Carb Sears (R) 27

Chapter 27 – From Ancient Times.

Drip-tuk, the water that ran down Belka’s hair dyed the red light and formed at the end, then became transparent and dripped repeatedly. Her water-soaked, dark red dress clung to her girlish skin, faintly revealing her bare skin, drawing soft curves. Belka’s face had been in her water for so long that she looked pale beyond pure white. Even so, her beauty did not diminish, and she only added to her sorrow.

“Sorry, Belka, I’ve been around too long.”

Usher, who had been immersed in the scene in the lake that seemed to have moved her land as it was, found the pale complexion of the girl after a considerable amount of time had passed and came up to the water surface where even the boundary between water and land was ambiguous. It was because the sight of fish big and small flying around and between the green trees was so unique and beautiful compared to any strange and beautiful sights he had seen in this forest that he was distracted.

“Don’t you want to see more?”

At his apology, Belka asked, shaking her head excitedly. It was only for a moment that her eyes were taken away by the rustle of red as she waved her head and the water droplets scattering from the tip.

“God, it’s okay.”

Far from being afraid, Usher could still see the fish poking at their clothes or skin, and the light of the greenery shining in the water, but he tried to deny it. But did it show?

“…”

Belka began to stare at him blankly. It was the same expression of a girl as usual, but Usher broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of her silently staring at her. The calm golden light reflecting the sunlight seemed to question him as to whether it was really like that.

“…I want to see a little more. Just a little bit.”

In the end, he couldn’t win over the girl’s gaze and confessed. Even so, the added words were a small defiance.

“Tell me if you want to see it. I’ll take you there again.”

Then, as if satisfied, Belka led him ashore. The green grass under the transparent water continued to the land, which was an ambiguous boundary between water and land, but the water shook and revealed the boundary according to their movements. Instead of the cold water that brushed my feet every time I moved, the feeling of the ground and the grass warmed by the afternoon sunlight definitely touched me. They came completely ashore. When the warmth of the sunlight that had been taken away by the cold water touched my skin, I felt that I had finally escaped the cave. Let him rejoice for a moment.

“You have passed through the cave. Erath.”

The voice in his ear made Usher stiffen. When I looked in the direction where the voice came from, I saw the figure of an old wolf. The wolf was looking at him with unknown eyes, as if proud or sorry. Usher’s gaze was uneasy. He didn’t do it himself, but because he went into the cave, he almost died or was trapped in the cave forever. It was he himself who decided to put him to the test, but did the wolf really not know that he might be subjected to such a thing inside the cave? At that thought, Usher averted the wolf’s gaze. Then the girl hugged him in her arms as if to protect him.

“Usher took and passed your test. And he won’t stand still if you interfere just because he wants to test something.”

The old wolf, who had been looking at the girl who warned her that there would be no second time with cloudy eyes, said with a resigned expression.

“You don’t have to worry. As long as you passed the test, there shouldn’t be a reward like that.”

The old wolf’s words made Usher curious and looked at him cautiously. And the gaze and the guilt that we met. The wolf’s eyes still felt repulsive, but he did not avert his gaze and confidently faced him. Was it because he had already passed the wolf’s test? Or was it because he no longer had anything to do with being with Belka?

“Eras. Can you spare a moment. Let’s talk about the reward. Why the test was like that. I want to talk about what it means.”

Usher nodded quietly at the wolf’s words. Belka seemed a little displeased, but let’s say that he really wants to hear it.

“Ha ha. Okay.”

I let out a small sigh and released Usher from my arms. So he was now walking through the cave with the old wolf. When Belka and Usher first arrived here. It was the same cave the old wolf had come out of. It reminded me of the cave where the bizarre creatures were and it scared me, but it felt different from that cave. If the cave was sticky and damp, as if the stones had melted, this cave is made of huge rocks and looks plain and crude. Before entering, holding the torch handed to me by a wolf, I slowly walked behind him, and the pictures carved on the walls of the cave caught my eye.

The paintings were all drawing a unique look. At first, it was the appearance of people with axes heading somewhere, and the appearance of cutting down trees. The wolves surround them as they cut down trees smoothly, and the wolves attack people. But they started to run away into the woods and the wolves continued to chase and hunt them thoroughly. But only one was missed. There were many other paintings, but these were the only ones Usher was able to recognize. However, I seemed to know what these murals were telling.

“This…”

Isn’t it the story that is said to have been the reason for the opening of Mascapir in the village?

“These pictures are prophesied by our ancestors.”

The old wolf opened his mouth, perhaps noticing that he had been looking at the pictures carved on the walls. His stride was still slow enough that Usher could catch up even if he walked slowly from when he entered the cave.

“How?”

