CH 45

“… Up.”

“Ugh…”

“… I told you to wake up.”

Something like a small stick poked my cheek.

It was annoying. Psychke lowered her head to motion him not to touch her. She curled up like shrimp.  Then the touch that was poking her cheek disappeared, and her hot breath reached her ears.

“Wake up, you stupid princess.”

“–!”

It wasn’t that big word, but she got goosebumps. She sprang to her feet, sick of the touch she was feeling.

“That’s why I told you to wake up.”

It was dark around. However, thanks to the moonstone, which rolled out of her pocket, she was able to distinguish objects. This was from Cecil. It was a child in a black sweater who woke her up.  His shoulder-length hair was black, and his eyes were scarlet. The child’s gender felt ambiguous.

“What are you going to do now?”

A cage was seen behind the child who blurted his words coyly. She was trapped.

‘Dungeon… no, I don’t think so. Where am I?’

She kept asking herself, but she just gave up, having lost her mind. Something was stuck in Psychke’s hand, who was about to get up with one hand on the sick head and the other on the floor. It was Croa’s feather.

‘Where’s Croa?’

“Croa?”

“Why?”

She called to find where was Croa, but it was the child who answered her. She looked at the child closely, calling Croa again, hoping that her notion was not true.

“…Croa?”

“Why do you keep calling me?”

Psychke was quite shocked. Croa was a crow male. She heard that due to human persecution, all the Suin are hiding in the eastern forest.

‘Why is Suin here?’

“Princess, did you not hear me?”

Psychke narrowed her brows in a rude tone the child gave her.

“No, I didn’t know you were Croa.”

“Oh, why don’t you know that? It’s annoying.”

Something hot burst into tears underneath the child’s eyes. The way he speaks strangely resembles Verndia in case someone told him that he was not the crow.

‘Should I have just let you be taken away?’

Ignoring the squeaking crow, Psychke looked around at her situation. Then, she made eye contact with a woman who was comforting the children who were crying in the corner of the cage opposite.

“Hello.”

“… Hello.”

She answered a greeting that was not appropriate for the time and place they were in. The woman who raised herself slowly approached.

“Who are you? I don’t think I know you. How did you get here…?

How did it come to this? Her voice contained a subtle surprise. Psychke brought the moonstone forward. The subtle light vaguely confirmed the other person’s features. Brown eyes that look like land in a desert-like ocher-colored hair. He has warm eyes that look just like a portrait, and even the unique clothes of a Western nomad who is wrapped up all over his body.

(TN: Stella is a man????)

“Miss Stella?”

“Hush.”

Stella put her index finger on her lips.

(TN: So, he’s she.)

The gold bracelets on the wrists collided and made a clear sound.

“How did you get in here?”

“I came into the magic circle that was on stage.”

“You’re not a child, are you? No one but a child can come in. That’s weird… ”

Stella, who tilted her head, now looked at the cage as if it didn’t matter.

“Can you break it?”

“I think I’ll have to try, but isn’t it possible for you, Stella?”

“There’s no land.”

There’s no land?  Psychke looked down at what she was stepping on. It was just as black as a cut in the dark.

“I think the coordinates are twisted.”

Oh, I see. As long as one foot touch the ground, nothing in the world can beat Stella. On the contrary, it means that she is just an ordinary person when there is no land. She doesn’t know if this place is empty, underwater, or just twisted coordinates Stella said. At least it was clear it wasn’t a normal place.

‘Let’s go out for now.’

It was when she took off her earrings and tried to transform Mana into a sword.

“Princess, why did you lie?”

“….?”

The crow, who was playing with the moonstone, suddenly quarreled.

“You’re weak. You have no energy. To the point of being beaten.”

“…”

It seemed to be talking about the time when she slapped Lennox.

“A weak kid can’t break this. Why are you lying?”

“Go away.”

Psychke pushed the crow away, who was playing hard to get. And raised her blue sword. Thanks to training with Verndia, she was able to create a sword above a certain level while suppressing her ability.

“Oh…?”

Leaving behind a startled voice, she swung her sword. The cage was cut off in vain with a creepy sound.

***

After leaving the prison, they walked in a dark hallway. Led by Psychke with the sword in her hands, Stella and ten children followed. And so the crow did.

“You’re very strong, princess.”

“Come here.”

“I don’t want to. My arm hurts because the princess pulled my arm.”

“Doesn’t it only hurt when I grabbed your arm?”

“Yes, it doesn’t hurt more.”

The crow hung dangling from his back in a human form.

‘I think it’s because his arm hurts that was why he was pretending to be sick, and he was just lazy to walk.’

Maybe because he was a crow. But he wasn’t heavy, but she didn’t feel good about this. Psychke sighed.

“Why did you get hit when you were this strong? Father is mad at you.”

“… Father?”

“Yes, father.”

… You’re not calling him father, are you? Even though she thought so, Psychke couldn’t turn her big eyes back. She didn’t know her father had a hidden child.

“It was your father, but a brother.”

“…”

Dad and brother were shocking names. Is there anyone who calls Verndia as brother? No, she doesn’t know anyone who does that.

‘Wait, the life of a Suin is several times that of a human being, and so late is in terms of appearance…’

No, it’s fine. Psychke decided to stop thinking.

