Chapter 73 - The Girl Wants to Be M*rdered

〈 Chapter 73 〉 73. A Child at Heart. * * * ** Clatter, clatter, a carriage approached along the unpaved road. The ear-splitting screams of the crowd and the coachman's shouts engulfed the street. Everyone waved their hands and shouted to get out of the way, but in reality, no one stepped forward. When Alice stood still as if staring death in the face before the heavy carriage barreling towards her, my legs moved faster than they ever had before. What propelled me forward was not the well-trained legs from constant exercise, nor the seemingly unreal and hard-to-accept possibility that Alice might die. It was the thought that maybe, just maybe, I could finally be at ease. That I could finally let everything go. That I was truly sorry for everything. "...Heh, heh." That was the essence of Alice's sad and pained smile. "Aaaaaaaaah──!!!" I screamed. My body creaked under the strain of surpassing its limits, and my muscles and joints cried out incessant agony. But what did that pain, that suffering matter? Alice was making such an expression. Alice was enduring a pain far greater than this. Compared to the ache in my heart right now, dislocated bones and ruptured veins were nothing. I ran, and I ran. In that moment, the bird flying across the sky stopped in its tracks. A wallet carelessly dropped suspended in midair. A moment that felt like infinity, akin to eternity, like a nursing mother’s gentle time. It felt like I was the only one swimming in water. Within it, I reached out for the bluebird before my eyes─ "Saaaafe!!!" "...!!" I barely managed to grab hold of Alice. ** "...Thank goodness." "........" Truly, thank goodness. Carefully, I embraced Alice, who lay limply as if unconscious from the shock. The bandages that Saeli had wrapped around her for healing had already come undone. Her delicate, once-pretty fingernails were chipped and broken, marred by attempts to scratch something fiercely; the surrounding skin was filled with bleeding wounds. Falling, colliding. Still, somehow, she struggled desperately to escape from that place. A child who always managed to endure hardships without losing her smile. Her first act of whimsy, ungrown-up compared to her usual maturity, threatened to end in tragedy. We always wished she would want for more. If ever she had something she wished to pursue, we wanted her to do it without hesitation. Even if she were to pout, cause mischief like a little rascal, or make some wild demands, we were ready to grant whatever Alice desired willingly. For a child to live like a child, without concern and full of brightness. It was the role of us adults to protect that fundamental truth, Saeli and I believed. But. We never, by any means, wished that Alice would make such a choice. "......." Thinking on it, it was indeed inevitable. There isn’t a person in the world who feels no anger or rage. There are only those who hold such feelings inside for a long time. Acting mature and composed doesn't mean one can carry many burdens. Remaining silent doesn’t mean one's inner self is unaffected. They were merely holding it in. We were judging them by our own standards without realizing it. That was true even with Alice. Sigh. I lightly stroked Alice's soft hair. "......." "..─..──..." Each time my hand gently caressed her head, Alice’s body trembled slightly, filling my heart with indescribable sorrow. Even in her dreams, what on earth could she be so afraid of? Her body was a mosaic of bruises and wounds visible between torn clothes, skin raw and painful, making touching her difficult. Why won't the world leave this child be? Now I understood Saeli's desperate cries, her lamentation to Remi Akaia and the absurd world. I sighed softly. "...Well, what do we do now?" A loose pine cone on the path caught the edge of my foot and flew off into the distance. Though we managed to extinguish the massive fire that threatened to consume the forest, problems still remained, looming like a towering mountain. For now, the immediate concern was our next steps. Considering Alice’s condition and mental well-being, the only right thing was to quickly rush her to a hospital as I carried her. Alternatively, leaving her at Remi Akaia’s dormitory, at least vacant for now, seemed an option. But that didn’t quite feel feasible. I had to hurry and get to the street where they were likely facing off. ".....Urgh." The last scene I saw before chasing after the fleeing Alice. It was Remi Akaia charging towards her opponent, hurling all sorts of curses with a drawn sword. And Saeli, smiling viciously at me, was holding back two men who appeared to be guards. Given Saeli's identity, Remi Akaia getting killed or seriously injured was unlikely. However, in a street crowded with witnesses, Saeli couldn't just reveal her true self and had a handicap of not being able to use her powers openly. In that state, to quickly bring down the skilled warriors who deemed someone like me insignificant, and the additional guards that emerged one by one, well... To be honest, I couldn’t envision Saeli losing, but that didn’t stop me from worrying. Moreover, I was concerned about Remi Akaia, who was consumed by rage. Considering the kind of opponent she faced, it was understandable. Yes. If the fight continued in that way, whether it was the opponent or the two people I knew── ──someone could truly end up dead. And if that happened, Alice would blame herself again. Which meant the current situation could repeat itself. "─...─,─." "....The world really is a hard place to live." A difficult dilemma forced me to choose between two options. Yet, both were fraught with traps. Leaving Alice, who was so distraught that she threw herself in front of the oncoming carriage, alone without a guardian at a hospital or dormitory could lead to her panicking and doing something drastic upon regaining consciousness. The reason I managed to save Alice just now was purely down to luck. Had I been even a second late. Had the distance between Alice and I been just a little longer. '....Ah...Ahh...!!!' '............' By now, I would have been on my knees in despair, with a hollow expression on my face. "....Ha." The realization that I had not noticed how cornered Alice's mind had become, to the point of impulsively considering abandoning her entire future, brought forth despair and misery unlike any other when I saw her, a treasured friend and sibling-like figure, hurling herself towards death. I did not want to experience that feeling again. Even if it meant the end for me and everyone else. That alone must not happen. —Never. So ultimately, this was the only method left. "..I'm sorry, Alice." ".....ㅡ,ㅡ." This time, I promise not to let you get hurt. I swear by everything I hold dear. So, Alice. Will you trust me and let yourself lean on me? First, I initiated swift treatment. "Hey! You there! Don't look away! Hey, you with the red hair! If that's you, come over here!" "Y-Yes!? M-Me!?" I stopped a passerby to fetch the medicine and bandages, hastily cleansing and covering the wounds marring Alice’s body. All my finances may have been depleted by the costly medicine, but what did that matter? Though my brow furrowed as I applied the medicine to her torn skin and bruises, the fact that nothing appeared broken or fractured provided me some relief. If that had been the case, I would have had to revise my entire plan. —Swoosh! "...Was this it?" I unfolded a large cloth, wrapping Alice’s body snugly like a bundle, despite being pressed for time and possessing unreliable knowledge, making some trial and error necessary. Ultimately, I secured Alice tightly to my back. The remaining part of the cloth was draped over my shoulders like a cloak, ensuring she couldn't be seen from outside. And she couldn't see out either. As they say, “In a fight between whales, the shrimp’s back gets broken.” If breaking was the only outcome, it would have been fortunate. "The shrimp might be utterly crushed." ".....ㅡ,ㅡ." Step by step. Feeling the slight trembling breaths of Alice against my back. I moved toward the heart of the street where they were fighting, with heavier footsteps than ever before. Placing all my bets in a once-in-a-lifetime gamble. ** * * *