DEB 103

“…A person?”

A person in the Black Swamp?

Could it be the one who created this underground space?

As Huiyun cautiously approached the fallen man, Moot stopped him and snapped his fingers, summoning a small skeleton.

“Let’s leave the scouting to this little guy and wait for a bit.”

Good idea. 

There’s no need to risk danger when you have something else to do the checking for you.

The little skeleton scurried over to the fallen figure, circling it a few times before forming a large circle above its head.

“There are no traps around,” the skeleton clattered. “And the man is unconscious. Let’s move.”

Controlling a creature that not only follows simple commands but also thinks and assesses the situation on its own is no easy task, yet Moot handled it as casually as breathing. 

Huiyun smiled proudly, but Moot tilted his head.

“Did I make a mistake?”

“…No.” 

Huiyun touched his face. 

He had indeed been smiling, and he found it odd that Moot had noticed. 

A soft chuckle escaped from Moot.

Did he just tease me?

Huiyun glanced at Moot with suspicion, but his face was as composed as ever.

No way. He wouldn’t.

After all, Huiyun was his master. 

Moot wasn’t the kind of disciple who’d mock his master… or was he?

Huiyun changed the subject.

“Let’s send your skeleton back before we wake him up.”

It wouldn’t be good to reveal too much, especially when they didn’t know whether this man was an ally or an enemy. 

Necromancers are easily recognizable through their control over the dead, so Huiyun advised caution. 

Moot quickly dismissed his skeleton.

The bones that had moved so precisely collapsed in an instant. 

Huiyun cautiously grabbed the man by the shoulder and turned him over. 

Moot had a curse prepared just in case, but it wasn’t necessary. 

As the skeleton had confirmed, the man was unconscious and limp.

“He’s not dead. There’s no sign of poison and no visible injuries either… What should we make of this?”

The man’s appearance was too clean to suggest he had been ambushed. 

Huiyun couldn’t guess why he was lying there, so he let out a sigh. 

Moot leaned closer to inspect the man’s face.

“Hmm.”

He pressed his fingertip between the man’s brows, where faint wrinkles had formed. 

Noticing this, Huiyun let out a small sound of realization. 

He had been so focused on looking for injuries or battle marks that he’d forgotten to check for facial expressions.

“The tension on his face suggests he might be trapped in a hallucination. This swamp has been exuding an ominous and unsettling energy. What should we do, Yasha? Should we take him with us?”

“If he’s in a hallucination, we should wake him up first.”

“Ah, I see.”

Moot grabbed the sheath of his sword, which he usually didn’t use unless in emergencies. Huiyun wondered why he’d need it in this situation.

The reason became clear soon after—Moot intended to strike the man with the sheath.

“Wait!”

Huiyun quickly stepped between Moot and the man to stop him. 

Moot frowned slightly, looking displeased.

“I’d like to point out that protecting someone from me isn’t exactly the best idea.”

“If this looks like protecting, that’s a problem in itself. Waking him up is fine, but that method is too rough. Let’s think of another way.”

Moot blinked, as if to ask, “Is that really coming from you?”

A brief flash of guilt crossed Huiyun’s mind as memories of his teaching days resurfaced, but he remained firm. 

He gently pushed Moot’s sword back into its sheath, while Moot looked down at the hand Huiyun had placed on his. 

He clenched and unclenched his fist, clearly still wanting to hit the man.

Was he stressed out lately?

“If you’re going to use that, control your strength. It’d be a problem if you knocked him out again right after waking him.”

“I’ll go easy on him.”

“…No, I’ll wake him up myself.”

Not trusting Moot with the task, Huiyun decided to try his own methods. 

He shook the man’s body, calling out to him, “Excuse me,” and gently tapped his arms and legs, but the man remained unresponsive.

Moot, seemingly still intent on using force, drew his sword again—this time unsheathed.

Not wanting to provoke him, Huiyun focused on waking the man. 

He considered fetching some cold water to splash on him, but before he could move, a small cry interrupted him.

– Yippp!

Perched on his shoulder, Siho let out a yelp. 

Why didn’t I think of that earlier?

Eyes wide in realization, Huiyun lifted the small blue fox in front of him.

