"Did you do it properly?"
"Of course."
"You really talked well with Anutara and ca back, right?"
"I told you so."
He had advised Tika and Shan to be elsewhere before he went to 'have a conversation' with Yurik.
If scorpions ca attracted to his blood, Yurik would surely bring Arahan,
And in that gap, Tika and Shan could escape the village.
And after he used scorpions to attack Yurik and the Arahan and escaped, he would et up with the two and leave the desert.
Of course, Tika had worried about what would happen if scorpions ca to them, but that wouldn't happen.
He didn't know for sure, but all the scorpions in the vicinity would have co to his side.
While Tika remained suspicious, Shan urged them on.
"We don't know when the Arahan and Anutara will chase after us. It would be better to go quickly."
"Ti is money, after all."
Of course, if it were Yurik, he could catch up in an instant no matter how far he went.
But he had the Arahan with him.
In the current situation, the Arahan would likely act as effective shackles for Yurik.
Even so, he couldn't let his guard down.
He extended his hand to Tika.
"Is there any luggage for to carry?"
"Ah, well, there is so."
Tika looked him over and shook her head.
"It's not that heavy. Let's just go like this."
What?
Shan, who had been following behind Tika as she walked forward briskly, glanced at him and nodded.
Was it okay to go like this? With only him not carrying luggage?
Puzzled, he chased after the two, and heard Shan whisper to Tika, 'Good thinking. Carrying a person who collapsed in the desert would be harder than carrying that luggage.'
...Hmm.
Right. He decided to think that good was good.
Naturally, getting out of the desert was harder than coming to Shambhala.
They walked while minimizing sleep ti since they didn't know when Yurik might chase after them,
And they were in a state of high tension, not knowing when or where scorpions might attack.
Of course, he also decided to do what he could for the two.
Since he didn't sleep, he would stand watch all night,
Or tell interesting stories to the two who were exhausted from tension and fatigue.
"...So from then on, Yurik slept stuck right to my side. I don't know if he still has that habit."
"So cute!"
"I didn't want to know this side of Anutara."
Since their only common point was Yurik, stories about Yurik naturally ca up often.
Especially about Yurik's childhood.
Tika had less of a barrier toward Yurik, so she liked hearing that young Yurik was so cute,
But Shan, who had respect for Yurik, seed quite shocked.
He had told them a little about young Yurik since there wasn't much else to add about the current Yurik.
Shan reacted like an obsessive fan who heard that their favorite idol goes to the bathroom.
"No, why? Wouldn't it be good to learn about soone you respect?"
"It's too explicit, too explicit."
"But it was interesting, right?"
"...That's true, but that's separate from my respect."
"Hey, Shan. Don't be so stiff. Are you an Arahan? Did you want to beco an Arahan in the future?"
"Don't you start too, Tika."
If he teased him more here, Shan would say he was going back to Shambhala.
He thought he should stop appropriately and changed the topic.
"But doesn't the wind seem a bit different?"
"Ah, that's right! If I rember correctly, the desert should be almost over?"
"Tika has a good mory."
"That's why I was chosen by Anutara to leave the village. For reference, Shan is only good at digging dirt!"
Watching Shan punch the swaggering Tika, he calculated inwardly.
About 25 days had passed since leaving Shambhala.
Seeing that they still hadn't completely escaped the desert even after a full month,
It seed Yurik had originally planned to hide deep in the desert.
Indeed, even while pretending otherwise, he had been considerate of the Shambhala people.
He had done well to leave Yurik in Shambhala, even if it was sowhat forced.
Living in close quarters with Shan and Tika for a long ti, he had also newly realized things about the Shambhala people.
The Shambhala people were very healthy and sturdy.
It might have been because they had completely adapted to the desert climate, but they were fine eating less water and food than the people he rembered.
Of course, they still got hungry and lost energy if they didn't eat.
But while ordinary people drank about 2L of water per day,
Both Shan and Tika together consud about 500ml.
They ate twice a day, foods like dried fruits or roasted beans.
He should say their bodies had mysteriously excellent fuel efficiency - in any case, they were different from ordinary people.
This was how they could traverse the desert for so long.
"Then since it's getting dark, shall we rest? Tomorrow or the day after, we might be able to step on new land instead of sand."
"Wow, al ti! Yesung, aren't you eating again?"
"Please take care of my portion as well."
"You're the first person I've seen who can go without eating like that, besides Anutara."
Shan looked him over with suspicious eyes.
That was natural. What he had eaten in 25 days was a few sips of water and two roasted beans.
