My Strange Savior - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

[Morrison and Dragon]

Kalion looked at Gia, who stood firm and swallowed hard. In a short moment, his dry lips pressed against his teeth, and blood oozed out.

He couldn’t help but feel like a herbivore, unable to even flick a finger like a fierce predator. The Dragon was such a being, invoking fear in everything. 

Unlike Kalion, who was captivated by the fear of the wounded, Gia’s actions were sharp.

He had thought of her as a strange, crazy woman. Unlike him, who was trapped in fear without thinking, he clenched his mouth at her swift actions to quickly save people.

“Hey, I said hurry. There’s no time!”

Gia, reading Kalion’s distraction, hesitated to strike him on the back of the head, thinking it might not be appropriate to hit an innocent head when treating a patient.

“I will go.”

Whether he had sensed Gia’s rising anger or not, Kalion quickly regained his composure and began to move. Since he had already packed everything earlier, they could depart immediately.

“You probably know the way well. Lead the way.”

In response to Gia’s words, Kalion nodded and began descending so quickly that it didn’t seem like he thought of him as an injured person.

The blood oozed from the still-not-completely-healed wound, but Kalion didn’t care. Without a single whimper, he ran ahead, his eyes fixed on the path.

“How long does it take to reach the nearest village?” 

Gia asked calmly, without a hint of wheezing, glancing at Kalion, who wiped the sweat trickling down his sharp jaw with the back of his hand.

“At this speed, it will take about an hour.”

“What?” 

Gia’s vision seemed to blur as she thought of Morrison flying on the Dragon.

“Let’s hurry. Can’t we go faster?”

Kalion, who was already pushing his speed to the maximum, stiffened his face and nodded. 

“I’ll go as fast as possible.”

Thinking of Morrison who had tamed the Dragon, Kalion put more strength into his legs. His muscles tensed as if they might burst at any moment.

They descended for what seemed like an eternity before they finally came to a flat plain.

“Hey, are you okay?” 

Gia looked down at Kalion, who was panting and clutching his abdomen and clicked her tongue.

It wasn’t something she had done, but thinking about how the events from her world could affect this place made her mouth taste bitter. 

She looked down at Kalion, who had taken a deep breath, hunched over in unnecessary guilt. 

“Are you… okay?”

Kalion, gritting his molars, wiped away the sweat that flowed with his concerns about the strange woman. Was he such an incompetent person?

Kalion, looking at Gia, who effortlessly climbed the mountain with a large bag, swallowed hard at the taste of blood in his mouth.

“We’re almost there from here.” 

Kalion’s words turned out to be true, as they reached a village in just thirty minutes. Gia’s initial sigh of relief was scattered inside her when she saw the village was different from what she had expected.

“Is that… the village?”

Crackle, crackle.

Gia looked at the razed village while stomping on embers that hadn’t yet gone out with her feet.

“Damn it.”

Her body stiffened, growing cold in the chilly wind. The village that had been perfectly fine before their punitive expedition now lay charred and black as if baked in fire.

“This can’t be real.”

Kalion, with legs trembling in disbelief, firmly planted his feet on the ground and entered. A pungent odor pricked their noses as they went inside.

“Help… please.”

Following the voice, Gia turned her head and saw a man lying under a fallen pillar. Seeing that the still-burning pillar had turned into black ashes, she moved her hand first.

Without showing any emotion, Gia effortlessly lifted the collapsed pillar with only her hand. A gruesome sight was revealed.

“Help… me.”

Gia’s eyes grew cold at the blood spreading around the man’s mouth. His lower body was so charred that his form was barely recognizable.

“Morrison….”

With anger filling her, Gia sharpened her gaze.

“You harm people here too, don’t you? You don’t care at all. You did it then, and you’re doing it now. What did these people do wrong?”

With trembling hands, Gia looked at the man who was groaning in agony as he slowly died.

Even though it was a horrifying scene that would make an average person vomit, Gia knelt without any reaction, only looking at his face.

Her face, where regret and guilt were intertwined, contorted horribly.

What crime did this man commit?

“Help… sudden…hah”

As he spoke as if his breath might be cut off at any moment, blood spurted from his mouth like a fountain.

“Don’t exert yourself.”

Kalion approached Gia and looked at his fading eyes.

“From the sky… a Dragon… person on top…”

Mumbling incoherently, Gia grabbed his charred hand.

“Please… save me.”

With those words, the man’s breath was extinguished. Perhaps that was less painful. Gia, who looked at him with eyes filled with injustice, carefully wiped her palm on her pants.

From the palm that had lifted the burnt pillar, pus stopped oozing, and new flesh soon grew. Although black ashes stained her pants, Gia wiped her palm clean without concern and gently touched the still-warm flesh of the man. It felt as heavy as a lump.

