Chapter 32

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Chapter 32

As they descended the valley, a wide field stretched out before them again. Andra strode forward. The direction didn’t matter. She moved wherever she could, and each time, grass that had grown to her waist grazed her legs. The feeling wasn’t that bad.

Dustin followed behind her without saying a word. Only the sound of footsteps echoed through the field. The two walked for more than half a day, far apart from each other.

After the long walk, Andra slowly stopped walking as her legs began to feel numb and her feet began to swell. It felt like the soles of her feet were clamoring for her to stop walking and rest. She admitted frankly that she was too active and stubborn to tell Dustin when her feet were more tired than the other days.

Suddenly Andra looked around the field, stopping in her tracks. Dustin also stopped following her. Andra stood for a moment and said nothing. In fact, she was contemplating whether to continue ignoring Dustin as it is, or whether to speak to him. The half-day that she didn’t talk to him did an excellent job of calming her frustration.

When she thought about it now, she wondered if she reacted too sensitively. But still, she also thought that this was natural. If she hadn’t snapped at him, Dustin would probably still treat Andra like dead weight and he might have tried to solve everything on his own. With this conclusion, she thought that it wasn’t that bad of a choice.

‘Everything suddenly feels futile.’

Andra let out a sigh. She felt a sudden rush of shame at why she had to worry about that when the appearance of the dungeon around them still hadn’t changed. She was wasting her energy on useless things when she needed to use her head as much as she could to escape the dungeon.

Whether she can escape the dungeon or not was still a mystery. It felt like even the smallest probability was now trickling down to zero. Andra took a deep breath. Her lungs were filled with fresh air.

Eventually Andra spoke to Dustin, her voice half-sincere. He was standing behind her.

“Let’s stop here today.”

From the beginning of the journey, Dustin had been keeping pace with Andra. Normally, Andra would have struggled a lot to keep up with Dustin, considering her stamina.

In the first place, she just sat in a chair all day, looking through papers and books. How could she walk a lot? She barely walked except when she moved from building to building within the academy. It was only natural that Andra could not keep up with Dustin’s pace. Besides, she was not used to walking a lot.

As such, it was up to Andra to decide how far she could walk and when to rest.

“Okay.”

After a brief reply, Dustin didn’t say much else. He just skillfully trampled the grass to make a clearing for them to rest. He brought a pile of grass in the middle and set it on fire.

His buttons were struck against each other, creating tiny sparks. Then, those sparks moved to the grass and burned wildly. Andra naturally sat down in front of the bonfire.

“…….”

“…….”

The two of them sat next to each other with the bonfire in the middle, not saying a word. They just quietly warmed their cold bodies up in the fire. The warmth quickly filled the whole area.

Soon, Andra lay crouched on the floor. The flat grass was by no means perfect, but it played the role of a bed. It was completely different from the hard, cold soil at least. She seemed to be able to fall asleep without much discomfort. That alone made Andra satisfied. They’d been in the dungeon for days, away from the comforts of home, so her standards had surprisingly gotten low.

‘I’m not hungry, but it’s a bit disappointing that there’s no food.’

Andra held her stomach and hugged it. The slender stomach didn’t grumble, but it seemed to feel a little empty nonetheless. Although she’s not a glutton, many foods came to mind when she hadn’t eaten for a long time. As drool pooled in her mouth, she felt a little sad at the same time.

‘Think something different, different.’

Andra looked up at the ceiling for a moment. She took it for granted, but in a dungeon without a sky, she could not see the countless stars embroidering at night. Andra was very sad about that. She closed her eyes, put her hands together to support her face, and recalled the last night she had seen the night sky in her hometown.

The eastern sky was generally clear and blue during the day, and the stars spread endlessly like a carpet at night. In addition, thanks to the mild temperature all year round, the eastern region was the perfect place to watch the moon and stars. For that reason, there were quite a number of festivals and events involving the moon and stars there.

Andra, who was born and raised in the East, used to go out and play on days like that. Andra smiled softly at the memory of happiness, and then she realized the reality she was in, and she lowered the corners of her lips darkly.

It felt like only yesterday when she’s laughing and playing with no care, and she didn’t know why she was stuck in a dungeon without even being able to graduate now, reminiscing happy memories.

‘I miss everything.’

