Turning
chapter-138

‘The best part of coming back to the past, without a doubt, is having a young body.’

In his previous life, he was constantly in a state of ill health after having suffered life-threatening injuries. Despite receiving treatment, there was a limit to its effectiveness. Towards the end, he had to start his day by chewing on herbs for pain relief as if it was his meal. Compared to that, his current state, where he could move swiftly as he pleased, felt like heaven.

"Gayle, Doyle! It's your turn now! Quickly...!"

Just as Yuder was about to step over the unconscious men, a stranger appeared, poking his face out from between the trees. Startled, he quickly retreated. It was a young man with the typical southern complexion, a strong red tint to his skin.

"You're the Cavalry member that Nahan spoke of...?"

"Hosanna. Don't come any closer."

Then, Nahan appeared from behind the man, grabbing his shoulder as if to protect him and pushing him behind. Yuder, feeling no signs of threat from the two, strained his senses towards them and opened his mouth.

"Where did you take the Omega Awakeners?"

"The brothers and sisters are no longer here."

"...Gone?"

"Yes. By now, they've probably met with their other siblings far away. Unfortunately, you're a step late."

There was only one logical deduction left since the words didn't imply that the Omega Awakeners were killed. Yuder looked directly at the young man who seemed extremely strained behind Nahan and asked,

"So, you're the teleporter?"

"How did you...?"

Hosanna, the young man, looked momentarily taken aback as if he'd been exposed. His face was a picture of confusion, unable to comprehend how Yuder had deduced it.

'Well, the reason why we employed the Eldore siblings was because of their teleportation ability.'

The teleportation ability of the Eldore siblings, although quite limited, was most useful in unexpected circumstances during missions like this. If Yuder had successfully helped the Awakeners escape, they planned to use that ability in the most heavily guarded section leading from the underground passage to the outside world.

Teleportation is a rare ability that's hardly even heard of nowadays, but it wasn't so in the future. By the time Yuder was nearing his end, there were quite a few exceptional teleporters within the ranks, assigned to assist the members dispatched for urgent missions.

'In any case, they also have a teleporter. As expected.'

Just because they both have the same teleportation ability, their skill levels can differ greatly. It's impossible to gauge how capable that young man might be. But a teleporter who not only assisted Nahan and his colleagues to escape but also transported nearly ten Omega Awakeners, judging from his previous life's experience, couldn't be of a weak ability.

That explains why Nahan was calm, despite stirring up trouble in one of the four most heavily guarded ducal mansions in the capital. Because he had such a person with him.

'Always prepares a secure escape route before getting into any work, just like last time. Such a cunning guy.'

During the tense standoff, Hosanna, the young man with a hardened face, pointed toward two of his colleagues lying at Yuder's feet and asked.

"...Are my colleagues dead?"

"They've only passed out."

"I see."

Hosanna let out a sigh of relief, only to have Nahan seize his arm and push him back.

"That's enough confirmation. We can't save those two right now. We must retreat."

"But, Doyle and...."

"The moment I step any closer, I might end up just like them. Is that what you want?"

"No, of course not. But if we just turn back like this, I wonder what he would say..."

Nahan, seeing the faint-hearted Hosanna, coldly retorted and looked towards the prayer house with a hint of regret.

"I regret not being able to save everyone, but we've done our part. He'll understand. We can save Gayle and Doyle later. So..."

'Huh. As if someone would just stand by and let that happen.'

Just as Yuder was about to chime in, looking incredulous, he heard his name being called from a distance.

"Yuder!"

Yuder paused unknowingly for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, Nahani quickly urged Hosanna on.

"Quickly, Hosanna!"

A burst of light erupted from Hosanna.

"Yuder, are you alright?"

Before Yuder could even raise his hand to attack, the two vanished in the blink of an eye. Following their disappearance, Gakane appeared, having run up with his shadow clone. His gaze rapidly scanned the two men collapsed at Yuder's feet and the open prayer house.

"What happened? There are a ton of corpses over there..."

"...It's been eventful."

Yuder glared at the spot where Nahan and Hosanna had disappeared, then turned away.

