Necromancer Survival

Chapter 436

Chapter 436

Despite Olim's rebuke, Dawon remained relatively composed. Rather, he looked straight at her and responded, shamelessly, "Well, Olim you may want to believe that I did something to Lee-kyung-ie, but… I was the one who was coerced."

"Co-erced??!" Of course, I was the one who pushed for it in the beginning, but… I tightly gripped Dawon's arm.

Olim snorted and tilted her head disbelievingly; she didn't even need to look at us to convey her dismissal of the Mage's statement. "How funny. Do you think I think you and Choi Lee-kyung are the same? As expected, listening to a criminal’s excuses is a waste of time?”

"S-Stop it, both of you!" Strictly speaking, it was true that I’d been the instigator in this situation… But there was no way I could admit, even to Olim, that I had clung to Dawon even though the Mage had tried to push me away. Instead, I clenched my eyes shut–my face burning red–and yelled at the top of my lungs.

However, my behavior practically proved Dawon's words.

Kim Olim looked between me and the Mage in clear disbelief. Then, after a moment of silence, her expression darkened severely, and she released a deep sigh that had been brewing in her very core. "Choi Lee-kyung, you really… Haah…"

"…I'm sorry… I-It somehow happened…"

"Don't tell me any more, because I really don't want to know."

"Yeah. Don't ask about this any more. Olim-ie, if it wasn't for you, we could've continued to be in a *good* mood." Even in the midst of all this, Dawon couldn't resist throwing in an entirely unhelpful, snarky comment of his own. But Olim, without saying a word, grabbed the strap crossing her shield tightly. That action alone was enough to shut him up.

I was only able to organize my thoughts after the tension between these two subsided.

‘…So… when I fall asleep, I suffer from nightmares and am mentally drained; the servants joined forces to devise a defense plan. But, their defense plan is out of control for some reason.'

I could vaguely guess at the reason behind the malfunction. Cautiously, I tugged on Dawon’s sleeve. He immediately turned to look at me. "Is it because of Koo Hui-seo that my nightmares can't be controlled?"

"……."

"……"

Both of them clammed up as if they had tasted something salty, but it was clear. The nightmares were exacerbated by Koo Hui-seo's contaminated blood entering my body.

The two, after a brief hesitation, looked at each other before finally nodding.

"That's right."

"Yeah."

So… does that mean we have to kill Koo Hui-seo? I tried to be objective, but, as soon as I pictured his gaunt face–battered, bruised, and coming to see me despite his condition, I could hardly lend voice to that thought.

‘As expected, that's not the way to go… Besides, Koo Hui-seo has a baby to take care of. He just became a father…'

Of course, if I thought about how that child came to be, there were things I couldn’t ignore. But to me, Koo Hui-seo wasn’t so much a threat as he was a patient—a man who seemed more in need of help than condemnation.

Furthermore, though this was nothing more than a guess, if my condition could have been improved with Koo Hui-seo's death, Dawon would have already done so earlier. No… It was more than a guess–this was a certainty.

At that moment, Olim supported my hunch with a calm explanation, "Koo Hui-seo's blood is unique. It's more like an ingredient ‘refined’ by a witch for some curse. He's… less like a living being and more like a tool." ?ä?????

I nodded as I recalled the shock of my first time seeing Koo Hui-seo. He was chimerized with a tree; certainly, it would be difficult to consider him a mere human being.

‘Perhaps Koo Hui-seo… If we hadn't saved him, he too may have fallen prey to the [Tragedy Collectors].'

A new theory branched off due to our conversation, but I chose not to voice it. Instead, I posed a different question, "But, wasn't Koo Hui-seo locked away by Koo Kyung-man? When did Chairwoman Shin have the chance to turn Koo Hui-seo into something like that?"

Dawon answered, "Koo Hui-seo had been under a taboo-curse ever since he was young, remember?"

"No way…"

"One might say that he became a smelter for a certain curse ever since then."

"……" I was rendered speechless.

Olim nodded as if she understood what had caused me to lose my voice, "He's a man born and raised to become a tool. That, at the very least, deserves pity."

"Why… go to that extent…"

"Chairwoman Shin must have had some ambitions. Perhaps she saw him as her ‘trump card,'–a means to wield an overwhelming power over the Red Dragon Guild after her husband's death.”

Dawon added, in support of Kim Olim's words, "This is just my guess, but Chairwoman Shin was fully aware that Koo Hui-seo had fallen into Koo Kyung-man's hands. She came to retrieve him the moment his condition changed. You remember that, don’t you?”

