{Chapter Twenty-Three} Continuing the Path
"Anas! Anas! Wake up!"
Leona's voice filled the dark underground space.
The walkway was soaked in blood, with scattered corpses all around.
The metallic scent of rust hung thick in the air.
Leona crawled toward Anas, stumbling in her dress. When she reached him, she turned him onto his back and rested her head on his chest, letting out a deep sigh of relief as she felt his heartbeat.
Thump… thump… thump.
Anas' pulse was weak, but at least it was there.
Once reassured about Anas, Leona turned toward her brother, who Nayvi was helping to stand.
Edward was bruised all over, his gray hair streaked red from blood—not just his own.
He opened his eyes, panting from the onslaught of blows he had received. Leaning on Nayvi for support, he noticed the Owl's lifeless body on the floor. His eyes widened, then narrowed as he saw Anas lying beside it.
He realized Anas had killed the Owl.
Gritting his teeth, he muttered, "Damn it, why am I so weak that I need someone to save me? Why must someone else take charge instead of me?… Damn… damn it."
Leona, hearing her brother, no longer showed fear. Her gaze swept the surrounding area, taking in the number of men and the danger they had faced. Then her eyes fixed on Edward.
"Edward."
Edward lifted his head immediately, responding to his sister's call.
For some reason, the moment reminded him of his father's scoldings whenever he failed to meet expectations. He tried to ignore Leona's voice, not wanting to hear another rebuke. But he also remembered Anas' words that his sister was his greatest ally here, and so he lifted his gaze toward her.
Seeing the serious, dirt-streaked look on her face, he braced himself for a harsh reprimand.
"Stop blaming yourself."
Edward's eyes widened in confusion.
W-what? he thought.
Leona paused, looking at Edward's bruised body. She wanted to touch the dark blue marks covering him but remembered Anas resting in her lap. She remained seated and continued in a quiet voice: "If it weren't for you with us, if you hadn't defended us despite your injuries, if you hadn't bought us time by standing against so many men… we would now be mere slaves." Tears streamed from her blue eyes. "That fool left us, but you didn't. We were a burden to you, making you protect us. So don't blame yourself for anything."
Leona's voice softened, barely audible: "I… I am the only burden on this group."
Nayvi watched silently, unsure how to handle such a moment, as she had never experienced anything like it before.
Edward opened his mouth to comfort his sister, but suddenly…
Cough… cough…
Anas broke the silence with a harsh, dry cough, blood staining his lips. He nearly choked on it until Leona tilted his head forward, letting the blood drain from his mouth.
She quickly withdrew her hand when it touched his cheek and looked at Edward and Nayvi. "He's hot… maybe a fever. What do we do?"
Anas' breaths grew shallow, and sweat appeared on his forehead.
Edward and Nayvi exchanged glances.
"But… I don't know what to do. You… you were the one caring for me when I had a fever. Have you forgotten?" Edward said.
Leona sighed, trying to help Anas rise but unable to, and looked at Edward, who understood immediately and lifted Anas onto his back. "So… should we take him to a doctor?"
"Yes. We don't have anything to treat him here, and that water isn't clean. We don't know what it might do if we try to cool him with it," Leona replied.
Leona wiped her face with her sleeve to remove vomit and tears, then glanced at the corpses and remembered Anas' observation that doctors were expensive.
Her gaze lingered on the bodies for a moment before an idea struck her.
"Nayvi, let's gather all the money or anything valuable from these corpses."
Nayvi nodded and began searching the men's pockets with Leona.
While searching, Leona tried to keep herself from vomiting. She reached Crick's body and hesitated, then recalled their need for money and began to search him.
Her hand trembled slightly when she found a small notebook labeled "All My Pain in This World."
Leona stared at it for a moment, curiosity burning inside, but she hid it in her robe pocket and continued searching.
About five minutes later, Leona laid out everything they found:
1,175 silver coins
600 copper coins
Three daggers
Nayvi's eyes widened at the money. "I-I've never seen this much in my life! Is this all ours?"
Leona patted her head gently. "Yes, it's ours. But… let's treat Anas first, figure things out, and then divide the rest fairly among us."
Nayvi smiled, letting out a short, satisfied laugh. "Fairly. Leona the Fair."
Edward surveyed the bodies and sighed.
"My brother… is something wrong?" Leona asked.
He nodded toward Anas on his back. "Yes. If I weren't carrying Anas, we could have taken the armor and weapons too. Back when I went to the market with father, they were expensive."
"But someone might get suspicious if they recognize the armor. And it doesn't make sense for young people like us to carry weapons—they'd suspect us immediately," Leona replied.
Edward nodded.
"Sorry, I didn't think of that."
Leona smiled and began walking.
"It's fine. Each of us has our role. I can think, but I can't carry an injured person. You can. Also, you're only fifteen—you'll be smarter when you grow. Heh."
Edward smiled and walked ahead of his sister.
Moments later, Nayvi caught up and walked beside Leona, a faint smile on her face.
Leona noticed Nayvi holding something behind her back. Her eyes narrowed mischievously. "What are you hiding, Nayvi?"
Nayvi almost jumped, then looked down, blinked twice, and whispered, "Shh… it's a secret."
Leona muffled a laugh with her hand, nodded, and they continued walking toward the underground city—or at least what they believed it to be…