DLRV 16

…Damn.

 

My rolling body finally stopped only after my face hit the ground.

 

[Captain!]

 

I could hear Nadav urgently calling me, but my ears were ringing, making it hard to understand.

A dull pain spread throughout my dizzy body. I wasn’t dead, but… could all my bones really be broken?

Someone lifted my panting body. It was Nadav, who had returned to his Dullahan form.

 

Hey, you can’t let the temple see you like that…

 

[Excuse me, Captain.]

 

And just like that, I was carried away like a piece of luggage. I had no idea how this scene would look to the pursuing search party, but it definitely wouldn’t be a good impression.

No, it wasn’t just that—it was much worse. I had already been kidnapped by a wyvern once before.

 

They’ll just twist the story however they like.

 

This time, I might become the resurrected one who was kidnapped by a Dullahan…

I closed my eyes.

 

* * *

 

“Resurrected One!”

“Lady Anel!”

“There’s blood over here!”

“Lady Anel is in danger! We must save her immediately!”

 

Samuel, who had been glaring at Arin with disgust, bit his lip and looked away.

Just before the quick-witted Annelie managed to hide herself in the forest, she had been struck by an arrow fired from Roam’s search party.

 

I don’t know who’s the bigger threat here.

 

Standing slightly behind the others, Samuel knew exactly who had fired that arrow—none other than Arin.

Arin Tosun was supposedly Annelie Roam’s knight. Samuel had even seen him weeping in prayer, thanking God for the chance to atone for failing to protect his master.

And yet, that very man had aimed an arrow at his own master. Even if his intentions were to capture her by any means necessary, it was still incomprehensible.

What was even stranger was that none of Roam’s soldiers seemed surprised by Arin’s actions. They didn’t seem to care about Annelie’s safety at all.

Instead, they kept urging each other to catch her at any cost, claiming that since she was a resurrected one whose severed head had once reattached itself, an ordinary wound wouldn’t be an issue.

He even overheard them saying that whoever caught Annelie first would receive a reward.

 

A bounty on their own master’s capture… They’ve lost their minds.

 

Samuel suppressed the sneer rising within him. However, he couldn’t hide the disdain in his gaze as he surveyed the Roam soldiers.

“Hah.”

 

After joining the temple, Samuel had little interest in worldly affairs. Though his family was also nobility that served the Emperor, he had renounced everything and sworn to devote his life to God.

He had only heard vague rumors of Annelie Roam’s infamy, and even those were secondhand accounts.

If he hadn’t witnessed Arin aiming an arrow at his supposed master just moments ago, he wouldn’t have cared to learn more.

 

“Sir Samuel.”

“Did you capture her?”

“…I apologize.”

 

Annelie had clearly been traveling with a man. While ambushing them from the riverside, Samuel had split his forces, intending to capture both of them. But they had failed.

Of course, he had personally pursued Annelie while leaving the man to the other soldiers—yet somehow, they had lost him.

 

“He was using high-grade magic tools.”

 

Samuel shot a brief glance at the soldier rambling excuses before shifting his gaze away in silence.

Though the dense undergrowth obscured his view, Annelie had likely been struck by an arrow and fallen. Upon arriving later, they had found traces of blood and flattened grass.

Samuel took another careful look at the scene. According to the leading Roam soldiers, Annelie had been kidnapped by a monster.

With multiple people reporting the same thing, it seemed likely that a monster had indeed appeared.

 

Kidnapped, huh?

 

Samuel recalled the sight of Annelie escaping the city on the back of a massive wyvern.

No matter how he thought about it, this didn’t seem like a kidnapping either.

 

“If the temple finds our lady first, you must inform us immediately.”

 

At that moment, Arin, who had been busily directing the soldiers, approached Samuel.

 

“I hear you have a remarkable ability to track down our lady.”

 

He was clearly wary that Samuel might find Annelie before him. After a brief pause, Samuel answered indifferently.

 

“That’s impossible. I am merely a servant of God—without His guidance, I can know nothing.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But you, on the other hand, seem confident in finding the resurrected one quickly.”

 

Samuel’s cold gaze shifted toward the bloodstains on the ground.

 

“…Especially after shooting an arrow at her.”

“Our lady has kindly left us a trail of blood to follow, to aid us in her capture. I must do my best to repay her generosity.”

 

Arin truly seemed convinced that he would be able to track down and capture Annelie.

Ignoring his slightly excited expression, Samuel curtly ended the conversation.

 

“May the gods watch over us.”

 

As he turned his head, he saw the Roam search party busily lighting torches along the path where the bloodstains led. The temple soldiers glanced at them with concerned expressions. Samuel gave instructions to those soldiers.

 

“Cooperate with Sir Arin.”

