The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 54



Only Krnovel

Episode 54

“… … Zen!”

Royle opened his eyes, gasping for breath. The tinnitus lingered for a moment before disappearing.

Where am I?

When I put my hand on the floor to raise my body, my hand sank downward.

I looked down in surprise.

The ground was beneath me. The only thing supporting my body was a tangled mass of tree trunks.

My body froze as I realized I was in a high place. Why am I in a place like this?

“Jeez, jesse! jesse!”

As I was looking for my brother with a trembling voice, something flew in and hit me on the head.

I looked back. My brother was about 3 meters away. The moment I confirmed that he was alive, I sighed in relief.

The younger brother threw the broken branch again with a subtle smile.

“don’t do it.”

It was my younger brother who was playing a prank for the first time in a long time.

Squeak, squeak.

There was a noise from above. Royle raised his head slightly. There was a monster up there.

He was lying on a hammock made of woven reeds, wearing clothes that were little more than rags.

The tension is rising again. Was he not saved, but was he being held for emergency rations?

At that moment, my eyes met with the monster’s.

Early twenties? No, late teens? Maybe mid to late twenties?

His age could not be determined because of his bushy hair and beard.

The man lying on the hammock jerked his hips. The man, who had pulled himself out of the hammock as if performing a stunt, fell vertically and landed in front of Royle.

Royle swallowed dryly.

“Please, spare my little brother. I’ll eat it myself and my little brother… … .”

“Seela! Did you catch a lot of fish today?”

“yes?”

“Why are you so out of your mind? You said you lost all the fish last time because the net was broken. Are you still out of your mind about that?”

The monster made a strange sound.

Who is Silla and what is the fish talking about?

“Seela?”

“Me, me?”

“Yes, Sheila! Where is Sheila besides you? By any chance… … are you not Sheila?”

The monster narrowed the gap between his eyes and poked his head in. As his pitch-black eyes came closer, Royle answered with a scream.

“No! It’s me, it’s me. Yes, it’s me!”

“I know, Cilla. You’re messing with me again, aren’t you? Haha, you’re really a good guy.”

It was a monster who laughed while hitting people’s shoulders. His hand was so spicy that it brought tears to Royle’s eyes.

“By the way, Brinky hasn’t said anything today either.”

The monster looked at his younger brother. I am Sheila, and my younger brother is Brinky. Royle repeated the names so he wouldn’t forget them.

“There were times when I was like that too. Times when I hated everything in the world. But a man shouldn’t be like that! It only lasts a day or two to feel depressed as if the world is ending. Anyway, you’re still whining because you got dumped by a woman, Cilla. Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Hey, buddy. Why are you being formal? Are you still kidding me?”

I met black eyes. I came to my senses.

“Oh, yeah! This guy. I was just joking.”

“I love pranks too much. Anyway, Sheila, try to appease Brinky. You can’t keep your mouth shut forever, right?”

It was a monster who climbed back into the hammock, telling me to work hard.

Royle crawled over the branches to reach his brother.

“Jen, are you okay?”

Jen nodded. There didn’t seem to be any injuries.

“I’ll try to do something. Don’t worry too much… … .”

“Seal!”

The monster above screamed.

“Oh, oh! I’m here.”

“Aren’t you going fishing?”

It’s a real fish song in the middle of the forest, Royle smiled, hiding his rotting heart.

“I’m going to go soon.”

“Are you going?”

“Uh, uh. I have to go.”

“Then tell me when you go. I’ll go with you. I’ll help you out with one hand, so just give me a couple of big ones.”

“Okay! I’ll take care of you like a big guy.”

“After all, we are friends.”

I wonder if he’s a bad person.

Or are you just teasing them before you eat them?

I had no idea. Royle let out a sharp breath and looked down.

It was a dizzying height. On the day I misstepped and fell… … .

Royle turned his head. His brother was pulling his arm. He was laughing heartily, wondering what was so good about it.

“Seal!”

The monster fell onto the branch where Royle was with a loud roar. He landed after spinning twice in the air, his movements light as if he were dropping feathers.

I thought of the wandering clowns I occasionally saw in the city. People who used their bodies amazingly well.

Royle smiled weakly.

“Let’s go now.”

“yes?”

Just as the strange answer left his mouth, Royle’s body was lifted. The monster flew towards the ground with Royle held under his arm.

“Eww!”

In an instant, the ground became closer.

I was falling to my death, dizzying thoughts filled my head.

The monster kicked the tree on the other side with all his might. It changed direction and slowed down slightly.

And then, with a thud, it hit the ground.

There was nothing broken, just a rumbling sensation inside.

“This guy is joking.”

My trembling legs touched the ground. I tried to stand up straight, but my knees gave out and I ended up collapsing.

“Are you going to rest?”

The monster looked down, tilting his head. Royle shook his head sharply and stood up.

“Oh, no. I have to go. To catch fish.”

“Cheer up! If I help you, you can catch a fish in no time.”

The monster walked lightly, but for some reason he was faster than Royle.

Royle followed the monster, barely able to catch his breath.

Running away was not an option in the first place. My brother was alone in the tree, and even if I ran with my heart racing, the monster would definitely catch up with me with just one stomp.

“Shh, there’s a fish over there.”

There was a goblin in the direction the monster pointed.

It was the first time I saw him.

Royle was afraid of the big mouth, but he did not leave the big mouth’s living radius. Other goblins did not visit the area where the big mouth was active.

Of course, I held out well for over two months, but then I got caught once and ended up like this.

“What are you going to do?”

