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

174 – A Short Break (4)

＊

The peddler boy was frozen in place, unable to move.

As his frozen body movements and stiff expression gradually grew more and more astonished, his gaze was fixed solely on Sylvia and the sword in her hand.

Just by looking at his lips, which kept opening and closing irregularly, it was easy to guess the shock he had received.

I couldn’t say anything.

I couldn’t even offer words of comfort.

Even Sister Alice just closed her eyes tightly with a look of bewilderment.

We were frozen in place as if some sort of petrification spell had been cast on us as a group.

There was only one person here who could speak and move now.

“You came sooner than I expected? It seems like you’ve adapted well now.”

“… under,”

“Huh? What are you doing? You’re all just standing there, and who’s this guy?”

Sylvia swung the blood-soaked sword a few times and then slowly approached us, holding the sword in its leather sheath.

The boy’s face slowly turned towards me.

I barely managed to withstand that gaze and forcefully opened my lips.

“Yes, Sylvia.”

“Huh? Ash, what is it… why are you like that?”

“…”

What should I say,

Where should I start?

Given the circumstances, it seems clear that Sylvia harmed this group of demon boys, so is there really a correct answer that can resolve this situation?

Understanding the situation, lying, comforting, questioning, avoiding, apologizing.

A myriad of options raced through my head, but none of them seemed to solve the problem.

However, I was urged by the boy’s gaze that was staring at me with those empty eyes, and I barely managed to squeeze out one sentence from the countless questions swirling in my head and spit it out little by little.

“… That blood, what did you cut it with?”

My choice was to figure out the exact situation.

Is there even a chance that Sylvia won’t harm the demons?

No, I don’t know.

Even Sister Alice tried to kill the boy as soon as she met him.

If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have definitely been killed.

What about Sylvia?

I am not stupid.

I knew that Sylvia was just as radical as her sister Alice, and that she preferred the use of force to solve problems even more than she did.

But isn’t there really a slim chance that the blood on Sylvia’s sword might not be that of a demon?

I decided to give it a try.

Anyway, that was the only way to resolve this situation.

The situation has already been decided, not by what I do, but by what Sylvia does.

I asked again in a trembling voice.

“Oh, an animal or something like that? Right?”

Sylvia tilted her head and asked.

“Hmm? Ash, are you hungry?”

“…”

“Answer the question first.”

Sister Alice, who couldn’t stand to watch, pressed Sylvia for an answer.

The boy’s head slowly turned towards Sylvia again.

“What, all of a sudden?”

“Sylvia… answer me,”

“… You must be very hungry.”

Sylvia chuckled.

“I knew it, so I caught some boars. I was waiting for Alice because I needed to purify them.”

“Huh? Then that blood…”

“I was so focused on butchering the boar that I left the blood on my sword unattended, so I cleaned it up. This village site looks like a good place to camp, so I’ll stop here for today…”

Fortunately, the bloodstain on Sylvia’s sword did not appear to be from the Demon Tribe.

Just as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, the boy shouted at Sylvia.

“People!”

“Oh, my gosh, what’s wrong with him? Why are you yelling all of a sudden?”

“Where did the others go! Answer me!”

“…?”

Sylvia shook her head and said.

“I don’t know.”

“…?”

“There was no one here from the beginning?”

“Don’t lie! It was definitely here a week ago!”

“There must have been demons, yes. There were traces. But when I got here, there was no one there.”

“… what?”

The peddler boy ran inside, past Sylvia with an expression of disbelief.

Sylvia blankly looked at the boy and then turned her head towards me again and asked.

“Who is that guy? How did the three of you come together with the demons?”

“I met him on the way. He said he had some colleagues here…”

Sister Alice continued to explain what I said.

“I followed your footsteps, and our paths overlapped. I thought you might be here, but I didn’t think you’d really be here.”

“Huh, what a coincidence.”

“Really, you weren’t the one who killed those demons that were here?”

“Oh, I really didn’t kill him.”

Sylvia answered nervously.

“Do you think I’m some kind of savage who would kill anyone who gets in my way?”

