East Road Quest

Chapter 92: A Misty Night

Ruby sensed movement somewhere in the fog.

At first, it was a ripple in the air, then a scent, and finally, with her eyes.

‘They’ moved without touching a single blade of grass, made no sound stepping on the earth, and knew how to hide in the mist.

‘Their movement is skilled in the forest. Could they be elves? Or perhaps demons mimicking elves.’

Ruby cast a red glance towards Merald, who was on guard.

Even knowing he was there, it took her a few seconds to pinpoint his exact location.

His skill in concealing such a large frame was something even Ruby desired to learn.

Merald briefly raised his hand to Ruby before lowering it—a signal to stay put.

Ruby blinked several times, returning her gaze to its natural state.

‘So he knew already. Did he realize it before me? That’s annoying. Besides, if I just stand here as he says, I’m following his orders.’

Ruby looked down beneath the tree.

Sapp lay asleep, using a large leaf as a blanket. Her face seemed to glow white, reflecting the moonlight.

Jade tossed and turned a few times before quietly watching Sapp. His gaze at Sapp sometimes resembled that of a brother looking at his sister, and at other times, that of a lover.

Ruby silently descended beside Jade and asked.

“Sapp is pretty, isn’t she?”

Jade, startled by the sudden appearance or the question, opened his eyes wide. Fortunately, he didn’t make a sound loud enough to wake her.

It must have been restraint not to disturb Sapp’s sleep, but with unknown beings approaching, it wouldn’t have been good for Jade to make noise.

“What’s with that out of the blue?” Jade inquired.

“I’ve been observing you and noticed something odd. What do you think of Sapp? Don’t you have any thoughts, traveling with such a pretty girl?” Ruby prodded teasingly.

“What kind of delusions have you been entertaining to suddenly come to such a conclusion?” Jade retorted quietly. Ruby spoke the truth.

“I imagined dying at the hands of Cowking.”

“That’s surprising. I would have thought you’d only imagine destroying Cowking.”

“That’s why I’m surprised too.”

Ruby traced the moisture tickling her nose with the back of her hand, pondering the ‘conclusion of her delusion.’

Right before Sapp fell asleep, she and Jade had a conversation full of concern for each other.

‘Isn’t the bed uncomfortable?’

‘We can’t expect Sage’s cabin to be comfortable.’

‘But it would have been nice to have brought at least a blanket. It’s colder than the Dark Forest.’ As Jade shivered, Sapp slightly lifted the leaf she was under.

‘Should we share it? We’ll be warmer if we share our body heat.’

To Ruby, Jade seemed to hesitate for a moment. She thought she wouldn’t have minded if they had embraced and slept together.

But Jade declined.

‘Sometimes it feels like Sapp treats me like a child.’

Sapp lowered the leaf again and apologized.

‘Did it seem that way? I’m sorry. Most of the outsiders I’ve met are orphanage children.’

‘There’s no need to apologize. Let’s get some sleep.’

After that, Sapp fell into a deep sleep like a lie, while Jade remained awake.

In a second, Ruby reconstructed the recent events in her mind, confirming that this was neither a future event nor one from 500 years ago, and then asked.

“Do you like Sapp?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Sapp likes you too. If it weren’t for the prejudice of her being a nun and the obstacle of religion, she would have clung to you or become a girl in love long ago.”

Ruby pointed at Sapp as she continued.

“You too, whether excommunicated or absolved, are not honest with your feelings because of your past as a priest. If not for that, you two would have already formed a physical relationship and gained a stronger bond.”

“Don’t judge relationships between men and women based on what you’ve read in books,” Jade admonished gently.

Ruby shook her head.

“No, I’m actually praising you. It’s admirable.”

“In what way?”

“Human beings, regardless of gender, can’t completely escape the satisfaction derived from physical pleasure.”

“It’s hard to adapt when you suddenly speak in academic terms.”

“It means once you’ve tried something, you want to keep doing it.”

“Then in my case, since I haven’t experienced it, there’s no ‘continuation’ to speak of.”

“Don’t lie. My point is that one leads to two, and two leads to three, not that there’s no initial longing. But you seem to have completely escaped even that. How is that possible?”

“It doesn’t seem like the right time to teach you the word ‘patience.'”

