Chapter 22: I Take Refuge (Namu) (5) (1/2)
Chapter 22: I Take Refuge (Na to Ru Hiana, Chi-Woo returned to the first tent they were guided to and flung hiround It wasn’t as soft as his roouard captain had laid a heap of fresh hay for them, so it wasn’t too uncomfortable As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep He was exhausted after the relentless effort it took to exorcise Hayi
When Chi-Woo opened his eyes again, his whole body felt like a block of ice It seemed he had dozed off despite the unfamiliar environment and the cold Chi-Woo lay blankly on the floor before jerking his head around There was Zelit, sleeping with his head on a book, and Eval Sevaru, sleeping curled up like a shri on a corner of the tent She had her head on top of her knees and showed no ht and blacked out at so and sighed quietly This was their first night after co to a new World; all kinds of e away
He thought of his parents first Then he remembered his teacher, monks he served asGil-Duk, and finally his brother Chi-Woo still couldn’t believe it In fact, he was in greater disbelief now than he had been on his first night in the er felt the need to deny his reality by saying everything was a dream since he had come to this place of his oill He was fully aware of the reality However, things were a bit—no, a lot different froht he would at least start his journey in an ordinary village if not a fancy kingdo in a shabby ca with those who feared for their lives every day
Chi-Woo had thought he would be looking for clues about his brother while staying in a safe place Finding his brother seemed far-fetched now, and he had to worry about his iht about what had happened up until now, it al to this place Just like last tio
‘Maybe I just wanted to run away’</eht have been his desire to get out of the rock bottoutter worse than the dump he used to be in
‘No’</e over spilled h everyone around him had tried to stop him He had to take responsibility for his decision Sleep didn’t cohts After fidgeting around for a while, Chi-Woo quietly rose from his spot and walked out of the tent He breathed in the , but it was ht drizzle now Droplets fell onto his hair, and Chi-Woo stared at the darkness before hih voice “You look tired Why don’t you rest soh”
Chi-Woo turned to the source of the voice and saoman he had never seen before She had heavily bleached copper hair andeye color She didn’t appear as old as Shakira, but her rough skin detailed the difficult years she had gone through Chi-Woo didn’t recognize the ed woed woer on her waist It was the dagger that Chi-Woo had asked to borrow
Chi-Woo racked through his head and asked, “Guard Captain?”
“My nauard captain replied and continued, “I was talking to Shakira and caet so?”
“Yeah, since the safety of the entire calanced at Chi-Woo and asked curiously, “What’s the string tied to your wrist?”
“Ah, this?”
Chi-Woo raised his wrist and said nonchalantly, “It was used to tie up Ms Ru Hiana It’s sort of my safety device”
Rawiya looked at the itehed and said, “Haoke up once just now”
“How is she?”
“She quickly fell asleep again, but she’s fine Much better than she was before even though she’s weak She could recognize us and even ask us for water She was also fully conscious” Rawiya paused for a bit She was obviously grateful and wanted to express her gratitude She hesitated, however, since Chi-Woo had purposefully done them a favor in order to make a request that could jeopardize the safety of the whole caht up another topic “Were you serious about what you said before? I know it sounds foolish to talk about hope in a situation like this, but Hawa is our one and only hope for a future”
ht to hi you if you can h the saain,” Rawiya asked It see Hawa had left a deep impression on her
Chi-Woo pondered briefly before replying, “I don’t know”
“Hm?”
“I can’tright no can I make any promise about the potential future? Who knohat and when so will happen to her?” Chi-Woo continued, “What I meant was I’d put in my best effort If a situation that I can’t control arises, I can’t do anything, either”
“…You’re quite honest”
“I’m not the type to make promises I can’t keep”
Rawiya looked surprised to hear this After staring intently at Chi-Woo’s face, she said, “Then why did you say that you would help us?”
“Sorry?”
“Let’s say you stepped forward in the beginning to show us your skills That would have been enough for us to be indebted to you But why did you keep talking as if you would protect us while not being confident about it at all?”
The topic of the conversation changed Rawiya didn’t speak in an accusing tone It see out of curiosity and wanted to check so Chi-Woo wondered how he should answer such a question, and decided to answer truthfully
“I used to be afflicted with the same condition”
“You too?”
“Yes My condition was much worse than Ms Hawa It was so serious that nobody was able to tackle even its most basic symptom”
“You couldn’t deal with it?”
“But I aed “It’s thanks to those who didn’t give up onhow difficult it would be to cure me” Rawiya listened quietly as Chi-Woo continued, “I always thanked those who helped ave me the same response ‘Don’t thank me I only did as expected of me If you ever run into a person in pain, you shouldn’t pass by the”
“…”
“I plan to help others in a siree of help I’ve received before”
“Oh ho Are you telling me to keep that in mind?” Rawiya smirked, and Chi-Woo san, “You know, I auys like you, who called themselves ‘heroes’” It was Chi-Woo’s turn to listen now “They all talk so well, saying ‘We can get it back We can do it We can save them’ But they were always too idealistic” Rawiya’s voice was cold and flat “Of course, I knohere those lofty ideals careat feats in your respective worlds That, I’onna deny, but what is true in your world does not apply here You’re all on Liber now; that’s what matters to me”
Chi-Woo unconsciously nodded When in Rome, do as the Romans do Rawiya’s words were completely reasonable
“When the fifth recruits cas in my brain, but I don’t think I fully accepted them in reality” Rawiya’s voice sounded eical and calculative, but in importantwould turn out just fine in the end And they acted like it was natural for us to take a huge as to work out” The heroes had acted so confidently even though they shouldn’t have; after all, Liber didn’t have the blessing of a World like other planets
“We’ve lost…more than our comrade’s lives”
rit her teeth “We had to sacrifice what re hope and future we had in order tous the promised rose-colored future, but despair that o times more hellish than before” Rawiya clenched her fist and looked at Chi-Woo with burning eyes “There’s so I want to ask you”
Chi-Woo was taken aback; he didn’t expect her to suddenly question him
“You've shown me what you’re capable of That I’ll admit I understand that, unlike the previous recruits, you seem to have some skills” Rawiya’s voice hardened “Tell me, will you be able to return the hope we lost?”
Chi-Woo immediately replied, “I don’t know” His words were exactly the same as before
Rawiya looked confused “…You” She see to the sahest authority aainst your request?”