Ch.314314. Retribution (3)

●

The air feels heavy.

To Elnore Erinarise la Tristan, it certainly felt that way.

The standoff between a boy and a man with a girl between them could aptly be described as such.

The man was desperately looking around. It would be a much safer choice to seek help rather than face this monster of a human who had broken through to this point alone.

Of course, that was actually true. Although the boy had taken down many to reach this point as quickly as possible, there should still be quite a few left.

Darwood Campbell was the one pressed for time.

And, as far as Elnore knew.

This man was someone who had the upper hand in situations like this.

“-“

Looking away is an extremely classic deception, but depending on who uses it, it can be a highly effective tactic that anyone might fall for.

The boy’s gaze shifts slightly. At this strange behavior of suddenly looking elsewhere in this situation, the man’s gaze naturally follows.

In the next moment, the small firearm Darwood was holding fired like lightning.

One shot precisely to the shoulder. One shot to the leg.

Clearly avoiding fatal wounds, but enough to inflict injuries that would make it difficult to stand properly.

As the man falls with a scream, dropping the girl from his hands, Darwood rushes forward and catches her body.

“-Phew.”

The boy checks the girl’s body with a sigh of relief.

She appears to be unharmed. As if his reckless charge had been worth it.

Watching this scene, Elnore smiled wryly.

‘Really.’

This was a familiar sight to Elnore.

Trickery. Deception. Artifice.

The weapons this man most enjoyed using to overcome crises were apparently equipped from before he had fully matured.

So the protagonist rescues the heroine, and the story proceeds to a happy ending.

That’s how it should flow at this point.

But mistakes always stem from moments of greatest complacency.

“-Damn brat-!”

The man who had been shot and fallen screams these words as he pulls out ‘another’ weapon hidden in his clothes.

This would certainly be a blindside to the boy who thought the man was completely subdued after dropping his weapon when he fell.

His pupils shake.

The man was ‘subdued’ but not yet ‘dead.’ It’s not strange for him to try anything.

This is a mistake that would be unimaginable for the man Elnore remembers, who was meticulous to perfection in everything.

‘-No.’

Thinking about it, it’s only natural.

Humans can’t be perfect from the start. Even though he’s learned a lot, the boy can’t do everything perfectly from the beginning.

He was just in an environment where the consequences of such mistakes were particularly cruel.

The man raises his gun and aims at the boy. The sound of gunpowder exploding is heard.

However, what follows is not the boy’s blood.

“-?”

An incomprehensible image appears before the boy’s eyes.

Gunshot.

Blood.

The girl’s snow-white dress turning bright red.

“-“

His body reacts before his mind can comprehend.

The small firearm in Darwood’s hand fires again, this time completely piercing the man’s head. And before he can properly register any feeling about it, he catches the collapsing body of the girl.

“You, why-“

The question of why she would do such a thing doesn’t even finish forming before the girl cuts in, gasping.

“Ah, this?”

Though her face was contorted with pain unlike anything she’d ever felt before, the girl still spoke with a smiling face.

“I had to do at least this much to get courage.”

“What does that even-“

“I have one confession to make. No, maybe two?”

Despite the girl’s strange words, the boy urgently checked her condition.

“-“

His face instantly turns pale.

Even at a glance, the shot hit a vital area. Recovery would be nearly impossible.

All because of his mistake-

“Don’t blame yourself.”

And before that thought could continue, the girl flicked her finger against the boy’s forehead.

“I’m the one who got shot. Not because you made a mistake. Understand?”

“-Don’t talk.”

Though it was close to sophistry, the boy could only respond with a tearful voice.

“-Well, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop anyway. You can stop that strange attempt to stop the bleeding.”

“I said don’t talk.”

He applies pressure to the wound.

The bleeding doesn’t stop. As the amount of blood gushing out increases, the girl’s face rapidly turns ashen.

The boy’s mind is similarly consumed by pain, as if being torn to shreds.

And over that.

The girl’s calm voice fell.

“I didn’t have much time left to live anyway.”

“-What?”

“They said I could die at any moment.”

For an instant forgetting the situation, the boy stared blankly at the girl’s face, and she continued with a slight smile.

“So whether I die quickly from getting shot now, or wait a little longer and die painfully… there’s not much difference. You can stop.”

