Turning
chapter-354

"Yuder, sir. This morning, someone finally showed signs of consciousness!"

Lusan whispered excitedly, taking a sharp breath.

"When I was feeding her, she asked where she was. I told her it's a safe place and that I was a priest of the Sun God, and she cried, shedding tears. I calmed her down with a touch of divine power, fearing she might collapse. She's sleeping now, but she will wake up soon."

In the spacious room, people who had recovered tremendously compared to before were seated. Though they still appeared dazed, they no longer screamed strange noises or scratched the walls. Considering that only a few days had passed, it was a remarkable achievement.

"Yuder, you're here?"

"Where's the person who showed consciousness?"

"Over there."

Emun and Finn, who had been assisting Lusan, came over and greeted him. The bed where the person who had regained consciousness lay was in another connected room. Yuder looked down at the face of a woman with long ash-colored hair, which was curled and strewn about. In the western region, where many people had vivid and dark hair, her hair color and facial features felt foreign.

"I'll wake her."

Lusan, with a tense face, gently shook the woman's shoulder, and soon after, she quietly opened her eyes. Seeing Lusan, Emun, and Finn, she seemed slightly relieved, but her face turned pale with tension at the sight of Yuder, a stranger.

"Who, who are you?"

"Don't worry. You can relax. He's a colleague, working with us to help you."

The woman finally caught her breath after Lusan softly consoled her a few times. Yuder silently observed her, evaluating her condition.

'She seems to be fully aware of the situation. Communication is possible too.'

Lusan turned his head with an emotional look, as if asking for Yuder's agreement. Yuder nodded and pulled a chair to sit. Since his expression was naturally stiff, and looking down while standing might be intimidating, he needed to make the atmosphere as gentle as possible.

"Do you remember your name?"

"I, name. I, I. No, I, am."

The woman stuttered for a while, unable to form proper sentences, but as no one hurried or pressed her, her state gradually improved.

"My, my name is... Marty."

"Do you remember anything else? Like your age or hometown."

"Age. Age... Twenty... two. Hometown is, Messaria."

Messaria was a border region of Nelarn, adjacent to the Great Sarain Forest, as Yuder knew.

'So she's not a citizen of the Empire.'

After stating her name, age, and hometown, Marty's eyes began to clear. As she started to understand the situation a bit more, she looked around and asked fearfully.

"But where exactly is this place? It doesn't look like a temple."

"This is Tainu. You were found wandering around here. What do you remember about previous events?"

"Tainu?"

Marty's eyes widened and shook.

"Oh... Yes, that's right. I was going to... No, I came to Tainu. But then...!"

A moment later, she screamed, clutching her head. Lusan quickly calmed her down by channeling divine power. Yuder, Emun, and Finn stepped out of the way.

"Will she be alright?"

"She's regained her senses, so she'll recover more soon. Call me when she wakes up again. I'll bring the Commander with me."

"Um... Alright."

Emun nodded with a worried expression, but Marty rapidly regained her composure even before bringing Kishiar. Since she wanted to meet the three Cavalry members once again, they had to return to the bedroom.

“I remember now. You two, you’ve been to the Great Sarain Forest before, right? The villagers said that you were mercenaries back then, but you were actually dangerous people from the capital."

With an astonishingly keen eye, Marty recognized Emun and Finn, whom she had only seen once. Her gaze was much sharper now, compared to her previous dull expression. Her eyes, stained with anger and frustration, scanned the faces of the Cavalry members.

"Yes ... then you must have recognized us and brought us here. I really thank you for that. Otherwise, I would have already been dead."

In truth, there were quite a few who had died before they were saved, but the members did not say that.

"The reason you saved us is not just out of pity, is it?"

With an expression that seemed unable to find the right explanation, Lusan and Emun glanced at Yuder simultaneously. Yuder opened his mouth, trying his best not to reveal his emotions.

"Yes. We were tracking the remnants of the village where you were living. To be exact, the people who did this to you."

