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Chapter: 59

The prince from the capital was just an outsider to the natives of the Northern Region. An outsider, a foreigner. There were other words to describe it, but the meaning remained the same.

As an outsider, I wasn\'t someone the people of Wolhan Fortress felt obligated to protect. It seemed the sense of camaraderie in the face of a common enemy was just my own wishful thinking.

Even so, to abandon me and flee...

Or did they believe I was certain to die if they left me here? That I had no chance of survival?

Even now, with my eyes closed, I can still hear the footsteps of the enemies who relentlessly pursued me day and night, and the screams of those they killed to find me. I was the one who survived that hellish time. They underestimated me, severely. I\'m not someone who would die in a place like this.

"Abandoned, huh."

I let out a hollow laugh. The empty sound dissipated into the blood-soaked air.

Chaos stared at me intently.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Was he afraid of the chaos above? Chaos\'s expression wasn\'t good. He seemed unexpectedly timid. If not fear, I couldn\'t fathom why he was looking at me with such an expression. He was like a frightened child.

Come to think of it, there had probably been few large-scale battles in Wolhan Fortress during Chaos\'s lifetime. Wasn\'t he one of the top fighters in Wolhan Fortress?

Still, he must have less real-world experience than me.

... Suddenly, my trust in him plummeted. His fearful face seemed to be evidence of his lack of experience.

This is bad. I\'ll be lucky if Deokbong even survives.

"I asked why you\'re looking at me like that. Answer me."

But Chaos remained silent. I looked away from him and sighed. It was a frustrating and absurd situation.

We could try to climb up. If I supported Deokbong, and Deokbong supported Chaos, we might be able to get Chaos up there.

With the rope, if we could just get Chaos out, we might all be able to escape the cave safely. But the situation wasn\'t favorable. I could no longer hear any human sounds, only the ceaseless roars of the magical beasts.

The problem wasn\'t escaping the cave itself, but the magical beasts outside. Whether the group had been killed by the magical beasts or had escaped the cave, one thing was clear: there were only magical beasts left up there, not people.

If I were alone, I might be able to get out alive somehow. Well, I couldn\'t guarantee it.

I might die, or if I was lucky, I might live.

That\'s life.

Especially my life.

When did I ever charge in with the certainty that I wouldn\'t die?

But the problem was that I wasn\'t alone.

I\'ve never thought of myself as good at protecting others, so what should I do?

"Y-Your Highness. W-What should we do now...?" Deokbong asked.

He seemed to be hoping I would save him. But I couldn\'t be Deokbong\'s savior.

How frustrating.

"Let\'s wait for now."

"D-Did you say wait?" Deokbong asked, glancing at the magical beast eggs. He had struggled to even speak to me before, but now it seemed I wasn\'t so intimidating anymore. Or maybe he was so scared that he had lost his mind.

"If you\'re going to wait..."

Deokbong looked up at the ceiling, or rather, the hole in the ceiling.

I let out a sarcastic laugh and asked, "Are you thinking you regret coming down here?"

Deokbong shook his head vigorously.

"N-No, Your Highness."

But his expression said otherwise.

"I understand how you feel, and I feel similarly, but all we can do right now is wait."

At my words, Chaos’s face grew even more gloomy.

Now I really get it. This guy has never experienced a situation where he might die.

And yet he had the audacity to mock me. How infuriating.

"We can\'t leave the cave right now. Do you want to become magical beast food? If so, I can send you up there."

Deokbong shook his head violently.

"N-No, Your Highness! Please take back your words!"

"Alright, I understand. Keep your voice down. They probably have ears too."

We waited for a long time. During that time, Chaos’s expression grew increasingly worse. The word \'bad\' didn\'t even begin to describe it.

The torch was also gradually burning down. Was it my impatience that made the torch seem to burn faster? Once this fire went out, our vision would be completely dark. Then we wouldn\'t be able to do anything.

"This is bad..."

"Yes, yes?"

"The fire will go out soon. Not being able to see is a big problem."

As I sighed, Chaos, who had been sitting in the corner, approached.

"The fire..."

Chaos started to speak, then looked down at the ground, seemingly dejected. He was avoiding eye contact with me.

Suddenly, I remembered something I had heard earlier. On our way to Wolhan Fortress, we had idle chatter with the group, and some of it might actually be useful now. One such piece of information was the existence of special abilities within the Wolhan Fortress\'s ruling bloodline.

They were the indigenous power in charge of such a large fortress. It would be incredibly difficult to become the head of such a large force without any special abilities.

