Chapter 52 – Small and Pretty Water Droplets Only Around the Eyes (6)
“Buy it!!!”
As soon as I entered, I ran towards Saya. And he hugged her blood-stained shoulders as hard as he could.
“Saya! Stop it. It’s over now. Huh?”
“Ah… Hehe… Ugh…”
“Buy it please. Look this way.”
“Ah… Uh…”
Only then did Saya turn her head and look at me. She held her cheeks and met her eyes her, and her hands filled with hot body heat.
“It’s okay now. So calm down.”
“Rope…”
“Yes. It’s me.”
“I… I…”
“It’s okay. It’s okay now.”
I did n’t have the confidence to look at her face her ruined by those tears, so in the end I buried myself in my arms her. Saya kept digging deeper, shaking her body like a wounded puppy.
And she cried For her lost her own innocence. She cried for a very long time.
…
I knelt down on her knees as she was. And I looked at the scene unfolding before my eyes.
There was someone’s corpse that had been brutally dismembered, and Rogeria, who had been completely wrecked. Her former self-confidence her was gone, and she was literally ragged, her low chest bobbing and barely breathing.
Rebecca approached her and checked her condition her. Seeing her dark complexion of her, it didn’t seem like a very positive answer would come out. I lowered my head and opened my mouth heavily.
“I thought it would be okay if it was Saya.”
“I thought that too, but I guess something happened between the two of them.”
“…I must have misjudged.”
“No. A child no bigger than Saaya wouldn’t have acted like this impulsively. There must have been a bad relationship that couldn’t be erased. If that’s the case, it would have happened anyway. And if it was going to happen , it would be better if it exploded before boarding the Anbert family ship.
“…”
“I’m not being hypocritical, so don’t look serious. It’s time to focus on post-processing from now on.”
“That’s how it should be. Anyway, I’ve thought about the possibility of Rogeria becoming like this, so for now…”
“Lope. I’ll take care of it for now, so I’ll buy it for a while and take care of it. It’s the same every day.”
“…Yes.”
Only then did I look back. There was a blind girl clinging to the wall, at a loss.
“Haru. Follow my voice and come here.”
“Senior? Is that right, senior? Are you there?”
“Yes. Reach out your hand this way. Yes. Got it.”
“Senior, I…I couldn’t stop it. It happened so suddenly…”
“It’s okay. So sit down.”
“I’m sorry. I…”
“Nope.”
…
“I’m sorry.”
There was nothing else I could say. Haru silently leaned on my shoulder and Saya hugged me tighter. The body temperature of the two came to me at the same time.
I certainly expected that the end of the academy would be filled with violence like this, but even so, this was a scene that was not in that expectation. She filled my body stained with her blood her with the scent of flowers, but in her final moments her, her blood her was covered all over her body her.
Perhaps because I wanted to deny reality, I unknowingly buried her face in Saya’s hair in her. I hope that the soft forget-me-not scent will come out as always.
But her body smelled of thick blood. Now even the scent of forget-me-nots couldn’t erase the smell.
After a while, a group of men came to the academy. At that time, we moved to the main building of the academy and nursed Roselia around the fallen students.
“…This.”
They looked at the scene and made complicated faces. But he didn’t directly interrogate us or yell at us. As if he had expected this to happen.
I approached them cautiously. Then he opened his mouth and opened his empty palm.
“I…”
“Are you Lope-kun?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Looks like you can’t see Lena.”
“I don’t know where he went. When things happened, he ran away somewhere…”
“Okay.”
The man approached Roselia before I could finish my words. There was an expression of resignation on her miserable face.
“How is the lady?”
“It’s not good. It was already like this when we came. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but some students at the academy have a grudge against Roseria…”
“Enough. The rest of the story will be heard on the boat. The butler will make the decision.”
“…On a boat?”
“Isn’t your purpose to board a ship?”
I shut my mouth at the direct words. He passed me with a nonchalant expression and carefully hugged Roseria.
“…Let’s get going. Time is no longer on our side in this world.”
They walked towards the shore with a calmer attitude than expected. And we followed carefully.
As if they had promised each other, everyone kept silent. We were cautious because we hadn’t been able to confirm our survival yet, and the men kept their mouths shut because they were trained that way.
And most of all, I didn’t have the energy to talk. In the meantime, Saya stuck by my side and didn’t know how to fall. He wanted to examine his expression of her, but the hood and gas mask he had put back on prevented him from doing so. It was only a vague guess from the soft heartbeat of her.
