Chapter 84: A Husband's Resolve
Soon, very soon in fact, even before Kael could piece together what had just happened, he realized that his body was suspended somewhere between ground and sky, and in that moment it became clear to him that he was no longer standing nor even floating but rather falling, plunging helplessly downward from the heavens themselves. To call it floating would have been too generous, far too merciful, because there was nothing calm or gentle in the way the air screamed past him as the pull of the earth seized him without restraint.
"Fuck... just my luck. Out of every single place in this entire forest, I had to come back like this, falling from the sky. Great... too great even. But how the hell am I falling from the sky when I should be falling deep into the river?"
As the pull of gravity deepened its hold, his speed grew heavier with every passing breath, and yet despite the terror etched across his face, there was a strange calm that settled over him, though in truth it was the kind of calm that hides behind trembling eyes and a voice that nearly breaks into a cry. His eyes widened with a helpless shine, almost childlike, as though pleading silently that someone, anyone, might reach out and save him before the earth below claimed him.
How could a person possibly survive something like this? How could anyone live through such a fall when all his luck seemed twisted against him?
"Dammit... dammit. I swear, I am not coming to this cursed forest ever again. I don't need to earn money, I don't need anything, who cares about her anyway... hmph?"
The words spilled out bitterly, but even as he said them he felt the pull of another truth within him, the undeniable desperation to earn, to provide, to find a way to support his family no matter the cost.
"Stop... you stupid hypocritical thought. I don't care about her anymore. I don't. Do you hear me, my stupid brain?"
Yet deep within, he knew he cared, he cared more than anything, but admitting it was something he could not bear at this moment, not when the ground was drawing near and every thought screamed for survival.
He forced himself to adjust his posture midair, twisting his body into a dive with his head tilted downward as though some instinct guided him, though in truth there was no plan at all. Still, it did not feel as terrible as it should have; in some strange way the reckless plunge carried a fleeting sense of freedom, almost as if the fall itself was mocking him with the thrill of it.
From above, the endless forest spread out like a living sea, both terrifying and breathtaking at the same time. The horizon stretched without end, the greenery rolling on in every direction, broken only where jagged mountains rose like dark monuments against the golden sky.
From this view he was certain he was far, far away from the ground, for he could even see the town of Velhart. The forest covered the town's northeastern side, and across to the west the rocky mountains climbed toward the sky. From above, Velhart appeared as nothing more than a small town caught between mountains and forest, which was indeed the truth, though he had never imagined he would behold it in such a way.
Yet Kael had no time to care for the beauty or the horror, because soon, all too soon, the distance shrank and he realized with sudden clarity that he was hurtling directly toward the trees.
In that instant, his heart stopped completely. If he struck the trees at this speed, there would be no chance of survival. Branches would break his body before the ground ever had the chance.
What else could he possibly do in such a state? What else was left except to die? Unless—
Unless he had a single wish. And of course, the clearest wish that came to him now was the very thing he lacked: wind magic. With even a small gust, he might redirect his fall, he might soften the impact, he might live.
"Sadly, I don't have the wind element. What a pity. I truly envy those who do now."
The thought was bitter, yet before he could linger on it, his descent brought him past the treetops, and by some miracle he narrowly missed the branches by the breath of a hair. His body continued to plummet, straight into the open patch of grass below. Yet even grass would not spare him at such speed.
Time seemed to slow, the air brushing against his face, tousling his hair and tugging at his shirt as though mocking him with its gentle touch when death was only meters away.
"I need to do something now. But what? What can I do? There is no way I am dying so easily. I won't die, not until I fulfill my secret goal. The very goal of one day seeing Seraphina's curves. I will see it through."
A grin tugged faintly at his lips even in the face of death, for indeed, he had a goal, shameless and perverse though it might be. His wife, who always hid herself from his eyes, her beauty sealed away from him, how could any husband accept such a fate?
