Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound Chapter 69

Episode 69: Blood and Flesh (2)

Hearing the report, Ayen frowned.

“… … You mean she’s still walking around?”

Morgue Camus has been searching all over the floodwaters for the past two years.

It was in the name of subjugating barbarians and searching for territory, but no one knows what her real purpose was.

only one person Except for Iyen.

‘It’s obvious.’

I could sympathize with her purpose without even asking.

They must be looking for a man who went missing two years ago.

Bikir.

Iyen remembered the first time he met Bikir.

A small boy who saved her from dying in an iron cage. He has never forgotten that face for a moment since that day.

But when they met again, the boy was holding another woman in his arms.

The woman in his arms was Camus, and she must have returned to this scary flood without forgetting her old man.

I wonder if he’s still alive, and if he’s dead, he’s determined to recover the corpse without fail.

Camu wanders in search of Bikir with a ray of hope, an expectation that can never be let go, and an unprecedented sadness.

The consistent tenacity and determination she has shown for the past two years made Iyen stick out his tongue.

“If you came to collect rubies, you should go back after collecting rubies. It hurts.”

Ayen was silent for a moment with his arms crossed.

I was contemplating whether I should tell this story to Bikir or not.

* * *

in the jungle. Ayen followed Bikir’s trail.

Soon, she was able to spot Vikir tracking her prey in front of her.

Iyen rode on the back of Vakira the Wolf and approached Bikir.

At that time, Bikir was measuring the depth of a mark in the mud.

“Is it the snake of the sea, ‘Monsieur Hushu’? A very old and large entity. If you catch it, the entire village will devour it for at least three days.”

Bikir knew his prey’s size, weight, direction of movement, location, age, health, and even their current mood.

These are the things I learned from the hunters in Da Balak.

“… … .”

Ayen stared blankly at Bikir.

Bikir has changed a lot in the past two years.

There was still a hint of cuteness left on his face, but the aura he exuded was much more dignified overall.

Even two years ago, he did everything by himself, but now he looks more seasoned than he did then.

In this way, the boy is definitely becoming a man.

‘Surely the woman of Morgue is unforgettable. Where else could there be a man like this?’

Iyen nodded.

Although he is the next head of the hostile forces, as a woman like him before that, I was able to fully sympathize with her feelings.

Iyen opened his mouth.

I don’t know why, but the tip of my voice trembled a little.

“… … Hey, slave.”

Even after Bikir had made up his mind, Ayen continued to call Bikir by that title.

Vikir didn’t really care either. So he answered without looking back.

“why?”

Then Iyan asked after a bit of hesitation.

“What was it like where you used to live?”

“… … ?”

Vikir was silent for a moment at Ayen’s question.

where you originally lived

Does that mean the Baskervilles? Or does it mean the world before the return?

Bikir answered by simply lumping the two places together.

“It was hell.”

At that answer, Iyen tilted her head.

Soon, she asked what she really wanted to ask.

“Do you want to go back? Where did you originally live?”

“… … .”

At that, Vikir paused and looked back.

Before long, Bikir laughed lightly.

“Why are you asking that? It also makes such a strange expression.”

Ayen was a little taken aback, not knowing what kind of expression he was making.

In fact, even at this moment, she was hesitating.

Shall we talk? Should I? Shall I tell you that the Rue Morgue is looking for Vikir?

Hesitating, she immediately closed her eyes.

And he said it like vomiting.

“I don’t like to lie or hide anything.”

“… … ?”

“’That woman’ is looking for you.”

have said finally said it

Iyen clenched his fists tightly.

Hiding something, lying, and prying eyes were usually the things she hated the most.

And even more so, I didn’t want to do that to Bikir.

Spitting out what was inside, Iyen felt both relieved and helpless at the same time.

What if Bikir told her to leave like this? Should I follow the tribal laws? Would that be possible in the first place?

Many thoughts jumbled in my head.

at that time.

Bikir’s answer came back.

“I am not going back.”

short answer. Hearing those words, Ai Yen felt the power that had been engulfed in his whole body melt away for an instant.

And a warm energy fills every corner of the body that has been drained of energy and empty.

“… … Me, really?”

“okay.”

Bikir nodded.

Why do you want to go back?

If you go back, you will have completely regained the power of your previous life.

At least that’s when he can completely hide his powers from Hugo’s eyes.

‘… … And who is she to be that woman?’

Bikir frowned for a moment.

Are you talking about the Camus of the Rue Morgue?

If so, thank you. Because he still remembers the grace that saved his life.

‘She was more loyal than I thought. Or is she part of a diplomatic event?’

Bikir closed his eyes and thought about this and that.

The fact that they are looking for themselves in the House of Morgue means that they are still within the domain of the House of Baskerville.

If the Baskerville family allowed Morgue’s search party to enter the Sea of ​​Water, it means that he has not yet been forgotten within the current family.

Moreover, it could be seen that the alliance between Morgue and Baskerville was also much stronger.

So it must be an annual event to find yourself, formally or whatever.

It was felt that the situation outside was complicated and tense.

Vikir thought he would have to sneak out of the floodwaters sometime soon.

At that time, Iyan opened her mouth with a much lighter voice.