He hadn't wanted to eat the beans originally either, but he had no choice since Shan looked at him so suspiciously.
"No, that's not right. Anutara doesn't eat because he resembles . Should I have taught him table manners before coming? If I had educated him by making him lie face down and hitting his bottom, the Shambhala people's expressions would have been quite worth seeing..."
"Please stop making such disgustingly father-like comnts."
This much could be laughed off easily.
Having lit a small fire in the desert, the three of them gathered around, each eating their al or resting,
And he, who had volunteered for night watch duty, watched Tika yawn and stretch out on an old mat.
Brief small talk continued, but Tika, perhaps tired, soon fell silent.
Watching Tika sleep soundly under the flickering firelight, he felt peace for the first ti in a while.
"Tika sleeps well anywhere."
"That's her strength. Being thick-skinned. Sotis she's so thick-skinned I wonder if she was taken away by scorpions sowhere."
"That's good. Since Shan is quick-witted and sensitive, you can complent that aspect of Tika, right? Tika assists you too."
"I would never set up house with her even if I died. So don't say things like that."
"It wasn't about marriage. Why do you hear it that way? I ant you could live like that as friends. Why did you think of marriage?"
"What?"
"I said it because you two seem close... Oh, could it be."
"Wait. It's not what Yesung is thinking."
"Hmm..."
He couldn't say anything more and closed his mouth.
Shan, throwing bean shells into the fire, looked calm but his cheeks were twitching slightly.
"...Yes! Then I'd be grateful if you invited to the wedding."
"I said it's not like that!"
"I understand, don't I?"
"This is driving crazy."
Shan scratched his head vigorously and sighed.
"...Anyway, Tika with her thick nerves wouldn't have noticed, but there's sothing that's been bothering ."
"What's that?"
"I think I ntioned it before. I was there with the Arahan when Anutara pulled you out of the mud."
Co to think of it, Shan seed to have said that.
"So?"
"Thinking about it continuously while coming here, that blood pouch the Arahan dropped - I think Anutara might have sprinkled sothing similar on the mud before pulling you out."
"Mm."
"Why did Anutara bring that there? In the first place, why were you stuck in there? Anutara wants to keep you in Shambhala but you said you had to leave. What's the reason for that? ...Could it be related to the 'sche' you ntioned to before? Are you leaving Shambhala to do that? What exactly is there in that place you want to go?"
"That's..."
"You said it first. That you'd tell when we left Shambhala. And I've crossed the desert for you until now. I think I'm quite qualified."
If it ca to qualifications, he didn't have much to say either.
Shan was wanting the truth now,
And he was the only person who could tell him the truth at this mont.
But would it be okay to tell him about snake-people, Elder Things, gods, and such?
Humans had inherent ntal strength.
The asure of reason humans possessed to exist as humans.
However, reason and asures were all nothing but the standards of fragile humans.
Even strong minds were gnawed away by ancient secrets, and eventually people chose the last resort to remain human.
Hiding in the cracks of madness.
Before their raison d'être shattered, before they turned into a speck of dust in this vast universe.
Madness was humanity's greatest defense protocol and final refuge.
To such a person, explain about Ig, Aphoom-Zhah, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, the black castle built from divine remains, and himself who had flown back through ti?
To talk about the mark of Hastur carved on the back of his neck, about the abilities he could wield?
To openly speak about the cruel cycle of regression that didn't cease even after dying countless tis?
Ha, ridiculous.
"What I can tell you now..."
Suddenly, he didn't feel human.
He seed less human than Shan or Tika, perhaps even less than Yurik from past cycles.
The heart-tearing sadness he had once felt, the rising ecstasy, the anger that had burned as if to consu his insides - now were nothing but intangible fog.
"It might be a long and boring story..."
Long ago, the green-haired physician had told him to have compassion.
To pity and cherish others.
That others wouldn't all be like him.
He hadn't forgotten that teaching. The determination to listen because it was his request was still clear.
But,
It seed he hadn't told him that he couldn't beco like others.
"But if it's okay, I'll tell you."
In the end, he could only repeat the sa words he had said in the past.
When he hated Yurik to death, and cherished like his own body the woman who had been the assistant head butler, the cheerful attendant who had served him,
And Leandros, who was both his escort knight and the protagonist of the story.
While continuously reflecting in his desert-dry mind that he couldn't understand his past self,
While ticulously analyzing and interpreting the emotions he had felt then.
Like a phonograph that only knew one song, like an actor unconsciously spitting out lines that had beco familiar to his mouth.
"I also had a very important person. I can't tell you that person's na, but I rember that at first I only regarded that person as soone who could save ..."
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