Chapter 116
There had been no sign at all. Then small shards of magic stone began to fall one by one—tok, todok—like popping popcorn, and before anyone could say “huh?” huge chunks came crashing down. And they fell precisely on the side where the lord was standing. It looked as if someone had targeted him and carefully calculated how to bring it down.
By the time anyone realized how strange it was, a massive pile of magic stone had already collapsed. There wasn’t even time for the person who had been standing below to lift their head.
“Lord!”
“No—!”
The thunder of the stones collapsing shook the ground. The screams of the people were drowned out by the roar.
Where the great mound of stone now lay had been where the lord had been standing moments before. There was no trace of the lord—no sign that anyone had been standing there at all.
A blue dust, produced by the stones grinding together into powder, blurred everyone’s vision.
Cough! Cough!
Suddenly the dust raised coughing all around.
“What—what happened?”
“Why did that fall suddenly?”
“Cough, cough! Is anyone hurt?”
Those who arrived late after hearing the noise stood gaping at the collapsed stone and murmured among themselves. They waved their hands to clear their sight, but it was useless.
Builder, who had been walking toward the lord, felt his mind go white at the sight before him. It felt like a terrible nightmare.
“This can’t be… it just can’t—”
Those stones had been safe enough that dozens of adult men could climb over them like a rocky slope to take them away. They had been stored as safely as possible in case of accidents.
Frozen in stunned silence, Builder suddenly flinched as if struck by lightning and bolted toward the stone mound in a frenzy. He clung to the pile and began grabbing the large stones and hurling them onto the ground.
Those whose sight was blurred by the dust only understood what Builder was doing a moment later and looked confused. He had always been the sort to scold anyone until they were sick of hearing it to use the stones sparingly and carefully—so his wild behavior was completely out of character.
Those who had been watching the lord approach with Builder reacted the same way. They rushed to the stone mound and frantically tore it apart. At first they shouted indistinctly, but once others caught what they were saying, people were horrified and joined them in digging.
“The lord is buried!”
“Lord! Lord!”
“Quick—call everyone! Don’t go up from that side!”
Villagers nearby swarmed in. The stones were removed rapidly, but there was no joy on anyone’s faces. Two strong men had to work together just to move some stones; they were far heavier than anyone had expected.
When the villagers realized the lord was buried beneath, they formed rings around the site, two deep, three deep, but nobody could bring themselves to speak. They desperately prayed inside that something terrible wasn’t waiting there, but in their hearts they were already crying blood.
By the time roughly half the stones had been cleared…
“Wait!”
Builder suddenly shouted and halted everyone. People stared at him, confused—why stop when every second counted to reach the lord? Builder said nothing; he just stared intently at a spot somewhere in the pile. After a moment—
Clack!
A chunk of the stone mound moved on its own.
Everyone’s heads turned as if by agreement to that exact spot.
“There—there!”
“Come here—clear here!”
Hope suddenly ignited in them and they worked with even more urgency. Many of those who had been watching with their feet stamping impatiently now wept openly. Everyone prayed that what they pulled out would not be the lord’s bloody corpse.
Rough, callused hands tore at the stones, unaware of their own bleeding and bruising. After more digging, another shift—
Clack!
This time a large stone moved. People stared at it with mingled fear and a tentative hope. A single person moving such a large stone could not be the lord, but they refused to give up hope; to them, the lord could perform miracles.
At last, someone emerged from under the stones. But it was not the lord they had been waiting for.
“Eek!”
“A g-ghost!”
Those who had been clinging to the pile and ripping it apart recoiled in terror at the sight of a silver-haired man who appeared as if from nowhere.
It made sense—whoever had just been under that pile should have been in tatters. But this man was unnaturally neat. Not a hair out of place, he looked like a noble who had just finished dressing and stepped out of his house.
He pushed himself up from the stone mound with a tired face while everyone’s eyes were fixed on him. He held the unconscious lord cradled in his arms. Thankfully, the villagers’ fears of a bloodied body were unfounded.