“Oh. I have one more thing to tell you.”

She took an object out of her bosom.

It was the dagger left behind by the unknown intruders mentioned in the last report.

“Do you know anything about this pattern?”

It was a dagger with a large snake on it.

Seeing this, Bikir’s eyes narrowed.

“I know. It is a famous mark in its own way.”

This was a pattern symbolizing a certain family in the empire.

‘Leviathan, a highly poisoned singer’.

A huge family standing side by side as one of the seven great families of the Empire, along with the iron-blooded swordsman Baskerville, the sorceress Morgue, the religious chant Quo Vadis, and the conglomerate Bourgeois.

But why was it discovered here in the sea at this timing?

Bikir’s head started to spin rapidly.

“Can I have this?”

“Well, do whatever you want.”

Iyen nodded happily.

Bikir placed a dagger with a snake on it in his bosom.

Right then.

[spoken… … Guauk!]

An eerie cry is heard from somewhere.

The place where Bikir and Ayen turned their heads was a mangrove forest with muddy mud.

A large mass was crawling through the twisting roots.

Lung fish. A fish that breathes with two lungs.

It was crawling on the mud, spewing sticky mucus from its smooth, scaleless body.

It was a fish that could not be treated as food because of its gigantic body, eerie appearance, and cry of over 8 meters.

Ayen frowned as if he was in a bad mood.

“Looking at them walking around, it must be the rainy season.”

“The big ones running around… … That must mean that this rainy season is long.”

Vikir also nodded.

There were clear traces of huge lungfish crawling on the mud mud.

Iyen pointed to a rotten tree.

The stump of a tree hanging high up dozens of meters above was covered with dried aquatic plants.

“During the rainy season last year, the water came up there.”

“Maybe higher this time.”

When it rains, the water rises so fast that it is hard to imagine.

The lungfish must have crawled out from under the mud in advance because they knew that.

Moment.

“… … !”

Iyen, who has a good eye, found something.

It was because I saw something protruding from the body of that huge lungfish that had just crawled.

It was a single harpoon.

“Look at this?”

Iyen moved immediately.

She shot an arrow through the lungfish’s head and killed it, then drew a knife and cut open the lungfish’s belly.

Then, half digested in the sack of the stomach of the lungfish, a ten thousand people jump out.

Ayen’s expression hardened.

“They’re Rococo guys.”

Brave humans who live on the blood and milk of bears.

It has a rivalry with Balak and was the second most powerful tribe in Suhae.

They have a cannibalistic culture, and all the tribes in the jungle feared coming into contact with them.

Except for Balak.

Bikir said calmly.

“They entered Balak’s territory… … Do you mean war?”

“Well, I don’t think so.”

Iyen stared at the harpoon stuck in the lungfish’s body.

The harpoon was not stuck in from the outside, but protruded from the inside out.

In other words, the Rococo hunter did not try to hunt the lungfish, but the lungfish hunted the hunter first.

While swallowing the hunter, the harpoon the hunter was holding must have pierced the stomach wall of the lungfish and protruded out of the body.

But one question remains.

Although the lungfish is large, it is sluggish and slow, making it impossible to prey on the seasoned Rococo hunters.

Furthermore, judging from the condition of the skeleton, this hunter must have been a lively young man in his twenties.

Iyen touched his chin.

“What? Why was this guy eaten by lungfish? Lungfish are basically stupid animals that pick up and eat dead things.”

“It must have been weak enough to be eaten by a lungfish.”

“You mean a weakling like that is out hunting?”

Iyen’s question was valid.

To this Bikir gave a short answer.

“If the situation of the tribe is so bad that a weakling like that has to go hunting.”

It may be conjecture.

It could be that the hunter who came out hunting just happened to be weak due to external factors.

However, the skull showed no signs of trauma.

Judging from the scratches on the inside of the lungfish’s esophagus and stomach wall, there were traces of fierce resistance, but it seems that the strength was very insignificant.

“Are you feeling bad?”

Iyan instinctively sensed something strange.

Before long, Bikir and Ayen began to search the surroundings.

Considering the degree to which the body was digested and the speed at which the lungfish moved, traces would still be left around.

Soon, traces left by the Rococo hunters began to be discovered one after another.

When alive, he moved around with a feeble gait.

Without even knowing that this was Balak’s realm, he just made crazy movements as if he had lost his mind.

There were also traces of trying to find small and weak beasts or berries.

Usually, the brave Rococo hunters usually hunted large animals, which was in stark contrast to this.

What is it? What made the Rococo warlike hunter like this?

Bikir and Ayen continued to retrace the traces.

At some point, when they approached the realm of Rococo.

“… … !?”

Both found something.

A few Rococo hunters were seen gathered in a makeshift camp.

All of the members of the tribe, who have the blood of the ancient Dark Elves, are famous for their handsomeness.

They are masters of black magic, witchcraft, curses and necromancy, and they create a unique and exhausted atmosphere along with their bizarrely beautiful appearance.

So, it was also a tribe that suffered a lot from slave hunting.

But what surprised Vikir and Iyen wasn’t their looks or mood.

… … It was just like that in that all the Rococo hunters were dead.