Several days later…
Kaesis pushed open the wooden cabin door with his shoulder and stepped in, carrying two bundles of firewood on his back, tied together with rope like two heavy backpacks.
"Haah… haah… this gets harder every day…" he muttered, then walked toward the fireplace and dropped the firewood beside it.
His face looked pale, exhausted, devoid of any feeling.
He sat on the only chair in the room and surrendered to his usual silence. His eyes fixated for a moment on Kyolen's closed room, then slowly slid down to the bottom of the door…
From the right corner to the left, a faint line of dark red pigment—barely visible—stretched under the door.
Kyolen, after finishing setting traps in the forest, had returned to his room and locked himself in… He hadn't come out since. Not for food, not for water.
This sudden isolation had given Kaesis more freedom to wander around the town. Through scattered conversations in the market and minor interactions with children, he began to grasp the outline of this world more clearly.
Geographically, this land was harsh to a laughable extent.
No plains, no meadows. All vegetables and fruits were grown inside glasshouses, purely through human effort.
For centuries, people would venture out to find wild seeds, then return and plant them in rare patches of livable soil, building villages or small settlements around them.
Because of this, agricultural resources were scarce and poor.
As for the atmosphere… it was suffocating—full of sulfur, volcanic ash, and minerals that caused countless diseases.
One in five suffers from a tumor or a lung disease.
And yet, the average lifespan was high.
The harsh environment made people harder. Their bodies and immune systems were toughened. They adapted to this hell over centuries.
This world wasn't ordinary either.
Talks of sorcerers and supernatural powers circulated—though rare.
But the most brutal truth Kaesis had come to understand… was the slave trade.
Here, bodies were sold with ease, and souls were bought for mere coins.
Poor, exhausted families often chose to sell one of their children.
Kyolen… the mysterious man living at the forest's edge, sometimes sneaking into town like he feared being seen. His mood was erratic, his behavior strange.
Kaesis thought as he stared at the closed door:
What makes him raise me? Am I a long-term investment? No… that doesn't match his behavior. He takes good care of himself, eats well, trains regularly. His eyes… those are the eyes of an ambitious man. Greedy. He has a goal.
Though Kaesis hadn't even turned eight yet, his ability to read people was sharp.
Then why does Kyolen go to town and come back empty-handed? As if he's observing something, confirming something… And why did he insist on teaching me to read and write so quickly?
He had heard in the market that literate slaves fetched a higher price.
That caravans occasionally passed by, generously buying educated teenagers.
Kaesis had learned to read a year ago and was still slowly mastering writing…
If Kyolen wanted the highest profit, he'd wait until I was fully educated.
And when all the pieces fell into place...
The truth appeared.Clear. Cold.
---
Two years later
"…You're a sharp one, boy," Kyolen said, rising from his seat and heading to the kitchen."Don't think I didn't notice you sneaking into my room and looking at the book hidden beneath the floor."
Then, with a faint smile:"I didn't interfere. I let you. What could a child possibly learn from such a book? Even if he learned something, there's no way he could apply it."
He picked up a bottle and a piece of cloth from the shelf and continued:
"…But you… you didn't just learn or apply… No… you went beyond that and mixed the herbs together to create such a poison… hahaha, brilliant. Truly brilliant."
He returned and sat in his place again.
"…I mean, even I, who spent years reading that book, day after day, over and over…"Kyolen stared into Kaesis's eyes for a moment."…It took me time to figure it out. And by then, it was too late."
He said this calmly, with a faint trace of unspoken pride.
Then he leaned back in his chair, head tilted toward the ceiling.
Silence lasted for two full minutes, then Kyolen leaned forward and stood.
He opened the bottle, poured the liquid onto the cloth, and approached Kaesis quietly.
"Goodnight, boy…"He whispered with hollow eyes as he pressed the cloth to Kaesis's nose and mouth.
Kaesis stared sharply as he lost consciousness, as if trying to tear his guts out with his gaze.
After confirming Kaesis had passed out, Kyolen went outside and locked the door tightly. Clearly, he was heading to town.
Inside the cabin, from under Kyolen's room door, something slick began to emerge, moving slowly left and right… until a black worm appeared, inching toward Kaesis.
It climbed him slowly, steadily, until it reached his nose and began burrowing into the nasal cavity.It twisted and pushed with all its strength, oozing black, bloody fluids, digging deeper and deeper with every movement. The fluid flowed more heavily… until it vanished inside.
But the nose kept dripping.
---
…Darkness.
Sounds overlapped, as if coming from beneath water—wood creaking, horses neighing, someone coughing, a distant curse…
Then… shaking…
His eyes opened slowly.
Wood above him. Jagged edges, covered in dust. Pale light seeped through a small crack.
He tried to raise his hand, but iron chains held it tight to a nearby metal bar.The cold sensation around his wrists was too clear to ignore.
He sat up slowly. His body felt heavy. His nose throbbed like something was still moving deep inside. He felt dizzy.
"The little one's finally awake."
A rough voice came from the other side. A man with one eye smiled mockingly. He too was chained, but his smile held no kindness.
Kaesis didn't respond. His eyes scanned his surroundings. The wagon was full of people chained like him. Some asleep. Some… unlikely to ever wake up.
Outside the bars, the land passed slowly—rocks, ash, and a distant grey forest waving on the horizon.
"The destination? No one knows.But the price? It was good enough for the trader to drink in his honor."
Kaesis didn't need an explanation.
Kyolen sold him.
---
…Meanwhile, in the cabin…
Kyolen stood before the table and tossed a small pouch filled with crystal-like circular pieces onto the wood.
He sat, thinking…"Heh…" a hollow laugh escaped him as he looked toward the door.
Finally, today he had enough money to leave this cabin, this kingdom, to escape his pursuers.
But he wasn't happy at all."Cough… cough… coughhh…" he wheezed, blood and saliva covering his hand.The poison Kaesis had been giving him had pushed him to the brink.
Seeking treatment wasn't an option—it would expose him.Even if he risked it… where? How? This remote town was days away from the nearest city with possible treatment, and the costs would be overwhelming.Even the pouch he had might not be enough.
Or find the cure himself?Maybe… if he'd realized earlier.But now, his condition barely allowed him to focus.
As he continued thinking, he suddenly stood and left the cabin, returning later dragging a rope behind him.Behind him, at the door, there were clear traces of smoke.
He shut the door.
Walked into the kitchen, picked up a knife, entered his room, and closed the door behind him.
With a rope hanging from the ceiling, wrapped around his neck, he stood on a chair. Beneath his feet, a circle with strange symbols.
Then…
Then he slit his wrists, and slaughtered himself before the drawn symbols, muttering incomprehensible words…""Blood streamed from every side, spilling onto the ground, which drank it in—letting it seep through, making its way toward the book."
At that very moment, elsewhere…
The frantic cries of horses tore through the stillness of the road.
Inside the dark carriage, Kaeses lay on his right side, his back pressed against the cold wall—as if seeking refuge from an approaching, inescapable force…
"T... t... t..."Drops of darkened blood began to fall from above—slowly, as if time itself had begun to falter.
Kaeses' closed eyes began to twitch, and then—black tears, laced with blood, streamed down his cheeks…
And thus, the curse began.