11 - Marquis Maron
Episode 11
I parted ways with the lumberjacks and headed straight into the forest in a secluded area. The luggage was just heavy enough. Walking was fine.
It took about three days to get here. It was three days because I came with Reikart, but it would be much faster if I went alone.
Because I don’t need to sleep or eat.
I can just go while consuming Magical Energy.
If I'm hungry, I can just bear it. I already confirmed when I first entered Maron Keep that I wouldn't die even if I only consumed Magical Energy. Besides, I also had the lunch box that the innkeeper gave me.
The reason I was able to survive for a year in that old, empty keep was that my body had changed into an unidentifiable constitution that could live on Magical Energy alone.
I walked and walked through the forest without rest. It was liberating and good not having to worry about Reikart being tainted by Magical Energy and taking care of him.
“Grrr….”
The tainted.
Those grotesque zombies don't look very appealing, but they don't harm me. They attacked Reikart when I was with him, but when I'm alone, they're like this.
“Grrr….”
They just stare blankly.
Just as Magical Energy isn't harmful to me, those tainted by Magical Energy aren't harmful to me either.
"Go away."
I left them behind and kept walking. I checked the direction dozens of times on the way, so I didn't need a map. Eventually, I'll come across the Dark Lake, and when I see the lake, I'll see Maron Keep towering behind it.
Doraji will be eagerly waiting for me at home. She scolds me every day, but she hates being alone, so I need to go back quickly and be with her.
What if she ate all the remaining strawberries?
Then I'll have to eat the meat all by myself.
After walking and walking for a long time, I suddenly felt a presence behind me.
I thought it was the tainted again, so I ignored it and kept walking, but this time, I heard a deep sigh. It was a familiar voice.
What is it?
"Hayley."
It was Reikart.
"You…."
He was angry. I could tell at a glance. He stood among the trees with a face that didn't know what to do because he was so angry, glaring at me.
The sword in his hand was dyed pitch black, and his hair and skin were being consumed by Magical Energy again. It was better than when I first saw him, but incomparably worse than when I was with him.
I couldn't help but ask.
"Are you crazy?"
"What?"
"Why are you following me?"
His face crumbled once more. I really couldn't understand him.
Why is he following me? I deliberately took him to a town where people live. In case his family went bankrupt and he had no money, I picked out something that looked particularly expensive from the treasure vault and left it by his bedside.
"Why are you following me? Are you out of your mind?"
"Why did you just leave?"
I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of his words. Why does he have to be with me when I'm going back to my own home?
Could this be a side effect of some vague amnesia? Should I try to persuade him step by step?
"Reikart, Maron Keep is not a place for you to live. You saw it. There's no food there, nothing at all. You have to live outside."
"You."
"That's my home."
We couldn't communicate. Just as I was frowning in frustration, Reikart scanned me carefully. Then he asked with a face of incomprehension.
"How can you carry that heavy load?"
"I can carry this much."
"The tainted…."
"They don't bother me. They only bother you."
Why do I have to explain all this?
I've bestowed all the grace I could on the unfortunate male lead in the novel. I saved him from almost dying, and I prevented him from becoming a Half-human Half-demon. I even took him to a town where people live and gave him money.
I no longer felt sorry for Reikart.
"Just go your own way."
"What?"
"Go. Don't follow me."
Don't interfere with my peaceful life.
"Hayley!"
He took a big step forward in frustration. He must be in pain because of the Magical Energy, but as if that was nothing, his gaze was still fixed on me.
"Are you going to live alone in a keep in the middle of the Contaminated Zone? Forever? I know you have a strange constitution, but that's just an abandoned keep. It's not a home! You said it yourself. It's not a place for people to live. Then it's the same for you."
"I'm fine."
I don't expect to be understood. I don't even want to be understood.
"This is my last favor. Go back right now."
I reached out to Reikart, who had already come close. It was to purify the Magical Energy that was consuming him. He'll probably get tainted again to some extent on the way back, but that's his problem.
"Don't."
But Reikart pulled away from me. He took a few steps back just before my hand could reach him and asked.
"Is it also a lie that you can't read?"
Was he such an observant character? I could feel the expression disappearing from my face.
"Yes."
He looked at me as if I were a stranger, as if the past few days we had spent together were meaningless.
Of course, it was a lie that I couldn't read. I had to pretend to be illiterate so that Reikart would go to buy things alone, and after he had gathered all the things, he would collapse from exhaustion and fall asleep, and I could go back alone.
I had mastered the letters of this damn novel world in Maron Keep over the past year. All the old books in the study must have my fingerprints on them.
It wasn't difficult. I was using Hayley's brain, which was considered a genius of the century, and my long years of student experience also shone.
Reikart laughed sharply and said.
"You were planning this from the beginning."
"Planning what?"
"To abandon me."
Since I was never his in the first place, shouldn't he not use the word 'abandon'? Should I correct him and say that I didn't abandon him, but took him there?
Reikart took another step back and said.
"Go."
"Aren't you going to get Purification? Something really bad could happen if you go back like that. Why did you follow me all the way here and create this mess?"
"Go back to Maron Keep. Don't worry about me."
"What?"
"I'll follow you on my own anyway."
Is he really crazy? I did a good deed with a good heart, so why is the reward a burden? You're the male lead of this novel, aren't you? You're going to meet the female lead soon and film a pink romance. This is dereliction of duty.
When I was so dumbfounded that I shut my mouth, he said self-deprecatingly.
"It's okay if you can just throw me away so casually. Whether I get tainted and die or not, just go back without worrying about it."
"You're…."
"You're right. I'm just a stranger who has nothing to do with you, and there's no reason for us to be together. You don't need to purify me. You don't need to feel guilty."
"You'll die."
"I know."
"You'll die. You'll die from being tainted!"
"That's what I came here to do from the beginning."
Just as you were trying to abandon me from the beginning, I came here to die from the beginning, I was going to die at your hands anyway the moment we lost the war, Reikart said calmly.
"You saved my life. You could have killed me several times, but you didn't. Hayley, I don't even know if my life is mine anymore."
"Reikart!"
"You should have just killed me back then."
I could see the anxiety of an abandoned child in his eyes.