“Siho.”

– Yip?

“If that man is trapped in a hallucination or illusion, you might be able to dispel it. What do you think?”

The cautious question was met with Siho wagging his tail. 

Though he didn’t give a clear answer, it didn’t seem like it was beyond his abilities.

“Yasha, it’d be quicker to just wake him with a little pain.”

“Quiet.”

Moot casually suggested something that would terrify the unconscious man if he heard it.

There was a peaceful solution available, and Huiyun intended to try it. 

He locked eyes with Siho, his bright blue eyes reflecting his own, like a mesmerizing, gentle pool of light.

– Yip!

With a late response, Siho wriggled out of Huiyun’s hands and approached the unconscious man. 

Wagging his tail, he circled him before placing his small paw on the man’s head. 

A blue light emanated from his paw and seeped into the man’s body.

Suddenly, Siho collapsed.

“Siho!”

Panicked, Huiyun quickly scooped him up and checked his condition.

– Thump. Thump.

His heartbeat was steady, his breathing even. It seemed he had just exhausted himself from performing the purification.

Relieved, Huiyun turned his attention back to the man. 

It was odd that Siho had passed out from this, especially since he hadn’t collapsed even after purifying the Fragment of the Lord.

Was this purification different, more draining? 

Or was the hallucination afflicting the man so strong that it exhausted him?

Or… had he purified something else along with the hallucination?

“…….”

“Yasha?”

Noticing Huiyun’s tense expression, Moot gently tapped his shoulder to bring him back to reality. 

Huiyun blinked as if waking from a daze.

“…I was just lost in thought.”

It was a mystery that might be half-solved once the man woke up. 

Deciding to stay on guard, Huiyun shook the man again. 

Thanks to Siho’s purification, the man finally stirred, groaning as he opened his eyes.

“Gasp!”

His breath was ragged as his eyes flew open, locking onto Huiyun. 

Though his gaze was on Huiyun, it seemed as if he was still trapped in another world, as if part of him hadn’t fully escaped the hallucination.

“Are you alright? The hallucination should be gone now, thanks to this little one here.”

Sometimes, the quickest way to bring someone out of a hallucination was to tell them it had ended. 

As Huiyun explained, the man’s gaze sharpened, his eyes slowly regaining clarity. He blinked, once at Huiyun, once at Moot, and finally, once at Siho, who was nestled in Huiyun’s arms.

After those three blinks, his mind seemed to clear.

“…The hallucination is really over. Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me. It was nothing. But I do have a few questions for you.”

Though Huiyun kept smiling, he didn’t stop analyzing.

He speaks Korean, but he’s not from Korea.

The fact that the man didn’t react to seeing Moot meant he wasn’t familiar with him. 

And anyone living in Korea would have recognized Moot, one of the country’s S-class Awakened. 

The man didn’t seem to know who Moot was.

Huiyun wasn’t the only one who noticed this. 

Moot’s subtle gaze lingered on the man as well.

I’ll need to talk with him a bit more to get a clearer picture.

“How did you end up here? This isn’t a place for ordinary people. It’s dangerous, and even entering it would be difficult.”

As someone who had once represented good in the world, Huiyun was especially sensitive to angelic powers which was the root of the awakened’s power. 

But he couldn’t sense anything like that from the man. He wasn’t a hunter.

That made things even more suspicious.

How could a civilian end up in the eerie underground of this ominous swamp?

Suspicion crept into Huiyun’s eyes, but just then, the man laughed.

Nothing was amusing about the situation, yet the man laughed as if it were hilarious. 

Huiyun watched him warily as if the man had gone mad. 

The man, still laughing, dusted himself off and stood up, his expression clean and composed.

“There’s no need for such suspicion. I’m not someone from the ‘outside.’”

“What do you mean?”

The strangeness of his words prompted Huiyun to press him for an explanation. The man’s eyes narrowed slightly as he answered.

“I am a nameless being, born in this place, waiting for you, Yasha. I’ve been waiting for a long time, and now, we finally meet.”

“…Yasha?”

The name, which Huiyun hadn’t revealed, slipped easily from the man’s lips. In an instant, Moot’s sword was at the man’s throat.