NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 140
In a place where the air seemed to still, and not a single sound stirred in the heavy atmosphere, only the sound of coal burning and the train’s wheels clashing against the rails could be heard.
Inside, there was a hunter quietly bowing his head and me, sweating and on alert.
I would have been planning to go hunting anyway, but the reason we were in this situation was that it was the hunter who proposed the party first, not me.
When he pointed at me and said he would go together, his expression was anything but easy.
Just seeing that expression was enough to deflate me.
The Knight Commander, who was oblivious to my feelings, laughed as if it were amusing and said to me, “Looks like we’ve got a formidable ally.”
On the surface, that might be true.
But considering the usual behavior of the hunter towards me, would he really have said such a thing?
Maybe because he was the protagonist of Snow Castle, no matter how strong I tried to become, I couldn’t keep up with the pace at which the hunter naturally grew stronger.
Of course, it would have been easy to summon the Elite Outsiders with the Party Flute and be done with it, but there was no real reason to shatter the hunter for something so trivial.
Anything I did would just lead to me being taken advantage of.
Oblivious to my concerns, the train puffed out smoke and continued fulfilling its duty.
I glanced at the hunter.
He had been staring blankly at the train floor for a while now, lost in thought.
It was hard to read his emotions unless he was goofing around or angry, so I had no clue what was running through that head of his.
Standing there in silence was making me feel awkward, so I decided to break the ice first.
“Um, Hunter?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t think I caught why we’re heading to the capital of the Empire.”
When the hunter mentioned going to the capital to the Knight Commander, I got instantly assigned to him, so I didn’t hear the reasoning.
Normally, he would be too wrapped up in hunting Outsiders around Rondan, so what made him suddenly decide to head outside of Rondan?
“I have something to check.”
“…You don’t talk much about yourself, do you, Hunter?”
“Isn’t it all already known?”
The hunter tilted his head as if genuinely puzzled.
…What was he talking about? Was he maybe referring to dreams or something?
Well, just knowing someone’s past doesn’t mean you understand everything about them.
“Not necessarily, I mean.”
“Yeah, I suppose.”
The hunter nodded along to my words and then suddenly stood up.
I wondered what he was up to.
Out of nowhere, he removed his coat and tossed it aside.
What! Why!
“What are you doing?!”
“Wasn’t it a metaphor for wanting to know more about me?”
“Let’s just keep it casual; it doesn’t mean I want everything turned inside out!”
“If you know it all, nothing can be unknown.”
“Stop making crazy statements like they’re logical, you crazy person!”
Once the hunter took off his coat, I realized just how ridiculous the clothes he wore underneath were.
When he was in the coat, it almost felt fashionable, but wearing that skin-tight shirt like that was just too much!
In a different sense, it was so shocking I didn’t know where to look.
The hunter was staring at my face intently.
“Oh?”
“What?”
“Have you finally started feeling sexual emotions towards humans?”
“Ugh, seriously!”
Was he just trying to mess with me, or did he genuinely think he was advocating for ‘humanity’s peace’?
My head was starting to throb.
Just asking one question made me lose more than I gained.
I sighed and turned my gaze out the window.
The blizzard was falling mercilessly upon the land.
According to what the Knight Commander said, the Giant of the Snow Mountain seemed to have a tendency to take everything from its target.
Among those things, it especially seemed obsessed with warmth.
But why didn’t it take away life energy?
Even now, the Knights the Knight Commander led were still frozen yet somehow alive.
…Is it somehow related to the Giant’s backstory?
Having lived without receiving love, perhaps they didn’t want to live any longer?
My head hurt.
For now, I’d better focus on the task at hand.
Even just learning about the Watcher seemed like it would require three more brains.
Rattle.
The train came to a stop.
We had finally arrived at the capital of the Empire.
“Get off.”
“Yes.”
The hunter got off first, and I followed behind.
#
The capital of the Empire, Lintpia.
In the days of the living Emperor, it was richer than any place else, highly developed, and home to many people.
But now, since the Princess had gone to Rondan, that once magnificent reputation had long since faded.
“…It’s serious.”
“Yeah.”
True.
Even the nearby Bandre Village and the Duchy seemed to have people with their heads down, oozing a grim atmosphere, yet there was some semblance of vitality.
A will to survive, to keep pushing through no matter what.
But here, it felt different.
“Please! Just a single coin, just a single coin!”
“Excuse me, passerby! Please save me. I haven’t eaten anything for three days!”
