I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

172 – A Short Break (2)

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It’s already been two weeks since I wandered through a forest so remote that it’s hard to say that it’s a path that people walk on.

I could sense that the end of my journey was approaching.

The dense trees blocked the view, so the Demon King’s castle was still invisible, but the reason I could still notice it was because of the increasingly rapid breathing caused by the air polluted with magic, and the trees were lying down in an L-shape, befitting the name of the Forest of Lying Trees.

The ground, which had become uneven due to the fallen trees, made my steps even slower, and I had to grit my teeth and move my feet to barely keep up with the pace of my considerate older sister Alice.

It had already been less than an hour since I had seen Sylvia’s face during the day.

Even Sylvia’s seduction, which had previously felt awkward, was now something to be missed.

My whole body feels heavy.

The weight of the armor on my body, the weight of fate hanging on my shoulders, the weight of the fear of the imminent confrontation with the Demon King, all of it was weighing heavily on my body.

Even though Sister Alice’s divine power was healing me right away, the air that had become turbid with magic constantly caused pain that felt like it was squeezing my lungs, making it difficult and overwhelming to even breathe.

“Ha… haak, noona, noona.”

“…”

I was struggling to walk with my swollen feet, and I slowly stopped, calling out to my older sister Alice who was walking ahead of me.

Sister Alice stood still without saying a word and looked back.

“…Sister, let’s rest for a moment.”

“This is already my second break today. I still have a long way to go.”

“I know that…”

2 weeks.

I’ve been walking every day without stopping for two weeks now.

I was amazed by that fact every day.

Sylvia said she arrived at Millwood Village injured in the Demon King’s castle, but how far did she walk with her injured body?

When I walked that street myself, I was shocked.

Because it was not a distance that the injured person could walk to with their bare body.

“Ha… over there, over there.”

I took a slow, even breath and slowly raised my hand, pointing to the side.

Where my trembling fingertips pointed, there was a small, trickling stream.

“I’m going to fill a water bottle… Let’s just rest for ten minutes… My feet hurt so much.”

“…Do your feet hurt?”

Sister Alice walked towards me in one step, knelt on one knee, and bowed her head.

“Sit down.”

“…Uh, yeah”

As I sat down on the floor, Sister Alice took off my family boots with gentle hands.

“Ugh…”

As I took off my hard boots, the cold air hit my swollen, chapped feet.

A little bit of liberation and refreshment.

But soon my expression was filled with shock.

Pus was oozing from the wounds all over his feet, as if a child had scribbled on the wall, and all of the wounds were crawling with unknown, nasty bugs.

“Then that’s right. You must be receiving divine power continuously, so it’s strange that you’re in pain. If this is the case, your feet will inevitably hurt even if you heal them with divine power.”

“Ugh, what is this? I thought it just hurt from walking for a long time.”

“Since when have you been sick?”

“About two days ago.”

“I told you in advance, you must have been in a lot of pain.”

Sister Alice ran her hands over my feet and picked off the plump, rice-shaped larvae.

I felt somehow embarrassed as my sister’s hot, slender fingers, rough and covered in calluses, rubbed my feet.

No, it wasn’t just embarrassing, it was shameful.

In the end, I frowned because I felt ashamed and guilty for wasting time like this, for showing my ugly feet to my sister, and for her to even wipe them off with her bare hands.

Wherever my sister’s fingers passed, bugs fell off and wounds healed.

Sister Alice spoke softly, watching the bugs wriggle on her snow-white fingers.

“It’s the larvae of the yellow and white shaman mite. It’s a parasitic insect that lays eggs in old trees and attaches itself to passing animals to suck their flesh and blood.”

“Eww, that’s gross.”

“The wounds could be healed, but the divine power didn’t really kill the bugs, so they would still hurt. As new flesh grew, they would happily eat it.”

“Oh, I get it… It’s annoying, so you can stop explaining.”

“haha…”

Sister Alice smiled weakly and pressed her thumb and index finger together to burst and kill the larvae clinging to her fingers, then shook them into the air.

Then he slowly kicked my feet again and knocked all the remaining bugs off, and said:

“Don’t worry, it’s just a bug that all adventurers experience at least once.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, so Ash has become an adventurer now.”

“Have you ever been victimized by these guys, too, Sister?”

“Yeah, then.”

“You must be surprised.”

“To be honest, I screamed. It didn’t suit me.”

“Hehe, why don’t we match?”

“… hmm?”

“Sister, you scream a lot. Why, back when I ran away with a gecko on my back, you screamed like that too…”

closely,

Sister Alice was still upset about that prank, as she gently pinched my foot.

“It hurts, papa.”

“At that moment, I really thought my heart was going to burst.”

“Was it so?”

“What did you mean, Ash, you laughed out loud when you saw me yelling. You even got scolded by your mother for being frivolous back then. I’m still mad about that.”

“Hehehe,”

Sister Alice, who had been staring at my awkwardly smiling face with a slightly embarrassed expression, soon smiled slightly and said.

“At that time, my heart had already fallen off, so the surgery to replace it with this scrap metal might have been successful.”

“… Ugh,”

“what’s the matter?”

“I can’t help but laugh when you say it like that.”

