The Nature of Possession

390 – EP.14 The Sword of the North-3

***

The sharp teeth of the saber-toothed tiger dug into my shoulder. My vision was momentarily blocked by the eerie sensation of running to the tip of my skull.

The shoulder I instinctively gave, if I had made even the slightest mistake, would have been bitten off my neck and I would have been rolling around in the snow.

The blood that had gushed out soaked the snowy field.

Strong grasses will grow by feeding on the blood that has seeped into the ground.

She thought.

Thud, the strength left my legs and my knees fell to the ground.

My whole body was shaking, it seemed like I had lost a lot of blood.

He walks on the ground with his bare arms.

She thought it was really ugly to see herself crawling around like that.

Finding a suitable rock to lean against, she leaned her back against the smooth surface.

As I lay half-lying down, a cloudless sky came into view.

Unlike the high, blue sky and peaceful scenery, the ground was filled with only blood, sweat, and restless breath.

I feel dizzy. The exhaustion that comes after a fight that leaves you breathless and the dizziness that comes from losing blood come together.

It was a mistake that Man-Yong made by rushing at the sword-toothed tiger.

Allowing the saber-toothed tiger to strike my shoulder was a fatal wound caused by my lack of skill.

She had spent her seventeenth winter in her arms.

The bottle of styptic was nowhere to be seen, perhaps because it had fallen during the fight.

“ah.”

Only then did death become real.

He died after catching a saber-toothed tiger, so it wasn’t a dishonorable death.

If you do it right, you might even get another tattoo on your dead body.

Thinking about it like that made me laugh.

Tattoo, yes. It’s a tattoo.

Look at the size of the saber-toothed tiger, it must have been the biggest one caught among the children who participated in the coming-of-age ceremony.

If he dies here, the Tark guy who has been needlessly hot on him lately will never have a chance to defeat him again.

I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought of the guy snorting and stamping his feet at the funeral.

More blood is lost.

My heart rate seemed to be slowing down.

“Mother Earth, I will soon return to your embrace.”

His sweaty black hair hung down.

She waited quietly for the eternal silence that would soon follow.

It was only when her blood dyed the surroundings red that she heard footsteps.

Thud, thud, thud.

“Are you a barbarian?”

“I think so, Your Highness.”

When I slowly opened my eyes, I saw a man of similar age looking down at me.

And next to him was a wrinkled and skinny old man serving the man.

“Are you the person inside the wall?”

As she spoke in a voice that seemed as if it would blow away in the wind, the man’s eyebrows went up.

“The person inside the wall?”

“Ah, that’s what the barbarians call our people.”

Barbarian. If I had heard that normally, I would have smashed his head in with a greatsword…

She was annoyed at her lack of strength in her hands.

“That’s an interesting expression. So they call themselves people outside the barrier?”

“They call themselves ‘People Outside the Walls’, ‘Children of the Earth’.”

“What a cool name.”

“What a wonderful name… If the Duke heard that, he would have been very angry. You haven’t forgotten, have you? The Duke of Wiltenprum…”

“I’ve heard it over and over again, that we are a family entrusted with the honorable duty of guarding the northern border.”

“Seeing you trying to contact the barbarians like this, I think you should listen more.”

The old man didn’t even think about straightening his scowl, as if the situation itself was unpleasant.

“You look injured. Did you defeat that saber-toothed tiger by yourself? That’s impressive.”

Despite the old man’s dissuasion, the little duke approached her.

Even when approached by a stranger, she was unable to put up much of a resistance.

Are you going to kill me for coming too close to the wall? It’s a disgrace to be killed by someone inside the wall.

She thought about her honorable death.

“The wound is serious. Kedi, bring me the first aid kit.”

“Your Highness.”

The old man spoke as if he was asking the little prince to swallow his words, but the little prince would not bend his will.

While the old man ran towards the ox, the little duchess examined her wounds.

“He looks about my age, but he killed a saber-toothed tiger that big by himself… I’ve heard that I’m pretty good with a sword too. The world is really big.”

Even in her daze, the duchess’s chestnut hair stood out clearly.

The day after a heavy snowfall, it was like seeing flowers blooming through the snow.

He kept praising her skills, and in the meantime, an old man came with first aid kit.

“Oh, Kedine. I think it would be a good idea to bring some dry food. You need to eat something to cheer them up.”

“Okay… Okay, I understand.”

The old man turned back to the cart, and the man began to treat her wounds with first aid kit.

After wiping the blood with a cloth, apply a styptic to the wound.

And the wound is bandaged tightly.

She tried to capture the face of the man in front of her nose.

“Why are you helping me?”

Let’s ask with caution and doubt, the little duke shrugged his shoulders.

“There is no reason for one person to help another. If you had attacked our castle, you would have been an enemy, but at this moment, aren’t you just a little girl who needs help?”

Girl.

She closed her mouth at the unfamiliar title.

Maybe it was because I lost a lot of blood? My face got hot.

The Duke’s treatment took quite a while, but she felt like the time had been very short.

“Well then, take care on your way back. And I hope we never see each other again. If we do, we’ll be enemies.”

The little duke, holding out his dry goods and smiling kindly, rode his horse back to the barrier.

She watched them fade away into dots as they moved away, then returned to her tribe.

On his shoulder was a saber-toothed tiger that he had hunted.

***

“You’d be the only one thinking of slaughtering a saber-toothed tiger at your coming-of-age ceremony.”

The sorcerer said, closing the canister of blue dye.

He rolled his eyes in disbelief as he tattooed an arrowhead on the girl’s body.

“Is it a great game?”

“It’s a great prey. Even the most skilled warriors from the tribe wouldn’t dare take it down alone. It’s fierce, clever, and fast.”

“I definitely thought it was a great game when I caught it….”

“Did you hit puberty late? You’re unusually calm.”

“It’s just that I’m more interested in something.”

“Hmm, I guess you found some more attractive prey while catching that b*stard.”

“…Maybe so. But I don’t think I’ll be able to see him again. He lives very far away from the tribe.”

“Then just hunt.”

“huh?”

“The children of our land have cultivated their land through hunting. Hunting is the foundation of our culture. We hunt to protect our tribe, to maintain our tribe, to hunt for honor, and sometimes to have the game. If there is game that catches your attention, why don’t you hunt it?”

“Uh… is that so?”

“Oh my, I was wondering what was bothering me.”

The sorcerer stood up in disbelief and left the tent. The girl looked at the place he had left and recalled their conversation just now.

“So we just hunt that man down and bring him back to the tribe?”

She thought carefully about whether her understanding was correct.