Dry Drowning - Chapter 40

When the search team returned from the last exploration site, the campsite was already in chaos.

Seeing that the number of injured people increased compared to yesterday, Schwartz hardened his expression. When asked what happened, Fred, who scratched his head, said he ran out in an instant and had no time to catch it.

“What…”

Schwartz let out a long sigh, realizing that Ian was not in sight.

Did he run away?

That was the first suspicion he had, but Ian couldn’t have done it unless he was a fool. This was the black forest of Shertian. Only the armed northern knights were allowed in, and there was nowhere to escape as they were surrounded by walls on all sides.

Furthermore, a search party was attacked just a few days ago.

The fact that there was a derivative*, means that there was also the main body nearby.

[*T/N: I don’t know why the beasts are being called derivatives. Maybe, the beasts which the Knights encountered are kind of children of the bigger beast that Ian encountered or just smaller beasts which are controlled by that bigger beast.]

“What did he take?”

“He took my sword with him…”

It didn’t even matter. Gone bare with only one sword was like going to die.

He frowned at the awkward situation, but soon he heard the sound of horseshoes. Logan, who got off the horse alone and watched Deiden groaning inside the barracks.

“Grand Duke.”

He didn’t know what would happen if he told him that Ian had disappeared. Until now, he’s been so kind as to change his expression in seconds*. But he couldn’t help but inform. Sighing, Schwartz slowly opened his mouth.

[*T/N: Schwartz is probably talking about how at one moment Logan had a kind expression to Ian and then a serious person the next moment.]

“Ian…”

But he couldn’t finish his sentence.

It was because Logan, who was looking at Schwartz, turned his head quickly as if he felt something and stared at the forest.

The bright yellow pupils were so narrow that they were closer to something else than human’s.

“…….”

It was already familiar to the Knights. Logan could sense sounds and smells that ordinary people cannot detect from a few meters away. It was because of that ability that most of the search teams that encountered the seven derivatives a few days ago were able to return alive. Logan arrived after smelling the blood of Evan, the first to die and slaughtered seven on the spot.

It was impossible even for the thirteen people to attack it with all their might.

Logan, unstained with a drop of blood, disappeared into the forest when he saw the derivative s had fled.

That’s what is meant by inheriting blessed blood. The power of the Grand Duke of Hyer, praised as the sword of the Empire, has long lightly trampled on common sense*. Of course. Nobody dared to imagine that killing wouldn’t kill him.

[*T/N: This probably means that the power of Duke Hyer was so unnatural that it couldn’t be understood by mere common sense. It’s as if the unnaturalness of Duke’s power has lightly trampled upon common sense.]

Schwartz, who had long served as the head of the Northern Knights, had already witnessed it dozens or hundreds of times. Logan, who had always been calm even when his intestines leaked out or his heart penetrated, returned to normal the next day.

It was something that he couldn’t adapt to no matter how often he saw it.

He couldn’t have done that if he was a human being.

He even wondered if it could be called a blessing, but it was a question that could never be uttered out of his mouth.

“He’s running.”

Logan, who was about to ride on horseback as usual, was still staring at one place. It was the way, Fred had said that Ian disappeared. Schwartz asked back what Logan meant but he did not respond and slowly moved. It was like someone who heard something very strange.

And it wasn’t long before Schwartz understood the meaning of the word.

It was because he could see Ian running with someone in his arms in the distance.

“What, Isn’t that Shyu?”

Daniel’s words drew people’s attention to Ian’s arms. With the blonde hair visible from afar, they knew Ian really went to save Shu. In fact, they were thinking that the child might have died at the sight of Dayden, who was badly wounded.

It was when everyone was looking at the figure of Ian getting closer and closer.

“Ian!”

Ian’s body collapsed a little further away. Thanks to this, Shyu, who rolled to the floor together, blinked his eyes and crawled towards Ian. At a glance it was seen that Ian was clutching his chest and not in a normal condition.

Realizing something was wrong, people began to run one by one.

But Logan, who was closest, did not move from the spot.

As the sun went down, only a bonfire filled with firewood lit up the surroundings. After examining the wounded crew and scouting around the campsite, Schwartz stopped in front of the innermost barracks. Claude, who was following him, called out to the inside.

“Excuse me.”

