CH 8

“Aargh!”

“Eugh-!”

The men in red armor got off their horses and mercilessly cut down those men in black. As a result, clear blood splattered everywhere. The sound of weapons clashing and the screams of men in black combined together, and it was a real mess. 

A man in black, who had managed to get close to the carriage, fell down with a long cut on his chest by someone else. Because of that, splashed blood clung to the wagon with a thud. Seeing this, Lee Gyeol couldn’t look out any longer, so he entered the carriage once again. Unlike the outside, the young man’s peaceful appearance was quite disparate.

−Outside… People are dying.

He spoke in a trembling voice, but there was no change in the young man’s expression. He thought he looked like a nobleman who was enjoying his tea time alone. Even though the place was jam-packed with screams.

“Are you scared?”

Yi-Gyeol, who was asked the question, could not understand the young man. How can he be so calm when he’s in the middle of a place covered with the sound of people dying.

The black-clad men were scrambling to get to the wagon somehow while dealing with others. The men, who were shooting arrows toward this side from afar were unable to penetrate the hard surface of the wagon, so they fired arrows over and over again, despite failures. 

Just being in the wagon was scary. He knew it’s not him who they’re persistently trying to kill, but he can’t help but get scared. 

−Of course. How about you, aren’t you scared? You’re the one they’re trying to kill.

Only then did the young man’s face have a change of expression.

“That’s interesting.”

One corner of his mouth turned slightly upwards. 

“What are you afraid of when you’re a ghost who’s already dead?”

Yi-Gyeol didn’t like the young man’s words. It was inevitable to treat himself as a dead person, but he particularly hates it when someone says that without any consideration. 

−I’m not dead. And I’m just afraid you’re gonna die.

“That’s what I’m saying, why are you afraid of that?”

Doubt crept into the young man’s eyes. Yi-Gyeol thought he was asking because he really didn’t know, so Yi-Gyeol, who was actually asked the question, even more amplified the young man’s doubts.

−It’s natural to be afraid of someone dying. Whether it’s me or not.

It’s scary when someone dies.

Yi-Gyeol, who has been living while only sleeping for a long time, has repeatedly thought that he might die if he sleeps a little deeper and longer. There are times when he couldn’t sleep for a long time, so when he couldn’t help but stay awake for more than 2 hours, he got a terrible headache even if he just moved a little. Lifting a finger, raising an arm, or even turning his head all became painful. It was so painful that he thought that it would be much better to die just like this. 

Then he remembered what the doctor had told him. 

“If you use your muscles while staying awake for more than two hours, the toxins will have a huge impact on your brain. If you continue to use your muscles even when you have a headache, you will die sooner.”

The doctor’s calm words drove Yi-Gyeol, who had been weakened by pain, into fear. He felt even more pained hearing those words saying he would die just like that if he continued being sick.

Not only was it not enough that he lost everything he wanted to do, but the fact that there was an incurable disease that could kill him at any time made Yi-Gyeol feel rotten inside. 

As human beings, it is natural that we do not want to die. It’s not even the end of your life span, it’s a situation in which you may die unwantedly from something, whether it’s a disease or a person.

−Can’t you just run away?

He asked with desperation. Rather than be as carefree as now, he hopes for the young man to at least run away. He wanted to call the police, but he didn’t feel like there were such people in this place, and even if there were, he doesn’t know where to go and how to ask for help. Above all, it doesn’t help that he doesn’t have a body at all.

Therefore, he would rather have the young man who could hear his voice escape from this scary place.

−I will help you. You can just let me help you get away safely.

He wanted to help the men in red armor – who seemed to be protecting the young man – too, but they were still wearing hard armor and their sword-wielding force was terrifying. On the other hand, the young man only had a sword and his black uniform for self-defense. Even though he had already seen with his own two eyes how he had overpowered two men before, Yi-Gyeol could not stop worrying. 

−They are all after you. Let’s run away once the escorts block them, please.

He now was even begging to run away. The young man’s eyes, who had been quietly listening to the pleading voice, were strangely curved. 

“What can you do for me if I run away with you?”

Yi-Gyeol did not readily respond to the young man’s words. What can he possibly do for him, who has no body and is not even a person here?

