The silence of the clearing was so heavy that it felt like it could be heard falling onto the leaves. The bluish light of the Black Forest barely brushed their faces as an unfamiliar tension began to settle between them.
Fariella, with half-empty eyes filled with trembling worry, looked at Zarkrion as if she were on the verge of collapsing.
Zarkrion, who was still holding the last empty cauldron from the ice cream they had eaten, frowned and looked at her with noticeable confusion.
"Oy, Fariella…" he said softly. "Why are you telling me that all of a sudden? You're worrying me."
Fariella took a deep breath, her chest rising with difficulty. Her hands were clenched tightly on her legs, as if something invisible were squeezing her from the inside.
"Mr. Zarkrion…" her lips trembled. "Maybe this isn't the moment… nor the place to talk about this… but… I can't stay silent anymore."
The concern of the chef mage increased. He wasn't exactly an expert in other people's emotions, but even he could tell that this wasn't a common issue or a simple request. Something in the girl's expression, in how she trembled, in the way she avoided his gaze, sent a small chill through him.
"Oy, oy… Fariella," he said, raising both hands, trying to stay calm. "Calm down for a moment, okay? I'm not going to leave you alone, but I need you to speak clearly. I can't help you if I don't understand what you're saying."
She closed her eyes for an instant… and when she opened them, her pupils no longer reflected the restless shine from before, but a forced calm. She slowly nodded.
Both of them walked toward a fallen log covered in moss. They sat down. Zarkrion leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. Fariella clasped her hands and sighed as if preparing to confess something that had been tearing her soul apart for a long time.
"Go on," Zarkrion said patiently. "We're not crazy or anything like that here. If you say it's something of life or death, I need you to explain it to me from the beginning."
Fariella swallowed. Her voice came out broken but firm.
"I'm going to be honest with you, Mr. Zarkrion… I lied to you during these two days about our encounter."
Zarkrion blinked.
"Lied?" he thought. "What does she mean? Well… all women lie… but Fariella!? She's far too innocent for that… or is she?"
"Explain that, please," he said, unable to hide his confusion.
Fariella lowered her gaze.
"You see… I actually wasn't training, like you think."
Zarkrion narrowed his eyes.
"Then… what were you doing there?"
Fariella pressed her lips together for a moment before continuing.
"I was searching for the whereabouts of Dullahan… the most feared monster in the entire Black Forest."
Zarkrion lifted himself slightly from the log, as if something had stung him.
"What!?" he almost shouted. "Why the hell would you want to look for Dullahan!? Were you planning to face him!?"
Fariella shook her head, but her eyes became moist.
"I know what you're thinking… and yes, it sounds stupid. But I didn't do it to fight him. I did it for my people, Mr. Zarkrion. Everyone there… is dying."
Zarkrion stopped breathing for a second.
"Dying…?"
Fariella continued:
"An unknown disease. Something we had never seen before. It started when a small child came back from playing near the edges of the Daytime Forest. He only seemed tired… but then blisters appeared, black spots on his skin… he began to lose strength. No one understood anything."
Zarkrion listened without interrupting. He didn't even blink.
"After a short time… more people got sick," she continued. "My father… the village chief… also fell ill. Many inhabitants died. And no one… no one has found a cure."
Her voice turned into a painful whisper.
"Rank A adventurers came to help. Seekers. Healers. Even high-tier healing mages. But they all said the same thing… 'There is no source of the poison,' 'There is no known remedy.'"
"Even our funds began to run out from hiring so many high-rank adventurers."
Zarkrion felt a stab in his stomach. Not because of the story… but because of the way she was telling it. As if she were crumbling from the inside.
"However…" Fariella lifted her gaze with desperation. "I heard a rumor. An ancient story. They say that in Dullahan's garden grows a magical flower… capable of curing any disease, even death itself if there is still life in the body…"
The girl's voice broke.
"The Sweet Eternal Flower… that's what they call it."
Zarkrion clenched his teeth.
