Episode 16
Perched on the windowsill of this floor, Carnelian adjusted her grip on Mistral with a serious, sharp gaze reminiscent of Riei on the eve of battle, taking in the night view of Belesima. With the solemn eyes of one awaiting a duel.
“By the way, how do you read this?”
“…….”
What Julitan thrust before such a Carnelian was a cookbook titled *100 Selected Hespalcon Recipes*. Carnelian looked at him with a pitiful expression that said, *Please, read the room*.
“Ugh, the book the Master should be reading right now isn’t a cookbook. Shouldn’t it be a children’s grammar book? Just how have you lived all this time… that a chef still can’t even read properly!”
She really wanted to remain still. She wanted to carry herself with gravitas, like Riei. Because she could sense Karina approaching, she wanted to at least spend this time preparing for battle in a cool manner, but this incompetent Master had been asking about the passage that said, “Separate the yolk and whisk for three minutes,” three times already. Anyway, Julitan too seemed angry at Carnelian for treating him like a bothersome fly.
“Sorry, I’m sorry! I’m truly sorry for being an ignorant chef who can’t even read! Tch!”
“Kiyaaaa! If you want me to beg on my knees, I will, so just be quiet for now!”
As expected, this couple seemed utterly incapable of setting the mood from the very start.
“What an incredibly unfriendly Seal! If the Master asks, you should at least….”
“Master.”
Raising her hand to cut off Julitan’s words, her expression stiffened. She had sensed that Karina had drawn near. Karina’s killing intent washed over them.
“What’s wrong?”
While Julitan was flustered by Carnelian’s stiffened expression… suddenly, a massive pillar of light seemed to engulf the inn where Julitan stood. Julitan’s vision turned white, and a scorching heat that felt as though his chest would burst spread throughout his body. At the same time, he saw everything around him shattering into pieces, and he realized his body was caught in something like a white storm against his will, flying up through the destroyed roof and floating in the air. The inn had been obliterated by a fist imbued with Karina’s magical power.
*What… is this all of a sudden… am I dying?*
A faint evening star appeared in Julitan’s eyes. It was as if the world was moving in slow motion. The explosion had sent him hurtling into the air, so why wasn’t he dead? As that unconscious thought crossed his mind, Julitan belatedly realized that Carnelian was embracing him from behind.
*Carnelian?*
He wanted to cry out to her, but his mouth wouldn’t open. His body wouldn’t move either. Only his eyes, struggling to move, could see the semi-transparent red “wall” spread around Carnelian’s body and his own like a hallucination. It was clearly a protective barrier created by Carnelian. Feeling her body heat wrapping around him from behind, Julitan found himself thinking, pathetically, that it felt strangely cozy.
*Anyway… this is the first time I’ve been this close to Carnelian….*
Whether Carnelian knew of Julitan’s nonchalant thoughts amid the emergency or not, she held him tight and landed safely on the ground. Julitan, whose body finally seemed to return to normal, hurriedly turned to look at Carnelian. Her disheveled hair. With a strained expression, she spoke in a whisper.
“Are you alright? Master?”
“Yeah….”
Julitan nodded with a somewhat dazed expression as he looked at Carnelian. Though a man being protected by a woman wasn’t a particularly cool sight, the fact that she had thrown herself to save him meant he was indeed her Master, after all….
“Then that’s fine. Now get off!”
“Uwaaack!”
The loyal Seal, Carnelian, who had thrown herself to save Julitan, tossed him far away the moment she confirmed her Master’s safety, and thanks to that, he went from being comfortably nestled in Carnelian’s embrace to rolling around in the dirt. For a moment, Julitan felt that his life was pathetic.
“I’ll kill you. Carnelian.”
Before Carnelian stood a Seal in tight black clothes with a ponytail. The culprit who had just blown up the inn with her magical power—Karina. She glared at Carnelian with eyes full of hatred. From the bracelets wrapped around both of Karina’s wrists, a strange light began to rise like snakes.
“You remember, don’t you… that you killed my former Tamer. Because you killed him… I suddenly lost my mind. I suffered ‘bereavement.’”
Karina continued speaking with her gaze fixed on Carnelian. She looked so murderous that she might kill her at any moment.
“When I came to my senses, I had already killed all of my Master’s family with my own hands. I killed the people who cherished me!”
It was what Carnelian had spoken of before regarding “bereavement.” If a Tamer were to suddenly die, their Seal would lose its mind and harm anyone nearby. As ill luck would have it, when Karina suffered “bereavement,” the Tamer’s family had been near her.
*Horrifying….*
Julitan felt chills listening to Karina’s words. If you came to your senses and saw the corpse of the person closest to you rolling before your eyes, and realized you had killed them… just how wretched would that feel?
“How is that my fault….”
Carnelian muttered with an angry expression. Her red eyes glared at Karina, emitting an exceptionally cold light.
“I’m annoyed enough that I had to do something I didn’t want to do, so why is everyone blaming me! It was my former Tamer who ordered me to kill your Tamer! And you’re the one who killed your Master’s family! So why are you taking it out on me! What do you think a Seal even is! Why should I bear that responsibility!”
“I don’t care about that! If I kill you, I’ll be forgiven by them, even if only a little… It’s revenge for the Master who cherished me. I want to take revenge on your former Tamer too, but he’s no longer in this world, is he?”
“Shut up. Don’t talk about that anymore.”
Julitan could tell she was shaken by the words “former Master.” And that she didn’t want to talk about her former Tamer. She looked at Karina and spat out her words.
“If your heart hurts because you killed your Master’s family… that’s your fault for having loved humans.”
“What did you say?”