“…”

“…”

“What, why aren’t you both saying anything?”

I answered, stammering.

“Oh, no… that’s it,”

“Ash…”

“That’s because I thought that the Demon Clan was the Demon King’s lackey… I thought that if it was Sylvia, I would just kill her first.”

“…”

“Actually, Sister Alice tried to do that…”

“under…”

Sylvia said with a sigh.

“This is what you call a difference in experience. The demons are surprisingly easy to communicate with, and they’re masters of magic, so fighting them is just annoying. You can just negotiate and get away with it.”

“Was it like that before too?”

“… That’s right. There weren’t many demons to begin with, but even among the demons we met, there were some who would accept money and turn a blind eye, and some who would fight for a while and then surrender. Of course, there were some who fought until the end, but… You know, we had Maria.”

“I see,”

Even though they were demons, they were no match for Sister Maria.

Every time something like this happens, I often realize just how great of a person my sister is.

“… Then, there are no problems for now, right?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong with Ash? Did he get hurt somewhere on the way here… I don’t think so, because Alice would have treated him.”

“Yeah… I’m fine.”

I approached Sylvia slowly, with unsteady steps.

As the tension eased, I felt a strong urge to hug her.

It’s understandable, because for the past few days, Sylvia and I have only been able to spend about thirty minutes together in the middle of the night.

Even those thirty minutes were only a small amount of time that Alice and I had to catch up with her, and even if we did, I would quickly fall asleep due to the overwhelming fatigue.

By the time I opened my eyes, Sylvia had already left without a trace, so to be honest, I had a hard time even looking at her face properly for the past few days.

I once suggested to her that we go together like we did the first time, but Sylvia just shook her head and said that it would be better to kill the Demon King as soon as possible and go back to normal life.

I suddenly didn’t know why Sylvia was in such a hurry to make this journey.

Of course, Sister Alice didn’t have much time left, but honestly, it was even more strange because she hadn’t shown any sign of caring about Sister Alice until now.

Of course, there is no way for me to know her mind.

The reason Sylvia suddenly hurried her steps, Sister Alice’s remaining lifespan, the purpose of the necklace, and the whereabouts of the missing demons.

There were so many things to worry about, but none of them made sense to me.

Although I was worried about the boy who had run into the campsite to find his comrades, I slowly hugged Sylvia, relieved that she had not massacred the demons.

“Huh…”

“Oh my? What’s wrong, Ash? Are you acting up all of a sudden?”

“I haven’t had time to see Sylvia in the past few days. All I’ve seen is late at night or for a little while…”

“That’s true… why? Were you lonely?”

“huh.”

“oh,”

I buried my face in Sylvia’s arms and mumbled.

Sylvia sighed softly and patted my head.

“I see…”

“…”

“Yeah, I did that too…”

“Until now, it was Sylvia who always pushed me… Honestly, I felt burdened by that, but now that she’s gone, I feel a bit empty…”

“Ash…”

Sylvia gently grabbed a handful of my hair and slowly pulled it back, lifting my head.

Their eyes, shining with the same color, looked at each other.

Sylvia suddenly tapped her lips twice with her finger.

“Then this time, Ash, try to get in… Ah,”

I didn’t answer, but gave her a short kiss, like a bird’s beak striking her lips.

Sylvia looked surprised for a moment, then asked in a soft voice.

“Why are you so cute?”

“… I don’t know,”

“You know what cute means, don’t you?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“Why don’t you know?”

Sylvia slowly hugged my back and kissed me softly.

It was a bold kiss, covering my lips deeply, unlike the one I had given a moment ago.

It was so sweet to taste Sylvia’s sweet breath and smooth tongue after such a long time.

After being immersed in that sensation for a while, I belatedly pulled my lips away in surprise.

“Oh, that’s right. Sister Alice is watching…”

“I went, a little while ago.”

“uh?”

“Alice knows we’re lovers anyway. She left the room on her own. It looks like she went to find the boy who ran inside.”

“… I see, I’m sorry I made you worry.”

“Don’t worry about it, not now.”

Sylvia kissed me on the lips again.