East Road Quest

Chapter 36: The Boy with Red Hair

The boy with red hair, who had been naked when first seen, was now clothed in worn garments from an unknown source.

Shackles still bound his wrists and ankles, the chains attached to them intact. In his hand, he held a loaf of bread as large as his own face.

‘Where did this bread come from? In the midst of such a desert.’

Jade had dozens of questions he wanted to ask, but right now, this was the most pressing curiosity.

“You’re still here, I see?”

An entity resembling Pendale, a demon, growled like a wild beast.

The boy merely munched on the bread. His eyes betrayed curiosity, but at a glance, he seemed to have no intention of intervening. Eating the bread not out of hunger, but as if he were an audience member, unwittingly quickening his pace as the play reached its climax.

Suddenly, without warning, the boy swung his arm. The chain on his wrist whipped out, slashing the ground where Pendale stood with a terrifying sound that split the air.

In Jade’s memory, the chains that bound the boy’s arms were only as long as his outstretched arms. But just now, the chain had extended over thirty paces to reach Pendale.

‘Has it stretched?’

What was more frightening was that Pendale had dodged the swift attack, invisible to Jade’s eyes. And Pendale had moved right behind Jade.

“Don’t move. You’re so insignificant I could kill you with a single finger.”

Pendale whispered a warning into Jade’s ear, a statement Jade knew was neither false nor exaggerated.

‘This demon is different from any I’ve seen before. Not just a lowly spirit that possesses children or the dying, nor the desert monster that could crush two horses in one hand. This is a higher class of demon.’

The vague strength and terror he had read about in texts were nothing like this.

After finishing the bread, the boy asked,

“Are you the one? The one who always made noise beside me.”

Pendale retorted,

“It was you who were noisy, kid! Singing incessantly, screaming that you’d kill everyone once you left the cave!”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Swallowing the last of the bread, the boy, without taking a breath, began to pour out his thoughts.

“I was there longer than you, and it was you who disturbed my sleep with your talk of stealing bodies. To put it simply, I was the original inhabitant, and you were the noisy intruder who came later. By the most fair ancient Shambhala legal code, I’d be innocent even if I tore your mouth apart.”

“You’re going to judge me, a demon, by human laws?”

“Ho, then let’s not use ancient laws, but my own moral judgment. I dislike you. I’ve disliked you from the start. That’s enough. So now, I’ll shove this iron chain down your throat and pull it out through your backside, then use it to skip rope. Each time I jump, you’ll look up at me from the ground, bouncing off the dirt.”

Realizing something belatedly, the boy slapped his palm with his fist and continued,

“Ah, but that’s not your body, is it? Before I was chained, I’ve seen a few despicable beings like you stealing others’ bodies. So first, I’ll have to kill that flesh you’ve stolen. Then you’ll return to your original form as smoke, won’t you? Then I’ll bottle that smoke, age it with cheese for a hundred years, and after two hundred years, I’ll eat it and excrete it.”

After serious contemplation, the boy amended his words,

“Since it’s smoke, not excrement, it’ll come out as a fart. Will you resurrect then? Ugh, disgusting.”

Pendale, incredulous, said,

“Do you really think I’d fall for your silly word games? Get lost. Otherwise, I’ll kill this human!”

“Such flowery nonsense, you flowery fool!”

The boy scoffed.

Jade wondered for a moment if he had heard wrong.

‘Flowers? Flowery fool?’

The boy continued,

“I don’t care if you kill him. I was planning to kill him myself anyway. But you killing what I intended to kill is as annoying as you eating what I intended to eat. You were stupid in the cave, and you’re obviously still stupid here. To explain it as simply as possible for your stupid self, if you kill him, you die too.”

Pendale raised his voice,

“Do you really think you can kill me? I am the great ruler of hell, Baifel’s first warrior, the assault captain, the destroyer of souls who can erase all living beings. If it weren’t for the light magic protecting you, I would have taken your soul and made your insignificant body mine long ago.”

“Magic? I’ve never used such things. There’s no need. Because without such magic, I could fight angels and kick demons.”

“It’s not you, it’s the magic bound to those shackles.”

The boy lifted his wrist, showing the shackles. In the sunlight, they seemed to merely reflect light, but they were still emitting a white glow.

Pendale continued,

“Now that I think about it, this human has undone the powerful light magic on you. I knew he wasn’t simple. All the more reason to make him mine.”

Pendale’s lips were almost touching Jade’s ear, sending shivers down his spine.

The red-haired boy asked,

“So, demon, what’s your name?”

“There’s no demon that gives its name.”

“For someone who doesn’t give their name, you sure do mention your boss’s name easily? That just proves you’re a lackey among lackeys, clinging to the name of a demon, whether it’s Baifel or rock dung. If you’re such a great demon and Baifel’s first warrior, why were you trapped with me in that cave for a hundred years?”

“That’s because…

“You don’t know? That means you’re not even worth knowing, you flowery trash. And to Baifel, you’re just a flowery dog he could lock away for a hundred years without a second thought.”

“What’s with all this flowery talk?”

Pendale scowled and asked.

The boy started to explain, then waved it off,

“Never mind. I’m going to kill you now. If there’s any chance of survival, I’ll leave him be and go.”

Suddenly, Jade interrupted their argument,

“No! Even if it means my death, don’t let this creature escape!”

“Quiet! Don’t interfere.”

The boy shouted angrily.

Jade persisted,

“If he escapes, he’ll kill countless people to make their bodies his own. Even if I die, this creature must be killed!”

“Ah, shut up! Before I turn your head into a flower vase!”

