Chapter 314 (Patreon)

The night stretched wide above them, painted in deep blue and silver. A swollen moon hung over the empty road like a silent witness, its pale light spilling across the plains and turning the grass into rippling waves of white. The wagon creaked steadily as it rolled along the lonely trail toward the capital. Every now and then the wheels struck a buried stone, making the entire carriage jolt before settling once more into its slow rhythm.

Cold wind drifted through the open sides of the wagon.

No one spoke for a long while.

The silence felt heavier than before as the time passed by.

Kana sat curled at the far corner of the wagon bed, knees drawn close to her chest beneath a rough blanket. Her damp hair still carried smell traces of salt from the sea. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw it again. The throne hall. The creature who called himself a king. And another creature who seemed to be her friend. Friend? Then the sword that stopped an inch away from her forehead.

Then Boris and Suri.

Dead.

Again and again her mind replayed different endings. In one, Boris’ body split apart before he could even raise his spear. In another, Suri’s barrier shattered like thin glass while lightning still flickered uselessly around her fingers. Kana saw every possibility her instincts had screamed at her during those final moments.

Every future ended in blood.

If that strange black creature had not appeared...

Kana clenched her fists tighter beneath the blanket.

The wagon rattled violently after hitting another stone. Boris steadied the reins from the driver’s seat with tired hands. Even the horses looked exhausted from the long journey back.

“Uhm... Kana.”

Suri’s voice finally pierced the silence.

She sat across from Kana, wrapped tightly in her own blanket. Her usual smugness was gone tonight. No teasing grin. No clever remark. Moonlight filtered through the wagon opening and revealed the bruises still lingering across her cheek and neck. Unfortunately, no healing class type were present at the adventurer guild and the church was quite far so they decided to get fully healed back in the capital city.

“Are you going to be alright?” she asked softly.

Kana heard her.

With her [Night Awareness], she heard everything. The horse's breathing. The leather straps creaking. The distant chirping of insects somewhere in the fields.

But the words felt far away.

Boris glanced back briefly while keeping the wagon steady. His normally broad shoulders seemed smaller tonight somehow.

“I’m also curious what happened back there,” he muttered. “But... let’s wait for Kana to come back first.”

Back. Kana almost laughed bitterly at that. A part of her still remained inside that underwater dungeon, kneeling helplessly beneath that king’s blade.

Suri kept watching her for a few more moments. Her sharp eyes softened little by little. She understood fear. She understood death. Perhaps better than most.

“We almost died,” Suri whispered, lowering her gaze toward her hands. “I know that.”

The wind blew through the wagon again, colder this time.

“But everyone dies eventually.” Her voice was quiet now. Thoughtful. “That’s just part of life.”

Kana slowly lifted her eyes. Suri leaned back against the wooden wall of the wagon and stared upward at the moonlit sky outside.

“All I can feel right now,” she continued softly, “is gratitude.”

Her lips curved into a faint smile.

“Grateful that we’re alive.”

The wagon wheels rolled endlessly through the pale road.

“Grateful that whatever happened down there saved us.”

Then Suri looked directly at Kana.

“Even if we died back there...” Suri muttered sleepily as she pulled the blanket tighter around herself, “we wouldn’t blame you in the afterlife.”

“I… feel the same.” Boris said enough for Kana to hear.

Those words struck harder than the dungeon boss’ attacks.

Kana’s breath caught. Her chest tightened painfully. Because that was exactly why it hurt so much. They trusted her. Even after she dragged them into a nightmare they could never have prepared for.

Suri slowly lay down on the wooden bench, curling beneath the blanket until only her red hair remained visible beneath the moonlight.

Within minutes, her breathing softened.

Boris stayed silent at the front, pretending to focus entirely on the road. But Kana noticed how tightly he still held the reins.

He was afraid too. They all were.

Kana lowered her head. Her red eyes trembled faintly beneath the darkness of the wagon. For a moment, they regained a little of their usual sharpness. A tiny flicker of life returning behind them.

Outside, the moon continued to shine brilliantly over the empty road, bathing the world in silver while the wagon carried the three survivors quietly home through the middle of the cold and endless night.

….

The fourth night of their journey back to the capital city arrived beneath a sky washed silver by moonlight. The road had long since vanished behind the dark outlines of trees, and only the crackling campfire pushed back the cold creeping from the wilderness. Sparks drifted upward from the flames like tiny dying stars before vanishing into the endless dark above them.

Kana sat quietly beside the fire, slowly turning a strip of meat over the flames with a wooden stick. Grease hissed every time it dripped into the fire, sending up sharp bursts of smoke that carried the scent of roasted meat through the chilly night air. Usually, Suri would already be hovering nearby like some starving beast, while Boris would complain that Kana always burned the edges.

Tonight had been different.

The silence between them had stretched for days now. Heavy. Tangled. Like invisible chains dragging behind their wagon.