Wishing for him to be a bit more comfortable, as it seemed there was nothing else she could do, Gia silently prayed for his peace in that posture.

“Are there others?”

“Others…?”

Even when Kalion turned his eyes, all he saw was the desolate village. The fire spread throughout the withering village. Kalion’s crimson eyes sank.

“For now… let’s search.”

Because there might be others, Kalion nodded at Gia’s words and dragged his heavy legs. He quickly searched the area. They had to save anyone who could be saved. Despite its larger size than expected, the village felt deserted, with no signs of anyone who had survived.

Gia, still extinguishing the unlit fires with her foot, wiped her forehead. What could be the grudge here? Thinking of the devastated Morrison, anger welled up and curses spilled from her mouth.

Charred bodies scattered everywhere… corpses displayed as if in a show. She couldn’t contain her anger. 

Morrison, that damn bastard.

Unable to control her anger, Gia clenched her fist and struck the already crumbling wall, causing the collapsing house to crumble further.

Crash.

Gia looked at the crumbling house with a hopeless expression, making a crackling sound. Could she have saved it, even if she had come? She hadn’t even begun to think about how to stop Morrison, who had gained even greater abilities than expected.

Standing amidst the ruins of the village, she looked up at the scorching sun overhead.

What is she doing here right now? Overwhelming guilt washed over her, making her heart heavy. Guilt for not being able to save someone. A heavy feeling of regret, knowing but unable to stop it.

Gia picked up an innocent pebble and gathered her scattered emotions. Now wasn’t the time for such weak thoughts. Even if her body gave out… she had to somehow… stop it.

“Here!”

Upon hearing Kalion’s voice not far away, Gia hurriedly moved her steps. Had they found a survivor?

“Humph, humph.”

Approaching a young boy who was struggling to breathe due to inhaling too much smoke, Gia knelt.

“Wait.”

Unable to help him, Kalion called for Gia, hoping he wasn’t suffering from any external injuries. Gia searched her bag and took out a portable oxygen respirator. She held the mask to the boy’s face and turned on the oxygen. The boy’s breathing eased, his chest no longer shaking with coughing.

“Are you okay?”

Seeing the improved complexion and reduced coughing, Gia asked.

The boy nodded, and Gia, who had unconsciously gripped the oxygen tank tightly, loosened her grip.

Was he the age to start elementary school now? Seeing a child who had grown up playing in the mountains and fields relying on a breathing device, Gia couldn’t help but feel heartbroken.

The fearful eyes filled with uncertainty kept shifting between Gia and Kalion. First, they needed to reassure the child.

“I’m Gia. And this gentleman here is a knight. Do you know what a knight is? Huh? They catch bad people with these big swords like this.”

Gia exaggeratedly demonstrated the shape of a big sword, and the child slowly nodded. 

Perhaps comforted by the word “knight,” the child’s fearful eyes gradually welled up with tears and moisture.

Without words, the emotions of fear from that time seemed to be conveyed, so Gia gently wiped away the black soot marks on the child’s face.

“So, you’ll be okay. You can feel safe.”

Was that what the child wanted to hear? His face twisted suddenly, and he burst into tears.

“My, my mom… hmp.”

Gia slowly removed the oxygen respirator and held the child in her arms. To ensure the child wasn’t injured elsewhere and not to startle him, she gently examined him while cradling him and gestured to Kalion behind her.

“Yes?”

As Gia tried to hold the child, Kalion froze. Having never been close to or dealt with a young child, he looked bewildered, which earned him a pitying look from Gia.

Hold him.

Without speaking aloud to avoid startling the child, Gia mouthed the words and subtly supported Kalion by offering her hip.

“Yes… yes.”

With a stiff expression, Kalion awkwardly held the child, looking back at the place Gia had turned from.

The village, where the embers had not completely died down, was unpredictable as to when another fire might break out. As Gia looked around for safety, she noticed an open space not far from the village. She unfolded a compressed sleeping bag from her bag and placed the child on it.

“Do you hurt anywhere else?”

“No…”

Sitting quietly, the child still couldn’t fully comprehend the scene around the burning village.

Using water, Gia dampened a towel and slowly wiped the child’s body, starting with his face and then his exposed arms and legs. As she did so, the child turned his gaze toward her.

“Sister…”

“Yes?”

“Knights are strong, right?”

“Indeed.”

“So, can they find my mom and dad?”

“Yes. So, would you like to tell me more about it?”

Perhaps finding comfort in not having to force out painful memories, the child spoke slowly.

“A huge… scary dragon came down from the sky. People were screaming and running away because they were scared, and then it suddenly breathed fire.”

Gia, who had been comforting the teary-eyed child, gently wiped his face with the dampened towel.