The boy yelled.

Pendale also lashed out at Jade,

“Yeah. You be quiet, human! If I was going to leave you behind, I wouldn’t have shown up in the first place! I was going to take your body…

Pendale stopped mid-sentence and vanished. The boy had swung the chain, which arced through the air to attack Pendale, who had jumped back to dodge.

Jade didn’t see the intermediate process. The chain hadn’t directly hit his face but merely grazed it, yet it left a slight scratch on his cheek.

The chain that had seemed to stretch was not a mistake. As the boy lightly swung his wrist, the elongated chain retracted, returning to his wrist and shortening to about three spans in length.

Pendale had retreated to a spot over a hundred paces away.

The boy looked down at his hand, tilting his head in wonder.

“It’s strange. I thought I hit the target. Did I hold back too much strength?” The boy mused as he once again aimed his chain at Poe, feigning another attack.

“If you’ve managed to dodge, you should run farther away. Actually, no matter where you run in this desert, you can’t escape from the likes of me. If I decide, you’re simply dead. So, do as you please.”

The boy chuckled and continued, “Come here and fight me, or try to run away as far as you can to survive.”

Poe stood still for a moment, then took off running. His speed was so fast that to Jade’s eyes, only a cloud of pale dust kicked up by his sprint was visible. The boy was taken aback.

“Huh? Usually, they come back to fight when I say that, but that guy just ran away. What a spineless creature.”

The boy muttered as he approached Jade.

Jade swallowed hard and said, “We can’t just let him go! Who knows what he might do. If you really can catch up with him, you should chase him now…”

“Quiet!”

The boy shouted so loudly that it left Jade’s ears ringing.

“You’ve been annoying me since earlier! Do you want to die? Do you think you’re in a position to command me?”

The boy flopped down in front of Jade, bringing his face close to hers. For some reason, he seemed furious with her.

As Jade reflexively pulled her head back, he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her face towards his.

Their faces were so close that their eyelids almost touched. The boy’s red eyes shone like jewels. His breath tickled Jade’s nose, carrying the scent of freshly eaten bread mixed with the fragrance of flowers.

The boy’s skin was clear and clean, reflecting the sunlight as if it were freshly formed, and his teeth were brilliantly white. However, the voice that flowed from his small mouth was terrifyingly harsh.

“Listen well, human! I’m going to kill you now. The words I spoke in the cave are still valid. I will destroy all the humans in this world. The only reason I haven’t started yet is that you, the first step, are still alive. Do you know why I’m keeping you alive?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“It’s because your nonsensical babbling piqued my curiosity.”

“What did I say?”

“Don’t you remember your own words?”

“I’m completely out of it right now. I can’t even remember how I got here. Did you bring me out?”

“Yes. I had something to ask you. I didn’t expect you to cause trouble while I briefly left you here.”

“This isn’t something I caused…”

“Just answer my question.”

The boy asked again in a deep voice.

“What did you mean by the words you said to me right before you fainted?”

“If you tell me what I said before I fainted, I might be able to explain what it means.”

“When you released me, I said I would kill you.”

Jade remembered everything, including his threat to bring about the end of the world.

‘From now on, the title of the Fallen Angel will become my name.’

Jade nodded.

“Yes, that’s what happened.”

“And then you said this.”

“What did I say?”

“You said, ‘I’m sorry.’”

Jade couldn’t remember for a moment.

“I said I was sorry?”

The boy nodded.

Jade took a moment to recall.

Slowly, like a tree submerged in water rising to the surface, the memory came back to her.

“Yes, that’s right. I said I was sorry.”

“I said I would kill you. But why? You should have begged for your life or cursed me. Why did you say sorry?”

“Because I truly am sorry. Maybe I wanted to apologize on behalf of everything you’ve been through.”

“You know what I’ve been through?”

Jade nodded.

“How do you know? How could the ordeal I went through become known? Humans don’t usually live for a hundred years.”

“The deeds you’ve done are such strange and bizarre tales to ordinary people like us. Anyone who hears them can’t help but share them. So, the story must have been passed down from grandfather to grandson, and then the grandson to his own.”

The boy released Jade and stepped back slightly, stroking his chin. His sparkling, large eyes reminded her of a cat watching a mouse just before the pounce.

“Tell me the story you’ve heard about me.”

“First, I want to hear your name.”

“My name is…”

The boy faltered, unable to answer.

“Why is that?”

Jade asked.

“My name is… what is it?”

The boy pressed his head and staggered backward.

“Huh? Why am I like this?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I feel dizzy.”

“You’ve been bound for too long. That’s probably why you feel this way after moving suddenly.”

“If you say my body has weakened just because I was tied up a bit, I’ll kill you.”

“You’re going to kill me anyway, right? Then I should say what I need to. You’ve weakened.”

“You brat! Don’t say I’m weak!”

The boy grabbed Jade by the collar. In that state, he collapsed into Jade’s arms.

“Huh? Why… am I…?” With those words, the boy lost consciousness and slumped down.

The boy in her arms was surprisingly light.

“It’s really funny. A monster that could destroy the world is in my arms, and yet I feel pity first.”

Jade stood up, holding the boy in her arms.

“We need to leave here first. Poe or the thieves might come back.”

Jade left the front of the temple and walked along the Albitor Valley. “I thought the shackles and chains in the story were so heavy that they restricted your movement, but that’s not the case. I can carry them… Oh right, since they’re made of Umparuton, I shouldn’t call them ‘chains’ but ‘Umparuton chains,’ right?”

He looked down at the boy and continued to talk to himself.