Contract Obligations

“This is the common dining hall, and that is the hot spring! Everyone relieves their fatigue there, so it’s a good place to gather information.”

While Mashak was preparing the decoction, I went around the city of the Varg with Tegen, sightseeing.

Bahalgras was located in the middle of a rocky mountain.
It was too large to be called a village and too small to be called a city, and cliffs like a closed flower bud surrounded it.

The architecture looked like a traditional Korean house, even from a narrow perspective.
The steep, pointed roofs, perhaps to prevent avalanches, were clearly tiled, and the gate tower built above the castle gate was also familiar.

The structure, built in a square shape around a central plaza that received plenty of sunlight, the lanterns hanging here and there…

‘Hmm, it seems to be an oriental concept.’
I had come to that conclusion, but upon closer inspection, the clothing was not at all.

Karvan wore a black robe, but Tegen, who followed me around like a large dog, wore a fur pelt, looking exactly like a barbarian, and Mashak, the doctor, wore a Chesterfield coat for a suit.

Even the Varg who had just bowed to me was wearing a long padded coat from who knows where.
The mark of a familiar brand was clear on his chest.

‘…What is this inconsistent and rootless fashion?’
I thought, but I soon understood.

Whatever the reality of this place was, it was ultimately a world of illusion.
It was the world of the veteran RPG game ‘Legacyth Chronicle,’ which I had been playing for a long time, and here, users could make their own clothes if they had the materials.

So, it wasn’t strange for the wolf beast-kin to wear long padded coats or trench coats.
Since it was a world that couldn’t be understood by common sense anyway, I just passed it over as I always did.

“The decoction is on the strong side, so please let me know if you feel any discomfort after drinking it.”

I really didn’t think much of it.

Until I inadvertently scanned Mashak’s white coat as he handed me the decoction after I returned from sightseeing.

[Chesterfield Coat for Suits: A stylish coat using the once-popular ultra-white pigment. The thick lining is good for enduring the cold. It seems to have been taken from someone. (Creator: Unknown)]

That coat was an Awakener-exclusive crafted item.
An item that couldn’t be bought from in-game merchants.
Clothes that players designed and crafted themselves.

In Legacyth, crafted items, including clothes, were basically treated as ‘bound items.’
It meant that they wouldn’t be lost even upon death.

So, those were items that some player had abandoned, giving up their binding.
Items discarded for reasons such as a full inventory or getting tired of them.

“Ah, this is a piece of clothing brought by the reconnaissance Sura.”

As I couldn’t take my eyes off the coat while receiving the decoction, Mashak quickly said.

“It has magic on it, so it never gets dirty even though it’s a white cloth, so I use it often.”

The various inconsistent architectures throughout the city, and the modern items like the fireplace or thermos that were suddenly placed in the common space came to mind.

Things that would only be seen in the Awakeners’ personal space, ‘Road Place.’

…That was right.
These people were surviving by picking up and using the items that the Awakeners had thrown away.

“Do you like this coat, Valtael?”

“Shinbi-nim, that decoction is really bitter. Shall I bring some honey candy in advance? You said you didn’t like bitter things.”

I couldn’t say anything and just kept staring at the coat.

At that, Mashak asked as if he would take off his coat right away, and Tegen, who had somehow remembered me picking out only the bitter chicory from my salad, whispered.

“Actually, this is an item of the heinous Destroyer. I cannot offer such a monstrosity to the Valtael, but if you like it, I will order a similar one to be made.”

‘…If they find out that I’m that heinous Awakener, I’ll be eaten alive.’
The image of the well-roasted deer roast I had for lunch came to mind.

The kindness I had taken for granted all day suddenly felt terrifying.

“Shinbi-nim?”

“Are you in pain again? Your expression…”

The faces of the Sura, who were asking me one after another, were full of worry.
I quickly shook my head and smiled awkwardly.

“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”

‘…I must never be found out.’
That I’m an Awakener.

That was that, and Bahalgras was a really good place to live.

There was an outdoor hot spring and a garden, and it had all the necessary amenities.
The entire main building where I was staying had underfloor heating, so the whole floor was warm even though it was in the middle of a snowy mountain.

Karvan still hadn’t shown his face, but I was doing very well.

I slept in Valta’s bedroom, said to be the most luxurious and safest in Bahalgras, and a doctor who worried more about my body than I did, and a reliable subordinate who would bring a cup to my lips if I said I was thirsty, brought me meals and kept me company.

