HEO 59

Although he dismissed the remark as nothing serious, a dark cloud loomed over Silver’s mind. He vaguely remembered what Wolf had said. “The skeleton seems to like rules. And it’s unkind. It made us form teams without telling us what punishment awaited.”

What if it gave a reward later… cleverly disguised so we couldn’t tell it was a reward… without telling us the rules…

Wolf seemed to be thinking the same. The two boys looked at each other and swallowed dryly at the same moment. From afar, a voice called out, “Silver, Wolf!”

[Where are you? The old man says we’re leaving now and he’s looking for you!]

It was Red Eagle. Wolf sighed, stood up listlessly, then looked at Silver.

[Silver. That old man is strong, right?]

[He is. But you’re strong too.]

[I don’t think I can protect myself from him.]

Silver forgot what he was going to say.  Wolf lowered his gaze and turned away.

[I’ll die before I even get a chance to run.]

[If that’s the case…]

Silver stopped speaking. He wanted to retort playfully, but the voice that forced its way through his lips trembled.

[Don’t be scared. I-I’ll be behind you. I’ll protect you…]

His voice trailed off. Wolf walked away without looking back. His shoulders flinched, but Silver quickly ducked out of sight.

Wolf’s receding shadow melted into the ashen daylight. In an instant, there was nothing. Only the cedar fence, the mist over the water, and silence remained. It was as if no one had ever been here from the beginning.

**

The snow had stopped long ago, yet the air was still damp. The ash-gray river flowed lazily, enveloped in a silvery fog. The vast mountains encircling the river were veiled in a hazy curtain, their rough outlines visible only.

Silver chewed on jerky as he rowed. His shoulders were starting to ache. He had rowed nonstop until the sun passed its zenith.

The ferry sailing through the fog was filled with a silence as dense as dust. Wolf, sitting across from him, looked like a convict kneeling before his executioner. He kept his head bowed, occasionally lifting his gaze to glance at Black Weasel. The latter was silently rowing.

Silver swallowed the jerky in his mouth. Enough time had passed to flip the hourglass roughly four times, yet that damn Bingapsu still wouldn’t open his mouth. Every time his eyes met Wolf’s, he’d frown menacingly and snort. He didn’t even bother hiding his intention to harm Wolf.

… Dammit, what do I do?

“Hey.”

Resolved to try anything, Silver opened his mouth. Black Weasel glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

“What?”

“…Well, you know. Last night, the servant and I performed an exorcism ritual.”

“Huh?”

Black Weasel frowned.

“An exorcism ritual? Why?”

“Why? Why? To drive out the evil spirit clinging to Wolf.”

“……”

“That servant… he’s still a comrade who fought alongside us under that skeleton bastard. I felt a little sorry for him, so I told him that he was possessed by an evil spirit. If it kept going, he’d forget his own name, so I suggested we perform an exorcism.”

Black Weasel pursed his mouth and his shoulders shook. He was barely holding back a burst of laughter. Damn it, is he mocking me?

Silver stifled his rage and spoke.

“So there’s no need to gnash your teeth at the servant. The evil spirit will leave him soon enough.”

“Hah, soon enough? Guess last night’s exorcism failed?”

“I’m not a professional priest. But I’ll try again tonight. If we sacrifice a sturdy four-legged beast, the goddess will drive out the evil spirit.”

“Shit.”

Black Weasel spat into the river.

“Useless nonsense… Go ahead and try. Like that’ll make it leave.”

Silver bristled at the blatant ridicule. What is that bastard saying? It sounds like he wants the exorcism to fail.

At this point, Black Weasel definitely had ulterior motives. He wanted to gift the murderous old hag a rare treat. Thinking of Director Erem made Silver feel even worse.

The reason he hadn’t become independent despite turning seventeen this year and becoming an ‘adult,’ remaining tied to his biological father’s side. The reason he, who hated studying, had voluntarily learned Atanian. It was all because of Erem, the murderer wearing the mask of a benevolent orphanage director.

For the past four years, Black Weasel had visited Erem Orphanage every few months. He hadn’t said it, but he’d also emptied his pockets. Carrying a chest filled with gold coins, he stopped by the director’s office only to emerge empty-handed every single time. Silver couldn’t have failed to notice.

His acts of kindness, coming from a man who cared only for drink and women, felt as strange as a scorching hot winter day. Had Director Erem not been an Atanian native, Silver would have mistaken Black Weasel for using donations as a cover to aid his own mother.

Memories crawled beneath the shade of the awning. One summer day, Silver sat against the main orphanage building while staring ahead. Children played in the courtyard. Voices drifted from inside the window hung with long awnings, Black Weasel and Director Erem speaking. He couldn’t understand their Atanian speech.

Silver yawned while enduring the boredom. Already the fourth visit, the fourth donation. Whatever his scheme was, he’d been generous.

At this rate, he wouldn’t even have enough money to settle down after retirement. Silver kicked the dirt with a hollow laugh. He chuckled at himself for worrying about Black Weasel’s old age of all things.

I should be worrying about my own future.

‘Do you know what it means to be an adult, Silver?’

Black Weasel had asked once. He’d been drunk then too.

‘You become free from everything. Take whatever you want, break whatever you want, and you don’t have to take responsibility. That’s freedom, and that’s being an adult.’

Words from Black Weasel’s mouth usually stank like rotten herring, but on that point, Silver agreed. In the world reflected in the boy’s eyes, only such people were recognized as ‘adults’. In that sense, Black Weasel’s statement was the exercise of a privilege granted only to the survivors.

In just three years, I’ll be an adult too.

I’ll be the first to leave Black Weasel. Independence! Freedom won. Next, I’ll find the bastard who hired someone to kill Mom and her lover and tear them to shreds. Responsibility? I won’t take it. Why should I? I’m just getting revenge.

– Haaam…

He yawned once again. Just then, a cart drawn by black snow oxen entered through the orphanage’s main gate. The old wheels of the cart, loaded high with hay, scraped and clattered across the dirt ground. The cart pushed through the playing children, and passed close to Silver. It left a metallic scent in its wake before disappearing behind the main building.

Silver waved his hand in front of his nose. Something was wrong. A haystack should smell like grass, or the sweet scent of fermentation, or the musty leather smell of dried grain, something like that.

Feeling bored, he got up from his seat. The cart had stopped in front of an old barn, in the dimly lit area behind the main building. Silver peeked around the corner with just his face visible. The driver jumped down from the cart and cleared away the hay bale. Several sacks, stacked one on top of another, were revealed.

The sight sparked a strange thought in Silver’s mind. ‘If there were people inside those sacks, they’d probably look just like that…’

No, that’s definitely a person. But this is an orphanage?!

What is this? Why are there body bags in the peaceful orphanage? And not just one or two?

The driver flung the barn door. Silver held his breath. He peered as the driver carried the sacks one by one into the barn. The sacks were lumpy, and maybe it was his imagination, but three or four of them looked like they were writhing.

Cold sweat trickled down Silver’s back. The inside of the barn, visible through the door, was as dark as a rainy season night sky…

“Whoa!”

The sudden exclamation brought Silver back to reality. Red Eagle and Wolf were craning their necks to the left. Curious, he looked up and saw a marten swimming leisurely down the river, carrying a large fish in its mouth.

[What is it, you two? Never seen a marten before?]

[Yeah, never seen one. Never even heard the name! It looks like a land animal, so how is it in the river…!]

Wolf pointed at the marten, excited like a child.

[Is that a fish only found in Stoll? If it’s Stoll, then freshwater fish that look like land animals could exist too…!]