SWY 113

They caught their breath, then widened their eyes as they recognized Sharhan. He shook his head slightly, signaling them not to say anything yet.

Clang, bang!

The door, which had looked like it might burst open at any second under the pounding force, finally went quiet after a long while. The group, frozen in place to avoid drawing attention from the corpses outside, finally spoke.

“Didn’t expect to see you again here. Must be fate. I regretted parting without saying a proper goodbye… Good to see you. Your name was Sharhan, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right. But I don’t see Teddy.”

Sharhan asked about Teddy, pretending not to know. Lestel’s eyebrow twitched slightly, almost imperceptibly.

“He was caught by those things out there. While they were busy tearing Teddy apart, we barely managed to escape. He was a good man… What a shame.”

“I see.”

Sharhan’s voice sank a little as he replied.

“Looks like you found your companion?”

Gilbert nodded toward Lestel.

“Yes.”

“That’s good. So, how was the lord’s villa around here? And what’s this smell?”

“It was completely destroyed. And the smell… There’s a dead elderly couple inside.”

“Oh dear… Whew, it’s cold. Mind if we warm ourselves a bit?”

Gilbert and his group rubbed their hands and moved toward the fireplace with an air of entitlement. Their behavior was grating, like they owned the place. Lestel’s face twisted with irritation.

“What’s your name?”

“We’re parting ways in the morning anyway, so what’s the point of names?”

“You’ve got quite the attitude.”

Unbothered by Lestel’s cold tone, Gilbert chuckled and edged even closer to the fire. Then Ethan tapped his shoulder and subtly gestured toward Lestel’s hand.

“That’s an amethyst brooch, isn’t it? Even in a world like this, you’re still holding on to that, must be meaningful? Mind if I take a look?”

“……”

Ignoring the eager tone, Lestel tucked the amethyst away safely into his pocket and then, quite pointedly, picked up his axe. Anyone could see he was on guard. Sharhan also moved closer to where he’d set his spear down.

“If you’re gonna say no, just say no. No need to ignore someone like that. Pretty rude. So, where are you two headed? We’re heading to Serman.”

“I remember Teddy saying your group didn’t have a destination.”

“That was because we’d lost all our belongings. Our pass was in the baggage.”

“I hadn’t heard you needed a pass to enter Serman.”

“Well, more precisely, it’s a pass to a place where food and safety are guaranteed.”

“There’s such a place?”

“So I’ve heard.”

“What kind of pass?”

“Haha, can’t tell you that. Anyway, we found it again just now, so we’re heading to Serman. Want to come with?”

“No need. We’ll go our own way.”

Lestel’s curt reply made Gilbert shrug.

“Very wary, aren’t you? Sharhan, why don’t you tell your companion there’s no need to be so guarded? We did spend a night together, after all.”

“My companion’s just naturally cautious.”

“So that’s why you went and found weapons first? You left empty-handed.”

“Weren’t you the same? And yet you managed to find weapons too.”

Gilbert’s group also had weapons, a rusted kitchen knife and a hammer. Sharhan’s eyes landed on the kitchen knife’s tip, where thick, dark-red blood was dripping. It had thawed from the warmth of the fire.

Noticing Sharhan’s gaze, Gilbert casually rubbed his nose with his free hand.

“Thanks to Teddy.”

“I see.”

“We got food too. Also thanks to Teddy.”

The way Gilbert emphasized Teddy’s name and grinned, showing his yellowed teeth, gave Sharhan a chilling sense of foreboding. Gauging the distance to his spear, Sharhan asked,

“Food from Teddy, huh… Did you eat well?”

“More or less.”

Gilbert answered nonchalantly, but his eyes were scanning the room constantly. Lestel stepped even closer to Sharhan. A tense air settled between the two groups. Sharhan realized they were also wary of him and Lestel.

“We haven’t eaten at all, couldn’t find any food… I guess you were lucky?”

Sharhan’s voice carried a trace of sarcasm.

“We’re always lucky. Even now.”

The moment he finished speaking, Ethan lunged forward with his hammer. Sharhan ducked quickly and grabbed his spear. At the same time, Lestel blocked Ethan’s attack with his axe. Steel clanged as hammer and axe clashed. Meanwhile, Gilbert had already closed in and swung the bloody knife. Sharhan dodged by leaning back, then swung his spear as he asked,

“Is that Teddy’s blood on your blade?”

“So you did know he was dead.”

“I saw the body.”

“I figured. Teddy said you warned him about us. Said you were acting all nice, but he didn’t get why. He was chuckling when he told us. That dumbass.”

