Chapter 74: The Old Woman and Red Clover (1)
“Wh-Where is this…?”
Blinking rapidly, Aajen looked around.
The misty forest was the same as before—but everyone who had been with him was gone.
“Sir Lewin? Mr. Gale! Lady Sercia! Calix!”
Aajen called out at the top of his lungs, screaming each of their names.
But no reply came.
Only a silence so heavy it was chilling to the bone.
“No way… Am I the only one who got separated?”
From what he remembered, he'd been tightly gripping the edge of Sercia’s robe just before…
Then a sudden gust of wind had forced him to shut his eyes—and when he opened them again…
“I was here…”
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
“Damn it!”
Slumping to the ground, Aajen pounded his fist against the earth.
He had no idea what kind of trick or scheme had separated him like this.
And the worst part: he was still being targeted by Depicio, the dark organization. Even in this unfamiliar place, that fact remained at the front of his mind.
The Lewin group had defeated the ambushers spectacularly—but still, there was no telling.
‘There might be a follow-up unit trailing us in secret…!’
This was a matter of life and death. He had to consider every possibility.
“I have to move.”
He needed to get out of this strange space and reunite with the others as quickly as possible.
“They’re probably looking for me too.”
A hardened expression spread across Aajen’s face. Staying alert, he pressed on through the mist-laden path.
How long had he walked? After wandering through nothing but shadowy forest, something new appeared.
The sound of water.
“A river!”
A flowing stream, fast and strong. Aajen dashed toward it at full speed.
Perhaps because it was the first change after such a long period of static scenery, he didn’t even think to question how such a dynamic river could exist in what had been such a silent forest.
“Looks like I need to cross it…”
There was no path forward except over the river. Ahead: water. Behind: forest.
“A complete dead end.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, Aajen scratched his head. He was utterly stumped.
“Rrgh!”
Grabbing a stone nearby, he hurled it into the river with all his might.
He was testing the depth.
Splash—!
The rock plummeted into the current with a loud noise. Aajen leaned in close, listening for the sound.
He heard faint taptaptap sounds as the stone hit the riverbed.
“Doesn’t seem too deep to cross.”
Testing again by dipping in a foot, he confirmed it.
He rolled up his trousers and sleeves, slapped his cheeks lightly.
“Alright, let’s—!”
Just then.
“Who… who goes there?”
A delicate voice echoed from somewhere nearby.
The sound was soaked in time itself—deep, strange, tinged with a kind of sorrow.
Aajen instinctively moved toward the direction of the voice.
“…Who are you?”
“Ahh! The gods haven’t abandoned me after all!”
There stood a frail old woman, hunched and trembling, her eyes wide in awe at the sight of him—like he was a miracle.
She wore ragged clothes and a tiny frame, crouched low with age and hardship.
“I don’t know how long it’s been… I got lost in this foggy forest and became trapped here forever. I’m short, and my legs are weak—crossing that river was never even a dream.”
The stench coming from her was foul, even from a distance. Her bulging eyes darted left and right like a broken doll—unnerving to behold.
“For decades, I’ve lived in this lonely place without another living soul!”
Tears gushed down her wrinkled cheeks as she wailed.
“Young man, I beg of you… You plan to cross the river, don’t you? Please take me with you!”
She clung to his arm with desperate, trembling fingers, her eyes pleading with the intensity of someone who saw him as her one and only salvation.
“…I…”
Normally, Aajen would’ve made up an excuse and refused.
He had trained all his life to become the heir of the Clover Trade Company.
Weighing profit and loss was easier to him than eating cold stew.
‘She can’t move on her own. I’d have to carry her. But…’
He turned his head toward the river. The destination on the other side seemed impossibly far.
It wasn’t even certain that he could make it across alone.
‘If I try to go with her, there’s a high chance neither of us will make it.’
He was smart, but inexperienced. He always prioritized reason over emotion.
Not wicked, but quick to calculate.
‘I’ve trained steadily, but let’s be honest—my stamina isn’t anything to brag about.’
He was just about to decline politely, planning to return with a rescue party after he made it to safety himself.
It would’ve been the more rational choice.
“Elder, the thing is—”
But just as he was about to speak—
—Aajen. Please remember what I said.
Lewin’s voice echoed in his head, a memory from just before they entered the forest.
—If you encounter someone in trouble today, do everything you can to help them. With all your heart, with all your strength. Alright? You must. Promise me!
Unlike his usual tone, Lewin had repeated himself obsessively—and the entire group had looked at him strangely for it.
—In that case… you must believe what I say, this time, okay?
