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Chapter 9: Telling the Truth
Teresa gripped Alex’s hand.
“No, that’s suicide.”
“If Cedric really cleared the woods, it’s not suicide.”
Alex stated firmly.
“Think about it. You and Selina take the safe road; I sneak into the dungeon core before it can spawn more monsters. I don’t have to fight.”
As he spoke, his conviction grew.
“I just sneak in and out. The Mark might even help with sneaking. That much I’m sure of. If I can pop out anywhere on the continent, we can travel overland to Genera from there.”
“Anywhere?”
Teresa shook her head, tightening her grip.
“Your plan is ‘somewhere’? Alex, that could be the continent, but it could also be the middle of the Northern Sea, a cave in the west, another dungeon, the capital, or right in front of Ravenor. And if just one monster pops out, you’re dead alone.”
“But there’s no other choice. And I can’t take Selina in there. So you have to take her, Teresa. Please.”
“Alex…”
Teresa shook her head again.
“You’re not thinking clearly. If Selina wakes up tomorrow morning and hears her brother wants to go into a monster-infested cave, what do you think she’d say?”
“We’d leave tonight.”
“You can barely stand.”
Teresa squeezed his hand until it turned white.
“You’re closing your eyes while I’m talking right now. I can’t navigate the woods in the dark; how can you in your state? And when Selina wakes up and you’re gone, what do I tell her?”
Alex clenched his jaw.
“Tell her we’ll meet in Genera.”
“You’re her only family left.”
Teresa’s voice trembled.
“She’ll try to follow you. She’ll cry, she’ll scream, she’ll try to get away and track you down.”
Stung by Teresa’s words, Alex bit his lip. Teresa pushed further.
“If I run into people from Alik—no, our family—on the way to the harbor without you? Of course they’ll wonder what happened to you. Rumors start about an eighteen-year-old disappearing on the day a Champion appears, the priests will track you.”
Alex grimaced. She was right. Of course she was right. Leaving Selina wasn’t safe, either. It had taken all three of them—Teresa, Brutus, and his magic—to bring down that last monster. If another like it appeared, Selina would need every possible protection. Even his own safety wasn’t guaranteed.
“Teresa… what do we do then?”
Teresa looked at the quietly sleeping Selina.
“Alex, we go together. All of us. Into that cave.”
“Taking Selina is…”
Alex pressed his lips into a thin line.
“If anything happens…”
Teresa’s other hand carefully closed over his.
“It won’t, Alex. I swear on my soul. Selina is like the little sister I never had. If we’re together, we can make sure nothing happens.”
Alex looked into Teresa’s eyes and saw unshakeable resolve.
“…Alright. The three of us go into the cave together. If it looks too dangerous, we reconsider.”
He let out a long breath.
“Now let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow will be long and hard.”
The Koyle Woods seemed perfectly normal on the surface. Sunlight filtered through lush green branches, illuminating vibrant ferns and wild herbs below. Birds sang overhead; a distant cicada droned its long, buzzing cry. Even the air was crisp and clean.
But Alex thought he caught the faint scent of blood mixed with the forest smell. He couldn’t be sure if it was real or his imagination. Maybe it was just his mood.
Brutus led the way cautiously, three heads swiveling, sniffing the air as if trying to make up for missing the enemy’s presence the night before. Selina silently held Alex’s hand in her small one.
“Are you sure this is the right way?”
It was the tenth time she’d asked.
“Of course.”
Alex smiled in reply.
“The Chosen One said he cleared out the monsters. This path is much safer.”
“…But wouldn’t it be faster to just follow the road?”
Selina kept looking side to side like Brutus, sticking closer and closer to her brother.
“Maybe. But more monsters might come on the road. We’re just taking a detour through the woods. Okay?”
Selina silently stared at Alex for a long moment, then nodded. She probably sensed something was off. But that was a problem for later. For now, getting her there safely was the priority.
Teresa scouted ahead, moving carefully with her bow at the ready. Occasionally, she’d crouch and quietly cut some herbs growing on the forest floor. In her skilled hands, every motion was fleeting.
As time passed and the ground plants thinned, Teresa stopped collecting herbs. Stones began to appear on the ground, and the terrain gradually sloped upward. And that’s when something began to sting Alex’s nostrils.
Selina grimaced.
“Ew, what’s that smell?”
“Like a rotten frog. You’ll see soon enough.”
Alex turned his gaze through the trees. A massive hill rose from the earth beyond them, and he knew they were nearing their destination.
Teresa raised a hand, halting the group. She slipped into the undergrowth, crouching low, and crawled forward to peer over the crest. After a moment, she gestured for them to join.
“We’re here.”
She whispered. Alex lifted his head and looked through the trees. They’d arrived at the base of an isolated, steep-sided hill rising from the forest floor.
