HPL 05

chapter 05

I arrived at the opening in the wall, quickly pulled back the ivy, and kicked aside the haystack. As the haystack tumbled to the other side, a hole was revealed.

When the man saw the hole, his eyes widened, and I shrugged lightly.

“Impressive, huh? I was amazed the first time I saw it too. Dina managed to find a place like this.”

“Get in here quickly.”

I pointed to the hole, and a flicker of conflict crossed the man’s face. He had followed me, but now he was hesitating—wondering whether he should trust my instructions. His thought, “Could this be a trap?”, was evident.

As the sounds of the slave traders’ footsteps drew closer, the man reluctantly entered the hole. He seemed to judge that falling into a trap was better than being caught by the pursuers.

His right leg was injured, so he couldn’t move quickly through the hole. I immediately began pushing him with both hands.

“W-what are you touching?”

The man was visibly flustered when I touched him, but trapped in the hole, he couldn’t stop me.

He turned his head to glare at me, but I ignored him and pushed more boldly.

“There’s no other choice. Just get through the hole quickly.”

He gritted his teeth, probably realizing this was the only way to escape the situation.

Once he got through, I quickly followed. Having done this once before, I managed to get through faster than him.

After emerging on the other side, I reached into the hole, cleared the ivy from the outside of the wall, and quickly covered the hole with the haystack.

Almost immediately, a harsh voice came from beyond the wall.

“Damn it! There’s no one here!”

If I had been a few seconds later, we would have run into them. That was lucky. My body is still in poor condition, so I don’t want to cause a scene.

“What do we do now? It’s almost delivery time! That brat of a premium slave isn’t here.”

“F-first, let’s take a few stand-ins. That guy has the restraining magical device made from the blood of that brat. If we use it, they’ll be unable to withstand the pain and come crawling out on their own.”

The slave traders panicked and turned back.

When no further sounds came from beyond the wall, I turned to the man.

He was leaning against a nearby tree, head slightly bowed.

As I approached, the heavy scent of blood hit me. Cold sweat glistened on his forehead through strands of his purple hair. His breathing was rougher than before.

Earlier, I hadn’t noticed due to the sudden strangling, but the man’s condition was worse than I thought. Even so, he remained cautious of me.

“Why are you helping me?”

I am not a merciful god as humans imagine, but as a deity, I have a fundamental professional ethic: “Never ignore an innocent being in need of help.”

“I have a professional ethic of my own.”

I shrugged lightly, and the man looked skeptical.

“I thought there’s no profession that helps runaway slaves.”

His voice carried distrust and cynicism. He narrowed his eyes, trying to gauge my true intentions.

While the man watched me warily, Tommy suddenly appeared.

{In this country, helping a slave escape is considered theft, and one must pay a fine ten times the slave’s price. Those who want to help a slave usually buy and release them. Of course, only the slave’s owner can sell them.}

That’s probably why the man mistrusted me. But that’s just a human law.

“Slaves were created by fools who thought they were superior. To me, a slave, a noble, or a king is all the same.”

When I spoke firmly, the man’s expression changed subtly—like someone seeing something unfamiliar. His gaze grew even stranger when I said I would heal him.

“Heal…?”

He said “heal” awkwardly, as if he had never heard the word before. It seemed he had never received proper treatment as a slave.

I bent down and brought my hand close to his right knee.

Reflexively, the man tried to kick me away, but his right leg wouldn’t cooperate. A groan escaped him.

“Ugh.”

I quickly used my divine power.

Light flowed from my hand into his right leg.

As the light faded, he looked at his leg in astonishment.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“Of course not. I healed it.”

As I straightened up, he stared at me, still with that peculiar, unwavering gaze.

“I heard only a high priest can heal my knee. Are you a priest?”

“Something like that.”

He tilted his head, not fully understanding. Who would expect a god to be here?

He cautiously tested his right leg. As it moved freely, a faint smile appeared on his face.

“Other places seem injured too. Take off your clothes.”

He hesitated, eyes downcast, before deciding to comply.

As he removed his top, his torso was revealed.

His body was perfectly sculpted, like a master craftsman’s creation. But I was more shocked by something else.

His body was covered with injuries—too many to count.

From sharp punctures to branding marks and black bruises, the scars were diverse.

Dressed in black, I hadn’t noticed the bleeding until now.

“How did you move so well with all this?”

I muttered, blinking, and even Tommy looked shocked.

