SWY 32

“Shh, quiet.”

The voice that whispered eerily while pressing the dagger’s blade tighter against his throat was unfamiliar. Sharhan gave a slight nod to indicate he understood, then slowly tried to assess the situation.

He didn’t know the exact time, but it was likely still before dawn. The cabin was quiet, and the sharp scent of blood wafted through the air nearby. Someone in their group had probably died.

‘No way…’

The first face that came to mind was Lestel. At the same time, rage began to boil in his gut.

‘Damn it, if he left even a scratch on Lestel’s body, I’ll kill him. No matter what.’

Sharhan clenched his teeth so hard his jaw bulged, then slowly forced himself to relax. If Lestel had been hurt or killed, surely his heart would have reacted. But it had remained calm until that cold sensation woke him.

Which meant Lestel was safe. With that bit of relief, Sharhan finally noticed the warmth at his back.

Calmer now, Sharhan continued piecing things together.

‘If it wasn’t Lestel, then was it Derry? Or Ralph?’

The intruder who had a blade to his neck must have slipped in while Derry and Ralph were on watch. That meant the victim had to be one of them, or both.

‘Who the hell is this bastard?’

Sharhan had honed a sharp sense for danger through war. So even if he was exhausted, it made no sense that he hadn’t noticed the intruder at all.

“Hands off the axe. Unless you want to see your lover die.”

Suddenly, the voice snapped. It seemed Lestel had sensed the intruder and was waiting for a chance to strike.

“Who are you?”

Lestel sat up, his tone cold. The intruder barked at Sharhan, “You too, get up.” Sharhan cautiously sat up and immediately looked toward Lestel. Their eyes met, and Lestel gave a small nod to say he was okay.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Do you want something from us? What’s your goal?”

“You two, you can fight. I want you to come with me to the old site.”

“The old site… You mean the ruin? Are you from Gagos?”

That was when–

“P-Parel? Is that you, Parel? You’re alive?!”

James, who had just woken up, recognized the intruder’s voice and called his name. At first, he sounded relieved, but as his eyes adjusted to the dark and he took in the scene, his face stiffened in horror. The dagger pressed against Sharhan’s throat looked especially menacing.

“W-What are you doing…?”

“Good to see you alive, James.”

The intruder waved at James with one hand, still holding the dagger to Sharhan’s throat with the other.

“W-What are you doing?! R-Ralph… What about Ralph?!”

“Oh, the idiot who only knew how to scream? He turned into a pile of meat in my hands.”

The intruder’s sly grin turned savage.

“You… you killed him? Ralph?”

“He should’ve died yesterday. The dumb bastard got lucky. Didn’t I warn everyone not to make a sound if the walking corpses came near? But that idiot was the first to scream. Damn it, if things hadn’t been so urgent, I would’ve slit his throat right then.”

“P-Parel, you…”

Sharhan easily recalled the name “Parel” from what James had said the day before. An outsider, he’d said. So he wasn’t from Gagos but a visitor. And if he had snuck into the cabin unnoticed, he clearly wasn’t just anyone.

“What about Derry? Did you kill him?”

Sharhan asked, still unsure of Derry’s fate.

“Don’t worry. He just fainted. Ralph was annoying and in the way, so I killed him, but the others are useful shields. I wouldn’t waste them. Hey, silver hair. Wake him up. The one called Derry or whatever.”

Parel motioned toward Lestel. Without taking his eyes off Parel, Lestel walked over to where Derry lay and nudged him with his foot. Next to Derry, Ralph had indeed turned into a bloodied lump of meat.

After a while, Derry let out a faint groan and slowly opened his eyes. He sat up abruptly and started to shout, “Something’s wrong–” but then smelled the blood and looked down.

Seeing the pool of blood around Ralph’s corpse drained the color from his face. Then, realizing that Sharhan was being held hostage, he wisely swallowed the scream that rose in his throat.

“Now that you’re awake, open the door. We’re going out. James, you’ll lead us to the old site.”

“T-The path’s probably crawling with those things…”

“So what? We’ve got meat shields and guys willing to fight for their lives. James, take the lead. Silver hair, take your axe and follow behind him. Next is the robed one. Try anything funny, and this guy’s throat gets slit.”

As Parel tightened his grip, the dagger dug deeper into Sharhan’s neck. A thin red line formed, and blood began to bead. Lestel’s face turned icy cold.

