Chapter 17: Basics

When Hamoyin woke up, the room was pitch black. As expected, he had slept until this point. He lay on the bed for a while before slowly propping himself up. His back wound no longer hurt, but he wasn’t sure if Nagu had applied the second dose of medicine.

Speaking of which, where was she?

In the darkness, Hamoyin looked around the room but didn’t see Nagu anywhere. He instinctively thought she might have wandered off again. Just as he was about to get up to find her, his foot landed on something soft and warm instead of the hard wooden floor, followed by a girl’s scream.

“Why are you lying here?” Hamoyin quickly lifted his foot and sat back on the bed. It turned out Nagu had been sleeping under his bed, and he had stepped on her stomach.

Nagu curled up, clutching her stomach. She had just fallen asleep and was woken up by the step. “I was sleeping here…”

“Go back to sleep.” Hamoyin changed his position and walked towards the fire pit. He needed to start a fire.

“I’m not sleeping anymore.” Nagu, lying flat under the bed, yawned with tears in her eyes and slowly sat up. “Does your back still hurt? I applied the second dose of medicine as you said, and the red ointment is all used up.”

“I’ll start the fire. Check my back.”

“…Okay.” As Nagu stretched, she heard a couple of crackling sounds from the center of the room, and the faint smell of smoke began to fill the air.

About a minute later, small flames started to rise in the fire pit.

“Hamoyin.” Nagu thought for a moment and looked at Hamoyin, who was squatting by the fire pit with two pure white stones in his hands. “Can you teach me how to start a fire?”

“No.”

“Eh, why not?” Nagu was flustered, not expecting to be refused.

“To prevent you from burning down my house.”

“…”

Well, although she didn’t want to admit it, this concern was somewhat valid. Nagu awkwardly rubbed her hands. “I just want to know how to start a fire because when my injury heals, I’ll be heading to the Sea People and need fire on the way.”

“Starting a fire isn’t hard with the right tools. I’ll tell you when you’re ready to leave.”

“Is that white stone in your hand a special tool for starting fires?” She knew that striking stones together could create sparks, but Hamoyin’s strength made it look easy. What about her?

“We’ll talk about it later.” After the fire was burning well, Hamoyin placed the fire-starting stones in a basket hanging under the skylight, completely out of Nagu’s reach.

He really didn’t want her handling fire. Nagu looked at the basket hanging under the skylight with mixed feelings. “Let me check your back.”

Nagu expected to see a mess of wounds again, but when Hamoyin turned his back to her, she was stunned. Since it had gotten dark, Nagu couldn’t constantly check Hamoyin’s back, but she was sure that from the time she applied the second dose of medicine until now, only three hours had passed. Three hours and the wounds had healed to this extent?

Three hours ago, Hamoyin’s back was covered with red spots like severe allergies, along with the wounds from the removed scales and the red ointment, making it look like hell. But now, his back was incredibly clean, with most of the wounds already healed.

Nagu felt confused. “Ha, Hamoyin.”

“What is it?” Hamoyin didn’t turn around.

“The wounds are mostly healed…”

“Oh.”

Oh? What does “oh” mean? Is this recovery speed normal? “Is it because of that red medicine that the wounds healed so quickly?” Nagu felt she had grasped the key point.

Hamoyin nodded. “That medicine is a gift obtained through a ritual. I stole some from Azuran’s room. Just a little was enough to heal my scales.”

So, you stole it from the leader’s room. You really have guts. But that’s not the main point. Nagu moved closer to Hamoyin’s back, examining it closely. “It’s really healed… Is this normal? Is this kind of recovery normal?”

“Yes.”

Nagu felt she needed to reassess her understanding of this world’s worldview. Hamoyin often mentioned ‘rituals,’ but she had always thought they were just ceremonial acts of worship, like offering food and dancing.

Now, it seemed she had misunderstood from the beginning. The rituals Hamoyin spoke of were not just ceremonial—they actually yielded tangible results.

“So, will your scales grow back soon?” Nagu marveled. “That’s amazing.”

Hamoyin felt a bit uncomfortable with Nagu staring at his back. He wasn’t used to people looking at it. “Stop looking. It’s not that strange.”

It is strange! To me, this is incredibly strange!

Nagu couldn’t take her eyes off his back, but since Hamoyin had instructed her, she reluctantly looked away. “If I use this medicine, can I leave soon, too?”

“You can’t use it.”

“Huh?”

Hamoyin finally turned to look at Nagu. “It depends on your constitution. Using it might have adverse effects, which is why I didn’t steal any for you.”

So, there were conditions for such benefits. Although it wasn’t necessarily a good thing for her, because if she could use the medicine, she might be kicked out of Hamoyin’s house in two days.

“So, what exactly are these rituals?” Nagu, who knew nothing about them, asked again. “Are the rituals mainly for this kind of medicine?”

“No, the medicine is just one aspect.” Hamoyin grabbed some fruit and took a few bites. “I know you’re curious, but I don’t know the specifics of the rituals in the Azuran tribe. Asking me won’t help.”

“I see. Do other tribes also have ritual practices?”

After asking, Nagu saw Hamoyin put down the fruit and sigh heavily, which made her very anxious. “Wh-what’s wrong? Did I ask too many questions… I’m sorry, I won’t ask anymore.”