Yi-Gyeol, who recalled the situation of the young man at the moment, asked with tears.

−I’m the one who’s helping here, so why should I do something for you? 

Even though what he said just now was the obvious fact, the young man had eyes that seemed to be enjoying something. 

“It is only natural for those who propose anything to offer compensation as well.”

−I’m trying to help you, don’t be ridiculous…!

Thud-!

As if to interrupt Yi-Gyeol, there was a heavy sound of something hitting the carriage. The shock caused the carriage to shake slightly, but the young man was so calm as if nothing had happened. 

‘How can a man be like this?’ 

In Yi-Gyeol’s eyes, the young man in front of him seemed really out of his mind.

It was Yi-Gyeol who became nervous. The commotion outside seemed to be getting worse, and a small shock was repeated over and over again on the wagon as if the men in black were pushing further. 

“If it goes on like this, they might soon open the door and come in.” 

His voice was carefree, but his words made Yi-Gyeol even more nervous. 

−Okay, I’ll do anything for you, so let’s run away first.

As soon as the words were thrown, the young man raised his sword as if he was just waiting for Yi-Gyeol to say it. As he tried to go out immediately, Yi-Gyeol said, ‘Wait a minute.’ and came out of the wagon.

Outside was even more chaotic than before. Red blood was scattered not only on light brown dirt roads but also left traces all over the colorful golden carriage. Most of the men in black were groaning, rolling in puddles of blood, and some of them had bodies that looked like they had been cut off somewhere. Not only that but two of the men in red armor were also seen to have been injured. 

As soon as he saw it, his eyes went dark. Whether it was an assassin or a person blocking the assassin, he was so scared that he felt he was going to bleed to death. Even so, Yi-Gyeol’s only thought is that he should save the young man who can hear his voice somehow.

‘I have to help him escape. Get him out of harm’s way….’

Just thinking about the young man bleeding is so bleak it makes his eyes go dark. He flew up high in the sky, repeating several times to calm down. Yi-Gyeol slowly looked around and drew a map in his head on how to get the young man to escape.

Then, he found a small road leading to the forest near the hill on the left. The road was cut off shortly after entering the forest, but when he went a little deeper, he noticed that there was a small cave under a cliff. 

‘If it’s there….’

If it wasn’t for looking down from above, it was a cave that he would have passed without even knowing it existed. Above all, he thought that no one would have known that there was a cave just below the cliff, even if it wasn’t very high. 

Yi-Gyeol, who entered the carriage again, urgently asked the young man.

−As soon as you exit through the door on the left, go straight. I’ll tell you the way.

The instant Yi-Gyeol finished speaking, the young man slammed the left door of the wagon open as he had said. There were also relatively few enemies, and compared to the door on the right, there was room to break through if you just ran in a straight line. 

The young man raised one corner of his mouth and kicked the ground. 

“Prince?!”

A big man who cut down a man clad in black in one fell swoop called the young man in panic. 

“Take care of it and stand by.”

“Yes!”

The big man was taken aback, but he didn’t ask what was going on as if the young man’s words were the law. The dark brown-haired man, with his intimidating impression, blocked the gazes of the men who were drawn to the young man and began to force them out.

Thanks to the dark brown-haired man, they were able to run without any problem. Yi-Gyeol guided the young man, admiring the man’s committed appearance inside.

−You have to turn left around the tree in front of you. As you go, the road will be cut off, but there is a place I found. 

A tense voice constantly guided the young man. He had already turned the hill and entered the forest. 

While holding a heavy sword in one hand, the young man ran around the rough mountain road as if he was jogging. If it had been the usual Yi-Gyeol, he would have been genuinely envious, but there’s no time for that right now.

Before he knew it, the young man, who had reached in front of the cave where Yi-Gyeol guided, was motionlessly staring at it without taking a breath. 

−Hang on a sec. I’ll take a look inside. 

He brought him here in a hurry, but he didn’t come all the way inside the cave to check. It would be a big deal if there were any bears or snakes inside. 

As he said, after confirming that the young man was standing still, Yi-Gyeol flew slowly into the cave.