SAAE 33

Chapter 33

In just a few long strides, Isael crossed the reception room and suddenly pulled me into his arms.

“Ugh!”

The air was knocked out of me in an instant.

My face was buried straight into his chest.

I tried to push him away at first, but soon I relaxed and let my strength drain away.

I stayed quietly in his embrace.

I could feel his heart pounding at an incredible speed.

“Haa….”

Isael let out a long breath.

“I was afraid something might have happened to you, so I…”

His voice was trembling.

He trailed off with a low sigh and didn’t say anything more.

Silently, I raised my hand, placed it on his back, and patted him gently.

“I’m sorry. I let my guard down.”

When I spoke carefully, Isael’s chest rose and fell heavily.

“I should’ve considered that something like this could happen…”

I should have acted more cautiously.

Even though I knew anything could happen in this tower, I’d let myself relax during that brief moment of peace. It was my mistake.

Isael replied in a subdued voice.

“I’m not trying to blame you. I just…”

“Thank you.”

“……”

“I trusted you. I knew you’d come looking for me, so I wasn’t that scared.”

I hugged Isael tightly.

After a while, I could feel him gradually calming down.

His chest, which had been rising and falling roughly and rapidly, slowly settled.

“Are you really sure nothing happened to you?”

“I told you, nothing did.”

“Really? You’re not hurt anywhere?”

“Ugh, you already checked.”

I’m starting to get tired of this…

I’d been indulging Isael’s interrogation for quite some time now as he stared at me with wide eyes.

After scanning me from head to toe, he suddenly fixed his gaze on my upper body.

“You haven’t checked everywhere.”

“…What, do you want me to show you?”

When I acted like I was about to lift my shirt, Isael flinched and stepped back.

Hey, what—am I going to eat you or something?

“If you’re hiding an injury—”

“Hey, I really am fine.”

How much more does he need to check to be satisfied?

I sighed and added, looking at Isael, who still seemed unconvinced.

“I told you. Thanks to you showing up so fast, nothing actually happened. I didn’t even have time to get hurt.”

“……”

“When I fell alone at first, I was really startled and scared. But since I knew you’d come, I was able to stay calm.”

That wasn’t a lie.

I had something to rely on, which was why I could stay composed even in front of the fake Dominic.

As Isael listened silently, he suddenly held out his hand.

“Take it.”

“……”

“I can’t relax otherwise.”

It was obvious why he suddenly wanted me to hold his hand.

‘He’s worried I might get dragged off somewhere again.’

He must’ve been really shaken.

I suddenly remembered how desperate his expression had been when he burst into the reception room earlier.

And how he’d held me for a long time before finally calming down.

…It didn’t sit right with me.

It wasn’t intentional, and I’d never imagined something like that would happen either.

I quietly took Isael’s hand. It wasn’t a difficult thing to do.

“Here. That better?”

If something this small could ease his mind, I didn’t mind holding his hand at all.

Isael tightened his grip, as if he never intended to let go.

“It probably won’t happen again, but if we ever get separated like that, use those guys immediately.”

He criticized my decision not to summon the restless spirits right away.

“Use them as shields and buy time. I’ll come no matter what.”

“Mm… okay.”

I glanced back at the spirits.

‘They said they were sealed, didn’t they?’

Souls that had been sealed within this tower.

Just what were they?

My thoughts grew complicated.

‘…That box.’

It was clear that the items from the old box we found on the fifth floor had awakened the spirits’ power.

The second gained wings after obtaining a sword, and the third used magic after getting a bracelet.

“…They’re not very reliable. Failing to properly protect their master.”

Isael muttered while glaring at the spirits with displeasure.

It seemed his hostility toward them had only grown.

“Isael.”

“Yeah?”

“The fake Dominic was curious about how I broke our kids’ seal.”

Isael frowned and asked back.

“You said they changed after eating the fruit. What seal are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“That’s what I’m confused about too.”

I turned to the first spirit and asked,

“Were you sealed here?”

The first nodded without hesitation.

—Yes.

That was unexpected.

I’d thought it would dodge the question again, like when I asked about the box.

“Who sealed you?”

When I pressed further, the first hesitated briefly, then answered.

—This tower’s demon.

“…Why did the demon of this tower seal you?”

—Consumed our souls. Failed to erase us. So, sealed us.

At that point, I started to get a sense of what these souls really were.

They knew facts I didn’t—even that the holy sword was a weapon once used by the Hero.

And the fake Dominic’s behavior, as though he was wary of their power.

Considering everything so far, there was only one conclusion I could draw about the spirits I commanded.

“You’re from 300 years ago.”

The first didn’t respond.

But I could tell—my guess was right.

Three hundred years ago, there was a Saintess and a Hero who sealed the Demon King.

The Hero died in the process, but the Saintess chose to go on living.

Because she had a child she’d borne with the Hero.

However, before long, that child was caught up in the power struggles of the ruling class and died as well…

“I curse you, I curse you! All of you who used me, who sacrificed my child so you could live in peace—I curse you all!”

The Saintess, cursing the world that had taken everyone she loved, took her own life.

“Your descendants will be sacrificed and die just like my child. You will never know happiness!”

After the Saintess’s death, demonic energy began to seep into the massive island that bridged the two continents.

The miasma spreading from the island toward both continents surged as if it would swallow the entire world.

In the end, the righteous ones—companions of the Saintess and the Hero—begged the gods for mercy.

And an oracle was delivered.

[Offer as sacrifices the children of blue blood from the families that protect the two continents.]

That was the background of the novel’s world, The Devil’s Game, and the story recorded in the history books of the two empires.

A tale known by everyone born and raised in either empire.

“…So you’re saying the things you summon are the Hero’s companions from 300 years ago?”

“Not ‘seems like.’ I’m sure of it.”

Isael frowned.

“And this is the holy sword the Hero used back then?”

“Yeah.”

Isael was a prince.

He’d know the empire’s history better than anyone.

He must’ve been educated about the Hero and his companions in the royal family.

“…Now that I think about it, that guy earlier was surprised too, calling it a holy sword.”

“You didn’t know Exolid was the name of the Hero’s weapon?”

“There’s no record of that anywhere.”

“I see…”

Isael looked genuinely shocked to learn that the sword he’d been swinging around all this time was a holy sword.

“This is strange.”

After thinking in silence for a while, Isael spoke abruptly.

“The Hero… no, more importantly, why is the holy sword in this tower? I don’t get it.”

He looked unconvinced.

“I picked it up from a muddy swamp. It was just lying there, like someone had thrown it away. And now you’re telling me it’s a holy sword?”

His voice was filled with disbelief.

“More than that—if this is a holy sword, why does it want blood?”

That caught me off guard.

“Blood? The sword said it wants blood?”

“Yeah. It said if I gave it blood, it would make a contract with me.”

“…Huh?”

What?

That sounds like something straight out of a cursed sword…