Chapter 115

I didn’t mean anything, I just said it because I’d never really said anything like that.

Oh, did he misunderstand that I wouldn’t let him watch over me?

Diego bit his lip and lowered his head.

“Even if you don’t like it, I’ll stand on the night watch.”

“Then do it with me,” said Enoch who had his sword strapped to his waist and his arms crossed.

Then Diego, who rubbed his haggard face once, calmly followed Enoch out of the cave.

“Let’s sleep.”

Kayden took my hand. Ruzef, who was watching the situation with a bewildered face, stood up.

“What’s with the situation?”

“You don’t have to know, just stay in front of the cave.”

“Do you think I’m a house guard dog?!”

“Yes.”

As Kayden answered without hesitation, Ruzef held back his anger again and glared at him with a red face. But Kayden just shrugged his shoulders, picking his ears.

“I know you’re grateful that I saved you.”

At those words, Ruzef suddenly bowed his head to me.

“Oh, it’s a bit late but, thank you, Young Lady Floné. Thank you for saving me.”

“Aren’t you going to thank me? Thanks to the barrier I made, you are alive.”

“Barrier or whatever, you wouldn’t even think of saving me if it weren’t for Young Lady Floné, would you?”

Kayden and Ruzef started arguing again. I was very tired, so I went into the cave and lay down.

Kayden and Ruzef, who were quietly watching me, approached me.

“Margaret, are you tired?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m tired, but it’s harder because you two are so noisy.”

At my words, the two kept their mouths shut and nodded.

Kayden came into the cave slowly and lay down beside me, then Ruzef calmly sat down at the entrance of the cave.

“Margaret, do you want a hug?”

“Don’t play tricks on Young Lady. When His Highness arrives, I will report you to him.” Ruzef at the cave entrance turned to us when he heard Kayden’s words.

Kayden, who was stretching his arm toward me, glanced at him. “Report? What do you mean? Is the Crown Prince your boss?”

I sighed. “……shall I just leave?”

The two men quickly keep their mouths shut.

Only then was I able to close my eyes quietly.

Still, I’m glad I met Ruzef safely.

21. The Poison Gas

The reason why I suddenly opened my eyes was a huge roar that rang through the sky.

I opened my eyes in shock as the ground trembled violently.

“What’s going on?”

Kayden jumped up, probably thinking the same thing. Stunned, I rubbed my face and looked around.

The entrance to the cave was covered by large leaves, and visibility was dim as it was still midnight.

Ruzef at the entrance was also looking around frantically with his eyes not yet fully opened.

Eunji, who had been sleeping beside me, slithered up to my shoulder, wrapping her body around my arm.

“What’s this roaring sound?”

Instinctively, I grabbed my bag, pulled out my flare gun, and asked Kayden as I loaded the magazine with bullets.

“Well…….”

“Isn’t that a monster’s?”

Ruzef frowned tiredly and yawned. He seems to have not yet been able to grasp the situation as he is not fully awake yet. Of course, my situation is the same.

Kayden frowned and scratched his head. He cleared the leaves that blocked the entrance to the cave and looked around.

He asked, “Where did the Crown Prince and the Commander of the Guards go?”

Enoch and Diego, who had been on night watch, were nowhere to be seen.

“Can you figure out what’s going on with magic? Like using tracking magic.”

Hearing my question, he put on a thoughtful face and then held out his hand to me.

“I’ll try. Give me your hand.”

I held out my hand to him. As I held his hand, a green light emitted from the emerald jewel in the ring, and a magic circle with a bluish light appeared under where he was sitting.

Soon, Kayden’s bangs blew in the wind. The magic circle slowly disappeared, seeping into the floor of the cave.

“The Crown Prince and Sir Diego are both nearby? Well? But why are they apart?”

“That’s something scary to say.”

They went out on a night watch together, so why are they in different places? It makes me anxious.

Kayden stared at the cave entrance covered by leaves.

-kwaaah!

At that moment, a great roar was heard in the sky.

-boom koong!

The sound of something exploding and collapsing shook the ground.

“Shouldn’t we go out and see?” Ruzef asked us with a nervous face.

“Hey Ddaggari, let’s go out with me. Stay here Margaret, it’s dangerous.”

Kayden pushed my shoulder down. Shaking my head, I put on my bag while holding the flare in my hand.

“Let’s go together.”

“Dangerous.”