"Ah…Mmm…"

"Leaving him in that state… No, from Chairwoman Shin's perspective, I suppose she was leaving him to ‘mature.' If she viewed him as a tool for her rituals rather than a cherished son, she would have been fine with leaving him in such a state."

It was a harsh statement, but, considering the violence Koo Hui-seo had endured all his life, Chairwoman Shin was more than capable of such ruthlessness.

The more I learned, the worse I felt for Koo Hui-seo. Yet, Da-won's face showed unmistakable irritation as he observed my darkening expression. His fury wasn’t directed at me but at the thoughts he seemed to sense I was having.

"Don't pity him, Lee-kyung-ah. Look at yourself."

"….That… Of course, I won't let myself be alone with Koo Hui-seo from now on… He’s like a wild beast… No matter how pitiful he is, I’ve learned for sure to keep my distance this time." I spoke hastily, as if I was making excuses for myself. But, neither of them released their cold expressions.

At that moment, Olim stepped toward me and began carefully brushing her fingers over my body, as if to ensure nothing was broken or amiss.

I could see, over Olim's shoulder, Dawon's eyebrows raising high, but even he couldn't carelessly stop her. Her movements radiated a profound sense of concern, almost heartbreaking in its intensity. It was enough to make me feel slightly embarrassed.

However, after her close inspection, she said something completely unexpected:

"I think you're one of the strongest people I've ever met, Choi Lee-kyung."

"Huh?"

"That's why I'm all the more anxious. We don't have enough time to wait for your body to catch up to your heart. We'll have to fill that gap for you…"

Her unexpectedly affectionate words made me choke up.

I felt the tips of my ears burning as I replied hastily, "I-I truly believe you're doing enough…"

"…Since I've signed that contract with you, I can acutely feel–more and more–my limits."

I wasn't the only one startled by her line of thought—Dawon seemed equally taken aback. But Olim, ignoring our reactions entirely, continued to gently stroke the bruises on my wrist. Then, without any warning, she leaned in. My eyes were wide open; I had no defenses–I was wide open. I couldn't move until her lips touched mine.

Dawon–completely blindsided as well–roughly grabbed her shoulder and yanked her away, "What are you doing?"

Olim, who kept her lips on mine until the last moment, replied brazenly, "Of course, anything I do it's out of respect–it's to honor our ‘master.' Don't be so tacky, Seo Dawon."

For the first time since entering this room, she smile mischievously. I couldn't help but flush red.

Dawon looked at my blushing cheeks; his eyebrows shot up sharply, and he demanded, “Choi Lee-kyung, aren’t you gay?”

"I-It's not like that…"

"Fufu." Olim, seemingly unbothered, patted my cheeks calmly and smiled. Her touch made me flinch nervously, unsure of how to react.

After all, someone so cool like Olim wasn't exactly common. Plus, a person that cool thought I was strong… Moreover, she even kissed me…

Meanwhile, Dawon’s expression twisted further, as if he’d just caught a cheating lover. He glared daggers at both me and Olim before finally shoving her aside and physically inserting himself between us, blocking her from my view.

"How unsightly, Seo Dawon."

"You should go back to your room and pray for repentance. Your Goddess might smite you down with a thunderbolt."

"The Goddess isn't so small-minded as you are. Stop with your blasphemy."

I sighed as I watched those two childishly bicker; eventually, I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous situation.

When they heard my laughter, both Dawon and Olim abruptly fell silent and turned their attention to me.

* * *

After the commotion had finally settled down, it was time for me to eat. For some reason, the other Servants began to trickle into my hospital room one by one. Before I knew it, everyone, including Jo Chan-young in his puppy form (for some inexplicable reason, Eunji was holding him), had gathered in the room.

I had to eat porridge and drink potions in front of a total of eight pairs of eyes. But, because of everyone's close attention, I felt sick and was unable to properly digest the food.

Still, I swallowed rice grains with the same determination needed to swallow medicine. Garam, who sat on my bed with a gloomy expression on his face, asked a bomb of a question. "Did you enjoy it, Choi Lee-kyung?"

"Pbbbffft!" I spat out the porridge that I had been eating. Immediately, Woo Ragi smacked Garam on top of his head.

"Ah, fuck–! Why did you hit me!" Garam whined.

"Stop being so vulgar."

“Oh, come on, everyone’s curious. Admit it!”

“Are you insane? Why would I care about something like that?”

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TL: Just in case you were wondering… I guess everyone else really did hear the two going at it.