After arriving at the ship and facing the old man, the long silence finally came to an end. He limped closer and looked at Rogeria.
“We’re… Too late.”
“Yes.”
“Are those the lady’s friends behind you?”
“The young man right behind me is Lope-kun.”
“What about Engemere?”
“It wasn’t there.”
“…Yes. Take the lady to the ship. I will do the rest.”
I swallowed a dry saliva nervously at the butler’s words. But he came up to me and spoke to me in a very soft voice.
“Yes. You are the young man the lady spoke of. I wondered who the hell was the lady to mention in such a special way. Now I see your face her.”
“Yes. Nice to meet you. My name is Lope. And the rest…”
“He must be your friend. So he must also be the lady’s friend. Relax. What harm will I do to you with this old body?”
“I wasn’t… Worried about that.”
“Yes. I guess so. Maybe he was afraid that I would question her about her business her. Isn’t it?”
“…”
The wisdom cultivated over the years pierced my thoughts with authenticity. He suddenly cast his gaze toward the academy and opened his mouth vaguely.
“I heard that there was great confusion among the students after the irresponsible faculty abandoned the academy. The lady said that powers were divided and there were even conflicts between them. Perhaps her greed and ambition ruined the work in the process.”
“…”
“I guessed it roughly from the time we lost contact. Something was definitely wrong. The young lady is a smart person, but she has been in trouble for a long time because of her overconfidence in her abilities. This time, someone who will correct that mistake. It was unfortunate that I didn’t have this.”
“We…”
“And Engemere. He has good abilities, but he was also overly loyal to the lady. During this voyage, he caused big and small problems due to disagreements with others. Then, he landed on the island arbitrarily and headed for the academy. . Isn’t that personality arousing anger?”
His reasoning his suddenly outpaced everything and raced to a conclusion. When I put on a puzzled expression, he awkwardly raised the corners of his mouth.
“How was this old man’s reasoning? There must be some right and some wrong. But if there’s one thing that’s certain, Lady Roselia has returned, and you guys have brought her back, don’t you?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“To be honest, she wants to thank you. She’s a young lady, so maybe she’ll never get back to normal. Even if she miraculously comes back to life, she won’t be sane because she’s seriously injured her head.” I guess.”
At first I thought it was sarcastic. But it wasn’t like that at all.
“… How fortunate she is. We didn’t have to send her away by our own hands.”
“That…What do you mean?”
“Well.”
The butler’s eyes turned to the sky. After the dragon’s attack, people got into the habit of looking up at the sky whenever something happened. As he watched the approaching destruction, the corners of his eyes were very slightly moist.
“What does that have to do with it now?”
“…”
“And what more am I going to talk to you, a mere student? Rather than that, I’d rather have a talk with Captain Rebecca over there.”
“…Is that so.”
“Neither do the rest of you. I have nothing to ask of you. If you want to go to land, get on board right now. Everyone wants to go home. But I want you to keep one thing in mind. Now there are virtually no places that are perfectly fine on land.”
“What does that mean?”
“Yes. You’re curious about that. But if you’re going to stay on the island, you don’t need to know. We’re actually here to give you one last option: to stay on the island and meet the end. Or go to the mainland and visit your family who may be staying.”
“…”
“Of course, the end will be the same in the end. So choose carefully.
“I want you to choose wisely.”
With that last word, he turned to Rebecca. She glanced at us and turned away with a wink towards her stomach her. Perhaps the rest of the story could be heard after a while.
Soon, a buzzing sound began to echo here and there. Again, the given choice was stimulating everyone’s anguish.
Of course, we didn’t have to worry about that, so we moved on right away. I shook off everyone’s gaze and grabbed Haru and Saya and climbed into the boat. Then one of the guys we saw earlier led us into a large room inside. It was an empty room except for a large number of bedding piled on one side.
I sat down in the corner as if collapsing. Saya naturally sat next to me, and Haru also leaned against the wall next to me. As I smelled the distant beach, I let out a long sigh without realizing it. All sorts of thoughts filled my head.
Of course, the rest period did not last long. The words the butler threw earlier hinted that the land was not in a normal state either. And it occurred to me that it was not just a matter of civil riots.
It was a serious problem. However, I thought that I would like to put a comma in my time, even for a moment. There probably won’t be much time for the three of us to sit comfortably like this. Haru also opened his mouth in a quiet voice, probably thinking the same thing.