“Magic tools are more helpful than daggers. And you’ll need my mana too.”

Since it was true, Kayden couldn’t say anything. He looked at me for a moment then sighed.

“Then stick by my side.”

“I’m also coming.”

Ruzef, who was crouching at the entrance of the cave and preparing to leave, said so.

“Don’t get in the way.”

Ruzef kept his mouth shut at Kayden’s relentless attack. He had a face full of complaints, but in the end, he remained calm, as if he had no objection.

We skimmed away the leaves that covered the entrance to the cave. It was dark outside the cave. The moonlight also disappeared through the bushes, making it even darker.

Standing behind Kayden, I looked around and found letters engraved on the cave entrance.

Alea

Alea. This must have been written by Anata. Because Jenas said that Anata studied languages.

Why Alea? Why is it engraved in this place?

From what I’ve guessed so far, it seems that the word Alea was engraved wherever Jenas’ hand touched; flare gun, cabin, cliff, etc.

Then, is this cave also the place where Jenas used to live? If not, is it a cave made for experiments?

Then, the ground shook again.

I almost lost my balance and fell while I was off guard, but Kayden grabbed me by the waist and held me.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on,” I muttered, standing up straight.

Then I loaded the flare gun and aimed it at the sky. “I don’t know where everyone is, but I need to send a signal.”

“That sounds a bit risky,” said Ruzef while examining the surroundings with a worried face.

I calmly countered his statement. “Our location will be exposed, but we have a barrier, so the monsters won’t see us. If no one comes after sending the signal, then we have no choice but to go out of the barrier.”

Kayden nodded his head in agreement.

I lowered the hammer with the flare aimed at the sky and pulled the trigger.

-bang!

-puah!

Red smoke rose, leaving a long tail high in the sky.

-boom! boom!

Before long, red fireworks adorned the black sky.

But even as time passed, the forest remained silent.

‘I have no choice but to go outside the barrier.’

With such thoughts, I cautiously approached the barrier.

There was a small amount of moonlight, so it was possible to see to a certain extent, but now the surroundings are completely dark. It felt like a shadow had fallen over my head.

“Crap, what is that?”

Hearing Kayden’s low-level swearing, I raised my head and made eye contact with the large, bright yellow pupils.

A huge anaconda’s head was hanging over the cave.

It is different in size from the anacondas on the South Island. I think it’s three times bigger than them.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s a dragon, not an anaconda.

For a moment, I was overwhelmed by its presence and couldn’t breathe.

The anaconda with bright yellow pupils looked down the barrier as if it was looking for something. Luckily, it didn’t seem to see us standing inside the barrier.

‘Could it be that Jenas is watching?’

Kayden carefully held my hand and said, “Margaret, let me borrow some of your mana.”

Whispering in a low voice, he sat down and started drawing a magic circle on the ground with a twig. Maybe he was casting magic to strengthen the barrier.

Shortly after, there was a soft light radiating from the barrier.

-kwaah!

The anaconda, which had been glaring at the barrier, sluggishly turned its head at the sound of a scream from somewhere.

At the end of the anaconda’s gaze was a small silver snake.

“What, when did you get there……!”

He must have been on my shoulder a moment ago! I was about to run toward Eunji, but Kayden grabbed my wrist.

“No, it’s dangerous.”

I looked at Kayden once and hurriedly looked back at Eunji.

At that time, another anaconda was seen rising into the sky with its head pushed through the bushes in the distance.

There are Enoch and Diego, whose whereabouts were unknown until a while ago.

Diego was dangling, his clothes caught in the anaconda’s sharp teeth, and Enoch was stepping on the anaconda’s silver scales and struggling to climb over its torso.

“What is that again? What a ridiculous situation!”

“Can you do something with magic?”

“If you want me to use magic to get rid of it all away, you might collapse. You’ve used a lot of mana.”

As Kayden said, he had used my mana to create a barrier and cast additional magic to maintain and strengthen it.

-koong! koong!

Another roar came from somewhere.

It seems that there are more monsters. There isn’t much time.

I turned to Kayden and asked, “Kayden, do you believe me?”

“What?”

“Keep an eye on Eunji while maintaining the barrier here with the Archbishop. Trust me and wait.”

I left those words and ran out of the barrier.

“What?! Margaret!”

Ignoring Kayden’s shouts, I stepped on the sloping ground and climbed up the cave.