Chapter 248 (1/2)

"Oh!"

But then, he heard the exclamation of a woman who sounded surprised to see a man lying on the ground.

"Hey..."

He thought the woman would just pass by, but she came to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Then she checked his pulse, probably to see if he was still alive.

'Now she'll go through my pockets.'

Before, he had taken people's hospitality for granted, but after entering the world of darkness, he learned that everything was given only in exchange for a price. Now that he was a blind man, he just wished she wouldn't kick him when she found out he had nothing.

"Are you alright?"

He wasn't happy about getting her attention, not at all. He didn't like it that she was disturbing his rest, but he didn't have enough strength left to move her hand away.

"Is it sunstroke?"

Her murmuring let him know it was daytime, and apparently his forehead was hot not because of the fever but because of the sunlight.

Soon something made of metal touched his lips. He feared it was some kind of torture and shuddered, but the thin arm that was holding him now was so firm that he couldn't resist.

"It's water. Drink."

He opened his lips at hearing that. Water that was a bit salty but cold ran into his mouth. It felt so good. He forgot that he had just been seeking for eternal rest and gulped down the water.

"Um, you can't see, can you?" The woman asked as she wiped his sweating forehead with a handkerchief. He cringed at the question.

Those who had tortured and interrogated him had often mocked him for being blind. At first, he just dismissed it as foolish things from the mouth of foolish men, but with time, it made him cringe.

However… the woman's voice had no ill will. He couldn't be mad or offended. That would just make him a person who got easily hurt by foolish words. He put the water bottle away and nodded slightly.

"Oh, I see."

The woman carefully touched his eyes. He didn't like it, but his body froze with fear whenever someone touched him. Many years ago, he wouldn't have hesitated to swat that hand away…

He didn't want to admit it, but he had changed. He had changed from the great man who feared nothing and turned into a fool who was afraid of everything.

"Would you like to go to the abbey I live in? Our priests will take a look at you. I think it would be better for you to recover."

And fools were afraid of all things, even kindness. He was nothing but a vagrant on the streets, and he deserved to be treated like one. In the world he knew, kindness existed only when there was a purpose for it. Was she planning to help him recover and then force him to hard labor? However, he was blind.

"You can leave if you want after you get better."

"Why are you being kind to me?"

"Oh! You can speak. That's good. I was worried you might not be able to talk. Then it would have been hard to find out where and why you're ill."

She kept talking, but she didn't answer his question. She carried him. He had nothing but bones and skin after starving for so long, but he wasn't light at all. However, it didn't bother her at all, as if she was used to carrying people.

"My name is Rubica. What's yours?"

She was asking for his name. He almost said Edgar, but using that name wasn't going to do him any good. He had managed to run away only barely. He had prepared for years to find out the habits and routines of his watchers and torturers before he finally escaped.

He hadn't been captured after that, which was a miracle. Maybe they no longer cared about him now that he was useless, nevertheless, he was still afraid.

"…Arman."

After some thinking, he picked a name among the long series of names he had had in the past.

"That's a good name. Well, Arman, where were you going?"

He hoped telling his name might stop her talking, but she just kept twitting like a bird.