MBOMEN 07

Chapter 7. Conditions for Free Lodging (1)
2023.12.07.

“Are you not tired?”

When Yustar asked, Laila stared intently at him from beneath the deeply pulled hood. Her pair of red eyes seemed to say, “Are you seriously asking that now?”

“Of course I’m tired.”

At Laila’s words, Yustar gave a somewhat apologetic smile.

“I want to move quickly too, but the magic tool we used needs recharging. We’re only trying to move to the place with the portal, but it’s farther than I expected. It’s been so long since I was here that I lost my sense of direction.”

“A portal?”

Laila asked in a puzzled voice, and Yustar looked at her as if to ask why she didn’t know.

“It’s a spatial teleportation device. You didn’t know about this either?”

This time, Laila silently stared back at Yustar. After blinking a couple of times, Yustar showed a momentarily flustered expression and said,

“Uh… I wasn’t trying to disrespect you.”

Laila’s shoulders moved lightly. Whether or not he said that, her indifferent voice seemed to say something, making Yustar raise his eyebrows slightly.

“I’ve heard of portals, but I’ve never actually seen one. What does it look like? Like a terrifying box? Does it have teeth so ordinary people can’t even approach it?”

Yustar chuckled softly.

“No, it’s not scary. Probably.”

“Where is this portal? And where are we going on it? What will we do there?”

Faced with a flood of questions, Yustar paused thoughtfully.

Laila had hardly spoken throughout the whole journey—spending the night near the forest, walking without even a half-day rest. She silently walked, hood up to hide her striking hair and eyes.

Maybe that’s why Yustar wasn’t annoyed by her childlike barrage of questions. After all, no matter how much she asked, he was prepared to handle it all…

Rubbing his chin with his fingertips, Yustar looked down at Laila.

“Miss Laila, have you ever heard of the ‘Tentinella’?”

Laila immediately shook her head.

“No, never heard of it. What is it?”

Yustar looked a bit puzzled as if her answer was unexpected, then asked again,

“Are you sure you’ve never heard of it?”

At that moment, Laila stopped walking.

Looking around to confirm the road was empty, she suddenly took off her hood and shook her head roughly like a wet cat. Perhaps because the weather had warmed up, wearing the hood all the time had made her head uncomfortably hot.

Laila said,

“Look, Rigikus is a remote village. It’s not a place where news flies in fast like a swallow from all over. What was popular in cities ten years ago is the latest trend here. It’s… isolated. Do you understand?”

Yustar made a short sound of acknowledgment. Laila observed his reaction for a moment, then added,

“I don’t mean geographically isolated. It’s not that…”

“I understand what you mean. And I agree. It’s surprising that the Sync has happened in that village for the first time. If it had happened two or three more times, I wouldn’t think it strange at all. Of course, if that had happened, by the time I arrived, there wouldn’t be anything left to call a village.”

Though his tone was calm, the meaning was chilling. According to him, Rigikus was a village surrounded by bizarre incidents caused by the Sync and could become ruins at any time.

On the other hand, this first Sync might be the beginning.

Laila shuddered imagining herself alone in a ghost-filled deserted village if Yustar hadn’t shown up at the right moment.

Without either of them leading, they resumed walking. It felt like stepping deeper into silence. If someone saw them, they might think they were a pilgrim bound by a vow of silence and a strangely dressed wandering poet…

Laila spoke again.

“So… are you not going to tell me where exactly we’re going?”

“Oh, right. Well… to be exact, we are heading to the first branch of Tentinella.”

“You still haven’t explained what Tentinella is.”

A small sigh escaped. Yustar knew well he was not very good at explanations or persuasion.

Moreover, the other person was none other than Laila Chrislad, the very person he had been desperately searching for…

If she had even the slightest suspicion or decided to leave, it would be a huge loss for Yustar.

Of course, that will never happen.

Yustar thought. Then suddenly remembered that witches of old were said to be able to read the hearts of those close by through their breath, and carefully observed her reaction.

But he sensed nothing from Laila, only that she was waiting for him to continue explaining about the ‘Tentinella’.

