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

Chapter 277

Chapter 277

Yurik, who had emerged from the Queen's greenhouse, checked the time and immediately moved his steps.

Leaving the greenhouse with clearly quickened steps compared to when he arrived, he showed his determination not to waste even a single second.

The rear garden of the 3rd Prince's palace where he returned.

In the middle of the garden that servants had decorated according to the latest fashion, there was a quaint white marble shelter.

The semicircular roof blocked the harsh midday sun,

And beneath it, various foods were laid out on a round table.

In one of the only two chairs, a guest was already sitting and resting his legs,

He was staring pensively at the dishes that were still warm.

Others might say he was just lost in thought, but Yurik could tell immediately.Yesung was curious about the unfamiliar food and wanted to try touching it once,

But was waiting because he, who was supposed to dine with him, had not yet arrived.

Yurik carelessly removed his black gloves and threw them to the servant following behind him.

Then, as he immediately entered the flower garden, his face bore an uncontainable beaming smile.

* * *

He wondered what all these things were.

Things that looked good and had rich smells filled the dining table.

Looking at them, he was newly reminded of how much human food culture had developed over the past few thousand years.

He could tell that some things were roasted chicken-like creatures,

But the sauce was a strange blood color, so he couldn't even guess what it was made from.

As he was staring at the dishes for quite a while, he suddenly heard the sound of a chair being dragged from beside him.

A white hand suddenly appeared and picked up the plate he was looking at, cut a small piece, and beautiful lips swallowed it.

"It's meat carefully removed from a goose body, minced finely, shaped and roasted. They made sauce from sour fruit and sprinkled it to cut the greasy taste."

"It's not suspicious, is it?"

"When I'm eating it, would they make something suspicious? Want to try it?"

"No. I don't think it would digest even if I ate it anyway."

"You'd be curious about the taste though. Just chew and spit it right out."

Yurik coaxed while cutting another piece of goose dish and holding it in front of his mouth.

Really, just smelling it would have been enough, but since Yurik persistently wouldn't put away the fork, he eventually ate it.

After chewing a few times and stopping, Yurik immediately held a white cloth to his mouth,

And crumpled the soiled cloth to hand to a servant.

It was perfect service.

"How's the taste?"

"Stimulating and... unique. It feels like my nose is tingling."

"Must be because of the spices. Want to eat more?"

"No. You eat."

When he pushed the plate over, Yurik didn't decline and began eating.

Even while stirring the clear soup that was clearly his portion, the dishes gradually diminished.

"Did you have tea well with the Queen? Nothing happened?"

"She permitted passage to Asgard."

"Weren't you two on bad terms? But she gave permission so easily?"

"Of course there are various conditions attached, but it's not something Yesung needs to be involved in. I just did what I could on my end, so don't worry."

"Then when can we go?"

"If we send word to Asgard's mages and their royal castle approves, it will open immediately. The question is how much Asgard will deliberate."

The clock of destruction was steadily ticking away, but how long would Asgard make them wait?

Just as he was thinking that he should pursue illegal border crossing if things went well,

Yurik popped a dish he had tasted once into his mouth.

"What?"

"You don't need to worry so much. Asgard won't be that leisurely either. At worst, we'll hear news by dawn today."

"...It would be best if it really turns out that way."

The sweet and salty taste filling his mouth was completely unfamiliar.

He spat out what he hadn't even chewed onto the cloth Yurik offered and said.

"You worked hard. It must have been difficult, but thank you for doing it."

Yurik stopped while handing it to a nearby servant.

Yurik looked back at him with an expression of disbelief and said.

"Say that again."

"The thank you?"

"I did well enough to please Yesung, right?"

"Yeah. You did well, and anyway, you endured disliking the Queen and listened to my request. That's why I thanked you."

He wondered if that was so strange.

But hearing the answer, Yurik began acting like a chihuahua whose spirits had suddenly soared for some reason.

Yurik, who had sent the servant far away with a few gestures, grinned.

