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

Chapter 300

Chapter 300

"I cannot permit it."

"Please reconsider."

"My thoughts remain the same. It was a promise you made. When Eibon's successor returns, we'll discuss it again then."

Ah, these damned human bastards.

Why did they all act in ways that made him want to exterminate them completely?

Yurik harbored such thoughts while maintaining an elegant smile and taking a sip of tea.

About three days had passed since Yurik had an audience with King Oderus of Asgard and was refused when he said he wanted to visit Aquilonia.

Yurik had tried to persuade the King that he couldn't ignore the ominous omens that had occurred in Aquilonia, saying he would return in just one day.

However, the King had blocked him, saying he couldn't overturn the promise Yurik had made,And thanks to this, only his patience was drying up and withering away.

"He was someone who had grown accustomed to Asgard's climate. Even if he's Eibon's successor, he wouldn't remain in Aquilonia relying only on his companion."

"That would naturally be the case. But that doesn't mean I can send you away relying only on an uncertain promise."

"I understand completely, but."

"If you're also a legitimate descendant of Aquilonia's royal family, shouldn't you realize the weight of the words you've given?"

"Of course."

"Moreover, the investigation of the Mage Tower hasn't finished yet. The same goes for the birch forest owned by the Mage Tower."

"Regarding that, I heard that while some mages tried to warn about Eibon's successor in advance, they were expelled from within the Mage Tower to silence them."

"However, the clear cause and effect hasn't been revealed yet."

The reason the investigation kept being delayed was because all the mages in the Mage Tower here had died, so mages from other places had to come up.

This wasn't Yurik's or Aquilonia's fault.

Moreover, regardless of the weight of words and such, Yurik had lived just fine without such things since birth.

Besides, he had never seen a tribe that lied as well as those calling themselves royalty.

What? The weight of words? They were thoroughly intimidating him just because he was a prince of a small country.

Normally, someone like King Oderus would have seemed not just laughable but cute,

But the fact that part of Aquilonia's territory had evaporated and that all his companions including Dardin had been arrested in that situation,

And the message that the red-haired man was nowhere to be seen among them, gnawed away at Yurik's patience.

He had been requesting audiences for about three days straight, so he had made quite an effort to appear 'human-like.'

So even if he used hypnosis here and now, Yesung probably wouldn't scold him too harshly.

No, since Yesung wasn't here in the first place, he could just make sure he didn't know about it at all, couldn't he?

Having reached this thought, Yurik recalled the hypnosis magic he had obtained from the snake-people long ago and reached his hand toward King Oderus, who was drinking tea.

However, before his hand could even reach him,

"Your Majesty, Aquilonia's messenger has arrived through teleportation magic."

"What? Is it Eibon's successor? Has he returned with the solver?"

Yurik withdrew his hand. Not only that, he stood up from his seat almost simultaneously with King Oderus.

But the servant reported again with a very apologetic expression.

"No. However, it seemed he had business with His Highness the 3rd Prince of Aquilonia."

"With me?"

Yurik asked back. Was there anyone other than Yesung who would come at this time?

Or was it someone the Queen had sent? Either way, it was true that it wasn't welcome to Yurik.

Meanwhile, King Oderus, who had regained his composure, spoke solemnly.

"Go see, 3rd Prince. I hope next time there will be an opportunity for us to converse in a better direction for both of us."

What a cunning little snake.

Yurik turned around without reservation. He could feel Asgard's King watching him with sharp eyes from behind.

When Yurik returned to his room, what greeted him there was an unexpected person.

"Dardin."

Dardin, who looked more seriously haggard than when he last saw him, turned around at his call.

Dardin hastily bowed and muttered.

"Your Highness the 3rd Prince, please forgive the rudeness of not greeting you properly. I didn't know you would really be in Asgard."

"There were circumstances. Sit down. What happened in Aquilonia?"

Yurik, who had received only minimal information from the spies Dardin had planted, went straight to business.

But at his call, Dardin washed his dry face and said.

"Your Highness, I... I believe I possess a clear mind. However, I still don't know which of the things that happened then were real and which were hallucinations."

"Hallucinations?"

"But there isn't a shred of falsehood in what I'm about to tell you. Without any exaggeration, I'll only tell you what I saw."

Having begun this way, Dardin started his story from the inn with a trembling voice.

A day with no unusual omens, when Eva and Cellinne had gone to the market. And how he had gone downstairs afterward, when suddenly someone came babbling about monsters attacking.

How half the inn had blown away right after that. How it was heading toward the Leng Plateau, so they tried to stop it but failed.

And the giant black hawk fused with Eva, and the ice spear that pierced through it. Yesung who was with Cellinne.

"Something was different. I couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but he didn't seem like the person I knew."

In Dardin's memory, Yesung was a kind of savior.

Someone who defeated the hawk in one strike and performed a 'miracle' to stop the giant beast heading toward destruction.

The wondrous spectacle achieved by him who wielded the same face as usual but unusual words and actions.

And though he briefly lost consciousness when caught up in a tremendous attack, when he opened his eyes.

"There was nothing."

"...Nothing?"

"Yes. Nothing. At least around me it was like that. Only thick smoke was rising from an incredibly deep pit. And Yesung came out of there. He was, ah, not like a person. Absolutely not."

"Continue."

"He approached the hybrid of Eva and the hawk that he had defeated, dismantled the hawk and took Eva out from inside. But while taking Eva out..."