“Anyway, come down. It’s hard to use a sword if you’re stuck like that.”

“You’re not holding a sword to me right now, are you?”

“Hold it.”

Was it because of the darkness that was thick enough to swallow even the light of the moonstone? Strangely enough, it was difficult to manage Mana. So, Psychke held the sword in the shape of an earring.

“If you’re lazy to walk, turn into a crow and sit on my shoulder.”

“It’s because it doesn’t work.”

The crow was disappointed, saying that he could not return to his true self after falling here.

“It’s not a bother, rather it’s so hard to walk.”

“Then hang on well so that you don’t get in the way.”

“Really?”

“Don’t grab my neck.”

The hand that was trying to grab her neck with excitement instantly fell off. The child, who climbed up and put her arm on her shoulder, peeped out her head.

“Princess, give me that.”

The little finger pointed to the moonstone that lit the way. She heard that crows like shiny things, but even if he was a Suin, she should not give things easily. Psychke dropped her hand holding the moonstone far away from his shorthand.

“No way.”

“Why? I can find our way without it.”

Was it thanks to Suin’s unique sensitivity? Even though they were going through this maze-like hallway in the darkness where only their feet could be seen, the crow was leading the way exactly, saying, “Left, right, left, center.

She doesn’t know what the guidelines are based on. A child who was running away in fear went the other way and was caught in an arrow trap and almost became a hedgehog. Psychke looked sideways at the back.

“Because the children are scared.”

She think this crow was about six or seven. The children were barely holding back their tears thanks to the faint light of the moonstone and Stella.

“I’m not scared. Can’t you just give it to me?”

“No, I’ll give you something shinier later.”

“Really?”

“Yes, when we go out, I’ll give it to you.”

She can’t just give him anything unless they got out of here. Even if she asked for all the pieces she brought from Silkisia, she could give them generously. There’s nothing she can see, but all she can hear is the sighing children and Stella’s voice that comforts them. I don’t know how long it had been or how long they had walked since they had already escaped from prison. All she could do was believe in the crow’s sense of direction.

‘I can’t even locate the Duke.’

She tried to trace Verndia’s location through the ring to help her escape, but it was in vain. She couldn’t even tell the direction, let alone the distance, as if she had cut the connection with something sharp.

“Really? Really?”

Whether he knows they are in a bad condition or not. The crow jumped from behind. Psychke laughed helplessly.

“Yes, it’s true.”

“Princess, you’re a very nice person!”

When he squeaked in prison, the excited crow rubbed his face on the back of her neck as if acting cute.

“You smell just like my dad.”

“Smell?”

Are you talking about the smell of his shampoo? She put her hair on her nose. There was no smell except for the faint scent of roses.

“Yes. It was my first time seeing someone who smells like winter other than my dad, and it was amazing.”

“What’s the smell of winter?”

“Winter smell smells like winter.”

“…….”

“Hehe, princess. I really like you. Do you want me to give you a good one?”

“No, it’s okay.”

It wasn’t even before she was finished saying.

The child, (crow) kissed Psychke’s cheek to the point where it sounded like a sip.

“–!”

It was the moment she looked back at the crow in panic.

She thought her eyes were shaking, and the view, which was full of darkness, began to brighten up like an ordinary hallway.

“Oh…”

Psychke stopped walking and looked around. The pattern of the wall as well as the cracks were clearly visible. There was also an arrow floor trap at the end of one of the three forked roads in front.

“Is something wrong?”

Stella, who was following, asked. Judging from her words, she seemed to be the only one who had an abnormal phenomenon. By the way, the unknown change was not the end there.

“I’m scared, Miss.”

“What are we going to do now?”

The small sniffing voices sounded clear as if they were speaking right next to them. Psychke checked the location of the children. The children were still just a few steps away, right next to Stella.

“How do you like it?”

“…!”

The crow giggled with excitement.

“It’s a blessing from a Suin.”

She knew from the literature. The blessing of the Suin is to be able to share the main ability of a Suin with another. She heard that one can’t get it even if one gives hundreds of millions of won because Suin hates humans due to extreme persecution. She just got a great deal so easily.

She recovered her mind and started again, but it didn’t feel real. Psychke rubbed her cheek in bewilderment.

From the changes that occurred in her body, this crow seemed to have developed the five senses by leaps and bounds.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“There’s no one to receive it, so who cares?”

‘Father did that for Croa.’

It seemed to mean the yellow-eyed crow that was sometimes seen in Lestir.

“I wanted to do it for my dad, too. But Croa did it first. Bad guy.”

The child struggled with his legs, saying, “Just thinking about it makes me angry.” Psychke, who was hit by his foot in the waist,

“I wanted to give it to someone as strong as my dad, as nice as my dad, but I couldn’t find that person no matter how much I looked for him. That’s why I haven’t been able to do it for you.”

“Th, thank you.”

Psychke stuttered. Her vision was dizzy because she was not adapted to the sensitive five senses.

“If you’re thankful, princess, don’t go anywhere and play with me and dad forever. Got it?”

“That’s…”

(TN: This crow has some *intelligent* way of making Psychke stay, heh.)