"I told you to trust only me. You weren't doubting me, were you?"

"Of course not."

Actually, he had been a bit scared that Yurik might kill the Queen. But it was better not to say that.

Now the results were excellent, and seeing Yurik gradually getting cocky was a bit funny, so he laughed too.

Yurik rested his chin on his hand with the most relaxed expression he had ever seen and looked at him for a long time before nodding.

"Family meals are quite nice too."

"It's a meal with me."

"That's a family meal. Yesung doesn't seem to know the definition of family meals well yet-"

"I know that much too! What do you think I am, some ancient fossil!"

"Anyway, good. I think I understand why humans eat their last meal of the day with family members."

In the memories he had left, it seemed he had rarely 'eaten' with family.

Things like dented aluminum pots or soju bottles rolling on the floor came to mind fragmentarily.

So he suddenly became curious.

"Is it that good? What was good about it? Specifically."

"Eating the same food."

"Even though I don't consume food? I was basically just sitting next to you?"

"Then I'll correct it to say sharing the same conversation is good."

"When you were outside the royal castle, with Cellinne, Walter, Evana... You must have continuously eaten meals while staying with those people. Was it the same as now then?"

"It was a bit different."

Yurik thought for a moment and frowned.

"Maybe it's good to spend specific routines with hyung."

"That's another interesting conclusion."

"Anyway, I liked it. If I ask to eat together again later, will you come?"

"If nothing special happens to either of us."

"I should tell the kitchen to put some effort in. With less spice."

Yurik smiled.

It was the clear smile that a young man of that age might make.

They sat like that and talked for a few more minutes. No, it was a few minutes in perception, but hours might have passed.

The servant who had been sent away even sent him pitiful looks as Yurik's next schedule was delayed.

He advised Yurik not to skip his routine since it was his first day returning to the royal castle, and returned alone.

Perhaps thanks to Yurik's consideration, not even a mouse approached the vicinity of his room,

But things like the bed and chairs were neatly organized.

Looking at this, it seemed like he had recently returned to filial son Yurik mode,

But if he made a wrong move, he could change to garbage worst Yurik mode, so he had to be more careful.

He created his own pastime by going over whether he had made any verbal mistakes with Yurik at today's meal.

Washing his body, changing clothes, touring the facilities of the prince's palace.

While doing this, he tried to suppress his anxiety by dispersing his attention.

He hoped Asgard would respond quickly, so that the result of Aquilonia being covered by demonic beasts wouldn't occur.

Stopping such a disaster by himself without Leandros, perhaps just him and Yurik alone, was too burdensome a task.

Moreover, his current self was...

He thought he was a powerless unemployed person.

Whose only specialty was coming back to life,

A guy who couldn't do anything without books.

He had no idea what he could do here now.

Perhaps Yurik's choice might be right. There were 8 kingdoms, and Aquilonia was a small country that wouldn't remain in history, so even if it was sacrificed to demonic beasts, no one would cry.

Even if he went to Asgard, he shouldn't expect everything to go well.

A reality where even one step ahead was unknown, a worldview full of only madness.

No matter how hard someone tried, perhaps no ending other than all of them going mad would emerge.

When his thoughts reached that point, his aimlessly walking steps stopped.

The windows lined up in the corridor reached up to the ceiling.

Beyond them, he could see a clean, blue sky. A different sky from the burning sky that swallowed everything, which he had seen just once long ago.

The last regression that began by going back 1 billion years.

Breaking away from the incomplete ending where everything had stopped,

A once-in-a-lifetime gamble where he staked everything to finally create a perfect story.

Right, if he didn't do anything, nothing would change in this world.

In this timeline, he had done what he could in the given situation. He had tried to make the best choices and tried not to do anything that would leave regrets.

Of course, there were unavoidable events. Like Yurik, for instance.

But if the events didn't end, if he acknowledged the continuing continuity and kept trying to create better situations,

Surely a better ending would be waiting at the end of this regression.

