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Chapter 7
Krad was not empty-handed. In his left hand, he held a dagger with a blade only as long as a palm.
But his right arm, which should have helped balance him, hung limp. His feet could barely do anything beyond standing in place.
The only part of Krad that could still move properly was his left arm.
The chimera began to cry out again.
Uoooooo… Uoooooo…!
A low growl that barely stayed within the human hearing range made my shoulders, arms, and even the axe in my hand tremble slightly.
Because of fear, the chimera looked even bigger than before.
At first, I thought it was the size of a wolf, but looking again, it was closer to a bull.
Only its bluish teeth and red eyes stood out in my vision. Its breathing brushed my ears.
Unlike me, reacting like a normal human, Krad was strangely calm. If anything, the chimera was the one who had gone quiet.
Is it scared? The chimera?
“……”
Krad stared at it without even blinking.
That frightening gaze wasn’t just my imagination—the chimera’s pressure clearly weakened. When Krad stepped forward, the chimera even took a step back.
“Grrr…! Grrrr! KRAAAGH!!”
As if trying to regain its strength, the chimera twisted its face and roared again.
It raised its fur and ears, and its body instantly swelled to nearly twice its size. The roar felt like it could deafen me.
In battles between wild monsters, the one who shows fear loses. Krad was showing no fear at all. His dagger didn’t shake even once.
If it had, the chimera would have attacked already.
I tightened my grip on the axe handle, refusing to lose. Fine! If I swing it loudly, maybe it’ll scare it!
“Let me show the greatness of bipedal huma—!”
—Move, you damn chimera!
Halfway through my shout, the air suddenly turned cold.
The chimera’s roar became faint, like I couldn’t hear it properly anymore. It felt like something much larger was wrapping around us.
It wasn’t visible, but my skin felt it like a heavy frozen mist.
A memory from a winter forest flashed in my mind—the massive ice cliff of a frozen waterfall.
The sound of that waterfall suddenly flooded my ears again. The chimera’s roar felt distant, like it was far away.
My fingertips went numb with cold. But strangely, I also felt protected.
What broke through that unreal atmosphere was a sword falling from the sky.
CRASH!!
A longsword suddenly appeared in front of Krad. It pierced into the ground at an angle, reflecting sunlight.
It landed exactly between Krad and the chimera.
I turned my head toward where it came from.
Across the canyon, I saw Noel.
As soon as he threw the sword, he immediately started running across the bridge toward us.
Krad dropped his dagger, rushed toward the chimera, and pulled the sword out of the ground.
* * *
“You’re not supposed to throw your only sword.”
“Sorry.”
“Swords are consumables. Do you understand? Or not?”
“I understand.”
“Then why did you do it knowing that?”
“…Sorry.”
It seemed Krad and Noel both had military experience. Their tone sounded exactly like soldiers being scolded by a squad leader.
Honestly, throwing the sword was a very good and fast decision.
But I also had three years of training camp experience in the military. I knew it was smarter to stay quiet when a superior was scolding someone.
The blue chimera thankfully ran away the moment Krad grabbed the sword.
Like a legendary warrior, Krad—despite having no armor—won the intimidation battle and then used all his remaining strength to lecture Noel about sword usage… and finally collapsed.
He lost all his strength in that short moment of confrontation.
In the end, he had to be carried across the swaying bridge on Noel’s back. Even though he didn’t lose consciousness, he kept grinding his teeth the entire time.
Krad’s face was pale, and he was sweating heavily. I even suggested healing him, but he refused.
Well, if healing goes wrong, it would be dangerous. I wasn’t confident I could handle emergency treatment mistakes either.
Krad looked extremely displeased about being carried like luggage. His expression was almost as scary as the chimera’s earlier face.
What a difficult, picky young man.
If Krad wasn’t handsome, he probably wouldn’t survive in society. That’s exactly the kind of face wasted on a personality like that.
If you’re injured, act like a patient.
I muttered quietly.
“Thanks to you, I survived.”
It was too far to know if he heard me, but I said it anyway. Now I’ll just forget it.
“…!”
But for a moment, our eyes met, and I flinched.
Did he hear that?
No, probably coincidence. My hood was up, and visibility was low anyway.
Krad looked away only after crossing the bridge. In truth, he had been looking at me quite often all day.
When his gaze finally left, I sighed in relief.
I waited for Noel to come back across.
There was no way I could cross that terrifying bridge alone. So we decided to tie a safety rope around our waists and go two at a time, as Noel originally planned.
Noel first sat Krad down on a tree stump on the other side.
Before returning, Krad said in a low voice:
“She didn’t use a barrier even though her life was in danger. She’s not a mage.”
“….”
He was talking about me.
Looks like they thought I might be a mage.
Barriers are mage techniques. People often mistakenly think healers use them, but since they are non-contact techniques, they belong to magic.
Knights from the royal guard wouldn’t normally confuse that. Asking me if I could cast a barrier was strange.
So they thought I was a mage pretending to be a healer.
Who on earth would suspect a professional healer like me of being a mage?
Tch.
Noel helped me tie the rope around my waist. The other end was firmly wrapped around his arm.
He stepped onto the broken suspension bridge first.
“It’s sturdier than it looks. But please step only where I step.”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
Noel went ahead, stepping carefully across the bridge while I followed.
“…?”
Huh? What’s wrong?
Just before stepping onto the swaying bridge, my legs suddenly froze as if they had locked up.
I was confused.
Wait. Why won’t my legs move?
“Please wait a moment!”
“What is it?”
“My knees… no, both of my legs are paralyzed.”
“Ahaha. You must be scared. I’ll carry you.”
“No, that’s not it, something is really wrong!”
I couldn’t figure out what caused it.
A curse? Magic? Poison? Water? Food?
Without guidance, I felt like an idiot. I should’ve paid more attention in anatomy class!
My legs weren’t just frozen—they were shaking violently.
It wasn’t normal. Even during the chimera fight, my knees didn’t shake like this.
Something serious was definitely happening.
Maybe it wasn’t a curse… maybe heavy blood loss? Did I get seriously injured without noticing?
Could it be a critical condition I’m not even aware of…!
“Your legs are freezing up because you’re afraid of heights.”
Noel lifted me onto his back halfway forcibly.
For the first time in my life, I was carried on a man’s back.
That was ridiculous.
“There’s no way someone’s legs would stop working just because they’re scared!!!”
My voice turned into a high-pitched scream that echoed through the canyon.
He’s not even a healer, and he’s diagnosing people however he wants! That’s why muscle-head knights are useless!
Being carried like this messes up weight balance and makes it more dangerous!
Even if I survived carrying Krad and Noel’s weight, this bridge—MOMMYAAAH!!
I clung to Noel’s back like I was trying to strangle him.
But Noel didn’t react at all and just kept moving easily.
He even jumped over broken planks with large holes without hesitation.
“Oops.”
HEY, YOU!!
SORRY!!
