Chapter 28

The child’s toe was cleanly reattached. Indeed, [Restoration] was quite a cheating support ability. I’m envious.

The child, who blankly watched his wound heal, didn’t even say thank you and instantly ran away, disappearing across the black market.

Yes. He ran away.

“…Hmm.”

“That kid has no manners.”

“No, he’s still a child. I didn’t really do it expecting gratitude anyway.”

“Is that so?”

“But still… it does feel a bit disappointing.”

Hiyeon made a slightly dejected face, then got up again with a bitter smile.

For some reason, that appearance felt so unfamiliar to me, and at the same time, I felt a mix of thoughts that no matter how hard I tried, I could never become like that.

With inferiority… or anger mixed in, I felt such a stifling emotion in my chest.

Nausea came rushing back.

“Are you okay?”

“…The blood, smell is unpleasant.”

“Let’s quickly go somewhere else!”

“Okay.”

Making an excuse, I frowned and took Hiyeon’s hand, moving far away from where the incident had occurred.

The sensation of being led by someone felt somewhat good. I didn’t have to think about anything, I just had to move my legs in the direction my body was going.

Thinking we had moved far enough, Hiyeon let go of my hand.

The soft, warm hand slipped out of mine.

I looked at my hand with somewhat blank eyes.

That hand was rough, ugly, and still had a clear red blood stain that gave off a disgusting smell.

I’m not afraid of blood, nor do I find it repulsive. What I always feel when I close my eyes is the smell of blood from the person who died in my arms, and what I see when I raise my hand is the bloodstain that remains on my skin, unwashed.

It didn’t match.

Neither these sentiments, nor someone else’s hand.

.

.

.

How much time had passed?

Hiyeon seemed to have forgotten about her original purpose, the love potion, and was examining all sorts of miscellaneous items with sparkling eyes.

I was frowning and sighing heavily behind her, but she paid no attention and went around asking merchants about prices.

Of course, the black market merchants, who didn’t bother with things like conscience, were charging outrageously inflated prices.

Hiyeon didn’t have the financial means to pay such inflated prices.

Most academy students were forcibly drafted in the first place, and people who truly had money spared no means to send their children abroad or have them classified as non-ability users.

That noble young lady among the new students who can use ‘abstraction’ is the unusual one.

Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her even once.

Anyway, when will it begin? The kidnapping event.

Not yet? Not yet. Not yet.

‘Since Hiyeon used restoration, will they reveal themselves soon?’

[Alchemy] wasn’t a villain with as much patience as I thought.

Prioritizing their sibling above all else, not hesitating to do all sorts of dirty deeds, and not hesitating to touch even academy students.

There’s no problem even if it causes friction with higher-ups.

The elixir of immortality is like sweet honey to those in power.

Once you’ve tasted it, you can’t give it up.

Hiyeon isn’t the first ability user who has been kidnapped so far. And if the protagonist hadn’t appeared, she wouldn’t have been the last either.

“…!”

“What.”

“L-Look at that! They’re selling guns here too!”

To be so amazed, with eyes shining, at something that commonly occurred in back alleys or ability user zones.

Should I say that the feeling of living in a different world is strongly felt in unexpected parts? Or should I say we can’t mix?

It wasn’t unpleasant, but it still feels odd.

It’s annoying, but should I explain it to her for now? I can show this much kindness to someone who’s about to be kidnapped anyway.

“Of course.”

“This is ‘of course’?!”

“Do you know who owns this place?”

“No?”

“It’s [Alchemy].”

“So what?”

“Do you think politicians and businessmen could touch a black market run by an ability user who can create the elixir of immortality?”

“Ah… is that so? Couldn’t they just kidnap them and order them to extract the medicine?”

Hiyeon’s thinking was certainly closer to a villain than a good person.

Should I say she’s a good person, but with a broad range of thoughts?

To be able to blurt out ideas I hadn’t even thought of, you really do have potential. Potential for being disqualified as a heroine, that is.

“Would it be that simple?”

