HPV 52

It was strangely warm and heavy.

When he used to fall asleep in the damp underground room infested with insect eggs, it had always been the opposite—cold and light.

The blanket was too eaten through by bugs to be of any real use, and he always had to curl up tightly.

Even though it had been some time since he last slept like that, because those memories filled so much of his life, he still found it strange even in sleep.

Warm. Heavy.

What’s pressing down on me?

The veil of sleep gradually retreated.

Even though he opened his eyes, everything was pitch-black, so he blinked in confusion.

Looking closer, he realized—it was a broad chest.

He was sleeping tangled up with Banwes.

As he squirmed and raised his head between the man’s pectorals, a pair of red eyes slowly opened.

Their gazes met at the same time.

He swore—he had gone to bed first last night.

This was his bed.

“Explain why you’re sleeping here.”

Banwes’s body was so warm it felt like invisible lumps of heat were clinging all over him and even soaking into his insides.

Thanks to that, even though he had just woken up, he didn’t feel the usual dizziness or nausea.

Not wanting to admit it, he demanded an explanation instead.

Banwes stayed silent for a moment, then slowly lifted his large body with a blink.

The bed creaked like the earth groaning under his weight.

Their chests, which had been pressed together, separated, and the body that had been sharing its breath and heartbeat floated up, pulling away even the lower half tangled with his legs.

“Because of your bad habit…”

“What?”

Banwes mumbled something, but it was too soft to catch.

He only heard the part about it being “bad.”

Finally, Banwes spoke again.

“I got the beds mixed up.”

“Are you kidding me?”

But even as he said that, he couldn’t think of any better excuse.

In the end, he had no choice but to accept that half-hearted explanation.

After freshening up and tying his hair, he stepped out of the room—and froze.

Someone was sitting at the darkened living room table like a statue.

Empty liquor bottles cluttered the tabletop.

Having downed all that liquor through the night, Penzey naturally looked terrible.

He gave a dopey smile with bleary, half-drunken eyes.

“Yuri didn’t come back from the temple, so I waited.”

Paronai, having warmed up with a quick run around, strode in and quickly cleared away all the bottles.

They clanged and clattered as they were stuffed into a sack.

Paronai, itching to scold someone on behalf of the absent priest, clicked his tongue.

“You didn’t miss sleep because you were drinking, huh? You were so mad about not getting the wine, you said you had to drink yourself into oblivion or you wouldn’t be able to bear it.”

Honestly, he thought Paronai’s claim made more sense.

Penzey gave a sheepish shrug.

And ultimately, Penzey failed to sober up before Yurichen returned.

But Yurichen wasn’t alone.

Someone in a priest’s robe followed him in, looking hesitant.

He seemed to be about Yurichen’s age but, judging by the uniform, must have been much lower in rank than a high priest, and so he acted very politely.

“This is someone that High Priest Daamil entrusted to me. He has an important mission that requires traveling to a nearby city, so he’ll be accompanying us for a while.”

Staring at the newcomer in surprise, he found himself unable to say a word.

“Please call me Gabie.”

He was someone who had never appeared in the game—not as a villain, not even as a minor character.

Why is a character that didn’t exist popping up now?

Even if it was just temporary, this meant a new companion for the hero’s party.

The only difference from before was that Yurichen had stayed an extra day in the dukedom.

That was the only clue for now.

Their departure just happened to overlap with Gabie’s.

He stared carefully at Gabie’s features.

Pale but not unusually so, and hair and eye colors that weren’t tied to any famous bloodline—completely ordinary.

He would have liked to know Gabie’s surname too, but since the man was a priest, it felt awkward to ask.

Gabie was unusually quiet even for a priest, hardly speaking a word.

It seemed there was no one here he could open up to.

The one and only moment Gabie showed any emotion—

“The Mage of lies and deceits…!”

Gabie recoiled in horror and collapsed on the spot, as if he’d seen a ghost.

Penzey, who had just finished a halfhearted wash-up, wandered into the room.

His already narrow eyes thinned even more as he looked at Gabie suspiciously—then he broke into a small smile.

“Sorry. I don’t have any souvenirs to give you. Thanks for recognizing me—some kid who used to run errands at the temple back when I was rotting in prison.”