It was sheer chaos.
The distant glow of the hearth was the only thing affirming that there were still people here.
No way.
How could it be this bad?
“Pretty serious, huh?”
The Doorkeeper, following behind, made a bitter expression.
“What on earth happened here?”
“At this point, other than Rondan, it’s a bit hard to find food. The silver lining is that this is the worst place in the current situation. Other places are a bit better off.”
So that means, unlike Rondan, there’s a stark contrast between the rich and the poor here.
As expected of a dark fantasy; anytime I felt things were getting a little peaceful, a scene like this would snap me back.
“You really don’t have to worry about it. As desperate as it looks, no one actually dies from hunger. Today’s particularly bad for food supply, but usually it’s not this extreme.”
“Ah, in that case….”
“Sorry for showing you such a sight. If you go inside there, there will be a place to rest and a place to look around.”
Turning my head toward where the Doorkeeper pointed, I caught a glimpse of a place that seemed somewhat better.
Hmm.
Even if it looks okay, seeing people suffering like that didn’t sit well with me.
By chance, I had some leftover food from the train; maybe I could share a bit.
As I approached those people, I thought about it.
“Where are you going?”
“I guess my hypocritical heart just wouldn’t let me walk past without doing anything.”
I mumbled a vague answer to the hunter as I pulled the food from my pocket.
“Excuse me.”
“Ah, please help us!”
“Take it easy now. Would you like to try this?”
I approached an elderly man who looked particularly distressed, and when I handed him the food, I realized just how happy one could be, watching him devour it with a bright smile like he had found a treasure.
Having fasted for a while and suddenly eating could strain his body, so I deliberately gave him just a little.
Even that seemed to revive him like he’d used all his fortune in one go.
“Thank you. How can I repay you….”
As the elder looked up to thank me, he suddenly froze in place as soon as our eyes met.
Don’t tell me he’s having stomach issues from eating?
“Elder, what’s wrong?!”
I bent down to check on him, and suddenly the old man grabbed my shoulder with trembling hands.
Then slowly, his hand traveled down to my arm, wrist, and finally wrapped around my hand, looking at me with trembling eyes.
What is going on?
No matter how thankful he was, he shouldn’t be reacting like this, I thought at that moment.
“Muji Absoluta.”
“…?”
“Muji Absoluta has returned!”
When the old man shouted this loudly, the gazes of the starving people turned towards me in unison.
Their expressions shifted instantaneously from agony to ecstasy, and they began to swarm towards me.
Perhaps seeking confirmation of the elder’s words, they examined me with questioning looks, and as soon as their scanning was done—
“Ah, Proshi! Proshi!”
As if enchanted by something, they all suddenly dropped to their knees and started bowing.
I couldn’t help but feel flabbergasted at this scene of collective madness.
“What, what’s going on?”
What does Muji Absoluta mean?
Why are they saying that to me?
“Muji Absoluta! Please deliver us from this suffering!”
“Deliver us, deliver us!”
Their voices echoed in unison, an overwhelming sense of dread washing over me.
Why?
Why was I feeling this dread?
While I was pondering this, an intense pain suddenly throbbed in my head.
“Ugh…!”
Strange memories began to forcibly flood into my mind.
Myself running through this city.
Clearly, figures resembling Outsiders smiling, and for some reason, harmonious interactions with humans.
A man, who seemed to be an Emperor, gazing down at it all, accompanied by a strangely dressed woman.
And.
The white-haired woman from my dreams, smiling happily while holding my hand.
Time froze.
I couldn’t think of anything.
The familiarity of the self within these forgotten memories was so foreign that it struck me with fear, as if another person was inside me.
I needed to get out of here quickly….
“Leydan Tanton!”
As my consciousness began to fade, I heard the hunter’s voice calling from behind.
That snapped me back just in time, and I turned around.
“H-Hunter?”
“Get over here right now.”
The hunter took my frozen self and helped me escape that space.
Finally, as we made it out, all the strength left my body.
The hunter, without a word, simply caught me.
“H-Hunter.”
“….”
“Maybe, I can find out who I am here. Strange memories started flooding in, and I— I have no idea who I am…”
The hunter said nothing.
He simply supported my unsteady form as if he were holding me and quietly looked down at me.
Strangely, just having him silently there supporting me gave me a sense of relief.
I leaned into the hunter a little until I calmed down.
…I hadn’t lost to his dangerously addictive softness.