Chapter 65
I wanted to run out immediately and save them. I could already imagine what would happen if they were taken away like that.
Grit—
But if I acted now, I could save the brothers, yes, but the mastermind would remain hidden. I wouldn’t be able to find out where he was going, or who he was meeting.
“Don’t let a moment of emotion make you forget your goal. That moment could be an opportunity for the enemy.”
I pressed my lips together and endured it. My body trembled with suppressed anger.
It was then that warmth touched the back of my hand, which I had clenched tightly on my thigh.
“Just… hold on a little longer.”
“…Yes.”
The man, who seemed to be restraining his own anger even more than I was—veins bulging on his forehead—was comforting me.
The warmth from his hand pressing lightly but firmly against mine became more powerful than anything else at that moment.
A little while later, as the man dragged the boy out of the tent village, Khalid immediately gave orders to Jerman as if he had been waiting.
“Follow them. Find out their destination and uncover who’s behind this. Once confirmed, you may deal with them. Move discreetly.”
“What if we see a familiar face?”
“I’ll leave that to your judgment.”
Having received the order, Jerman vanished in an instant. The tailing that had felt like child’s play just moments ago disappeared without a trace.
“…I’m sorry, I got a bit carried away.”
“Your body reacted before your mind did. Learn to control that based on the situation.”
“…Yes…”
I admitted my mistake and replied weakly. Khalid let out a short sigh and stood up, brushing himself off.
I followed, awkwardly rising to my feet. My eyes fell on the child still crying alone.
A wave of pity rose from deep within my chest.
I stepped onto the muddy ground and approached the child. I didn’t care if filth splashed up from the mud.
“Hey… are you okay? Your name’s Roan, right?”
I moved cautiously, not wanting to startle the child.
Khalid not stopping me gave me courage.
But as I got closer, countless sharp eyes from the quiet tent village fixed on me.
Goosebumps ran across my skin.
“Waaah… hey, traveler, go away!”
It was hard to believe the child had been crying moments ago; now the voice was harsh, sharp, and defensive.
I froze, halting my steps.
The child glared at me through tears, curling up defensively.
Was the trembling due to fear, or caution?
A pang struck my chest.
This child, and everyone here, must have been victims of the great flood in Bellaniv.
Unlike the peaceful village glimpsed through the inn window, this was the real Bellaniv.
They had lost their homes, had even aid taken from them, and were buried under debts… surviving each day on the edge, barely keeping alive.
This was not life—it was mere existence.
“…I’m not a traveler. I came because I want to help you.”
My throat tightened.
If only I hadn’t disappeared that day… or at least prepared things so they could manage without me…
Regret washed over me like the floodwaters from that day.
But I couldn’t let myself be swept away anymore.
“You say you’ll help? Help how? People like you—there are only a few. You pretend to feel pity and help, but in the end, you take everything away!”
“That’s not it, I—”
“Then what about our mom? Our dad?! They took everything, and now even my brother! Give him back! Bring back my brother!!”
The child screamed, a voice torn between rage and despair, a scream that seemed to tear their very body apart.
I stayed silent, listening to the child’s resentment.
Eventually, exhausted, the child slumped to the ground.
Their voice, hoarse from crying, still carried sobs. Tears streamed endlessly.
“Brother… broooother… sob…”
I couldn’t let them keep crying.
I quickly knelt beside the child and handed them a piece of jerky from my bag.
“If you keep crying like this, you’ll collapse.”
“Collapse? Might as well just die! What’s the point of living alone without my brother?! What’s the difference if I survive?!”
The words coming from such a small child were heavy, unbearably desperate.
Everyone here must feel the same. All were forced to endure life.
A life of holding on just to not die—that was the reality here.
‘That shouldn’t be the way.’
I quickly grabbed the jerky before it could fall from the child’s hand.
“You have to live. Anger and sorrow are felt because you’re alive. Your brother was taken, yes, but he’s not dead.”
“It’s no different from being dead.”
“But he’s still alive. You’ve struggled so hard with him until now. It’d be such a waste to give up now. So you have to live.”
“…Who are you to say that?”
“Right, I don’t know anything. That’s why I want to understand. So live and tell us. Live and try to save your brother. Or shout for help. Do something—anything.”
“….”
I looked firmly into the child’s eyes and pressed another piece of jerky into their hand.
Taking the trembling small hand in both of mine, I said:
“It’s still alive… too early to give up.”
These were the words from that small boy who had forced himself to eat scraps just to survive that day.
If there was guilt for not being able to protect everything, it could be taken up now.
Having suffered regret enough, there was no need to punish myself further… now it was time to turn this reality, stained with remorse, around.
“You want… to save your brother, right?”
I asked with a gentle smile. The child’s face, red from crying, nodded firmly, swallowing back tears.
Along with that small nod, the child’s desperate voice broke out.
“I want… to… save… him… p-please… help me… sob…”
Just like before, I could give hope again.
This time, I would stay with them to the end.
As Roan’s crying began to subside, Khalid said:
“I’ll check the surroundings for a moment. It won’t take long. Stay put.”
The firm warning made me feel a twinge of guilt, and I quietly nodded.
Watching Khalid disappear into the mist, I offered the remaining jerky to Roan, who was still sniffing beside me.
“Roan, what did your brother always tell you?”
Roan chewed the jerky laboriously, blinking his tear-stained eyes.
His face, long marked by tears, looked more pitiful than dirty. I took out a handkerchief and gently wiped his face, patting his back.
“He told me never to go outside on the first day of the month. That’s when someone gets taken. He always reminded me, in case I forgot.”
“Taken?”
“You didn’t know?”
Roan pouted, giving me a doubtful look, as if unsure I could really help.
“That’s when those who took my brother will come! If someone is chosen that day, they all get taken.”
Tears filled Roan’s eyes.
I gently wiped them again. This time, he rubbed his eyes with his small hand on his own.
“I might still be okay since I’m young… but now there aren’t many people left. That’s why my brother said it. Just in case.”
That phrase dug into my heart.
‘It’s not just simple slave hunting.’
That someone came to this place on the same day every month to ‘choose’ and take people meant that the purpose went beyond mere labor exploitation or slave trading.
“Ah?! S-sis, hide quickly!”
Roan grabbed my sleeve urgently, pushing me into a cramped tent.
Just as he led me inside, the bearded man who had taken his brother earlier stepped into the tent village again.
“Th-they’re trying to take someone else!”
Roan’s grip on my sleeve radiated desperation.
Peeking through a gap in the tent, the outside world was swallowed in silence, as if even breathing had been stifled.
Amidst the mingled smell of dirt and mud, I quietly watched to see what the man would do.
The man looked around briefly, then, without hesitation, strode toward one of the tents.
“Ahh!”
“No, don’t!”
Following the man’s grasp on a head, a thin girl around Roan’s brother’s age was dragged out.
Next to her, an old man extended his skeletal hand, trembling, but could not reach her.
Amid the tense silence that seemed about to overflow, I felt my blood boil, not with rage but with a slow, burning heat deep inside.
