episode_0502

Crazy, crazy, crazy!

Got caught, got caught, got caught, got caught.

I was relieved to think that I had almost shaken him off, but when I opened my eyes again, Ethan’s shadow suddenly appeared in front of me.

I barely managed to suppress the emotion that almost made me scream and ran down the alley as fast as I could.

‘Fuck, I really thought the kid was going to fall… .’

Even if I thought about my fake identity, ‘Assassin Lily’, being discovered later, for now, my first priority was to run away.

If I were caught by Ethan now, the outcome would be as obvious as seeing the child in my stomach being interrogated. Regardless of everything else, I absolutely could not lose this child I was holding in my arms right now.

“… … S! Wait… … ! Sleep… … !!”

I tried to ignore Ethan’s faint voice coming from behind me and walked down an alley I didn’t know.

Ethan is faster than me at a sprinting pace, but if the stage is an alley like this, he can easily run away.

『Agile Movement: When holding a dagger, movement speed increases by 10%. Quick direction changes become possible.』

If you use the dagger’s second skill, nimble movements, and the physical ability enhancement using the ventilation buff, it’s enough.

-Bam! Bam!

“Huh, huh… ! Huh!!”

Ethan and I had been chasing each other down the alley for almost 30 minutes, so I was starting to feel out of breath.

But Ethan still called me and chased me without stopping, as if he never got tired.

“… … Reese! … … Stop it… .”

Don’t listen.

Don’t listen to it and be weak.

Don’t let one wrong decision weaken your heart. Now, at least, you must be strong-willed.

I steeled myself and shook off the countless distracting thoughts that came to my mind, then hid in a back alley.

‘Wait a minute, this is… .’

My steps were forced to stop at one end of an alley blocked by a high wall and a two-story house.

‘We need to get out and find another way. If we keep getting cornered in an alley like this, we’ll never…’

“… … Haa, Release. How long are you going to keep running away like that?”

“… … .”

…Fuck, I’m screwed.

The moment I was about to go back the way I came, Ethan reappeared, blocking the exit with a slightly tired groan.

My body, with no way out, had no choice but to go back into the alley.

“Release… .”

“… … .”

… What should I do?

Should I try to change my voice and pretend it’s not a release?

Wouldn’t it be possible now that half of his face was covered? After all, Ethan hadn’t heard the voice of ‘Assassin Lily’ yet.

Since we hadn’t exchanged a single word since the moment we first met, I didn’t know if I could change my voice and get away with it.

“… What is it?”

“… … release?”

“Is there something you want with me? Ethan Doryun… .”

“… … It’s the right release.”

“… … .”

… No, this couldn’t be helped.

I’ve been calling myself by this title for almost 10 years now, so what should I do when it becomes a habit?

Yeah. Let’s just think about it positively. Even if you changed your voice, you would have been caught anyway. From the moment you made eye contact, it doesn’t make sense to pretend to be someone other than Lilith.

‘I don’t really want to fight.’

In the past, I would have tried to force my way out by knocking down Ethan, but the situation wasn’t favorable at the moment.

First of all, there was almost no chance of me winning one-on-one against Ethan, and I couldn’t even put my hand up enough to just knock him out.

Above all, even if by some miracle I succeeded in knocking Ethan out, I couldn’t just run away and leave him alone in a back alley like this.

No matter how big Ermia was, it was inevitable that something bad would happen in these back alleys.

While I was looking around to figure out a way to avoid this situation, I belatedly noticed that the surface of the brick house on my right was quite rough.

“… … .”

If we do this well, we might be able to escape.

In fact, if I had Seiman, I would have thought of this escape method a long time ago, but I had momentarily forgotten about it because I thought I couldn’t borrow the power of the wind spirit.

First of all, in 『Luminor Academy』, Lilith is a character who can super jump without the help of spirits.

“Master Ethan.”

“… I finally feel like talking.”

“… Sorry.”

-pop!

“Wait, release!!”

After jumping into the air with the shockwave magic created on the floor, I stuck my legs at a 45 degree angle to the right wall.

Then, in that state, jump your body in a 45 degree direction with the shock wave, stick to the opposite wall, and repeat the action again.

It was a dangerous method if it fell wrong since Sei wasn’t there, but it was the only way to shake off Ethan. Ethan’s physical strengthening magic couldn’t keep up with the shockwave’s impact yet.

-Boom! Boom!!

“Release! Stop it!! It’s dangerous, get down!!”

“… … .”

-Boom! Boom! Phuong!!

“Release!!!”

