Cordelia held her breath and slowly stepped back. Even blinking was done carefully.

‘I can’t die here so meaninglessly.’

Cold sweat poured down, but she never took her eyes off it. Her instincts told her that the moment she turned her back, the monster would pounce on her.

The long standoff continued. A short whistle cut through the tense air. It was clearly a human sound. The monster turned its head in that direction.

Cordelia seized that brief moment to quickly turn and start running in the opposite direction.

Not long after, there was a sudden thud from behind her.

‘Is that Beluce?’

After putting some distance between them, she looked back to see a black-haired knight struggling in combat with the monster.

The sword was far away, and Beluce was barely holding his own against the monster with his bare hands.

The tide soon turned in the monster’s favor. It pinned Beluce down and opened its maw wide. It looked ready to devour him at any moment.

Beluce held its jaws open with both hands, but his low groans indicated he was losing strength.

“Urgh.”

Cordelia hesitated for a moment. But soon she ran with all her might towards the sword Beluce had dropped. She swiftly picked it up and charged towards Beluce and the monster.

“Beluce!”

As if understanding what she needed to do, Beluce twisted his body to expose the inside of the monster’s mouth.

Cordelia used all the strength she could muster to plunge the sword into the monster’s gaping maw that Beluce had forced open. Her unhealed left hand stung, and she nearly dropped the sword.

Blood spurted out like a fountain. The two were drenched in the monster’s hot blood.

Crunch!

The monster thrashed. Seizing the opportunity, Beluce slipped out from under it and delivered the final blow.

He pushed the half-inserted sword deeper with all his might. The sharp blade pierced through the soft palate and emerged from the back of its neck.

“Huff, huff.”

“Haa, haa.”

Only after confirming the monster had completely stopped breathing did the two finally let out their held breaths.

Strangely, the smell of the beast’s blood wasn’t as foul as that of humans.

Beluce asked first.

“Why didn’t you run away?”

“Why would I run? I may not look it, but I’m dead without loyalty.”

To be honest, she had considered abandoning him and fleeing. His harsh words on the ship had made her resent him.

But on the other hand, she was grateful to him. If she had been caught unaware, she would have been devastated by the betrayal, but thanks to him, she had time to sort out her feelings.

“Hmph.”

“You’re the surprising one, Beluce. Saving me? I thought you’d just collect my left hand if I got eaten by the monster.”

It was half a joke, but half sincere. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Beluce had watched her being devoured from afar.

“The Master hasn’t used you yet.”

“Ah, so you saved me because I still have a use. I see.”

Cordelia understood his words.

“But how did you find me?”

“I saw some idiot yelling while wandering through a forest full of magical beasts, and thought they must have a death wish, so I came to watch.”

“…I thought there’d be wolves at most.”

“Right. Can’t be helped. I heard stupidity is innate and can’t be fixed.”

An awkward alliance formed. Cordelia and Beluce walked together, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

But Beluce’s steps kept lagging behind. Cordelia turned back without much thought, then was startled to see blood drops on the undergrowth and rushed to Beluce.

The blood on the ground was flowing from Beluce’s abdomen.

“You’re hurt? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“If I did? Do you know healing magic or something?”

“I may not know that, but I can stop the bleeding.”

Cordelia borrowed Beluce’s dagger and without hesitation tore the hem of her skirt. She bound the wound as tightly as she could. With Cordelia’s left hand still not fully healed and lacking strength, Beluce tied the final knot himself.

“You can’t die.”

“That’s my intention.”

“If Beluce dies, who will protect me when the next magical beast appears?”

“You’re shameless. Asking to be protected again.”

“When it comes to survival, there’s no shame or pride.”

Cordelia spoke brazenly. Beluce’s pace slowed further, so they decided to rest at the base of a giant tree after walking a short distance.

“How did you meet the Master?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about my past?”

“I’m curious why you’re so obsessed with the Master.”

“Obsessed? What are you talking about?”

“Ah. Maybe jealousy is a better word? Jealous of every being close to the Master?”

Beluce glared fiercely at Cordelia’s words, but somehow she no longer found him frightening.

“I heard roughly from the Master. That your father tried to kill you for being an illegitimate child.”

“You speak so easily about others’ family matters?”

“I had a similar father. My father sold me for 500,000 linkits. He wouldn’t sell family heirlooms even if we were starving to death. He was worse when drunk. He’d hit me at the slightest provocation, even using a leather belt. If I had been illegitimate, he probably would have killed me at birth.”

“…”

“So how did you meet? With the Master?”

After Cordelia revealed her own painful past, Beluce hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I met him by chance on the street when I was twelve. He was the most radiant person I’d ever seen.”

