Ch. 197

His purple hair and half-naked state looked the same as before, but somehow Khalid felt different from before.

"To think you couldn't properly handle even one thing like this..."

He laughed cynically and lightly kicked Rawin lying on the ground with his foot. Fortunately, the force didn't seem very strong... but still, perhaps because he was someone who had shown me kindness, I naturally became worried seeing Rawin's poor condition.

"It's been a while, Leviathan."

Meanwhile, when I couldn't take my eyes off the suffering Rawin like that, Khalid's damp voice was heard. He was smiling deeply while looking at me.

However, Khalid's eyes glaring at me flickered even more madly than before. As if he had been captured by madness.

Moreover, the aura flowing from Khalid was definitely Diego's, but it gave off a thicker feeling somehow, making it feel heterogeneous.

"That bastard..."

And due to Khalid's appearance and actions, I could see Terdius, standing next to me, was extremely angry.

Not only killing an innocent person, but he was definitely enraged at the sight of even trying to kill a comrade without mercy.

I felt the same way right now.

'Even though Rawin is an enemy...'

I couldn't let him die at his comrade's hand like that.

Moreover, Khalid's current action was something that hadn't happened in the original. It seemed various things had gotten tangled since Terdius joined the Kyros Church...

'If I consider it a variable of the hidden route, it's an understandable situation.'

However, the problem was that I didn't know Khalid and Rawin would come out like this.

Thud—

When I was thinking so, Terdius tried to move his body as if to attack Khalid immediately. But I quickly grabbed his forearm to stop him.

Because rather than attacking Khalid immediately, I wanted to check on Rawin's condition first.

'Rawin, that guy is annoying to me too, but...'

I couldn't just ignore someone whose breath was fading before my eyes. Moreover, Khalid was now closer to Rawin than we were, and if I acted rashly, he might completely cut off Rawin's breath.

"Well... let's meet again next time."

And fortunately or not, Khalid smiled at me once, then instantly disappeared.

Only after he disappeared did the tension ease a bit.

'By the way, I'm surprised by the Black Arc and Rawin alone, but I didn't expect Khalid to come too.'

For now, after finishing my thoughts, I immediately headed to where Rawin was. Though Rawin's condition was also urgent, I first checked the man's condition. Even checking again, the man's breath had already stopped.

And I immediately looked at Rawin.

"Huff, huff—"

Rawin was breathing laboriously, but his breathing was gradually becoming fainter.

"The blood loss is considerable..."

It was a wound that would have killed an ordinary person instantly, but perhaps because Rawin was still an apostle of the Diego Church, he was enduring well.

I looked at Rawin, then soon opened my inventory. And I took out the 'Super Strong Healing Potion.'

'Don't tell me they gave me this potion knowing this situation would arise.'

I suddenly had that thought. Because otherwise, there was no reason to give me such an absurdly effective item.

'No, as if. It just happened to be good timing.'

Thinking so, I held the potion and approached Rawin. And I trickled the potion toward Rawin's mouth, who was groaning unconsciously.

Fortunately, Rawin swallowed the potion well without spitting it out. Right then, a subtle light circulated around his body.

"Leviathan, what is that...?"

"Ah. This is literally an amazing healing potion."

After roughly explaining to the surprised Terdius, I examined Rawin. Fortunately, the wounds on Rawin's body were cleanly healed.

'Though his clothes are a bit dirty...'

After thoroughly checking his body through holy power, Rawin's body was currently as healthy as before.

It was just that he hadn't regained consciousness yet.

"Is this guy okay?"

"For now, the body's wounds are all healed, but it seems he needs a bit more time to regain consciousness."

"...I see?"

"Yes. So for now, I'm planning to take him to the temple."

When I said so, I felt Terdius staring at me. He asked me.

"Why... are you doing that even for someone who's your enemy?"

It seemed he was curious why I saved an enemy.

"Well. I mean, this person is our enemy for now, but... it's also a bit awkward to ignore someone dying right before my eyes. Moreover... didn't you also get extremely angry earlier, Brother?"

He also tried to rush in, yet he's talking about others. Moreover, Rawin didn't directly harm me. Of course, he did make me annoyed this time too...

"Besides, I also want to know more about this incident."

How Rawin came to move with Khalid, why Khalid was... like this.

"Haa, fine. I understand."

Terdius let out a low sigh at my answer, then soon shouldered the unconscious Rawin. And he began walking slowly.

