After I Died, My Husband Went Mad [EN]: Chapter 75

The herbalists sent down at lunch had returned. Far from gathering glass snowdrops [a fictional, delicate flower], they had only thoroughly explored the cave, and they soon had to hear the absurd news.

“Damn it, did they suddenly go crazy? Why are they doing things they never used to do?”

Still, he seemed afraid of the knight, as his muttering voice was as small as a rat’s tail. Driken glanced at Sons with a look of disdain and shook his head.

Just now, the herbalists who had come up for the shift had been notified that the gathering operation would be suspended for the time being. The problem was that it was too slow, and there was almost no progress.

“Does this make sense? It’s different from what you said at the beginning!”

“Do you think I came all the way to this rough place to be treated like this?”

Complaints erupted from here and there. The knights remained unmoved and sent the angry herbalists back to their tents. Sons resisted until the end but had no choice but to turn his back.

‘If only I had said from the beginning that we should gather little by little and see how things go.’

Driken clicked his tongue and slumped down in his seat. But what could he do? The arrow had already left the bowstring [an idiom meaning the decision has been made and cannot be reversed]. The herbalists who returned to their tents swallowed their anxiety and tried to hide the herbs they had secretly collected. They were rare herbs found in the cave.

“Tsk.”

As Driken shook his head, someone roughly opened the tent and called out Leo’s name. When no one responded, they frowned and took the next person they found.

‘What is it?’

Leo was a new herbalist who followed Sons around. Naturally, he would have returned with Sons. But he was not given time to think deeply.

“Driken!”

The knight called his name. Driken frowned and left the tent. As Driken grumbled and followed the knight, he saw Dihart standing near the canyon in the distance.

* * *

Deep darkness filled the vast canyon. Dihart stood before the cliff and quietly looked down at it.

“Are you really going down?”

Ilay pleaded with him once again in an anxious voice. But Dihart did not budge. As a result, Allos had to step in and persuade him.

[It’s reckless. The Master will be very angry if he finds out.]

“Let him be angry.”

Dihart let out a short laugh and spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“Everyone sees me as less than an herbalist. Does the Duke even treat a weakling like me as someone who can’t even see numbers properly?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I didn’t give you permission to open your mouth, Ilay.”

At the sharp reply, Ilay closed his lips with a dissatisfied look. Allos flew busily around Dihart, scattering flames.

[Think about it again. If you take your time and think more calmly…]

“That much time will make her life more dangerous.”

Dihart’s eyes stared at Allos without wavering. The red butterfly slowly flapped its wings in place, as if bound by his gaze.

“If you’re not desperately clinging to me because you want to go down with me, I’d appreciate it if you all minded your own business and disappeared. I don’t want to go down with a bunch of baggage and die.”

“…….”

Ilay put more strength into his closed lips and stuck close to Dihart’s back. In fact, he was right. He had been laying the groundwork by pretending to dissuade him, just to go down to the bottom of the canyon with Dihart.

[…….]

Allos stared at him with a look of disdain. He didn’t know if magical butterflies had eyes, but that’s how Ilay felt.

[Haa. Okay. How could I persuade you when even the Master couldn’t stop you?]

The butterfly, which had folded its wings neatly, slipped into Dihart’s front pocket. Deep wrinkles formed on Dihart’s brow. But Allos had already taken his place next to the bluebird.

“We’re leaving in an hour. You figure out who’s coming with me.”

Dihart snapped at Ilay. With a crackle, the electricity that bounced from his eyes as he turned his head melted the snowflakes.

* * *

The mountain behind the third hill was desolate, unlike the sixth path. Black shadows dropped sharply under the tall conifers, devouring the sunlight. Sebelia shrank back without realizing it.

“It’s somehow eerie. I thought the darkness would start from the canyon, but I didn’t expect it to get this dark so soon.”

Worts came closer to Sebelia and whispered. The wind was so strong that she couldn’t hear him unless he spoke close to her. Sebelia nodded and raised the luminous stone lamp. It didn’t illuminate as far as an oil lamp, but it was the only option in such a windy place.

“So that’s why it takes a whole day just to go up.”

Sebelia adjusted her scarf and glanced at Claude, who was walking ahead. He strode up the narrow mountain path without paying attention to the wind that scratched his cheeks.

“We have to go quickly.”

His muttering voice was ominous.

“Ugh.”

Claude suddenly stopped walking halfway up the mountain path. He knelt down as if feeling dizzy and breathed heavily.

“Cough.”

The knight who had been walking ahead noticed that no one was following and quickly returned. The light from the luminous stone lamp shone on Claude. The knight looked down at the pale face of the middle-aged man and said in a serious voice.

“Be careful. There are many roots, so you might trip and fall at any moment.”

