Chapter 41 : If You Have Complaints

“Urgh. That hit the spot.”

I wiped my mouth as I muttered to myself.

I had devoured every last bit of the ginseng, not leaving so much as a root behind.

Since she couldn’t eat ginseng, Sushruta sat there gloomily, chewing on dried fruit while watching me.

Because I looked like I was enjoying it so much, she had foolishly tried again to eat it. But once more, she spat it out onto the ground and earned herself another flick to the forehead from me.

“….”

She had gone to the trouble of finding the ginseng, only to be scolded instead of praised. Now, looking pitiful and dispirited, she was nibbling at dried fruit.

The sight didn’t make me feel good at all.

I glanced at her, scratched my head awkwardly, and said,

“Why did you try again when you knew it wouldn’t go well?”

“…Because it looked tasty.”

Sushruta kept her eyes on the ground, answering in a dejected voice.

I looked at her sulky expression, then plucked the red berries that had grown around the ginseng and held them out to her.

“Here. Try these. They should be edible.”

“….”

She reluctantly accepted the berries, carefully plucked one, and popped it into her mouth.

“Mhm.”

After chewing thoughtfully, she nodded.

It seemed she liked it.

Hugging the berries protectively toward her chest, she shot me a glance and then leapt into the air.

Landing on a branch, she dangled her legs with a brighter face and began happily eating the berries one by one.

I couldn’t help but smile faintly at the sight. Settling down at the base of the tree she had climbed, I called out,

“Sushruta.”

“What?”

“I’m going to cultivate. Guard me for a while.”

Still munching, she answered cheerfully,

“Leave it to me.”

I could feel a considerable amount of energy resting in my belly.

“Huuh…”

I was used to refining energy gained from elixirs.

After all, back at the forest near the Mist Cliff, I had repeated the process ten times in a row. By now, it was second nature.

I drew in the pure energy through breathing, expelled the turbid qi, and stored the refined essence carefully in my dantian.

By the time I opened my eyes again, I had even recovered some of my spent inner strength.

The moment I opened my eyes, sound returned.

Crackle, crackle.

The firewood popped faintly, as though I had just emerged from underwater.

The darkness had deepened.

Sushruta, at some point, had come down from the tree and curled up near the fire, sleeping soundly like some little wild animal.

I studied her for a moment, then checked the qi filling my dantian.

“Not bad.”

It was satisfying.

It was about as much inner strength as I’d gained from eating three ginseng roots back near the Mist Cliff.

Maybe that was why my eyes felt wide awake, even though it was well past time to sleep.

I had energy, but no drowsiness.

So, on impulse, I decided to try calling forth that crimson world again.

The Heavenly Demon had warned me to restrain myself from wielding power I couldn’t control, but if I never learned how to use it, how could I ever learn to restrain it?

“Hrrk… ngh… haap…!”

I scrunched my face and forced myself to recall the sensation. I tried this and that, straining myself…

But in the end, it was all in vain.

All I became was some poor fool groaning alone in the middle of the forest at night.

“Haah.”

I sighed deeply and released my posture.

First attempt, failure.

But that was fine.

I still had 378,913,563 attempts left.

Feeling chilled, I moved closer to the fire and warmed myself.

Crackle, crackle.

I snapped a twig and tossed it into the flames.

For a while, I just stared at the wavering firelight, then turned my gaze to the stray cat sleeping beside it, purring softly.

I loosened the bandage wrapped tightly around my arm.

Beneath it, that familiar green ointment had been applied thoroughly over my wound.

“….”

I rewrapped the bandage, then looked again at the little thief purring in her sleep.

“Master.”

[What is it?]

“You said this girl saved me?”

[She did. Do you know how much effort that tiny thing put in to keep you alive?]

“I don’t. That’s why I’m asking.”

[She carried you on her back for hours without rest, even though your body weighed twice hers. She was sweating buckets the whole way. It was like watching an ant carry a leaf larger than itself.]

“….”

[Not only that. She fussed over you alone, cleaned your wounds, and applied medicine.]