Kana stared at the meat far longer than necessary. Her thoughts were elsewhere again. Back beneath the sea. Back inside that impossible dungeon. Back to the moment where death had stood inches from her face.

The image would not leave her.

That sword.

That pressure.

That apology she never wanted to say.

When she finally decided the meat was done, she handed the skewers toward them and muttered softly, “Let’s eat.”

There was a sudden reaction that made Kana flinch. Suri and Boris suddenly clapped their hands together in exaggerated celebration before practically jumping toward each other in relief.

“Finally!” Boris shouted dramatically.

“I thought she lost the ability to speak!” Suri added.

Without thinking, the two of them grabbed each other in excitement.

Then they froze. Slowly, their heads turned toward one another. A look of absolute disgust appeared on both their faces at the exact same time. They immediately shoved each other away.

“Disgusting,” Suri spat onto the grass.

“You hugged me first!” Boris fired back, wiping his hands against his clothes like he had touched poison.

“You’re just imagining things.”

For the first time in days, noise returned to the campfire.

Kana stared at them for a moment before lowering her gaze toward the fire again. Something inside her chest loosened slightly. Just slightly.

Suri plopped herself down beside Kana afterward, wrapping herself in a blanket while stealing one of the roasted skewers.

“Thought you were planning to stay silent forever,” Suri muttered before taking a bite.

Kana only shook her head faintly and began eating her own share.

It should have tasted good.

Suri’s mother’s special sauce coated the meat perfectly, a recipe born from countless strange experiments as an [Alchemist]. Sweet at first, then slightly spicy afterward. Suri once claimed he could eat an entire boar if it was cooked with this sauce.

Tonight, Kana tasted almost nothing.

The meat felt dry in her mouth.

Still, she forced herself to chew and swallow. Her body needed strength. She understood that much better now than ever before.

Across the fire, Thorne was happily gnawing on her own chunk of meat on the ground, completely detached from the heavy atmosphere surrounding the humans. The lizard occasionally flicked her tongue toward the flames as if judging Kana’s cooking.

Nobody spoke for a while after that.

The forest around them breathed quietly in the dark. Somewhere far away, insects chirped. Wind rustled through the branches overhead. The moon hung high and bright enough that Kana could see the outlines of the trees even beyond the reach of the firelight.

Beautiful and peaceful. And somehow that peace made her chest hurt more. Because just a few days ago, she truly thought none of them would ever see another night like this again.

Kana’s grip around the skewer tightened unconsciously.

Suri noticed. Of course she noticed.

She always noticed.

“You’re thinking about it again,” Suri said softly.

Kana did not answer immediately.

The fire popped loudly between them.

Finally, Kana lowered her head.

“I almost got both of you killed.”

Her voice came out rough. Smaller than usual.

Boris and Suri remained quiet.

Kana continued staring into the flames. “I thought I was prepared. I thought if something dangerous happened, I could handle it somehow.” Her fingers curled tighter. “But I couldn’t even react.”

The memory returned vividly. That overwhelming pressure. Her arms breaking from a single strike. That moment where her body simply accepted death. Kana’s breathing became uneven for a second.

“I brought you there because I wanted us to become stronger,” she whispered. “But if…” She swallowed hard. “We would’ve died for nothing.”

Suri leaned back against a log and looked up toward the moonlit sky.

“You know what I understood back there?” she asked quietly.

Kana glanced toward her. 

Suri’s silver eyes reflected the flames. “That I really don’t want to die yet.”

Boris snorted softly. “Same.”

“But,” Suri continued, “I also understood something else.”

She looked directly at Kana now. “If we died there, I still would’ve followed you.”

Kana froze. Boris scratched the back of his head awkwardly before grumbling, “Yeah. Same here.”

Kana opened her mouth slightly, unable to speak. Boris looked away immediately, embarrassed by his own honesty. “Don’t misunderstand. You’re still reckless.”

“Very reckless,” Suri added instantly.

“Insanely reckless.”

Kana stared at them for a long moment.

Then unexpectedly, painfully, quietly...

She laughed.

Just a little.

The sound was weak and cracked at the edges, but it was real. And for the first time since leaving that underwater dungeon, the crushing weight inside her chest eased enough for her to finally breathe again.

Suri used her illusion skill and mimicked the text of god showing in front of her.

“I need your opinion. Which one should I choose?”

[New classes available:]

[Phantasm Magus]

[Night Bender]

[Conjurer Magus]

[Rune Weaver]

[Mystic Illusionist]

[Storm Wizard]

[Mana Magus]

[Arcane Mage]

[Force Mage]

[Shadow Shaman]

[Archaic Manipulator]

Post note:

New classes revealed! Yes, Suri somehow got the gist of it(when the text of god appeared again)

Fourth chap of the week.

Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂

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