The moment the door opened, he was gone.
"Wha-"
The man who entered looked to be middle-aged, a few strands of gray hair fell over his temples, and his hardened, weathered face showed he'd seen a lot. His hair and clothes were a bit disheveled; he burst inside in a rush, panting heavily, his chest rising and falling fast as he stared at her.
We both looked at each other like we were expecting something. When his eyes drifted toward the pile of clothes beside him, I followed his gaze. My mouth fell slightly open as I realized how I must have looked…
A man who'd just escaped execution, barged into a woman's room, looted her clothes, with his pants torn at the crotch, like some brain-dead, lust-crazed servant who'd never seen a woman in his life. And worse, there was a decaying body right in front of me.
She sighed in exhaustion, rubbing her temples tensely. There was nothing she could say, no one would believe her anyway. She opened her mouth for a second as if to speak, then closed it again.
His hardened expression carried confusion, disbelief, and suspicion all at once as his gaze flicked to the corpse.
"Could it be…"
He muttered to himself, stroking his rough stubbles. There was only one way to be sure. He stepped closer, his hand stopping right in front of my face.
Thinking he was about to hit me, I flinched, my eyes squeezing shut, then cautiously opened them to meet his palm.
"Are you seriously messing with me right now? What the hell is this? All of this -everything that's been happening- it's completely insane! First the- that ugh! now this random guy doing weird hand tricks like he's casting some ancient spell? What, is this supposed to mean something!? Because it looks ridiculous!"
I snapped, completely fed up, pushing his hand away from my face. His expression relaxed for a second before hardening again.
"So, you're an Echo-Bender."
"What the hell is an Echo-Bender!? What does that even mean!?"
My eyes were about to roll back in anger. I covered my face with both hands, ready to scream, but then remembered how my voice sounded and thought better of it. His expression twisted again, this time stranger than before.
"There are still soldiers after us. We have to move."
"Oh! So you're the man who told us to go in front of the gate!"
Only then did I realize, his face hadn't been clear earlier, I'd only seen its back in all that chaos. But no, I shouldn't trust this guy either. What if he's also a Death-Bringer or someth-
"Waaaa!"
Before I could finish, I hit the grass with a thud.
He pushed me out the damn window!?
I stuck to the ground like a leech, completely stunned. Why the hell would he-
His boots landed beside me with a dull thump, not even a sound despite his size. I frowned up at him.
"Why the hell did you do that!?"
He gave me a judgmental look from above.
"It's barely a two-meter drop. You'll live."
"Huh?"
I'd never experienced something like this before -I guess this male body was tougher, because weirdly, nothing felt broken. Groaning, I pushed myself up- Is this what being a man is like? If I were still a girl, he probably would've carried me down instead.
"You coming or what!?"
"Eh?"
He was already running. God, I just want to lie down somewhere and sleep for a week.
The man seemed genuinely curious about the young one wearing Gralik's face. Maybe he'd finally found something tied to the Olgard Kingdom. The way this kid walked so close to him -so timid, so clumsy- it gave him an odd feeling, something that made his suspicious nature stir.
Leaving the palace wasn't easy, and he couldn't risk taking shortcuts with someone he didn't know. So he chose stealth, weaving through the low-roofed passages between the palace halls and hiding in shadows. They didn't speak, only moved carefully between cover.
The man kept glancing at the kid, so inexperienced, so out of place. It was rare for an Echo-Bender to be this untrained, but for now, he'd act friendly. He needed to learn more about Death-Bringers anyway.
***
The fear of getting caught made it impossible for me to climb down the outer wall properly. like if I weren't terrified, I could've jumped straight down. He, on the other hand, moved fast and precise, like he'd done this his whole life.
When my feet finally hit the ground, I clung to him.
"Please, just take me home! Don't leave me here! They'll throw me straight into a grave the first chance they get!"
As I begged, clutching his arm, he shot me that same judgmental look again, like everything I did was wrong and somehow disgusting. He pulled his arm free and kept walking.
"…"
Not helping at all.
With nothing better to do, I followed him, trying to memorize every turn we took. After the walls, we entered a massive forest.
Unbelievable, but the animals here looked… different. I was lost in thoughts already.
"You can't walk into the city like that."
"hm? I don't have any other clothes."
Without a word, he shrugged off his robe -something like a traditional tunic- and handed it to me.
As we walked, I could feel a strange, dense vibration in the air.
Now that I thought about it, this place wasn't so bad. Actually… it was kind of fascinating. From here, I could see the city ahead, so different from the palace. Busier, more colorful. But reds and greens everywhere like in the palace.
The deeper we went, the more alive it became. Merchants selling odd trinkets, strange food, spices that made my nose tingle.
Trying not to lose sight of him in the crowd made it hard to look around properly, so I kept my eyes fixed on him.
I'd even forgotten how much my legs hurt. When he finally stopped somewhere, I followed him inside without thinking.
"Is this… a bar?"