Did you draw something like that with a wolf’s hand? Unbelievably, the paintings carved into the cave were delicately drawn. I couldn’t figure out what those pictures meant, but I could easily see the figures of animals and people.

“Well. It’s unknown because we didn’t draw it. Until this prophecy came true. We thought it was just a record and didn’t really think it was a prophecy. We were just continuing our mission. We thought that was enough.”

Usher wondered what the wolf meant by mission, but he couldn’t put it into words. Because the back of the old wolf walking slowly through the cave while talking like that looked shabby as if he was tired. The conversation finally stopped. They just walked through the cave in silence. Eventually, they reached the end of the cave, which was larger than the caves they had passed through. A cavity so wide that even if the torch is raised a little higher, the light does not shine properly. At the center of it was something that stood out.

“A heap of stones?”

At first it looked like a simple pile of stones. It wasn’t until I got closer that I realized it wasn’t that simple. I couldn’t tell what it was carved from, but it was a collapsed stone statue. Each of the pieces fell apart had a smooth and irregular shape, as if it had been carved to look like a simple stone. It was a crumbled statue, like a puzzle piece that could no longer be put together.

“This?”

Let’s ask about that miserable appearance. The wolf looked at it with dim eyes.

“It was something I had to protect. Even though it collapsed like this.”

Approaching the pile of statues, the old wolf rummaged through the statues with his front paws, looking for something, and then took something out with his mouth.

“Now, take it.”

And the old wolf handing it to him. What he handed over was a blue marble that looked like it contained part of the night sky. Even under the torchlight, the beautiful beads with white and gold Milky Way in the center of the bright blue color seemed to be a precious object at a glance.

“Eras. I am truly glad you passed through that cave.”
“What do you mean?”

What does this old wolf want to tell him? To say that Belka was lucky that she passed a test that she said she didn’t have to take, a test that made her take it while almost provoking him.

“That cave does not allow evil to pass through. Having passed through that cave means that you are at least not a person of evil.”

As soon as he asked, he spoke.

“You have to go through that cave to get permission to see and touch the object you’re holding.”

But I have nothing to say about the things I went through in the cave. I apologize if those things have caused you irreparable wounds. If you wish, I will give you even my life, so tell me anything. Seeing the old wolf’s determined look, Usher was speechless.

“Why did you do that?”

After receiving the marble from the old wolf, Usher was walking out of the cave alone. He had left the wolf who had come in with him because he wanted to stay a little longer.

“But there are so many.”

He slowed down, admiring the many paintings on the walls of the cave illuminated by the torchlight. He caught a glimpse of it on the way in, but he was not good enough to examine all the murals. There were so many murals painted all the way to the ceiling. He thought he would spend several days looking at each one, so he looked at only the large and conspicuous paintings among the paintings. A high tower collapsing, an island rising from the water into the sky, or a picture of water turning into mist. Most of the pictures had no detailed meaning, but what caught his eye the most was a picture of a huge dragon facing the woodcutter with his head down.

Dragons and raw meat are called kings among many monsters, and are the only beings that can use magic alongside humans. That is why many say that magic comes from dragons. The dragon painted in this mural was exactly the same as he knew everything. Except for the carapace covering the body and the lack of eyes. Usher put his hand on the mural for a moment and swept it, but what he touched was the texture of hard stone. He seems to have seen this dragon’s appearance when he lost his mind. He couldn’t understand why such a dragon appeared in his dream.

As he thought about it, he remembered the girl who was waiting for him and resumed his stopped steps. Outside the cave that came out like that. The bead received from the wolf was beautiful even when it was reflected in the torch in the cave, but when it was exposed to sunlight, it showed off an even more beautiful blue light. The golden and white stripes evenly scattered on the bluish indigo blue, as if the lofty night sky was put into a small ball, reminded me of stars shining in the distance and clouds floating in the sky. This marble gave a strange feeling that seemed to attract people, but Usher was more concerned about what the old wolf said when he received it and left the cave.

“The stone will pay the price once and for all when you do something irreparable.”

It was an incomprehensible word. Do you pay the price instead? He couldn’t quite understand what the irreparable wrong was. Especially the words that follow.

“But I would like to recommend that Agafia keep the stone’s existence a secret.”

When I say Agafia, I’m sure you mean Belka. Usher couldn’t figure out why he was asking her to keep the stone’s existence her secret. She was going to ask Belka what kind of stone this stone was. Just then, the figure of a girl came into his field of vision. A warm and soft red that makes you feel that it is not enough to simply say red. The moment he calls out her name aloud at the back of a girl sitting on a fallen log with her hair hanging down on the grass and wearing wet clothes as it is, sitting on top of a fallen log. .

“Belka…!”

The image of the old wolf, who had been talking seriously, came to mind again, and he gave out a shrill voice.

