No Dark Secrets In This Book

Episode 107

I wasn’t particularly trying to ruin Ryuseong’s reputation. It’s not that, I just raised my own reputation. Hehe. A villain gradually changing under the influence of a kind lover, isn’t that a romanticist as if painted on a canvas?

‘If there’s such sweetness in an age where romance is cooling down, wouldn’t it be polite to share it?’

But Ryuseong showed no signs of stopping his heated protest. Although it was only through telepathy. So it was super cute.

[You crazy bastard! I will definitely, absolutely get revenge for your nonsense, so be prepared!]

I’m not a kind adult who lets things slide because it’s cute.

[Then I will join in. If you talk nonsense, I will do it again too. Whether you do it again after that, well. That’s your choice.]

[….]

[A game of chicken, shall we start it?]

And Ryuseong said nothing. Hehehe. Of course, going all out in a bullshit battle with me is equivalent to a suicide attempt.

‘Why pick a fight you’ll lose from the start?’

I absentmindedly pulled baby Ryuseong’s soft cheek and almost got bitten, but quickly pulled out my hand and stroked his head with a satisfied smile.

“Baby Ryuseong is smart unlike adult Ryuseong….”

“What? You’re saying that even after seeing him dare to bare his teeth at you?”

At this point, Ryuseong seemed genuinely upset. But I was serious. He’s trying to eat me, but at least in front of me, he’s friendly to me, isn’t that smart enough?

Better than that adult Ryuseong bastard who blatantly tried to kill me in the beginning. Oh, of course baby Ryuseong also tried to kill me at first, but.

‘…What is this. Is this Ryuseong’s defining trait?’

Trying to kill me and then getting captivated.

“Your taste is really weird too….”

When I said that, Ryuseong’s blood pressure must have risen as he grabbed the back of his neck, lowered his head and took deep breaths.

“Right. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Shut up. A bit.”

“The one with weird taste should shut up first.”

“You shut… You shut up….”

The vice-captain of Reversa seemed unable to bear the awkwardness of this ‘Cassice Demillang’, looking at Ryuseong with a strange face, looking at me, looking at baby Ryuseong, it was a mess.

His eyeballs were bouncing around like cue-struck billiard balls.

Meanwhile, adult Ryuseong couldn’t stand seeing me continue to be exposed to the angry gazes of the Reversa group, so he tried to move. He immediately hugged my waist and supported under my knees, lifting me up in his arms.

I, who had already gotten used to the princess carry posture, wrapped one arm around his neck and prevented baby Ryuseong from biting adult Ryuseong with the other hand, considering where would be good to go, when that guy named Kirill blurted out happily.

“Come this way!”

“Hmm.”

Before I could answer, Reversa got up.

“That can’t be!”

But Kirill was no pushover. I thought he would talk back in the same firm way, but he lowered his tone and started growling just like a fierce and cold northern man.

“Everyone here clearly saw you trying to cut up the master’s precious body just now. Don’t you know that? At the very least, do you think this country will treat Demillang’s esteemed guest so lightly?”

“…That’s,”

“No military of any nation would dare to say they won’t protect Demillang’s young master. But what are you? How can you, who claim to be Demillang’s protectors, try to trample the master so brutally?”

Kirill didn’t raise his voice even once while dealing with Reversa’s vice-captain.

The vice-captain was a head taller than Kirill, but as Kirill got closer and closer step by step and glared at him almost to the tip of his chin, he seemed to lose his spirit and stepped back. I couldn’t see Kirill’s expression from my side, but it must have been quite scary.

Kirill is a non-awakener, so he can’t release energy to exude killing intent, but he was making Reversa back off with just his human force.

And around the time that situation was solidifying.

Ivan Karpin spoke.

“Shall we go this way, young master?”

At this point, it seems the rumors will spread throughout the country. Not only the reputation I intended, but also the fact that Reversa, in other words, Demillang’s insiders and the young master are in a relationship of at least mutual restraint, at most hostility.

“Thank you for the invitation, Colonel.”

I smiled slightly while being held by Ryuseong, and Kirill turned his head again to look at me and grinned like a fool. This guy is funny. He’s acting like a baby duck imprinted on its mother towards me even though Ivan Karpin is his captain.