As if replayed in his mind, Lewin’s words rang again—and before he knew it, Aajen responded aloud.
“Elder… let’s go together.”
“…Ah. Th-Thank you! Thank you so very much!”
“N-No, really, it’s nothing. Please don’t keep bowing like that, Elder… U-Uh? Let’s get up now!”
Even as he fumbled and stammered through his own surprise…
The old woman’s lips curved into a faint smile.
***
Splash, splash.
“Are you sure I’m not too heavy?”
“I’m fine, Elder.”
Carrying her on his back, Aajen carefully waded through the strong current. He’d expected it to be exhausting—but surprisingly, it wasn’t.
The old woman was light—almost featherlight.
“It must be boring to walk in silence… Young man, may I tell you a story?”
“It’d be an honor. I love hearing elders’ life stories.”
“…You’re a fine young fellow!”
With a chuckle, the old woman began to tell her tale.
“A foolish time, it was.”
To preface, it was a story about love.
“Our race lived reclusively, for reasons long buried. We were forbidden from venturing into the outside world.”
Aajen briefly wondered—was she from a different race?
It wasn’t uncommon for certain minority races to be bound by outdated customs and oppressive traditions.
“But I was always a curious child. One spring, when the world was in full bloom, I finally slipped away from my kin and went into the world. It was a reckless act of rebellion.”
“…I think I understand how you felt. I never understood why adults stopped us from doing certain things either, when I was little.”
Something stirred in Aajen. Maybe it was okay to be a little more honest, in a place this strange and surreal.
“Actually, I still feel that way sometimes. I thought I’d grown up, but the world still feels big and confusing.”
“Young man—you are young!”
She laughed heartily, and Aajen blushed.
“I’m not! I had my coming-of-age ceremony this year!”
“Only children claim they’re not young.”
“…Ugh.”
Despite her appearance, the old woman was sharp and wise.
And she somehow struck a chord deep inside him. That day, when his companions were slaughtered in front of him—he still couldn’t forget.
‘Was it… my fault? Did they die because I was weak?’
As if she could read what he didn’t dare say, she sang her reply like a lullaby.
“It’s the privilege of the young… to make mistakes.”
“But… I’m scared of making mistakes. Of being wrong.”
“There has never been a single worthwhile attempt in this world without fear. Learn from your mistakes, avoid repeating them—and they’ll become the roots of something great.”
She smiled gently.
“Growth. That too is the privilege of youth.”
Feeling somehow lighter, Aajen returned to the original topic.
“So then? What happened next, Elder?”
“Hmm. Sadly, not a happy start. A naïve child of a rare race wandering alone—it made me the perfect target for evil men.”
Her voice turned raspier, ominous.
So close to his ear, her words made his skin crawl.
Splish~
By then, they had reached the middle of the river, and Aajen swayed slightly.
‘…Huh?’
The old woman no longer felt featherlight.
‘Am I imagining things?’
Just as Aajen tilted his head in confusion, the old woman continued, voice soaked in memory.
“I only wanted to see a bit of the world—but before I could even take it in, I found myself fleeing from countless humans. Hate, anger, resentment… I cursed the entire world. I hated humans.”
Aajen flinched. He could feel the depth of those words—how heavy they were with emotion.
“Then… I hid in a certain valley. And there… I met him.”
Though he couldn’t see it, Aajen felt certain the old woman was smiling.
Her voice had grown that soft.
“He was just a hunter. But he didn’t report me—instead, he hid me in a safe place. He treated me every day and cared for me with all his heart.”
“That’s a relief. I’m glad you met someone kind.”
“Yes. Meeting him was the greatest blessing of my life!”
The moment she exclaimed—
Thud!
Aajen buckled slightly.
She was definitely heavier now.
“Urgh!”
It wasn’t his imagination. Her weight had been gradually increasing.
“We fell in love almost instantly. If I thought of all that pain and suffering as trials to meet him, then I could endure it.”
But the woman seemed oblivious to what was happening to him.
“However… I had to return home. My kind can’t stay long outside our homeland. Living with a human was never an option.”
She kept growing heavier—like soaked cotton.
The featherlight weight now felt like sacks of grain pressing down on his back.
Aajen stumbled. One misstep, and his knees would give.
“…Kkgh!”
“Oh? Are you—are you struggling?”
Hearing his groan, the old woman finally looked back. And then burst into laughter.
That laugh made Aajen shudder from head to toe.
“Just a little longer, young man.”
She whispered as her stick-thin arms suddenly tightened like ropes around his neck.
“Our destination is just ahead.”
Like a water ghost clinging to a new victim—unyielding.