“Uss?”

Did you feel something strange about the voice calling you? The girl looked back at him with a puzzled expression.

“What happened?”
“Oh, nothing.”

Let the worried golden light turn towards you. With Usher’s weakening heart, he wonders if the stone he’s holding is discovered. He evaded and clasped his fists to hide them. Belka stared blankly at him, but without saying a word, she patted the seat next to her with her hand. When she gestured to him to sit down with him, he slowly approached, avoiding the neatly arranged white suit and mask, and sat down next to her, and cold water touched his toes.

“There was water all the way here.”

It was too late to even notice that the girl was dipping her feet in her water because the water was so clear. It was also because of the grass and wild flowers that grew without covering the boundary between land and water. Seeing that appearance, Usher tried to get rid of the awkward mind and atmosphere by using the curiosity that arose just at the right time.

“Doesn’t grass like this usually grow in lakes? Why do grasses and trees grow in lakes here?”

Belka silently looked at Usher’s words. Because of this, he became anxious that the stone he was holding might have been caught.

“No grass and trees grow in the lake.”

Fortunately, she answered, closing her eyes once and turning her gaze to the clear lake. And the strange words that follow.

“Because this wasn’t originally a lake.”
“It’s not a lake in the first place. No matter how you look at it, it’s a lake?”

Usher remembered the fish he had seen in the water. It was a sight so beautiful that it felt like a fantasy, but it was strange to say that the fish poking at his skin as they got closer was a fantasy.

“It’s a lake. But it’s not originally this big. This place is low, so when it’s this time of year, water flows in from the surroundings and the water expands to places that weren’t lakes like this.”

Hearing Belka’s words, he looked at the large lake again. This forest was really beautiful and full of unknown things. Same with that cave. As soon as he thought of the cave, he frowned at the strange fish and mermaids that came to mind. When I think of that scene, my back still hurts and it hurts there. There was a weak but familiar touch that pulled him like that.

“Ah.”

And the golden light that shines on him. The soft touch of the back of his head made him know that the girl had given him a knee. The heart that had been beating fast thumped slowly and the pain I felt quickly subsided.

“It was hard.”
“…Huh.”

Her tears welled up and her tied neck trembled in Usher’s voice as he answered her. Still, the reason he didn’t cry was because the girl’s golden light that looked at him made him feel guilty and was about to fall. She felt that if she cried, her guilt would increase.

“I’m sorry. That’s what happened. I couldn’t do anything.”

When Belka said that, Usher was raped by Mac. She seemed to understand why she didn’t express herself when she told him she was fine. She’s probably even herself when Belka gets fucked. Because she must have looked like that. She didn’t want to burden her with the weight of her guilt. Because her girl is so precious that her sadness touches her more deeply than the pain she herself feels. Therefore.

“Are you okay.”

Her golden light shimmered at his words, and then the girl closed her eyes, as if to hide her feelings. Usher watched her, feeling a little regret at her vanished gold. They were so silent and passed the time as it was. Until the sad and painful feelings subside and we don’t feel each other’s pain. In the silence, the chirping of birds and the sound of grass and trees swaying in the wind stayed by my side. Usher still didn’t know why he was so happy in this moment with the girl, but regretted the endless flow of time.

-Growl

Then, by the sound of a boat horn coming from his stomach, he realized that it had been a while since he had eaten. The first to respond was not Usher, the owner of the sound, but Belka, who had kneeled before him.

“I’ll bring you something to eat.”

As she was cutting her own leg, she carefully raised him up and said to wait. Then, look back at the presence of someone you feel behind your back.

“You passed the test safely.”

Waiting there was a gray wolf called Hillis.

“What did that test mean in the end?”

He asked, feeling that he was happy with her appearance. The old wolf said something, but Usher honestly couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Perhaps the chief is worried about the owner of the forest.”
“Belka?”
“I’m not the chief, so I can’t answer with certainty.”

The Gray Wolf’s words were unexpected. I’m sure the two of you said you met for the first time when you came here. Were they close enough to worry about? She said that if it wasn’t at the level of the chief, you wouldn’t be able to properly understand the chieftain’s intentions. Then, when I came out of the cave, I remembered the image of the silver wolf that met my eyes.

“Are you referring to the silver wolf?”
“Yes, he is called Belichye.”
“I thought the wolf was the leader.”

First of all, he was the biggest and had the coolest coat color among the wolves, so at first he thought he was the leader without fail. Until I saw him bowing his head to the old wolf.

“Whoops, he’s the most outstanding warrior ever born.”

The gray wolf actually said that the silver wolf was destined to be the next chief, so he wasn’t very wrong. Besides, the wolf now called Chief looked too old and tired.