Chapter 58
What did he mean by the thing they were worried about?
Distracted by the noise outside, Ael draped a sheet over Kiara’s shoulders.
“I think you need to hear this yourself, so I’m letting them in. Cover yourself if you want. Well, compared to me, you’re not exactly dressed any worse.”
Kiara was still in a half-naked state since she hadn’t even fully removed her clothes from before, so in terms of appearance, she was actually better off than Ael. Still, meeting a stranger made her scared, and she wrapped the sheet tightly around herself. Seeing her partially covered, Ael headed toward the door. In that brief moment, he had already put on his clothes and gathered his gear.
“Come in.”
“Excuse me.”
It sounded like a voice Kiara had heard before. Slightly less wary, she peeked out, showing only her eyes through a gap in the sheet. Seeing this, Ael chuckled softly and pulled the leather armor that had been lying on the floor over his head.
“Let me help you. This must be uncomfortable.”
A sturdy man with short blond hair quickly approached Ael’s side. Much bigger than Ael, he skillfully tied the leather straps of the armor with thick fingers while raising his eyebrows.
“…That’s strange.”
“What is?”
Ael asked casually while fastening the strap on the opposite side. The man shook his head as he continued speaking.
“The one who hit—no, attacked the Captain… Wasn’t it a giant grizzly? I’m not sure you could even call that thing a bear, but it was at least a grizzly bear.”
“That’s right.”
“…But surprisingly, you look fine. Considering the size of the blow, it’s honestly a bit amazing that your insides aren’t ruptured…”
“A bear?! A grizzly bear?”
Kiara’s shout cut off the man’s words. She pulled back the sheet she had wrapped around herself and stared at the two men. When the startled man suddenly met her red eyes, he flinched and stepped back from the bed.
“R-right now is the time when bears are raising their cubs. They’re all on edge preparing for winter hibernation…”
Kiara, who had been watching Ael with worried eyes, suddenly shrank back. The blond man with a strong yellowish, sandy hair color was staring at her blankly.
Seeing his unusually short hair and the large scar cutting across his jaw, she suddenly understood why his voice sounded so familiar.
It was him — one of Ael’s men she’d heard talking in the chapel. The same man who had been constantly on edge, insisting she should be killed.
“…A witch, huh.”
His hand slowly moved toward his back as he glanced between Ael and her. Only then did Kiara notice the huge two-handed sword strapped to his back, and she flinched, pulling the sheet back over herself in fear.
Ael sighed, pausing his work tying on his armor.
“Cut it out, Duncan.”
“Huh, but she’s a witch…!”
Ael interrupted him, and Kiara peeked out again, showing only her eyes. Though she was trembling, her gaze was filled with curiosity, which made Duncan nod knowingly.
“Could it be you’ve fallen under the witch’s spell?”
“What are you talking about? You really think I’d fall for something like that?”
Ael chuckled softly, but Duncan kept his hand behind his back, still eyeing Kiara warily. Her eyes — a deeper and darker red than even Ael’s feared red eyes — locked onto him.
“They say witches are nothing but temptresses, right? And on top of that, a Red Witch?”
Duncan nodded in the middle of his sentence.
Ah, now I understood the source of that strange tension hanging in the room, he thought.
Ael looked like someone who had been through every hardship in the world, having spent his youth drifting between life and death, but in reality, he hadn’t even been an adult for many years. No, to Duncan — who was well into his mid-thirties and had seen nothing but battlefields — Ael seemed utterly naive when it came to matters of women.
He might understand monsters or beasts better than that, but there was no doubt a witch had seduced Ael.
“Well, someone with looks that evenly matched with his…”
It was more than plausible.
Duncan’s hand slid toward the hilt of the enormous sword strapped to his back — a weapon so large it seemed impossible to wield, even for a man his height, which dwarfed Ael’s.
Of course, Duncan was strong enough to wield it with ease.
Still, Ael remained calm and collected.
“Why do you think I’m still in one piece after getting hit by a bear like that?”
Clicking his tongue, Ael lifted both his armor and tunic. Duncan’s eyes widened as he glanced over the bruises beneath.
“Impossible…”
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