“-“

“Well, I guess I can say it now that it’s come to this. I’m not sure if I could have spoken properly until death, but now that it’s right in front of me, I can find the courage.”

The girl continued, coughing.

“Hey.”

And then, with a smile, she pulled the boy’s head close.

And pressed his forehead against her own.

“Let’s date.”

The boy’s face twisted terribly.

It looked like he was crying, or perhaps laughing.

“What are you saying in this situation-“

“It’s my lifelong wish.”

“Okay, I understand, so-“

“So we’re dating, right? Today is our first day?”

“Yes, so please stop talking-!”

“Then let’s break up now.”

The boy’s face went blank with confusion, forgetting the situation, and the girl giggled.

“The part after this, save it for when you meet someone you can truly love.”

“I, you know.”

The girl sighed and embraced the boy deeply.

“Before I died, I really wanted to experience it. Dating.”

Her voice mixed with weakening groans.

“But, I was worried that saying such things might burden you. Would I be leaving your first dating experience as a tragedy? I thought about that a lot. So I hesitated a lot. I even thought about dying without saying anything. But, I just couldn’t hold back.”

“-You.”

“I want you to be happy after this. Even without me, meet a good person, have children normally, build a family.”

The girl who had gifted a beast-like person with a human-like life said so.

“Live like a human from now on. Please.”

“…”

“Make the people around you happy.”

Continuously.

Normally.

“-“

Asking him to keep the gifts she had given him until the end.

The girl’s breathing slows. The focus gradually disappears from her eyes.

And then.

A terrible silence followed.

“…”

Time passes.

Time passes.

The boy’s mouth opens.

“-“

No sound came out.

It hurts.

It’s painful.

Breath rushes in. His lungs and throat feel like they’re burning. It’s as if his lungs are being squeezed while he’s in the middle of exhaling.

“-“

The memory becomes hazy.

Like static filling a screen, the subsequent scenes become completely jumbled. It means Darwood wasn’t in his right mind at that time.

But, even in that state.

The ‘experience’ that was clearly engraved in Darwood’s mind was something Elnore could clearly feel.

‘-The cruelty learned from mistakes.’

Calculating each variable with paranoid precision.

Caring about the ‘well-being’ of those around him because of the pain of loss.

Never letting anyone into his most essential ‘inner self’ for fear of experiencing such ‘pain’ again.

If you never let anyone into your innermost self, you won’t have to experience this pain again.

People aren’t made without reason.

This fragmentary memory seated in the deepest part of his mind is responsible for most of Darwood Campbell’s current behavioral patterns.

The ‘core’ of who he is stems almost entirely from this experience.

In other words.

‘Now.’

The situation Darwood Campbell is currently in.

‘Might be more dangerous.’

It means it could be a bigger deal than he thinks.

Elnore closed her eyes with that thought.

Yes, she had seen all the information she wanted to obtain. It was time to leave now.

‘-But, wait a moment.’

Elnore suddenly pondered with her chin in her hand.

‘Don’t I remember seeing that girl somewhere?’

The girl who was at the root of Darwood’s memories.

Without a doubt, she was a face Elnore had seen somewhere.

‘…Certainly, around me-‘

With that contemplative thought as the last.

Elnore’s consciousness was rapidly pulled back to the ‘outside.’

●

“-Oh, whoa?!”

As Elnore suddenly sat up, Professor Astrid Campbell let out such an exclamation.

It was a perfectly natural reaction to be startled by a situation that occurred without any warning.

“What, what is it? What’s wrong?”

As those stuttering words followed, Elnore, who had risen from her seat, continued without delay.

“I have one thing to ask you, Professor.”

“…What is it?”

“Is that Mobius fellow also capable of looking into other people’s ‘memories’ like this?”

“…I don’t, know for sure.”

Despite the sudden question, Astrid continued her stuttering answer.

Probably because Elnore’s demeanor was extremely serious.

“Roughly speaking, he probably can. He might be able to analyze the nature of ‘trauma’ to some extent…?”

“Then, would you tell me the location where that fellow and Darwood are currently meeting?”

“Uh, huh? What are you going to do there?”

To Astrid’s question, Elnore sighed and answered.

“I’m going to save my husband.”

As if wondering why she would ask something so obvious.

The answer fell with unparalleled clarity.

●