MNP Ch8

“Ah…!”

The gun fired before he could fully regain his posture. He squeezed his eyes shut, but didn’t feel any pain. Instead, he heard something collapsing behind him. Turning around, he saw a man clutching his chest fallen on the floor.

“You’re a good shot.”

Eden emerged from under the corpses, covered in blood. With black hair and black clothes, it looked even more horrific with only his face smeared with blood. Seeing Seokha’s expression of having seen something quite unsightly, Eden roughly wiped his face with his large hand. Not that it would remove the bright red blood anyway.

“Still, please look carefully before shooting next time. I almost died.”

“Yeah… What a shame.”

“What is?”

“Nothing. Let’s go. We can’t sleep here either.”

“First… I need to wash up a bit.”

Eden pointed at Seokha with his finger. Reflexively wiping his face, sticky blood smeared on his palm. The liquid, looking black without light, covered his entire palm.

“You’re right. I’ll use it first.”

Stepping over the corpses, Seokha entered the bathroom and fumbled to turn on the water in the darkness. He splashed water on his sticky face.

Knock knock.

Turning at the light knock on the bathroom door, a lamp carrying bright light entered. Eden, who had placed the lamp on an old shelf, smiled. His face looked even more of a sight in the light. A red face with teeth gleaming white.

“In case it was dark.”

“Ah, yes…”

It might have been better not to see even an inch ahead than to see that appearance.

Because blood had splattered up to his head, he had to wash his entire upper body. Seokha wiped off the dripping water droplets as he left the bathroom. Meanwhile, Eden was in the process of searching the fallen corpses.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh. Are you done washing?”

Seokha clearly saw Eden stand up and pocket something as he turned around. However, he didn’t bother pointing it out. Eden passed by Seokha and entered the bathroom, and soon the sound of water was heard.

He kicked over the fallen corpses but couldn’t find anything noteworthy. He just figured they must be Haman since they died from bullets. Then an exclamation burst out.

“Ah.”

Mode. Seokha just now remembered. It was the term referring to one of the factions of the divided Nute tribe, called Mude in the Alma village. Who would have thought the Haman tribe would be involved in the Nute war too.

Then were these people Bigro?

Seokha looked down at the corpse armed with weapons more modern than those used in the desert with strange eyes. It was incomprehensible why they were so eager to die when tribes like theirs would only meet a dog’s death getting involved in the Nute war anyway.

The Nute that Seokha had learned about through oral tradition and books were closer to beasts than humans. Legs that could run faster than other tribes, hands strong enough to snap other tribes’ necks instantly, skin so tough that ordinary metal couldn’t pierce it. Yet mentally inferior, going mad if they didn’t periodically consume the Alma’s blood…. Until he knew the hunter was a Nute, Seokha had imagined on his own that a Nute might have had the form of a hairy beast.

It’s complicated.

Seokha just wanted to return to the desert, war and Nutes be damned. He was getting tired. He missed the sand dunes and the dry, murky air that had seemed tedious before. If only he could return, he was confident he could kill anyone, deceive anyone. No one in the village would condemn Seokha’s evil deeds. He longed to quickly embrace the village that would accept any act as long as he returned.

“Aren’t you tired? Shall we sleep a bit before going?”

“Here? You have a strong stomach.”

Eden appeared with water droplets clinging to his white face, and Seokha stood up from looking at the corpses. His legs were tingling from sitting for quite a while. Eden wiped off the water with his hands, set up an overturned chair, and rummaged through the kitchen shelves.

“You didn’t sleep, did you?”

“What? I did sleep.”

“You were going to leave alone again, weren’t you?”

“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Taking advantage of Eden turning his back, Seokha stuffed a new gun into his pants pocket. With one on each side already, the loose pants felt like they might fall down from the weight. Eden seemed to have found what he was looking for and placed it loudly on the table. Seokha hurriedly adjusted his pants and moved towards the table when Eden suddenly turned around.

What Eden was fiddling with was a first aid kit. Given its size and the considerable amount of medicines and medical tools, it seemed out of place in this shabby house. This place seemed to be something of a station for Bigros. Seokha rested his chin on his hand as he sat in the chair, casting a dazed gaze at Eden’s hands rummaging through the box. When are we leaving? Seokha didn’t particularly want to stay in the same space as the corpses he had killed for much longer.

“When are we go- oh…”

As Seokha suddenly looked up, Eden’s face came into view. Not having looked properly before, he only now noticed. There was a long abrasion on Eden’s white cheek. Droplets of blood from the wound had spread faintly, diluted by water. The wound looked deeper than it appeared at first glance. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t noticed such an obvious injury earlier.

“It hurts… please treat it for me.”

After rummaging for a while, it seemed he still couldn’t find the medicine. Seokha pulled the first aid kit over and took out medicine and gauze, placing them on the table. Why couldn’t he find something so obvious all this time? Seokha closed the box and urged Eden, who was just sitting still.

“Why are you just sitting there?”

“Do it for me.”

“You could do it yourself.”

Blood dripped down Eden’s cheek one or two drops at a time. Doesn’t it need stitches? Seokha’s brow furrowed at the steadily flowing blood.

“I can’t see to do it myself.”

