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Chapter 51
The Lake of the Dead (5)
I stumbled down the stairs, nearly rolling the whole way.
When I pushed open the front door, the rain was coming down in even heavier sheets than before, pelting my body so hard it hurt.
I shielded my face with my palm as water rushed into my eyes and mouth. My thin nun’s habit, soaked through in an instant, clung tightly to me and revealed my silhouette.
The chill was biting, unpleasant. Even so, my steps carried me steadily toward the shadowed, inky lake hidden beneath the night.
And then—
“Yus!”
Just as my foot slipped in the mud, someone caught me.
“What kind of state are you in?!”
“I-Izumi?”
His clothes, too, were drenched, water streaming off him in rivulets. In the autumn downpour, we stared at each other in silence for a fleeting moment.
Then came the scolding.
“You’re covered in wounds! What in the world are you doing out here?”
“And you, Izumi—why are you outside in the middle of the night…?”
“T-that’s…”
His green eyes wavered.
He could have lied, could have said he just happened to see me and followed.
Instead—
“Because… the most precious person in the world to me called for me.”
He said it with disarming honesty.
It seemed the idea of lying didn’t even exist in his world. He was too poor at it, too pure. So unlike me.
“…Me too.”
So I answered honestly in return.
It was the first time.
“The precious person I left behind called to me… with such a vivid voice.”
“…”
“I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t help coming out.”
“Yus…”
“That disqualifies me as a Saint, doesn’t it?”
I forced a laugh. I couldn’t even tell what kind of expression was on my face.
If I wanted to go back, I shouldn’t act so irrationally.
—Yuna, I miss you.
—Forget the doctorate, just open your eyes again. Let’s go on a picnic, the four of us—your mom, Dojun, our daughter, and me.
No. I can’t.
—My beloved daughter, come here.
—I’ll be waiting at the lake.
I really can’t.
Izumi, standing before me, trembled too.
“N-no. Saintess…”
He forgot the respectful title he always forced himself to use, and pulled me into his arms.
“This is all fake. Right?”
“Izumi.”
“The person I love isn’t here… There’s no way she’d be in the lake.”
“Izumi—”
“She wouldn’t… Anna!”
His cry rang out, raw and desperate.
“You’re there, aren’t you? Anna! Your brother’s coming. You’re cold and lonely, right?”
“Izumi!”
“I’m sorry I left you alone. Let’s stay together.”
“Stop!”
I reached out to grab him.
But it was useless.
Izumi was the Hero.
His sight was sharper, his body stronger—even if mine was already frail compared to an ordinary woman. I couldn’t hold him back.
—Sis, come to the lake.
—I’m here.
—Why is it so cold? I’m lonely. Without you, I miss you.
And then that disgusting voice.
Don’t make me laugh.
I ground my teeth.
Lee Dojun would never say crap like that!
He was always smug, always living on his own high horse.
A good-looking jerk who charmed not only his peers but older women too.
Getting slapped by girls was routine for him. And despite all that, he still aced his classes—though his cram school always complained he was lazy and skipping.
That obnoxious brat was my brother.
“Too bad. …Such shallow tricks won’t work on me.”
I cast it off.
Ignoring Dojun’s pitiful cries, my parents’ voices—ignoring it all made me feel lighter.
…No, not really.
The urge to dash into the lake still gnawed at me, pulling me forward. I was resisting with nothing but sheer, inhuman willpower.
“But Izumi… what about him?”
He looked ready to hurl himself into the water any second.
No.
My protagonist.
He mustn’t die.
If he does… then I’ll never see my family again.
“Stop, Izumi!”
“…”
“Please, stop!”
I ran again.
With everything I had left, I sprinted after the foolishly earnest, brother-loving Hero who was walking straight toward his death.
“That’s not your sister!”
Mud splattered, my knees scraped raw, my whole body a mess.
“You know it’s true!”
For the first time since I became Yustinas, I screamed with all my strength.
“The real treasure lies elsewhere!”
…Ah.
But it was no use.
My voice didn’t reach.
Izumi was already standing knee-deep in the lake. Just a few more steps and he’d be pulled toward the deeper center.
At this rate, he’d drown.
My precious protagonist.
Despair crawled up from my toes, sticky and suffocating. My hands trembled.
“—Cough, gag!”
I couldn’t even shout anymore. My legs refused to move. Even with my analgesia skill, my entire body ached.
I might have broken a bone or two.
But worse than that was the hopeless truth: nothing I did could save him.
I shouldn’t have come.
I should’ve stayed in the carriage.
I should’ve regained my ability to see mana sooner.
Regrets flashed through me one after another.
And then—
A skill I had forgotten, in the panic, flickered in my mind.
= Izumi! Stop!
The telepathic message rang directly in his head.
“…Ah.”
Izumi, who had been trudging deeper into the water, suddenly lifted his head.
As if waking from a dream, he floundered and then bolted out of the lake, running toward me like a madman.
Rain streamed down his cheeks—whether tears or raindrops, I couldn’t tell. He collapsed before me, eyes flushed red, chest heaving.
“S-Saintess, I’m sorry. I didn’t—I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s all right…”
“No, it’s not! What should I do? You’re bleeding so much. The mud—it’ll get infected. We need to get inside, get an X-ray, something—”
He rambled on, panicked.
I turned my gaze down to myself and finally understood why he was in such a state.
I was a wreck.
I’d rolled too much in the mud and rain.
“Calm down, Izumi.”
“How can I calm down? You ended up like this because of me!”
“No…”
With what strength I had left, I reached out my hand.
I wanted to wipe his cheek.
“Sorry. I meant to wipe it, but I just dirtied you instead.”
“Is that what matters right now?”
“…Of course it matters.”
I gave a faint smile.
Izumi finally seemed fully conscious again. My precious protagonist wasn’t going to throw his life away anymore.
“Saintess, I—”
“Yes?”
Through the lingering pain, I smiled softly.
That was when two frantic voices rang out from behind.
“Yustinas!”
“Yus!”
Lilliana and Cedric.
They froze at the sight of the two of us, battered and ruined, then rushed over in horror.
And it was me, not the sturdy Izumi, who drew their panic. Cedric’s face went ghostly pale, his hands trembling violently.
“I—I wasn’t watching for just a moment. How—why—No! Yus, don’t die, please, stay with me—”
“Shut up!”
Lilliana smacked him in the spine, silencing his hysteria.
“A patient requires absolute rest. Don’t you even know that, commoner?”
“…Tch.”
Cedric’s clenched fist fell uselessly to his side.
By then, Izumi had scooped me up in his arms.
“We need to get her inside immediately. First we check for bruising or fractures. And like Lilliana said, she must rest.”
“That’s right,” Lilliana agreed.
“…Water and bandages will be necessary.”
“Of course! Please!”
The scene spun into chaos.
No one could possibly sleep through such noise.
And yet my eyelids grew heavy.
“Izumi… I’m… so sleepy.”
“It’s fine. Sleep.”
His voice was low and gentle as he held me close.
“When you wake up, everything will be better.”
A dependable doctor indeed.
The original Hero was truly a good man.
Relief washed over me at last, and as I drifted off, I whispered my final words to him.
“…I’ll trust you, my Hero.”
My protagonist.