“Is anyone around right now?”
“No one is here.”
“Then I must return it now.”
“…Ah.”
At that, I let out a small sigh. One day, I took off her gloves and groped her in the air for my hand. Then, when I grabbed his hand her, he held it tight. On the back of her hand her, three patterns shone deep blue.
That day, it was a shallow deception to fool Lena’s eyes into her. Lena would have thought that I gave Erica the patterns, but she actually gave all the patterns to me in an instant when Haru hugged me before that. Haru was very embarrassed, but fortunately she was able to get over it somehow.
Of course, he probably didn’t believe that he really handed it over to Erica. But the important thing was to erase the pattern from my hand her. Thanks to that, I could confuse the guys at the academy, and Roselia couldn’t do anything because she was embarrassed. The effect was good enough.
“But how do I hand this over? I don’t know. Should I just keep it?”
“…I guess.”
“Seriously receiving it. Just kidding. Anyway, it’s very strange. I feel like I just instinctively know where to go and how to hand it over because I have this. Elf magic is really mysterious.”
“I was really surprised when I first got it. Of course, it was very difficult to hide it.”
“Even I can’t be seen, so I don’t know if I hid it well. Anyway, Saya-unnie must have a lot to explain to me. So… Ah. We’ll just talk about this later. “
“…”
Haru tried to say something, but she shut her mouth again. Then she held my hand and handed me the pattern. The heat I had felt before crawled up the back of my hand once again.
The three patterns glowed on the back of my hand again, but I didn’t let go. Rather, he held Haru’s hand her even stronger. Soon, a questioning voice was heard.
“What are you doing?”
“You have one for Haru. I think that’ll be fine.”
“What? That’s…”
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“Uh…No. I just…That…What should I say…”
One day, for the first time, she stuttered terribly as her face her blushed. She then scratched her head and said in a creaking voice.
“That… Thank you.”
“Hide it well, just in case.”
“Yes. Um…Yes. That…I’m going to get some sleep. I’m very tired.”
Embarrassed, Haru turned her head around and crouched over her body. She could hear something muttering softly, but she decided to pretend she didn’t hear. I thought it would be better to give each other some time now.
But that didn’t apply to Saya. She was burying her whole body her, still holding her tightly to my arm her. It was as if they wanted their bodies to stick together like this.
That said, she couldn’t tell her to leave, and she had no intention of doing so. Her body heat passed through her body her, too warm to shake off.
And above all, the faint scent of her forget-me-nots spread out the more they stuck together. She wanted to believe that although she was still stained with her blood her, she would return to her original scent her in a little while.
All I could do was stroke her hair. As my hand passed over her head her, Saya suddenly lifted her head and hugged my shoulder tightly.
“…Saya.”
“…”
“I’m fine now.”
“…”
Meaningless consolation was scattered in the air. I wasn’t expecting an answer anyway, so I didn’t care too much. Even so, her complicated mind her sat heavily on her stomach her.
“…”
Then, suddenly, Saya muttered something. As she listened to her a little, her voice began to come in little by little.
“…Sun.”
“What should I buy?”
“…Humans are too weak.”
“…”
With that, she raised her head. Tears were still dripping from her pitiful eyes. In the end, Saya couldn’t hold back her tears and she hugged me even tighter.
“So, it won’t fall anymore.”
“…”
She couldn’t say anything. I hugged her tightly and leaned her head against the wall. Naturally, drowsiness crept in, and the strength was slowly drained from her body.
An irresistible feeling of exhaustion literally weighed down her entire body. But she strangely thought that she wouldn’t be able to sleep. The terrible sleepless night seemed to never end.
Still, I closed my eyes. I hugged the girl in my arms even tighter, hoping that tonight I would be able to sleep for at least 10 minutes.
…
By my calculations.
About 100 days until destruction. It was a time left.
“…I understand, Captain. Then I’ll leave the rest of the students to you.”
“Yes. I will lead those who wish to stay and return quickly.”
“I’ll wait. And about our conversation…”
He hesitated for a moment, then whispered softly.
“We’ll do what only we know. As I said before, the truth doesn’t matter anymore.”
“I’m just grateful.”
“No. It’s me who’s grateful. You don’t have to make her… Comfortable.”
“Is it okay to disobey the Duke’s instructions?”
“…It’s something we just have to hide.”
“Well sir.”