“Is that so? I can’t imagine since I don’t know the Master’s face.”

“When the Master regains his original body, you’ll understand what I mean.”

“Hmm. Now I’m looking forward to it. So then? After seeing him by chance on the street?”

“After learning he was the eldest son of Atilei, I went to him and begged to be taken as a subordinate. Of course, he didn’t even acknowledge me at first.”

“What was the Master’s personality like then? Similar to now?”

“He’s become much gentler as he’s grown.”

“…This is gentle?”

This was the most shocking thing she’d heard today. If this was considered gentle, she could hardly imagine how severe he must have been when younger.

Beluce blinked slowly.

“Even though I was rejected, I kept following him. When he said he’d accept me if I became useful, I started learning swordsmanship…”

“So that’s when you started learning swordsmanship. And then?”

His voice grew increasingly faint, and his focus seemed to be slipping.

In truth, Cordelia wasn’t asking about his past out of curiosity.

While binding his wound, she had realized it was deeper than she thought. Moreover, the amount of blood loss was significant.

Cordelia approached Beluce and slapped his cheek hard. Beluce grimaced and sat up.

“Ugh, what are you doing? Do you want to die?”

“It’s not me who’s dying, it’s you, so I slapped you. If you don’t want to be hit again, stay alert.”

“Who’s dying?”

“If you’re slow to answer me one more time, I’ll slap the other cheek too.”

At Cordelia’s threat, Beluce showed annoyance in his eyes but didn’t say anything more.

“Come on, continue the story quickly. You were talking about learning swordsmanship.”

“Do you know how to use that bracelet?”

He suddenly changed the subject. Cordelia raised her left hand to look at the bracelet.

“This? No.”

“Evrad’s treasure is a magical item inscribed with powerful ancient magic. But it can only be used three times.”

“Only three times?”

Cordelia couldn’t hide her disappointment. Leonard had spent a year searching for it, so she thought it was something extraordinary, but regardless of what magic it held, only being able to use it three times seemed underwhelming.

“It’s three chances to save your life.”

“What kind of amazing magic is on it?”

“Teleportation. They said you can activate it by imagining the place you want to go and saying the activation word.”

Now she understood why this bracelet was so valuable. As he said, teleportation was ancient magic that no one alive could use.

Even the great Leonard didn’t understand its principles.

Cordelia clapped her hands lightly in joy.

“That’s great! Then we can use this to return to the village. We can immediately call a doctor to treat Beluce…”

“It can only be used by the caster alone. Listen carefully. The activation word is ‘Leonard’. It’s the Master’s name.”

Cordelia reflexively looked back. There was nothing visible, but she felt uneasy.

Why was Beluce suddenly telling her this?

She jumped up, strained her eyes, and looked around carefully. Only then did she faintly see what appeared to be at least five pairs of monster eyes.

They had barely defeated one, and now there were five.

Being a knight, Beluce must have already noticed their presence. That’s why he told Cordelia this.

“Go. Now.”

“What about Beluce?”

“My dream was always to become dog food when I die. So go quickly. If you die, the Master won’t be able to regain his body.”

As he spoke, Beluce let out a bitter laugh, as if finding himself amusing. Cordelia’s legs froze. Her mind knew she should go, but her mouth just wouldn’t move.

Meanwhile, the monsters began to reveal themselves one by one. Just their slowly tightening encirclement was enough to make Cordelia’s breath catch in her throat.

Beluce shouted, panting:

“Stop dawdling and go already!”

“I want to… I really want to go.”

Cordelia drew Beluce’s sword from its scabbard with trembling hands.

“If I run away like this now, I think I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

“What are you doing? Are you crazy?”

“I think I might be.”

She desperately wanted to just say the activation word, but the thought of fleeing alone and leaving Beluce behind was even more terrifying. This was better than suffering from indelible guilt.

“I said go! Can’t you hear me?”

“This sword. How do I use it?”

“This is driving me crazy. Really.”

Beluce stood up, limping. He took his sword back from her and gave her his dagger instead.

“I’ll give up one of my arms, so in the meantime, try to stab a monster’s eye or something.”

“You say that so easily?”

“Then do you want to give up your arm instead of me?”

Cordelia immediately shut her mouth. She tried her best to calm her trembling arms.

“The Master would be so pleased to find us both as dog food side by side.”

“If we’re found in a monster’s stomach, at least the Master will avenge us, right?”

“Hahaha.”

Beluce laughed loudly. It was the first time. The first time she had seen him laugh so cleanly.

But soon the smile disappeared from Beluce’s face. The leader of the monsters leapt high above them.