I Became A Married Man in Another World
Chapter 132
Rescuing the Survivor
At Juhwan’s words, the people who had been standing around gloomily gathered in a flurry.
“Is it true?!”
“There was someone alive?”
“No way.”
The voices of the crowd were tinged with half-hope and half-disbelief.
The burrow was dug deep beneath the corpse of the Magic Beast hunter. Because the narrow entrance was completely blocked by the upper body of the corpse, it was impossible to even peer inside without moving it first.
The shoulders of the hurrying people slumped heavily.
The waist of the deceased second subjugation squad Captain was held together only by thin strands of bone and veins. He looked like the hourglasses used at the Guild.
It was painfully obvious that touching the corpse in such a state would cause the body to fall apart. For that reason, the hunters had intended to take their time moving it to ensure the remains stayed intact.
However, if someone inside the burrow might be alive, the body had to be moved immediately.
The hunters, who had wanted to move with as much time as possible, let out somber sighs here and there.
Amidst the sighs, Juhwan placed his hand on the corpse. Gwen and several other hunters crowded around the body, preparing to lift it together.
“We’re moving him.”
At Juhwan’s signal, the men nodded.
Taking great care to keep the body from separating, they lifted the upper and lower halves of the remains almost simultaneously.
However, because the terrain was uneven, their footing was unstable.
The hands supporting the body from beneath were slightly uneven in height, causing the corpse to tilt. Entrails spilled out from the limp body, and the bones shifted out of alignment.
“Ah.”
Someone let out a soft lament. The part where the body was still connected stretched thin. it was on the verge of snapping. The men’s hands paused for a moment; they synchronized their breathing and moved again.
“Good. Slowly.”
As Juhwan and the men lowered the remains, one person who had approached gasped.
“My God. On the body’s face…”
Anxious, Juhwan turned his gaze to the face of the deceased after laying the body on the ground.
A messy wound was carved into the corpse’s right cheek. It was a cross (+). A sign requesting help. The wound was ragged, as if gouged out with something blunt.
Gwen muttered.
“Could it be… he was trying to hide the scent?”
“Ah…”
At Gwen’s words, Juhwan realized what had happened.
It seemed the Captain of the second subjugation squad had covered the burrow with his own blood-soaked body to hide the scent of the person inside. To deceive the Magic Beasts, that would have been the only way.
Perhaps he had hidden the person in the burrow with that intention from the very beginning. Since he would have known better than anyone that Magic Beasts have a keen sense of smell, he might not have intended to survive at all…
But he must have feared that even a search party might not realize someone was hidden in the burrow.
Thinking that, he must have carved the cross in his final dying moments.
So that when someone found him, they would realize there was a person in the burrow.
Ragged bits of flesh were wedged under the Captain’s fingernails.
It was proof that he had scratched his own cheek.
A somber lament flowed through the crowd.
Juhwan gently covered the corpse’s staring eyes with his hand.
The eyelids were somewhat stiff. When he pressed down slightly with Wind Magic, the eyes finally closed.
Gwen looked toward the burrow.
Other people were already scrambling at the entrance.
It seemed they couldn’t see inside well. Someone lit a torch to shine light, but the burrow entrance appeared only as a black void. Someone muttered, wondering if there really was a person inside.
The entrance to the burrow was certainly narrow. It was likely a rabbit hole or a space that had formed naturally in the ground. Sometimes there were patches of earth where the surface was hard but the inside was crumbly and hollow.
The inside of the burrow, as seen through Mana Detection, was so narrow that a person would be unable to move an inch once inside.
The man was deep inside the narrow burrow, so far that it was strange how he had managed to get in that far.
“The ground isn’t stable. It’ll collapse if we touch it wrong.”
The people inspecting the burrow spoke anxiously. If it were a corpse, it wouldn’t matter, but if the person inside was alive, they couldn’t handle it recklessly.
Juhwan concentrated his mana into the burrow. He checked the condition of the person inside.
The person in the burrow was no longer moving. However, as he meticulously touched the person’s body with his mana, he could tell they were still alive.