I nodded quietly. At least now there was no reason to dig any further. So, after bowing briefly, I walked towards the forest with the students who said they would stay on the island.
I didn’t intend to go that far. All I had to do was tell him the way to the president’s cabin. I handed them the food the Anbert family gave me and turned back.
Okay. Originally, that was the end of it. It was a pity that I couldn’t say a word of consolation or request to the students who decided to stay on the island, but that was my natural limit, so I couldn’t help it. Because I didn’t know how to express my feelings.
But the problem wasn’t that. Just as we were about to return to the boat, a female student jumped out of the bushes. She was very tired, and she was looking for us more than anyone else.
And her hair was redder than the sun.
“Haha…”
“…”
“Ha…Hey…That’s…”
“…”
“It was Rebecca…”
She barely remembered my name, which she had heard the other day. Then he approached me with very awkward steps.
“I…I’m on my way to the boat right now. Is that so?”
“Okay.”
“Isn’t it too late?”
“No. I was dividing the number of people on the boat and the number of people who would stay on the island. Which one would you choose?”
“Of course…!”
I was a little excited, so I suddenly raised my voice. But she soon calmed down, perhaps because she was frightened.
“I’m going to get on the boat. Lope is there too, right?”
“Right.”
“Then I’ll go. I’ll go with you. Rebecca…”
“…”
I’m not good at lying. So, I just told the truth. After a moment of hesitation, I finally nodded.
“Yes. Follow me.”
“Ah yes!”
At my answer, he happily nodded his head. So we started walking together. The short walk was soon covered in silence. It seems that the child was not very talkative.
…
Lena. Was it
I remembered the child’s name in the not-too-distant past. Of course, I didn’t get much from that. She was a red-haired girl who always went to school alone. That schoolboy whose professors praised her to dry her mouth her. A rumored girl with whom many shy boys fell in love.
And, a childhood friend who was the cause of Lope’s frequent lateness.
That’s all the information I’ve been able to gather. I didn’t know that much about the kid. And maybe it’s the same for Lena. No student remembers the name of the guard who stood at the school gate in the first place.
I felt very lucky.
Because we don’t know each other well.
“Hey… Rebecca. Are you far away?”
“Not there yet.”
“I think I’ve come a long way…”
Suddenly, Lena showed her uneasiness. She hadn’t walked all the way to the shore, so she deserved it. I turned behind her to ease her anxiety in him.
“Miss Rebecca?”
“…”
“Hey… Did you get the wrong way?”
“You heard me wrong.”
“What… Are you confused?”
“I wasn’t confused.”
“…”
I’m not good at lying. So, again, I told the truth. It was only then that Lena noticed her strange smell of her and stepped back from her.
But that wasn’t enough. She should have run away right on the spot.
“As…!”
“…”
I clamped my mouth shut and wrapped my arms around her neck before Lena could scream at her. And as it were, I squeezed her carotid artery. The child, who had been wriggling in my arms for a very short while, soon slumped helplessly.
Then he leaned against her tree and watched her breathing. He didn’t die I was just stunned. Her eyes her and parted lips her expressed the shock she had just received.
She couldn’t help but open her mouth. I whispered in a low voice, knowing that I wouldn’t hear.
“Sorry.”
“…”
“But you… Are too dangerous.”
Four people can go to the land of the elves. Among them, the one with the pattern is Lope. Buy day. Three like this.
There was only one thing left.
In that situation, this child’s existence was too dangerous for me.
Words that could not be conveyed could not be used as excuses. After a short review, I turned around. Then we walked back towards the boat.
“…”
Then, suddenly, my hands trembled. It’s been a long time since I’ve been moving too hard, so it seems that some screws have loosened. I raised my trembling hand and strongly tightened the suspected area.
But even so, the trembling did not stop. Even now his lips were trembling slightly. An unknown emotion flooded into my heart.
Finally, I clenched my fists and closed my eyes. It seemed that even breathing was disturbed. In the meantime, only one thought came to my mind.
Also I must die.
More miserable and lonely than anyone else.
“…”
But I couldn’t die now.
I walked back towards the beach. By the time I got back to the boat, the shaking had stopped. The butler coughed several times and then looked at me and said.
“It took a little longer than expected. I think we should prepare for departure.”
“Yes. It’s fine.”
“Have you had any problems?”
“…No.”
Because it was a lie, his voice was slightly off. But I made up my mind again and answered calmly.
“Let’s go.”