Royle asked cautiously. The monster smiled as if asking why and ran away.

“Come on!”

The monster raised both arms in cheers.

*

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Oh, okay.”

I was completely out of my mind.

It was scary going down the tree, but it was no easy feat going up. I almost threw up while hanging there.

I closed my eyes, clutching my messy hair. It felt like a dream. I watched goblins running around and dying all day long.

The monster didn’t even get tired. Oh, it was already running far away. As I ran, panting to catch up, the monster killed the goblin and moved on to find another prey.

Sometimes they fought using fist-sized rocks as weapons, and at other times they swung tough vines like whips.

Anything you can get your hands on becomes a weapon.

But the monster was the scariest when he fought with his bare hands. In particular, the sight of him tearing the goblin’s flesh with his teeth was so scary that it made my stomach churn no matter how many times I saw it.

Royle looked at the monster lying on the hammock.

Is it a human or a goblin?

Or something entirely different.

I had to run away from here when the monster called me ‘Silla’. At some point, he might come to his senses and say, “What are you guys?” and bite my neck off.

“Jen. Jen, wake up.”

I gently woke up my peacefully sleeping younger brother. The sun was setting. The monster above had also become quiet a while ago.

I looked down as I took care of my younger brother who woke up rubbing his eyes.

I have to go down.

You have to run away when you have the chance.

“I’m going to go down. You have to hold on tight. Okay?”

I peeled the bark off the tree branches. The bark is tough. I gathered several strips of bark and twisted them together like a rope.

I carried my younger brother on my back and wrapped my entire body in a makeshift rope. I looked up, shaking my body.

The monster still didn’t move.

good.

Looking down, I still felt dizzy, but my hands and feet did not lose strength.

I grabbed the bark of the tree, which was rough. Unlike the branches, the thick trunk was not peeled off.

I think I can hold on and go down.

“It might be scary, but bear with it. Keep your eyes tightly closed.”

My younger brother listened carefully. I checked my brother who was clinging to me tightly and took careful steps forward.

I lowered my feet slightly and took my hands off.

I was confident in my climbing ability. I was also good at climbing trees. Of course, I had never climbed a tree this high before.

The ground is getting closer and closer. It will be okay to jump off when you get halfway there.

That was when I thought everything was perfect.

Royle’s eyes caught something that shouldn’t have been there. A bush that was bathed in the faint light. There, where he thought it was the landing spot, was a frog with bulging eyes.

It was as big as a large dog.

There’s no way a frog can be that big. That’s a goblin.

I was hanging on the stem and thinking.

If you go down, frogs will attack you. I’ve seen goblins that don’t attack very often, but that frog…

The frog’s pupils became triangular. It stood up on its thick hind legs and began to run towards the tree, swinging its front legs wildly.

“Hey!”

That monster is coming for me.

I tried to climb up the tree quickly.

The moment I lifted my left hand to grab the top, the slightly protruding shell dug into my fingernail.

I was hasty. I should have been careful.

Ah, the moment I said that, my body fell backwards.

Falling from a tree, I imagined a frog with its mouth open underneath.

Royle shouted with all his might.

“Help me!”

It seemed like something flashed up there.

Boom!

A loud noise was heard from under the tree.

Royle’s body, which was falling with his younger brother, was suddenly caught in the middle.

It was a monster. In an instant, the monster who had crushed the frog grabbed Royle with his left hand and jumped back up the tree.

The scenery quickly passed before my eyes.

When I came to my senses, I was on a tree branch.

Royle first removed the shell covering his body and checked his brother’s condition.

Jen was shivering, her neck hunched up.

“Jen, are you okay?”

My brother’s eyes opened slightly. His blue eyes glanced left and right, then nodded as if it was okay.

Royle hugged his brother.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, hyung.”

How surprised and scared he must have been. It was when he was patting the back of his younger brother who couldn’t even cry.

“What is your name?”

The monster asked. It wasn’t the voice that was always excited. It was a calm voice, but it sounded somehow painful.

“Oh, it’s Seala.”

“What the hell. Are you really Silla?”

It was a monster who raised his hand in the air. He looked like he was going to hit me.

Royle answered with a flinch.

“It’s Royle. I’m Royle.”

“Royal. Right, it’s not Silla, is it?”

“Yes, I’m Royle.”

“That kid?”

The monster looked at his brother. Royle twisted his body and covered his brother’s face with his upper body.

“It’s Zen.”

“Huh?”

“Jay Harlin. My name is Jen.”

“Are you my younger sibling?”

“yes.”

“You could have run away by yourself, so why did you take care of him?”

“… … How could you abandon your younger brother?”

“Really? Other people just throw it away easily.”

A monster approached.

Was it time to eat it? It was a time when my body trembled with an irresistible fear.

The monster’s hand was on his head.

Knock, knock. He patted my head with a gentle hand.

“You worked hard, you worked hard. You must have had a hard time taking care of your little brother.”

“yes?”

“Take a rest today. Oh, and ignore whatever I say up there. I’m not normal. But don’t worry, I won’t hurt you guys. Even if I’m crazy, I don’t kill humans.”

The monster suddenly raised its head.

And then he shouted at the empty hammock.

“Okay, Drihi! I’ll be there soon! Wait.”

The monster’s eyes, filled with black ink, turned towards Royle.

“Go to sleep. You have to sleep while you can. Otherwise, you’ll go crazy.”

It was a monster who smiled with his teeth clearly exposed.

It was clearly a bright smile, but strangely enough, to Royle, the smile looked like crying.

(Continued in next episode)