Chapter 49 – Small and Pretty Water Droplets Only Around the Eyes (3)
“Evil! Sister!”
As if clinging to my back, I let out a new scream that lasted a day. Even so, I ran towards the academy without stopping or doing anything. The cold wind scratched my ears, accompanied by a low heartbeat.
It felt as if the world was whispering to me why it was in such a hurry. Instead of answering, I vigorously kicked a stone on the ground, shattering the window in front of me. And without hesitation, he threw himself into the crack.
Soon, a familiar stench crept into his nostrils. Even though I was wearing a gas mask, I could still smell it because I was feeling terrible nostalgia from the past, not from reality. Humans and elves, pain and loneliness that did not belong to either side. Roseria’s face jumped out from between them. I held Haru’s hand tightly to shake off all of that.
I may not have been able to understand that complicated inner feeling, but Haru held my hand tightly. But that time was not very long. Her small hand slipped through my palms and headed for the scabbard hanging from my waist.
“Sister!”
“…!”
“You… What the fuck are you again!”
I turned my head and saw a man coughing and pointing his finger in our direction. It was a confusing situation where it was hard to tell who was an enemy and who was a friend, but the gas mask stuck to the corner of his mouth would have been a clear indicator. The wary gaze soon turned to hostility, and a fist was raised in the bloodshot eyes.
Once again, the memories of the past permeated my whole body with a cool sensation. Those frail, feeble bodies that collapsed under my hands and feet. The fact that personalities like me had less durability than ants spread beyond shock to fear.
But it was always the first time that was difficult. Without even realizing it, the protruding foot hit the man’s chin hard.
“Oops…!”
With a terrifying sensation of breaking bones, the man’s head bent vertically and fell to the floor. I listened carefully to see if he was dead, but fortunately I heard a low breathing sound. However, the sight of him collapsed terribly denied all senses and brought up the word death.
Just as I was in shock, Haru carefully tapped my shoulder. She let out a tense breath as she gripped the sword tightly.
“Hey sister. Wasn’t someone there? I think I heard a voice.”
“…No. No one was there.”
“Really? Did I hear that wrong? It’s quite uncomfortable to fight in such a large space. I know I run fast, but now I can get behind me…”
“Let’s go one day. I don’t have time.”
“Yes? Wait…!”
The secrets he couldn’t tell were hung from the sandbags at his ankles. That’s why I had no choice but to turn a blind eye to Haru’s sincere request. I let out a long breath and rushed forward.
The wind that had stopped quickly rushed to both cheeks and howled coldly. Mong-ni, who flips his eyelids as if to look closely at the scene of violence unfolding before his eyes, is so savage that he even resents him. Rather, if I had gone blind like Haru, I even had a ridiculous delusion.
However, there was no way to close the already unfolded scene. In the meantime, people constantly hated each other. They pushed the back of the person running away together and pulled their hair, saying that they would hide in a better place. It was an ignorance that could not be explained by selfishness.
“Why are you doing that?”
“What is it? Why are you running away?”
“…”
“Well, you must have been frightened when you saw that mechanical woman killed a person earlier. Even just hearing the sound was bloody. Thanks to that, we are comfortable and comfortable. No one bothers.”
I really don’t know because I can’t see it. Or, I don’t know if he’s trying to ignore it for me, but Haru shrugged his shoulders indifferently. Then, she continued to speak, bobbing her head here and there.
“By the way, where do you find that girl named Roselia? I can’t even smell her because of her gas mask. Besides, I don’t know her very well.”
“Listen to the woman’s breathing. And look for someone who is strangely calm. If it’s Roselia, she’ll somehow keep her sanity under these circumstances.”
“Oh my God. The sound of a woman’s breath. Even I can’t tell that apart.”
“Then just trust me and follow me. Leave your senses open.”
Normally, I would have asked a lot of questions, but this time I kept my mouth shut. Apparently, he noticed that I was doing something strange.
I knew it myself. But it was bound to get weird. The name Roselia meant as much to me as it did to Lope.
…
How would you feel if you met her again? I’m sure you’ll feel the exact opposite of how you felt when you met Lope. And it was obviously not going to be anything positive.
You don’t necessarily love those you can’t hate, but those you can’t love will inevitably hate you.
Of course, it was time to put those feelings aside for a while. As Lope said, Rogeria was needed to reach land.
As soon as I thought of such a thought, I raised my head sadly from the past, swallowed in the shadows. I buried the poor loner in her heart for a very short time.
However, even after she ran through her academy for a long time, Rogeria was nowhere to be seen. Hallways, classrooms. Even the bathroom. She opened up her senses enough to pierce her gas mask, but she didn’t smell her.
Maybe he hid in the student president’s office as he told Lena earlier. But I don’t think she would have taken such an obvious step. If it was Roselia I knew, I would have twisted her thoughts once. Even when you talk to me, you always open the waters of bullying like that.
“Then where the hell…”
The thoughts swirling around in her head eventually leaked out of her mouth. Then, Haru, who had barely put his feet on the ground and caught his breath, presented me with a new perspective.
“Saya sister. Could it be that you are not here?”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“Coming to think of it, it’s possible that you weren’t even in this building in the first place. Everyone seems to have gathered inside the building out of embarrassment because of the gas, but it’s not like the back door was blocked in the first place, so there’s no need to be here. It might have splashed.”