“No, I was just thinking you’ve forgotten too much.” Losing memory to this extent indeed caused life difficulties. Hamoyin had been reluctant to explain before, but now he realized the seriousness of the situation. “Sit down.”

Without questioning why, Nagu immediately sat down next to Hamoyin. “What is it?”

“I’ll explain the basics to you.”

   

Chapter 18: Hints

“I’ve told you everything I know.”

Hamoyin looked at Nagu, who had a serious expression: “Did you remember anything?”

Of course, she didn’t remember anything. Nagu anxiously twisted her fingers.

Hamoyin had just given her a rough overview of the surrounding territories. Azuran and his brothers controlled the fertile rainforest with no other human forces. This was thanks to Azuran’s ancestors, who had forcefully assimilated the scattered human tribes around the rainforest for survival. Small settlements struggled to find food, let alone reproduce and fend off ‘external enemies’—monsters. Now, Azuran’s tribe was large, with enough armed forces to hunt monsters and protect women and children.

However, continuous hunting had not been very effective. Many monster groups still lurked around the desolate mountain areas centered on the waterfall. Nagu had been captured from these mountains by Azuran’s men. To more effectively resist the monsters, Azuran and his brothers broke taboos, making sacrifices to the gods. These sacrifices varied—items, devotion, blood, and organs. The gods’ ‘gifts’ depended on the sacrifices.

Nagu thought this was like ancient alchemy but different. Alchemy was based on chemistry, while Azuran’s method seemed like buying things, though the seller’s identity was unsettling.

So, there really were gods here? Thinking of the scales on Hamoyin’s back, Nagu found it believable but felt increasingly distant from home. What kind of place was this?

After Hamoyin’s explanation, Nagu finally understood something. When she was trapped in the cage, she had seen stone bowls under the execution platform filled with human blood. She had wondered if the blood was used to paint the stone walls. Now, it seemed it was used for trading. She had almost become currency herself.

“So, your scales are also a sacrifice?” Nagu asked, realizing this was what she cared about most. “But what do your scales get them?”

“I don’t know. Do you think they’d tell someone like me? Only Azuran and the witch know that.” Hamoyin shook his head expressionlessly. “And I didn’t tell you this to make you keep asking about me.”

“I just think it’s pointless for you to stay here if the gifts from your scales aren’t for you, and you suffer so much when they take them.” Nagu boldly argued. “The people in the tribe treat you poorly and make you give up part of your prey to them.”

Hamoyin stared at Nagu without speaking. A few seconds later, Nagu felt a chill down her spine under his golden gaze, but this time, she didn’t feel guilty, so she stubbornly retorted, “What? I’m not wrong.”

“This has nothing to do with you.”

Nagu had expected Hamoyin to say that, so she wasn’t discouraged.

“Didn’t you say before that I should go live with the sea people once I’m healed? And you said there are no monsters there. So why don’t we go together?”

“As long as we explain that you won’t attack them and that you’re different from other monsters, someone will understand and accept us.”

After saying this, she nervously watched Hamoyin’s reaction. Surprisingly, he had no reaction at all. “Don’t you have any thoughts about leaving here?”

“No.” Hamoyin threw the fruit core he had been eating into the fire pit. He didn’t want to continue this conversation. “Don’t ask again.”

“But…”

“At dawn, I’ll go out for a while. Stay inside and don’t wander around.”

Well, the topic was cut off.

Nagu could only nod helplessly. “Are you going to the tribe?”

“No, I’ll just dig up some things nearby and come back.” Hamoyin glanced at the dejected Nagu. He understood that her suggestions were for his sake, but such kindness was too unfamiliar to him, and he didn’t know how to handle it. Seeing her disappointment, he felt a bit sorry.

After a moment of silence, Hamoyin slowly spoke, “Your leg should be fine to walk a few steps now, right?”

“It should be fine…” Nagu was startled. Was he going to make her leave now? She wasn’t ready! “Wh-what’s wrong?”

“At dawn, do you want to go outside with me?”

“Huh?”

“You haven’t been down from the tree since you started recovering.”

Nagu was stunned for a moment before realizing that Hamoyin was asking if she wanted to go out for some fresh air. Indeed, her activity range had only extended to the canopy for over a month. She hadn’t set foot on the ground for a long time.

“But if I go out and someone sees me, won’t it cause trouble for you?” The offer was tempting, but the reason made Nagu refuse. “I’d better stay inside.”

“We won’t go far, just under these trees.”

Things were getting strange, and Nagu sensed something.

Usually, if she refused once, Hamoyin would just say “oh” and never bring it up again. But this time was different. He was persuading her.

Was this a hint of something? Although Nagu couldn’t imagine what Hamoyin was hinting at, what deeper meaning could there be in taking her, a cripple, outside?

“But is it really okay to take me out?” Nagu hesitated and confirmed again. “I might get in your way.”

“It’s fine. You should get some exercise.” Hamoyin stood up and started tidying up around the fire pit. “Staying inside all the time isn’t good.”

Author’s Note:

Nagu: Sigh…

Hamoyin: What’s wrong?

Nagu: Nothing…

Hamoyin: Oh.

Nagu: …Sigh.