MYCDM 02

Chapter 02

After felling the assassin, the man looked at Shia.

Shia was seized by fear. She had sat down and couldn’t even stand back up. Her entire body was trembling violently.

‘I-I have to run. I have to survive. I can’t die like this, I….’

Just as she thought she would have to crawl away if necessary, a red-haired man landed almost as if flying down before Shia.

To Shia, that man looked like a grim reaper.

The man crouched down in front of the terrified, trembling Shia.

“Are you a member of the Tashin imperial family?”

Shia couldn’t understand the situation for a moment. She didn’t even know what the other person was saying. She only stared at the man, trembling.

“P-Please don’t kill me.”

“Relax. I’ve already dealt with the one who tried to harm the imperial family member.”

“Excuse me?”

Soon, various sounds were heard. The sound of running, the sound of brushing against grass.

Still frightened and afraid, Shia turned toward the direction of the noise. An enormous group was running toward her.

‘W-What is this? I’m scared.’

The moment she thought that, they stopped moving. And slowly, they began to prostrate themselves on the spot.

“?”

They were stopping and prostrating themselves as if they had heard Shia’s thoughts.

“If the noble one permits, I’d like to introduce myself?”

The man sitting in front of Shia spoke to her.

At his words, Shia turned her head and looked at the man again.

“I am Elihu Diamant. Nephew of the Tashin Emperor. So even if the noble one is also of the imperial family, I think we can speak comfortably. Right?”

“A-Are you going to kill me?”

Whether the other person was introducing himself or not, Shia was still frightened under the shadow of death that hung over the situation.

“No, I came to help. You called out, after all.”

“I called out?”

“Yes. You used a Ring to call out.”

“A Ring?”

Shia had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. However, she tried her best to make sense of the situation.

“Ah, there was someone trying to kill me from behind earlier. You’re not with them, are you?”

“Yes. I’ve dealt with that person, so don’t worry.”

Only then did Shia’s heart feel a little relieved.

‘Right. If this person were going to kill me, he would have done it already. He’s someone who came to help me.’

Her hands were still trembling, but she could feel a little relieved. But was it because she felt relieved? Tears soon poured out.

“Ugh….”

Shia covered her face with the arm that hadn’t been hit by the arrow and began to cry.

“Oh, my.”

The man seemed a little flustered.

“Hmm, hey. Take this.”

At Elihu’s voice, Shia only slightly raised her reddened eyes above her hand. He was holding out a handkerchief.

He awkwardly averted his gaze and only held out the handkerchief, as if afraid Shia might be scared.

“Thank you.”

Shia slowly accepted the handkerchief.

Her tears wouldn’t stop.

She couldn’t understand why things had turned out this way, and she was even more afraid of the fact that she might not be able to return home now.

But after crying for a long while, her mind calmed down a little. First, she expressed her gratitude to the other person.

“Th-Thank you for saving me.”

As if waiting for Shia’s greeting, Elihu spoke.

“What is the noble one’s name?”

Shia said, trembling.

“I am Shia. I’m a commoner, so I have no surname. You can just call me Shia.”

“Alright, Shia. How old are you?”

Elihu half-turned his body, looking at Shia with a smile. The man was a handsome fellow with beautiful green eyes.

Shia barely managed to answer.

“I turned twenty this year.”

Blood was continuously seeping from her left arm, and she felt her body gradually losing strength. She was dizzy and her arm hurt terribly.

“Ah….”

Before she could say anything more, she fainted.

—

* * *

—

The moment Shia fainted, Oper could no longer feel her presence.

Even though he couldn’t properly use his body, Oper was continuously worried about Shia. But then, suddenly, Shia’s feeling disappeared in an instant.

Shia probably wasn’t dead. Shia must not die.

If Shia died, his life would be over. Everything he had wished for would collapse.

What had been the reason he lived quietly, holding his breath, having left Tashin with Shia, prepared to die if discovered all this time?

At that time, Bvinnna must have also felt Shia’s presence completely disappear, and she finally released Oper.

The moment Oper could move freely according to his will, he frantically searched for Shia. Deep in the mountains where Shia had sent the signal.

