Chapter 33
“Heh.”
“Don’t laugh. I’m really pissed off.”
For someone who said he was pissed off, his eyes somehow looked even redder…
“Haah.”
Khalid ran a hand over his face like an adult. His perfectly sculpted face looked unusually tired.
“…So that’s why you have to stay in Zebert territory no matter what.”
“Yeah….”
Khalid pressed his lips tightly together for a moment, then let out a sigh of resignation.
“Alright. Then it can’t be helped.”
In the end, it looked like he had raised a white flag against my stubbornness. I smiled faintly with a hint of apology.
“Then I’ll have to come up with a plan too.”
“What?”
A faint smile passed over his pale face. Bathed in moonlight, he looked more mysterious and beautiful than usual.
“It’s a secret.”
“Damn.”
I’m hiding things too, so I can’t even press him openly—how frustrating!
We sat side by side at the base of a tree and talked about what had happened so far.
Khalid said that the moment contact with me was cut off, he expanded the number of his summoned beasts to their limit and searched across the continent.
‘That’s an insane amount of mana….’
Normally, the range of control for summoned beasts is limited to the area around the user. So why had someone like him been locked inside a cave?
“I told you. I don’t remember.”
Khalid rummaged through his worn bag and handed me some red forest berries. Oh, these were the ones I used to eat often while wandering the eastern continent’s forests.
“Whatever scumbags did it probably used some low-quality magical tool.”
“It wasn’t a magic formula… But seriously, that’s way too harsh for a kid.”
“What do you expect from back-alley mercenaries?”
The red berries spilled into my hands.
Maybe because he had lived through hardship since childhood…
‘Sometimes he speaks more like an adult than I do.’
Khalid had lived as a wandering mercenary for a long time without parents or a hometown.
‘The only thing he remembers is his name. He said the surname “Riorc” was just something he picked up for missions.’
Because of that, he didn’t like being addressed with a surname. He said it just didn’t feel right.
As for the cave imprisonment, we speculated that he had likely fallen into a trap during a mercenary job.
“Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to find the bastards who locked me up and take revenge.”
I stared blankly at Khalid’s profile.
‘Yeah… as expected.’
The male lead of Part 2 is different.
That’s right.
In The Sword Pierced Into the Ruins, Part 2 features the boy sitting next to me as the protagonist.
Of course, after feeling an enormous sense of betrayal from Part 1, I didn’t even look at Part 2 for a while. But when I finally made up my mind and read just the first episode—
‘He died.’
Sigh. I should’ve just read a healing story instead.
Part 2 begins with a young man imprisoned in a cave who escapes on his own.
He uncovers the reason he was imprisoned and vows revenge against those who trapped him, driving his sword into the ruined land.
‘That was the entire first episode.’
So I didn’t know why Khalid had been imprisoned in that cave, nor whether he had ultimately succeeded in his revenge…
But if the author had any sense, surely the protagonist of Part 2 would at least get a properly closed happy ending?
“…You’re looking at me like that again.”
At his sudden voice, I snapped out of my thoughts.
“Ah, sorry. I was praying for your revenge success. I’ll stop looking!”
“…I didn’t say not to look.”
Khalid muttered while scratching the tip of his nose. I smiled and split the berries in half.
‘Sigh. Sorry, Khal.’
You probably won’t get as much spotlight as in the original…
Because the Part 1 male lead isn’t going to die. There won’t be any dramatic scene of you planting a sword into the ruined land and striking a cool pose.
‘But I’ll guarantee your happy ending!’
That revenge—you can count on me to help once I finish what I need to do!
In the original, Khalid’s escape from prison happened when he was nearly an adult. I had unintentionally altered the original storyline.
‘Well, it’s for the better. Good job, past me.’
Though life outside the cave wasn’t exactly easy either.
‘Still, leaving a kid chained in a dark cave for years? That’s just cruel.’
In the original, Khalid grew up in literal darkness and became a rather… rough adult.
