Chapter 129
I was surprised to find Luzef getting closer to the direction we were in.
“They can’t see us from outside, right?”
Kaiden nodded at my question.
“That’s right. They can’t.”
But Luzef was running straight towards us. He looked very tired, carrying a large bag on his shoulder.
He barely stopped in front of the Barrier, took a deep breath, and turned to face the Monsters following him. It seemed they really couldn’t see us.
Looking at it, Luzef seemed to be the luckiest of us. To run towards the Barrier where we were, of all places.
And he was showing his back right in front of Kaiden.
Kaiden stared blankly at Luzef’s back.
“Kaiden.”
I called him, wondering why he wasn’t bringing Luzef in. Only then did he grab Luzef by the scruff of his neck and pull him into the Barrier.
“Ugh! Wh-wh-what…!”
Luzef, who had fallen on his butt, gaped at Kaiden with a surprised face. He looked like he had seen a ghost.
I put a finger to my lips to quiet him, then looked at Sir Diego.
Sir Diego was looking around for Luzef, who had suddenly disappeared. Behind him, about three Monsters with bizarre appearances were following.
I opened the magazine of the Flares, checked the bullets, and loaded it.
“I’ll go out.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I can do this much.”
I answered Kaiden firmly, who was trying to stop me, and went out of the Barrier. Enoch followed me without hesitation and stood next to me, guarding me.
Kaiden, who couldn’t come out to protect the Barrier, frowned deeply.
I turned my back to Kaiden and called Sir Diego, who was standing there, unable to figure out what to do.
“Sir Diego!”
He looked surprised to find us.
“Come this way!”
At my call, he hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and ran towards us.
I grabbed his hand and used that force as a recoil to throw him into the Barrier. Then, I pulled down the hammer of the Flares, aimed at the approaching Monsters, and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Boom!
With the flames, the fragmented corpses of the Monsters exploded in all directions. Enoch hugged me and jumped into the Barrier.
Barely saved.
I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Enoch, then looked at the two men sitting on the floor with pale faces.
Sir Diego and Luzef looked very haggard, as if they hadn’t had a drop of water.
Luzef, who was sitting with a pale complexion, made a flower-like expression when he met my eyes.
His gestures, rising from his seat and approaching me, looked as pure and delicate as a butterfly fluttering its wings.
“Young lady! You’re safe!”
He hugged me right away.
The strength of the hug was no different from that of any strong man.
Luzef’s body, hugging me so tightly that I felt like I was going to be crushed, was trembling slightly with anxiety. I gasped and, surprised by his trembling, asked.
“…Are you crying?”
“I’m not crying.”
Kaiden, who was standing behind me, saw Luzef’s face and burst into laughter. His cheerful laughter instantly reversed the heavy atmosphere.
“Hey, lackey. It’s really funny to see you crying.”
“Shut up, you uncivilized Wizard.”
Luzef said harsh words to Kaiden and slowly let me go.
I took the opportunity to look at Luzef’s face. His eyes were indeed red. For some reason, I felt like I had found a runaway cat and brought it back, so I felt sorry for him.
“Are you okay?”
At my question, Luzef bit his lower lip and nodded. He had a very sad expression, as if a dam had burst with a lot of pent-up sorrow.
“I missed you. I’m glad you’re safe.”
The priest of God, who had been talking about distrust of humans, looked at me with eyes filled with deep trust.
I was a little surprised by the direct meaning in his eyes.
He had expressed his faith in me from time to time, but I don’t think he had ever confessed his feelings so directly like this.
‘Enoch or Kaiden, maybe, but wasn’t Luzef just liking me because I took good care of him?’
Kaiden, who had been watching me carefully, frowned and glared at Luzef.
“Who are you to miss our Margaret?”
“Please shut your mouth.”
Of course, Kaiden wasn’t the kind of man to stop there. He was busy mocking Luzef as if he had found water. Luzef retorted to Kaiden’s words with a very angry face, but only for a moment, he finally gave up as if he was fed up and turned to me.
