DBOFS 27

Chapter 27

‘Ah~ This is awkward.’

Just sitting next to him, the aura he gave off seemed to stab at me. The suffocating atmosphere was unbearable.

Inside a carriage crossing through the forest.

Letting my body sway with the jolting motion, I spoke up.

“Ahem, we’ll be arriving at the dungeon soon. This unknown dungeon doesn’t really have a specific entrance—more like it’s shrouded in thick fog…”

“I know.”

“Ah, yes.”

A curt voice. An irritated attitude. A face full of displeasure that looked like it might explode with rage at any moment.

‘Should I be relieved that he’s holding back?’

When someone like Harris, with his supernatural powers, gets angry, it’s not something an average person can handle.

Normally, people would’ve run away by now.

‘Thank you, fear resistance.’

Not that I was thrilled to still be here, either.

“Harris, no matter what you say, there’s no way I’m skipping out on this dungeon.”

“Why.”

There were a number of reasons. First of all, preparing for Plan B. And second…

“What if you get hurt, Harris?”

“Worry about yourself.”

Harris finally growled, barely keeping himself in check.

“Is now the time for you to be worrying about me?”

“Hmm? Of course it is. I’m your bonded guide now, remember?”

“……”

Harris is an S-Class ability user. One of the strongest in the story, even called a “Transcendent.”

‘But that’s two years in the future~!’

That moment only comes in the <Si Cheon-Gwi> arc, after he becomes stronger with Adrian’s help.

In other words, the Harris in front of me—who appeared two years earlier than he’s supposed to—was relatively weaker.

“I’m worried, really.”

“…Worry about yourself.”

My muttering seemed to break the sharp edge in Harris’s gaze for a moment, replaced by something like concern.

“Worry about what, exactly?”

Not in a good way. He was worrying about whether my mental state was okay.

‘Excuse me?’

I gave him the prophecy that helped him escape prison! Isn’t it a bit much to still look at me like I’m some delusional lunatic?

‘Well, I guess Harris still doesn’t believe I’m a “prophet from another world.”’

If he truly believed me, he’d be asking questions—like who I am, what the world I came from is like, what future of his I know, and what prophecies I have yet to reveal…

‘But Harris hasn’t asked me anything. Not even once.’

As if he didn’t want to bother with nonsense. Or like he chalked everything I said up to delusional babbling.

‘Well, it is what it is.’

Even the great Adrian only earned Harris’s trust after two whole years.

I’ve been here, what, a month and a half? Still a long way to go.

‘Tch, and after all the support I’ve given.’

Sure, helping him is part of Plan A—“Make Harris a Duke and steal the Emperor’s core stone.” But still!

“Think carefully, Jade.”

Harris growled like he was barely holding it in.

“If you’re going to be my bonded guide, decide whether you should be risking your life in dungeons or staying somewhere safe, waiting for me to return.”

“Oh come on~ Is there any place safer than right by your side, Harris?”

I threw him a playful wink. Harris furrowed his brow and turned away.

Seriously? I’m this cute and bubbly, and you can’t even pretend to fall for the charm?

‘Tsk, raising affection is no easy task.’

‘I don’t get it.’

In the rattling supply wagon, under the forest’s dim green shadows, her bright pink hair swayed, and fragments of light brushed her pale face.

Big, bright blue eyes. Long, delicate lashes. A small, slender body that looked fragile even from the bones.

Who would believe that girl wasn’t a pampered princess but a disposable slave?

All that had changed was her clothes and surroundings, yet she had transformed this much.

So why not just enjoy life like a real noble lady?

‘Why does she go looking for danger?’

Does she not value her own life?

Harris’s crimson eyes flicked to the rifle and ammo belt Jade was holding. The weapon looked awkward in her small, delicate arms.

“Ah, Lady Jade.”

A maid sitting beside her leaned in and whispered something. But Harris’s sharpened hearing caught it all.

“Your hair’s a bit messy. Should I fix it for you?”

“Oh, that’d be great. Thanks~”

Jade giggled carefreely and then laid her head in the maid’s lap.

“…!”

Harris’s hand flinched, despite himself.