“There are things I can endure and things I cannot.”

“How about we end this conversation here?”

“No! You have a duty to teach me all about human emotions.”

“Since when did I have such a duty?”
“You often prevent me from fighting, for reasons that make no sense,” Ruby interrupted Jade, who seemed eager to speak.

“To you, it may seem like common sense, but to me, it’s nonsensical. If you want to give me orders based on common sense rather than threatening me with shackles, then you’ll need to teach me all that, including patience.” Ruby briefly revealed the collar around her neck before making it invisible again. Jade adjusted her posture.

“There’s a strange persuasiveness to your words. This is a better discussion than pondering why crossing the bridge earlier today was funny.”

Without hesitation, Ruby shared her thoughts.

“Pleasure, I believe, is created by a spirit within humans. The joy of eating something delicious or sexual pleasure, it’s all the work of the same spirit.”

Pointing to her head, Ruby continued, “It lives right here. People say the heart is the seat of emotions, but I think it’s here.”

“Is that knowledge from the library too?”

“The library books say that pleasure is created by fire, one of the four elements that make up this world. But I disagree. The world can’t possibly be made of only four elements!”

Ruby pointed at the sleeping Sapph with her left index finger and at Jade with her right, then crossed them to form an ‘X’.

“Every time you recall the physical pleasure with Sapph, you’re killing that spirit inside you. But the spirit won’t die until you do. It’s just holding its breath. If you suppress it too much, it will grow angry and eventually drive you mad.”

“Mad? That sounds exaggerated.”

“I’ve seen over a million people go mad, especially men. But you don’t. And you don’t seem likely to in the future. How do you manage to keep the spirit of pleasure in your mind from revealing its madness? And no, being a cleric isn’t the right answer. Many of those million were clerics too.”

Jade looked at Sapph and then looked away, seemingly on purpose.

“Even if such a spirit exists, I’ve never thought of it as madness, nor have I tried to kill it.”

“So you let it be? Even if it goes wild?”

“Well, perhaps I satisfy the spirit in other ways.”

“How? Tell me. If I know the method, maybe I can be satisfied too.”

“After my parents passed away, I thought I couldn’t bear the death of another loved one. So I didn’t allow myself to like anyone, to hold anyone in my heart. But Father Daniel and Sapph… they entered my heart without permission… I couldn’t stop them.”

Ruby didn’t say ‘Could Father Daniel be dead?’ not because she didn’t want to sadden Jade, but because she didn’t want to interrupt her.

“From Rome to the red desert, to the Cuman steppe, our journey continued, and the battles with demons grew, along with my fear. Fighting Helldrake made me realize something profound. I wasn’t afraid of the absurdly huge monster. I was scared that if Helldrake destroyed Taimon, tens of thousands might die. But that was just fear of the scale.”

Jade pointed to her head just as Ruby had done.

“If I have madness inside me, it would have emerged then! I was nearly driven mad by the fear that Buffalord might have killed Sapph. Now I’m even afraid to sleep. Afraid that Sapph won’t be there when I wake up.”

“Is that why you can’t sleep now?”

“I’d like to say that’s the case for the sake of the story, but in truth, it’s because the bed is uncomfortable. My back hurts.”

“You’re unnecessarily honest.”

Jade said with a laugh.

“So, seeing Sapph sleeping comfortably beside me is enough to satisfy me.”

“What? That’s the answer? Such a trivial sense of relief can compensate for your lack of physical pleasure?”

“In my case, yes.”

“Your spirit is so simple…”

Even as Ruby conversed with Jade, she kept an eye on Merald.

Merald signaled ‘Stay there.’

‘That guy knows I’m aware, and I take it for granted that he knows. Interesting. Were there such characters 500 years ago, aside from angels?’

Ruby signaled ‘I’ll be here’ with her finger pointing down. Her conversation with Jade wasn’t over yet.

“Now I understand.”

“What?”

Jade asked.

Ruby thumped her chest.

“My inner spirit always craves battle. It needs to experience more intense fights with stronger opponents to rest. But you, you quell your madness with such timid relief? That’s why we clash when we talk.”

“Maybe so.”

Jade looked at Ruby with concern and continued.

“If you call it a spirit, I’ll call it a wound. If you say it’s in the head, I’ll say it’s in the heart. It’s all metaphorical, anyway.”

