Salvation Through Delusion C71

Chapter 71

“Are you kidding me? Do you take me for a fool?!”

Instead of yelling in anger, I ignored his outstretched hand and stepped through the gaping hole.

“You can still joke in a situation like this?”

“And you’re still not angry in a situation like this.”

“Should I be?”

“Go ahead. You were trapped in that Ewik cell and beaten, and now you’ve gone a whole day without food, yet you haven’t uttered a single complaint. You’ve done better than I expected, so now I’m curious how far your endurance goes.”

Damn it. I couldn’t respond and swallowed my curses instead. That’s because Mo was adjusting my body so I wouldn’t feel hunger.

It wasn’t a feature that could last long, but escaping and finding a safe place was the priority. Maybe I seemed too composed without realizing it.

Apparently, even without Mo’s help, skipping a day’s meal wasn’t a big deal for me, so I must’ve looked completely fine.

Anyone else seeing me would’ve found it strange — a normal person would’ve been weak, irritable, and sluggish from hunger and thirst.

“…I often skip meals to maintain my figure,” I replied smoothly.

He ran his eyes over my body, but thankfully, there was no suspicion in his gaze — only a distasteful comment.

“Well, Adeye Lantua always feeds you weird food anyway. No wonder you don’t want to eat.”

“Weird food?! Do you have any idea how delicious it is? It’s amazing!”

If it weren’t for the mul-kimchi, dongchimi, and all those pickled side dishes, I would’ve starved to death in Tuvine long ago.

My sudden outburst made him mutter something under his breath.

“Brainwashed, maybe.”

His voice was so low I could barely hear it, but Mo, ever uselessly helpful, supplied the translation.

[He’s genuinely wondering if you’ve been brainwashed.]

How considerate of him, really. I rolled my eyes inwardly and led the way through the secret passage.

After about ten minutes of walking, we reached a dead end.

A brick wall stood before us, with what looked like a handle embedded beside it.

What’s beyond that wall? Should I open it right away?

While I hesitated, Tyroc unflinchingly grabbed the handle.

“Wait—what if someone’s on the other side?”

“There isn’t.”

He declared it with obnoxious confidence and pulled down the handle.

I was ready to laugh if anyone appeared, but the wall slid open with a clunk, revealing absolutely no one beyond it.

Of course. His hearing was annoyingly sharp.

Jealous of his senses, I stepped inside—and froze before I could take a full step.

The chamber beyond wasn’t well-lit, so I hadn’t noticed at first, but it was enormous—at least two stories high, a vast underground stone hall.

Thankfully, it wasn’t another tomb. Jewels glittered everywhere, filling the space like some treasure hall out of Arabian Nights.

“So this is the relic chamber,” he murmured, almost disinterestedly.

I immediately spoke to Mo.

“You memorized the layout of Borhumi Castle, right? Check the position of the relic chamber.”

A three-dimensional schematic appeared before my eyes, with a red dot marking a point underground.

Hmm, near the castle’s central area. It might take a while to get out.

“What about the exits?”

Mo drew a red arrow along the floor. I followed it right away.

“Let’s get out of here first.”

As I passed him, I felt his gaze burning into me.

“You’re not coming?”

“You’re quite certain the key isn’t here.”

Of course. I glanced at the dazzling jewels and piles of gold around us. Useless, all of them.

In the collapsed world I came from, even a single bean was more precious than these stones.

Even non-human beings understood that truth—why else would their gifts to me be a stick or a dead bug? Sacred beasts weren’t any different.

“These things mean nothing. But Borhumi’s idiots wouldn’t know that, so I’m sure the key wouldn’t be kept among such trinkets.”

I strode forward with conviction.

He neither questioned nor objected, only followed in silence, though I could feel his eyes on my back so intensely it almost burned through.

My head’s gonna sprout a hole at this rate.

Just as I was about to snap and turn around, we finally reached the exit.

The massive door could be opened from the inside, but with treasures like these, there would definitely be guards stationed outside—at least two.

I wanted to come up with a plan before opening it.

