My Strange Savior - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Ugh…”

Kalion let out a dry groan as he furrowed his brow. It was challenging for him to even produce a proper sound, given the state of his mouth.

“Ugh.”

He quickly regained his senses, and pain surged throughout his entire body. Is he dead? Kalion wondered. Otherwise, why would he feel so warm?

The excruciating pain was so vivid that he couldn’t help but open his eyes, despite his initial reluctance.

“Where…?”

His parched voice cracked as it escaped his dry throat.

“Ugh.”

He attempted to move, only to realize that his limbs were bound tightly, causing him to cry out in agony. It served as undeniable proof that he was still alive.

Where is he, exactly? As he opened his eyes, he saw the unfamiliar ceiling of a cave. His body was immobilized, making any sort of movement impossible.

As he tried to squirm and free himself, he heard a soft moan coming from nearby.

“Hmm.”

Hmph.

Kalion stopped moving and turned his head when he heard the soft moan. His gaze lowered to see a small black head enter his field of vision.

‘Why am I here… with a woman…?’

His deep thoughts came to a halt, and Kalion’s consciousness returned to a point where it had been severed.

Bang.

A strange noise he had never heard before accompanied the sudden collapse of a goblin. Staring at the lifeless goblin in front of him, Kalion’s eyes widened in astonishment.

Before he could fully process his thoughts, the strange noise echoed through the mountains again.

In the blink of an eye, seven goblins fell without making a sound.

Not only Kalion but also the remaining goblins were thrown into confusion as they looked around.

Kalion, who had nearly shattered his teeth by gritting them so hard, reached out with his trembling arm.

The bloodstains on the goblin, whether from the goblin’s injury or Kalion’s blood, gathered along the blade and dripped off its end.

Is this the end?

Gradually, his strength ebbed away, and he could feel his fading consciousness separating from his body.

“Keeeek!”

The menacing sound of the goblin, furious over the death of its comrades, pierced through Kalion’s ears.

“Kweeeeek!”

For a brief moment, the goblins were taken aback by an unknown attack that seemed to come from nowhere. But when Kalion raised his sword once more, they charged at him.

Now, it seemed like he would meet his end without any chance of survival.

Just when he had a premonition of his impending doom, something entirely black appeared and swiftly dispatched the goblins who had surrounded him.

Everything was drenched in black.

Was this a savior who appeared to rescue him?

Or was it a devil sent to take his life?

His consciousness faded as everything grew hazy.

“Hey! Don’t die!”

A sense of futility echoed in his ears as he cautiously tried to sit up. The last thing he remembered was the black figure that had been dispatching goblins as he faded into unconsciousness. 

Could the person lying beside him now be that same figure?

As Kalion carefully pulled his arm out of the sleeping bag, he felt a chill. Although it was an autumn day with the recent rain, inside the sleeping bag was exceptionally warm, almost like a spring day. It felt so comfortable that he almost didn’t want to leave.

However, he needed to confirm the identity of the person beside him. Kalion slowly raised his upper body, enduring the pains that shot through him. Was this person a friend or a foe?

As he began to rise, the bedding around him naturally opened up, and a rush of cold air hit him, sending shivers down his spine.

Kalion exerted strength on his abdomen, which stung as if it had been burned. 

In that instant, Kalion, who had almost let out a loud cry, hastily bit down on his lip. The cold that had entered through the bedding seemed to be felt by the woman too, as she clung to Kalion’s firm waist and pressed her face against his side.

‘What on earth is this…’

Kalion, whose thought processes had come to a halt, fixed his trembling gaze on the strange woman who was partially undressed and wore clothes with pronounced folds, all within the same bedding. He had never even imagined such a situation before, so Kalion’s pupils wavered aimlessly.

“Ugh… um. Are you awake?”

Blinking her eyes, Gia, who had woken up at his movement, nonchalantly patted Kalion.

“The wounds are healed. The bleeding has stopped, and your color looks okay.”

Without permission, the woman who had opened the bandage wrapped around Kalion’s abdomen, rubbing her sleepy eyes, stood up abruptly.

“Who are you?”

Inside, there was a perplexity that was palpable, yet her expression was colder than midwinter frost. To conceal his tension, Kalion hardened his expression and applied force to his reddened cheeks. He clenched his fists tightly to not betray his anxiety.

He couldn’t easily judge the intentions of the person who had saved his life. Kalion tightened his fists even more.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“I get that you’re curious about who I am… Anyway, I indeed saved you, right? So could you please loosen your grip? Are you trying to intimidate me?”

Was this person really scared? The emotion of tension didn’t seem to exist in the petite woman who roamed the cave comfortably, lighting a fire as if it were second nature.

She wasn’t even remotely intimidating compared to the burly man who was bigger than her. How did a woman like her end up in such a situation… at the side of a foreign man?

Kalion, who had been staring at her with cold eyes, turned his head around to search for something that could serve as a weapon.

Inside the surprisingly cozy cave, various items were scattered about, and among them, what Kalion was looking for was placed on a flat stone slab.