Jade lightly thumped her chest with her fist.

“The heart is like a box that grows as you fill it. The more you put in, the bigger it gets, and the less you have, the smaller it becomes. Hate grows with hate, and love grows with love.”

“Like how worry grows with worry?”

“I can’t deny it. Even now, I’m worried about you, and my box of worries is getting bigger.”

“It’s laughable that you dare to worry about me, but let’s understand why you worry.”

“You said it yourself, didn’t you? Once you’ve tried something, you want to keep doing it.”

“I did say that.”

Jade asked, “Is it time to wake Saph?”

Ruby scratched the tip of his nose, a gesture that seemed to acknowledge he had been caught off guard. “It’s as if I’ve been counterattacked without even making a move,” he thought.

Just then, Merald sent a signal. Once again, he was dismissively signaling that he knew what Ruby was aware of.

“I’ll handle it. Stay put,” Ruby conveyed back with an appropriate response signal.

“Suit yourself,” he replied nonchalantly, though there was no such signal for ‘suit yourself.’ It was merely a casual wave of his hand, which Merald understood well enough.

“Now, wake Saph,” Ruby commanded.

“To involve Saph in this dispute?” Jade inquired.

“That’s a good idea. Saph’s perspective on physical pleasure could provide a unique viewpoint. But that’s not why,” Ruby clarified.

It wasn’t until they had closed in on their destination that Ruby identified the species of their approaching adversaries.

“Elves have appeared nearby,” Jade confirmed.

“Elves?”

“Yes, quite a few. They don’t seem particularly friendly either,” Ruby maintained a low tone.

“How do you know they’re not friendly?” Jade whispered even more quietly.

“They’re aiming their bows at us.”

“What’s the plan?” Jade asked quickly.

“Wait. Merald will handle it. If he can’t, then I’ll step in. But for now, don’t move. Elf arrows are hard to block,” Ruby added with a hint of jest.

“How about it? Is your worry box getting bigger?”

Without a word, Jade woke Saph.

“Well, I guess you don’t need to laugh at this one,” Saph thought as he opened his eyes, and Jade placed a finger to his lips.

Saph nodded silently. His movements were always a marvel—seemingly sluggish yet swift like a wildcat, and while appearing dim-witted, he was incredibly alert.

This time, without being told, Saph shifted from lying down to a prone position on the ground. He didn’t panic or get up in a hurry; he simply ensured he was ready to rise at a moment’s notice.

Soon after, Merald’s voice faintly emerged from the darkness, “I am a sentinel of the Dark Forest.”

A response in the common tongue came back, even fainter, “How does a sentinel of the Dark Forest come to enter the Black Oak Forest?”

“Just passing through. We’re en route to the ancient swamp ruins. We’ve heard a being called Cauking resides there.”

“Cauking is there?” the other inquired.

Ruby understood Merald’s sudden silence.

‘The local guard captain might not know. We only found out after extracting the soul of Buffalord.’

Merald spoke, “According to the information I’ve received, the ancient swamp ruins are his abode.”

“The Watercon rules the ancient swamp ruins.”

“And Cauking? The Komoras here are always singing his praises.”

“They sing to the point of annoyance. However, Cauking is believed to lurk in a deeper darkness unknown to us, not in Elforest. We even suspect that Cauking might be a fictitious entity created by Watercon.”

Merald fell into deep thought.

Ruby wished he could offer some advice to Merald.

‘Focus on the guy in front of you. Those elves are positioning themselves for a fight.’

As much as Ruby saw the elves as a potential threat, they did not regard the sentinel as a complete ally. Perhaps they didn’t believe in the sentinel at all.

“An human is accompanying you? Why is there a human in such a place?” an elf asked from within the mist.

“He’s part of my group,” Merald replied as he slowly approached the other.

The other also cautiously moved closer.

Under the dense moonlight shrouded in fog, they stopped about ten paces apart.

Neither side lowered their bows.

Ruby was ready to dash into the fray at any moment.

‘Jade has a right to be worried. Unbeknownst to me, I’m hoping for the pleasure of this fight to be great. I hope these elves are better archers than Merald and as wicked as demons. That way, I can kill them without remorse!’