"I knew it. I knew it, I knew it."

Marty, clenching her fist, opened her eyes wide and spoke.

"Do you want information from me?"

Though the quick progression of the conversation was good, Yuder answered, "You can speak slowly if it's hard to say right now." However, Marty promptly and firmly shook her head.

"No. I want to tell you right now. What exactly do you want to know?"

"Then, I would like to hear the reason you joined that village and everything you remember before losing your memory."

"Okay. Since you probably know my origin already, it won't be such a surprising story."

Marty seemed to organize her thoughts, looking into the distance before she spoke.

"I'm from Nelarn. About a year ago, my younger brother and I were struggling to make a living and planned to go to the Empire. The Great Sarain Forest wasn't so dangerous back then. But, unfortunately, we encountered a monster. My brother died, and I was injured, almost dying, until the villagers saved me."

Through the Awakened villagers, Marty first saw a real Awakener. At first, she was terrified of their various appearances, but she gradually regained her stability due to their unconditional kindness. Even after recovering from her injuries, she stayed and worked in the village. Her affection for a man in the village significantly influenced her decision.

"At first, there were only really good people in the village. They saved people like me out of kindness and cared for us to live together. But the atmosphere gradually changed as Awakeners in the village left and were replaced."

As the number of ordinary people in the village increased, the Awakeners began to divide into two factions. One insisted on not receiving ordinary people for the village's safety and expelling them, while the other argued that living together was not bad since they were all in the same situation.

And this conflict reached its peak when monsters started occurring more frequently. They felt the need to abandon the dangerous Great Sarain Forest and move elsewhere, but they couldn't definitively decide whether to take ordinary people with them or move only with the Awakeners. The two factions of Awakeners began to grow increasingly antagonistic, and the village's atmosphere darkened.

During that time, the Cavalry appeared, and a gigantic monster that almost endangered the whole Great Sarain Forest revealed itself. Thankfully, the incident ended without any sacrifice, but only later did the villagers realize that the monster was slain by the Cavalry. Now that their village was exposed to the Cavalry, they could no longer stay there.

"At that time, strangers appeared. Among them, the village Awakeners followed a man with a horrendous scar on one side of his face with fear. He said he came to assist with the last decision related to the village relocation."

From the mere description, there was no doubt that the man was Nahan.

"After that man appeared, the Awakeners who disliked the non-Awakeners became more assertive. But that man surprisingly said it would be best to first take even people like me to the temporary shelter. I thought he was... contrary to the rumors, quite kind. Stupidly enough."

"What happened?"

"After living in the forest for a long time, everyone was overwhelmed when they came to the temporary shelter full of people. Some were hiding, but others went outside and met other people. That man observed this for a few days, and then..."

Marty, who was speaking, bit her lip tightly.

"Someone among the non-Awakeners leaked information outside."

Of course, if it really happened, it would have been a grave mistake, but the non-Awakeners initially knew little about the village Awakeners. Protesting how they could possibly leak anything was futile; Nahan and those aligned with him would not listen.

They carried Nahan on their backs and acted as if they were finally doing what they should have been doing all along. The non-Awakeners could not stop the power of the Awakeners. Those who strongly resisted were made an example of and were either grievously wounded or killed.

And then everything ended.

"..."

"I begged several times that only those who committed the wrong should be punished, but it was in vain. All of this was a testing period, and all the village's Awakeners agreed, they said. I couldn't believe it, so I asked to see my lover, but even that was denied."

"...Your lover?"

Emun, who had been listening quietly, asked with a furrowed face.

"The man I said I met in the village earlier and grew fond of, he's my lover. I thought he wouldn't agree to such a thing, but now... I don't know."

Yuder then understood the burning look of anger and despair in her eyes.

'She feels betrayed.'

"Whether you send me back to Nelarn or imprison me in the Empire's dungeon, I don't care now. But I can never forgive them."