"Tell me, what kind of husband doesn't want to see his wife's curves, huh? If a man truly doesn't, then he lacks the spirit of manhood itself, and he should jump into a river and die. Besides, my wife is very beautiful, and before I die, I will see her as she truly is. Call me a pervert, call me whatever you want, but she is my wife and I will see it through."
In that moment, as his determination solidified in the most absurd yet resolute way, Kael's hand shot forward in a sudden movement, the very same way it had in the midst of his battle with the monster before.
And this time, unlike before, he realized what was happening, that his body was not reaching out aimlessly but instinctively seeking to cast a magic it had known, a magic etched into muscle and memory even when his mind had forgotten.
How could he have overlooked it?Experience was always the greatest teacher, and though his memories had been stripped from him, his hand still remembered what it had once wielded.
"So... what kind of magic should I try? Magic is the embodiment of imagination, after all. If I can just focus enough, perhaps I can call it forth. What matters most is the element, and if my body remembers, then it will answer me."
And in that desperate state, the first thought that came was the very element he had longed for only moments ago. The wind. Though he had no knowledge of its intricacies, though he had never studied it, he tried to feel it, to reach into the invisible currents swirling around him.
He closed his eyes for but a breath, and at first nothing stirred, but soon, almost too soon, the air shifted at his command, bending to him as if he had always known how to grasp it. His hand, already extended, now drew forth a gust, small but strong enough, a current that burst outward just as his body struck near the ground.
The blast caught him, lifted him with a sharp jolt, throwing his body upward once again, spinning him through the air before gravity reclaimed him and hurled him down into the grass.
His back struck first, the impact sending a searing wave of pain through him, and then a sharper sting tore through his half-healed arm, reminding him of the injury he had almost forgotten. The pain was harsh, unforgiving, yet as he lay there with one arm across his forehead and the other pressed weakly against his chest, staring up at the golden sky through the blur of tears and exhaustion, there was a faint smile that touched his lips.
"I'm alive. I did it... I managed to survive. Not only that, but I also learned another element. Wind magic, of all things, and it will certainly be useful in the future. I truly did not know I had wind element too. Well... whatever happens now, I will deal with it when the time comes."
Though Kael spoke with such certainty, deep down he knew he had always believed he did not possess any kind of wind element, and yet the truth had proven otherwise. The truth was that he had simply forgotten, as he had forgotten so many other things, and that thought alone reminded him of something far more pressing.
He had to think back, back to the moment when he had fallen into the Silent River. He remembered the way he had lost his breath, the way he had drifted into that strange sleep, and then how he had awoken in a place he could not recognize at all.
"Was that a dream? No... no, it cannot have been a dream. It felt too real to be a dream. I could feel everything, every sensation, and even that body I was in. It was real."
Indeed, it had been far too real. The weight of his limbs, the sound of the strange voice, the touch of that woman's presence, none of it had the fading quality of dreams. Then if it was not a dream, what was it? Some hidden world? Or could it somehow be connected to a past he did not remember, or perhaps even to a future that had yet to come? A past, a present, a future... it was impossible to say.
And then there was that black-haired man. Who was he? What connection did he have to him? Why had he gained control of his body? Why did his existence alone stir such unease within him? None of it made sense, and the more Kael thought about it, the more tangled his mind became. And still, as if to drive the confusion deeper, he remembered the words of the blue-haired woman. She had spoken of demons
"Do demons really exist? If they truly do, then does that mean the old man wasn't lying to me that day? Does that mean all those tales and the so-called story of the hero was real? How ironic is that?"
He almost laughed, though it was bitter. For he had never believed in such tales, not once. To him, they had always been nothing but fanciful lies, useless stories meant to give children hope. In truth, he had never even believed in the gods themselves, so why would he ever lend faith to some old myths carved in a tomb? Yet the word demon now lingered within him like an echo that refused to fade.
