Ch.50Aftereffects (5)

*

Sylvia’s footsteps, her body covered in blood, made splashing sounds with each step.

The smelly, sticky blood of the monsters felt like it was clinging to her ankles.

But it didn’t matter anymore.

Because she had arrived at the entrance to Millwood Village.

The sky had already turned completely dark, becoming the middle of the night.

Sylvia first headed to the cemetery rather than the cabin.

She had asked Ash before leaving the cabin, so there should be a hole dug to bury the bodies.

Of course, she had no intention of burying the bodies in the middle of the night.

She just planned to place them in the hole for now, since she couldn’t bring the people Ash had killed into the cabin.

But there was no newly dug hole to be found anywhere in the cemetery.

“…Did Ash forget?”

Sylvia muttered as she carefully placed the corpse wrapped in bear hide on the ground.

It was unlike the diligent Ash to postpone something that needed to be done.

Perhaps he was too shocked after killing someone for the first time and couldn’t think straight.

Sylvia thought this for a moment.

But soon, an ominous premonition flashed through her mind.

“…Ash!”

Sylvia called out Ash’s name and began running toward the cabin.

Ash is not Sylvia.

It’s easy to think they share the same curse, but in fact, if examined carefully, they were distinctly different curses.

There were clearly several differences upon closer inspection.

The biggest difference was the matter of protection.

The curse does not protect Ash.

In other words, Ash could take his own life at any time.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it! You stupid girl! I should have seen this coming!”

This morning, Ash’s condition had shown clear differences from usual.

The way he suddenly displayed anger and clawed at Sylvia’s chest.

The normal Ash would never have burst out with uncontrollable anger, and even if he did get angry, he would never have shown violence toward Sylvia.

Not only that,

After his anger was restrained, didn’t Ash suddenly break down in tears?

His inability to control his emotions was a clear warning sign.

I’ll embrace all of Ash’s pain so he doesn’t suffer?

He’ll be fine if he doesn’t know anything?

Ha, how naive.

Ash’s mind had already collapsed like a sandcastle swept away by waves.

“Ash!”

As Sylvia approached the cabin, she could clearly sense the creeping feeling of unease.

There was no light.

Not even the faintest glow could be seen through the windows or door cracks.

Two hypotheses came to mind.

Either he was already asleep, or he was in a situation where he couldn’t light a candle.

Sylvia’s eyes began to shake wildly, unable to hide her anxiety.

She lunged toward the door.

BANG!

Unable to spare the time to open the door gently, Sylvia kicked it down.

The door, split in two with a diagonal crack along the grain, fell into the cabin with a thud.

There was no answer.

No sign of life either.

Sylvia created a flame in her palm and began searching the cabin.

“Ash! Where are you? Please answer me!”

Under the table. Not there.

Inside the cupboard. Not there.

The bed. Not there.

Under the bed. Not there either.

There weren’t many pieces of furniture to begin with, so there weren’t many places to look.

Sylvia ran straight to her room.

The door was open.

“Ash…!”

Running into the room, Sylvia found Ash hiding under her bed, holding his breath and trembling.

Was he hurt somewhere?

He didn’t look normal, but thankfully he was alive.

Sylvia sighed and slumped to the floor.

After slowly catching her breath, she threw the fireball in her hand toward the candlestick and lay down on her side, supporting herself with her hand.

“…Ash. Are you okay?”

Perhaps because she was lying on the floor at eye level, Ash’s eyes slowly moved toward Sylvia.

Sylvia spoke with the kindest smile she could manage.

“I’m back.”

“…”

“Aren’t you going to say ‘Welcome back’ or something? I was honestly expecting it.”

“…”

Ash just blinked slowly, curled up tightly, clutching his knees and head.

Sylvia, still lying down, slowly pulled herself along the floor toward Ash.

“Did something happen? Are you hurt somewhere?”

“…”

“…Is it okay if I come closer?”

Ash nodded without answering.

Sylvia approached Ash carefully, neither rushing nor pressing him.

Ash quietly watched her approach.

His eyes, trembling as much as his body, were filled with moisture, and up close, she could see that the area around his eyes was swollen red.

It seemed clear that he had been crying all day while Sylvia was gone.

Sylvia asked slowly.

“You were lonely without me.”

“…Yes.”

Sylvia was startled to hear Ash’s voice.

Like the sound of wind leaking from a cracked ocarina.

A small, dull voice, severely cracked, flowed from him.

