(If there is any repetition in previous chapters, please clear the cache. Apologies for the issue and Thanks for understanding.)
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Sszz!
Sszz!
Sszz!
The rain was harsh today. It didn't help that Varian had fallen ill due to the unforgiving weather and remained bedridden for three full days.
"Rain demon is trying his best to stop you, big brother." Zenny placed a cloth dipped in warm water on his forehead and rubbed his cold feet.
"Ugh," Varian couldn't even speak properly. It felt like there was a lump in his throat. At the same time, it was burning somehow.
He couldn't even feel his body. Maybe someone took away all the bones inside. Maybe that's why, it couldn't even let him stand.
"Argh."
Varian tried not to groan in pain as his body burned like a furnace. He couldn't even open his eyes without them watering. It was hell to keep his eyes open.
And when he closed them, the warmth was comforting, the darkness was comforting. The state without any pain was very, very comforting.
'I just want to close my eyes fore–haa!'
Despite the five thick blankets covering his body, he shivered violently, a weak sound leaking from his mouth.
Zenny attended to him without complaints, cheering him on however she could.
"Big brother, you'll get better soon!"
In a tired but bright voice, she would say.
"The savior won't lose to a mere rain demon! Even our tribe survived his wrath for so long!"
She would try to raise her pitch but the the weakness in her voice grew .
"The entire village has gone to find the elixir for you! We're the only ones left in the village! But don't worry! They'll be back soon! Until then, take this medicine. My…uncle laid down his life to secure it, heuk!"
The girl would feed him a medicine whose taste he could no longer tell.
"Everyone believes in you!"
She would whisper or…maybe that's the loudest she could speak now.
"B-Big Brother…please…."
Her voice was barely audible and he could feel hot droplets of water on his feet.
Varian wasn't even able to think properly in this period. But whenever he managed to have a few moments of a proper mind, he would think of two things.
One, the possibility of death.
With all his powers sealed by Aridam himself, could he survive this deadly fever?
No.
Then, what would happen if he died here?
Would he open his eyes back in the palace with Aridam grabbing his slivers and letting him go home?
It would be a terrible thing to happen. But it wouldn't be the worst reality to live with.
But what if…he didn't open his eyes again? What if death here meant the finality of his existence once and for all?
The timeless world of Eternal Empress had driven him insane by giving him an unlimited amount of time in a limited space.
This world was pushing him to despair by cutting his time to near zero.
Varian had fought a lot of strong enemies, hit the door of death an unimaginable times and even fucking died once.
But he was never so helpless. It was this helplessness that gnawed at his soul. Forget resisting the fever, he couldn't even get up from his bed and completely depended on Zenny to take care of his health.
If she was even a few hours late in her treatment, he might die.
'I…'
"B-Big Brother…you'll be fine…the shaman promised me." Zenny's hands rubbing his feet and hands were particularly slow and weak today.
Varian felt difficulty to even breathe. The weakness of his body had in turn weakened his mind.
Compared to the infinite stretch of time in Paradise, the small amount of time he seemed to have left was an entirely different challenge.
"You'll be fine…you'll be fine…woooo~"
Varian couldn't hear her anymore. Darkness swallowed his consciousness and his senses were shut down.
The sleep ended after a day and half later, when it was midnight. He tried to move, to at least shake his arms.
His body behaved like it was not his. It didn't even budge.
But his eyes, even though they burned when he opened them and watered incessantly, he managed to see.
A little girl was lying at his feet, covered in a thin blanket, shivering as the cold winds hit her.
Despite being fully covered in multiple blankets, he still felt it was cold. So, he couldn't imagine how much she must be suffering now.
Varian's guilt swelled.
Such a kind child…he would be killing her. And everyone else in the village—people who had wandered into the dangerous wilderness to fetch him a herb that they had only heard in the legends of their tribe.
Due to the hotness of his eyes, tears were always falling ever since he opened his eyes. But at that moment, it felt like an additional line of tears rolled down. And they were not due to the fever.
Ten days passed and Varian recovered a little. He still couldn't move out of the bed. But he could at least move his hands and sit up.
And Zenny…
All energy was drained from Zenny's face. The little girl who once hopped joyously like a rabbit now trudged like an old man.
Her words which flowed endlessly like a river dried up. Except when he initiated a conversation in his hoarse voice at great pains to his fragile throat, she wouldn't talk.
And the girl whose eyes shone bright with so much hope and curiousity were now dull and gray. She would stare into the distance, perhaps the border of the village, blankly for hours on end.
With each passing day, a sliver of her spirit whittled away, leaving behind a vacant shell of her former self.
And just like that, when the passage of time seemed to have lost meaning in a different sense, Varian stood up from his bed.
"Oh."
That was Zenny's biggest response for a result she so dearly prayed for.
Varian knelt in front of the girl leaning her back against the wall and rubbed her dry, dirty hair.
The child had been severely impoverished. Her arms were like dried branches and her legs looked like they would break with in a few steps.
"S…Savior,"
'Savior', not 'Big Brother'.
Her voice had turned a little mature but a lot sad. She mustered some energy to look up at him with those lifeless, gray eyes.
She tried to smile with the corner of her lips but her face refused to budge. It was tired. It was too tired after everything.
"W-Will…"
Varian waited for her to speak.
He decided to fulfill whatever she wished.
'Will you make me some food?'
He'd make her the best delicacy!
'Will you let me rest?'
He'd pay her back tenfold for all the service she had given him.
'Will you save this village?'
Even though their fate was inevitable, he'd let them life an unimaginably prosperous live until then.
But…
"Will…they be back?" Zenny's eyes teared up and her voice cracked.
"Ahh…"
[Days passed: 364
Days Left: 1]
Varian only realized then.
No wonder she was so broken. It was an entire year. A full year of solitude and hardship.
"Are they coming back?" Sniffing back her tears, she asked again.
Varian took a breath and his chest hurt. Clenching his fist behind his back, he gritted his teeth.
The wilderness was dangerous. Some beasts needed a dozen men to hunt them down. Not to mention the cold, insects and poisonous vegetation.
"They'll back right…you will take us all to Paradise now that you're fine….right?" Maybe Zenny didn't realize but tears were rolling down her cheeks.
Varian lowered his head like a guilty criminal.
Zenny's eyes shook at his gesture and her small body trembled. Her shivering dry lips opened and close and her weak breath fluctuated violently.
With a look that didn't contain an inch of hatred, she looked at him with a weary, despairing and helpless gaze.
"S-Savior…did you really come to…save us or…"
The child didn't speak more. She was so innocent that she couldn't bear to utter such words even after everything she had been through.
Varian's shoulders trembled and he took her in his arms. Carrying her like a princess, he stepped out of the hut for the first time in nearly a year.
A heartbreaking sight greeted him.