Though slow, the chest moved slightly. They were breathing.
They seemed to have cooled significantly, but body heat still remained.
“It’s okay. At this rate, we can save them.”
At Juhwan’s words, cries of joy erupted from the crowd. But soon, anxious voices were heard from all around.
“What do we do?”
“They’re in too deep. We can’t even grab their legs to pull them out.”
“Ah, damn it. No one can even fit inside. It’s too narrow.”
While everyone spoke in frustration, Juhwan approached the burrow.
Several days had already passed. The man in the burrow could die at any moment. They had to hurry.
“I will wrap this person in wind, so please dig out the soil in the meantime.”
The hunters replied, sounding a bit flustered by Juhwan’s words.
“Is… is that possible?”
“It will take time to dig through the earth.”
A few people checked the ground around the burrow and shook their heads.
“The soil inside the burrow might be weak, but the top is hard. The surface is normal ground. This kind of earth is firmer than you’d think. There will be vibrations.”
“No matter how much of a mage you are, it’s difficult to support the sand with wind.”
Juhwan breathed lightly to steady his mana and nodded.
“It’s alright. I can block it firmly. Besides… if we don’t try now, it will be too late.”
“…”
The men exchanged glances and then nodded heavily.
“The mage is right.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Please hold out for a moment.”
Juhwan placed his hand on the ground and slowly funneled mana into the space within the burrow.
He stirred the wind around the body.
The air gathered quietly along Juhwan’s skin and then seeped back into the earth.
Using the same method he used to touch objects with Mana Detection, Juhwan wrapped the hunter’s body underground in wind.
He had to be careful.
If he wrapped the wind too tightly by mistake, the already thin flow of air would stop. The man would become unable to breathe.
“I’m ready. Start.”
As soon as Juhwan spoke, the hunters picked up their shovels and began to dig.
No matter how careful they were, vibrations occurred every time a shovel struck the ground. The barrier of wind wrapping the person with mana shook slightly in response.
Juhwan separated his mana into several layers, like onion skins, wrapping the man and then hardening the edges slightly.
This kind of fine adjustment was the most difficult.
It felt like holding a small teaspoon filled with water while standing on one foot on a high railing over a cliff. The feeling that if he dropped even a little of what was in the spoon, the world would end.
Sweat pooled slightly in his palms. The heart of the person in the burrow seemed to be slowing down. The breathing that brushed against Juhwan’s mana grew weaker.
It would still take time to dig the earth. Juhwan could do it quickly, but he didn’t have the confidence to do both tasks at once.
As Juhwan breathed a little air into the burrow, he suddenly wondered if he could perform healing like this.
Healing magic manifested by putting Juhwan’s mana into a person’s body. Until now, it had only been possible through physical contact. That was likely necessary for proper treatment.
However, if he could send even a little of the healing power through the wind, it might be possible to prolong the person’s life.
There was a chance of failure. By dividing his attention for healing, he might end up with a result worse than doing nothing at all. But if death was already beginning…
It would be convenient if mana had colors. Green for healing, red for fire, blue for wind, and so on.
But mana had no color.
It couldn’t even be seen.
Only the caster’s thoughts determined the property of the mana.
Because of that, he sometimes lacked confidence in whether he was sending out the correct mana.
‘What if what I’m sending now isn’t healing, but wind or fire?’
Then the man would die instantly.
His heart throbbed with an ominous beat.
Whew. Juhwan took a light breath and let the gathered mana seep into the ground. Following the minute flow of air, the mana spread through the soil.
At first, there was no change.
Only a sensation remained as if the mana had spread into the dirt and disappeared.
He was disappointed, but he thought, just a little more, and distributed more mana into the ground.
One second, three seconds, time passed.
In the silence, the sound of people shoveling dirt and throwing it aside could be heard—thud, thud.
Even in that time, the man’s breathing was growing slower.
Was it not working?
Just as he thought that, someone muttered, breaking the tension-filled air.