He searched for Shia until late at night, but he could not find her.

What he found in the mountains were only a bloodstained spot and footprints.

‘Could it be, was Shia murdered?’

There was a spot where the underbrush was disturbed. He examined the bloodstains there closely.

Here, Shia was murdered and….

‘No, I didn’t hear the screaming cry of Shia’s power.’

If Shia had truly died, her power should have let out a tearing scream just before death.

‘Shia is alive. Even though I can’t feel her presence right now, she is definitely alive.’

Shia, who had been moved to an inn by Elihu while unconscious, opened her eyes a full day later.

As she opened her eyes with a hazy mind, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted her.

“You’re awake?”

As Shia half-raised her body, she heard a strange man’s voice.

“Ah.”

Shia tried to think calmly.

She recalled that her arm had been hit by an arrow from a man sent by her stepmother, and that she had nearly died.

And then she had been saved by a stranger. After that, she lost consciousness.

Checking her arm, it was wrapped in bandages. It seemed treatment had also been completed.

Her clothes had also been changed into new ones.

Seeing Shia’s darkening expression, Elihu replied.

“I called a doctor and a nurse. I received help accompanying a famous merchant from Arune. The nurse changed your clothes then.”

“Thank you.”

No matter how difficult and dazed she was, it was a situation where she had to express gratitude.

“I only did what was natural.”

“Where is this?”

She didn’t know if the other person would answer properly, but she wanted to ask.

“I temporarily brought you to a nearby inn. They said the wound on your arm is deeper than it looks and will take time to heal.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“I wanted to take you somewhere better, but this is a backwoods village where places to host a distinguished guest are rare.”

“A distinguished guest? I’m just a commoner, though.”

“Who says a commoner does that?”

“Because it’s true. My family’s circumstances have improved a bit, but originally we were in somewhat difficult circumstances.”

“Is that so? What about your family?”

Family.

At that question, Shia’s expression darkened. It was such a simple question.

She took a short breath and slowly opened her mouth.

“I lived with my father, but my father remarried this year, so I gained a stepmother. My stepmother is pregnant, so a sibling is also due to be born.”

Even though it was a stepmother who had thought to kill her, legally she was still Shia’s mother.

“Looking at Shia’s appearance, your father must be from Tashin, right?”

The people of Arune tended to have darker skin. Shia, with her fair skin, clearly had the features of a person from the Tashin Empire.

“Ah, well… I’ve been raised here in Arune all along.”

“Shia’s power is the power of the imperial family. With this level of power, I would expect you to be a pure-blooded imperial family member?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m saying one of Shia’s parents is likely a member of the imperial family.”

“…I’m not sure.”

I don’t understand a single word of what he’s saying.

“You also look different from the Arune people. Compared to the Arune people, your skin is excessively fair.”

“O-Of course, my father and my appearance are a bit different from Arune people. But I’ve lived settled in Arune for a long time, so I think of myself as an Arune person now.”

Shia spoke without looking at Elihu.

“Tashin is a class-based society. Much more unique than Arune.”

Elihu suddenly began talking about the Tashin Empire.

“I’ve heard of it. But I don’t know much about it.”

“The reason Tashin is a class-based society is because of the abilities that manifest according to class. In some ways, it’s a country of thorough meritocracy based on ability.”

“Abilities?”

“For example, Shia, facing the threat of death, powerfully emitted a Ring… creating a situation where anyone who is a citizen of Tashin would come to rescue you. That kind of special ability.”

“A Ring? I emit a Ring? I don’t even know what that is?”

“All power beyond ordinary abilities. In Tashin, superpowers are called Rings. You sent a signal requesting help through a Ring in a moment of urgency. It would have crossed the Arune Strait and reached the coast of Tashin.”

“I did?”

It was a story Shia could not comprehend.

She had desperately wanted to live, that was true. But no matter how loud that cry was, there was no way it could cross the sea and reach the opposite continent’s coast.

“Someone with a Ring of this level is difficult to find unless they are a direct descendant of the Tashin imperial family.”

“Excuse me?”

Shia paused her thinking for a moment.

Direct descendant of the imperial family? What on earth was he talking about from earlier?