“Upon Lady Salem Eshnunna’s dire request, I came to visit you again, sir,” Noel said. Her manner of speech toward Chi-Woo had changed once again. “I know I came without warning, but the request I received was too urgent.”
Noel maintained a serious and business-like tone since there was someone in their party who didn’t know the full situation. Chi-Woo—no, Philip nodded. Seeing that Chi-Woo seemed to understand, Noel’s agitation subsided somewhat.
“I’ll give you space so that you can speak comfortably. Please call me when you’re done.” Noel backed away and searched her surroundings. It seemed she cared deeply whether or not Chi-Woo needed anything. As long as Noel was here, Chi-Woo wouldn’t have to worry about starving.
He was left alone with Eshnunna. Chi-Woo was glad to see her after so long. He was about to greet her when she spoke up first.
“I’m sorry.”
Chi-Woo’s eyes widened at the sudden apology.
“I know you’re busy. I didn’t want to bother you if there was a choice…”
“No! Thanks for coming, milady!”
“Pardon?”
“No, no, I mean it’s fine, Lady Eshnunna. I’m not really busy.”
“…Didn’t you tell all of us that you needed to take care of something on your own?”
“That’s true, but…” Philip studied Eshnunna carefully. Her complexion didn’t look good, and instead of asking what Chi-Woo was doing here, she simply stared at the ground. It seemed her mind was elsewhere.
‘She has a problem,’ Chi-Woo thought as he looked at her. But before that… ‘What are you doing?’ he asked Philip.
“Hmph.” Philip coughed.
‘What do you mean by hmph? Give me my body back already.’
“Hmph—” Philip pretended not to hear Chi-Woo again and spoke while trying to mimic Chi-Woo’s speech. “What can I help you with?”
Eshnunna glanced to her side. By then, Noel had gone inside the cave to check the supplies.
“Should we go on a walk?” Philip suggested, and Eshnunna nodded.
Some time afterward, Philip stopped on the way to the mountain peak. A casual glance over his shoulder caught the moment Eshnunna let out a deep sigh.
“I have been…having a worry these days.”
Philip approached Eshnunna and held her hands. “A worry, you say? Your worry is mine, milady. Thus, don’t hesitate to confide in me. Actually, please do so. Even if my body breaks in the process, I will remove what is tormenting you.” Philip murmured and got closer to her. Chi-Woo screamed, asking Philip what in the world he was doing.
Not minding Chi-Woo, Philip gazed longingly into Eshnunna’s eyes and smiled, but he came to a halt when he saw that Eshnunna’s face was filled with horror—as if she was looking at an icky bug.
“L-Lady?”
“…Have you gone mad?”
“No—”
“Why are you suddenly acting like this? Are you crazy?” Eshnunna flicked his hands away and quickly took a few steps backward like she could no longer trust him. This wasn’t what Philip had expected to happen.
‘Are you crazy!? You are insaaane!’ Chi-Woo continued to shout.
“L-Let’s change spots now,” Philip murmured in shock.
‘Change spots? Whaat? After you make things like this!?’
“I’m going to run.”
‘You selfish bastard. Hey, hey!’
Chi-Woo regained control of his body; Philip had run away. ‘Hey, you bastard!’ Chi-Woo continued to shout at him. Hearing this, Philip paused. ‘Are you crazy? She’s Salem like you! Isn’t she a great-great-great or more generations apart granddaughter of yours…!?”
—No…That’s not it.
Philip looked behind him a bit and said weakly.
—I just thought you two would go along well together…
‘What!?’
Philip murmured in response.
—No…Well, you know, I’m an ancestor of the Salems too… Despite the circumstances, I don’t feel too great that my family line has ended up like this… Since there’s at least one of them left…I thought it would be okay for her to be your partner…
In other words, Philip’s plan had been to continue his family line by pairing Chi-Woo and the last Salem descendant, Eshnunna, together.
[Crazy bastard.]
Mimi interjected after a long time of silence. Both Noel and Chi-Hyun would’ve been enraged to hear this.
—I was planning to leave you two alone after creating a nice atmosphere…
Chi-Woo decided to calm himself for now. No matter how crazy Philip was, there was no way he would commit something close to incest. But that was that, and it didn’t change the fact Philip had brought this terrible situation upon Chi-Woo right now.
‘You really are freaking crazy!’ Chi-Woo thought.
“What is it suddenly? Are you really the same person I knew?”
Chi-Woo then heard a sharp, icy voice. It was understandable why Eshnunna was acting this way. Chi-Woo hadn’t appeared to be that interested in romance before, but he was now acting so cheesy it would make anyone’s skin crawl.
“No, no. I’m sorry. It’s because I was getting…a bit lonely these nights.”
“Lonely? Nights?”
