Translator: Nox

Chapter 41

“Hoo.”

Enoch’s sigh indicated he was regaining consciousness. I approached him again to check on his condition.

“Aren’t you going to explain why Enoch is like this, Crown Prince?”

“Since it concerns Enoch, I think it’s best to hear it directly from him.”

I couldn’t possibly divulge the details of Enoch’s trauma to someone else, so I remained silent.

Enoch furrowed his brow and looked up at me. His eyes lacked focus, suggesting he hadn’t fully regained his senses.

Kaiden glanced at him and then ruffled his own hair.

“Then it’ll be difficult to get an explanation.”

He seemed to think Enoch wouldn’t answer directly.

“What happened to you?”

“I’ll tell you anything you ask.”

I knew it was a lie. Kaiden was strangely good at sweet-talking me.

He stroked his chin, casually glanced at the dead Anacondas, and then frowned in annoyance.

“I left the cabin for a bit to chase away some hangers-on, you know?”

Kaiden ran a hand through the back of his head, as if trying to recall the memory, and continued.

“Suddenly, I heard a loud crashing sound, so I rushed back, and that thing was there. It was eating something, but I don’t know what.”

An Anaconda was eating something? Could there be a more chilling sentence?

My heart ached at the sight of the cabin I had worked so hard to build being so brutally destroyed.

“For Monsters to appear this far in, it seems this place isn’t a safe haven either.”

At my words, Kaiden nodded, his face serious as he scanned the surroundings.

“I guess so. We’ll have to look for another refuge.”

Kaiden dragged Luzef, who was unconscious near the river, closer to the ruined cabin.

Meanwhile, Enoch, who had been sitting with a weary expression, seemed to have fully recovered and approached me.

“Margaret, thank you. I don’t think I can do without you, after all.”

At those words, Kaiden glanced at Enoch, his lips moving as if to say something, but he ultimately remained silent. He seemed to have given up on directly asking about Enoch’s episode.

“His symptoms seem to be getting better, though? If you’re feeling okay, should we all clean this up?”

We cleared away the debris of the destroyed cabin and packed up our belongings.

“Kaiden, come here so I can treat your wounds.”

I rummaged through the wreckage of the cabin, found the first aid kit, and had Kaiden sit on the ground.

“Enoch, I’m going to treat Kaiden’s wounds, so don’t come near.”

Enoch, who was standing at a distance, nodded and turned away. I made sure he had completely turned his back before speaking to Kaiden.

“Take off your top.”

Kaiden removed his tattered Wizard Robe and then took off his white shirt as well.

I was momentarily flustered by his exposed, well-defined abs. What was this? Was this really the body of a Wizard?

Not quite as much as Enoch, but his body seemed as solid as that of a typical knight. Well-defined muscles and perfect abs.

If the wounds inflicted by the Anaconda contained venom, Kaiden should have been affected, but he seemed surprisingly fine. Enoch had suffered from Monster venom before, so why was Kaiden unaffected?

I used a cloth to wipe away the blood splattered across Kaiden’s body.

Being so close, I could almost feel Kaiden’s breath. Why was I getting so nervous over something like this?

I should have just told him to clean his own body. I hadn’t thought it through. I felt my face heating up for some reason.

I swallowed hard and was about to wring out the cloth and put it down when Kaiden suddenly grabbed my wrist. He rested his cheek against my hand and smiled sweetly.

“Why are you stopping? Do more.”

I took a deep breath and removed my hand from his cheek.

“…That’s not it, I need to treat the actual wounds now.”

Then, as I was taking out the disinfectant, Enoch suddenly approached, pushed me aside, and sat down in my place.

“It looks like you’ve wiped away all the blood, so I’ll take care of the wounds instead.”

He snatched the disinfectant from my hand.

Enoch could handle minor injuries, but the wounds Kaiden had sustained were quite large and deep, so even after wiping away the blood, there could still be problems.

Surprised, I reached out to stop him, but then I noticed the bulging veins on the back of his reddened hand holding the disinfectant, and I realized.