Not far away, only a few steps away, a distance he could reach even considering his injuries.

It had a different appearance than the swords and knives he was familiar with, but now was not the time to quibble over such things.

Drip, drip—

Kalion, who had been subtly adjusting the position of the knife to avoid being noticed by the woman, turned his head at the sound he heard. In this situation where he didn’t know what to do, the woman was casually tending to the dying embers of the campfire.

Using a tool he had never seen before, she quickly ignited a fire and skillfully retrieved a metal container.

“Coffee?”

Kalion, who had been observing Gia’s actions, did not respond. The slender shoulders rose once again and then lowered when she received no answer.

“Or not.”

Soon, the water began to boil, and she poured it into a stainless steel cup before adding coffee grounds, filling the cave with a delightful aroma.

“Hmm, morning coffee as expected.”

“Please explain.”

“What?”

Gia, who looked at the perplexed handsome man with an awkward expression, took a sip of coffee.

“I saved you?”

Kalion, looking at the woman who evaded the core of the question by answering with another question, narrowed his eyes with a cold gaze as he circled the topic.

“Where are we?”

“Well…”

There wasn’t a clear answer to the question. Even though he seemed to be trying to exude a menacing presence by furrowing his thick eyebrows, the woman didn’t seem frightened at all. She sipped her coffee casually, not even blinking.

Did she know what he was thinking? Kalion, ready to wield his knife without a hint of hesitation, asked again in a cold tone.

“Answer me.”

The mention of her saving him brought back memories of the black figure that appeared before him just before he passed out. Could that be this woman?

If so, it seemed she did save his life as she claimed. However, Kalion couldn’t fathom how this woman, who looked like she could snap her wrist with a twist of her arm, could have taken down so many goblins. 

That was something he couldn’t quite grasp.

Kalion, who had been staring at the woman still unashamedly exposing her bare skin despite wearing the peculiar, ragged clothes, sighed deeply.

Gia, noticing Kalion’s sidelong glance, lowered her gaze and examined her attire.

‘I look like a Confucian scholar.’

As she was being scrutinized by the man, Gia gracefully lifted her black combat outfit, which had been strewn on the floor, with her toes and put on a shirt and pants.

Kalion, who had been observing her, finally turned his head first.

Isn’t she bothered at all by this situation? She seemed as indifferent as if she were wiping her face with a piece of steel. Kalion coughed repeatedly in vain.

“An answer. Um, I indeed saved you. I don’t even know where this is. You don’t need to know who I am. Is that a sufficient answer?”

Kalion’s expression, which had been turning increasingly menacing while he was turning away from the completely unhelpful response, hardened. Was she playing a prank?

Although he didn’t want to be disrespectful to the person who had saved him, Kalion’s demeanor became fierce in an instant because he couldn’t trust strangers so easily.

Furthermore, it was suspicious that she lived alone in a cave in the treacherous Hagria Mountains, known for its rampant monsters.

Gia, still approaching Kalion in a vulnerable state, extended her palm.

“Here.”

“What is this?”

“Medicine.”

“Medicine?”

Kalion, looking at the shiny, round object, which was about the size of a thumbnail, furrowed his eyebrows.

“I treated you in a hurry, but there’s a possibility the wounds could fester. I went through a lot to save you, so it would be a shame if you died because of an infection in the wounds.”

Kalion, who stared at the woman speaking sternly but with a kind tone, looked intently at her palm.

“Don’t want to take it? Haven’t you outgrown the age of refusing to take medicine?”

In response to her playful words, Kalion raised his heavy arm as if to push her hand away.

“Please remove it. Don’t speak in such a joking manner.”

“It’s not a joke.”

In the atmosphere that had become even colder than the cold air outside, Gia wiped the smile from her face.

Why did she end up here, where this place is? Gia didn’t know either, so there was nothing to explain.

Even though she had already spent days in this bizarre and unfamiliar place since she opened her eyes here, she still didn’t know where this place was.

Trying to determine her location using the watch she was wearing, all she could get was a rough outline of the terrain. She wondered how much data had been lost or if she had landed in a remote area where satellite signals couldn’t reach. Could there be places on Earth where satellite signals didn’t reach in the first place? 

If that were the case, she would need to get out of the communication dead zone, but it was only getting more frustrating.

She glanced down at the black watch on her wrist, ruffled her unruly hair, and held out her hand again.

“I haven’t played any pranks. First, you should take the medicine…”

Kalion, who had been trying to forcefully push away the outstretched palm, widened his eyes.

“You. Who are you?”

Since he started walking and learned to read, he had never once been lazy when it came to training his body and honing his sword skills. He had become the youngest Knight Commander in the Empire based solely on his skill, not the power of his family, and now a small wrinkle formed on his forehead.

‘She doesn’t budge at all.’

He initially pushed with the intention of just lightly patting her palm, but now it was serious. When he tried to push her wrist forcefully, her palm barely moved back.

He didn’t think there could be any strength coming from a woman who was less than half his size.

‘It’s impossible.’