“Uh… look there… his hands are glowing.”
The crowd’s eyes were now focused on Juhwan’s hands.
“My God.”
“What is that?”
“I’ve seen healing magic used before, but I’ve never seen it glow like that.”
Juhwan saw shimmering, transparent light floating around his hands. It wasn’t as brilliant as Oz or Yeonhwa’s red light. It just sparkled transparently as it reflected light. It looked like transparent jewels made of air.
“What…?”
Juhwan muttered to himself unconsciously. This was the first time this had happened.
The jewel-like light was gradually absorbed into the ground and disappeared, and soon after, the heart of the man in the burrow began to beat strongly. The man’s breathing grew more vigorous.
‘He’s alive. It worked.’
So healing magic could be used this way too. Perhaps when he touched someone directly to infuse it, these particles had been seeping into the person’s body, just unseen.
Relief caused his tense shoulders to drop slightly.
Almost simultaneously, a part of the ground being shoveled through broke open.
“We’re through!”
“Now dig with your hands!”
“This way is the head.”
“Careful. Don’t step there!”
The hunters shouted as they swarmed the ground. Some began digging with gloves on, others with their bare hands.
As the man’s body, which had been wedged into the burrow, became visible from above, the people’s hands moved even faster.
Once shovels could no longer be used, the digging became very slow. While one or two people who could use Wind Magic primarily dug the earth, those beside them scooped the dirt away with their hands.
During that time, Juhwan continued to push healing mana into the man’s body while being careful to prevent the surrounding ground from collapsing.
Sparkle. Beyond the hole, grains of light shone beautifully. The light was gradually seeping into the man’s body.
Once the hole was finally large enough for a body to come out, the hunters finally pulled the man up.
The limp man rose bit by bit to the surface. Someone shouted to be careful, and the man was safely moved onto the ground.
A nearby hunter hurried to brush the thick dirt off his face.
As his nose and mouth were revealed, the man’s face finally became visible. He was a boy so young it felt wrong even to call him a man.
Gwen pressed his ear to the boy’s chest and said with relief.
“He’s alive. He’s breathing.”
“Whoa!” A cheer erupted from the crowd.
Suddenly, one man collapsed and began to cry.
It was the person who hadn’t said a single word since the search began. He had been working diligently as if he had lost his voice. Even now, that man had been the one digging the hardest until the very end.
The man’s hands were blackened from digging dirt until a moment ago.
Because he was wiping away tears, his face was now a mess as well.
The person next to him asked in surprise.
“What’s wrong? Was it someone you knew?”
“…He’s my brother. The youngest in our family.”
“…”
The commotion among the crowd quieted instantly. Several people silently patted the crying man’s shoulder.
Wiping his eyes, the man turned toward Juhwan and pressed his forehead to the ground.
“Thank you. Thank you so much for saving my brother.”
It was a relief that he could use healing magic. Juhwan approached the injured boy, touching his nose as it began to prickle with emotion.
When Juhwan placed his hand on the young boy’s body and activated his magic, color finally returned to the boy’s deathly pale face.
Suddenly, the boy began to cough—hack, hack. Dirt and saliva splattered from his mouth.
As Juhwan laid the boy on his side, the boy’s older brother rushed over and patted his back.
“Ugh… ooh…”
The boy let out a groan, trembled slightly, and then snapped his eyes open.
“Aaaah… ah… aaaaaah!”
He didn’t seem to understand the situation properly. The boy flailed his arms and screamed. He kicked his feet as if striking at something.
From behind, the older brother pulled the boy into an embrace.
“It’s okay! It’s okay. You’re safe now. It’s me! It’s your brother.”
Only after the brother shouted several times did the voice seem to reach the boy’s ears. The boy stopped struggling, looked around, and then turned his head to see his brother.
“…Ugh… Bro… Brother…?”
“Yeah, it’s me. You’re okay now. The Magic Beasts are dead.”
“…Brother… Brother… the Captain… the Captain… ugh… uwaaaaaah!”
The boy burst into tears and clung to his brother.