“Sir Samuel…”

“I will move separately. If Roam’s party asks, tell them I went to report to the temple.”

 

Unlike the increasingly darkening sky, the forest path remained bright. Samuel, staring at it, turned away. Then, he took some portable medical supplies and medicine from a porter.

 

It’s not far. I must hurry before it’s too late.

 

Knowing exactly where he needed to go, his steps did not waver even in the darkness.

He quickly disappeared into the forest.

The forest, now swallowed by darkness, felt eerie.

 

“……”

 

Samuel stepped cautiously. At some point, the cries of wild animals that had occasionally echoed through the air went silent. The only sound that remained was his own footsteps crunching against the ground, echoing unnervingly loud.

Moving slowly, keeping his senses on high alert, Samuel suddenly halted. A shallow waterway appeared nearby.

Other than the sound of flowing water, all was silent.

Standing still and taking a quiet breath, Samuel slowly gripped the hilt of his sword at his waist.

 

“The search party is not far from here.”

 

Speaking in a low voice, he turned around slowly.

 

“If you cause a commotion, they will hear it.”

 

Standing where he had turned, there was now a pitch-black figure.

It was impossible to tell when it had appeared. Though the dark forest obscured the details, he could still make out the black armor and the large warhorse.

Keeping his grip firm on his sword hilt, Samuel tensed his jaw.

The being before him was not human. Instead of a head, a strange black smoke rose from its shoulders.

It was a Dullahan.

 

…Damn.

 

It wasn’t just his imagination—this Dullahan gave off a distinctly different aura compared to the ones he had encountered before.

The darkness emanating from its body was undeniable, yet its intensity was unlike any he had seen in other Dullahans.

 

“So, it’s you—the monster that kidnapped the Resurrected One.”

At Samuel’s words, the Dullahan straightened its posture threateningly. However, there was no wavering in Samuel’s gaze.

 

“Or was it simply trying to protect its master?”

 

Samuel suspected it was the latter.

The proof?

Despite its imposing stance, the Dullahan had yet to actually attack him.

It wanted him to be scared and run away.

It was rare for a Dullahan to act with such intentionality.

 

Just like she controlled the wyvern before, is she now controlling this Dullahan? A Resurrected One, resurrected by the gods, who can command monsters…?

 

Furrowing his brows, Samuel glared at the Dullahan and asked in a low voice,

 

“Was it your master’s command—to stand in my way, even at the cost of your own destruction?”

 

He didn’t care whether the Dullahan could understand him. He was speaking to it, but the one he really wanted to hear his words was someone else.

As soon as Samuel finished speaking, silence settled over the area.

Just as he was about to draw his sword, a voice broke through the stillness.

 

“Did I ever mention? I hate persistent men.”

 

The cold air rippled as a nonchalant voice cut through it.

Samuel let out a sharp breath as he met a pair of vividly glowing violet eyes in the darkness.

 

“So, the more I see you, the more I dislike you.”

 

Despite the soft tone, the gaze was nothing but cold. There was even a hint of irritation.

Under the faint moonlight, her face looked deathly pale, drained of any color.

 

“……”

 

Even though she looked like she could collapse at any moment, her unwavering eyes remained defiant.

Samuel finally released his grip on the sword’s hilt completely and turned his gaze to her arm.

 

“Let’s treat your wounds first.”

 

***

 

I half-expected him to signal the search party the moment he found me.

Instead, Samuel immediately pulled out medical tools and medicine.

Rather than focusing only on the arrow wound, he carefully checked all the bruises I had sustained from falling off the horse.

It wasn’t the reaction I had anticipated.

 

“No fractures, not even a critical wound. That’s surprising. You were thrown off a galloping horse.”

“Right? Honestly, if I had at least broken a leg, it would have been harder to run away. It’s almost a shame that I’m perfectly fine.”

 

Despite my sarcastic remark, he didn’t bother responding. He just continued examining my knee.

Nadav, standing close to me, was watching him intently, as if ready to intervene at any moment.

A towering Dullahan looming over him would have been intimidating for most people, but Samuel showed little reaction.

A Resurrected One who didn’t die from a fall—who didn’t even suffer a single broken bone.

And a Dullahan that protected such a person.

Even witnessing it with his own eyes, he didn’t seem to grasp the reality of the situation. Or maybe he had simply given up on trying to understand it altogether.

I was surprised that my body was intact.

When Nadav carried me away like a sack of cargo, my head had been spinning so badly that I was on the verge of losing consciousness.

At that moment, I genuinely thought This is it. I’m actually going to die.

But…

After sleeping briefly in a shallow cave that Nadav found, my condition had miraculously improved.

Even the blood that had been gushing from my arm had mostly stopped.

And now, with Samuel providing proper first aid, I should be able to recover somehow.