The head. The face. The neck.

All extremely vulnerable areas—prime targets for a fatal blow.

Even a small comb or a hairpin, if used correctly, could be lethal. Stab the eyes, blind the victim, then go for the throat.

Speaking from experience.

Though it had failed, ever since that day in his childhood, Harris had become hyper-sensitive to anyone getting too close.

Even so, it hadn’t really been a problem. Most people didn’t dare approach him anyway—and soon after, he was locked away like a prisoner.

But now…

“How should I style it~?”

“Hmm, do whatever you like, May. I trust your taste.”

Jade closed her eyes with a hum, and the maid—May—giggled softly as she began brushing the soft pink curls.

Sunlight filtering through the leaves glimmered on the long strands that looked like cherry blossom silk.

It was a peaceful, leisurely sight. But Harris instinctively tensed.

‘Trust?’

Trust? Who trusts someone they’ve barely known for a few days?

Harris’s nerves only settled once May finished fixing Jade’s hair.

“All done!”

“Thank you. Do you want to show me in a mirror—nah, it’s fine. I know you did a good job.”

A clear, cheerful laugh echoed through the quiet woods. Harris let out a long breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

This was all just… so strange.

Jade, trusting others with such vulnerable areas without a second thought. And the maids, chatting with her so warmly, so familiarly.

It all started after that incident in the former Duke’s study.

‘Forgive us. We’ve committed a grave sin…’

He didn’t know how they were punished, but the maids knelt before Jade with pale faces, heads bowed to the floor, ready to die.

‘Good. They should drop dead.’

Harris had been ready to say “Get lost and die quietly.”

But—

‘Ack, it’s okay! Please get up!’

Jade, the one they had starved, had jumped up in a panic.

‘No, it’s really our fault—’

‘Even if it is, this is too much!’

Too much? What’s “too much” about it?

Harris barely stopped himself from shouting.

Contradicting Jade’s command right in front of her would only damage her authority.

‘…They’ve already been punished by the old Duke.’

Even if Jade forgave them, they’d likely be dismissed. That alone would serve as a strong warning.

Harris had kept quiet out of consideration for her.

And yet—

‘Wow, I look so pretty like this!’

‘Right? It’s beautiful braided and half-up like this too…’

‘Should I use this headband?’

‘Ooh, yes, that one!’

Somehow, Jade had saved them from being fired, and by the time he came to his senses, they were chattering like best friends.

Harris rubbed his temples.

‘That fool…’

The Ramses Empire had a rigid class system. Even if she was his guide, if word got out she was a former slave, she’d be cast out like trash.

To prevent that, Harris had made a demand the moment they entered the old Duke’s office:

‘I want an appropriate identity granted to my guide.’

Harris bore a grudge against all his blood relatives, starting with his father. The former Duke—his grandfather—was no exception.

‘But he wasn’t part of the core plot.’

So Harris had been willing to compromise. Jade had helped heal him, so he’d take care of her status and leave.

But—

‘I refuse.’

He had been rejected outright.

That’s why, when the whole “fake Black Mermaid’s Tear” scandal broke out, Harris hadn’t stepped in.

Let them burn.

But Jade had stepped forward herself.

And instead of being grateful, those vermin had looked at her with hostility, claiming she was demanding compensation from her master.

‘Should I kill them?’

Murderous intent flared—but he suppressed it to observe the situation Jade was handling.

The old Duke had received Jade’s help. And yet, his servants dared to starve her?

‘Are they really trying me?’

He thought of Jade, munching on stale prison bread like a squirrel, and fury surged again.

And yet the girl herself had kindly forgiven them.

‘…There’s a limit to being soft.’

No, maybe she just wasn’t thinking at all.

Harris, who had no trust in Jade, felt a headache coming on.

He didn’t believe all that “prophet from another world” nonsense—but she definitely lacked basic common sense in many ways.

‘Was she locked up somewhere all her life?’

Worse off than even him, who had been imprisoned.

But oh well. She was his guide. That meant cleaning up after her was his responsibility.

‘If even one of them acts up again…’

He’d skin them alive. So they couldn’t even beg for death.