“Use a mirror.”

Seokha gestured with his chin towards the bathroom. Eden followed Seokha’s gesture with his eyes, then met his gaze again.

“It hurts too much to do it alone.”

Consider your size… It was amusing to see Eden, who carried around plenty of weapons, whining about such a small wound. He didn’t seem likely to move anyway. Seokha sighed and pulled his chair closer to Eden. Judging by Eden’s immobile state, it looked like he had no intention of leaving until it was treated. Seokha wanted to get out of here quickly.

“How did you get hurt? You looked fine earlier.”

Fortunately, the area around the wound was clean since he had just washed. Thinking he should stop the bleeding a bit, Seokha pressed firmly with a cloth as he asked. He wasn’t particularly curious, but Eden’s blue eyes staring intently made him uncomfortable.

“He had a knife.”

For a knife cut, it was messily slashed. It looked more like a scrape, as if the knife had been incredibly dull. As he pressed firmly on the wound, Eden’s head kept tilting back. He briefly supported the shifting head with his other hand.

“Stay still.”

“Okay.”

He seemed to be straining his neck muscles obediently, but his head tilted back again. Annoyed, Seokha cupped the back of Eden’s head with his hand and pressed harder on the wound. Eden’s eyes narrowed slightly, but Seokha pretended not to notice and just pressed even harder. The bleeding had already stopped long ago.

He roughly applied ointment and fixed a gauze pad over it. Half of the handsome face was covered with white gauze. It was also a result of Seokha’s excessive treatment.

Come to think of it, getting cut this badly by a knife might mean he’s not Nute after all. Seokha glanced once at the now covered wound as he tidied up the medicines and tools. Eden was feeling the bandaged area with his hand. It’s strange for a Nute, whose body itself is a weapon, to be selling guns…

Seokha locked the first aid kit securely and stood up holding the handle. This will be quite useful anyway.

“Let’s go now.”

“Okay.”

Eden obediently got up and gathered the weapons bag. Fortunately, he didn’t seem to notice that one gun was missing. Seokha pretended not to know anything as he stepped over the corpses and left the building. The outside air couldn’t have felt more refreshing. Seokha threw his luggage into the truck bed and climbed into the passenger seat. As he had felt for a while now, he felt like he could fall asleep instantly if he closed his eyes. He took the keys out of his pocket and inserted them, and Eden who had followed naturally took the wheel.

Seokha reclined the seat back and sank into it. Though not as much as the desert, it got chilly here at night too. He was about to close his eyes, arms tightly crossed, when the car that had been moving slightly came to a stop.

“What is it?”

“Just a moment.”

Eden, who had parked the truck a little distance from the building, got out of the car. Seokha watched as he took something out of the truck bed and approached the building, then turned his eyes to the driver’s seat.

“Oh come on…”

No wonder he turned off the engine – he must have taken the keys. Though he had no intention of driving off right away, seeing Eden act like this irritated him. Seokha sat up to see what on earth he had gone to do, but couldn’t make out Eden’s figure well in the middle of the night.

“Looking for me?”

“Ah, you startled me.”

He was so startled by the face that suddenly appeared in the passenger window that his body jumped. Seokha averted his eyes in embarrassment. What was the point in scaring him even after returning to the truck? Eden went around the bumper and opened the driver’s side door. Instead of getting in right away, he seemed to be fiddling with something, and then a flame appeared in his hand.

“Why are you lighting a match?”

As Seokha looked over, Eden smiled widely enough for his dimples to show and turned his back. His long arm drew an arc as he threw the flame. As soon as it landed on the grass near the building, the fire spread rapidly. As if he had used oil to create the flames, fire flowed in through the open door.

“…Did you pour oil?”

“Yes. A lot.”

“To burn it down?”

“We have to take care of it, right?”

Didn’t bones remain even if you burn it? Seokha wondered briefly, but the flames were already fiercely engulfing the building. Good thing the surroundings were plains… Eden had already climbed into the driver’s seat. The driver’s door closed, and in the quiet, all that could be heard was the sound of the building collapsing and burning. When Seokha turned to look at Eden, his straight profile was softly illuminated by the firelight.

Was he planning to wait until it’s reduced to ashes before leaving? Seokha leaned his head against the window. It was just like the annual festival in the village. Everyone would bring dry branches and pile them in the center of the village, and at night the adults would light the fire. They would chat about this and that until the fire went out, then fall asleep using each other as pillows. Seokha had so much to say sitting around the fire at this year’s festival. To exaggerate a bit, he could keep telling stories even when next year’s festival came around. And the year after that too.

“…You?”

“Huh?”

Lost in thought while watching the fire, Seokha’s mind snapped back at Eden’s voice. Without looking at Seokha, Eden spoke again.

“Why do you hunt?”

“To make money, of course.”

Seokha answered matter-of-factly while staring at Eden’s hands repeatedly opening and closing a matchbox, seemingly with no intention of inserting the key.

“What do you plan to do with the money?”

“You ask a lot of pointless questions.”

Feeling a chill, Seokha pulled his legs up and hugged them. Only then did Eden turn from the driver’s seat and insert the key. The engine started, and a light vibration ran through his body.

“I’m curious. Tell me.”