HEO 33

Silver slapped Wolf on the head.

[Save your whining for later! Go fetch that birch broom by the altar stone over there.]

After placing the offering on the altar, Silver and Wolf swept the area with the birch broom. They gathered the feathers and bones together and sprinkled soil over the bloodstains. Wolf would be horrified if he knew, but this wasn’t cleaning. It was a ritual to appease the vengeful spirit of the sacrificial victim who had died in agony.

After finishing the ritual, they broke off a birch branch and set it alight. The Stolls believed the smoke rising from birch branches had purifying power. Silver pointed the burning branch at Wolf and said solemnly.

“You who are possessed by evil spirits, kneel.”

[Um, in Atanian…]

[Shut your mouth and kneel.]

At that command, Wolf awkwardly dropped to his knees and gazed up at him. He looked like a puppy scolded by its owner for stealing egg soup. Silver waved the birch branch, scattering smoke. Wolf coughed and rubbed his eyes. Only after the smoke had thickened to the point of obscuring vision did Silver lower the branch.

[Stay still.]

Leaving Wolf shrouded in billowing white smoke, he headed toward the altar. He blew out the flame on the branch, then stabbed the sacrificial animal’s throat with a dagger. He dipped the birch branch in the blood flowing from the sacrifice and traced the Nileveron symbol on the altar. Though the Stolls had no written language, the sacrificial symbols ‘Nileveron’ had existed since ancient times. The thirty-six sacred symbols each had diverse meanings: prophecy, healing, curses, and more.

The symbol Silver wrote with the sacrifice’s blood was the twenty-fifth, signifying ‘purification’. As it was morning, he also wrote the second symbol, representing ‘light’.

“Goddess of Light, Nielvar, accept our offering. Purify the evil spirit possessing the foolish boy, Wolf!”

He circled the altar stone seven times while chanting the purification spell. Finally, he buried the blood-stained birch branch and the offering in the ground. That concluded everything. The process was relatively simple, yet it was a ritual he had performed with more focus than ever before.

Silver took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A tightening sensation gripped his throat. He hadn’t looked back at Wolf once during the entire ritual. Now, if he looked at Wolf, he would know if the evil spirit had been purified. If Wolf’s face appeared ordinary, it meant Nielvar had exerted her power.

Silver slowly turned around. The moment his eyes opened, he gasped. Wolf’s face, kneeling and looking up at him, shone brightly, as if dazzling sunlight were pouring down! He looked incredibly handsome!

Damn it. Fuck.

[Well, Silver? Can you still see the evil spirit…?]

Wolf asked in a timid voice. Silver quickly turned away.

[Not bad. It’s a bit more transparent than before.]

[But that… means the evil spirit hadn’t left me! Is it okay for me to stay like this? What if I forget my name this afternoon…!]

Wolf protested and jumped to his feet. Silver kicked the dirt with a grunt.

[You won’t lose yourself to the evil spirit that quickly. It’s daytime, so the goddess probably didn’t grant my plea. Sacrifices are more effective at night. Let’s try again secretly tonight. If we fail again, we’ll just have to do it morning and night starting tomorrow.]

At those words, Wolf’s eyes clouded over as he looked down. He looked as if he were carrying thousands of oxen on his shoulders. Silver cleared his throat awkwardly.

[Let’s plan our strategy. If we’re unlucky, we might not be able to drive out the evil spirit until the very end. The moment the prince meets his mother, you’ll be locked away in a side’s barracks or room. Bingapsu won’t dare search that far. I’ll coax Bingapsu away to another location.]

[But that…]

Wolf trailed off and stopped in his tracks. His amber eyes were fixed on Silver.

[Silver. You absolutely have to flee to Atania with the prince and me.]

[That again?]

[Listen to me. It’s better than living as a slave under the man who killed your mother.]

[You’re overstepping your bounds right now.]

[Friends can overstep their bounds.]

[I don’t consider you a friend.]

[You do consider me a friend. You even performed an exorcism ritual to save me.]