After jumping to the height of the second floor of the building, trying hard to ignore Ethan’s voice heard from below, he continued his escape by jumping from the roof of the building on the right to the roof of another building.

“… … Lease!! Get off now… … , … … because!!”

… I guess we may never meet again.

In the first place, it was probably impossible for me to meet Ethan again with a good face since I had conceived his child without saying anything.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Lilith leaped up the building as if kicking the wall with a shockwave from a dead end alley, and then disappeared from sight.

After a month and a half, Ethan finally lost sight of Lilith, and looked up at the rooftop where she had disappeared with a blank expression.

“Ha, haha… .”

Maybe because she’s working under the name of Assassin Lily, even her movements have become as agile as an assassin.

Ethan was left in the empty alley corner, letting out a hollow laugh, with thoughts that even he himself found absurd floating around in his head.

“Ha, haha… . Ahahahahaha… .”

Yeah. So it comes out like this?

I definitely wanted to talk to you first. I thought that if we could just clear up the misunderstandings between us, we could get back to how we were before.

But, Lilith, if you keep running away from me like this, then from now on, there’s nothing I can do.

“… If that’s really how you want to release it, I’d be happy to go along.”

If you’re so unwilling to listen to my story, I’ll have to force you to listen.

They tie their hands and feet with rope, put a collar around their neck, and if that doesn’t give them peace of mind, they lock them in iron bars.

Even if I have to do that, even if I get hated by you in the process, I don’t think I can endure it any longer if I don’t have you first.

Even if I can never be forgiven, I don’t care what method it takes as long as I can keep you by my side.

“Resolving the misunderstanding… I guess it’s okay to put it off until a little later.”

First of all, capture.

Next, I will educate you so that you will never think of running away from me again.

Ethan decided to postpone persuasion and conversation until a little later.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Strawberry Town, a small village in the border county.

Three months have already passed since I moved to this quiet neighborhood.

After escaping from the commercial city of Ermia, where Ethan was practically chasing me, I deliberately moved a little further away from the Blackwood Estate. I knew that Ethan was frantically searching for me, so I thought it would be best not to make any moves that would get any closer to the estate.

I hesitated to pass through that way, perhaps because I thought that the Blackwood Duchy and even its subordinate houses might have issued an arrest warrant for me, so it was only natural that my escape route would gradually move towards the outskirts.

The place we arrived at was a small village in this remote county.

Unlike Ermia, whose name I had heard of, this Strawberry Town was one I had never even heard of in the original game.

The population is roughly around 400-500. Of all the villages I’ve stayed in, this one was the smallest and had the fewest people… but thanks to that, it was the most peaceful.

The quiet and secluded nature is a plus, but perhaps the best thing about this town is that the peaches grown here are quite delicious.

Honestly, just looking at the name of the town, it seems like strawberries would be more of a specialty than peaches.

I haven’t completely gotten over my morning sickness yet, but when I feel sick, I usually get relief by eating peaches grown here. So whenever I have to go out, I always stop by the peach orchard on the east side of town.

Since there are few restaurants, I tend to cook my own meals, so I rarely feel like I’m going to suddenly feel nauseous at the table, which is a plus.

“… Ugh.”

Of course, there were still times when I felt disgusted by unexpected foods.

“… It was fine until yesterday.”

I pushed aside the half-eaten sunny-side-up egg, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to eat fried eggs for a while, and quickly neutralized my palate with the potato salad I had been able to eat since the first day of morning sickness.

Now that I’m over four months pregnant, my belly is swollen enough to be clearly visible.

If you wear wide-legged clothes, it can be hidden, but if you wear clothes that stick out your belly button like before, it will be clearly visible.

My body feels a little heavier, I go to the bathroom more often, and I often wake up in the middle of the night hungry.

Although it was difficult in many ways to spend each day alone while pregnant, it was not a bad feeling because it meant that the baby in my stomach was growing well without any problems.

“… If possible, I’d like to resemble Ethan.”

Whether male or female, if someone resembles Ethan, they are basically either handsome or beautiful.

Since it was now completely impossible to see Ethan in person again, I had no desire to see his face in this way.

-Knock, knock.

“Yes, just a moment~.”

At this hour, it could be the girl at the greengrocer. Or maybe it’s the milk delivery that comes once a week.

A quiet town with few people. I, who had become accustomed to the peaceful atmosphere of nothing happening, opened the door without much vigilance and went out. The person who appeared before my eyes was… .

-Squeak.

“… Long time no see, Lilith.”

“… … Huh?”

It was Ethan, glaring at me with eyes different from the ones I had seen before.

…in one hand, holding a green leaf that looked like something I had seen somewhere before.