The mysterious figure pulled my hand, stopping me from leaving. I was startled by his action—I couldn't be sure if the one who came to help me meant good or ill.
"Wait… who are you?" In a situation like this, my first thought was that he might be trying to trick me—lure me away and kill me in exchange for an obolus.
But the mysterious figure didn't stop moving. He simply replied, "You don't have to worry… I mean no harm."
At first, I didn't fully believe him. But when I heard his voice, I dropped that suspicion. His tone was simple, sincere—there wasn't a trace of ill will in it.
He led me to hide along the bone wall, where the ravenous spirits had already cleared out. We moved steadily along the wall. I didn't understand why he wasn't leading me straight out through the gate of the Underworld.
"W-Wait… why aren't we leaving through the gate?" I asked.
"We can't… it's too dangerous. Especially in the dark like this—you can forget it," he replied.
What could be out there beyond the Underworld's gate that was so terrifying? Was he just trying to trick me?
"Trust me… I'm not lying to you. It really is dangerous."
We ran together for quite some distance. By now, I couldn't see the faint blue glow that marked the presence of other souls anymore. That meant we had successfully escaped them. The one who helped me let out a heavy breath—he seemed exhausted.
"Who are you?" I asked him.
"You really don't remember me?" he asked in return.
I shook my head. I truly didn't.
"Hm… well, what can I say… I'm just another nameless background character like you." He paused, as if trying to think of something. Then a realization seemed to strike him.
He extended his arm for me to see.
I used the flickering blue glow from my own body to shine a light on his arm. There were letters tattooed there—it was a marking.
The letters read: DCCLXXVI. That looked… oddly familiar. I'd seen it somewhere before.
I thought for a moment, and then it hit me—DCCLXXVI. That was Roman numerals. Wait, that number looked very familiar.
I counted the letters one by one.
"Seven seventy-six… wait… you're… Crabby, aren't you?"
He smiled at me, as if to confirm that I had guessed right.