“Tentinella is… a knight order. A special knight order under His Majesty the King. Ordinary knight orders exist to prepare for wars with external enemies, but Tentinella fights something a bit more… special.”

Laila quickly caught on to what Yustar meant by “special things.”

“You mean ghosts, right?”

“Exactly. Good understanding. There are ghosts, or even monsters. Not everything coming from the Sync is a ghost.”

“A black hole… So, according to you, the Sync can happen anywhere? Suddenly? Like an earthquake or landslide?”

Yustar nodded slowly.

“Similar. Natural disasters like earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis are similar to Syncs. First, the cause arises, then energy accumulates at the center of that cause. When energy can no longer accumulate, the ground cracks, mountains collapse, or waves flood the shore. Syncs are the same. The difference is whether or not there are signs detectable before it happens.”

“So, Syncs are sudden phenomena created when energy accumulates and no one can predict them in advance. And Tentinella exists to deal with those things coming from Syncs… those ominous things only visible to me.”

“Right. His Majesty the King established Tentinella to protect his subjects from Syncs and all the ominous and grotesque beings and phenomena that come from them.”

Laila, listening attentively and carefully, summarized his story with one sentence.

“So, you’re a knight belonging to that Tentinella.”

Her red eyes silently stared at Yustar. Innocent as a child asking, “Am I right?” yet the special power flickering behind them was a complex and vast maze.

“That’s right.”

Yustar smiled faintly and replied shortly.

The remote road where even wandering travelers, distant merchant wagons, and tired peddlers rarely passed seemed endless.

Before they left in earnest, Yustar shared some dry bread he had, but it was not enough. Laila suddenly felt unbearable hunger and furrowed her brows. At the same time, Yustar spoke.

“Are you hungry?”

Laila turned her head sharply and asked suspiciously,

“How did you know?”

“Because it’s about that time. Look at the sky. The sun is already leaning to the west. Our backup food is gone, so we should find somewhere to sleep nearby today. By tomorrow, we should reach the portal, and then we won’t have to walk so much anymore.”

Walking this far tomorrow didn’t sound like great news.

But remembering there was a destination made her legs feel a little lighter. Laila, walking with the hood flap fluttering like a long cloak, suddenly remembered something and asked another question.

“Can anyone use the portal?”

Yustar said,

“No, only people with special authorization. But you can get provisional qualification, so don’t worry. I have that kind of authority.”

“Not just a regular knight? Are you like a knight commander or something?”

He didn’t answer but just smiled faintly again. Laila counted each subtle hint in his answer, but he probably didn’t know the full truth.

They had to find a place to stay nearby, prepared for another night sleeping outdoors. But the endless remote forest road suddenly ended, and a bustling village appeared.

It wasn’t very large, but to Laila, who had never left her home, it felt like a dizzying big city.

Entering the village, Laila instinctively pulled her hood down to cover her eyes and even lowered her head as if avoiding eye contact with anyone. This caused another problem — she couldn’t walk properly and kept staggering.

“You don’t have to go that far,” Yustar tried to comfort her, but Laila was stubborn.

No one in the Kingdom of Sierrow was born with black hair. Nor with pomegranate-red eyes. Laila’s appearance was itself something “non-human.”

She knew better than anyone that just her hair and eyes scared people and created an ominous and eerie atmosphere.

“If you do that, you won’t be able to walk properly. If you fall and your hood comes off, it will cause an even bigger commotion… Do you still hate it? Hmm… then I guess there’s no choice.”

Laila shook her head under the hood like a sulking child.

Yustar gave her a strange look—half pity, half amusement—and carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He felt Laila flinch beneath the hood.

“Lean on me as you walk. At least you won’t fall.”

“I’m not that weak…”

A low laugh burst from Yustar.

“I swear I have never thought of you like that. And I never will. Now, let’s find a room for us to stay. There’s an inn gathered over there.”

He pointed somewhere with his finger. Laila peeked up from under her hood, but when a man carrying a milk container passed by with heavy footsteps, she dropped her head again.

The only support was Yustar’s hand holding her shoulder.