Sylvia’s voice was also a bit hoarse, but it was nothing compared to Ash’s.

Gradually approaching, Sylvia was now face to face with Ash.

Curled up and trembling in the darkness under the bed, Ash looked like a small, abused animal.

With a pitiful voice like a rabbit’s scream, Ash slowly moved his lips.

“S-Sylvia.”

“Yes, Ash. I’m here. I’m listening.”

“…I, I can’t go outside.”

“Hmm?”

“Outside… it’s scary. I feel like it will kill me. I feel like I will kill. I’m too scared to leave the cabin.”

Thick tears rolled down from his eyes, which had likely been crying all day.

Sylvia was not unfamiliar with Ash in this state.

Back when she was being raised as a soldier for a noble family.

She only learned later, but that place was not just an ordinary military training facility.

Setting aside the harshness that was incomparable to normal training,

The fact that trainees were brainwashed from a very young age to kill without hesitation was equally strange.

Of course, Sylvia, who had grown up there, didn’t find it strange at the time, but other trainees did.

In that training facility, there were duels held every Sunday where randomly selected opponents fought to the death.

In these duels, which everyone over twelve had to participate in, you never knew if your opponent would be a comrade, a senior, or a junior, but what was certain was that it only ended when the opponent was dead or permanently incapacitated.

If someone hesitated or fought half-heartedly, both would be executed, and if one side deliberately gave up and accepted death, the other would automatically be matched with a different opponent.

Everyone tried their best to incapacitate their opponents without taking their lives, but accidental deaths were frequent.

Sylvia remembered that a certain trainee who had killed his best friend and suffered trauma looked exactly like Ash does now.

‘I’m sorry, I… I…’

‘I’m scared… Next week too… and the week after… I have to keep killing… No, next week… I might be the one to die!’

True to his words, that trainee lost his life in the duel the following week.

Though she could barely remember his face now, he seemed to have been kind to others and maintained a sense of humor even in that bleak training facility.

“…Ash.”

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t… do what you asked…”

“Have you been here the whole time since I left?”

“…Yes.”

Like that trainee from the past, Ash seemed to be deeply traumatized.

The bear that nearly killed him, or the people he had killed, kept flashing before his eyes, making it impossible for him to go outside.

In truth, Ash’s mental state had been pushed to the extreme since being chased by the bear.

He had been gradually overcoming it through training, but

The fatal incident of murder that happened at that timing left severe aftereffects on the sensitive Ash.

Sylvia’s feelings were complicated.

Seeing Ash with a broken piece of his mind was painful to watch, making her heart ache,

But at the same time, she felt somewhat glad that she had succeeded in confining Ash to this cabin without having to cut off his legs, filling Sylvia’s mind with such complex emotions.

The Sylvia from not too long ago might have welcomed Ash’s condition.

But the current her did not.

Because she now knew how greatly she had wronged the Staph siblings.

Hiding the truth from Ash, not asking for forgiveness, yet unable to let him go.

Instead, she had vowed to make Ash happy.

While having Ash quietly confined to the cabin was quite pleasing, it wouldn’t make him happy.

Sylvia slowly reached out her hand toward Ash.

Suddenly realizing her hand was sticky with monster blood, she flinched and withdrew it.

Sylvia slowly opened her mouth.

“Ash.”

“…Yes.”

“Would it be difficult for you to go outside with me too?”

“I… don’t know.”

Sylvia slowly placed her hand on the bed frame.

Without applying much force, Sylvia lifted the bed with surprising ease.

Ash, suddenly exposed to light, curled up like a pill bug, then slowly rose and crawled on his knees toward Sylvia.

Sylvia spoke firmly to Ash, who was trying to embrace her.

“No.”

“…Pardon?”

“Don’t touch me.”

“…Ah, aah… that,”

Instantly, Ash’s face was covered with despair and anxiety.

Sylvia spoke without hesitation, trying not to agitate him.

“Ash, look at my body. It’s covered in blood.”

“…Ah, aah! Sylvia, are you hurt?”

Ash’s face darkened with even greater despair.

He looked like he might break down in tears at any moment.

Sylvia quickly shook her head and answered.

“It’s not my blood.”

“…Th-then,”

“There were many monsters nearby… Don’t worry too much.”

“M-monsters.”

“Yes, anyway, Ash. I want to go to the river to take a bath.”

“…Yes.”

Sylvia smiled slightly and, avoiding Ash, put down the bed and asked.

“Would you like to take a bath together?”

.