I stared at the sleeping Sushruta with a bewildered look.

“…Why?”

[Ask her yourself.]

“….”

I just couldn’t understand.

Why didn’t she kill me?

She wouldn’t get a better chance than that.

No—more than that—why hadn’t she taken the dagger?

Wasn’t her whole reason for traveling with me to seize the legacy of Ophosis?

I glanced at her again, then poked her cheek with my finger.

“Mmnn…”

She frowned faintly in her sleep, shifting restlessly.

Watching her, I pulled out the dagger from my robe and flicked its blade.

Ting—

The clear metallic ring echoed.

And along with it, her words came back to me one after another.

“Why not share food with your companion?”

“Do you mean to kill your companion?”

“Following you? What do you mean? Aren’t we companions?”

“Don’t be so stiff. Aren’t we companions sharing life and death together?”

“Ashuban isn’t the Red-Eyed Devil—he’s my companion. Watch your words.”

“If you can’t even trust your companion, what then? I even found you an elixir, yet how is it that as a companion you give me no trust at all?”

…She was strangely obsessed with that word, companion.

But people act on self-interest in the end.

What did she really want? Could it truly be nothing more than to be my companion?

Impossible. No one was that foolish.

If she were after some benefit from me, if that were her reason for sticking close, I would at least understand. That would be easier.

But this? This was like wandering through fog, unsure of where I was headed.

“….”

I toyed with the dagger, lost in thought.

This girl had openly tried to attack me for Ophosis’s dagger.

Yet after I let her go and exchanged only a few words, she had stubbornly followed me until, somehow, we ended up traveling together.

She had helped me escape the pursuit of the Thieves’ Guild. Now, she had even saved my life.

No matter how much she spoke of “companions,” I was certain she was after the dagger.

That was why I always assumed her every move was an attempt to snatch it away.

But when the chance finally came… she didn’t take it.

Why?

Why hadn’t she taken it?

If she didn’t want the dagger, then what did she want from me?

Why follow me so persistently?

It made no sense.

“Companion?”

…Hardly.

Instead, I felt the wall around my heart grow even thicker.

Strange, wasn’t it?

Someone saves your life, yet instead of gratitude, you meet them with suspicion.

A person like that deserves to be beaten to death as the worst scoundrel alive.

But that scoundrel… was me.

I thought of myself as nothing but a wretched man, and my thoughts could not help but follow that path.

[…A wretched man.]

The Heavenly Demon’s words were true.

I was a wretched man.

Perhaps it was because I had been betrayed too many times by those I trusted, my head warped from the blows.

But so what? This was who I was. Shaped and carved by this damned world into such a jagged form. Stained and filthy from rolling in the mud and soaking in blood.

If anyone had complaints, they could take it up with the world that made me this way.

[ Tsk, tsk… ]

The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue.

I silently slipped the dagger back into my robes.

At times, inexplicable kindness was far more frightening than obvious malice.

This time, I would dig into the truth of what this girl was, and what she really thought.

I would not let things slide under the excuse of “secrets” again.

“You hear me, you little stray cat?”

I poked Sushruta’s cheek as I asked, but she only answered with soft, sleepy breaths.

Crackle, crackle.

As warmth spread through my body, sleep crept in slyly, like a cheating wife sneaking back into bed.

I leaned my back against a nearby tree, as I always did, closed my eyes, and, lulled by the crackling fire, drifted into sleep with my hand resting on my sword hilt.

A new day brings a new sun.

Or at least, that’s what people say.

But was it truly a new sun? Perhaps it was the same one that rose every day, only ducking below the horizon for a short while at night before peeking back up again.

As I pondered such truths of the world, my blade slit the throat of another enemy.

Shhk!

Blood sprayed as the ambusher who leapt from the brush crumpled to the ground.

Ever since that noisy battle with the flute-playing mage, enemies had begun appearing one by one.

Pretending to be blind no longer worked, so I had long since removed the blindfold.

Shaking the blood off my sword, I asked,

“Any more?”

