episode_0106

How should I describe my feelings, looking at that bastard?

…How dare he lay a hand on Tia.

Appearing before me.

What courage does he have not to run away and stand proudly?

What audacity does he have to grin ‘hehe’ at me?

“……”

It surges up.

The anger I had momentarily pushed aside boils my blood.

Like a pot boiling over, bubbling and overflowing.

Everything inside my body turns upside down and heats up fiercely.

Never in my life have I been so angry.

A powerful trembling in my hands I’ve never felt even once.

*Grind.*

The moment I bent and clenched my fingers, they felt as hard as steel, capable of crushing anything.

“Fosao…”

Steam escaped between my teeth.

The coughs that constantly bothered me also stopped.

More than when making a very sensitive medicine.

More than when staring at a still about to burst.

All my extremely concentrated mind glares at the opponent just ten paces away.

I understand it now.

This is… ‘the urge to kill’.

The desire to eliminate that pig bastard from this world.

A resolution never to breathe the same air as that disgusting man.

And a vow to utterly annihilate him so I never see him again, not even in my consciousness.

“……I’ll kill him.”

That was the only thought.

I had no desire, no energy left to talk to that bastard.

Only the conclusion that it was the obvious thing to do.

Because if I didn’t kill Fosao here and now, I felt like I would die.

*Whoosh—.*

It was a stroke of luck that I didn’t just charge but calmly fumbled in my pocket one more time.

Something very good was inside.

*Clench—.*

It was Tia’s pocketknife.

The knife Fosao had bought for Tia to peel Goldburg apples.

Did that pig bastard even know that his own throat was destined to be pierced by it before long?

*Swish—!*

The sharp blade tore through the edge of my pocket and sprang out into the winter air.

*Thud.*

I took a step forward.

My surroundings weren’t clear.

It felt like walking in a narrow, dark cave.

Just a moment ago, the target seemed close.

Now, an illusion made it feel as far away as a pure white light at the end of a cave.

Nevertheless, all I could see was…

The pig’s face.

It was a face full of jowls I wanted to tear to shreds with the blade.

*Thud.*

I will kill him.

I will kill this man and go to Tia.

If I tell her I killed this bastard, will Tia be confused?

No. I’ll tell her everything.

That I can see memory visions.

That Fosao thought of her as a toy.

That’s why I decided to save her from his evil clutches.

If I tell her everything… Tia will understand.

It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t understand.

I’ll openly admit to the murder and run away with Tia.

That’s the best justification for me, as the village chief, to leave Breezedown.

*Thud.*

Now, seven steps.

The fact that the distance wasn’t closing confirmed that Fosao was backing away.

“I-Ihihik…”

He picked up something leaning against the wall.

It was a stick used to poke a brazier.

He raised it and aimed it at me.

“Hoo—hoooh—.”

“……”

I wasn’t scared in the slightest.

It was like a rat raising its tail in front of a cat.

He plans to use that as a weapon now?

He thinks he can face me, holding a knife, with just a single iron rod?

As if humiliating Tia wasn’t enough.

How much did he look down on me, how much did he disregard me, to…

Try to fight me with just a club, not even a kitchen knife?

Indeed. I should have killed him then.

Two days ago, when I was on patrol. I should have slashed his belly then.

*Clench—.*

My legs tensed.

*Thump!*

I burst forward with immense power, surprising even myself.

I quickly grabbed the pocketknife with both hands and raised it above my head.

In an instant, Fosao’s face was close.

“Eek!”

*Thud!*

Blocked.

The iron club lay horizontally, blocking my right arm holding the knife.

*Grinding—!*

I put even more force into it.

The blade slowly advanced, as if it would pierce his skin any moment.

“Ugh…!”

The iron club trembled and was pushed back.

I let go with my left hand and grabbed his arm.

At that moment, the balance of power twisted, and the pocketknife and club became chaotically entangled.

*Clang!*

The clear sound of scraping metal.

At the same time, Fosao’s heavy footsteps, trying to move away from me.

My hand holding onto his sleeve, refusing to let go.

“Diiiiie—!!!”

It was the moment I was about to bring the raised blade down on his shoulder again.

*Whoosh—.*

Suddenly, everything began to freeze.

Fosao’s terrified face, and my blade flying towards it.

“……!”

I couldn’t move.

My consciousness was being sucked away, against my will.

A ‘memory vision’ was about to unfold.

“…No.”

Fosao is right in front of me now.

It’s an opportunity to kill him.

Why… why now of all times?

“No!!”

I screamed to force it away, but.

In an instant, my consciousness left my body and flew somewhere.

***

*Whoosh—!*

*Thud.*

I landed.

When I raised my head, it was evening.

It was so sudden that my body staggered.

I barely managed to regain balance, but then I swayed and tottered in the opposite direction again.

It felt as if it wasn’t my own body.

“Huff—huff—.”

That’s right.

It wasn’t my body.

I realized it the moment I heard that chilling breath.

The fact that I was now inside Fosao’s body.

The moment I grabbed his arm, I must have read a ‘Tia-related memory’ remaining in his body, one I hadn’t seen yet.