“No! It’s…I just had something going on and have been staying here for a long time alone. That’s why I was happy to see someone I knew.” Chi-Woo explained desperately, and it seemed his attempts had worked. The suspicion in Eshnunna’s eyes faded somewhat. Then they returned to the main topic at hand.
“…So, what did you say you came here for?” Chi-Woo asked while glaring at Philip, who was walking awkwardly toward them. It wouldn’t be too late to exorcize Philip even after he finished hearing Eshnunna’s story, would it?
“There’s something you must see first,” Eshnunna said in a low voice and put down the bundle in her hand. She untied it.
“…” Chi-Woo’s face hardened. Inside the bundle, there was a broomstick split into two. It was just a stick, but Chi-Woo was familiar with it. After all, he actually rode on top of it once and knew its owner: the Abyss’ witch, Onorables Evelyn.
“Why… Do you…?” Chi-Woo stammered.
“I have been… dreaming these days…” Eshnunna said with some strain. It was a nightmare she couldn’t remember well. The only thing she could remember was the voice that said the same things again and again; then her surroundings turned dark, and she was about to run away…
“…I thought it was a dream.” Eshnunna shuddered. “But when I woke up, the door was open, and this broom was left on the door’s threshold.”
“Your door’s threshold, you said? And…that voice kept saying, ‘Quickly… me’?”
“…Yes,” Eshnunna said unconfidently. “I think I heard something important…like they were telling me to do something, and it ended with ‘quickly… me’” Eshnunne rubbed at her temples and squeezed her eyes shut.
“I’m sorry…I can’t…I really can’t remember…” In the end, she shook her head while apologizing.
“Do you recall anything else? It’s fine even if you aren’t sure.”
“Um…” Eshnunna squinted. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t know it inside the dream, but…” She hesitated for a long while and continued, “After I woke up and thought deeply…I think it was my brother.”
“By brother, do you mean Yohan?”
“Yes, it almost seemed like he was asking me to save him…” Eshnunna’s eyes looked teary as she talked about Yohan. “Could it be Yohan’s soul? Maybe he was giving me a warning.”
“No,” Chi-Woo firmly said, “It probably wasn’t Yohan. This broomstick belongs to the witch.” He picked up a piece of the broken stick, “You said darkness came down from above, right? That is also one of the witch’s powers.” Chi-Woo still couldn’t forget the time when a black curtain fell from the sky and wiped away the army of mutants. “I think all leads point to the witch. She might be trying to deliver a message to you through your dream.”
Eshnunna’s forehead wrinkled.
“But why would she relay a message to me…?”
Chi-Woo didn’t know the exact reason, but he had a guess. He crossed his arms and ruminated over what she had said.
‘Quickly…me.’ What could she have meant? “…Help me.” Or it could have been, “Tell me. Give me.” Chi-Woo listed out the possible guesses as they came to mind. “Find me.”
“Find…me?” Eshnunna tilted her head.
“Lady Witch sometimes visited and suddenly called me out at night.”
“Ah…”
“She might have tried to find me by putting magic on this broom.”
“…”
“But she couldn’t find me, so she asked you to pass this on to me since she’d met you before.”
Chi-Woo’s conjecture seemed believable, so Eshnunna nodded.
“…Or.” Chi-Woo took a deep breath and said, “it could be both.” Chi-Woo knew that his brother had used some kind of special ability to protect this space. People who hadn’t come here and memorized the way wouldn’t be able to easily find it. Since his brother of all people took great care to make this training ground, it was reasonable that even Ms. Evelyn wouldn’t be able to find him. After gaining a basic grasp of the situation, Chi-Woo decided to confirm the most important part again with Eshnunna.
“Ms. Eshnunna, you said you found this pole at the threshold, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“How was it placed?”
“What? It was just…”
“No, I mean was it facing the outside or the inside? Please tell me exactly how it was placed.”
“Is that important?”
“Yes, it could be.”
Eshnunna fell into thought at Chi-Woo’s firm answer. She did remember how it looked exactly. “It was placed from the hallway to the room, and I remember the broom was halfway across the threshold.
Chi-Woo’s eyes narrowed. Half of the broom had crossed the threshold.
“Is that…bad?” Eshnunna cautiously asked at Chi-Woo’s sudden quietness. Chi-Woo didn’t reply. He didn’t want to worry her further since she already looked quite anxious. The fact that the threshold she saw in her dream turned out to have become reality could be a bad sign. A threshold was at the bottom of the door, and crossing the threshold could be interpreted in many ways.
