Chapter 29
Cough, cough!
Hot, coarse sand filled his airways, and the child coughed incessantly.
“Bilharan, keep quiet. The kingdom’s pursuit team is nearby.”
The middle-aged man, his hands stained with blood, pulled the mask up over the child’s nose.
He was a wanted serial robber and murderer.
His rough, hot hands, hardened from brutal deeds, felt like sandstorms baked in the midday heat.
The mask filtered the hot sand, making it easier to breathe.
“What’s the big deal about cracking a few random heads? Celebrating our once-a-year wedding anniversary properly is more important. Feeding your mom butter-slathered lamb until she’s stuffed. Right, son?”
The blood-stained wallet he opened contained a family photo of the person he’d just killed.
His bloody fingerprints smeared across the photo as he rummaged through it.
Like deboning a fish, he took only the money and tossed the wallet into a trash bin.
“There are billions of people, but your mom is one of a kind. No choice. You’ve got to prioritize.”
“…?”
“I’m saying it’s more important to feed your mom buttered bread than to care about random people’s lives.”
Bilha only tilted his head.
“You dimwit… Oh, hold on. It’s your birthday today, isn’t it? Wow, I remembered.”
“…”
“Since it’s the same day as our anniversary, it’s harder to forget.”
The man glanced around and bought a fruit from a street vendor.
Buzz, buzz.
Flies swarmed annoyingly nearby.
“Your gift. It’s pretty expensive, so eat it sparingly.”
The fruit’s surface had a small fly drowned in its juice.
Swollen, its wings and legs torn off.
The child picked up a piece with small fingers and put it in his mouth.
Crunch.
As he bit into the fruit, red juice leaked from his lips.
It tasted oddly metallic, like blood.
✦ ✦ ✦
Instead of circling back to the beginner hunting grounds, we decided to hide and buy time.
Getting hit by beginner beasts hurts, but one hit from an intermediate beast would turn us into minced meat.
‘When they do a headcount after hunting time and realize Bilha and I are missing, they’ll start tracking us. The Kill Count Watch collects location data, so they’ll find us quickly.’
For now, we took shelter in a small rock cave.
I recalled a temporary refuge from the cheat sheets and followed my instincts, thankfully finding a small rock cave.
The cave’s plants emitted an aura that masked human Ether, making it hard for beasts to detect us.
“Bilha, what’s this?”
While checking our supplies by rummaging through Bilha’s and my bags, I found something curious.
An Etherib.
An Etherib was a scroll-like device that helped learn specific techniques.
“My dad.”
“Oh, a keepsake from your father. It looks like it contains a pretty unique technique. Do you know how to use it?”
“…?”
Bilha tilted his head.
His expression clearly said he had no idea.
“…Well, anyway, thanks for coming to save me without hesitation.”
“Save?”
“Yeah, you came to save me, right?”
Rolling his eyes, Bilha nodded.
Sigrin’s words felt incredibly awkward.
“By the way, you look much better than earlier. Even if it’s not a strong poison, it’s amazing you detoxed so quickly.”
“Scorpion.”
“Oh, you got stung by a scorpion as a kid, so you have poison resistance.”
“Catch one?”
“Haha… Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
Sigrin laughed off the offer and used the “Eye of Ether” to check Bilha.
The damage Bilha took seemed deeply tied to the curse.
After getting hit by Spirit Sprouts and ingesting poison, his massive, dormant Core was starting to revive.
“That curse is vicious. You have to endure pain to be temporarily free from it. It’s like it’s forcing you to be miserable forever.”
“…Curse.”
Bilha echoed the word Sigrin often mentioned.
Sigrin widened her eyes, staring at him. This was the first time Bilha showed interest in his curse.
“…Yes!! Exactly. Curse! Do you know what it is?”
“Yeah.”
“What… is it?”
“I know. Curse, what it is.”
“…Oh, you mean you know what the word ‘curse’ means?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh no!”
“…?”
Bilha tilted his head as Sigrin clutched her chest.
Her words sounded like pleasant noise to him.
In short, Bilha didn’t care what Sigrin said.
He had no particular thoughts about the curse.
[Like beast parents, their spawn will be a beast. Look at those shameless, guiltless eyes. He’ll grow up just like them.]
[Poor thing… The parents did the killing, what’s the kid’s crime? Tsk, tsk, his life’s already set for hardship. Here, have some sweet candy. He’s so scrawny.]
The curse forgave Bilha when he suffered, and people pitied him when he was hated.
The curse, inherited with guilt, was mixed into Bilha’s blood.
Pain and the curse were naturally part of him.
Even without guilt, Bilha believed it.
The pain from this bloodline was tied to you by blood.
Deep in his subconscious, the curse whispered.
Living off the curse and people’s pity was Bilha’s survival instinct. That’s why the pain didn’t bother him.
“Now I can.”
Feeling strength return, Bilha helped Sigrin up.
He felt he could carry this loser up the cliff now.
“Uh, Bilha… It’s great you activated your Core, but for now, you should deactivate it and wait.”
“…?”
Sigrin, suddenly pale, grabbed Bilha.
“Damn it, do you not know how to deactivate your Core?”
Shhh.
The sound of thick roots crawling over the ground came from nearby.
“Deactivate it! Beasts can sense human Ether. The Ether from your Core is strong enough to pierce through the cave plants’ aura!”
Shhhhh!!!
“A Spirit Sapling is coming this way! Damn it, Bilha! You’re not dozing off, are you?”
“Deactivate.”
“Ack! It’s not a spell!”
‘This won’t do. I’ve got to do something.’
Sigrin wrapped Chemforce around her hand and placed it on Bilha’s lower abdomen.
“…?”
“Wither, wither, Core!”
But the Ether’s power was too strong to suppress.
She felt warm liquid trickling from her nose.
“Wither, wither?”
As Sigrin’s nose bled, Bilha wiped it with his thumb.
Shhh!
Whoosh!
A Sapling’s branch reached into the narrow rock cave.
Boom!!
A thick branch forced its way between Sigrin and Bilha, embedding into the wall.
Cracks formed, and rocks fell. The Spirit Sapling appeared at the cave’s entrance.
About 1.5 times the size of an adult man, with dozens of thick roots as legs.
This beast was larger than a typical Spirit Sapling.
Bilha’s strong aura had attracted a stronger one.
Its grotesque face, carved along the wood grain.
Its size and eerie appearance were overwhelming.
“Challenge!”
While Sigrin briefly despaired, Bilha shouted boldly beside her.
His Core’s power returning, he was brimming with confidence.
Bilha drew a dagger from his waist to fight the Sapling.
His spirit was truly admirable.
Whoosh.
Clang!
The raised dagger broke instantly.