I Became a Childhood Friend With the Villainous Saintess

147 – The Forgotten Forest (3)

[Saint, the reverse harem is impure! (Complete) Excerpt from page 17]

Outside the walls, an army of the dead swarmed.

There was not a single one of them who was holy. The armor they were wearing was different, and there were even those who had been enemies from the beginning.

Since shooting ordinary arrows was meaningless, fire arrows decorated the whole world.

“Block it! The gates must never be breached!”

“The bodies of the fallen warriors must be thrown over the walls!”

When Count Bertus died, Sirien Illencia literally went berserk.

A judgment that does not look at all toward a strategic future.

He raised the dead without hesitation, as if his only goal was to kill at least one more person.

Naturally, there was opposition from the families under Illencia, but the ruthless Archduke responded by killing them all.

Kill until you die. If you don’t kill, you die.

As a result, hell came to earth.

A headless corpse climbs a ladder up the wall.

The corpse that was brought up had a broken arm and could not swing its sword, but it was able to fall together with the body outside the wall.

The archer who fell screaming died with all his bones broken. He soon climbed up the wall again with his body covered in wounds.

Somewhere on the wall, a soldier who had been hit by an arrow was coughing up blood.

It was his son who was in charge of tending to the soldier’s wounds. The commander on the scene ordered the body to be thrown out of the castle, but the son could not bring himself to do so.

That was because what had collapsed in front of him did not appear to be a corpse, but his father.

“Father! Come to your senses. Father!”

“Stop! There’s no hope! Get out of the walls quickly!”

“Shut up! You’re not dead yet! You can survive!”

But there are no miracles on the battlefield.

The moment the father’s life ended, he bit his son’s neck.

As red blood poured out like a fountain, the commander on the scene also had to make a decision.

Soon the two dead were pushed out of the walls.

The father and son scattered in different directions, each rushing to find new victims.

The reason the Imperial Army feared Hybras until now was because of the death that came without warning.

But why didn’t I know that what I really had to fear was what came after death?

The god of death ruled over the dead.

* * *

Knock, knock.

The bonfire that had been lit for a long time made a cozy sound.

How long has it been since I’ve camped so quietly?

The smell of burning firewood. The forest’s unique phytoncide scent drifted through the night breeze.

When I raised my head, I could see the night sky. It was a sky that felt particularly clearer than the one I had seen from Gongjakryeong.

‘Even from that old, musty attic, the sky was quite visible.’

Even in the attic where the four of us slept together, the night sky looked just like that.

It was a time when there was hope that I would be able to return home.

We had quite a good time amidst the storm that we thought would pass like a passing breeze.

Before we met the assassins sent by Roxen, we used to enjoy a campfire together like this.

The skewers I ate back then definitely tasted fantastic.

They didn’t use particularly good ingredients, and there weren’t any particular spices.

Although Henna was a good cook, she was no match for the current head chef of the Grand Duke’s household.

Still, the cookies Henna baked were really delicious.

I just thought about it and missed you.

I pushed dry branches into the campfire, thinking back to those days.

Skewers were placed on the burning fire. While I was lighting the fire, Sirien put the skewers on with her delicate hands.

I warmed myself up around a campfire with Sirien, listening to the sizzling sound of meat cooking.

“It’s warm. In the past, we couldn’t even light a fire like this.”

“That’s right. It was only done when there were big rocks or caves.”

“I like the smell of grilling meat. Oh, is it all cooked?”

“Just wait. I’ll check.”

I gently turned the skewer to check and it seemed cooked enough to eat.

Because the heat was strong, it definitely cooked quickly.

Phew, phew. I simply cooled the skewers with my breath.

Sirien’s gaze was intensely drawn to the wafting aroma of meat.

Eyes sparkling with anticipation. Her small lips opened slightly as I pushed the skewer closer.

“It’s okay. You can eat it. I’ll feed you, so- try it.”

“Ahh.”

I was the one who clearly said I would feed you.

Suddenly, Sirien appeared to me like a baby bird waiting for food.

Wouldn’t it make a squeaking sound when the meat gets close?

Besides, looking at that cute face made me feel really bad.

So, this is the joke. I betrayed the waiting mouth and took a bite.