He seemed to be able to control it with his willpower to this extent.

‘Why is he going so far out of his way to treat Kaiden himself?’

I couldn’t understand and stared at Enoch.

“What? What are you talking about? No way. I won’t be treated by anyone but Margaret.”

Kaiden jumped up from his seat and stepped back.

But Enoch didn’t budge and beckoned him with a stern expression.

“Quiet, sit down.”

“No way. Margaret, come here.”

Kaiden reached out to me, who was sitting next to Enoch, and Enoch grabbed his wrist.

“Kaiden Blake Rohade.”

“Yes, Your Highness. No way.”

Kaiden picked at his ear with his other hand and looked at Enoch with annoyance.

I sighed as I watched the two men glaring at each other fiercely.

“If you keep interfering with what I’m doing, I’m just going to leave on my own.”

As soon as those words were spoken, a chilling silence fell. The two men became docile.

I think I’ve learned how to handle them a little now.

\ \ *

The next day, we decided to move and find another place to live after all.

Since Monsters had appeared, this place wasn’t safe either.

Luzef woke up belatedly and awkwardly hesitated, helping with packing while watching our reactions.

Kaiden cursed at him to get lost, but Luzef stubbornly remained, enduring Kaiden’s insults.

The most surprising thing was Kaiden’s stamina. He had suffered from a fever all night due to his wounds, but by morning, he was walking around as if he had been completely healed.

‘Does he have some kind of immunity to venom?’

Perhaps it was related to the experiments he had been subjected to when he was kidnapped by the temple as a child.

The wound we found in front of the cave last time must have been so severe that he couldn’t get up…

I was worried and told him to rest, but he didn’t listen.

As if not caring at all, he was bustling about from morning, picking fruit. He said he was hungry after using so much energy yesterday.

“I’m going to scout the area before we leave. It would be good if you could find out something about that Anaconda before I get back.”

Luzef, who had been watching Kaiden and Enoch’s reactions, scurried over to me.

“I’ll go with you. It’s better to have two people than one.”

Kaiden, who had followed him immediately, put his arm around Luzef’s shoulders.

“Where are you going?”

Luzef pushed Kaiden’s arm away with a displeased expression, but he didn’t get angry.

Knowing how nasty Luzef’s temper could be, I found it quite impressive that he could tolerate Kaiden’s rudeness like that.

Enoch also rarely agreed with Kaiden’s opinion and gave Luzef a pointed look.

“Then I’ll go alone.”

Enoch said it was too dangerous to go alone and approached me, so I quickly raised my hand to stop him.

“I can go alone. If it’s dangerous, I’ll shoot this.”

When I took out a Flares from my pocket and shook it, Enoch finally listened to me and nodded. Then he repeatedly told me to run away no matter what if anything dangerous happened.

I smiled at Enoch as if to reassure him. He looked dissatisfied, as if he didn’t quite trust me, but he didn’t mind and quietly left the cabin.

We had to move, so I decided not to be gone for too long.

After leaving the cabin, I went back to find the empty supply box I had seen yesterday.

I belatedly remembered that there was a supply warehouse guarded by Monsters in the novel.

I remembered that the supply warehouse contained various modern weapons, as well as survival kits and food.

I think it was near the Bunker.

I looked around the empty box for any clues, but there was nothing to find… or so I thought, but there was something under the box.

I could vaguely see something like a wooden plank between the dirt, so I hurriedly brushed away the dirt with my hands.

There was a square wooden box buried underneath.

I dug out a little more dirt and then took the box out of the ground.

The lid of the wooden box had a silver metal latch, but there was no lock.

※Handle with care※

M67 Fragmentation Grenade

Flame Bomb

I scanned the words written on the outside of the wooden box and was very surprised. A Grenade?

Moreover, someone had artificially erased the words written in Korean and written ‘Flame Bomb’ in Langrid Empire Language underneath.

Is it okay to open this box? It says ‘handle with care.’

I stared at the closed box for a long time, contemplating, and then made up my mind.

Well, either way, I’m going to die.