Protagonist! Please Stay Away from Me!
Chapter 90: Strange Drawings

Chapter 90: Strange Drawings

Sharon’s POV—

The singer was singing their song completely making me filled with tension. Taking a deep breath, I decided to check outside first. Standing at the edge of the cave’s mouth, I looked the outside world. The sky was sobbing heavily and loudly. If this continued, then perhaps the forest might get flooded.

So, I have to choose the other option. I can’t ignore this. The situation might get worse with the passage of time.

I walked back into the cave and just stopped at the abyss’s opening point. It stared at me as if daring to go inside it and see the singer by myself.

I collected some wooden sticks and bundled them together with my torn sleeves. With a simple spell, I lit it up. This is my source of light. Now, all I need to do is, enter this abyss.

I looked straight into the abyss. Without any thought, I entered into it, completely getting myself covered with the covers of darkness. A sense of foreboding hung in the air, as if the abyss was holding its breath, waiting for me to make my first move, resulting in my suffering the subsequent consequences.

The torch illuminated the cave’s wall with its light, burning haughtily in this playfield of darkness.

The cave’s wall held a smooth edge to it. The stalagmites and stalactites were few in number, which decreased gradually as I walked deeper into the cave’s belly.

Until now, I haven’t found a single creature. Naturally, in caves like this, we can find a variety of animals hiding, waiting for a right opportunity to come out and hunt for food.

Yet, there is no sign of any life or, sign of death.

The singer sung with a more melodious tone, revealing a hint of happiness in their voice. It was like they were happy to welcome a guest into their home after such a long period of time.

The cave’s wall began to shift towards me as the passage narrowed.

Suddenly, I spotted something incredible. There were some strange markings or drawings on the walls. It was not that shocking as we have already known about the fact that ancient humans tended to inscribe on the cave’s wall. It was to show the proof of their existence and their thoughts. It also reflected their knowledge.

This means, at some point of time, there was someone who was alive in this cave. Either they escaped or, died in here. That, I don’t know.

But these drawings are weird. I squinted my eyes and observed them properly.

The first drawing some humans... who had strange powers. Maybe abilities? They were wearing some beautiful robes and the rest of the people knelt in front of them. Were they begging for mercy? No, these humans were emitting a strangle light from their hands. Blessing? Yes, they were blessing these people in front of them. Then, this means the humans giving the blessings to their devotees, were not humans in the first place. They are deities.

The second drawing shows that these deities got angry and slaughtered their devotees.

I moved to the left wall and analysed the third drawing. In this drawing, there was another deity. All the deities stood in one side and this deity stood in the other. A fight?

Walking further, I saw the fourth drawing. This drawing was a bit different. The deity, whom I thought as their leader, escaped from the slaughtering. The ’outsider’ deity slaughtered the ’inner’ deities one by one.

I looked at my other side and found nothing. No drawing was present on the wall. Is this the last drawing?

I went ahead and the result was same. That was the last drawing.

Who drew these?

Why did I even understand these drawings?

These drawings were giving me a rough idea of this world. There wer

At that moment, I could hear the song clearly. The singer was a female.

Third POV—

"A few days ago, Celle behaved weirdly. She said something she didn’t mean to. It was as if she couldn’t control herself," said Aerila.

Sheila nodded her head. She asked, "Are you expecting me to find the one controlling her? Do you suspect anyone?"

Aerila shook her head in denial. She said, "I don’t suspect anyone for the time being. I am here because I trust your magical prowess. You are someone, who can find out the reason."

Sheila inhaled loudly. She put the staff on the table and muttered some incoherent words. It was making Celle a bit nervous. She couldn’t understand those words.

Suddenly, Sheila was knocked backwards and she fell on the ground. Aerila ran forward and helped her in getting up.

Coughing loudly, Sheila sat on a chair. After composing herself, she opened her mouth. "Aerila, I-I d-don’t know what to say. I n-never expected this."

She continued, "Your friend was not controlled. No, I am wrong. She was controlled, but not in the way that you expect. Aerila, answer me a question. W-what do you know about this world?"

Aerila frowned slightly. She answered, "About what?"

Sheila shook her head. "I cannot help you. It is beyond me."

Her words shocked both of them. Aerila’s eyes widened in shock. She couldn’t believe that Sheila would turn her down.

"What do you mean, Sheila? You have always helped me. Why now? Please, answer me!"

"I am sorry. I am not the one who can help you. It’s beyond anything I can handle. Even I can’t fully comprehend this. Although, for the old times’ sake... I can tell you something. What you are dealing is, something ancient and powerful," Sheila’s tone turned serious, "Aerila, even you are affected by it. Now, please leave this place."

Celle glared at Sheila and stood up. She sneered, "Your Majesty, I told you, didn’t I? She is a fraud, didn’t I? Let’s go." Saying that, she walked out of the cottage.

"We are going to enter a hard phase. One, that I never expected to encounter again," Sheila said, with a sad voice.

Aerila gave a last look to Sheila’s tense figure and followed Celle, leaving the shabby cottage as well.

After they left the premises of her cottage, Sheila removed her hood. A sweat dropped from her forehead.

She grabbed the hood and threw it on the ground.

After she removed her hood, Sheila opened her eyelids. Sheila was a blind woman. Her eye sockets were hollow. There were strange scars around her sockets. It was as if someone had forcibly removed them.

"I am a blind woman... what can I do? All I-I can do is, to escape from ’him.’ I can n-never f-fight him. N-no one can." Sheila shivered in fear.

◆◇◆◇◆

"Over these past days we have attacked Kelshin’s businesses. Illegal and legal... both," said Pristine.

Suroralia cracked her knuckles. "We have destroyed his hideouts. His slave markets have been raided by our men as well. We have destroyed his ships. Trading ports around his territory, were looted by us."

Maria eyes reflected wariness. She asked, "Is he going to retaliate? I am worried for Her Majesty. Did you find some clues?"

Kaerin shook her head in denial. She closed her eyes and said, "Nothing. We didn’t find anything there."

"For now, there is no news about Sharon’s whereabouts. All we can do is, force Kelshin to the backfoot. Our goal is to weaken him. If we succeed, we will force him to reveal her whereabouts," said Suroralia.

Kaerin sneered, "That bastard will surely retaliate. I am sure that he is thinking to something ridiculous."

Pristine caressed the tea cup and said, "Then we need to be prepared. Expect the unexpected. And he is totally unpredictable. We don’t know what he will do. But I am sure about one thing. He is angry, very angry."

Suroralia nodded and looked at her feet. In the morning, she had received a letter from Sharon’s secretary, Leon Astitute.

"Earlier, this morning... I have received a letter," said Suroralia.

Maria frowned lightly. She asked, "From whom? Kelshin?"

"No, not him. It’s from Leon."

Pristine looked at her in confusion. Why would Leon send her a letter?

"What did the letter say?" asked Kaerin.

Sighing, Suroralia replied, "Apparently, he wants to fake that Sharon is not missing."

"In other words, he wants someone to act as her. Am I right?" said Maria.

Nodding in affirmation, Suroralia said, "The palace is in chaos. Although, the outside world still doesn’t know that Sharon is missing. He fears that a situation of unrest and violence may befall on the empire. So, he wants me to help him."

Kaerin snorted in disbelief. "It is a bad plan. I don’t know what he is thinking, but I suggest you decline it."

"No. It’s a good plan."

"What!"

Maria said, "It’s a good plan, Kaerin. With this, we can broaden our search without any hesitation. If people knew that Her Majesty has been missing, it might result in worse situation. It would give Kelshin an opening. And he wouldn’t hesitate to use it. He wants to keep his involvement under wraps."