”

Yuria thought it was more important to know Fren’s condition than to criticize the man and asked with a trembling voice.

“Literally. The body couldn’t hold it because he raised his energy forcibly.”

Considering the aura that Fren had spilled, it was enough to surpass any middle-aged adult demon. When he recalled the fact that this was only a two-year-old newborn, he was truly impressed. And that was why it was too overwhelming for him. The child had not yet properly awakened the first state.

“Then what will happen to Fren?”

Yuria couldn’t understand the man’s words exactly, but she could tell that Fren’s situation wasn’t good and also, the fact that she was of no help to him.

“If you leave it like that, the runaway energy will eventually destroy the body of that newborn. Then he’ll never be able to open his eyes again.”

The man tried to use more delicate phrasing and couldn’t bluntly say Fren would die, not in front of Yuria, who was about to cry.

“…No. I can’t leave him like that.”

‘I barely became Fren’s family.’ Fren was wary of me at first and was only now opening his heart and accepting me. But he’ll die like this? Even if I haven’t done anything properly for him yet? That can’t be. There were many things Yuria wanted to do for Fren, she hadn’t even made him enjoy things he didn’t know yet.

Furthermore… Wasn’t this the reason why she came to another world and met Fren? Realizing that he was the villain mastermind in the novel, she vowed and promised not to let him die so vainly and miserably as in the novel. It became Yuria’s reason for living and the goal of her life. Because of Fren, she felt affection for the place where she was like a stranger and did not feel lonely anymore.

‘But, I’ll be alone again like this? Do I have to lose my purpose in life and wander around again?’ Cold tears dripped down Yuria’s cheeks.

“Don’t cry.”

Seeing her tears, the man felt his heart ache. It was like someone was stabbing his heart with a dagger.

“Fren is my everything… How am I going to live after losing my all?”

I’ve already lost something precious once. Although they had only left scars for her, they were still precious and affectionate. How long did it take for the wound to heal? Even now, several years later, the wounds from that time did not fully heal and were still holding Yuria’s ankles. Will she be able to stand it? Wasn’t it hard enough to die back then and give up on life? In this unfamiliar world, there was no one but Fren who she could hold on to for life. As it was a life that had no reason to die, Fren’s death was by no means easy. It meant that there was no reason to live.

Along with those feelings, a feeling of guilt bigger than a tsunami and deeper than the sea weighed heavily on her chest. If she hadn’t left. If she had allowed him to follow her when he asked. All kinds of recrimination came to Yuria’s mind. Everything seemed to be her fault. Yuria’s emotions were so deep and clear that even a man indifferent to them could feel them. The feeling was so painful and numb that the man felt suffocated and stifled as if he was trapped underwater. He slowly opened his mouth.

“The newborn will not die.”

“…How?”

She wondered if there was any way to save him, so small hope rose on Yuria’s face.

“If it’s me, I can calm the newborn’s energy.”

To be precise, it was possible because he was the Demon King himself. A demonic rampage was by no means a light matter. It was also not an easy task to calm runaway energy. It was possible only if one had at least several times stronger energy than the opponent. Moreover, the child had an excessively strong energy for his age. If he finished his awakening safely and grew up properly, he would become one of the most powerful people in the demon realm.

“Please– please help me. Please save Fren.”

As if he was the only life rope, Yuria grabbed the man and begged.

“I won’t accept your request.”

“What does that…”

‘Does that mean that you won’t help in the end?’ It was also his fault that Fren had collapsed. However, Yuria didn’t have anything to try to persuade him or deal with him. All she could lean on was the man’s favor.

The man looked at Yuria quietly.

“You don’t have to ask me a favor.”

“…What does that mean?”

“You can order me. No one can give me orders, but only you, I will allow you.”

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