The hill was an ancient tor, time-worn and craggy. Sparse, hardy shrubs dotted its sides like the last hairs on a bald man’s head. And at its center, a great cave yawned.
The Roth siblings inhaled sharply in unison. The place unmistakably smelled of recent slaughter.
Right below the cave mouth, on a sandy slope, lay scattered animal bones. They were picked perfectly clean, enormous tooth marks visible even from a distance. And mixed among them were the remains of those who’d owned the teeth.
Cedric’s handiwork.
The crushed bodies of Silence Spiders. Carapaces shattered as if by a hammer, skulls deeply impaled by a spear, others blackened and charred by intense flame. The scents of scorched earth, ash, and the rot of something more viscous lingered in the air.
Alex pointed.
“Look at the size of that one.”
One headless monster corpse was far larger than the others, its body nearly as tall as Alex’s shoulder. Its massive claws looked like they could shear a small tree in one blow.
Teresa narrowed her eyes, trying to peer into the cave from a distance.
“At least they’re all dead.”
It was hard to believe this place was now a Ravenor spawn-point. Without the corpses, it would look like any ordinary forest cave.
Teresa said,
“There are plenty of tracks around, but nothing recent. No prints on the blood or ash. No one’s been through here. Right, Brutus?”
Brutus sniffed the air, his three heads turning in different directions. He showed no sign of catching a strange scent. But these monsters were silent and scentless to begin with. So they couldn’t relax completely.
“Why… why are we here…?”
Selina pressed herself against Alex’s side as if trying to hide within his cloak.
“I… I don’t like this. What is this place…?”
Selina’s large green eyes searched Alex’s face for answers. Alex was silent for a moment.
Was now the right time to tell her?
How would Selina react?
If he told her he’d received ‘the worst of the Champion Marks.’
If he told her they were fleeing the kingdom.
What would she do?
Would she happily grab his hand and say ‘My brother’s a Champion!’ like when she looked at her homemade champion dolls?
Or would she be disappointed?
Disappointed and angry that he was the Fool?
Alex gritted his teeth.
He had to tell her now. He couldn’t delay any longer.
At first, he thought they could slip away quietly by ship. Then it was okay not to tell.
Even if she was disappointed, they’d be out of Tamland.
That wasn’t an option anymore.
Standing before an active dungeon entrance, lying to Selina was too dangerous and unfair. If distrust took root, people acted unpredictably. And Selina needed to be as close and safe with Alex as possible right now.
“Selina.”
Alex knelt, bringing himself eye-level with her.
“…Yeah? Brother?”
A small hand gripped his cloak tighter. Alex hesitated. He half-hoped the Fool’s Mark would offer advice on ‘delivering bad news to a child,’ but nothing came. Even if such a skill existed, he’d never succeeded at it before. Not once.
“Remember my birthday was the day before yesterday?”
“Yeah…”
He took a deep breath.
“Remember we left before Teresa’s family?”
“Yeah.”
Alex began to choose his words.
“That’s because I learned something dangerous that night.”
“D-dangerous?”
Selina’s lip trembled.
“Are you… leaving me, brother?”
“No. But some people might think I have to be apart from you. And the place I ‘have to be’… might be dangerous.”
Before he could finish, Selina’s head slowly bowed. Her whole body began to tremble slightly.
Her brown hair curtained her face, but Alex knew. She was holding back tears.
Selina stammered,
“Brother… did you… get the Fool’s Mark?”
Alex bit the inside of his lip.
“…Yes. I did.”
Silence hung between them. Only Teresa’s quiet breathing and Brutus’s panting were audible behind them.
Selina said quietly,
“Something was strange. The way you acted while walking… and… when you talked to Uncle Cedric, your hands kept shaking.”
Alex blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even noticed that.
“And I heard you and Teresa whispering last night.”
“You were awake?”
Alex’s eyebrows rose.
Selina jerked her head up.
Her chubby cheeks were flushed red, tears and snot mixing messily on her face.
Selina wailed,
“Why are you the Fool? Brother, you can use magic! I saw you! You can’t be the Fool!”
Then she began to sob.
“The teacher said… Fools can’t use magic, most of them die…”
“Selina…”
Teresa quietly moved to sit beside Alex.
“Remember what Cedric said? He called the Fool useless.”
“N-no…”
Selina sniffled in reply.
“But that man also said… the Fool shouldn’t get hurt. That he had to protect him… Don’t go, brother…”
Selina threw herself against Alex, crying.
“Don’t go, please don’t go. Don’t leave like Mom and Dad…”
Alex bowed his head, heart aching. He hugged Selina tightly and said quietly,
“I’m not going. We’re going to the magic city, get a home, and live together. You’ll go to a good school and see all sorts of amazing things. And no one is going to die. Okay?”
