Chapter 129
“I’ll call the fairies and gather as much information as possible too, so how about leaving early tomorrow morning? It will be a very difficult journey anyway. Think of this as your last time to rest and relax for the foreseeable future.”
We were pressed for time, so I thought Kyle would say we should hurry and leave, but surprisingly, he obediently accepted the Fairy King’s suggestion.
“Thank you for your consideration. Then, we’ll impose on you for just one day before leaving.”
Everyone in the group also accepted Kyle’s decision as if it were only natural.
“Then for now, I’ll have someone show each of you to your rooms so you can unpack. The hot spring is especially good in our palace, so everyone should wash up properly and rest comfortably. I’ll call you again later for dinner.”
At the mention of a hot spring, Kyle, who liked bathing in tubs, looked especially happy as his eyes sparkled.
“Then you may all withdraw now. Kakaros, you stay behind and speak with me separately.”
The Fairy King kept only Kakaros behind and sent us out of the dining room.
“Still, a hot spring. It’s been a really long time.”
Elonen said happily as we stepped into the corridor. Just as he said, after wandering through the snow mountains without being able to wash, I desperately wanted a bath.
“Exactly. Lysian, do you like hot springs too?”
Gerard asked, glancing at me subtly. I was about to answer that I did, but then I hesitated. It was because I was worried about showing them my scar.
“Not really. I want to rest in my room.”
“Really? That’s too bad.”
I didn’t know why he sounded disappointed, but Gerard answered in a voice tinged with regret.
I was pretending to be fine, but honestly, I was incredibly disappointed too. I wanted to soak deeply in warm water and rest.
So I decided to wash secretly in the dead of night, when everyone was asleep.
* * *
After resting comfortably in my room, evening came and I went back to the dining room. During the meal, the Fairy King gave us various pieces of information about the Land of the Dead.
First, he said we had to be careful of the ‘pack of wild dogs’ living there. He said fugitives driven out of the continent had gathered there to live.
And second, he said that if we were caught by the powerful curse covering the territory, we would become corrupted. So Elonen absolutely had to regularly bestow blessings on everyone with his divine power.
We heard several other useful things as well, and Elonen decided to write down and memorize the smaller details separately.
In any case, the most important person in the Land of the Dead was Elonen. If we lost him, all of us would be caught by the curse and become corrupted.
“It’s finally time for Elonen to step forward.”
Gerard spoke as if joking, but Elonen seemed to feel quite burdened. It seemed this was the first time the fate of the entire group had rested in his hands.
“Don’t worry. No matter what happens, we’ll protect Elonen first.”
Noticing Elonen’s heavy sense of responsibility, Kyle spoke as if soothing him. Elonen answered him with a bright smile.
“I’ll do my best to protect all of you too.”
After the conversation overflowing with camaraderie ended, everyone in the group scattered to their own rooms. With a difficult life-or-death struggle ahead of us, we decided to go to sleep early.
I returned to my room, organized my things, and waited for it to grow dark.
Then, when the dead of night arrived, I confirmed that everyone was asleep and everything had gone quiet before secretly heading to the hot spring.
Because fairies were beings who loved and protected the forest, they never lit fires. Instead, they gathered things like fireflies and used them in place of lamps.
Thanks to that, I had to walk through the very dark palace while relying on the faint light of fireflies. I didn’t know the palace’s paths well, and it was dark on top of that, so I wandered around for quite a while before finally finding the hot spring.
Just as I expected, no one was there. The only crazy person using the bath at this hour was me. Thanks to that, I was able to comfortably strip off my clothes and enter the open-air bath.
When I looked up at the sky, a picturesque moon was shining brightly. In front was a sheer cliff, and behind me was a lush green forest.
To think I could enjoy a hot spring in such a beautiful place. It truly felt like a dream. It was the first happiness I had felt since waking up in Lysian’s body.
But that happiness didn’t last long. I was startled by an intruder who appeared through the hazy steam.
Without realizing it, I almost leapt out of the water and attacked, but thankfully, I heard a familiar voice.
“I wondered who would be bathing in the dead of night like this, and it was you, Lysian.”
“…Caesar?”