“Lord!”
“That man saved the lord!”
“Hooray!”
Those who had been standing several layers back and couldn’t see well rejoiced first, cheering as if the lord had been rescued. Many hugged and cried, unable to contain their joy.
Builder, who had first noticed the man emerge from the pile, hurried forward. The man sighed deeply and then pointed with his chin to somewhere inside the stone heap.
“Take Izana away. He’s unconscious, but apart from a broken arm he doesn’t seem to have other wounds. Your lord is fine. He’s only been stunned.”
After saying that, the man carried the lord out from the stones with steady steps. The more of him people saw, the more their cheering tapered off. They were as astonished to see this newcomer as they were relieved that the lord had survived.
Because of his silver hair, and because he had appeared as if sent by the gods, the man looked like an angel come to save the lord.
“Thank you,” an old woman with graying hair sobbed toward him. Her voice was small, but he heard it. Soon many voices poured out, thanking him for rescuing their lord.
Builder, too, was astonished at the sudden appearance of the stranger who had pulled someone out from the pile. Then he saw Handsome—crushed by stone with his arm pinned—and, along with others, he rushed to pull him free.
After helping Handsome, the builder turned and saw the silver-haired man walking away carrying the lord through the parted crowd. At that sight, Builder’s eyes finally overflowed and big drops fell.
“Sob, sob!”
Relief that the lord was unharmed and the crushing guilt over the sudden accident weighed heavily on Builder. Usually calm, diligent, and composed, Builder now shook with sobs, and people gathered around him.
Joy was the first to approach and embrace Builder. As Builder’s pupil, Joy knew how much his master revered and cared for the lord, and so he understood what Builder must be feeling.
“Master, it’s okay. The lord is alive.”
The odd picture of a sobbing teacher being consoled by his disciple did not stop people from feeling reassured; they looked on with sighs of relief.
Gallen, who had rushed over after hearing the news, examined the lord’s face on the bed and finally relaxed. Although it had been a big accident, the lord showed no scratch.
Seeing the collapsed stones on the way over and imagining how serious the accident might have been, Gallen had feared the worst while running. His legs had wobbled more than once; if his daughter Sella hadn’t steadied him he might have fallen several times along the way.
Sella, far more level-headed than Gallen, quickly checked the lord beyond what Gallen had noticed.
“Thankfully there don’t seem to be any fractures. He should wake up and then we’ll know for sure, but there don’t appear to be internal injuries either.”
Gallen, relieved by his daughter’s quick assessment, began a more thorough medical check. Sella then moved to the side of Handsome, who was lying on another bed.
Handsome had a broken arm and a cracked leg, but considering he had been buried under so many stones, these were almost miraculous injuries. He had already regained consciousness and sat on the bed, looking at the lord with worried eyes.
“We’ll need to splint it. It might hurt a bit—are you alright with that?” Sella asked Handsome calmly.
Handsome nodded, only now noticing her standing before him.
“Where did that man go?” Builder asked as he entered the room that had been turned into an emergency clinic for the cleanup.
“Huh? Where did he—?”
Those in the room looked around but couldn’t find the man who had saved the lord.
Then—
“Lord! Will you come to your senses?”
At Gallen’s shout, everyone’s eyes turned to the bed where the lord lay. The lord had already sat up.
“Is everyone all right?”
As soon as he regained consciousness he asked first about others, and people couldn’t help but be moved to tears again.
Meanwhile, Taechang stepped out of the room and found himself face-to-face with a small, angry creature. It crouched in fear but bared its teeth at Taechang.
“Grrr!”
Not even the size of a handful, the creature threatened fiercely. Taechang scoffed and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck. Its short legs dangled in the air. The little dragon—its body gleaming deep blue like a heated magic stone—stared defiantly and showed its teeth.
“I only punished the human who ruined my home!”