“…Really?”
Selina asked, sniffling.
“Yes, really. I promise.”
Selina quietly sobbed into Alex’s chest, her small body shaking with the effort to stop crying.
“Alright. Since we’re really going together now, we have to be very, very brave. Okay?”
Alex pointed to the cave.
“Remember learning about ‘The Traveler’s Cave’ in school?”
Selina nodded cautiously.
“P-people go in and come out somewhere else… Teacher said we shouldn’t even play near it.”
“Right. Your teacher is right. You should never go near it alone.”
Alex patted Selina’s back gently.
“But we’re going to use it to leave the kingdom. Since Cedric cleared the monsters in the woods, we can go in now.”
He paused for a beat.
“Of course, if you don’t want to, we won’t go. If you’re scared or have doubts, we turn back and find another way. Okay?”
Selina swallowed hard, pulling slightly away from Alex to stare at the cave entrance. She said very quietly,
“…Let’s go.”
Teresa beamed at her.
“Our Selina is a very, very brave girl.”
She reached over Alex’s shoulder to pat Selina’s head.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you. So will Brutus.”
Brutus turned one head to look at her, and Teresa smiled, scratching behind his ear.
Alex chuckled to himself. She had a talent for taming both beasts and children.
“And I’ll be there too!”
Alex struck a pose, flexing his skinny arm muscles.
“I’m a great wizard!”
As he shrugged, a small smile finally bloomed on Selina’s face.
“Alright, operation commence.”
Teresa opened her herb pouch and pulled out a strange plant with silvery leaves.
“Wormwood.”
“For repelling bugs?”
Alex raised an eyebrow.
“Will it work on those things?”
“They look bug-like.”
Teresa shrugged.
“Worth a shot. We can’t exactly mask our scent. Let’s do everything we can.”
“Wait, isn’t that also called… stingweed?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you think it’s called that? It smells… terrible.”
“You think the inside of a spider’s belly smells better?”
Teresa gave him a look that said ‘really? now?’.
“…Cedric said they have some organ that makes them scentless…”
Before he could finish, Teresa gave him a frosty stare. Alex flinched and nodded.
“Okay, stingweed it is.”
Teresa pulled out a mortar and pestle.
“We’ll crush the leaves into juice. Rub it on our skin and clothes. Keep the rest in a canteen; we’ll reapply every hour or so.”
She glanced toward the cave mouth. Beyond the quiet, ordinary-looking entrance stretched endless, deep darkness.
“…Let’s hope it doesn’t take long.”
Alex also stared into the cave.
“If the Traveler’s magic is in there… who knows. Let’s just hope for the best.”
They sat in silence for a moment, gathering their breath.
Alex said,
“Alright, let’s get started. I’ll help crush the herbs. Squeeze out as much as we can.”
Alex stood up.
“Then… we just have to wish for luck.”
The wormwood truly smelled terrible.
Alex wrinkled his nose, fully agreeing that the name ‘stingweed’ was well-earned.
If bugs run from this smell, I completely understand.
As Teresa slathered Brutus with wormwood juice, he sneezed a dozen times from his three noses, shuddering. Selina’s face was scrunched up like a dried cranberry. Even Alex’s forceball felt like it was subtly trying to drift away from him to escape the odor. Of course, that was probably his imagination.
Most likely.
“Done.”
Teresa finished applying the juice to herself. She poured the remaining juice into a small kettle and stored it in her pack. Alex had helped crush the herbs using the forceball and the Mark’s memories, then mixed the juice with water to make it spreadable.
Teresa made a final check of her arrows and whether her great-grandfather’s sword slid smoothly from its scabbard. The blade flashed silver as she drew it a hand’s breadth, then sheathed it again.
“Your parents, if they knew you took that sword…”
“I’ll tell them it saved my life and that’s what Great-Grandfather would have wanted.”
Teresa said calmly.
“If it didn’t… well, I won’t be around to argue.”
Alex adjusted his pack and did a final check of his magic circuits. They were stable and solid. It had taken only two attempts to form it this time.
Good, getting more used to the Mark’s interference.
To be precise, he was just starting, but he wanted to believe he could improve.
“Ready.”
He looked down.
“How’s our little goblin?”
Selina stared at the cave mouth with a crumpled face, her eyes wary as if expecting a monster to leap out and swallow her whole.
“…I’m ready too.”
Alex was fairly certain he wouldn’t have been that brave at her age. He took Selina’s hand firmly in his.
“Alright. No more delays. The Core isn’t going to wait for us.”
He took a deep breath.
“Let’s go see what’s waiting for us.”
Brutus took the lead, and the three of them stepped together into the darkness of the Traveler’s Cave.
