HEO 58

Silver swallowed dryly and opened his mouth.

“What’s the big deal? We just had a drink together, like any other kids our age.”

In response to those words, Black Weasel turned his gaze towards Silver. After scrutinizing his son with piercing intensity for a moment, Black Weasel spoke.

“Don’t drink with that bastard anymore. Stay away from that servant. Don’t speak to him. Don’t even look him in the eye.”

His hostile tone rendered Silver speechless.

“Why go this far with the servant… Is it because he’s possessed by an evil spirit?”

“An evil spirit?”

Black Weasel’s eyes twitched as he asked. Silver hollowly laughed.

“Don’t play dumb. A man tempting evil spirit is attached to that servant.  Weren’t you making a fuss because you thought that spirit might harm me?”

“Uh… Right. Right! I’m sick and tired of that spirit! Just thinking about that skeleton bastard and those fairies makes me want to puke!”

Black Weasel raised his voice and slammed his fist on the table.

“Don’t ever associate with that servant again. He’s cursed! If you don’t listen to me, I’ll drain every drop of his blood and drink it like juice.”

Black Weasel raised his wine glass defiantly and gulped it down. This wasn’t something to dismiss as a joke. Silver jumped to his feet.

“You coward! I’m not like you!”

He stormed out of the inn. The sky was ash-gray. White snowflakes drifted through the air. The wind howled and black shadows flowed down the distant mountain ridges like melted wax. Silver shivered and pulled up his robe hood.

[Silver!]

A single cry was carried over by the roaring wind. It sounded urgent and anxious, strange yet affectionate…

Wolf quickly caught up beside Silver.

[Silver. Talk to me.]

Wolf grabbed Silver’s wrist. Silver flinched and shook his hand away. He felt an odd, dizzying pain as soon as Wolf’s hand touched him. It felt like red-hot iron piercing deep into his flesh… Fear flooded through him. This is another deception pulled by the wicked spirit!

[Go! Go away!]

Silver pushed Wolf away with all his might and started walking away. Wolf grabbed Silver’s shoulder. The latter shook his shoulder, shaking Wolf off once more. Enveloped by fierce wind and falling snowflakes, the two boys continued their anxious struggle. Hot, white breath billowed in the cold air and scattered. Finally, Wolf spread his arms wide and blocked Silver’s path.

[Were you talking about me? What did he say?]

[You’re mistaken. He didn’t say anything about you.]

Silver pushed Wolf aside and walked on. Wolf doggedly followed.

[You did. ‘Gnit’ that’s ‘servant’ in Stoll, right?]

[What nonsense? ‘Gnit’ means dog shit!]

[Silver, don’t dodge the question…]

[I’m not talking about it anymore. I’m going to wash up.]

An open-air hot spring, surrounded by an old cedar fence, came into view. Hot mist swirled from the snow-dusted waters. Silver stripped off his clothes and plunged into the bath.

[Wolf, come in too. You’re soaked in sweat. You need to wash.]

[I’ll pass. Winter outdoor baths feel awkward for someone from the south.]

Despite his calm words, Wolf looked around restlessly. Silver smiled faintly.

[Mixed bathing makes you uncomfortable? Alright, head back to the inn before a naked woman shows up.]

[I’ll leave once a woman appears. Silver, answer me properly.]

Wolf turned around to face Silver and sat on the floor. Silver pinched his nose with his fingers and dove underwater. Stubborn bastard!

[Tell me, Silver. I have a right to know. What did the old man say about me?]

[…….]

[I may not understand Stoll, but I can read human expressions. You said the old man planned to kidnap and torture me. But just now, his face looked like he was itching to kill me right then and there. Is he really planning to do that?]

He couldn’t hold on any longer. Silver lifted his face out of the water.

[We suffered because of that skeleton. Because of that, Bingapsu seems to get chills just hearing about evil spirits. How should I put it… He needs someone to vent his anger on, and you just happen to be nearby, Wolf.]

[Ah…]

Wolf’s face turned pale. Silver swept his hair back with one hand.

[Because of the prince, he can’t kill you right now. Let’s perform another exorcism tonight. If we sacrifice a goat or a sheep, the goddess will grant our wish.]

[That would be fortunate, but…]

Wolf pressed his fingertips to his forehead. His words fell in staccato notes like staggering footsteps.

[I don’t know how it came to this. Not just beating, but torture and murder? This is the absolute worst. Why… Why does this have to happen to me? Just two months ago, my biggest worry was whether I could become a good adult… In Atania, you’re a legal adult from 18.]

It was a tangled mess of nonsense. But Silver’s heart dropped.

Could I become a good adult?

It was a worry he’d never once considered. Besides, in Stoll, you’re treated as an adult from seventeen. Silver was already a bad adult.

Were all boys and girls like this? Did they all grow up so carelessly like me?

[From the moment I set foot on this land, everything turned into a complete mess. I’m fighting death every single moment. Even now, after escaping that place…]

Wolf’s tone was as dark as the depths of the night. After several attempts to move his lips, Silver finally managed to speak.

[Don’t look for a reason. Does anyone want to slip and fall while walking down the street? You were just unlucky. No one chooses to be born into this world. Misfortune is the same. It’s not something you can choose.]

Wolf lifted his face and stared at Silver. The latter felt unnecessarily embarrassed and cleared his throat.

[What are you staring at like that? You agree with what I’m saying?]

[You’re right, no one chooses to be born into this world. But you can choose where you live. So let’s leave for Atania together, Silver.]

[Hey. Stop it.]

[That man wants to torture me and kill me. Aren’t you and I friends? Then why don’t you leave him? Is there some special reason you can’t tell me?]

[Worry about yourself. You’re possessed by an evil spirit.]

[Right now, I’m more afraid of that man than any evil spirit. He’s the danger right in front of me.]

Silver couldn’t retort anymore and shut his mouth. He suddenly felt ashamed. He was mortified beyond belief. That worthless Black Weasel happened to be his biological father.

Wolf. I didn’t choose to be born the son of a bastard like him.

Wolf took a deep breath and lowered his eyes. The snow had stopped. Only the sound of water droplets falling from Silver’s chin continued, like footsteps: ploc, ploc.

[Um, but Silver…]

Wolf raised his head as if he had just remembered something.

[When we escaped there and you passed out, what did the voice say…? Besides ‘Master kept the promise,’ do you really remember nothing else?]

[You’re asking that again? Something like…’This is the first time so many survivors have made it out?’ Is that all?]

Silver stirred the water with his finger. Wolf crossed his arms and stared down at him. His gaze, fixed on the floor, didn’t budge an inch.

[Why? Did you hear something else?]

[No. To be honest, I only vaguely remember a voice saying something. I can’t recall a single word it said.]

[Did you want a gold nugget like Bingapsu? Are you disappointed?]

When Silver mocked him, Wolf shook his head.

[I wouldn’t take it even if offered. Cats offer mice, cockroaches, or dead birds to humans as gifts, right? The skeleton evil spirit’s reward would be similar. It might a ‘reward’ to the spirit, but by human standards, it would be extremely bizarre. Like a wish-granting quill, for instance…]

[What’s that?]

[I saw it in a fairy tale. A witch gave it to a woodcutter as a gift. If you wrote just one sentence of a wish each day, it would come true. But if greed took hold and you wrote two or three wishes, it would turn out exactly the opposite.]

[It’s like a pretty doll with the warning label saying ‘Never touch on nights when the full moon rises.’ Forget it, you overthink everything. That skeleton bastard was just lying about the reward.]