Carnelian had an expression so resolute it sent chills down one’s spine, whereas Karina looked so furious she might burst into tears. Carnelian hesitated for a moment, then continued with trembling lips. With an expression as though she were vomiting up something she truly despised.
“You’re a Seal, you fool… who in the world do you think you’re… loving.”
Perhaps those words sounded as though they were half-directed at herself.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
Before Carnelian could even finish speaking, Karina, who seemed driven mad by hatred, began rushing toward her. The light surrounding her bracelets blazed white as if to proclaim her emotions. Carnelian had once said that what does not disappear even after death are lies and obsession. Just as those abused by their parents grow up to abuse their own children the same way… human obsession hides in the hearts of those around them, clinging tenaciously to the other party even after the person dies, ultimately causing wounds. Like an evil spirit.
*Love too… is just another form of obsession.*
Julitan began to unconsciously mutter those words of Carnelian’s.
Riei stopped upon seeing Jelid at the plaza fountain. Jelid sitting on the bench looked more like a man waiting to meet a former lover after a long time than someone who had truly come to pick a fight.
“Where did you leave your Seal?”
“Aah. Karina said she had something to do here as well.”
Jelid looked at Riei and stood up from his seat, but he didn’t draw his sword, nor was he wary of her. With an unconcerned expression, he slowly walked toward Riei and spoke. Riei’s unbound blue hair fluttered in the wind.
“No matter how much you try to erase the feminine charm from your body… you’re beautiful, just as you were before and now. That is undeniable.”
“Surely you didn’t come looking for me… just to say such things.”
Riei’s reaction was cold. No, it was the face of someone who didn’t want to reminisce.
“You truly never wanted to become a knight, not even once. And yet you’ve remained a knight until now because of ‘that man’… I’m one to talk, but you really are an inflexible woman.”
“Stop. Don’t say such things.”
Riei drew her sword to avoid Jelid’s words. Her arm trembled, whether from his words or from the poison.
“Until your emotions are hollowed out and you can no longer feel anything… do you intend to be tormented by guilt? If so, it would be better to die.”
With those words, Jelid began drawing his “Heungsoo” from its scabbard, and Riei furrowed her eyes and took her stance. However, the rapier in her left hand, her pale, trembling face—anyone could see she stood almost no chance of victory.
“Once I kill you… I will truly travel to Southern Dallacarte this time. And there, I will meet our Master and deliver news of your death.”
“He won’t want to see your face.”
As if that conversation were the signal for the duel, she charged at Jelid the moment her words ended. In this situation, there was no need for petty tricks. She couldn’t think of any next plans until her sword clashed with Jelid’s. The two blades collided, and in that moment, an enormous blue spark erupted, and an ear-splitting screech of friction tore through the air. It was an impact that would have caused an ordinary knight’s sword to shatter or their bones to be pulverized. The leg supporting Jelid’s body was pushed back slightly from the shock, but still, his expression remained unchanged.
*Do you know what steel is? It’s so strong that no one can break it, but eventually it rusts and crumbles away on its own. Your heart is like steel.*
While their blades were locked together, Jelid’s sneer approached coldly. She could feel through the energy transmitted at the tip of the blade that Jelid was holding back his strength.
-intro
Lately, I seem to have developed a habit of clinging to impossible wishes. If the background of my mind is white, can it be erased to pure white? If that were possible, I wouldn’t bother to painstakingly write something there again. I muttered that it would be good to do so if I could not fill it with happiness, but “what returns is only the cold sneer that I am not yet dead.”
It did not take long to gauge the victor between Riei and Jelid. It was only obvious in this situation… Riei’s defeat was inevitable, and it meant death.
*Kuh….*
In the end, after exchanging blows about a dozen times, the rapier fell from Riei’s left arm, which could no longer withstand the impact. Blood was flowing from Jelid’s cheek where Riei’s blade had grazed him, but that was all. Blood dripped from between the peeled skin on Riei’s tightly clenched left hand, which had overexerted itself wielding the sword, and thanks to that impact, the wound on her right shoulder burst open again, staining Riei’s blouse red from the shoulder down.
“What will you do? Will you take your own life?”
Jelid approached the disarmed Riei with downcast eyes. Colder than ever, yet the sneer from before was gone. Riei’s sword had fallen beyond reach.
“…Kill me. With your own hands.”
“Any last words?”
“None.”
Her expression was calm, as though she had been preparing for this long ago. Just like her usual attitude, unwilling to bend to others. Jelid nodded several times and raised his Heungsoo. Though it wasn’t coated with poison, if he approached the defenseless Riei’s neck, her life would end in a single stroke.
“You really are something else… If I spared you now, would you accept it?”
“Not really….”
Jelid sighed and stopped walking. He was close enough to see Riei’s eyes in detail. He gazed into her water-colored pupils and quietly lowered the blade he held, but soon his eyes returned to their usual blade-like sharpness, and he raised his sword again. He muttered in a low voice.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help your heart. I truly am an irresponsible man.”
Riei watched Jelid’s blade approach her neck. It was a sight closer to suicide. Just as Jelid said, once you die, everything returns to zero—the pain, the joy, the fear, the memories, all disappear. In exchange for giving up the right to live.
*Wh-what!*
As Jelid’s blade approached Riei’s throat as if to devour it, he was suddenly pushed away by a force.
“Could it be?”
Dragon Lady
Author / Kim Cheol-gon
Publisher / Park Seong-in
Managing Editor / Editorial Department
Published by / Next Level Studio
Address / 4F, 113 Seongsuil-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Main Phone / 070-8801-6987
ISBN 979-11-92729-25-1
This book is published as an e-book by Next Level Studio under contract with the copyright holder.
Unauthorized reproduction of this book’s contents without the company’s permission is prohibited by copyright law.