"I suppose I should force myself to read that ridiculous tale of the hero. There's no other way to learn anything if I do not. What was the name of that tomb again... ugh... oh, I remember now. The Hero's Bullshit? No, no, that isn't it... something with Legacy in it."
He groaned softly, dragging a hand down his face. "Oh great. Now I have to read both, the diary that strange man spoke of and that tomb. Ugh... I hate reading books. But if I need answers, then I will have to endure it no matter how much I despise it."
With that thought, Kael pushed himself up carefully, groaning at the ache that ran through his body. He took a moment to glance around, his gaze sweeping over the scene until realization struck him sharply.
This place, the grass beneath his feet, the stones around him, it was the Silent River, or at least where it had once been. Yet now the river was gone. The flowing water that had once mirrored the sky had vanished without a trace, and even the stone riverbank seemed to have disappeared as if it had never existed.
"Ugh… whatever. I'm already confused enough. I have no interest in the Silent River anymore. Even though it's clear the river somehow sent me to the sky... who would bother trying to find it again? Who knows where it is now?"
He muttered under his breath, stretching his arm above his head out of habit, though pain quickly reminded him of the truth, his other arm was still half-broken, throbbing with every small movement. With a crooked smile, he dropped it back to his chest and decided it was best not to force it.
He began walking forward, his steps slow but steady, until he brushed aside a curtain of tall grass, and in that moment he froze, stunned in mid-motion, his body leaning slightly as though caught off balance.
Before him stretched a sight so breathtaking that it silenced him completely. A single great tree stood not too far away, its branches extending outward like living arms, stretching high above and low below, reaching left and right until it seemed to embrace the sky itself.
But it was not the tree alone that held him in place; it was the sunset burning just beyond it. The sun had descended low, wide, and golden-red behind the mountains, casting long shadows across the forest and drenching the land in a deep, brown glow. The tall grass before him swayed gently in the breeze, moving as though the very earth itself were breathing.
The beauty of it struck him with such force that he could do nothing but stand and watch, and then realization came crashing down upon him like a thunderclap.
"Evening... it's evening already. Crap. Crap. Crap. I'm dead. That psycho girl must be waiting for me in front of her office. She'll kill me for sure. How could I have forgotten something so important?"
His thoughts spun frantically as he shoved his healthy hand into his pocket to check for the monster core. Relief washed over him as his fingers closed around it. It was still there. Which meant he could still sell it at the guild and earn far more money than he had dared to hope. A grin tugged at his lips despite everything.
And that was not all. He had not even used his true power today, which meant he could choose to reveal it later if he wished, or simply lie and claim he had stumbled upon the beast's corpse. Either way, he had options, and for Kael, options were everything.
"We'll see later," he muttered with satisfaction.
With that, after taking the herbs he had dropped earlier, he stepped forward, heading toward Velhart, his path lit by the golden-brown rays of the fading sun.
Yet behind him, half-hidden among the grass, something faintly glowed in the sunset's light, unnoticed by him as he walked away.
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After a while which to Kael felt like walking through years rather than mere minutes, he finally came into the familiar stone path, his figure a little worn down with his half-torn shirt and black trousers that looked as though they had been shredded by unseen hands, pale as if blood should have been there but was not, giving him an odd appearance of being injured and yet untouched.
On both sides of the path stood rows of two-storied wooden houses, their walls carefully built and decorated, and every now and then there were shops spilling their light and voices into the street, but Kael as always gave them no attention, his steps steady and careless as if the liveliness of the town had nothing to do with him.
Eventually his pace slowed until he stood still, for directly ahead rose the familiar Guild building, the place he had been intending to reach. He placed one step forward, then another, and pushed open the door.
At once the familiar clamor of adventurers reached him, laughter and loud boasting and the clinking of mugs as though nothing in the world could disturb their cheer. Kael however did not even glance at them, his eyes already fixed on the wooden counter where Celeste stood, as diligent as when he had last seen her, carefully recording and speaking with other adventurers with that sharp, business-like attitude that always clung to her.