“Hey, I brought this for you, so why are you giving it to me? Eat it yourself…”
No shy, innocent phase of blushing while offering food—none of that existed.
“I had to threaten those mercenaries to get this, so hurry up and eat it.”
At least his personality hadn’t completely gone bad yet, right?
“Ughhh. You really have a rough life.”
I sighed deeply and stretched out my short legs.
Khalid raised an eyebrow as if to ask what I meant, but I didn’t elaborate.
“By the way, how did you get in here?”
After finishing my thoughts, I casually changed the topic.
“A small hole. Took a while to find.”
He spoke as if it were familiar.
No doubt he had located a small passage used by animals.
“Be careful not to get caught. Oh, right… also—”
I rummaged through my clothes and handed him the items I had prepared earlier.
“What’s this?”
“My shop key and a map of this place. Honestly, I’d like to tell you to come with me to the main estate… but I’m kind of staying here myself, so it’s awkward.”
“……”
“For today, stay there. There’s a thermal stone, so you can sleep warm.”
“You took over a shop? Are you here to plunder Zebert’s wealth?”
“What are you talking about.”
I clapped my hands off and stood up. It was about time for the runaway child who snuck out of the bedroom to return.
“Stay there quietly today and head to a nearby city tomorrow. We still have this, after all…”
I tapped my earlobe and smiled.
“Even if we’re apart a bit, it’s fine! That’s a relief, right?”
Then the boy gave a gentle smile.
“You don’t really understand the meaning of ‘relief.’”
“…? Is that an insult?”
“Who knows.”
Tch, seriously.
I lightly hit Khalid’s arm. Of course, I was always the one who got the worse end of it…
“Anyway, stay put! Don’t block me!”
“Let’s stop with the pointless talk.”
Khalid also stood up, brushing off his clothes, and reached out his arm toward me.
“By the way, this has been bothering me…”
“Yeah?”
“Come here.”
He unclasped the bracelet on his wrist with a click.
“Let me check your mana. You’ve been struggling without it, right?”
“Huh….”
I couldn’t hide the surge of emotion rising in me.
“What’s with that cute expression?”
“No—it’s just that I’m moved someone finally understands a mage’s feelings… Wait, what was the question again?”
“…I asked what that pitiful expression is.”
“Oh, I’ve really been struggling. It’s a bit better here, but in the capital it was seriously, seriously hard.”
As I flailed my arms explaining, Khalid’s eyes softened as he laughed.
His previously stiff expression faded, and the familiar boy I knew seemed to return—the mercenary boy who always protected me on the battlefield.
“Yeah. The Bamilon capital was pretty rough for me too. Here.”
Khalid held out his hand. I lightly grasped his fingertips.
“Waaah!”
As if waiting for it, pure mana flowed into me.
The magic circle engraved on my earlobe grew warm. Only Khalid, who shared the same vow formation, could supply me with mana.
Our intertwined mana, like roots of a tree, allowed us to freely exchange it.
Of course, he had never needed my meager power, so I had always been the one receiving.
“I feel so alive again…”
“So that’s what happens when you abandon me?”
A light grumble followed.
“I mean, what was I to you again?”
“Hmm?”
“Support… battery? That kind of thing!”
“Hah, you remembered that?”
He laughed softly, and the tips of his ears turned slightly red.
“I remember anything you say.”
I felt the surge of mana filling my entire body. Vitality—or rather, mana flowing through me—it had been a while!
“Satisfied?”
“Very!”
Khalid tilted his head slightly.
“So, when are you going to properly welcome me?”
I quickly pulled my hand away and brushed it off.
“Now!”
I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck, causing him to stagger slightly. Fresh mana flowed into me like waves.
“Nice to see you again, Khal!”
The next day.
It was a very clear and sunny morning.
Birds chirped, and warm sunlight poured into the bedroom.
“…Th-this is bad.”
In that peaceful morning scene, I was trembling with anything but a peaceful expression.
‘Khalid? Khal! Hey, you—!’
Khalid Riorc had blocked me again!
