SWY 60

“Do you know me?”

“Ah, you’ve returned… sir…”

Tears suddenly streamed down the man’s face in overwhelming emotion, and then he fainted again. His grip on Derry’s wrist loosened. Derry rubbed the red mark on his wrist with his other hand and looked at Lestel.

“Do you know him?”

“Unfamiliar face. He was probably an employee of the guild.”

It made sense, because Black Pearl had a branch in Verden.

“I-is that food?”

The middle-aged man asked, his loud gulp echoing.

“Is it yours?”

“N-no. We fled in a hurry, so we brought nothing. That belonged to the hunters.”

Even if they had lied, no one would’ve noticed. But instead, they confessed honestly and then couldn’t bring themselves to ask for any. They just looked on anxiously. In this world, food meant life.

People now knew better than to rely on mercy or pity like they might have in more peaceful times. At least these survivors had some tact and shame.

They couldn’t take full responsibility for the survivors, but neither did they intend to hoard what they’d found by chance. Still, they weren’t generous enough to give it all away, so Sharhan set aside about half for their group and pushed the rest toward the others.

Their emaciated bodies tugged at his conscience, but Sharhan had to prioritize the safety and lives of his own group.

“Divide it fairly among yourselves.”

The survivors hesitated in disbelief at first, then hurried over and began distributing the food, led by the middle-aged man. Among them, only a young couple took the bare minimum, saying they were still okay, and gave up the rest of their share.

The other survivors, after a few rounds of polite refusal, soon dropped the pretense. Sharhan quietly watched the young couple, who smiled and watched over the group without touching the food they had set aside.

“Let’s eat a bit more ourselves.”

Sharhan’s group also helped themselves. They had eaten breakfast before setting out, but just barely enough to stave off hunger. Since they had food now, they might as well fill up a little more. They packed what they wanted to save for later, then Sharhan checked on Abel.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Are you sure you’re not secretly an apothecary? The pain’s a lot better.”

Abel, who had barely been able to move, cracked a joke and tried to shift his leg, only to let out a brief groan.

“You barely stopped the bleeding. Want it to start gushing again?”

Sharhan scolded, and Abel let out a sheepish laugh and changed the subject.

“Your master’s axe skills are something else. Honestly, I figured with my bad knee, Derry looking frail, and the master looking like all show and no substance, we might not make it out of the hunters’ grip. But you handled them way easier than I expected, and I nearly held you back instead.”

“You said you were rivals and enemies, right?”

“I get the rival part… but are you sure about the ‘enemy’ part?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You two don’t seem like enemies. You seem… a little too close.”

“Captain, are your eyes failing you? What part of me and that lunatic looks close to you?”

Sharhan immediately bristled at the word “close,” a word he believed could never apply to him and Lestel.

“Sharhan, it’s my knee that’s bad, not my eyesight. I pride myself on how sharp my eyes are. And from what I see, you two look like…”

Abel trailed off, glancing at Sharhan’s expression. Sharhan narrowed his eyes, sensing trouble.

“Look like what?”

“You’re not gonna get mad, right? You’re kinda scary when you’re angry.”

“I won’t. So tell me. Like what?”

“Like lovers.”

“Ha! Abel, forget your pride in your eyesight. If anything, you’re already farsighted. Sound like your sight is fading with age!”

“Ha?! You realize how soft you are lately?”

“How… what?”

Sharhan recoiled at the word he couldn’t believe had just been used to describe him.

“Soft. You let him hug and touch you, and you don’t even resist.”

“That’s…”

He wanted to say he was just too annoyed to fight Lestel off every time he clung to him, but the words got stuck in his throat. For some reason, it felt too revealing to say.

“The problem isn’t you. It’s the master.”

“What about Lestel?”

“He’s a noble, isn’t he?”

“How did you know?”

Sharhan asked in surprise.

“Didn’t I tell you I used to work as a knight for a high-ranking noble family? You think I haven’t seen people at the very top? Nobles with great power and wealth have a unique air about them. If I had to describe it… they’re like snakes. Even when they try not to show it, they’re cold and proud. I get that same feeling from the master. Honestly, that’s why I thought he couldn’t fight. Nobles of his status rarely have to fight directly.”

“Lestel’s family… is one of the founding houses of the Empire.”

They had taken up arms to fight monsters, and helped the first emperor establish the empire. In recognition of their merit, they were granted noble titles. Founding families revered martial prowess, but as the empire stabilized and power centralized, fewer nobles fought with weapons themselves.