“Even if we deal with the guards, their shift change will give us away. And this room must be important.”

“So?”

“So, we should aim to escape all the way outside the castle.”

“The route?”

“I kn—ah.”

I stopped mid-sentence, realizing how suspicious it sounded.

Why would I know the layout of Borhumi Castle?

But instead of pressing me, he simply nodded.

“Alright.”

“…That’s it? You’re not even going to ask how I know the way?”

I was practically begging him to question me, but he had a ready explanation.

“Breaking into the homes of men you like and harassing them is your hobby, isn’t it? People say there’s no one in Tuvine who knows strangers’ houses better than you do.”

I gawked. That was a hobby I’d never even heard of, let alone practiced.

Honestly, nothing in Tuvine had shocked me as much as this lunatic, Rue, whom I’d never even met.

King of insanity, seriously.

“So even if you know the ins and outs of Borhumi Castle, I’m not surprised.”

“R-right…”

“…”

“…What?”

“I just got curious—do you know the layout of the Koon Castle too?”

“No. Couldn’t get those blueprints.”

I answered truthfully, and he smirked.

“I’ll show you around myself, then.”

Show me around? Where, the pigsty?

“No thanks. I’ll pass.”

I refused firmly and turned toward the door.

As he followed, he murmured:

“Pity.”

Yeah, pity that you haven’t given up on turning me into pig feed yet.

Definitely can’t let my guard down around this one.

Maybe it was time to show him a bit of what I could do—specifically, my weapon.

“I’ll take care of one guard.”

I expected him to laugh and ask ‘You? How?’ but he just stared at me intently, almost as if seeing me for the first time.

“If you don’t trust me…”

“I do.”

Oh.

“I said I trust you.”

“Right… thanks, I guess.”

When I hesitated, his voice dropped cold.

“I don’t intend to use whatever I see or learn from you.”

“Then please keep it a secret, too.”

A faintly incredulous smile tugged at his lips, but he still gave a quiet, “Alright.”

Only then did I pull out my weapon.

“Stick.”

At its name, the rod hanging around my neck elongated in an instant.

Tyroc’s eyebrows twitched.

“I’ve never seen magic like that.”

Of course not—because it’s not magic.

Gripping the stick confidently, I stepped forward.

Fear had no place left in me.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait—this is it? This is all you brought?”

Rick gawked at the two people standing before him.

One was Solongo, whom he knew well. The other was a woman in her late fifties, completely unfamiliar. Just the two of them.

Rick couldn’t believe it.

“Did you even understand what my message meant?”

“You said Duke Koon’s location has been confirmed—Borhumi Castle.”

“Yes, well, I wasn’t sure whether to tell you, but Adeye’s people have been frantically searching for Adeye Rue everywhere, so out of sheer generosity, I thought to share the information—”

“If your face is that awful, at least let your words make sense.”

“What—my face—?!”

“Koon can’t send people into Borhumi, so you plan to use us to do it for you, isn’t that right?”

Solongo cut him off sharply, her tone brisk and businesslike.

“Borhumi only allowed a team of four. We could request more, but we don’t want to attract suspicion unnecessarily. So, it’ll just be me and Teacher Black Bear here. You bring two people, no more.”

Rick had plenty he wanted to argue, but the moment he heard the name “Teacher Black Bear,” his thoughts scattered.

He and the others—Ennya and Haas—all turned to look at the so-called teacher.

The woman with graying hair, in her late fifties, stood calmly with her hands behind her back, gazing at the sky.

Her wiry frame and shabby clothes made her look more like a farmer than anyone deserving the title teacher, let alone someone called “Black Bear.”

Rick and Haas frowned immediately.

They weren’t here for a pleasure visit—they were preparing for a rescue mission.

Why would Adeye send her?

Meanwhile, Ennya, looking curious, took a step closer to Black Bear.

“Ennya, what are you doing?”

1. Mul-kimchi (물김치) watery, mildly spicy korean kimchi often served cold 
2. Dongchimi (동치미) type of winter kimchi made with radish and brine