‘Crossing the line…’ For example, the threshold could be interpreted as the boundary between this world and the afterlife. In this case, it could be interpreted as crossing the River Styx or the Sanzu River. Fortunately, the broom hadn’t completely crossed the threshold, but only halfway in. Then it could be interpreted as a sign that somebody was crossing the river or was about to cross it. Whatever it might be, there was a good chance that the witch was in serious trouble. Of course, he couldn’t jump to conclusions yet. Dream interpretation was always a fickle and uncertain art.
However, Chi-Woo was sure that it wasn’t just a meaningless dream. The broken broom was clear proof of that. Thus, he needed more information to confirm his guesses. “Ms. Eshnunna.” Chi-Woo unfolded his arms and stared straight at her. “As I told you before, I can’t get out of this place right now.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“So I’d like to ask you to gather information in my stead.”
“Gather information?”
“Would you be able to find out what had happened to the Abyss recently? Even a minor detail would be great.”
Eshnunna stared at Chi-Woo. She didn’t know why, but simply talking to Chi-Woo like this seemed to have washed away her anxiety. She had been a bit suspicious when Chi-Woo suddenly grabbed her hand without permission, but after talking to him, she was certain that he was the same person as before. No matter how difficult the situation was and how unfair the conditions were, he was the savior who changed their despair into hope. Taking another look, Eshnunna found that he seemed to have become even more reliable than before. His unshakeable eyes glistened with intelligence, and his body looked stronger and bigger. But most of all, the energy he radiated was strong and refreshing. Sensing it was enough to clear her cluttered mind.
‘What’s with…me?’ It was probably an illusion, but there seemed to be a halo shining from behind Chi-Woo’s back. This man was a hero in whom she and her people could put their trust and faith. Eshnunna’s face, which had looked strained and anxious the whole time, became as peaceful and vibrant as before.
With her eyes sparkling, she answered vigorously, “…Yes, I got it!”
* * *
After Chi-Woo finished his conversation with Eshnunna, he found Noel waiting for him.
“Young master~” Noel made sure that Eshnunna was waiting for her from a distance before saying quietly, “I’m asking just in case, but you’re not like that, right?”
“What?”
“It’s not like that, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, come on. You know what I mean.” Noel smiled and raised one eyebrow.
Chi-Woo gave her a blank look. ‘What’s up with her?’
Noel chuckled for a while before suddenly straightening her posture. “I do trust your judgment.” Then she continued with a straight face, “But since I was given orders to take care of you, I’ll say a word of advice.”
What was she going on about now?
“Young master, you’re a direct descendent of the Choi family, the second son, and above all, Lord Chi-Hyun’s brother.”
“So?”
“Your behavior and attitude must match your status and position.”
Chi-Woo frowned. He really had no idea what she was talking about.
“To put it bluntly—your partner must be someone fitting the Choi family.”
Chi-Woo couldn’t believe his ears, but Noel continued seriously, “Even the Ho Lactea family, known for their haughtiness, show their respect towards the Choi family. How could you consider a native princess of a ruined kingdom, who wasn’t even a hero, as your life partner? It’s simply absurd.”
…What?
“I and of course, Lord Chi-Hyun and all the elders of your family would never allow it. I understand what you may be feeling at the moment, but please don’t get too caught up in it and end it soon.”
“No, you—”
“I sincerely apologize for stepping over my boundaries, but I’m telling you in advance just in case.”
Chi-Woo was so flabbergasted that he became speechless. Noel had completely misjudged their relationship. How could anyone be so wrong?
“Since you’re smart, I’m sure you understood my advice… Well, I’ll take my leave.” Noel bowed and quietly left. Chi-Woo placed his hand on his forehead. He was dizzy, and his face felt hot. He felt embarrassed as well. How would Eshnunna react if she had heard them? She would probably question what fucking nonsense all this was.
–Why? What’s wrong with our family?
Philip pouted; he seemed to have heard everything.
‘Geez, this guy…’ Philip and Noel—Chi-Woo shook his head. He had no idea why they were acting like this.
* * *
When Eshnunna returned to the capital, she eagerly started her given mission and collected information. However, she couldn’t find as much as she thought she could. Even though she had heard big news about the Abyss, she couldn’t find out much since their territory was quite far away. Eshnunna realized she couldn’t get the information she wanted inside the capital and needed to hear from someone outside the city.
Currently, heroes were distributed in three places—the capital, the fortress where the yongmaek was, and the city that had become a godly territory. Eshnunna heard that some of the heroes from the yongmaek fortress had returned to the capital, so she rushed there to find them. There was only one reason a hero would come here, and it was to visit the Shahnaz temple. Eshnunna found her way there and saw a small crowd. There was a commotion inside.
“It’s all because of you!” One of them loudly shouted, and the group cried out as well. Someone at the center of the circle was roughly pushed to the ground. ‘What’s going on?’ Eshnunna instinctively headed towards the crowd, and her eyes widened when she saw the figure sitting prone.