Sirien, who had her meat stolen right in front of her, looked at me blankly.

A bewildered expression appears with the mouth slightly open.

His blinking eyes seemed to be saying, ‘How could you do this to me?’

I couldn’t help but laugh at that face full of resentment.

“Poohahahaha!”

“This, this is profit… … !”

The mouth that was about to get angry was blocked by feeding it another skewer.

I was afraid that if I teased him any longer, it would be difficult later, but when I actually fed him meat, his expression slowly relaxed.

Sirien surprisingly easily gets upset.

This time, he chewed the meat in his mouth and made an expression as if it was melting away. Sirien covered the corners of his mouth that were rising with his hand.

“Oh, this is delicious… …! Why is this so delicious?”

“Everything tastes better when you eat it outside.”

“Is that so? Hehe. Give me another one. If you take it away from me this time, I’ll be really angry.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry. I did it because you looked so cute.”

“Ahem. In that case… … I could let it slide just once.”

Sirien linked arms with me and took out another skewer and ate it.

When I poked his puffy cheeks like a squirrel with my finger, he shook his head.

Since we prepared plenty of food, we were able to eat meat without any worries.

Even after eating a full dinner, Sirien didn’t leave my side.

We lay on the floor together, counting constellations and briefly kissing.

It was the same inside the temporarily set up tent.

Inside the tent, we lay down together as soon as we set up the boundary magic tool.

Sirien turned to face me, blushing.

“Razen. There’s no one around right now… … .”

“huh?”

“Would you like to be my master tonight?”

* * *

The prediction that as the church grew, the sanctuary would also grow was completely wrong.

The sanctuary I found again had not expanded, but rather shrunk in size.

In particular, the size of the ‘boundary’ has been noticeably reduced.

It is so deep that it is not easy to find unless you follow the energy you feel.

At first I couldn’t tell how far it went, but now I could see the end of the border.

Naturally, it seemed like I had to walk a bit further to get to the old ‘cave’, as it was getting further away.

“The spider is next, then the civet. Why does this cave seem to only attract the most unsightly creatures?”

While I was passing by, I stopped by a cave.

The new master cut down the raccoon with his sword in one stroke, and the rest were killed instantly by the divine energy that Sirien had poured out.

Even though quite some time had passed, there were still some traces of our childhood inside the cave.

The wall where wet clothes were hung, and the luggage that people left behind because they didn’t have time to bring them were still there.

Sirien stared at my body for a moment and then snickered.

“Razen. When you get back, I’ll cut your hair.”

“Why the hair all of a sudden?”

“You’re better suited to short shots. I’ve always wanted to give it to you at least once.”

“Yeah. If you want to do it, then you should try it.”

Sirien smiled and turned around to leave.

I followed her.

Sirien moved forward without hesitation.

It was an unhesitating attitude, as if he was going down a familiar path.

Sirien, who had been walking ahead, opened her mouth.

“This was the way.”

“Huh? What?”

“I’m talking about the path I ran desperately to save you. I thought Edwin would be there if I went where the scent was coming from. That’s why I just went there in the dark of the night.”

It seemed like it was talking about when I fell.

Certainly, if Sirien hadn’t made up her mind at that time, both of us would have been in danger.

I’ve always thought I was protecting Sirien, but in fact we’ve always protected each other.

“I saw the pursuers around here. I was in a hurry because I thought you’d be in danger if you got close to the cave, but I guess I got impatient and got caught. They quickly followed me.”

“I’ve never heard that story before. You just told me that you asked Edwin for help. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought I would get scolded for doing something dangerous. You were the one who saved my life, and I felt bad for taking it so recklessly.”

“There are many things to be sorry about. Rather, I should be the one being thankful.”

“I feel relieved when you say it like that.”

From the moment we were sent to that cabin.

No, maybe even before that. We were a community of shared destiny from the moment we were born.

We have been together through life and death.

Even if the entire world turned into an enemy, Sirien was the one person who would never let go.

It was always a pleasure to hear the story of Sirien working as hard as I did.

As we climbed the hill, we finally arrived at the sanctuary.

Sirien chuckled in front of the sanctuary.

“Thank you for protecting me back then. Thank you for being alive.”

“Let me say something. Let’s go in.”

“huh!”