Chapter 150
As I watched the woman hurriedly raise a towel to cover her nose, I newly realized just how terrifying it was to enter the Land of the Dead.
“I’m sorry, but there’s no way to undo a curse caught in the Land of the Dead.”
At Sal’s bolt-from-the-blue news, Macy, whose face had already been pale, turned aghast.
Bessie weighed on my mind, so I wanted to do something for her. That was when Elonen came to mind. At this point, I also wanted to check whether the hero’s party was safe.
“There’s a priest in the party, so how about receiving help from him?”
“Mm… If she’s already been exposed, I don’t think even a priest will be able to offer much of a solution, but since there’s no other way besides that, it’s worth trying.”
Sal looked skeptical, but he nodded as if it was the only method.
“A priest, a priest won’t do.”
Macy spoke urgently as she kept wiping away the nosebleed that still flowed so much she couldn’t control it.
“Why won’t a priest do?”
“I don’t have money to give a priest.”
I had thought all the priests in this world were kind, so they would never accept something like money. But since this was such a wide world, there could also be corrupt priests.
Whatever the case, I knew Elonen would absolutely not accept money.
“Elonen is with the hero’s party, so he doesn’t accept things like money.”
“Then we have no choice but to bring your companions here.”
In conclusion, in order to help Macy, Sal and I decided to return to the monastery and bring Elonen back.
* * *
Even as we headed back to the old monastery, Sal remained negative the entire time.
“It’s better not to get your hopes up. Once you’ve been contaminated by the curse, it’s difficult to return to normal even after the curse is lifted.”
But even while speaking so pessimistically, he seemed to feel sorry for her, because he kept letting out deep sighs.
“That’s why I told them never to enter the Land of the Dead…”
As I listened to Sal’s regretful voice, a fundamental question suddenly welled up in me. If Sal had already warned people that going there was dangerous, why had that woman taken such a risk?
“Then did Macy enter the Land of the Dead even though she knew it was dangerous?”
“She probably went because there was something she needed. There were often cases like that before too. All the ancient people’s belongings from the past are still left inside. It’s fine if they go in and come out briefly. But then, little by little, the time they spend inside grows longer.”
Should I call it brave, or should I call it frustrating? What was clear was that she had ended up facing a result far too cruel compared to what she had done.
“By the way, what is Kyle doing for him to be so quiet? If he knew I disappeared, there should have been an uproar.”
“Would he make that much of a fuss just because you disappeared?”
Sal didn’t know, but it had been exactly like that just the day before yesterday. Kyle had tried to blow away the entire forest where the fairies lived.
“Kyle has a tendency to act a little excessively.”
It seemed especially worse when the matter involved me, but I swallowed the rest inwardly.
“Then do I just need to pretend we met for the first time yesterday?”
While going to the monastery with Sal, we got our stories straight. We decided to pretend that I had met him here by chance for the first time.
In addition, we decided to act as if he had come to possess the sacred relic and return it to the hero’s party. Fortunately, Sal said he would cooperate obediently too.
I had already been watching like a hawk for a chance to return the sacred relic, wondering when and in what way I should give it back. I felt good because it seemed like my plan was going smoothly.
“But why are you trying to give the sacred relic to the hero? You said you have to gather them and bring them to the Dark God.”
Sal had yet to meet the hero, but he seemed displeased about giving the sacred relic to him.
It was because it was safer for them to have it than for me to have it. It was also because I wanted to make at least one way out for myself, even if it was revealed that I was the Black Flame Dragon.
Sal didn’t know that I wasn’t the real Black Flame Dragon. So there were many things I couldn’t tell him.
“I’ll explain it in detail later. For now, think of it as a way to break down his wariness.”
“Alright. If you say so, then there must be a reason for it. Later, you have to tell me everything in full detail, without leaving out a single thing.”
Sal didn’t doubt me. I didn’t know what kind of relationship we had in the past, but his trust in me seemed deep.
It hadn’t even been a full day since I met him, but for some reason, I felt like I could trust him.
