Welcome to the Demon’s Cabin - Chapter 3

“Hey! Are you all right?”

Irene dropped down beside the man, whose entire body was soaked in blood and reduced to rags, and shouted. But there was no response from the man, who lay limp and unconscious.

Growing anxious at the sight, she immediately grabbed both of his shoulders and shook him hard, raising her voice again.

“Please, wake up!”

“Cough!”

Blood suddenly spilled from the man’s mouth. As his body convulsed violently with the coughing, there was a sound like bones bending under strain. Startled, Irene flinched and quickly loosened her grip on his shoulders.

When she pulled her hands away and left him alone, his coughing thankfully subsided before long, though his breathing was still unsteady.

‘That was close…….’

Cold sweat ran down the man’s forehead. The way he twisted and coughed up blood made it look as if he might stop breathing at any moment.

No matter how shocked or happy she had been, she had gotten far too excited. She had almost killed the first person she had met in a long time with her own hands.

The man was utterly battered. Seeing the blood flowing from countless wounds and his limbs twisted at unnatural angles, it was amazing he was even alive. Even to her, it was obvious that if he were left like this, he would soon die.

What should she do?

The situation was so sudden that her head felt like it was spinning. Fighting down her panic, Irene muttered to herself as she struggled to stay calm.

“……First, I should move him, right?”

Whether it was treatment or anything else, she had to do something if he was going to survive. Irene looked around, searching for something she could use as a stretcher.

But as always, all she could see by the lakeside was grass and flowers. Giving up quickly, she hesitated for a moment before carefully reaching out toward the man.

She focused all her attention on keeping his body from shifting as she slipped her arms beneath his blood-soaked form. Her white blouse was stained all over with blood, but she did not care as she lifted him up with ease.

A cracking sound, far more ominous than before, rang out, but she forced herself to ignore it. At any rate, it did not seem serious enough to kill him, so it should be fine.

Cradling the man, who was far larger than she was, in a princess carry, Irene moved quickly, almost at a run.

Past the open lakeshore and through the tall trees, a familiar place finally came into view. Irene let out a breath of relief.

At the center of a gently sloping clearing stood a dark log cabin that was neither large nor small.

Rushing inside, Irene quickly scanned the interior, which was old but cozy.

‘There is nowhere suitable…….’

With the dining table, fireplace, and assorted clutter filling the space, there was nowhere she could lay a person down.

In the end, she passed a small sofa and table and entered through an open door. Decorated with rather refined furnishings that faintly resembled the bedroom of a wealthy noble, it was her own room.

She carefully lowered the man onto the bed, which was covered with a soft navy blanket.

She had always thought the bed was fairly spacious.

Now that he was lying on it, it suddenly looked small.

“Ah, now is not the time for that.”

Snapping back to her senses, Irene left the room and opened a particularly prettily decorated door. Entering a space filled with fabrics and clothes, she searched the large chest for white bandages and several pieces of soft cotton cloth, then returned to the bedroom where the man lay.

She tried to stop the bleeding from the wounds hidden beneath his black uniform, but his clothes would not come off easily. They were fastened in a complicated way she had never seen before, and soaked with blood, clinging tightly to his body.

She worried that forcing them off might only make his condition worse. In the end, Irene took a large pair of scissors and cut away the uniform in rough sections. Then she diligently wiped the blood from his injuries with a cloth.

Once his body was somewhat clean, the extent of his wounds became clear at a glance. Irene’s hands paused as she was about to wrap the bandages. Only then did she notice that his arms and legs were bent at unnatural angles.

“……This looks really dangerous…….”

Frowning, Irene fell into thought.

‘Should I straighten them? No. What if I make it worse instead?’

She knew nothing about treatment and had no aptitude for it.

But she could not simply leave him like this either.

Her wandering gaze sharpened with resolve. Then, with her white hands, she gripped the man’s left arm firmly with both hands and applied as much force as she could.

A dull cracking sensation traveled through her fingers, and the man’s bent elbow returned to its proper position.

Relieved, Irene immediately wrapped the bandage tightly around his arm to secure it.

Thank goodness. She had been worried she might break it even more.

Gaining confidence, she adjusted his remaining two limbs the same way and wrapped them in bandages. After doing everything she could, Irene sat down on the chair beside the bed and let out a long sigh.