At the academy, aside from Lestel, swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat classes were mostly taken by the children of knights or heirs from declining noble families like Sharhan.

‘Among the founding families, only the Ailun family has managed to maintain its influence.’

Three of the five founding families had already vanished, and Sharhan’s Kaios family was barely holding onto their title.

“Is he from Ailun, maybe? You said his hometown is Serman.”

Abel, who was fairly well-versed in noble society, easily deduced Lestel’s family background. Sharhan hesitated, then gave a slight nod.

Abel looked at him thoughtfully. Wasn’t the Kaios family lord of Katun, the territory next to Serman? he wondered, but chose not to press further.

“So he’s from an even higher-ranking family than I expected. Do you know how that remarkable he acts around you? Like a beast guarding its master. Look at him now. The moment we started talking, he’s been glaring at me like he wants to kill me.”

Glancing sideways, Abel saw that Lestel was indeed staring daggers at him. Sharhan scratched his neck, oddly flustered by the intense look that almost seemed to carry bloodlust.

“We’ve known each other since childhood, that’s all. It’s absolutely not what you’re thinking.”

“You might not see it, but he definitely does.”

“Don’t say ridiculous things! You know what kind of relationship I have with Lestel? Our families are enemies, and we can’t even take a hit from each other without returning it twice as hard!”

“Sharhan, no relationship stays the same forever. Trust me—I’ve lived twice as long as you. Think about it.”

“There’s nothing to think about! Me and Lestel? Come on… that’s absurd. Absolutely, totally, no way.”

Lovers? That was the most ridiculous thing Sharhan had ever heard. Just because they touched each other without hesitation and had known each other inside and out since childhood didn’t mean they were lovers. So what if they’d kissed or touched each other’s genitals a couple of times?

Feeling his heart pounding for no reason, Sharhan tried to shut it all down even harder. He got to his feet and walked over to Lestel, only for Lestel, who’d been glaring a second ago, to suddenly shift his gaze and ask bluntly,

“What were you talking about with your captain? You two were whispering like lovers.”

“He said… you and I look like rivals. And that you’re better at fighting than he expected.”

He could’ve laughed it off and added, ‘He also said we looked like lovers, but I guess his eyesight’s going,’ but he found himself hiding that part without meaning to.

‘Even Derry asked if we were a couple. This is all Lestel’s fault.’

The horny bastard couldn’t stop putting his mouth on him or clinging to him at night or calling him ‘honey.’

“You’re banned from kissing starting today.”

Sharhan said it firmly, thinking it was time to draw the line before they really ended up having sex. But there was no response.

“…Did you not hear me?!”

Sharhan prodded him, and Lestel looked back with a pitying gaze, like he couldn’t believe Sharhan was even asking that.

“Honey, do I seem like the type to stop just because you told me to?”

“No, if anything, you’d do it even more.”

“See? Honey knows me best.”

“What are people going to think if they hear–”

“What?”

“Never mind. Anyway, I warned you, got it?”

“Honey, do you want me to suck your dick tonight? I got it. I’ll suck it real good.”

“You lunatic!”

Sharhan shouted, face red, as Lestel whispered the indecent line with a teasing grin. The others turned to look. Sharhan glared at the grinning culprit before spinning around in exasperation.

“Sharhan, let’s get going,” Abel said.

Sharhan nodded and gathered his things. Lestel picked up his axe and gave it a firm shake. Drops of blood still clinging to the blade splattered to the ground.

The sight made fear creep across the survivors’ faces. Sharhan rubbed his shoulder and looked at them before calling the group together.

“What should we do with them?”

“We let them go their own way. We saved them, that’s enough.”

Lestel’s response was immediate, almost heartless, but it was also the most realistic. No one objected.

Sharhan must’ve agreed as well. They hadn’t saved the survivors out of responsibility but simply because they had been captured. That was as far as their obligation went. In a world like this, even protecting one’s own family, lover, or friend was hard enough. The more people you’re responsible for, the closer you come to death.

Abel nodded like it was the obvious choice, and only Derry, the softest-hearted among them, glanced at the survivors with a guilty look. But he soon steeled himself and packed his bags.

“Let’s take that guy with us.”

Lestel pointed to the man who appeared to be his employee, then added,

“If he’s from Black Pearl, he might know where Simon is.”