"While taking her out?"

Dardin's face became clouded.

"Something, dropped with a thud. Yesung picked it up and fitted something... No, that's not what's important. Your Highness, the important fact is that he separated Eva from the hawk and safely took her out. He saved Eva. He saved Eva with those blood-covered hands himself."

"......"

"And, and then."

The words came out stammering. Yurik carefully observed Dardin's face.

Yurik, who could tell human emotions just by looking at their expressions,

Discovered that his loyal subordinate's face contained ecstasy, fear, and awe.

But soon such things disappeared. The face with nothing left muttered blankly.

"-He disappeared."

"Disappeared."

"Your Highness, Yesung disappeared. I don't remember well. But there was nothing left in that place. I lost consciousness again. But when I opened my eyes next, Cellinne was... collecting something in that place."

"Dardin."

"Ah, she put it in a small box. A white box. Your Highness, did you see it? In the white box that won't open. How did Cellinne open it? Ah, but that box didn't open. Never. Cellinne collected and put things in there one by one. Your Highness, it's the truth. I saw everything in that place. Yesung disappeared. He stopped the beast of destruction. But what were those horns? Those clouds? What was the red woman?"

Even at Yurik's call, Dardin, who poured out words like someone possessed, didn't look normal at all.

Even Yurik realized there was a serious crack in his mind.

He couldn't use Dardin like this. It must have been hard enough just maintaining his reason to come this far.

Yurik slowly stood up from his seat. His white fingers now touched the damp forehead of Dardin, who was struggling to verify his own words.

"Your Highness, the inn was destroyed and black beasts appeared. Like destruction, like what I saw at the end of Aquilonia."

"Dardin, go to sleep now. That would be better."

"Your High..."

Before he could finish saying "Your Highness," Dardin's pupils dilated and he collapsed where he sat.

Yurik looked down at him and swept Dardin's face with one hand.

The next moment, instead of Dardin, there was another Yurik who had fallen into motionless sleep.

Yurik grabbed the fake Yurik-Dardin by the back of the neck and threw him onto the bed.

Then he took the cloak Dardin had been wearing, put it on, and pulled the hood low over his head.

No one stopped Yurik as he left the bedroom like that. Even the passing servants only glanced at him.

How fortunate it was that he had come to Asgard with Yesung. He could also identify the location of the magic formula for using teleportation magic.

But the problem was, if Dardin had come here driven mad, how mad were the others?

Yurik pondered briefly as he stepped outside Gladheim, where snow was beginning to fall heavily again.

* * *

In the dark tower's prison, Cellinne was counting every moment.

If she didn't, it felt like her thoughts would flow elsewhere.

She tried to be conscious of herself here and now, the hard floor, and her body that was sticky with sweat despite the cold.

But if she loosened the string of tension even a little, her consciousness immediately flew to the box she was holding in her arms.

A white box.

A white and cold box.

A box she couldn't let go of even though her hands were so frozen she felt no pain.

A box with no lid or lock that wouldn't open.

What was contained inside this?

And what she had done to put that thing inside the box.

Her dulled reason hadn't returned yet. In fact, Cellinne's unstable psychology right now was no different from a small boat drifting in a vast ocean.

She stroked the box and thought.

180,376 seconds. 180,377 seconds. The floor is hard. My hands are cold. 180,378 seconds. 180,379 seconds. What I saw then was exactly- No, don't recall it. Don't recall it anymore. 180,379 seconds. 180,380 seconds. But why did I do that then? But I could only think that I had to. 180,378 seconds. 180,379 seconds. It felt like I had to. I could only think that. So I picked up and collected 'that person's' scattered remains. 180,378 seconds. 180,378 seconds. This moment that never passes is horrible. I want to sleep. I want to be comfortable now. But if I fall asleep here, I might not be able to return. I have to stay awake. Get a grip! Someone grabbed her brain and scolded her. This voice was her own. 180,378 seconds. 180,378 seconds. 180,378 seconds...

"Cellinne."

She flinched and retreated to the corner of the prison.

The torch that had burned down to become very small couldn't fulfill its role as a light source.

Someone was standing outside the iron bars in the dim tower.

She slowly crouched while holding the box. It was a movement as if to protect it.

The person outside the bars called her again.

"Cellinne."

No. I won't let it be taken. I have to protect it. I must protect this. But for whom? Who had said such things to me? I can't give this up. I'd rather die.

The person silently knelt on one knee. The cloak that dragged to the floor rustled softly.

"You did well. Thanks to you bringing that, he can be revived."

What? Who?

"Come here. It won't benefit you to have it. Now I'll protect it, so be at ease."

Protect. Someone had implanted that. Because she had to protect it, she had desperately scraped together every piece of flesh and bone scattered everywhere.

That was the best way Cellinne could protect ■■.

But now someone stronger and more trustworthy than her promised to protect ■■.

If it could be protected. If he could be returned whole.

The obsession someone had forcibly implanted gradually faded.

Only then did Cellinne realize she was ready to hand over this box.

With trembling hands, she pushed it through the gap in the bars.

The hands wearing black gloves carefully received it with both hands, as if it were a sacred relic.

The visitor stood up, and footsteps faded into the darkness.

Cellinne sat blankly, then collapsed in that spot and quietly breathed.

Soon the blessing of deep sleep would come to her who had fulfilled her duty.

Please, let it be so,

May there be peace for my weary heart.