“If it’s alchemy, it doesn’t seem like a combat-type ability…”

“When they throw hundreds of potions that melt skin and bones just by touching, isn’t it strange to say that’s not a combat-type ability?”

“Is that so? By the way, are you also combat-type?”

“You… didn’t see me at the entrance ceremony, huh.”

“Actually, I just didn’t go then! Senior students told me that they don’t even properly check attendance on entrance ceremony day. They said teachers do it separately the next day.”

This woman… she was even more reckless than I thought.

I was planning to attend the entrance ceremony, but there are really people who just run away from the entrance ceremony based solely on what seniors say?

It feels quite fresh to witness a backstory not revealed in the story.

She appears to keep certain boundaries on the surface, but she rests when she wants to rest and doesn’t do what she doesn’t want to do. A my-way personality. The Hiyeon I knew.

‘It’s strangely… different.’

For some reason, a strange feeling arose, and I opened my mouth.

This was doubt.

I already knew that this world was clearly reality. This doubt was precisely the question, ‘Perhaps this world is different from the world I knew?’

“What about the ‘love potion’?”

“Oh, that was just an excuse.”

“…Huh?”

“I have no intention of using such methods to create a false love for Ryu Seong!”

“Then… why?”

“Sometimes you need a change of mood!”

…Is it a matter of timing? Since no particular competitor or heroine has appeared yet, she doesn’t feel rushed.

Then why did she come to the black market in the first place? Why? And why call me?

“Bia… right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Can I call you by your name?”

“Yeah.”

“So, Bia always has a dark expression, and when we first met, you were all injured… so… something…”

“Pity?”

“No! It’s not like that!”

What is it not? It is pity, isn’t it? You were in a shining place and have never experienced such dim streets or people, so you’re looking at me with those eyes, pitying me with a lighthearted heart, aren’t you?

Pity, compassion, they’re just means of packaging yourself as a good person who can spend heart and time on such people, pretending to be a good person.

If you really had human feelings like pity or compassion, you shouldn’t have created such a world in the first place.

Yes. I’m not angry at one person called ‘Hiyeon.’

I just wish everyone would die. I wish everyone would experience my misfortune. I wish you all would live miserably, meeting terrible people in dim streets like me.

If that were to happen, you would show it with money and actions, not with cheap words, hearts, or time like pity or compassion.

Don’t just pity, show me, prove it.

There’s no point in saying this anyway. You won’t get it. You’re just busy and tired enough with your daily lives. You don’t even notice people who are more tired, more busy.

Your life is just pressing ‘I’m sad’ on comments after reading one-line articles on your phones about people dying, people starving!

“…No, it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry…”

Hiyeon apologized. Even while apologizing, she didn’t seem to understand what she was apologizing for.

The reason she apologized to me was simple. It was visibly obvious that I was openly angry.

I frowned and glared at her fiercely. It’s not her fault. I became unhappy because I was unlucky, and that was my fate.

There’s no room for blame.

People who can spend emotions and time like pity or compassion on others are already kind in themselves.

There are many people in the world who don’t even do that much. There are even people who scheme to take more from those who have nothing.

Yes. She is kind enough.

Yet I ended up being spiteful like this. Like a twisted person.

“It’s really okay. Just… I have some unpleasant memories.”

“…Still, I’m sorry. This is an apology I want to make. Even if it wasn’t intentional, anyway.”

“Thank you.”

“Good! If everything’s resolved, let’s explore the market now! Let’s lift our mood, eat something delicious, and if there’s a reasonably priced item, let’s shop too!”

“Okay.”

I took a deep breath for a moment and looked around.

I was about to take out a cigarette from my pocket, but since Hiyeon was watching, I refrained.

Slowly, calmly, I looked around. The black market has an ecosystem similar to back alleys. It’s familiar. It felt like coming back home.

These people… they’re living hard.

Without being twisted or warped like me, they’re normally maintaining their daily lives, working hard day by day.

Despite being born in unfortunate environments like me, they can still remain human.

“…Shall we go?”

I looked back.

And I noticed that Hiyeon had disappeared.