“Then there’s no possibility that he won’t be on the academy grounds at all… There’s no way. Roselia needs Lope too.”
“That’s right. So I think…I think he went to the annex. It’s quite close to here. There are no people there. Above all, there are many places to hide. I know best.”
“Well…”
It was a very convincing story. It was better to go somewhere else to hide than this building where everyone’s attention was focused. Besides, I didn’t mean to disparage Haru, but it was such a shallow tactic that Rogeria could have thought of as ingenious.
“Okay. Then let’s go there.”
“Okay. Then let’s go out slowly. My legs are shaking and I get motion sickness…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll go out the window.”
“Yes? But here on the third floor…!”
There was no time, so I immediately hugged Haru and threw myself out of the broken window. Even though she didn’t have the strength to support her whole body, it wasn’t too difficult if you controlled the recoil and balance well. All it took was to cover Haru’s mouth so he wouldn’t scream.
“Ugh…!!!”
“…”
Stepping on the window sill, the trunk of a tree near the building, the wall in the middle of the stairs on the second floor, and finally the stump of the tree, one after the other, Haru vomited and twisted his body. Then, as if his head was spinning, he opened his mouth with a twisted tongue.
“Uwueek…Uh…Unnie…You’re not human…”
“Talk to you later.”
“And for some reason, the way you talk seems to resemble your senior. Is it just my misunderstanding… Actually, you’re Saya, aren’t you?”
Misunderstandings spread to other misunderstandings. It seemed like there would be a lot of things to explain after today. Still, thanks to the day, I had time to smile a little.
Of course, that feeling didn’t last long. As I headed toward the back door and focused on my senses of hearing and smell, my calm mind soon began to break. A smell I didn’t want to smell. The sounds I didn’t want to hear tangled in an instant, slowly destroying my senses.
After all, being sensitive is another curse. Even so, as I continued to concentrate until the end, a map that gradually led to the smell began to be drawn. At first, many lines were drawn, but when the smell of unfamiliar and non-human things was erased, there were not many left. If you add an element called annex to it…
…
“…”
At that moment, a familiar smell caught my nose. It was definitely the body odor of a girl I knew, and her steps were also heading toward the annex. But she wasn’t Roselia. She smelled of a fishy depravity that could never come from her.
And above all, it was still around here. As she raised her head to where her scent came from, a girl with red hair swaying miserably came into her field of vision on the other side of her.
It was Lena. She was making her way towards the annex even as she staggered through her smoke.
Haha…”
“…”
“Haa… I’m sorry…”
“…Eh. This is her voice.”
Haru also muttered in a cold voice, perhaps feeling her presence. I don’t have very good feelings for her either, but she seems to be holding a little bit of malice for a day.
However, she supported her hypothesis that her presence was in the Rogeriaca Annex. Anyway, since Lena was the most recent among us, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that the two of them had some sort of arrangement. Leaning on such a thin guess, she slowly opened her mouth.
“That’s right Haru. It’s Lena. I’m heading towards the annex.”
“That woman is heading that way. Senior didn’t say anything about it, but that woman is very suspicious.”
“So I think it’s okay to follow along. What do you think?”
“I agree.”
“Okay. Then let’s go.”
The affirmative answer gave me confidence and raised my body. I was thinking of running again. As Lope said, there was no time, and when she told her that she was going to meet Roselia, she even felt impatient.
But then, then, Haru stopped my steps. It seemed that he was afraid to run again.
“Wait a minute, sister. Stop it.”
“I won’t go too fast. Don’t worry.”
“No. It’s not like that.”
But one day, he shook his head at my words. Then she suddenly whispered in a low voice.
“I can hear someone following me. Is it because of my mood?”
“…”
At that moment, an unfamiliar smell flowed in that I had not recognized before. It was a trace of another person who had been excluded for a while because he was too focused on Roseria’s body odor. As Haru said, it was right behind our backs.
No. Maybe I didn’t notice it, but the other person hid it. No matter how distracted I couldn’t believe I’d missed something like this. In fact, the smell of the other person did not smell of human flesh at all, only the fishy smell of iron.
Sweat suddenly ran down my back. Haru, unaware of that fact, was about to draw the sword. Seeing her like that, I hurriedly stopped her.
“Haru. Stop…!”
“…!”
But there was no need for me to say that. And it wasn’t because Haru noticed in time and retracted her sword.
It was because the other’s sword aimed at our necks much faster.
“…”
The chilly blade gently pressed down on Haru’s tender neck. It was a skill so calm and heartless that her humanity was not felt. I spoke to the other person, hoping that the exclusion of humanity would only apply to sword skills.
“We have no intention of fighting you.”
“…”
“Then put away your weapons.”
“…”
The other party did not immediately respond. He must have taken some time to think. However, it wasn’t long before the response fell because no one at the site had enough time.
“…I think I finally met someone I can talk to.”
He let out a voice as cold as his sword skills and withdrew his sword. Only then did I turn my head and look at the other person’s face.
Standing there was not the stupid student I always see, but a sharp man forged over the years. Her stocky figure and cold eyes reminded her of Rebecca, whose body was covered in metal. He looked at the two of us with restrained gaze, then revealed his identity with the same tone as before.
“I’m Engemere, the butler of the Duke of Anbert. Where is Lady Roselia?”