I looked around.

A familiar sight.

I, no, Fosao, was in the lower village of Tailden.

Fosao waddled about, diligently exploring the market.

He seemed to be looking for something.

And he found what he wanted.

A girl… looking at goods in the evening market.

Tia.

She was facing away, but I knew immediately from her small stature.

Her red hair hidden under a shabby hood, wearing a thick winter coat down to her knees.

The short sword Rose Saber peeking out from under her coat, and her worn leather boots…

It was unmistakably the back of my lovely Tia.

She seemed to have been shopping for a while, as a basket filled with various items hung on her arm.

But for some reason, she was hunched and not moving.

She was just clutching something.

“……”

As I got a little closer, I saw it.

A rope.

Tia stood stiffly, holding a rope.

……?

Tia?

What on earth are you thinking?

No way, right?

It can’t be what I’m thinking, right?

But why.

Why is she holding that… and just standing there without saying anything?

Why is she holding a rope with dead eyes, like a condemned prisoner walking to the gallows?

Someone stop her.

Please, someone go and stop her!

“Ti-Tia!”

At the sound of the voice, Tia’s shoulders visibly flinched in surprise.

But it wasn’t my voice.

Tia turned around at Fosao’s flustered voice.

Her beautiful red eyes widened.

“…Mister Fosao?”

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

“Ah…”

Tia forced a smile and put the rope back where it belonged.

“I was shopping. There was… something the village needed…”

“G-good work you’re doing!”

“Hehe.”

Tia nodded, smiling awkwardly.

“Yes. It’s good work…”

“But Tia.”

Fosao asked in a serious voice.

“Why… why are you crying?”

“……Huh?”

Tia seemed unaware that she was crying.

Her eyes were red, her cheeks wet, and the trails of tears were clearly visible in the evening light.

Tia belatedly wiped her eyes and, seeing her wet fingers, said:

“I guess so…”

“Wh-what happened?”

“……”

There was no answer.

But from her fear-filled eyes, I could tell.

How could she answer?

How could the words, ‘there’s no longer any place to return to,’ ‘no way to turn back,’ or ‘I was just thinking of killing myself’ possibly come from this frail girl’s lips?

An unbearable wave of emotion washed over Tia.

Her shoulders trembled, and a wet gasp could be heard from her throat.

“Sob… sniff…”

“Tia?”

“Sniff…”

Tia sank to the ground right there.

Fosao quickly knelt down and grabbed her shoulder.

“Ti-Tia…!”

People passing by glanced over but continued on without a word.

“Ugh… ahh…”

Tia seemed unable to breathe, hitting her chest repeatedly with her hand.

“Wh-what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”

“Ah… ugh…”

Fosao, at a loss, briefly looked around.

*Hug.*

Then he simply pulled Tia into his arms.

Cradled in Fosao’s embrace, Tia began to weep.

So piteously, she sobbed aloud, as if spitting out everything that had been bottled up.

Her cries were muffled against Fosao’s chest, so no one walking through the market heard them.

But I could hear them.

And… I realized I had never heard them before.

How many men have heard a girl cry out with such a heartbreaking voice?

A cry that sounded like it was tearing the world into pieces echoed in my ears.

It ripped at my chest.

I was the one who should have held Tia and let her cry endlessly.

…I hadn’t given Tia medicine; I had given her a disease.

Inside Fosao’s embrace, Tia’s cries gradually subsided.

“Tia. Ar-are you okay?”

“……”

“Ca-can you stand?”

Likewise, there was no answer.

Fosao carefully helped Tia up. And took her to the pub across the street.

As soon as they entered, he asked the waiter for a glass of water and said to Tia, who was looking down:

“First, have something to drink. Ju-just calm down. Okay?”

Water and a light meal arrived.

Tia, her mouth dry, stood stiffly for a moment, then picked up the glass of water and sipped it.

Fosao ordered generously.

He seemed to know that Tia hadn’t eaten anything today either.

Rye bread, lamb, mushroom soup, and vegetable stew were placed on the table.

It wasn’t delicious food, as winter had set in, but for a hungry Tia, it was no exaggeration to call it the most luxurious feast.

Fosao spoke to Tia, who was still huddled.

“Tia. I don’t know what happened. Bu-but eat a lot.”

“……”

The girl, with a haggard face, looked down at the steaming lamb.

She stayed like that for a long time, then finally picked up a bone with meat attached using her bony fingers.

Tia asked.

“Mister…”

“Hmm?”

“If your heart hurts… what should you do?”

“……”

Fosao was silent for a moment, then, watching her closely, said:

“It-it’s best to forget it.”

“What if you can’t forget?”

“Then I… I drink alcohol.”

Tia slightly turned her eyes to the side.

All the customers sitting in the pub were holding glasses of alcohol.

Tia, who had been watching silently, asked:

“If you drink alcohol… can you forget?”

“Uh-huh. I also drank alcohol when I had a s-sad thing happen before!”

Fosao chuckled.

“So, it-it’ll get a little better.”

“……”

“Want to try a glass?”

Tia hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“…Yes.”