“If you kill Shan, you will surely die by hands.”

Lestel’s voice dripped with murderous intent. Parel let out a mocking laugh.

“As long as you behave, your pretty little lover’s throat will stay intact. But who knows? If you don’t handle those corpses properly, I might just use him as a shield.”

“…”

“Don’t glare at me like that. What if I get scared and accidentally slice that lovely neck of his? I want to keep him alive if I can. He seems pretty useful. Could be a shield. Or maybe something to keep me warm at night. Pretty mercenaries are known to sell their bodies instead of their lives. You two seemed close. Looked real tender, the way you were sleeping all curled up. If he were mine, I’d probably want him under me too.”

Holding Sharhan from behind, Parel ground his groin against his rear.

“Fuck.”

Feeling Parel’s erection pressing against his backside, Sharhan cursed. It was disgusting. As the bulge hardened, his revulsion only deepened. Shame and fury burned through him.

“Maybe you’re used to sucking dick. You’ve got an ass that knows how to get a man going. I bet it’d be nice and tight, feels like it’d wrap around real good.”

Parel whispered filth into Sharhan’s ear, then slapped his ass, clearly trying to humiliate him.

“I’ll kill you. I’ll cut off that filthy cock and hand, and feed them to those things. So be ready.”

Lestel was furious too. Parel, sensing his violent aura, chuckled and pressed the dagger deeper. Blood gushed from the wound, soaking Sharhan’s shoulder. Lestel had no choice but to back off, grinding his teeth.

“Hey, silver hair. If you want to get your lover back, kill those things for me. And don’t piss me off. Or I might just rape him right in front of you. James, open the door.”

Lestel’s teeth audibly clenched. James glanced nervously at him, then opened the door, trembling. A gust of cold wind swept in. It was still dim, but the sun had begun to rise enough to see. After a few steps, as James hesitated and shook, Parel barked,

“Didn’t you hear me?! Move!”

At the same time, the sound of shuffling footsteps rang out. The nearby corpses had noticed them. Lestel shot a glance at Sharhan, then swiftly smashed the head of a walking corpse with his axe. Blood splattered, and the thing collapsed. The second and third followed.

“Damn impressive. I knew you had skills… but not this much. Oh–wait!”

Parel, distracted by Lestel, was nearly elbowed in the gut by Sharhan. He shoved Sharhan forward, right into one of the corpses. It reached for him with rotting arms and clacked its teeth. The stench was overpowering.

Stumbling from the push, Sharhan barely kept his balance and kicked it in the chest. He tried to spin and strike Parel, but Parel was faster.

He kicked Sharhan in the back, slammed him to the ground, and straddled him. Just as he pressed the dagger back to Sharhan’s neck, Lestel’s axe froze above his head, too late by inches.

“Step back.”

Lestel bit his lip and withdrew.

“Seeing how you took them down, I knew you were good. Better than I expected. That almost got me. Hey, robe!”

“M-Me?”

“Go inside the hut and bring something to tie him up.”

Derry looked around helplessly, eyes darting.

“What’re you waiting for?!”

The dagger dug deeper into Sharhan’s throat. Blood poured from the deepening wound. With a squeal of fear, Derry ran into the hut.

He returned moments later with a rope, probably used to hang meat from the eaves. Parel tied Sharhan’s wrists behind his back, crossing them high around his waist.

With no weapons and now bound, Sharhan had no chance to act. Any plan to kill Parel would have to wait.

“Can’t let my guard down with you lot. But this is the end of the line. One more move like that, and you die.”

Parel dragged the dagger across Sharhan’s side. It wasn’t meant to kill, just to send a message, but still drew a lot of blood.

“Why’re you standing there?! Move!”

Parel glared at James, who flinched and continued walking.

‘What the hell is this guy? He doesn’t make a sound when he walks.’

No matter how careful someone was, footsteps made noise. But not Parel’s. He probably didn’t even leave footprints.

“Parel, y-you’re not just some wandering merchant, are you? You said you volunteered because you felt bad as an outsider… but you were planning to go to the old site all along, weren’t you?”

James asked in a tearful voice.

“Shut up. Stop babbling and walk. Say one more word and I’ll let you walk with just one arm. All you need to walk are legs, aren’t they?”

James fell silent instantly. But from that short conversation, Sharhan had already figured it out.

‘This bastard… he’s an assassin from Luhas.’