My Strange Savior - Chapter 64

Chapter 64

He had heard briefly from Gia about the chaotic world that had become a mess after the virus, but at that time, he couldn’t grasp its weight. 

Unknowingly, he seemed to be putting on airs with Gia. 

A life where even surviving today brings one closer to death than hope. To Gia, who had been living such days consecutively, he acted like a child, playing around. 

Kalion wiped his face in embarrassment.

“Hmm….”

Gia curled her lips into a tight line as she glanced at Kalion, who was trying to gauge her mood.

“I… “

Gia looked into a box deep in her heart. An old box that hasn’t been touched since middle school.

The box was securely locked with double or triple strong iron ropes, making it impossible for anyone other than Gia to open. Gia made up her mind and decided to take out the box for Kalion.

Clang.

Clang.

The key was released, and the iron ropes fell to the ground weakly. The loosened iron ropes, making a heavy sound, seeped into the ground like sinking into a swamp and disappeared without a trace.

Crunch.

The brown box, making a noisy sound, opened as if it had been born.

‘My dear little girl.’

When the box was opened as if waiting for that moment, the voice and face of her mom, which she had forgotten as if she had forgotten, emerged. Now, even looking at her Mom’s face didn’t make her as sad. She had passed away so long ago that she had buried the sadness of that time along with it.

‘Our dear daughter, you’ve become more beautiful.’

Despite being a middle-aged woman, her Mom’s face, so remarkably beautiful, appeared vividly.

‘Hello… Mom. It’s been a long time.’

Was it the result of crying enough and being sad enough at that time? The voice, which she thought would tremble, was more indifferent than she expected, and joy felt bigger than sadness.

Gia smiled as she looked at her Mom inside the box. And as if responding, her Mom gave Gia a comfortable smile.

In the end, her Mom was lying in bed, with her hair all gone and a respirator on, but in Gia’s imagination, she was more beautiful than anyone else.

“My mother passed away early.”

“Oh… is that so.”

Upon hearing Gia’s personal story for the first time, Kalion turned his body immediately.

Gia looked at Kalion, who was sitting upright, and let out a small laugh.

“Yeah.”

“Was it… very sad?”

Gia seemed to be expecting Kalion to ask about her emotions first.

“Yeah. I cried a lot. Back then, I was in elementary school… so, around ten years old. It’s been a long time.”

“And now, are you not sad?”

“Yeah.”

At Gia’s calm words, Kalion opened his eyes in surprise.

“In the past, just hearing the word ‘mother’ made tears flow like a faucet. But now, it’s okay.”

“Why is that?”

“Have you heard the saying that time heals?”

Kalion silently nodded at Gia’s words.

“As time passes, everything becomes blurry. Both sadness and longing.”

Gia looked at Kalion and weakly smiled.

“Then, at some point, does the thought of your mother, who used to seem so far away, start to come to mind sporadically?”

Without saying it, Kalion’s emotions conveyed ‘worry.’ Kalion, who was sad himself, listened and empathized with Gia’s story, and his ears perked up.

“As time goes on, that period gradually lengthens. From a day to a week. From a week to a month. And then from a month to a year.”

With eyes sparkling as if she had studded stars in them, Gia’s words grew longer as she spoke to Kalion, who was listening attentively.

“Not that I completely forget. Sometimes, when I see places or objects with memories of that person, I do think about it. But it’s not as painful as it used to be.”

“I see. So, should I just wait for time to pass?”

“Um, no.”

As if correcting him, Gia crossed her index fingers and raised them above her face, forming an ‘X.’

“There’s something you must do before that.”

“What is it?”

“Ensure you have enough closure.”

Gia bent her thumb and index finger to make a circle, then wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

“Enough closure?”

“Losing someone close forever is naturally sad. Unless you have no emotions.”

As if saying to believe only her words, Gia looked at Kalion and widened her eyes.

“Kalion.”

“Yes.”

“If you’re sad, you can cry. Enduring it is not always the solution. It’s okay to cry out loud, and it’s okay to show that you’re sad. Moments spent with that person, whether good or bad, it doesn’t matter. You can recall them all.”

It was difficult for Kalion to understand Gia’s words encouraging him to cry out loud. He knew that crying wouldn’t solve anything, and he carried more responsibility on his shoulders than just crying out loud would address.

Seeing Kalion with a face expressing uncertainty and difficulty in accepting, Gia firmly grabbed his large hand.

“I’ll be by your side, so if it’s hard to talk to someone else, you can pour your heart out to me. After you’ve mourned enough, Rockt and the other members will gradually settle with time.”

Despite Kalion’s gaze, who looked down at the hand she held, Gia didn’t let go and held even tighter.

“It may take some time, but once that happens, whether it’s a year later, five years later, or ten years later, those in your heart will eventually be smiling. Like this.”