{Yeah… someone that injured would normally collapse immediately.}

Despite his injuries, he remained calm.

I touched his most severe wound on the side.

He flinched slightly as my fingers brushed his side. He must be in pain—I need to heal him quickly.

I invoked my divine power, and light flowed into his wound. The bleeding stopped instantly.

Next, I touched the burn on his chest. Again, he flinched.

Just a brush, yet it hurt him?

I used divine power to erase the burn marks from his chest.

I continued treating him diligently, but there were still too many untreated wounds.

I couldn’t heal each one individually—it would take forever. My body was unstable, so I had restrained my divine power, but now I decided to use it fully to solve everything at once.

I grabbed his right hand.

He flinched again, awkward as if never having held another person’s hand.

It wasn’t just pain that made him flinch. He probably had little experience with contact that didn’t inflict pain, so my healing touch felt intense and strange.

I poured strong divine power, and light surged around me, traveling from my hand to his body.

His expression softened with the increasing light.

The divine power enveloped him completely, shone brilliantly, then vanished. Every horrid scar on his body disappeared.

It was over.

I let out a low groan.

“Ugh…”

Using so much divine power at once made my head spin. I needed to return to my room to check my condition.

As I staggered, he squeezed my hand—the roles reversed for a moment. Realizing it, he quickly let go.

“You look pale… Are you okay?”

I gestured for him to follow and walked toward the mansion. He didn’t move at first, rooted to the spot.

Having healed, was he planning to escape? If that’s what he wanted, I wouldn’t stop him. Humans always make their own choices.

I glanced back at him.

“Decide quickly—escape or follow.”

He followed, resolute.

Using a method I’d seen in Dina’s diary, I returned to the annex without encountering anyone.

The moment I entered the room, dizziness hit me. The ceiling and floor seemed to merge.

Am I standing correctly? Breathing normally?

I tried to assess my condition, but my consciousness flickered like a candle in the wind before extinguishing completely.

When I opened my eyes, I realized I felt better.

{Did you sleep well?}

Looking up, Tommy was observing me, legs crossed.

Did I really sleep? I couldn’t remember what happened after entering the room.

Sitting up, I muttered,

“So this is what sleeping is.”

{I thought you were tirelessly preventing the world from ending… I never imagined you’d forget to sleep. Foolish.}

Keep your muttering to yourself, Tommy. Even gods who don’t need sleep or food forget sometimes. Humans sleep nightly even knowing it’s necessary.

<The act of resting while losing consciousness>

The divine encyclopedia briefly described sleep this way. But experiencing it was far from simple.

My fatigued body and mind revived instantly. I felt refreshed and rejuvenated.

“Are you okay now?”

A low voice made me turn sharply. The purple-haired man leaned against the wall, watching me.

He was in a blind spot—no one entering or looking from outside could see him. Clever choice.

Tommy explained the situation.

{As soon as Naida entered the room, she collapsed. That man thought she had overexerted herself. She just forgot to sleep.}

He thought it was his doing. I gave a vague explanation.

“I’m fine now. Still here, huh? I thought you would leave.”

“I couldn’t stop worrying…”

I was surprised. He didn’t seem the type to be considerate.

{While Naida slept, a woman named Ariel came. She wanted him to die instantly, so I guess he was concerned.}

“Oh, surprisingly considerate.”

I couldn’t help but think that aloud.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly but soon regained composure and expressed thanks stiffly.

“Thank you for helping me.”

“No need to worry. It’s just habit. But your tone has changed?”

“There’s no need to make someone who helped me feel bad.”

I tilted my head.

“Does casual speech bother you? You seem about my age, so speak comfortably.”

“…Our statuses are different.”

He looked bitter, and I was more confused.

“You haven’t accepted being a slave. If you had, you wouldn’t have run. So there’s no need to address me formally as if you’re a slave.”

His usually cold eyes wavered for the first time.

{You can say surprisingly touching things… Did you read it in a book?}

Tommy, be quiet. I don’t care who speaks formally.

I glared at Tommy, and the man spoke again.

“Is that really okay?”

“Yes.”

“…What’s your name?”

Speaking casually now. It suits him better.

“Dina. What’s your name?”

He bit his lip and looked down. Maybe he couldn’t reveal his name while escaping.

“If you don’t want to say, that’s fine. I won’t force it.”

He met my gaze and spoke with a hollow tone.

“It’s not that I don’t want to… I don’t know my name.”