But special abilities weren\'t common. Moreover, their existence was a closely guarded secret. Unlike the royal family, where they were used for propaganda, the existence of someone with special abilities was a significant asset to any power. A powerful asset that could potentially turn the tide in certain situations. A golden opportunity.

...Of course, that was precisely what helped bring about the downfall of the Ye royal family later on.

Some noble families revealed their hidden ability users and claimed the throne for themselves.

Anyway, the Wolhan Lord or his direct descendants would likely have special abilities. There was a high probability that the Wolhan Lord himself possessed one.

I had guessed there was a reason he hadn\'t come himself, but would the situation be better if I had insisted on bringing the Wolhan Lord here? Even if he was skilled with a sword, he was still just a human. He wouldn\'t stand a chance against a horde of magical beasts.

I let loose a sigh.

How could I have anticipated something like this? If I had known beforehand, this wouldn\'t have happened in the first place.

Or should I go back to Wolhan Fortress alone and gather people to return?

But, could I succeed if I did that? I asked myself, but the answer was difficult.

If I died too, wouldn\'t these two be in an even worse predicament?

As I waited for Chaos to speak, lost in thought, I snapped out of it and nudged Chaos’s foot. He wasn\'t looking at me anyway.

Chaos flinched and raised his head.

After hesitating for a moment, he looked at the torch, which was more than halfway burnt, and said with determination, "Your Highness."

"What is it?"

"Do you know about the Son family\'s special ability?"

The special ability of the Son family of Wolhan Fortress.

It was fire.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at Chaos.

Perhaps feeling impatient by my lack of response, Chaos continued.

"You knew, didn\'t you?"

Once again, I remained silent.

Chaos mumbled to himself.

"Well, you wouldn\'t have sent for me out of the blue if you didn\'t..."

Had there been some sort of secret agreement between him and the Wolhan Lord?

"I told him I didn\'t want to go..."

Chaos’s voice started to quiver. I was taken aback.

It must have taken a lot of courage for him to open up.

But I couldn\'t help the bitterness that welled up, thinking that if he had told me sooner, things might be different. If I had known about his ability, we could have dealt with the magical beasts earlier.

Perhaps my expression betrayed my thoughts, because Chaos added, sniffling.

"It\'s not a great ability."

A small flame flickered at Chaos’s fingertips.

With reddened eyes, Chaos said awkwardly, "It consumes a lot of energy, so it won\'t be of much help."

"You mean it\'s inefficient?"

If that\'s the case, it might not be very useful in combat.

Just moments ago, I had thought the Son family\'s special ability could be a threat to the royal family, but seeing it with my own eyes, it didn\'t seem very impressive. Is that why they were overtaken by the Ye royal family...? Or did their bloodline become diluted, like the Ye royal family\'s ability, leading to this weakened state?

I wonder if the Wolhan Lord is different.

It seemed I needed to add finding out if the Wolhan Lord had an ability that could threaten the royal family to my to-do list.

That is, if I manage to get out of here alive.

The torch Deokbong was holding looked like it was about to give out. Any longer, and his hand would catch fire.

"In that case, Deokbong, you can put it down now."

Deokbong placed the torch on the pile of broken eggs. The amniotic fluid from the eggs had soaked the area, so the fire went out instead of spreading.

"Well, that takes care of the light... Thankfully."

I shifted my gaze, and Chaos avoided my eyes. He seemed embarrassed by the tiny flame.

It was certainly a weak flame, but I could say with certainty that it was better than nothing.

"What should we do now?" I asked, but neither of them had a proper answer.

"I don\'t know."

"P-Please decide, Your Highness. I\'ll follow your orders..."

I let out a deep sigh.

Deokbong\'s shoulders trembled.

These passive people.

"Why should I decide? Am I the only one with a mouth? Am I the only one with a brain? You have mouths and brains too, so think and speak. Don\'t you know two heads are better than one?"

Chaos glared and retorted.

"But too many cooks spoil the food..."

"Quiet."

I silenced Chaos with a weak rebuke.

"There seems to be a path further in."

Deokbong replied.

"Yes, there is."

"Then how about we go that way? We can\'t go up right now anyway."

Chaos looked displeased. Since he was the one with the fire, his face was the most visible.

"Why, don\'t you like it?"

"I don\'t think it\'s a good idea."

"Are you going to fight them? If so, I\'ll help Deokbong lift you up, and you can fight the magical beasts alone. When there are no more living magical beasts, pull me up too."

There was no response, so I added, "If you can do that, I\'d be happy."

Chaos couldn\'t respond to my words.

"...As you wish."

It seemed he had no confidence in fighting those bird-like magical beasts.

I started walking towards the path deeper into the cave.