“… haha,”

“…”

My sister took out a handkerchief and wiped away the pus from the burst bugs, saying:

“I should laugh, what can I do? I’m going to die soon.”

“… Sister.”

Sister Alice interrupted me by jumping up from her seat and saying:

“Your feet will be fine now, so put on your boots and go get some water. Oh, and don’t you want to drink it first? The water is contaminated with magic, so I need to purify it. You already know that much, right?”

“…Yeah, I know.”

“Okay, put them on quickly.”

Sister Alice waited until I put on my boots, then took my hand and helped me up.

I nodded and went down to the stream, taking her water bottle as well.

As I walked away, my sister sat down in her seat without saying a word.

At that time, I tried hard not to see Sister Alice’s expression.

＊

Actually, Alice has been acting a little strange lately.

Of course, she was already a completely different person from my old sister when I first met her wearing a mask in the cabin in the woods, but even taking that into account, it felt even stranger these days.

A week ago, he hadn’t been acting particularly strange, but a few days ago, he seemed very impatient and nagged me, and until recently, he had a stern expression on his face without saying a word, but since yesterday, he has completely relaxed and is even smiling brightly.

I don’t have any ability to read people’s minds.

However, I could easily guess why Sister Alice had such a sudden change of heart.

It seems like the end is near.

Our journey, and my sister’s life.

“… under,”

Gulp, gulp.

I sighed as I listened to the sound of the stream being sucked into the water tank.

My sister’s words kept lingering in my head.

‘I should laugh, what can I do? I’m going to die soon.’

Unlike Sylvia, who was both playful and sharp-tongued, Alice always exuded a thick and fierce aura, but there wasn’t even a hint of aura on her face as she said those words just now.

As if he had let go of everything, he had a transcendent smile on his face and even a hollow laugh.

It was a sad face, filled with the kind of tired abandonment you would see on the face of an old man who has given up on his foolishness.

I fiddled with the necklace in the leather pouch on my waist.

“…Please, do something, you piece of trash.”

Despite my earnest requests, the necklace remained quietly in the same state as when I first received it.

I wonder if this necklace really has the power to save people.

If not, then why did I come all the way here carrying a useless piece of luggage?

Ha, a useless piece of luggage.

That’s exactly me.

If it had been just Sylvia and Alice, they would have already reached the Demon King’s castle.

If I hadn’t been there, maybe Alice wouldn’t have started this journey, but Sylvia wouldn’t have even started it.

“I don’t know…”

I don’t know.

Why did I come here?

Why did fate make me carry this burden?

There is no way my power can reach the Demon King.

I was just a little girl who comforted and appeased Sylvia.

In fact, even though Sylvia and I spend most of the day apart, she doesn’t seem to complain, which means I’m doing a good job of fulfilling my role.

But is that really all my role is?

Was it really necessary for me to lose Layla so cruelly just for that role?

I don’t know.

I really don’t know.

Is there another role that is hidden from me?

Even if the Demon King is defeated, will prosperity return to this already ruined world?

Can you prevent Sister Alice’s death?

If we can’t stop it, at least let’s find a beautiful ending for her…

I thought about it for a moment and then washed my face in the running stream.

It was still winter, so the stream was as cold as ice.

I felt like my mind was being blown.

“Wake up… I can’t let you meet your end in a forest like this without even seeing the Demon King’s face.”

I muttered to myself, as if urging myself.

You must not let depression consume you.

At least not for now.

The opponent is the Demon King.

Although he is recovering from a serious injury, it is difficult to guarantee victory even if we attack with full force, as we have no idea how weakened he is.

Sylvia, Alice, and I could all die at the hands of the Demon King, or we could risk our lives and join him.

Or, after easily defeating the Demon King, you might be able to see off Sister Alice as she peacefully meets her death.

Whatever the situation, grieving comes later.

“… let’s go.”

I slowly got up from my seat, taking the water bottle, which was already full, out of the water.

That was when.

“Who are you, sir?”

I was startled by an unfamiliar voice coming from across the stream and instinctively raised both arms to cover my face.

“What, what are you doing now?”

The voice of a young boy muttering as if he were in absurdity.

I screamed with my face covered.

“Don’t look! Go quickly!”

“what?”

“Don’t look at my face! Go away quickly!”

“… ok?”

The owner of the voice was there, making a stupid sound.

And then he spoke slowly, as if he felt sorry.

“No, I saw your face before?”

“…what?”

“If someone saw me, they would think I was the prince of a ruined country.”

“Oh, no…”

I carefully spread my fingers apart and looked in the direction where the voice was coming from.

A boy, older than Layla but still with a youthful face, stood there staring at me.

The boy’s eyes…

“no!”

It was bright red.

“… No, what are you doing, you old man.”

“… human?”

“Oh, now I see, you’re cursed, that lizard b*stard.”

“what?”

lizard.

It was a derogatory term for the Demon King that came out of Sylvia’s mouth several times.

I unconsciously lowered my arms and looked at the boy, who was not even a warrior, as he fearlessly called the Demon King low.

“Don’t worry, mister, the curse won’t manifest now.”

“how…”

“Well…”

The girl pointed to her forehead with her finger.

There was a pair of large, curled horns there, like those of a sheep.

“Because I am not human.”

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