WSRN 27

chapter 27

Every step made a creaking sound that grated on my nerves. I swallowed a cough.

‘…This place definitely needs cleaning.’

Somehow we reached the upper floor. I had expected the level where administrative work was done to be a bit cleaner, but it was the same here.

A long corridor stretched ahead, and the large window at the end was so dusty it looked whitish.

‘It’s like nobody’s touched it at all.’

A strange unease crept over me. When my feet stopped, Marian and Havel halted behind me too.

Gilbert, who noticed quickly, turned and looked at me.

“Why is this? If you want to check the ledgers, it’s this way.”

He pointed with his fingertip to a closed door.

All the other doorknobs had a light layer of dust, but the knob he pointed to was unusually shiny.

That meant someone had been using it until recently. So it was true that someone had been going there often.

‘But why like this…’

Something felt off. I tried not to show it and nodded.

“I see. You go in first and I’ll follow.”

Gilbert seemed momentarily stunned by my words, then laughed.

“That won’t be hard.”

He said that and turned the knob. With a click, the door opened as if nothing had been wrong.

‘…Was I imagining it after all?’

Feeling a little foolish for doubting, I took another step—then Marian suddenly stepped directly in front of me.

‘Ah—what’s this?’

“Ma—Marian?”

The Marian I had known wouldn’t act like this without reason.

I looked up at her for an explanation, but she only stared straight ahead and said nothing.

Havel frowned.

“How rude, to block the lady’s way—”

Before Havel could finish, something crashed with a clink.

“-What the—!”

“Ugh….”

At the same time Marian’s body slowly collapsed. She clutched her throat and stared sharply toward the window.

A metallic, fishy smell I never wanted to smell again jabbed at my nose.

I covered my mouth with my hand. Nausea rose.

The terrible scent of blood spread clearly, vivid enough to call back that night. My vision blurred and my body stiffened.

“Tch,” someone clicked their tongue from somewhere.

“If you’d just come in, you’d’ve fainted peacefully. Why stop now?” said a different-sounding Gilbert. He took something like a pill from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth.

With a crunching chew, something clattered from the direction of the broken window.

From whatever had fallen came a small hissing like air escaping a balloon, and smoke began to seep out.

I felt hands groping and pushing my frozen shoulders. It was Marian.

She pressed her hand to her neck to staunch the wound, but the bleeding wouldn’t stop.

The speed at which I could open and close my eyes slowed. It seemed the blade had been poisoned.

Even then she tried to hide me.

Only then did I clear my head and hold my breath.

‘Don’t inhale.’

I swallowed back a scream and watched her. Perhaps sensing my worried gaze, Marian whispered in a voice considerably weaker than usual.

“I’m… fine. I have some tolerance to poison, so I won’t die. But I don’t think I can be carried to you.”

She spoke more matter-of-factly than ever, and because of that I understood.

She had resolved to face death. For me.

My hands shook terribly.

‘Because of me?’

Was I—doomed to die—bringing Hilberg into this world and dragging someone who had nothing to do with the original story into danger?

Was it the same as before—do I have to sacrifice someone else to survive?

Tears threatened to spill, but I forced them back. This was not the time to cry.

Gilbert, who had been watching us quietly, cocked his head.

“That’s unnecessary. If you hand over the young lady in the back quietly, I’ll spare the two of you. You might have some brain damage… but—stop resisting. It’s a bother.”

He spoke lightly, as if amused.

Before I could bite my lip and respond, Havel already brought a handkerchief up to his mouth and nose and let out a heavy sigh.

Even in this situation, he didn’t look cowed—still his usual proud self. It was impressive.

“You don’t understand negotiation basics. There are beginner books made for amateurs these days; why not read one first?” Gilbert said.

“…Yeah? Better than dying, right?” Havel answered.

“A genius like me would rather die than lose my intellect,” Gilbert said, dropping his smile. At Havel’s reply the joking ended; he moved toward us with sudden speed.

Faster than he moved, Marian and Havel acted.

Marian pulled out a knife and threw it at Gilbert; Havel hoisted me up and leapt down.

With the harsh ring of metal on metal, Marian’s back receded.

I thudded against Havel’s shoulder, flipping upside down.

“What are you doing?! You left Marian behind!” I shouted.

“Can you not do basic arithmetic? One is better than three,” Havel snarled.

“You can’t count people’s lives like that!” I snapped.

Havel gritted his teeth.

“Damn, I know that. But what else can we do? We can’t all be slaughtered here!” he said.

My mouth shut at the familiar word.

Even if I went to her now, I couldn’t help. I’d only be a burden, someone to watch over, nothing more.

It was obvious. It should have been obvious…

‘Why does this feel so infuriating?’

My vision blurred.

I shouldn’t have relaxed just because I’d made it into Hilberg. I should’ve tried harder.

If I had, maybe something would’ve been different. I chewed over the same regrets as in my past life.

‘I don’t want anyone else to die instead of me. I don’t want to regret it!’

At that moment a sharp pain stabbed my head. There wasn’t even time to register a headache—Havel suddenly stopped.

“Ugh… Havel?”

“…This is bad. There are more of them than I expected.”

When I raised my head and looked around, we were already surrounded by masked men.

‘…I remember something flying in from the window earlier.’

Havel had expected accomplices, but he hadn’t thought there’d be so many.

‘They’re not simple thieves. There’s certainly someone behind this.’

Before Havel and I could do anything, we senselessly lost consciousness and fell.

“…Are you awake?”

“Ugh….”

Something lightly tapped at my forehead.

“It’s time to get up. Are you planning to actually die?”

My head was fuzzy. I blinked and saw Havel sweep his foot away.

‘…What the—’

“Hey… did you just kick me?”

“We had no choice. Our hands were bound,” he said.

At those words my eyes flew open.

‘Right, us… what happened after that?’

I looked around groggily and saw Havel and Marian tied tightly to pillars.

Marian’s dark brown hair was damp with sweat.

I tried to get up quickly and hit my head on the floor.

“Ouch….”

Of course, I was bound tightly too. At least I wasn’t tied to a pillar, so that was something.

I crawled over on my knees and reached Marian.

The bleeding had stopped, but her face was ghostly and she looked weak. I worriedly bit my lip.

“…We need to get her to a doctor quickly.”

Even with poison tolerance, she’d lost too much blood.

Havel nodded at my mutter and added quietly,

“I agree. If we could get out, that is.”

He was right—we were trapped in this dark, warehouse-like place.

“Also, stop it. You’re bleeding,” I said, finally letting go of my bitten lip. My mouth tasted salty.

“…But weren’t we dead?” I asked.

“I thought so too… but they must’ve only rendered us unconscious and brought us here. There must’ve been orders: do not kill,” he replied.

I nodded quietly. Havel slowly rolled his eyes.

“It’s a small mercy for us. There’s an opportunity now. And this place… I think I know it.”

“What? How?”

“My drug wore off first, so I woke earlier. I checked the way out and measured the distance, then matched it to a local map.”

…Could that be possible? Havel’s pride in his abilities now seemed justified.

‘…Or—’

A doubt nagged me. He’d been too calm. Havel suddenly put on a serious expression.

“But there’s a critical problem.”