Farewell to the hero! chapter 32

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“If this fog were natural, it wouldn’t be this obstructive. Thick fog is possible, but I’ve never heard of this area being prone to such conditions.”

I scanned the surroundings.

Judging by the disheveled blankets scattered on the ground, others seemed just as unprepared for this situation as I was.

I had no time to feel any kinship with them.

The fact that even seasoned individuals were caught off guard by the attack pointed to one conclusion.

I wasn’t dismissing the possibility that this fog was information I had missed.

After all, the patrons at the tavern didn’t always talk about disasters.

Still, after nearly ten years of working there, I had never heard anything about frequent fog around Geham Lake, or this area in general.

If none of the patrons ever mentioned it, there had to be a reason.

Perhaps, they didn’t think it was worth mentioning.

Because of this, the likelihood that the fog was artificially created became even stronger.

The gears started clicking into place.

“Besides, this fog reeks. It smells like it’s made from burnt food or something. That’s why it feels suspicious.”

“So?”

“Maybe it’s a monster… or someone else who created this fog? Like using a magic circle, perhaps.”

I hesitated as I mentioned the magic circle.

If this fog wasn’t caused by a monster and was artificially made, magic seemed the only plausible explanation.

But why would a magician go to the trouble of wasting mana to create fog here?

And more importantly, if the fog were magically created, it should be odorless.

Yet this fog stank.

If not a magic circle, maybe wind or water elemental spirits were responsible.

It wasn’t entirely impossible if there were a spirit mage nearby.

Another possibility came to mind, a beat later.

“Or it could be spirits…”

Just as I cleared my throat to elaborate, Owen, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation, spoke up.

His voice was oddly dry.

Through the fog, I caught a glimpse of his platinum hair as he brushed it back with a cough.

“Now that I think about it, Isa’s right.”

“I thought it was just the aftereffects of waking up, but something about this feels genuinely foul. It’s probably the work of those damned mages.”

“Mages?”

“Yes, those maniacs who research the demon realm and try to tear the dimensional rift even wider. They would do something like this, without a doubt. They always love making trouble for others… And this isn’t baseless. Mana and divine power don’t mix well, and given how disgusted I feel right now, this fog must be made of mana.”

“So, it’s not likely the work of monsters?”

“No, divine power doesn’t act up like this in the presence of monsters. It’s definitely a fog made from mana. I feel nauseous just from being near it.”

Owen gagged mid-sentence, unable to finish.

The sound of him suppressing bile and struggling to breathe followed.

Watching him, Ruen clicked his tongue irritably and stepped back.

“Tsk, there’s another one coming from the front, Sehir.”

“Same size as before?”

“Yeah, just like the last one. What’s with these half-formed creatures?”

At his report, Sehir nocked another arrow.

The string stretched taut with a faint sound of the arrow’s fletching brushing against it.

After a brief pause, the arrow flew, and again, no eerie wails accompanied it.

Perhaps he had already grown accustomed to hitting the goblins’ core, even through the fog.

Daniel remained silent until the goblin was fully dealt with, then spoke nonchalantly.

“I haven’t seen any mages around here. No spirit mages either.”

“Could it be because of a magic circle, as Isa suggested? Magic circles can activate under specific conditions, even without constant power.”

“Now that you mention it, the rats did say there’s a cave near the lake. If there is a magic circle, it would likely be there.”

“Then…”

The information Daniel slowly unraveled supported the theory that the fog was caused by a magic circle.

Just as Owen was about to raise his voice in frustration at the belated revelation, Ruen cut him off.

“Damn it.”

She halted mid-sentence, his vivid red hair whipping through the air.

Her brown eyes, barely visible through the fog, were a mix of urgency and panic.

“Hey, in front!”

At that moment, his urgent shout echoed.

I saw something flying toward us.

Cutting through the thick fog, a projectile traced an arc.

Whether intentional or not, it was aimed directly at me.

The object, about the size of my forearm, revealed itself only when it got closer—it was a toothless axe that even a child could lift.

No sound came from my tightly sealed throat.

My breath barely passed in and out, as if it were treading lightly.

Though I knew I should dodge, my body remained rooted like a statue, watching the axe come closer.

My whole body stiffened, leaving me to only observe the flying weapon.

If it hit, I’d die instantly.

If I was unlucky, I’d writhe in pain and die slowly from blood loss.

Was it because I was facing death for the first time?

Everything seemed to move a little slower.

I realized how foolish I must have looked to Daniel, who trusted my self-assured claims about being good at guard duty because of my speed.

When it came to matters of life and death, all the skills I had accumulated became meaningless.

Faced with imminent death, I couldn’t even decide whether to dodge below or to the side.

What use was my running ability now?

The distance between me and the axe shrank with every blink of my eyes.

Saliva pooled in my mouth.

I had forgotten to swallow.

Just when the seconds felt like an eternity, a hand reached out from behind and caught the axe blade in mid-air.

The axe stopped dead in its tracks, and at the same time, blood spurted in front of me.

A small amount splattered onto my face.

“…Ah.”

A weak groan escaped me.

As I sluggishly shifted my gaze, I recognized a familiar hand.

The veins stood out sharply on his pale hand, drained of all color.

Blood dripped from his wrist, connected to the hand, and soon formed a thin trickle that turned into a torrent.

The rusty stench of metal and the iron tang of blood covered the foul scent of the mist.

In a daze, I followed the hand up to its owner.

Before my gaze could reach his face, an unsettlingly calm voice hummed, almost playfully.

“Goblins have good ears.”

Kaindel whispered.

He casually pulled out the axe blade embedded in his palm and brushed it off with his index finger.

His lips, curved into a straight line, bent into a smile.

He then let out a mischievous hum through his rounded lips.

“So, you need to be even more cautious when you can’t see ahead.”

“…….”

“By now, you should know that making too much noise is basically asking the goblins to kill you.”

With those words, Kaindel grabbed the axe and hurled it back in the direction it had come from.

The axe flew lightly, not thrown with full force.

It followed a familiar arc and soon hit something.

A dull thud rang out, likely the goblin it struck, but there were no screams in response.

The goblin had died instantly.

“That’s the fifth one. Eight left, I guess.”

His muttering brought clarity to my blurry focus.

It was only then that I fully grasped the situation.

Kaindel was injured.

Kaindel…

Something snapped inside me.

I hurriedly grabbed his wrist, avoiding the wound, and squeezed it tightly to stop the blood flow.

But with my weak grip, there was nothing I could do.

All I could do was helplessly watch as the blood continued to pour out.

Suddenly, it felt like I was about to cry.

If I had dodged in time, would Kaindel not have been hurt?

As the thought that I was the one who caused this sank in, my eyes grew hot and began to sting.

“Kaindel, you… your hand is bleeding.”

The words tumbled out awkwardly, as if someone had cut them out with scissors.

Still, I tried my best to spit them out.

“You should have just dodged. Not caught it. It hurts, doesn’t it? And we don’t even have any medicine. If you bleed like this…”

“…….”

Kaindel just stared at me, his eyes flickering between his wound and my face.

His intense gaze was filled with me.

His green eyes, darker than the moonlit night, were impossible to read.

The way he looked at me now seemed like a trap about to snap shut, or like the eyes of a bard who had finally found his muse.

It was a dangerous kind of intensity.

Soon, Kaindel regained his usual calmness and smiled.

A bright, dazzling smile.

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