Should I just take him? If he survives until the end. Yeah. If he survives, it might be okay to make him my ally…

‘The problem is whether he can make it back alive.’

There was something I had been pondering for a while. There was a fact I learned while gathering the survivors, that there were two Named in here. One was the Named itself that created this dungeon, and the other was exactly…

‘Jeong Ian.’

It’s my trauma.

Cassice Demillang’s trauma didn’t seem to want to appear and wasn’t seen anywhere.

Looking at that, the inner world personally created by a Named demon was naturally much more sophisticated than the “trauma confrontation” barrier, the deteriorated version of the spiritual power entrance exam.

‘Wow, it doesn’t fall for the body’s trick and purely extracts the trauma from the real soul…’

So the one in trouble was me.

As I’ve been saying, there’s no human who looks like that in here.

There’s no need to go under the bridge where the barely surviving people are gathered and check their faces. If there are two Named, there’s no way the dungeon hasn’t broken until now.

Then one of us should have that trauma.

‘Fortunately, since the perpetrator of the trauma might appear, it won’t be suspected.’

For now, it will be a bit difficult since no one will come forward and say that’s their trauma.

Anyway, humans usually don’t live such a painful life, it seems. Not only did my childhood memories properly grow into a human form, but they even became a Named.

But I haven’t lived such a hard life?

‘…My head hurts…’

For a moment, I bit my teeth and hugged baby Ryuseong a little tightly. He was the only comfort I had. Then baby Ryuseong kissed my cheek and giggled, then bared his teeth.

Perhaps I want to be eaten by this child, I thought.

Still, I tried to come to my senses. I tried, and gave him a quick kiss to shut his mouth.

“…!”

Then baby Ryuseong blushed and struggled.

I burst into laughter because it was cute, and adult Ryuseong shouted as if he couldn’t stand it.

“What! Dangerously! Why are you doing it to him? Why not me…”

Smooch.

And the two Ryuseongs fell silent.

‘Such idiots.’

When we, who had been silent, approached Ivan Karpin, there were useful soldiers lined up beside him. Then finally, a conversation resembling a meeting began.

“First of all, the Named that cast this barrier is on the left.”

“Then we should go to the left.”

We were sharing information obtained through exploration magic and had drawn something like a map.

It was made to distinguish between the living and the dead, but it was also useful for the meeting.

Looking down at the map like that, there was one large fork in the middle.

It was a path that had to be traversed along a narrow road on a cliff… There was one path leading to a misty mountain range and two paths leading to a wilderness.

The left was the path to the mountain range, and below the two paths was a cliffside land with no end in sight. And between the two paths, a suspension bridge was unbalanced. The reason I say unbalanced is because one of the four central axes was broken.

So only three ropes were properly attached, and one was dangling with a broken end.

“The important thing here is that we must not let that thing in the wilderness notice our presence.”

In fact, no one was able to bring anyone back alive from the right side.

So, um.

Among us gathered here, there was no attacker rescued from the wilderness.

In other words, everyone who encountered ‘Jeong Ian’ died.

“….”

Knowing that, Ivan Karpin started speaking with a very painful expression.

“If we somehow stimulate that thing, if we encounter it….”

“We will need sacrifices.”

Because I remembered the voice of the person who said this, I only sighed indifferently without even turning around. It seemed the vice-captain of Reversa had somehow broken through the gaps in the soldiers’ guard and approached. Well, we can’t exclude him from the meeting.

He’s also skilled in his own way.

“Sacrifices….”

But Ivan Karpin’s mouth was firm.

Reversa’s group laughed as if it was nothing.

“Isn’t that how it’s expressed in this country? Meat shield or some other term.”

“…Do you have to say it like that? Can’t you respect the people sacrificing to save the remaining ones?”

“Hmph. That’s why I called them sacrifices, no?”

Kirill’s solo swearing is not an official stance, so we can let it slide with an apology later. But the words coming out of Ivan Karpin’s mouth are the official stance.

‘Hmm. Then will Ivan Karpin lose this time?’

At that moment, Ivan Karpin turned his head as if he didn’t even want to deal with him and looked at me, saying.