A Horror Novel’s Supporting Character Wants to Live as a Human

Chapter 222

How Yurik had figured out that he would eventually leave the desert.

And he didn't know how he had noticed that Yurik knew this fact either.

Just,

-You won't go anywhere, right?

-Yeah.

After the brief exchange, Yurik had laughed at his words without any particular comment.

And the fact that his red eyes, curved round from laughing, had briefly closed and then opened.

In the short words and simple actions that seemed like nothing, there was a mixture of déjà vu and strange atmosphere.

Even if it was an agreement made harmoniously on the surface, if you peeled back just one layer, underneath it was nothing but intentions to deceive each other.

No, that wasn't right.He shouldn't feel bitter over something like this.

Rather than predicting the next move while hiding cards from each other,

It was easier to predict what would happen next while showing all the cards they held.

Yurik had snake-people magic, Arahan, and Shambhala, but he had nothing.

At least in that respect, shouldn't it be fair?

Tika, somewhat frightened by the statement that 'Anutara knows everything,' asked.

"Then, then what happens now? Will Anutara punish us...?"

"The possibility is low. Yurik is only certain that I'll leave, but he probably hasn't predicted how I'll leave yet."

He could only pray that was the case.

This cycle's Yurik was relatively docile compared to other cycles,

But that didn't mean he was a fool who would just stand by and watch him leave.

If he were Yurik, he would make the Arahan patrol and guard the desert more strictly,

And wouldn't he assign people to track movements within the village?

He might do other things too, but for now, those were the two main ones.

"Since it's come to this, dragging out time will only give Yurik opportunities."

"We don't want to fight with Anutara. What if a conflict breaks out? We're not Arahan and have no power."

"There won't be a fight."

Among the people gathered now, none had any chance of winning against Yurik.

So.

"We'll need to think of a workaround. Shan, do you know anything about this scorpion bait? How exactly is this used?"

"I don't know the details either. Among everything I've heard so far, there was no method that used blood."

Hmm.

If magical rituals were involved in the bait manufacturing process, it seemed impossible to find out right now.

It would be a method shared only among the Arahan, and it would be awkward for him as an outsider to pester them to tell him.

Then there was only one method he could take now.

"Anyway, blood is used enough to fill this up, right?"

"Th, that's right?"

"Then if we dump in more blood than this, it'll work somehow, won't it?"

"...What?"

Shan began looking at him with strange eyes.

But there was no choice.

All great plans involved unavoidable sacrifices.

*

Yurik, while returning after safely sending Yesung home,

Gestured to an Arahan who had been loitering near the oasis.

The Arahan, who had been voluntarily keeping watch to prevent other people from approaching the oasis area, thought it was fortunate and approached him.

"Did your conversation with your teacher go well? You look much better than before."

"Let's say it did. More than that, we need to strengthen Shambhala's security for a while."

"Strengthen... you say?"

"Patrol more frequently. And the houses on the outskirts might suffer scorpion damage, so it would be better to check on them more often."

Uh... The Arahan rolled his eyes.

The scorpion offensive was no different from before.

It wasn't particularly more vicious, nor were there more of them appearing.

Seeing Anutara ordering the strengthening of patrols and security while telling them to go even to the outskirts, this was...

"Aha!"

He was worried about Yesung, Anutara's teacher!

The two had talked for a long time and it was clear things had worked out well in the end.

If that weren't the case, there was no way the cold-attitude Anutara would specifically tell them to patrol all the way to the outskirts.

The Arahan smiled brightly and said.

"Indeed, for someone seeing desert scorpions for the first time, the desert might feel a bit scary, right? We'll strengthen it further. Don't worry, Anutara."

"I'm counting on you."

Yurik looked around as if remembering something else, then asked again.

"What about the scorpion bait you lost?"

"We still haven't found it. It seems to have rolled somewhere after being kicked. Making a new one isn't difficult, so don't worry."

"I see."

Scorpion bait was made from Arahan blood.

Because it decayed quickly due to the desert's hot heat,

The Arahan took turns and on the morning of the day they placed bait, they would directly draw blood and manufacture bait through specific rituals.

The theory was to artificially amplify the magic power contained in blood by adding other materials besides blood.

Yurik was the first to devise this method.

Scorpions had been a major headache since establishing Shambhala.

However, after experiencing numerous scorpion attacks, Yurik discovered one peculiar point in scorpion behavior.

Scorpions continuously attacked only specific people including himself, while completely ignoring everyone else.

Excluding a few people who were hunted by scorpions, most deaths were from being crushed under collapsing houses,

Or unfortunate deaths from being in the path of charging scorpions.

It took Yurik several years to finally find the reason.

Among their copies, some were born with a smell similar to his own.

Whether to call it a smell or a peculiar aura.

Shambhala people who possessed such things were attacked more frequently and persistently by scorpions.

Borrowing the Mi-Go species' terminology, the identity of that smell, power, and aura was 'magic power.'

Yurik didn't know the true nature of magic power.

Even without knowing specifically what magic power was, where it originated from, what created magic power,

Or even under what conditions it was depleted, Yurik had one thought.

If magic power was what constituted a person,

Couldn't they extract part of a person to deceive scorpions?

Having invented a method to temporarily confuse scorpions this way, Yurik began searching for ways to utilize magic power.

He remembered the Shoggoths and hypnotic music that the Elder Things had used.