Instead of nodding, Claude shook off his seat and stood up. It was the moment when his wobbly legs were about to step on the ground, ignoring the knight.

“Mr. Claude!”

Sebelia and Worts, who had been lagging behind, were close by. Claude paused in his place. The knight checked them and turned his back. The light of the lamp faded away.

“Are you okay?”

“I told you not to rush.”

Sebelia and Worts started scolding Claude as soon as they saw him. They thought he had rushed too much and fallen. But without a word of apology, he grabbed them.

“What’s wrong? If you’re feeling nauseous…”

Cold fingers without a trace of warmth grabbed Sebelia’s wrist. Worts was the same. The two stared at Claude with anxious eyes.

“We have to go up right away.”

A faint voice was mixed with the rough wind. The low voice was shaking madly in anxiety. Sebelia swallowed. Claude took a step closer to her and whispered with pleading eyes.

“Allos is anxious. He’s asking for help.”

“Yes?”

“Sorry, I’ll go up first. You guys can come slowly. But I can’t. I have to go to him right now.”

The whispering voice became firmer towards the end. But his eyes, illuminated by the faint light from the lamp, were completely twisted.

“What are you talking about? Get a grip!”

Worts tried to grab his shoulder, but it was no use. Claude left the two behind, passed the knight, and disappeared far away in an instant. The knight’s horrified cry echoed through the mountain.

“What is this… Stop right now!”

The cold wind brushed past Sebelia’s cheeks as if mocking her.

‘The people of Inverness are all lacking in consideration.’

How good would it be if they explained the situation? Did they think that if they said a word, they would forcibly knock him out and hold him back? She really couldn’t understand.

With a throbbing pain, Sebelia bit her lip and glared with cold eyes. As expected, the smartest way to deal with Inverness men was to subdue them before they went wild. Although she was a step late this time.

“Let’s follow him right away. Judging from his reaction, something must have happened to Dihart.”

Sebelia looked back at Worts, gripping the lamp tightly. His face was as cold as Sebelia’s.

“Let’s go.”

The lamp shook violently, scattering light.

* * *

The light of the luminous stone was truly insignificant and humble. Dihart frowned as he looked at the luminous stones lined up along the wall of the canyon floor.

“The very idea of trying to illuminate this wide place with this kind of thing is foolish.”

He should have come down from the beginning. Dihart let out a sneer and clenched and unclenched his fist.

Crackle-

The sound of air tearing hit the wall and echoed through the space. The knights who followed Dihart to the bottom of the canyon witnessed the scene of sharp light tearing through the darkness in an instant.

“This is…….”

It was as if thousands of snowflakes were suspended in the air. The only difference was that each one contained light and was shaking as if it would burst at any moment.

Nevertheless, the canyon filled with small lightning bolts was beautiful. Everyone was speechless at the sight they had never seen anywhere else. And that was the same for Ilay. While the knights were mesmerized by the sight of the Milky Way flowing above their heads, Dihart’s sharp voice cut through the silence.

“Divide into two and start from both ends and gather in the middle. I’ll take the left. Ilay, you go to the right with the rest of the knights.”

“Yes!”

Ilay gathered the few knights and ran to the right side of the canyon. He didn’t ask the absurd question of why Dihart was going to the left alone. It was obvious.

‘Damn it…….’

He hadn’t seen even the tip of a glass snowdrop for fifteen days, and he was so uncomfortable that he was so sharp that he would break his neck if he was caught picking on him. At times like this, if he lingered by his side and damaged even one leaf of the innocent glass snowdrop, he would surely leave this world on the spot.

‘I need to find a place where water is collected and frozen first.’

Cough, blood splattered as he covered his mouth. It was because his insides were messed up again because he had taken off the control device and overused his abilities. He wiped away the leaking blood and moved his steps. Before long, he found the glass snowdrop absurdly. It was the moment when the herbalists’ incompetence was revealed.

“…Ha!”

Dihart let out a hollow laugh and put the collection equipment he had brought down on the floor. And he flicked his finger.

The lightning bolts that illuminated the canyon disappeared in an instant.

“Hoo.”

Let’s focus. Dihart took out the collection equipment with trembling hands. Now, only the faint light of the luminous stone illuminated the glass snowdrop in the darkness.

To be honest, it was annoying that his vision was blurry, but there was nothing he could do. Digging out the glass snowdrop was a delicate task. So he couldn’t use his mental power to maintain the lightning.

“…….”

Before he knew it, the root of the glass snowdrop was revealed. It was the moment when he took a soft brush and carefully brushed off the soil clinging to the root.

Step.

It was a moment when their eyes met. And Dihart recognized the man standing behind him as well.

“Henkit…!”

Henkit, dressed in shabby herbalist clothes and his face wrapped up, raised his sickle. The well-honed blade sparkled under the dim light.