TMLLT 46

Chapter 46

“You’re Alive, Aren’t You”

It was natural for me to look for Roitz first—he was my direct superior.

But right now, I was searching for him for more than that.

Because everything that was supposed to happen today didn’t just involve me—it involved him too.

I needed to see with my own eyes that he was okay.

‘The commander called him earlier… so he hasn’t come back to the sanctuary yet?’

As I ran frantically through the large sanctuary, I finally spotted Roitz beyond the west doors.

He too seemed to be searching for someone, his head turning urgently.

“Roitz-sunbae!”

He stopped when he heard my voice.

His expression twisted in a way that looked almost angry when he saw me.

“Serdin! Where have you—”

“You’re okay, right, Sunbae?”

“What?”

I immediately began checking him over—his face, his posture.

Was there pain? Cold sweat? Fever?

There was no sign of a mana suppressor wound.

The High Priest was alive. Roitz was fine.

That meant the rampage of the demonic beast Necroquad had been prevented.

And that meant… unlike the original story, I had lived.

“Thank God.”

I let out a relieved breath.

“What are you—wait a minute.”

He paused, his eyes narrowing as he noticed something.

“What is this?”

His voice suddenly turned sharp. He was staring at my neck.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

I reached up.

There was blood.

Oh right…

That scratch from earlier. When I shielded the High Priest from the monster’s claw.

“What the hell is this, Serdin?”

His voice was heavy, his gaze intense. He was angry.

“….”

“Serdin!”

He shouted my name.

I tried to answer—but for some reason, my voice had no strength.

‘My head…’

I hadn’t realized it before, but now that I knew I was injured, dizziness struck me like a wave.

Roitz’s angry expression shifted to shock.

The last thing I saw was him catching me—

Then everything went black.

I woke up in a daze.

It was already late—night dew visible beyond the window.

‘Where am I…?’

A quick glance told me I was in the temple’s medical room.

Right—after I found Roitz, I fainted.

“Ah, you’re awake.”

The cold sensation at my neck faded as the healer beside me stood up.

“You had some bleeding and a little poison in your system. You’ll need rest.”

I couldn’t move much, so I just nodded.

When the healer left, I saw Roitz standing nearby.

Had he stayed here the whole time I was unconscious?

He was staring down at me with a stiff expression.

“Why are you looking at me like that…?”

“What the hell is that wound?”

“The monster’s claw grazed me, that’s all.”

His fists clenched tightly.

“You weren’t even supposed to be near the stage. Why were you there?”

Oh… right. He hadn’t seen what happened—he was out at the time.

“What were the others doing?”

He muttered angrily.

I quickly explained.

“I went up there.”

“Why?”

To stop the High Priest from dying. And to stop my own death.

“The stage just… looked suspicious. You know I have good instincts, right?”

I made something up. Maybe it wasn’t convincing, or maybe it was too convincing.

Roitz didn’t respond.

Still, he knew I had good intuition—maybe that was enough.

“Sunbae.”

He was still clenching his fists.

I reached out, and my fingers touched his hand—

He slowly released his grip.

“……”

Instead of making a fist again, he gently took my fingers in his.

He held them as if it meant something important.

Then he sat down beside my bed.

“……Haa.”

He let out a long sigh instead of speaking.

From his coat, he pulled out something—

A handkerchief.

He dipped it in a water bowl and carefully wiped the dried blood from my neck.

His touch was delicate, avoiding the wound.

“I can do it.”

“Don’t.”

His touch was gentle, but his face remained tense.

“It’s not a serious wound.”

“But you still collapsed.”

He wasn’t wrong.

‘If I’d gone to get treated when Terrian told me to, maybe I wouldn’t have fainted…’

But I needed to make sure Roitz was okay.

Once the blood was cleaned, Roitz set down the handkerchief.

I was staring at him, so he reached out and gently closed my eyelids.

“Get some rest. Sleep more.”

“You’re not going?”

He said nothing, just stayed seated next to me.

I peeked at him, then closed my eyes again.

He’s still here.

Was it out of duty because I was under his command?

But the emotion on his face wasn’t just duty or guilt.

It was as if he was the one who’d been hurt.

“I’m really fine, you know.”

Compared to what was supposed to happen today, this wasn’t even a scratch.

“It’s your neck. If it had been a little deeper, you might’ve died.”

“I know. I’ll be careful.”

His eyes still looked angry—but there was worry there too.

And somehow, it didn’t feel like someone else’s worry.

In the original story, I was supposed to die today.

And Roitz’s trauma would begin from there.

‘But none of that happened.’

If I had died today—even from something else—would he still have gone down that dark path?

‘I don’t think so.’

His trauma stemmed from blaming himself.

And time dulls everything.

‘If I had died today, maybe by the time he became a commander… he would’ve forgotten me too.’

Just like how he treated me with cold detachment when we met again after two years.

He had drawn a clear line between us.

Meanwhile, I had waited every day to hear from him again.

‘Maybe forgetting me would’ve been easier for him.’

After all, in the original, he struggled for a long time.

But these were all “what ifs.”

What mattered now was that I lived.

‘Something really did change.’

“I’m not just saying this, Serdin. You really could’ve died.”

“But I didn’t. I’m alive, aren’t I?”

That fact—that I had made it through today—

It was a huge change.

I smiled, genuinely relieved.

Roitz looked at me like he couldn’t feel relief.

But maybe… maybe it would really be okay here in Elche after all.

I dozed off again and woke near dawn.

The outside had quieted after all the chaos from earlier.

They still hadn’t figured out why the monster was in the temple basement…

Some rare cases of mana coalescence could birth monsters in the air itself. Maybe it was that.

Still, by dawn, the perimeter sweep seemed to be complete.

‘Time to head back.’

As I got up from bed—

‘…!’

I flinched.

Someone was sitting in the shadows nearby.

‘Roitz? He still hasn’t left…’

He was asleep, leaning back in a chair, legs crossed.

‘He must be exhausted.’

Understandable, after working since early morning and dealing with the aftermath all night.

I stepped closer quietly.

Moonlight spilled across his sleeping face.

‘When I look at him like this… it’s almost unreal.’

That face—usually so serious—had shown me so many emotions.

That angry expression from earlier…

“What the hell is this, Serdin.”

The room was quiet.

I sat on the floor in front of him, hugging my knees, just watching.

I’d seen him awake a hundred times… but I don’t think I’d ever seen him asleep.

I’d fallen asleep near him so many times—on a carriage, during field training, at the inn in Delzers.

‘This is rare. A rare moment just for me.’

So I didn’t move. I just stayed there, quietly watching him.

“……Serdin.”

He murmured in his sleep, calling my name.

Was he waking up?

“Yes.”

No response.

His eyes stayed closed.

Just talking in his sleep, then.

‘What kind of dream would make him say my name…?’

I’ll ask him when he wakes up.

But just as I thought that, and leaned my head gently on my knees—

Something stirred behind Roitz.

A dark mist began to rise. . .