TEOCH 53

“This is ridiculous. What on earth did I do for you to act like this?”

When I forcefully shook off the hand gripping my leg and stood up, Rikiel faintly frowned and stepped back. It was a rather tame movement for someone who had charged at me ferociously enough to knock me down, but his expression was still plastered with annoyance and displeasure.

My face scrunched up on its own, sensing that another troublesome matter was about to arise. He seemed to be acting friendly enough just a while ago, so is he picking a fight over something like this again?

‘Well, it’s not easy for a person to change…’

I took a deep breath and met Rikiel’s gaze. I had no idea why he was suddenly in a bad mood, but flimsy appeasements or evasions wouldn’t work on this man. If we were going to fight anyway, it would be better to confront him head-on. Though it would be quite stressful, of course.

“That liquid just now, what exactly does it do to your body?”

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? That liquid only made the parasite go berserk.”

“So I’m asking what exactly that ‘berserk’ means. You may know everything, but we don’t.”

His tone was almost mocking, but Rikiel’s own eyes were as serious as could be. He probably wasn’t even aware that he was mocking me, so trying to pick on him for something like this would be completely useless.

However, seeing him suddenly ask a question like that, I could roughly guess why Rikiel was angry. He must just be frustrated. Frustrated with this situation where I make all the decisions unilaterally without any information being given.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand why Rikiel was being so irritable. He was, after all, the captain of a country’s royal guard. He was used to making decisions and giving orders himself, not to blindly following someone else’s decisions without knowing anything. But…

‘It can’t be helped. I can’t possibly move while explaining every single one of my actions!’

Of course, I was also at fault for not explaining properly, but if you repeat the same explanation more than 20,000 times, you’re bound to get sick of explaining itself! I tried to keep from getting needlessly irritated and opened my mouth. Well, I’d have to give the man the explanation he wanted anyway. I had planned to explain while we walked, after all.

“Going berserk is the process of overloading a parasite to make it exhibit a stronger performance than it originally possessed. It depends on the quality of the berserker fluid, but it becomes about two to three times more powerful than its original performance.”

“I don’t care about that. So, what are the side effects?”

“The calories consumed become slightly higher, and the risk of it running rampant increases. It’s not a big deal…”

“Wait a minute.”

Rikiel, who had abruptly cut off my explanation, scowled fiercely. I thought I explained it properly this time, so why is he acting like that again? I was puzzled by Rikiel’s expression, which, far from clearing up, showed even more displeasure, and after a moment, I let out a deep sigh.

“So what you’re saying right now is.”

“…”

“If you implant a berserked parasite in your body, the possibility of what happened to me yesterday happening to you becomes a little higher, is that right?”

So it was because of that problem. Given what had happened to him while we were fleeing from the island’s collapse, I could roughly guess what he was imagining right now.

The fact that I had unilaterally decided on such a dangerous matter without a single word of discussion with the others must have gotten on the man’s nerves. Just as not only Rikiel’s but also the other companions’ expressions began to darken, I quickly added.

“It’s not as dangerous as you think. If the risk of it running rampant was that severe, there would have been no reason to make the parasite go berserk in the first place.”

“In any case, it’s more dangerous than a normal parasite. Am I wrong?”

“I believe I told you. That the benefits gained from it are more than sufficient. Unlike your wings, this parasite’s activation can be suppressed at an appropriate level, so as long as we limit the number of uses, there’s no need to worry about the parasite running rampant.”

“But, was there a reason you had to put it in your own body?”

I frowned faintly. I went to the trouble of explaining everything, and now he’s shifting the topic to this? I had anticipated this wouldn’t be a simple argument, but at this point, it was starting to get on my nerves.

How am I supposed to please him when he gets angry like that if I do anything that doesn’t suit his fancy? There’s a limit to how much I can try to accommodate him…!

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“You could have given that parasite to the other companions. You already have two parasites in your body.”

“I put it in my body because I thought it would be most efficient for me to use it. You have wings anyway, so you’re fine without this parasite, aren’t you?”

“Yes, it would be unnecessary for me. But if you had given it to the others, you would have…”

“Then what about the others? It’s faster for Damian to be carried by someone else, and it’s more efficient for Rehas to move with you and cover me. It would be difficult to shoot a bow while running, after all.”

“…”

“And, since I’m the guide, shouldn’t I move faster than you all? If I fall behind and can’t get my bearings, that would be a real problem. Am I wrong?”