Gilbert’s sneer twisted his face as he kept swinging the knife. Sharhan clicked his tongue. He’d had a bad feeling, but never imagined Teddy would rat out the warning out of sheer cluelessness. With such poor instincts, even if they hadn’t killed him, Teddy probably wouldn’t have lasted long in a world like this.

“So you killed him for being stupid?”

“Being dumb’s annoying, sure, but not a reason to kill. We were just hungry.”

“So you did eat him? I was hoping I was wrong.”

“Of course we did. We brought him along as emergency rations. Slit his throat, blood gushed out like a fountain. The look in his eyes, full of disbelief as he was dying, it was hilarious. We laughed at him while carving out his thigh before the heat left his body. Too bad we didn’t have fire to cook it.”

“From the beginning, huh… So this wasn’t your first time eating human flesh.”

“Never tried it, have you? It’s tender, juicy. The more omnivorous the animal, the better the meat. And no animal eats a more varied diet than humans. Especially the young ones, they’re the tastiest.”

“Shut your disgusting mouth!”

Gilbert swung the knife fiercely but Sharhan blocked him well. When Gilbert jumped in with a downward slash, Sharhan deflected it and kicked him hard in the stomach.

Gilbert staggered back, his face contorted in pain. Sharhan saw his opening and lunged, trying to stab him, but had to twist away. While he and Gilbert fought, Eve – who had been standing quietly, watching – suddenly pulled something from her coat and threw it.

A palm-length dagger embedded itself in the wall, narrowly missing Sharhan. Clicking her tongue in disappointment, she threw the next one at Lestel.

Her job, it seemed, was to support from the rear while the others fought.

But this time, she picked the wrong opponent.

Without Sharhan needing to warn him, Lestel easily dodged the dagger. Then he swung his axe down on Ethan, who was lifting his hammer again. The blade sank deep into Ethan’s skull. Blood gushed from his wide-open eyes as he died.

“Ethan!”

Eve screamed and drew her last dagger, charging at Lestel. But compared to Ethan, who was at least a competent fighter, she was laughably weak. Lestel dodged her attack with ease, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her toward the door.

“L-let go!”

“……”

“Please, please let me go!”

Realizing what he intended, Eve begged in panic. But Lestel’s face remained expressionless. He didn’t see cannibals as human.

“P-please, don’t! You son of a–!”

Ignoring her, Lestel shoved her out the door and slammed it shut. Moments later, a predator’s snarl and her bloodcurdling scream echoed through the cabin. Even with his two comrades dying, Gilbert didn’t look even remotely sad. He just clicked his tongue, mildly annoyed that backup was gone.

“Don’t kill him!”

Sharhan shouted as Lestel raised his axe to strike Gilbert. Lestel shifted his target and struck Gilbert’s shoulder instead of his head. The axe sliced across his right forearm. Gilbert dropped the knife with a grunt and stumbled back.

Seizing the moment, Sharhan stabbed his spear into Gilbert’s gut. Gilbert collapsed, coughing up blood.

“Damn… I knew we were too lucky.”

He spat up more blood, pulled the spear out of his stomach, and laughed weakly. Sharhan crouched before him, the scent of blood heavy in the air.

“What’s the pass?”

“……”

“What is it?”

“You think I’d tell you?”

Gilbert laughed, mouth full of blood, teeth crimson.

“Tell me and I’ll kill you quickly. Otherwise, I’ll drag you outside and toss you to the corpses. You’ll get to feel your flesh torn off while still alive. Your choice.”

“……”

“I didn’t stab you deep enough. You won’t die right away.”

“Harsh words from such a pretty face.”

“Why were you interested in the brooch? Even if you’re from a thief guild, surely jewels aren’t worth much in a world like this, especially not amethyst.”

Sharhan had been suspicious of Gilbert’s reaction to Lestel’s brooch from the start.

“You recognized us, didn’t you?”

“Your tattoo, I couldn’t place it at first, but I just remembered. You’re from the Black Crow Guild, right?”

The Black Crows were a criminal thief guild. They stole anything valuable, gold, silver, gems, silk, even human lives. They also participated in wars, selling information about their own allies.

In one of the estate wars Sharhan had fought in, a Black Crow had infiltrated the army and nearly caused a disaster by leaking battle plans. Fortunately, someone recognized the guild tattoo in time and stopped the betrayal. Sharhan had caught a glimpse of it then.

“Haha. So that’s why you were wary. You’d seen my tattoo before. Yeah, we’re Black Crows. And the brooch? That’s the pass. Specifically, the amethyst.”

“The amethyst?”

“Yeah. Word is, the lord of Serman’s collecting amethysts.”