* * *

Permission from Asgard came after evening.

Considering the delivery speed, it seemed Asgard had given their answer in the late afternoon,

But even so, it was quite an exceptional speed.

Rather, it was good news for him who had been prepared for Asgard to drag it out for another day or two.

But conversely, Yurik was extremely annoyed.

Yurik, who was shaking the telegram transcribed on stiff paper, sneered.

"Asgard said they would only permit entry for the party who would solve the problem."

"Then I'll have to go alone. Is there no escort?"

"That much is possible. Of course they should provide one. ...But, aren't you disappointed, Yesung? That I can't go with you?"

Yurik was getting upset about something strange again.

Why was it important whether they went together or not?

Anyway, he had to return to Aquilonia, and for that, he needed the royal Mage Tower.

Even though Yurik clearly knew this, he couldn't understand why he was being so irritable.

Still, if possible, he hoped Yurik wouldn't be sensitive, so he immediately responded.

"Of course it would be good if you accompanied me. You're the only person I can trust most in Aquilonia. But we can't ignore the conditions Asgard presented."

"...Yesung's words are right, but."

"I'll come back here anyway. You just need to help me use the Mage Tower. When can I depart?"

"Since Asgard seems to want you to come as soon as possible, it's fine to go early."

"Then let's do that."

The departure time was set for early tomorrow morning.

Thanks to this, the people working at the 3rd Prince's palace had to run around all night looking for winter gear that wasn't in their fate.

Before dawn the next day, he packed the luggage that servants with somehow haggard faces had prepared.

"Unfortunately, His Highness the 3rd Prince has an early schedule and cannot see you off."

"It's fine. Please tell him that thanks to his consideration, I've sufficiently recovered my strength."

That was fortunate. He didn't have to appease a whining Yurik.

Leaving the 3rd Prince's palace, he followed the servant's guidance to the place they had used when moving to the royal castle.

It seemed the magic formula for using teleportation magic was drawn there.

Perhaps because the distance to travel this time was quite far, about five or six people who looked like mages were gathered with their heads together.

Moreover, there were as many as five bottles containing suspicious black liquid on the floor.

When he was peering from the threshold, curious about what they were doing,

One of the mages who had been discussing something discovered him and hurriedly ran over.

"His Highness the 3rd Prince told us. That you urgently need to teleport to Asgard. We're not mages from the royal castle's Mage Tower, but His Highness the 3rd Prince instructed us to send only the best talents from the Mage Tower."

"You don't need to feel such pressure. Just please do it safely."

"How could we not? Please come this way. Have you used teleportation magic before?"

"Yes."

Though at first he wasn't adapted and vomited greatly. He wondered how the second time would be.

When he arrived in front of the magic formula for teleportation magic, someone was already standing on the formula.

A fur-lined cloak hung down to his ankles, and most of his face was covered by a hood made of thick fabric.

His stoic standing posture seemed like that of a considerable expert.

When he looked at the mage, he added.

"This is the escort knight His Highness the 3rd Prince sent. Didn't you hear about it?"

"No. I think there was talk about an escort knight. I had forgotten for a moment."

When he climbed up next to him, the knight stepped aside by one pace.

He was taciturn but considerate.

Besides that, luggage to take to Asgard piled up at their feet, and the mages began pouring the familiar sticky liquid.

Along with the liquid spreading out familiarly, his skin tingled.

As the magic formula became clear, the mages chanted incantations together.

While they muttered while breaking out in cold sweat, as the familiar and unpleasant sensation grabbed his ankles and he was about to scream, he kept his mouth tightly shut,

-Whiiiiish!

Instead of gentle air, wind mixed with cold ice fragments greeted them.

When he opened his eyes wide, everything around was frozen white.

Sharp, pointed mountains stood as the background for the swirling snowfall.

Magnificent and grand mountain ranges, air full of floating ice powder.

A country that seemed like it would freeze solid even the breath he unconsciously exhaled.

He had finally arrived in Asgard.