I paced my steps with him. And I thought slowly.

'As expected, this matter... Rawin must have been played by Khalid's schemes.'

Of course, I'd have to hear the detailed circumstances directly from Rawin.

And if I heard everything about this matter from Rawin, I was planning to convert him while at it.

***

The Seventh Apostle of the Diego Church, Rawin. He was born in the lawless zone at the very end of the Celeste Continent long ago.

The lawless zone was a place that began when a kingdom that had existed on that land perished due to monster invasion, and villages built by survivors gathering together fell apart.

Since it was a world without law, there was no one to look after Rawin, an orphan alone.

So Rawin had lived doing all kinds of work to survive from a very young age. Not only petty thievery, but he didn't hesitate to harm those who attacked him to protect his own life.

Because only by doing so could he survive, and only by doing so could he maintain his life.

As a child who lived in the lawless zone, Rawin had no moral concepts or manners at that time.

Of course, that wasn't just Rawin but also others living in the lawless zone.

When Rawin, who had lived without any concepts like that, turned fourteen years old...

He happened to steal belongings from nobles who had visited the lawless zone, and discovered one valuable-looking book inside.

The book's title was 'The Story of Two Friends,' a book that wasn't very thick.

At that time, Rawin didn't know how to read. However, with the single-minded determination to read this expensive-looking book, Rawin sought out the only person in the lawless zone who knew how to read.

He was an old man with a nasty temper, the only one in the lawless zone who knew well about the outside world.

Rawin brought him food every time and laboriously learned to read. After about three months passed like that...

Rawin was finally able to read the book.

'The Story of Two Friends... friends.'

At first, Rawin didn't really know what a friend meant. However, the more he read the book, the more he came to understand what a friend was.

The book's content was a story of two friends who sacrificed anything for each other without hesitation. Not just money, but food, clothes, houses, etc. When something was needed, the two friends gave their own things generously.

And at the book's end, they gave even their lives without hesitation to save each other, and thanks to their mutual sacrifice, they found true happiness.

'Friend, friends...'

After seeing that book, Rawin thought about friends many times. Though there were several people he got to know in the lawless zone, none of them were his friends.

Because everyone was living only for their own benefit. That was why Rawin couldn't think of them as friends, and he also had no intention of becoming friends with such people.

However, after repeatedly reading the book, he came to want such a 'friend.'

A friend who wouldn't be a waste to give everything to.

But finding such a friend in this lawless zone was impossible. Since Rawin knew that fact well, he escaped from the lawless zone himself.

After coming out to another world that wasn't the lawless zone like that, one day...

My child.

He came to hear the voice of the god, Diego.

Though Rawin knew a god called Diego existed in this world, he never thought he could do anything for him.

In the end, he thought beings called gods didn't greatly intervene in humans.

However, Diego spoke to Rawin like this.

If you serve me, you will someday meet a friend who matches your heart.

At that time, Rawin, who was still young and didn't know much about the world, fell for that whisper.

Indeed, from the moment he came to serve Diego, the world's treatment changed.

The petty thief Rawin from the lawless zone became an apostle revered by everyone, and through the power obtained from Diego, he learned how to view the world.

And he made constant efforts to polish himself to obtain a true friend.

He learned basic manners and what social life was through books, and based on that, he made efforts to make friends.

However, there were almost no friends who truly satisfied him.

Then finally, the friend who truly satisfied him was none other than Leviathan.

Not just his appearance, but his friendly personality, and unlike himself, a person kind to everyone and like a true 'adult.'

Leviathan was an existence Rawin could learn from, so he really wanted to become friends.

"...Gasp!"

At that moment, Rawin woke from sleep. He thought while breathing laboriously.

'Why did memories from childhood suddenly come to mind?'

Then belatedly, he recognized that he was looking at an unfamiliar ceiling. Rawin laboriously moved his body that wasn't moving well and looked around.

Then he could tell it was an unfamiliar bedroom of a somewhat small size.

'Where on earth is this? My last memory is...'

Rawin tried hard to recall his last memory before losing consciousness.

Certainly he had been threatening Leviathan. Then at some moment, he felt pain around his chest, heard Khalid's voice, and lost consciousness simultaneously.

'But this place is...?'

Creak—

It was right at that moment that the door opened.

"You've awakened."

And what entered simultaneously was the existence Rawin regarded as his only friend, Leviathan.

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