Chapter 149
The Wandering Wild Dogs
Sal greeted the girl with a familiar face. The girl called Bessie’s face was flushed red, and she caught the breath that had risen all the way to her chin.
“Mother, Mother is sick!”
Bessie, who had grabbed the hem of Sal’s clothes, shouted tearfully. At the urgent cry, Sal held her shoulders as if telling her to calm down and spoke calmly.
“Is she inside the house right now?”
“Yes, she’s been home since yesterday.”
I wanted to return to the monastery because I was worried about Kyle, but I had been dragged here while unconscious and didn’t know the way back.
But in front of a crying child like that, I couldn’t very well ask her to tell me my way first.
“Then let’s go quickly.”
Bessie led us and hurried across the village in a fluster. After passing by old cabins and heading toward the outskirts of the village, I saw the oldest cabin among them.
The roof, which looked as if it might collapse, bothered me quite a bit, but in any case, the more urgent matter was her mother.
“Mother, I brought the Village Chief!”
Bessie shouted urgently and ran inside the house. When I entered the room after her, I had no choice but to cover my nose at the terrible stench.
“Welcome, Village Chief.”
The person lying on the bed barely lifted only her head and spoke. At first, her face was so gaunt that I wondered if she was an immortal mage lich.
Her skin was so pale that blue veins showed through, her eyes were sunken, and her lips were blue enough to make her complexion frightening. Even to me, who didn’t know much, she looked very sick.
“Please forgive me for not being able to get up and greet you.”
The woman broke into a dry cough and tried to shakily raise herself, but perhaps because she had no strength, she only gasped for rough breaths.
Bessie hurried over and stayed right beside her, wiping her forehead with a wet towel.
“At least a cup of tea… Cough, cough!”
When the woman covered her mouth and broke into a cough, I saw dark red blood flow down her forearm.
“No. You’re not feeling well, so please lie down. We’ll prepare the tea.”
Sal, who had been speaking while waving his hand, grabbed my shoulder and whispered quietly into my ear.
“We’ll have to send Bessie out. I’ll boil the tea.”
“Alright.”
Watching Sal pick up the kettle and walk to the fireplace, I approached Bessie, who was stuck right beside her mother.
“Will Mother be alright?”
I took the wet towel the child was holding and placed it on the table. Several towels already soaked with blood were piled there.
“Of course, we’ll take a good look at your mother’s condition, so wait outside for a moment.”
Bessie looked as if she was about to cry, but she obediently followed what I said. I held Bessie’s shoulders, which were so thin and small they fit right into one hand, and led her outside the house.
“Is there another adult who can look after you?”
Just as Bessie was about to answer, an old woman who had been watching from a distance approached.
“Bessie, come here. I’ll make you breakfast.”
Bessie seemed familiar with her too, because she naturally took her hand. Fortunately, there was an adult who could look after her.
I was about to turn around in relief when the old woman suddenly spoke to me.
“It’s been a long time since I greeted you, Lord Lysian.”
Seeing as she knew my name even though it was our first meeting, she seemed to be someone who had met the past Lysian before.
“How do you know me?”
“You helped me before, didn’t you? That’s why we came to trust the Village Chief and settle down here with him. Well then, you seem busy, so I’ll get out of your way. When you have time next time, I’ll greet you again with the others.”
The old woman poured out her words in a friendly manner, then turned around without even listening to my answer. I watched her retreating back as she left with Bessie, then went back inside the house.
The stench was still the same, and instead, the fragrant smell of tea was mixed into it. It truly seemed like it would make me nauseous.
“Lysian, do you want to come have some tea?”
Sal, who was pouring tea, gestured to me and asked. There was no way tea would go down my throat in a place that smelled this awful.
“Why don’t you look flustered at all?”
Even after seeing the woman’s appearance, Sal wasn’t flustered in the slightest. He looked detached, as if he already knew very well what had happened.
“Let me confirm just one thing, Macy. You went to the Land of the Dead, didn’t you?”
Sal calmly asked as he looked back at the woman sitting weakly on the bed. She lifted her clouded, vacant eyes and looked at Sal.
Don’t tell me there really was someone who had recklessly entered the Land of the Dead without even receiving a priest’s blessing?
I examined Macy while doubting that Sal’s words could be true.
“…I’m sorry. I was fine for a while, so I kept thinking, just a little more, just a little more… By the time I came to my senses, I had already gone too deep. I wandered while trying to find the way out.”
Macy muttered while continuously wiping away cold sweat. Then, suddenly, dark red blood began streaming from her nose.