Then, he noticed my clothes late and opened his eyes wide with a surprised face.
“Young lady, what’s wrong with your clothes! No, where did you get clothes that look like they were half-made…!”
Half-made? This is what the clothes are supposed to look like. That’s too harsh.
I guess I’ll have to see that kind of reaction as many times as there are people left. I’m already getting tired of it.
“I picked it up. I couldn’t wear the dress.”
“Yes…?! That doesn’t make any sense…”
“Don’t bother our Margaret.”
Fortunately, Kaiden cut off Luzef’s words at the right time. But I shook my head at the restarted childish argument and turned to Sir Diego.
Sir Diego stood up from his seat, silently tidying up his clothes, and melted into the background like a shadow.
He stood there as if he were a wrongly inserted puzzle in our group, as if he were there and not there.
“Are you okay?”
At my question, Sir Diego, who had been standing calmly, looked at me.
He glanced at my clothes for a moment and quickly turned his head. His earlobes were red.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to look… Please forgive me…”
Sir Diego rambled, then frowned as if he hated himself and bit his lower lip.
‘Why are all the men here acting like such fools?’
Hmm… The T-shirt is a bit thin, though. And it’s short, so you can see my stomach.
At that time, Enoch returned after checking that no more Monsters had appeared around the Barrier.
He boldly unbuttoned the top button of his shirt with one hand, as if he was feeling stuffy. Then, with his chin raised, he glared at Sir Diego with a somewhat intimidating gaze.
“You’re alive.”
Enoch said in a voice full of displeasure. As if he was surprised that Sir Diego was alive.
The cold voice proved that he had not been turning a blind eye to Sir Diego’s rude behavior.
Sir Diego calmed his red face only after Enoch appeared. Then, as if he had expected Enoch’s reaction, he nodded calmly, knelt down on one knee in front of us, and bowed his head.
“I deeply regret my foolish actions. I’m just glad you’re both safe.”
It was a clean explanation and atonement as much as the disciplined movements.
Of course, I had no intention of forgiving him. I had never thought of him as my person in the first place.
As I watched Sir Diego with a somewhat detached attitude, Enoch sighed.
“We’ll have to see if you really think so.”
Enoch answered mercilessly and looked at me. It was as if he was handing over the initiative of the conversation to me. So I calmly asked Sir Diego what I was curious about.
“What’s going on? How did you get here? Why were you being chased by Monsters?”
Then, Sir Diego, who had slowly risen from his seat, sighed, washing his face with his hands with a tired face.
“That’s…”
He began to explain calmly.
After the three of us fell into the river, they exchanged signs with Asdal across the river. They agreed to meet at the place with the star drawing on the west side of the North Island.
So, on the way to the west with Luzef, they encountered Monsters, and the Monsters chased Luzef and Sir Diego day and night as if they had intelligence.
Thanks to that, they couldn’t sleep properly and spent several days without eating anything.
Hearing that, I felt a little sorry for them.
‘It was more difficult than me?’
I wondered if I was better off being taken in by Zenas.
“But is this a Barrier?”
Luzef opened his mouth with a curious face, as if the argument with Kaiden was over.
The Barrier was transparent and invisible, but when you put your hand close to it, you could see the Barrier working with a bluish light.
Kaiden, who was sitting on the floor with his chin resting on his hand, watching Luzef, spat out a word.
“Be careful, you’ll get cursed if you touch it.”
“Ugh! R-really?”
Luzef reached out towards the Barrier, then was startled and fell on his butt.
We had a short moment of silence while watching Luzef. I knew it, but Luzef seems very simple. I guess that’s why Kaiden enjoys teasing him.
I started preparing to make a bonfire with Enoch. I was relieved by Kaiden’s words that I didn’t have to worry about the smoke because it was inside the Barrier, and I told Eunji to light the fire.
As the fire blazed, Sir Diego, who had been quietly watching what we were doing, looked at me with a choked face. He had a sad face, like a child reminiscing about the past.