Sushruta nodded.

“I hear footsteps chasing us from behind.”

“Confirmed.”

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—none of them were particularly skilled.

At most, they could wield a little mana. None were aura users.

If they had applied for the mercenary rank exam, they might have been handed a silver badge.

All the more did I realize just how formidable the Reaper Brothers and that flute mage truly were.

Even as I fought, my mind never stopped circling around Sushruta.

I glanced sideways at her as she walked lightly beside me, almost bouncing with each step.

Sushruta, the Shadowless Phantom Thief.

Who exactly was she?

I decided to start my reasoning from her connection to the Thieves’ Guild.

She had claimed herself that she ran the guild. Judging by how that scarab-faced man, supposedly the branch leader, treated her with such deference, that much seemed true.

Then what position did she hold within the guild?

The organizational hierarchy of the Thieves’ Guild was unclear, but unless she held at least an elder’s seat, wielding such influence would be no easy feat…

“Die!”

I gripped my sword hilt and spun around.

Slice!

There was no need for even a clash.

Before his blade could reach me, his arm was severed.

“Ghhhaaa—!”

Before the scream could finish, Sushruta’s dagger drove beneath his chin, silencing him for good.

Before his corpse collapsed, I kicked it to the roadside.

I offered the fool who had rushed headlong onto our blades a silent prayer, then turned back, continuing on as if nothing had happened.

As I walked, I flicked the blood from my sword and sheathed it. Sushruta pulled out a cloth and began wiping her dagger clean.

‘Hmm. So young, yet with influence great enough to rival an elder of the guild, and with skill to match… Unless she’s some kind of princess of the underworld, I can’t explain it.’

Princess, was it? The thought made me chuckle to myself.

Sushruta paused mid-wipe, looking at me curiously.

“Why are you laughing?”

“No reason.”

“What do you mean, no reason?”

The way she pressed made me snap back at her instead.

“Just… because it was funny. What, do I have to give you a full report every time I laugh? Do you think you’re some kind of princess or something, huh?”

Sushruta blinked in surprise, flustered.

“No, I just…”

“When something’s funny, a person laughs. How can you keep it bottled up all the time? Hold back laughter too much and you’ll get sick. What, are you sick? An idiot?”

“….”

She closed her mouth.

We walked in silence for a while, admiring the scenery.

Eventually, jagged mountain peaks rose up in the distance.

I asked, “That place?”

Sushruta gave me a sideways glance and answered in a slightly sulky tone, “Yes.”

I nodded.

“Almost there, then.”

Seeing our destination gave me strength.

All that was left was to meet Hans’ disciple’s descendant, pry information about Ophosis’ dagger and legacy, and convince him to talk. That persuasion wouldn’t be easy, but that was part of the fun.

The end of a journey that was short by some measures and long by others was finally approaching.

In terms of a play, one could say the first act was nearing its close.

Buoyed by that thought, I quickened my pace slightly. Soon we reached a fork in the road.

A large tree stood at the junction, with one path straight ahead and another veering right.

Since our destination lay forward, I headed straight without hesitation.

But Sushruta stopped me.

“Wait.”

She stood at the fork, studying the tree, then pointed down the right-hand path.

“This way.”

I tilted my head.

“Why? Anyone can see straight is the way forward.”

She raised her hand and pointed to the tree.

On one of the right-leaning branches, a strip of black cloth was tied.

“There’s an informant waiting. They’ll give us a brief update on the current situation.”

“Oh. A progress report.”

“Something like that.”

That was good news.

Before, in Scarab, we had slipped through the city gates with ease thanks to meeting that acorn-faced man.

Back then, he hadn’t been able to identify the royal knight. But perhaps by now, they had found out.

Even if not, the informant would at least tell us who was chasing us, and what to be wary of. Useful information either way.

“Hmm.”

It also struck me as the perfect opportunity to dig further into Sushruta’s identity.

No one would know better than an insider.

“Let’s go.”

I followed Sushruta down the right-hand path.

(End of Chapter)

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