Tristan’s gaze lingered on me for a moment, but I deliberately ignored it. Fortunately, Rikiel hadn’t noticed that I had avoided mentioning Tristan.

‘Yes, Tristan will also have to put a parasite in his body someday. But for now…’

Right now, I had to resolve the argument with Rikiel first. There were countless times I had fought with that man over the method of using parasites. For convenience, I tended to put most of the dangerous parasites into my own body, and Rikiel would get angry as if displeased every time I handled things that way.

Perhaps he didn’t like me selfishly hogging all the parasites. But it can’t be helped. They have to be put into my body, which can use the power of purification, so that they can be dealt with quickly if they run rampant.

If I don’t reach a clear conclusion this time, it’s obvious we’ll keep fighting in the future, so it’s more advantageous to end this kind of war of attrition as definitively as possible. I sighed and spoke firmly.

“Sir Rikiel, didn’t you promise to respect my decisions as much as possible? Have you already forgotten that promise?”

“…”

“It was certainly my fault for not explaining properly to you all. But it was the result of what I thought was the best decision, and when you get angry like this, it feels like my decision is being ignored, which I don’t like.”

“That’s, that’s not the issue.”

“Then what is the issue?”

“You already have two parasites residing in your body. If you add a new parasite to that, your body will…!”

“Sir Rikiel, have you even been listening to what I’ve been saying? So you’re saying the problem was that I didn’t distribute the parasites equally among everyone? Is that what you want to say?”

I turned my head away sharply without even hearing Rikiel out. Thorns began to sprout in my voice, which had barely been maintaining its composure, but I just couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Just how far do I have to go to try and convince this man? It’s a matter of distributing the parasites according to the circumstances; there’s no reason why I must distribute them equally to everyone. For him to be so stubborn about that!

I took a calm, deep breath and waited for Rikiel to retort. Whether my guess was right or wrong, that man would persistently cling to me and be a nuisance, and in order to refute that forced argument, I needed my composure anyway. …But.

“…”

For some reason, Rikiel just hung his head without saying anything. Strange, with his personality, he would get angry if anything, not clam up like that.

Growing uneasy at the unexplained silence, I cautiously approached him. Up close, I saw that his face had turned ashen, and an unidentifiable emotion flickered in his eyes. For some reason, a strange sense of foreboding began to creep up from within my chest. Something was wrong.

“Sir Rikiel?”

“…Truly, you only hear what you want to hear.”

He tossed out the words without lifting his head. Knowing his habit of always lifting his head and meeting my eyes directly, I couldn’t help but be quite flustered. It was clear that I had done something wrong, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what exactly the problem was.

However, I did notice one thing for certain.

I don’t think I should get any angrier at that person.

“Wait a moment, Sir Rikiel. What is that supposed to…?”

“No need to mind me. It’s not like you want to listen to whatever I say anyway!”

“If you’re angry because I cut you off, I apologize. I was just…”

“Enough, I don’t want to talk anymore!”

I instinctively reached out my arm toward Rikiel as he spun around, but as soon as I grabbed his wrist, a tremendous force shook my hand off. I only staggered back a few steps and didn’t fall, but I couldn’t help being bewildered. What? Why is he acting like that? He’s never acted like that before.

I could only stare blankly at Rikiel’s back, unable to do anything. What on earth is he so displeased about to act like that? He was clearly the one who picked the fight, yet he’s acting angry as if I hurt him…?

While I was fidgeting, unable to hide my dumbfounded feelings, this time a voice called me from behind. It was Tristan.

“Just a moment, Rohan.”

“…Your Majesty?”

“Shall we not end the exploration for today and go back? The sun is setting.”

When I turned my head, Tristan’s green eyes were gazing at me. I was on the verge of replying that although the sun was setting, it was still a long time before it got dark, when I barely managed to understand Tristan’s meaning.

Right, there’s no way exploration would go well in this situation. It would be better to return to our temporary shelter and cool our heads.

“Understood. Then let’s head back for today. Let’s come out early tomorrow at dawn and explore a little more.”

Tristan gave me a slight nod and then approached Rikiel. It seemed he was planning to return to the temporary shelter and have a talk with Rikiel.

I felt a pang of guilt, wondering if Tristan was going through trouble because of my mistake, but there was nothing I could do for now. Honestly, I couldn’t even grasp why Rikiel was angry.

I let out a deep sigh and started walking. Rikiel simply headed toward the temporary shelter in silence, without even a glance back.