HEO 54

Before Silver, whose mind had gone blank, Red Eagle kept wailing.

[Wolf! Wolf! I thought you were dead…!]

[You worried for nothing. Are you unharmed, Your Highness?]

Wolf took a step back and examined the prince from head to toe. Red Eagle wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

[Wolf, I’m sorry. I told Silver to give up on searching for you and the old man. I thought I couldn’t bear it if even Silver died…]

[You made the wise choice.]

Wolf said firmly.

[In a crisis with an uncertain future, you made the most correct judgment. Reckless courage is nothing but foolhardiness.]

[Wolf, don’t romanticize my cowardice. I, I…]

[Your Highness, please calm down. There’s no need to dwell on the past.]

Wolf, who had been petting Red Eagle, met Silver’s gaze. His amber eyes seemed to happily say, ‘Well, Silver? I followed you all the way!’ But Silver’s gaze fell downward.

Was reckless courage just foolhardiness?

Then what does that make me, who went searching for you and Bingapsu? A fool who acted recklessly in a crisis?

Silver picked up his robe, which had been tossed on the floor, and draped it over himself. He turned his gaze beyond the stone pillar, he kicked the floor lightly with his toe. He felt hollow. He felt lonely, as though he had been gazing at nothing but rivers and mountains for ten days.

[So, now there are only four of us left?]

Silver raised his head at Black Weasel’s voice. Black Weasel was stroking his beard with one hand while gazing up at the door. The door was tall and wide. It was the kind of size only giants from myths could open or close.

How were they supposed to open that damn huge door? All they had were eight human hands combined, no tools.

Before Silver, who had grown serious, Black Weasel winked one eye.

“See, Silver? The journey was rough, but we made it alive. Isn’t that a wonderful ending?”

“Ending? We’re still stuck in here, bastard.”

Silver kicked Black Weasel in the shin. Thud! Black Weasel hopped around on one leg.

“That hurts, you slave!”

“Stop whining! It said the door would open automatically when we got here, but it hasn’t budged. If we keep this up, that skeleton bastard might play another trick. It could say it’d only open the door for one survivor to pit the four of us against each other.”

“Huh! That’s possible, Silver. What do we do?”

“What can we do? Just hope the skeleton doesn’t play tricks. What else can we do in our situation?”

While they were talking, his cheek suddenly stung. It was Wolf again.

What? Why? Translation?

No way! Why would I translate for the bastard who treated me like some reckless fool?

[It’s nothing.]

Atanian words slipped through his teeth. Dammit!

[The voice said the door would open automatically once we reached it, but it’s still shut. So we can’t let our guard down. That’s what we were saying.]

[Ah, I see.]

Wolf tilted his head back to look at the door.

[It’s definitely too early to relax. But… this door is huge. Unless the skeleton opens it for us, there’s no way we can force it open.]

[You guys giving up already? We have to try something, whether it works or not!]

Black Weasel spun his arms around and approached the door. Silver’s nose wrinkled.

[Hey… You’re seriously…]

[That’s it. Any other options?]

Black Weasel spat on his palm, then turned around.

[I’ll push the door. You guys help me!]

Ah…

Silver closed his eyes and pressed his thumb against his forehead. Black Weasels absurd behavior made him dizzy. Wasn’t that hulking man the textbook example of a ‘fool who acts recklessly in a crisis’? Maybe that’s how Wolf saw him too.

[Can’t you tone it down? Don’t you see how big that door is?]

Silver said in a weary tone.

[Are you that thoughtless? We don’t know what other tasks might come down. We should be conserving our strength, not pushing ourselves to the limit.]

[Hmm, good point. But let’s give it a try.]

Black Weasel stubbornly retorted.

[That skeleton evil spirit, what’s its name? It likes distortion. Who knows, maybe that door only looks like sheet metal, but is actually as thin as paper. Now, line up!]

The rock passage was too narrow for them to push the door together side by side. With no other choice, Wolf stood behind Black Weasel, followed by Red Eagle, and then Silver.

Black Weasel pressed both hands against the door. An eerie silence fell. Even though this wouldn’t open the door, everyone felt an unnecessary tension. Beads of sweat formed on Black Weasel’s hands pressed against the door.

“Hoo…”

Black Weasel took a deep breath and shouted.

“Yaaaaaah!”

“Yaaaaaah!”

The three boys pushed the person in front of them with all their might. The door slid open. It was light and smooth, like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings.

“Huh? Huh… Huhhhhh!”

The four of them fell down at once and rolled around, raising a cloud of dust.

〔Master kept his promise.〕

〔Congratulations. This is the first time so many survivors have made it out of the domain…〕

The voice faded into the distance. Silver rolled his eyes to survey his surroundings. Black Weasel, Wolf, Red Eagle, all lay motionless on the ground. Silver felt his eyelids drooping. His entire body felt like it was being swallowed by fog. A thought occurred to him just before he lost consciousness.

Here… is this really the outside…?

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Silver…

Silver.

“Hey, you bastard, Silver!”

A rough voice struck his ears. It was Black Weasel.

Silver slowly opened his eyes. A feeling of discomfort hung in the pit of his stomach. Had he had a scary dream while sleeping? Like being kidnapped by a malevolent spirit……. Wait, I was really kidnapped by an evil spirit……!

“Huh!”

His brain woke up. A strong, foul odor invaded his nostrils. A sickening, bloody scent, like the stench of a pile of corpses doused in hot molten metal. It was the smell of blood.

Silver scrambled to his feet and looked around. Corpses lay everywhere. Each one looked as if their bodies had been hacked into chunks by a giant pair of scissors. Pools of unclotted blood and spilled organs mingled, forming purple puddles like freshly boiled, thick tomato soup scattered everywhere. The word “slaughterhouse” was an understatement for this gruesome scene.

Nearby, Red eagle crouched and vomited. Wolf patted the prince’s back.

“We’re back where we started.”

Black Weasel said as he looked around.

“And it’s exactly where our bodies were torn apart. The servant was right. That skeleton evil spirit is strict.”

Just as it said, Silver, Black Weasel, Wolf, and Red Eagle were at the path leading to the hot springs. Every window of every noticeable building, including the inn, was splattered with blood. Only animals wandered about. Chickens, cats, dogs, all of them were limping because of the gore covering their feet.

Silver lowered his gaze. His hands were clean. The robe that had been stained with blood was now only covered in yellow mud.

He had returned to the human world.

The iron door was nowhere to be seen. The countless rock pillars, the clown rotating in midair, all were gone. If this wasn’t a dream, he had undoubtedly returned to his original place. Yet, it still felt unreal. Perhaps his soul was still held captive by the skeleton.

“Silver. Let’s leave quickly.”

Black Weasel gestured and turned away.

“If we’re spotted by humans, we’ll only get ourselves into trouble. We need to move before another boat arrives.”

They hurried toward the dock. As always, Black Weasel led the way, followed by Red Eagle, Wolf, and Silver. As they walked, Red Eagle kept glancing nervously over his shoulder. Silver spoke with a feigned gruffness.

[Stop it. The evil spirit isn’t chasing us.]

As they passed by random corpses, Silver deliberately averted his gaze. He didn’t want to see the one-eyed woman’s corpse twice.

They boarded the ferry and departed. Instead of the blood scent that had clung to his skin moments before, a cold river wind ruffled his hair. Starlight left silver shards on the black water. Occasionally, a wolf’s howl slid down the steep cliffs. With each stroke of the oar, transparent water rippled against the boat’s side. It was an ordinary night, like any other.