Silver gasped. Wolf’s words were undeniably true.

Right. Why was he being kind to this bastard again?

There was only one reason. The Glamaug evil spirit had manipulated his mind. It was like a mouse gnawing on cheese in front of a cat, fearless. Silver lost his temper and pointed an accusing finger at Wolf.

[Get away from me, you jinx! Because of you, I got possessed by that evil spirit too! Even the exorcism was done because the spirit forced me to!”

[Um, Silver? I don’t think that’s right. The spirit wouldn’t make you perform a ritual to exorcise itself.]

[Th-that…!]

Silver grew flustered. Wolf waved his hands awkwardly.

[In this case, it makes sense that you accepted me as a friend without realizing it… right? Other than that…]

Silver couldn’t say anything. He wasn’t wrong. But the real reason he had been kind to him…

……

…….

No. That wasn’t it.

It really wasn’t. The moment he thought, ‘Could it be… am I harboring forbidden feelings for the servant?’, his stomach churned. So then, was it because of friendship, as the servant claimed? Well, that would be…

In the past, he would have vehemently denied even ‘friendship’. But after enduring the unbearable trials of ‘evil spirit’s mind control’ and ‘forbidden feelings’, ‘friendship’ now was relatively mild, unremarkable, reasonable, safe, and comfortable. Yeah, so what if it’s friendship? If it’s friendship, that’s better.

Silver secretly breathed a sigh of relief and deliberately spoke harshly.

[Fine! I’ll pretend I accepted you as a friend without realizing it! Is that good enough, you damn Wolf!]

[Silver, you called me by my name?!]

Wolf’s eyes widened. Silver walked away.

[Don’t like it? Want me to call you ‘servant’ again?]

[No, no! Call me Wolf. Friends should definitely call each other by name.]

[Just so you know, I helped you because we’re friends. I don’t particularly like you, so keep that in mind.]

[Friends is fine! But you know, Silver… how should I put it? You’re flexible? Adaptable. You look like you hate hanging out with people and don’t have any friends, but surprisingly, you get along well with others, and you switch attitudes fast…]

[More bullshit. You’re mistaken about something. I have plenty of friends.]

[Plenty of what?]

Wolf’s eyelids twitched. But Silver wasn’t lying.

[They’re all dead or hibernating now, but when the weather warms up, there’ll be more. I like ladybugs best.]

Wolf furrowed his brow at Silver’s explanation, then exclaimed, “Ah!”

[That! That’s it! The children of Stoll keep bug friends…!]

[Only children? Many adults do too. Even Bingapsu carry friends like crickets or earthworms with him. Human relationships in Stoll are so cutthroat that adults who prefer bug or animal friends are common.]

[W-Wow, really…! Stoll is amazing! If sons, daughters, or husbands raised bugs, Atanian moms would be furious, but the people of Stoll…]

Wolf clenched his fists. He was excited. Silver chuckled softly as he continued walked.

[That just perfectly explains why I hate going to Atania. Atania has a filthy lot of pointless rules. Like, lowborn folks aren’t allowed to wear blue clothes.]

[Well…]

Wolf trailed off for the first time. Silver spat on the floor.

[Did you think I knew nothing? I’ve followed Bingapsu around everywhere and met plenty of Atanian women. They all cursed Atania to high heaven!]

[Why?]

“How should I know? They say Atania has rules as numerous as a swarm of locusts, even for eating? Women can’t wear pants. Short hair is forbidden. Nobles take ten days just to make one garment. You know how ridiculous it looked when I saw you bathing the prince? In Stoll, unless you’re a newborn, you wash yourself. Chieftains and kings alike. Those Atanian brats look down on us, calling themselves civilized, but they’ve nothing special…]

Silver, who had been rambling without much thought, shut his mouth. Wolf had his ear pressed right up to this side.

[Why are you acting like a spy eavesdropping on military secrets, you idiot!?]

[Huh? Ahh! That… well…]

Wolf’s face turned red and he scrambled away.