He had almost forgotten.

Penzey had a notorious reputation among the priests.

Paronai sneaked a glance at him, looking awkward.

—

We left the dukedom and started walking northward across the kingdom.

From here on, it was the northern region, often called simply the North.

The land was harsh, and small stones kept kicking up against their boots.

Dry dust rose gently with every heavy step Banwes took.

I’ve gotten stronger.

Even though the ground was rough and hard, it wasn’t painful to walk anymore.

All that eating and struggling had finally paid off.

“Congratulations!”

Paronai sincerely rejoiced—at the fact that I had become just a little less of a burden.

I could now walk along with the group.

I only needed to take more frequent breaks than the others.

Since I couldn’t make everyone stop every time, I would ask Banwes to carry me to make up for it.

Banwes would bend his back so I could climb on, and as I wrapped my arms around his neck, I kept a close watch on the unfamiliar stranger.

Gabie, who had lived only within the temple walls, had terrible stamina.

Though he was panting hard, he stubbornly kept walking, not wanting to hold the group back.

When Banwes, while walking, came close to Yurichen, I slipped my arm down beneath his shoulder and grabbed Yurichen’s collar.

Yurichen lifted his head and leaned in close to my ear.

“What kind of mission does he have that he’s traveling between cities?”

Yurichen shook his head with an expression of complete indifference.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“It’s under High Priest Daamil’s jurisdiction.”

Even Yurichen hadn’t asked, so there was no way I could question Gabie directly.

What kind of impact will this newly added person have?

As I was watching Gabie, Gabie was also watching someone.

He was glancing now and then at the carefree mage, who was walking along while whistling aimlessly, and just like I had, he carefully approached Yurichen.

“Your Eminence, is it truly fine to travel alongside him?”

Gabie must have asked purely out of curiosity, but depending on how it was heard, it could be taken as questioning the High Priest’s judgment.

“Believe it or not, I’m quite well-acquainted with him.”

Yet Yurichen answered without a hint of hesitation.

His lips, usually hidden behind a veil, would surely have curved into a rare mocking smile.

“It was before I became a High Priest after passing the seven trials bestowed by the gods. The Mage Tower requested cooperation. They had imprisoned a mage and needed a warden with strong divine power.”

Ah.

I parted my lips slightly in realization.

Maybe Gabie’s real role here was simply to draw out that piece of information from Yurichen.

The moment when the proud priest, backlit by the moonlight streaming through the barred prison window, first met the imprisoned mage’s gaze from across the iron bars.

We walked across barren land where not even houses existed, and soon came upon a sign.

Paronai bent over and read it carefully.

[Danger Zone Ahead: Well-grown Stone Beasts Roaming]

Huge stones, as big as houses, were scattered everywhere, forming valley-like terrain.

Some of those stones were actually monsters.

They would devour passing travelers.

This was a place one could not pass without skilled escorts.

“I had to shamelessly beg the High Priest to let me accompany you because of this stretch,” Gabie said, his nervousness plain to see as he clutched the Gaioh-emblazoned necklace tightly in one hand.

And with his other hand, he slid it into his pocket. I noticed it because I kept watching him— inside his pocket, he was holding onto something, gripping it just as tightly as he was the necklace bearing Gaioh’s crest.

Something equally precious.

Rumble—!

The ground shook, vibrating the air, as a Stone Beast began to move.

Two arms made of rough stones shot out from either side of its massive body.

It supported itself on its hands, heaving its gigantic boulder-like torso up and slamming it back down as it moved.

Stone Beasts hunted by crushing their prey under their weight and then devouring the flattened remains.

The giant rock came thundering closer.

In that instant, something flashed past beside me.

“Penzey! A little help!”

Whenever battle broke out, it was always the hero who moved first.

Worried that the sacred sword might be damaged if he were crushed, he hurriedly handed it to Yurichen before charging ahead.

The first place his sword struck was the stone arm.

Clang!

A sound so painful it hurt just hearing it rang out as the sword bounced off.

As if expecting it, the hero immediately leapt back a few steps without taking a hit.

His green eyes gleamed fiercely.