There was no answer, but he often did so, so he walked to the tent and went inside. The interior of the lamp was not very bright inside. Schwartz took a step closer to Ian, who was deeply asleep, and Logan, who was staring at him.

“How is he?”

“He broke his rib and got stabbed in his lungs.”

Schwartz swallowed his saliva at Logan’s voice, which answered dryly as if it were nothing.

The figure of Ian, who was curled up on the floor being unable to breathe properly, was still clear.

“How did he get there?”

A sudden question flew towards Schwartz, who sighed as he recalled what happened in the afternoon. Logan saw Ian running with a child, but seeing him ask such a question seemed to have a different meaning.

“…There was a derivative a little further down the stream. He cut off its ankle and neck. I think his rib was broken there, too.”

“Not that.”

“What?”

“I ran farther away.”

Claude, who spoke instead of the captain, blinked at Logan’s voice as he was still looking down at Ian. Ian was unconscious, and Shyu, who was with him, was unable to speak, so the Knights, who could not understand what was going on, soon found a dead derivative body not far away.

Fred’s sword, which Ian was wearing, was covered in blood, so it was likely that he was injured by a sudden derivative and brought Shyu here.

That’s what he had already concluded, but Logan was talking about something completely different.

“I smelled blood.”

He didn’t understand for a moment, but soon realized that he meant the knight who was dead in the forest further away. It was, to be exact, the ripped out armor.

“I ran from there.”

“……”

“……”

There was a brief silence in the barracks.

derivatives in the shape of animals only kill people, but do not eat them.

So there’s only one thing a badly dug body says. The body that Logan and the Knights are looking for. That’s what people call a monster.

It was Logan, who first came back from a distant expedition after smelling Dayden’s blood. As soon as Schwartz opened his mouth, he immediately focused his senses on another smell.

Then, soon another sound overlapped.

Logan felt very strange when he realized that the place where he smelled the blood coincided with the point where Ian started running.

It was the sound of their encounter.

But how? How did you get back alive? I wasn’t even around.

Ian, who fell asleep, said nothing.

Logan, who had never taken his eyes off of him since before, slowly leaned over.

“……”

It looked like a kiss scene from the back. However, Logan stopped his face in front of the sleeping Ian’s nose and muttered without an expression. If he was in that much pain, he would have known that running was poison….

“It must have been painful, but you weren’t serious.”

It would have been a better choice to leave the child alone and come call someone. It was the first time he had seen a person being eaten in front of his eyes, so he probably didn’t know that it could eat him too*. When humans encounter it, they instinctively realize it.

[*T/N: For those who couldn’t understand this part, it is being said that, he had never seen a man-eating monster, it was his first time encountering one and he didn’t realize that the beast eats humans. He might have thought it just hurts people but didn’t think it could eat people too, so he also didn’t realize it could eat him too.]

But Ian hugged the child. He never looked back and never stopped.

“You don’t even use your wits.”

If I had left him alone, he would be dead again.*

He never tried to kill himself, but he keeps trying to die if he leaves him alone.

[T/N: Logan kind of means whenever Ian has been left alone, he either try to die by attempting su*cide or try to do something which might kill him like trying to save Shyu. So Logan didn’t leave Ian’s side since he came back.]

Unlike Roselia, Logan was not interested in treatment at all. Slowly, he lifted his hand up and a soft touch tapped Ian’s blanket-covered chest. Now, he could hear the beating of the heart over the now clean rib. It was like a lullaby.

Logan raised his head feeling strangely sleepy though till now he could not sleep*. Claude and Schwartz in the back, looked away as if they hadn’t seen anything. He got treated, but he fell asleep deeply, so he probably won’t wake up until tomorrow morning.

[*T/N: Those who don’t know (who haven’t read the spoiler thread), Logan is extremely insomniac, he rarely feels sleepy.]

“Come on, wake up.”

He whispered softly to Ian, who still had his eyes closed. This was very important if what he was thinking was correct.

So Logan couldn’t wait to see if this guy was really useful.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

T/N: I feel really bad for not being able to release on a regular basis or release quickly, but there is nothing I can do. School and Tuitions are killing me T^T. EVEN MY WEEKENDS ARE FILLED UP. T^T I am really sorry guysss (╥_╥)