He also remembered the scene of Elder Things carrying the bloodied, cold-sweating Yesung,

And much later, the Mi-Go species exploring Elder Thing devices while repeatedly claiming the word 'magic power.'

Magic power wasn't a force that could be left to rot like this.

As Yesung had said, he needed to become strong. He wanted to become strong in some way.

He left Shambhala and traveled the world.

However, magic power utilization was the exclusive civilization of alien species,

And realizing that 'garbage dump byproducts' like himself and the Shambhala people didn't even have the right to explore the power called magic power, Yurik despaired.

And then,

The encounter between Yurik and a group of snake-people occurred.

It wasn't anything grand to call an encounter.

Because of the giant land animals that had now frozen to death, snake-people were thoroughly divided into groups,

And they were each searching for new lands for Ig, their father and guardian.

One such group had simply met Yurik.

However, for Yurik, snake-people were merely beings who reawakened past grudges.

So Yurik paid them back.

He made them pay for allowing Yesung to be swallowed, trying to tear him apart, and making Yesung chase after him covered in blood.

Still, he left one snake-person alive. From him, he spent a long time stealing all the magic the snake-people knew.

Then he likewise arranged for him to follow behind the group.

Their hides became quality spoils of war,

And Yurik, as if to show off, impaled the snake-people with exposed flesh on nearby sharp young trees.

This news would reach Ig before long,

But it didn't matter if it didn't.

Yurik had no intention of getting along with them anyway.

If he just waited with a little patience, the scattered snake-people would head down the path of self-destruction on their own.

That thought hadn't changed even now.

But why was Yesung acting so urgently?

He agreed with the plan to wipe out the snake-people's lineage, but there was probably no need to go that far.

Was it because of him after all?

No matter how he considered Yesung's relationships and the causality of events so far, he could only conclude it was because of him.

Indeed, he must be tremendously loved by Yesung.

Having cautiously speculated this, Yurik felt emotions gradually swelling in his chest.

"Shall we go now, Anutara? The night is deep."

"Let's do that."

Yurik obediently turned his steps.

It was truly a pleasant homecoming.

From the next day, Shambhala's vigilance became even stricter.

The Shambhala people were happy that they could go further, trusting the Arahan,

But they never dreamed there were other ulterior motives beneath this.

Yurik focused all his nerves on Yesung.

Yesung, as if unaware of such Yurik, maintained his usual regular lifestyle.

Waking up, wandering around his house, spending time at the oasis, visiting neighbors.

Occasionally he would leave Shambhala, but his stay time in the desert wasn't very long.

Considering Yesung's constitution, that was understandable.

How much had he suffered from heat and sunlight coming here?

Yurik was almost grateful to Yesung's body, which was weaker than an ordinary Shambhala person.

If only he would continue staying here like this.

If only he would live here forever.

But Yurik's hope didn't last very long.

Three days later,

News arrived that scorpion groups were moving before the sun had even risen.

The Arahan lined up in full tension as this was something that had never happened before,

And Yurik led those he had personally taught out into the desert.

But what actually met Yurik's eyes in the desert was,

Yesung standing on a sand dune with both arms soaked in blood,

And sand that had been dyed dark.

Just from that, Yurik realized what was happening and gritted his teeth.

"Yu Yesung..."

Yesung was letting his skinny arms hang down.

Seeing blood drops still falling, it seemed he had made the wounds not long ago.

He turned his head at Yurik's words, but his expressionless face showed not a trace of guilt.

Only the level of embarrassment or regret he might show when accidentally spilling food.

"It would have been big trouble if I'd been a little later."

"Why are you there? Come here."

"Why am I here? Well, to leave Shambhala."

"It's dangerous now because scorpions are coming. Come here."

"I don't care if I get torn apart by scorpions. But you and Shambhala wouldn't be the same, right?"

Yurik took a step forward. It was only about ten steps distance.

But Yesung remained motionless in that spot and spoke calmly.

"I'm sorry for causing you harm. But I have something I must do right now. It's important for both you and me."

"No. There's no such thing."

"Getting rid of Ig will take some time, but I think it won't be more time than either of us can bear. We'll just be apart for that while."

"Here would be safe!"

"There's no such thing as a safe place."

Yesung's brown eyes turned toward a distant place.

He seemed to be speaking with his right mind, but his heart seemed to have already left this place long ago.

He muttered.

"Because this planet itself isn't safe. It needs to be dealt with as soon as possible, or Leandros will..."

Yurik suddenly became anxious.

Was the Yesung before his eyes really the Yesung he knew?

With the sun rising from the desert, the sky began to be tinged with rose color.

Yesung's red hair swayed in the dry wind.

Yurik knew that hair. The kind brown eyes, and the hands that were cold and dry but natural when holding someone - he knew them all well.

But only now did Yesung feel unfamiliar.

That 'person' who felt like the existence of something greater than Yurik himself,

Spoke with a familiar face.

"Then I'll go and come back."

As soon as the words of farewell fell,

Dozens of scorpions drawn by the lure of magic power burst out from the sand dune.

With no time to prepare for the pouring scorpion swarm, an Arahan screamed.

Sand flying in all directions and fierce wind blowing at the same time.

Yurik rushed in to save Yesung from among the scorpions, but Yesung avoided him and slid down below the hill.

"Yu Yesung-!"

Yurik's shout echoed through the desert.

But whether it properly reached Yesung was unknown.