After living like that for a few days, the conclusion was clear.

‘…This is, a sweet deal, isn’t it?’
Just when I was starting to think I wanted to live here forever.

As I came out after a satisfying bath in the warm water, a large back was standing in front of the bed.

“Dinner.”

Startled, I stopped in my tracks, and the man spoke bluntly without even looking back at me.

“…I ate. You?”

He just nodded his head with a blunt side profile.
His attitude was still chilly.

‘Tsk.’
Would it kill him to be a little more friendly?
I pouted my lips, but on the other hand, I thought he must be tired.
A faint smell of blood and iron emanated from him.

“It feels like it’s been a long time.”

“Your body.”

“Imprint sickness? Mashak gave me medicine, so it’s bearable.”

It was still a nonsensical answer, but somehow it didn’t feel unpleasant.
Was it thanks to the afterglow of the satisfying bath?
Or had I become more generous after living comfortably for a few days?
I continued to answer meekly.

“What did you do during the day? They said you didn’t even go for a walk.”

“I just chatted with Tegen in the love-nest.”

“…You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Yeah, it was fun.”

I was happy to see his face after a few days, so I was chattering on a little longer than usual when I felt a silent gaze.

Perhaps to cover the scarred right eye, his eyes under his fallen hair were sharp.
A gaze so cold that it held not a single ounce of emotion.

His slightly damp hair, perhaps from having washed up, was a pale silver.
His silver hair, which looked brownish in the prison because it was covered in blood, had a good texture now that I saw it.

If he had twitching wolf ears or a tail on his head like the other Varg, he might have looked a little cute, but this ice-cold man had no cuteness whatsoever.

“I would have killed you if I had known you were a Destroyer.”

‘…And he says such scary things.’

A voice that naturally echoed in my ears made me swallow dryly.

I’ll definitely run away once my body gets better.
I was just cautiously watching his expression when the man suddenly took off his outer garment.

“I’ve finished my meal, my body is fine, and I’ve just washed up.”

“Huh? Ah, yeah. I just got out of the bath.”

“Then. Let’s do what we have to do.”

Thud.
As I was looking at the robe that was thrown onto the chair next to the bed, the words he spat out were out of the blue.

Is he saying we should sleep already?
It’s still early evening.
I glanced at the setting sun and then shifted my gaze.
At some point, a reddish tinge was spreading over the man’s bare upper body.
Since he was standing with his back to the window, it couldn’t be the sunset.

“Wait a minute, that. Are you hurt?”

It was a wound that had been scratched by something sharp.
Looking closely, there were even drops of blood.
It was absurd that he had crawled into the bedroom in this state when he had a competent doctor.

“Why didn’t you go to Mashak? Wait a minute. A bandage? A potion? No, what do I need…”

“You.”

As I was hastily summoning my inventory and rummaging through it, the indifferent answer he threw was puzzling.

“What?”

“I need you.”

It was a phrase that could have sounded quite romantic, but because of the man’s cold face, I didn’t think so at all.
On the contrary, I was terrified.

“Wh-what do you mean, all of a sudden?”

Regardless, the man, who had finished undressing, nodded his head.
It was a look that said, ‘What are you doing not getting undressed?’

‘…Wait a minute.’
He was covered in blood like that in the prison too.
And at some point, he had healed completely.

As I was staring at his abdomen where the bloodstains remained, my eyes widened.

“You, no way. Your body heals if you… do it with me?”

Instead of answering, the man wiped the bloodstains with the gauze on the table.
The white gauze was instantly stained red.

“Just like how you healed me by sucking on me! Right!”

“I’ve thought it before, but you talk a lot. Destroyer.”

“What do you want me to do! You’re trying to have s*x with a Destroyer!”

“…Stop talking and come. Quickly.”

“Ack! Go away!”

The man’s eyebrows twitched, and as he was about to reach out his hand, I screamed and rolled off the bed.

He looked me over as I stood with my back pressed against the wall, then rubbed his forehead as if tired.
As if he had known I would react this way.

“This wasn’t part of the deal! You said I just had to act as your mate…!”

“What did you think a mate does? There’s no other meaning. It’s an act purely for treatment.”

‘How can f*cking not have any other meaning!’
Terrified, I tried to open the sliding door, but it wouldn’t budge.
The coldness flowing from the man’s fingertips had frozen the threshold.