"Celeste…" Kael whispered her name, his voice low and calm as he approached, and as her head turned, a small smirk curved her lips.
"Well, well… Kael. What took you so many hours? You went out for herbs, not diving into a dungeon. Did you—" her words broke off suddenly, her voice catching in her throat as her eyes fully took him in. The smirk faltered, replaced by something far more serious.
Kael tilted his head ever so slightly, an almost playful confusion in his cool expression, yet before he could speak Celeste leaned forward across the counter, her eyes narrowing in alarm.
"My god… what happened to you? You look like someone dragged you through the edge of hell. Did you get hurt? Don't tell me you're bleeding somewhere I can't see." She reached as though to steady him, but pulled her hand back halfway, her hesitation visible before she spoke again with more urgency. "No, this isn't right. We need to call for a healer, immediately. Come with me, Kael."
Her voice had softened against her will, and though her usual sternness remained, the concern underneath was undeniable.
Kael however only looked at her with that same calm, and after a moment a faint friendly smile appeared on his lips. "Hey, don't get so worked up. I don't need healing, really. I'm fine."
Celeste stared at him for a long moment, her eyes searching his face as if to find cracks in the words he spoke. "Are you… truly fine?"
Kael nodded with the same calm assurance, though he said nothing more, and at last Celeste released a soft breath that she had not realized she had been holding. She busied her hands immediately, perhaps to cover that lapse, and Kael placed the bundle of herbs onto the counter.
She quickly checked them, counting and confirming the right amount, her words ready to come as always, but Kael stopped her motion with a small gesture, slipping his hand into his pocket and placing something else onto the wood between them.
The faint glow of a monster's core.
Her eyes widened instantly, disbelief painted clearly on her face. She stared at him, then at the core, and then back at him, as though her mind could not bridge the connection. "Kael… where did you get this? No, don't tell me you…" she leaned closer, lowering her voice as if she feared others might overhear, "you didn't actually fight an A-Rank monster, did you?"
Kael's lips curled into a quiet chuckle. "Of course not. I have no intention of throwing my life away. The monster was already at the brink of death. I only took the chance and claimed the core before it slipped into nothing. That's all."
Celeste was silent for a long while, her eyes on him, her expression unreadable, until finally she let out a short sigh and smiled faintly. "I should have guessed as much. There's no way you'd be reckless enough to fight something of that scale alone. But you know, even if you didn't fight it head-on… to stumble across something like this, it's not just chance. You're either blessed with fortune or cursed to attract the strangest of things."
The word lingered... fortune.
Luck?
Kael's gaze lowered for a second, his cool eyes reflecting a thought he did not speak. Luck? Was this really luck? He had worked hard, survived far too much to call it luck. If anything, his luck had always felt twisted.
Yet he only nodded faintly.
Celeste, perhaps noticing the way his silence stretched, quickly placed the pouch of gold into his hand, and the moment Kael felt its weight his eyes glimmered faintly, satisfaction sparking across his usually calm face.
Mixing the quest reward with the value of the core, he counted five hundred seventy-five gold coins, an amount that for once made him feel genuinely accomplished.
"Now this… this is how one should earn money," he murmured with the faintest smirk, "after all, money is everything."
Celeste smiled softly at his words, a smile that was almost too gentle for her, as though she wanted to say something more but held it back. She only nodded instead, watching him longer than necessary.
Kael noticed. The softness was unusual, and for a brief second he wondered since when she had begun to look at him that way. But he shook his head lightly, brushing it off.
"Well, who cares."
With that thought, he turned and left the guild. His next stop was not his mansion but rather the thought of whether the Lieutenant was still waiting for him.
Yet the sky outside had already shifted into the deep hues of dusk, the sun long gone, leaving only the red-golden trail across the horizon, so perhaps she had already gone home.
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(Chapter Ended)