She missed other people too, but today, she missed the vast plains of the eastern region. She began to picture her hometown—endless golden wheat fields where every time the wind blew, the wheat would roar like waves. With that scenery in the background, she’d ride her horse and run endlessly until at some point, a small hill would appear.

On that hill, a thousand-year-old tree always stood firm. Andra liked the tree. The large trunk that was as wide as five adults, the branches that stretched out toward the sky, the blue-green leaves in the shape of crescent moons. That tree was the only thing that didn’t change in her life.

So Andra liked to sit and rest under the tree. This is because the wheat field viewed from the shade of the trees created a landscape like a painting. Looking at it, her mind, which had been complicated, would be cleared and her heart would become lighter.

She couldn’t have been happier if she was taking a short nap under a tree. Oddly enough, everything was comfortable for her just under the tree. The tree was Andra’s haven. Andra recalled the happiest memories with her eyes still closed. She didn’t want to escape from her happy memories for now.

At the same time, she suddenly became anxious. The thought came to her that she might be trapped in a dungeon like this forever, only reminiscing her memories. She really hated it. Andra clenched her fists tightly. That would be terrible. It was too cruel–perhaps she’d rather commit suicide.

With complicated thoughts swirling within her mind, Andra opened her eyes. Then, the bonfire wasn’t visible, but the thousand-year-old tree could be seen blazing in the fire. She was stunned for a moment and looked around slowly. The blue and bright sky was filled with gray clouds and hazy smoke, and the golden wheat fields were dug in a mess with black smoke.

Andra turned her head again and looked at the tree being eaten by the fire. Wherever her sight went, only the black shadow that was swallowed by the fire remained. Her haven was crumbling.

‘…No.’

Andra shook her head. Her chest tightened. Without realizing it, she was running towards the tree. A great fire came threatening Andra. She then found a figure that was standing just short of a tree. The figure found Andra and turned its head. It was at the moment when Andra was about to check the figure’s face.

“Andra Avellin! Wake up!”

Someone violently shook Andra to wake her up. Andra gasped for breath and opened her eyes. The black ceiling of the empty dungeon was visible. Her heart was pounding. From head to toe, her body was covered in cold sweat. She stared into her space with her blank eyes.

“Damn it… Andra!”

At that moment, a familiar face appeared in front of her. Dustin Airak was looking at Andra with a hardened face. She must have fallen asleep. Andra shook her body in the cold sweat. Then Dustin hurriedly took off his jacket and put it over her.

“…Dustin.”

“Do you think you know your body well?”

Then Dustin spat out. He looked really angry. But why? Andra was at a loss for words for a moment at Dustin’s attitude. She had no idea why he was angry.

“It’s an illusion.”

“Wait, Dustin Airak… What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you say that you’ll do your job well? But look at you now. Does this mean that you are going to do well?”

“All of a sudden—”

Dustin grabbed Andra’s hand and brought it to her forehead. Andra was startled by the sweltering fire on her forehead.

“A fever, why…”

“You are the one who’s mistaken. You don’t know your body. If you did, I wouldn’t have to wake you up like this.”

Andra shut her mouth. Not only did she have no idea what to say to Dustin, who was mad at her for being sick, but also because she didn’t know how to react to him. When did she get so hot with a fever?

Andra checked the heat on her forehead again, and Dustin opened his mouth in a voice that had less agitation than before.

“Before you lash out with your pride, take care of your body. Don’t make me care about you.”

Andra furrowed her brows.

“…I never asked you to take care of me.”

Dustin’s large hand rested on Andra’s forehead. He frowned and lifted his hand.

“Then what’s this hot body like a fireball? What would happen if you took good care of your body? This is what happened because you neglected your body.”

“Dustin Airak. I don’t know why you’re mad at me.”

“You don’t know? Are you serious?”

“Yes, if you’re going to argue that way, the jacket—”

It was the moment when Andra was about to take off Dustin’s jacket, in a half-questioning tone. Dustin hastily stopped Andra. He then shouted as if he couldn’t stand it.

“Damn it, shut up and just wear it!”

Do you want to crank up your pride first in this kind of situation? Dustin got so angry and then disappeared somewhere. And when he reappeared, his wet shirt was in his hand.

Dustin tossed it at Andra.

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