"So…" he said internally. "That explains why I found her inside the stomach of that black serpent. It was her first time in the forest. What kind of madness was she attempting, wanting to fight Dullahan…?"
Fariella suddenly dropped to her knees in front of him, placing both hands on the ground, as if begging at the edge of an abyss.
"That's why I beg you, Mr. Zarkrion…" her voice trembled. "I know you're strong… if you were able to defeat that serpent and save me, you can also help me reach Dullahan… to get the flower… or even defeat him… whatever it takes… My people will die if we don't do something!"
Zarkrion felt his soul flip upside down.
"Defeat Dullahan, me!?" he shouted. "Have you lost your mind!? You want me to defeat the final boss of the Black Forest!? That monster is a damn calamity with legs!!"
He started sweating cold.
"She thinks that because I killed a serpent that doesn't even compare to a level 55 land crab… she thinks I'm powerful! I'm screwed!"
He swallowed.
"Fariella…" he tried to say calmly. "I can't help you with that… I'm sorry. I really wish I could… but I can't. I… in front of a monster like Dullahan… I'm an ant. He would kill me in the blink of an eye."
But Fariella grabbed his pants, clinging desperately.
"Mr. Zarkrion, I beg you! At least help me steal the flower! It doesn't matter if we don't fight! I need to save my people! I… I am their only hope… and you are mine… I beg you…!"
"Does she think I'm the protagonist or something? That couldn't be further from reality," Zarkrion thought, trembling. "I'm just an anomaly that reincarnated into the body of a villain who wants to live, not go around fighting monsters like some damn maniac."
"That's something Grey Greendarson would do," Zarkrion said in his mind.
Zarkrion felt a strange pain inside himself, a whirlwind of guilt and memories. His mind returned to a past he preferred to forget.
His best friend…
His university classmate in the gastronomy program…
The one who admired him…
The one who desperately needed his help.
He only asked him for a recipe. Just one. One chance not to repeat the year.
And Park Suho… blinded by his ego, by his pride, by the fame that was beginning to go to his head… left him alone.
That friend never came back.
He never forgave him.
And Park Suho never forgave himself.
Zarkrion clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles hurt.
"No…" he thought. "I won't make the same mistake again. Not again."
He took a deep breath. Closed his eyes. And opened his mouth.
"It's no problem, Fariella…" he finally said. "I'll help you."
Fariella froze. Then her eyes filled with tears, but this time they were tears of relief.
"R-really…? Mr. Zarkrion… thank you… truly, thank you…"
That night they rested in the Sweet Home Home dwelling. Both in separate rooms. Both with heavy thoughts circling their minds.
When dawn illuminated the window, Zarkrion was sitting on his bed, looking at his hand.
"I'm a chef mage…" he murmured. "I can't defeat Dullahan. But… maybe I can cure her people with my unique cook skill. The food I prepare… can completely restore health status… as long as the individual consumes it."
He looked at his open palm.
"That… could neutralize the poison, right?"
But he couldn't be sure without seeing the state of the village. He would have to go personally.
He prepared his backpack in silence, filling it with ingredients, cooking tools, utensils, and his reliable frying pan.
Fariella was waiting for him outside, observing the house with a worried expression.
"Mr. Zarkrion… are you sure the house will be fine on its own? You've never left the Black Forest… and we don't know when we'll return."
"Anything could happen."
Zarkrion shrugged.
"Don't worry. The mana barrier will prevent any monster from entering."
"I know that already," she said. "But… what about humans? Adventurers. Hunters. They're not monsters."
Zarkrion crossed his arms.
"They won't be able to find this house. It's in the center of the Black Forest. No one goes that deep."
Fariella insisted:
"But… what if they do?"
Zarkrion sighed so deeply that even the birds stopped singing.
"Fariella, please… silence."
She closed her mouth.
He breathed.
And together they began walking for a long while that morning toward the exit of the Black Forest.
Toward the outside world.
Toward the dying village located in the Daytime Forest.