With a slight pull on Kalion’s shoulders, Gia, who was still holding his hand, smiled and pulled him towards her other shoulder. Kalion, who looked surprisingly adult-like and huge before, now seemed strangely his age. His eyes were already moist, unlike Gia’s laughter.

“If someone mocks you for crying, I’ll scold them. So, in front of me, feel free to cry. It’s okay, Kalion.”

Kalion, who had seemed enormous and adult-like, now looked his age. His pure heart, unable to suppress the wet eyes and sadness, appeared as beautiful as Gia’s.

It was like seeing human emotions after such a long time. Realizing that he had completely forgotten and neglected these emotions. There was a time when she had moments like that too.

Gia firmly held Kalion’s hand and playfully pulled his other shoulder, making Kalion, who was taken aback by the close contact, resist for a moment before finally giving in and relaxing his body.

As he did, his large body fell into Gia’s embrace like a collapsed tower. Gia’s breath brushed against Kalion’s neck as he awkwardly tried to get up. In the embarrassment, Gia’s breath grazed Kalion’s neck. In that brief moment, a comforting warmth was felt on Kalion’s back. A small hand, as if reassuring him, swept down Kalion’s back.

In an instant, Gia’s comfort turned the once-adult Kalion into a child again.

Kalion had always been unusually calm and quiet since he was young, and he thought that was just his inherent nature. He preferred being treated like an adult rather than like a child. That’s what he thought. However, the warmth he felt now wasn’t as bad as he had thought.

The expectations placed on the son of the Duke of Bowers had grown day by day. That applied not only to him but also to his older brother, sister, and even his mother. If you were a person of Bowers, there were certain things you had to accept.

Having learned responsibility under his stern father, Kalion believed he shouldn’t show weakness. 

What if those who followed him, looking only at his back, became uneasy? He felt he had to stand tall even if the pressure weighed down on him. 

To Gia, it seemed like Kalion didn’t have to be like that.

“Originally, kids cry and do things like that.”

The word referring to children caught Kalion by surprise.

‘Me, a kid?’

To him, it seemed like she was saying that he looked like a child. Kalion slowly raised his lowered head.

“Ugh.”

Treating him like a child, Gia pouted her lips and looked at Kalion with pitiful eyes, patting his back.

“I’m not a child, am I?”

“A child at twenty-one.”

As if a child had seen an adult throwing a tantrum, Gia’s eyes twinkled with laughter. Her affectionate hand wiped away the remaining tears in Kalion’s still-damp eyes.

“Here, when you turn eighteen, you’re an adult.”

“What does age have to do with it? You become an adult when you become one.”

Gia lightly tapped Kalion’s head without causing pain and then patted his chest.

“Well, from today, you’ve become an adult. Does that make you an adult now? People naturally learn and grow until they die.”

Pat pat.

Without stopping the comforting gesture, Gia pretended not to notice the remaining tear stains on Kalion’s cheeks and wiped them away.

“Adults. Do they have a rule not to cry? Even adults cry when they’re sad and make mistakes. That’s how they learn.”

Tapping away, Gia, still full of mistakes herself, smiled at Kalion, who seemed vulnerable today.

“How about it? Do I seem like a sister now?”

“Oh… Yes. Well…”

Gia added a touch of humor, saying that she looked somewhat cool. Looking at Gia, Kalion, as if smiling or saying something, pressed his lips together.

Although he felt embarrassed showing his crying side to Gia, he felt remarkably relieved to lean on someone and express his feelings after such a long time.

As Gia suggested, he couldn’t cry his heart out, but this feeling wasn’t unpleasant. Knowing that Gia had made an effort to cheer him up, Kalion expressed gratitude with a slightly awkward smile.

The necklace of Rockt in his hand felt much lighter than it did a while ago.

“Thank you.”

“Sure. Be thankful.”

Gia threw a light joke at Kalion with a smile, even if it was just to make him laugh. Gia surveyed the vast cave. The atmosphere felt relaxed as people scattered around, engaging in casual conversations with each other.

“There were many sacrifices, but we still managed, right?”

Is this sacrifice inevitable? Unable to answer the question she posed to herself, Gia turned to Kalion for his opinion.

“Yes. We did our best, so now, if we recover the dragon’s corpse and show it to the Emperor, we can mobilize all forces to capture Morrison.”

In an instant, Kalion returned to being the commander of the enemy’s knights.

“In that case, capturing Morrison is only a matter of time. Even if he’s powerful, he can’t face a multitude of people all at once.”

Gia agreed with Kalion’s words. No matter how resilient Morrison was, cutting him down before he fully recovered was the only solution. If once wasn’t enough, they would do it until he met his end.

“Moreover, Morrison can no longer infect people.”

“That’s right. It seemed that way.”

What could have gone wrong with turning people into zombies? 

Gia pondered while organizing her thoughts, recalling the state of the last corpse she had seen.