"Bind the unconscious ones here and have the clone carry them. Some of the Awakeners who were imprisoned in the annex are inside the prayer house. They need to be taken as well. Where's Ever?"

"Ever has successfully rescued Dandenion. But since you weren't at the promised location and the passage was filled with bodies, plus the signal you left... Ever went to relay the news to the Commander, and I came here first."

"Good job. Did you see the Elder Priest Beltrail inside the passage?"

"Ah, yeah."

Gakane scratched his head, giving a somewhat awkward smile.

"He fainted after screaming at the sight of me... But he's alive."

"What about the evidence I told you to find in the annex basement?"

"There was more left than I expected, so I filled my pocket and buried the rest on the floor. That should be fine, right?"

"Yes. That's sufficient."

Though he hadn't expected things to turn out this way, he was relieved that Nahan's comrades hadn't made it to the main building where Kishiar was. Kishiar, having heard the news, would take care of the rest. It felt incredibly comfortable knowing he didn't have to bear all the responsibility alone.

Thinking about Kishiar, who should be rescuing the third prince, Revlin, and dealing with the raging Duke Apeto, Yuder sighed deeply. After catching his breath, he only then noticed the subtle throbbing in his gloved fingers.

Despite trying to use as little strength as possible, it seemed there was still some strain. Thanks to the gem embedded in the sword and the strap given by Enon, the progress of the pain was slower than before, a fortunate turn of events.

"Yuder. Are you feeling okay? You didn't get hurt somewhere else, did you?"

Despite only glancing at his fingers, Gakane seemed to sense something was off, looking over at him with concern. Yuder quickly composed his expression and shook his head.

"No."

"But you seem...."

At the tail end of his words, Gakane tilted his head and extended a hand to touch Yuder's forehead.

"What's going on...?"

"You don't seem feverish...."

"I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

Yuder brushed away his hand lightly and started walking towards the prayer house.

"If you're not feeling well, you can't hide it like before. If you suppress your pain, it will only get worse. Understand?"

Ever since seeing Yuder's arm turn completely dark purple due to the enlargement of the small spot in the East, Gakane's worries had noticeably increased. To be honest, even if both of Yuder's arms were gone, he would still be much stronger than Gakane. However, seeing the sincere worry in Gakane's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to say that.

Yuder sighed, looking at the red-haired handsome man following him, full of worry and nagging.

"Let's go quickly."

—---

The day when everyone had their eyes fixed on the potential emergence of the first-ever noble-born Cavalry member had passed, and the Capital was once again in an uproar, this time for a different reason.

"My goodness, the Elder Priest Beltrail was caught doing awful things with dozens of Awakeners. I attended the service he held at the Grand Temple once, and I would've never imagined him capable of such things."

"How could a priest who serves God do such things? It's no wonder he ended up like this!"

Enon, a man with a head full of ashy hair, was passing by the people chattering excitedly in the market when he suddenly stopped to listen. All day long, wherever he went, everyone was talking about the same thing: the terrible incident that had occurred at the Apeto House the previous day.

"The third prince, who was the problem child, has only been left as an honorary member of the Cavalry. Ultimately, the entire Apeto House has canceled all festival schedules and has declared they won't be receiving any visitors. Looks like they've lost."

"In the end, the only winner is Duke Peletta. Wasn't it the Cavalry who discovered that terrible thing?"

When the conversation shifted to the Cavalry, the people, who had been adding their own comments to the conversation, wore different expressions, filled with anticipation and excitement.

"Haha. That's right. The commoner members of the Cavalry were the ones who discovered it, which must have hurt the pride of the nobles! They must've closed the mansion doors out of shame. Honestly, it's refreshing to see."

"How many servants went to work for that family only to end up dead? In the past, I used to be a bit scared whenever I saw an Awakener, but thanks to the Cavalry, I don't feel that way anymore."

"Right. Doesn't Amber from the upper house has a daughter who's an Awakener? Haha. Who knows, she might join the Cavalry when she grows up. That would be a real rise to success..."

After hearing that, Enon started moving again. The place he stopped at was a small fruit shop, fitting for the humble market.

"Two lemons."

The young shop owner, who had been busily moving boxes, didn't bat an eye at Enon's abrupt request for lemons.