"What do you mean?"
Arthur's head snapped up.
They were all seated around the fire. But the weight in Clad's voice had shifted something in the air — like a cold wind cutting through the warmth of the flame.
"You said the seal was placed to suppress his energy," Arthur said, his voice hard. "To hide him from the corrupted beasts."
"Well..." Clad stared into the fire. "That's exactly when I felt it."
"Felt what?"
The merchant said nothing. His eyes stayed fixed on Clad.
Clad's jaw tightened.
"This child's seal — it wasn't built to contain his energy." He looked up. "It was built to reverse it. To force it to flow backwards."
Silence.
A cold gust of wind blew past them, making the fire shiver.
"But that would have put the child's life in danger." The merchant's voice was calm — measured. "He would have died. Slowly. Painfully."
"Yes." Clad's fist closed.
Arthur frowned. "Then what are you saying?"
Clad looked him straight in the eyes.
"Someone wanted this child dead."
The words landed like a stone dropped into still water.
"Because most of the internal meridians in this child's body have already ruptured."
"But—" Arthur started.
The merchant's gaze drifted to the fire. He said nothing.
Clad pressed his hands against his knees.
"It seems like... he's healing himself. From the inside." He exhaled slowly. "Regenerating."
"What?!"
Arthur stared at him.
"But a child can't awaken his energy before the ceremony — you know that better than anyone, Clad." His brows furrowed. "And regeneration ability — are you sure? Because if you're wrong—"
"I know." Clad's jaw clenched. "That's exactly what I can't understand."
The merchant stared into the flame.
"If he went through something so brutal — so extreme — that it forced an awakening on its own..." He paused. "But a five or six-year-old child. One who can barely understand what's happening around him. How?"
Arthur's expression darkened.
The fire crackled.
No one spoke.
---
"Clad."
The merchant reached out and gripped Clad's shoulder.
A faint light had begun to flicker in Clad's eyes — not magic.
Anger.
"Forgive me... but that child's condition—"
He stopped.
"Places like this. People like this..." His lips pressed together. "We thought this wouldn't happen anymore."
"Clad."
The merchant placed a hand on his back — steady, quiet.
Clad drew a long breath.
The light in his eyes faded slowly.
"The child is stable." The merchant said.
Clad nodded once.
"Yes... somehow he's healing himself." He stared into the fire. "But..."
He stopped again.
"He might never—"
He left it there. Unfinished.
"His core is severely damaged. He's weak now." He looked up. "After stabilizing him, I broke the seal. And that seal — its only purpose was to destroy him completely from the inside. No ordinary mage could have woven it."
The merchant and Arthur said nothing.
They just looked at him.
"And as for the child himself—" Clad's eyes grew wet. "His will to live is strong. Stronger than it should be." He looked down. "Just like him."
He was quiet for a moment.
"He's just an innocent child. How could anyone do something like this to him?"
It wasn't a question.
---
"Hmm."
The merchant's gaze stayed on the fire.
"Then it's settled. I'm taking him with us."
"But My Lord—" Clad said.
"You just said yourself that he's like him." The merchant said. "Maybe we'll get to see something good come out of this."
He went quiet.
Then — in a voice heavier than before, worn at the edges —
"And even if we don't... giving him a chance is our responsibility."
He turned his eyes toward the dark treeline beyond the camp.
"And don't forget who I am. I still have enough left in me to bring ruin if I have to."
Clad looked at him.
And nodded.
---
Footsteps crunched heavily against the wet mud.
Arthur — who had been listening in complete silence — suddenly straightened.
Leo walked into the light of the dying fire. In his palm rested a faintly glowing orb — the condensed energy harvested from the corrupted beasts.
"Yes, Sir. Energy's already been collected." He glanced toward the trees. "I'll go check the corpses now."
He paused.
"And Young Master — he wasn't affected, was he? He's alright?"
The merchant answered before Arthur could.
"Yes. I made sure the energy didn't reach him."
---
Then — at the edges of the sky — a faint light began to bleed through.
Dawn had come.
But the weight in the air hadn't lifted.
Birds had begun to call somewhere in the trees.
Leo headed back into the forest to survey the remains.
Arthur looked at the merchant.
"My Lord... Young Master doesn't look well."
The merchant met his gaze.
"The journey was long." His voice was quiet. Even. "And what happened tonight — it's more than he was ready for." He paused. "But that's exactly why it will teach him something. Because if he wants to move forward — he will face things far worse than this." His eyes didn't waver. "And if he can't learn to carry it... his innocence will be the thing that destroys him."
Silence settled over the camp.
Only the sound of birds.
And the fire — burning lower now, slowly fading into the morning light.
---
**[Chapter 4 End]**