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

207 – A World Where Everyone Is Unhappy (2)

＊

I don’t want to go into detail about what happened, but somehow we managed to get back to the cabin by the lake safely.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen you.

This rustic cabin that I built with my own hands now feels like home.

The dirt floor near the cabin still bore the marks of the training Sylvia and I had done together.

“I’m back…”

There was still not a single bit of magic left on this small lakeside, overlooked by the green woman who had become a giant tree.

I let out a sigh, my breathing relaxed and noticeably different from before.

The chest pain that felt like being stabbed with a needle has definitely decreased.

“Thank you for your hard work, Pia.”

“… huh,”

Pia avoided my eyes, timidly.

Sylvia glared at Pia sharply.

“Sylvia too… you’ve had a hard time.”

“okay.”

Sylvia answered in a calm voice, but her raised eyebrows made it seem as if she had no intention of hiding her discomfort.

It can’t be a pleasant sight to see the man you love kissing another woman right in front of you.

But now was the time to get angry.

Today is a commemorative day to remember our comrades who sacrificed their lives and to defeat the evil enemy who drove humanity to destruction.

“… after,”

I carefully laid Sister Alice’s body in a sunny place.

When I looked at her face again, her eyes were closed and she looked very comfortable.

Her last words kept ringing in my ears.

“I didn’t know… I never even thought about it.”

Sister Alice liked me.

Before I came into this forest, I vaguely thought that she and I would become a couple someday.

But still, I never imagined that she would like me.

Just a childhood friend I like.

I just assumed that she would view me that way, just as I viewed her that way.

“… I just… thought that the Count cared for me.”

Of course, I thought our engagement was just a political marriage between close families.

However, Sister Alice’s frail voice, which completely negated that thought, was engraved on my heart like a tattoo.

Even her last faint breath lingered in my head, unable to escape my ears.

‘I love you Ash… I’ve liked you… since we were little.’

Sister Alice’s last confession was so touching,

And because it was a feeling that I could never accept now,

Her love was so delicate and fragile that I wanted to look back on it again and again.

“You’ve worked hard… Sister Alice…”

I gently ran my hand through Sister Alice’s hair one last time.

“… Phew.”

I slowly got up, leaving Sister Alice behind.

At the same time, Sister Maria knelt down beside Sister Alice’s body and placed her hands together in front of her chest.

When I see the movements that a dead person would make while lying in a coffin, tears well up in my eyes once again.

I lowered my head, wiped my eyes with my sleeve, and slowly turned around.

Sylvia met my eyes, closed her eyes tightly and nodded slowly.

After giving a small smile to Sylvia, who had endured it all the way even though it must have been uncomfortable to watch, I spoke to Maria, who was looking at Alice next to me.

“Sister.”

“… Yeah, why is that?”

I took a moment to catch my breath.

It felt like a terribly bitter and harsh taste was spreading through my mouth.

I never dreamed that I would ever have the chance to meet Sister Maria again, so I never thought I would say this.

It’s not an easy thing to say, but I have to say it anyway.

Sister Maria too, she is her family.

I opened my mouth with a trembling voice, my eyes closed.

“Let’s go say hello to Layla.”

＊

“… How was Lila? Was she cute?”

As I was touching the tombstone of Laila that I had carved myself, Sister Maria asked me this.

I nodded silently.

“I guess so, you were so cute when you were a baby…”

“If I had grown up, I would have been the prettiest girl in Goldfield Estate.”

My sister died, but was resurrected as a spirit.

I am dying, but I am still alive.

It felt incredibly absurd that only Layla, the youngest of the three siblings, was completely dead, lying in the cold dirt.

Did you read my mind?

Sylvia, who had been holding my hand tightly to block the influence of the magic, slightly tightened her grip.

I too, with trembling fingertips, held onto Sylvia’s hand tightly.

Sister Maria said with a small smile.

“It feels strange, the last time I saw Layla, she was just learning to walk… and now she’s lying down like this.”

“… yes.”

Sister Maria slowly took her hand off the tombstone.

“You’ve worked hard, my little brother.”

“… I?”

“While carving the tombstone… it’s obvious that his heart was also carved out…”

“ah…”

Sister Maria slowly got up from her seat and approached me.

Then he slowly raised the corners of his lips and smiled.

It was a faint smile that was somewhat bittersweet and very sad.

“Lyla was like that too, but in my memories you were just a little kid… and yet you grew up to be such a good person… even though you’re dead… I’m truly a blessed person.”

“… I was so happy to see you again, sister.”

Sister Maria closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.

Then he slowly opened his mouth, as if he had made up his mind about something.

“Ash.”

“… huh?”

“Are you going back to Goldfield?”

“… Yes, I want to bury Sister Alice in her hometown. I also want to place Laila’s remains… next to my parents…”

“Are you and Sylvia living a newlywed life?”

“… huh,”

“Good…”

I turned my head and looked into Sylvia’s eyes and continued speaking.

“Of course, the curse hasn’t been lifted yet…”

“It’s because the influence of the demon lingers. Now that the Demon King is dead, if you spend a few days by the lake, you’ll soon get better.”

Sister Maria answered coolly.

She nodded a couple of times as if she understood, still with her eyes closed, then slowly began to open her mouth again.

“Ash.”

“huh,”

“I will stay here.”

“huh…?”

“I plan on staying here and not following you, Ash.”

I was startled by her sudden words and asked.

“Why…? Don’t you want to go home? Your parents too…”

“I am ashamed to face my parents as an unfilial daughter who died first.”

“What kind of stupid thing is that…”

“Actually, the bigger problem is this forest.”

“what?”

Sister Maria slowly turned her head.

Her gaze was directed towards the lakeside where the green lady was embedded.

“This forest of reclining trees was originally under her control,”

“Are you talking about the green lady?”

“Yes, the green lady. The great spirit of this forest. Now that I’ve become a spirit myself, I understand. The reason why magic is so rampant is because of the Demon King, but it’s also because the spirit that manages this forest is gone.”

“… So, you want to replace the green lady?”

“Yeah, for some reason I feel like this is my role.”

Sister Maria was saying something unintelligible.

It seemed as if some special sensation known only to spirits was enveloping her.

Is it because I am a spirit sorcerer, or is it because her aloof attitude seemed so resolute?

I could tell she was serious about taking up the position the green lady had been filling.

“Why?”

Instead of me being taken aback by Sister Maria’s surprising remark, Sylvia asked in a low voice.

“Why, Maria, do you have to do that? Can’t other spirits do it?”

“Sylvia.”

“Well, Ash and you are family, but Maria, you are also a precious friend to me. There are many things I want to talk to you about, too… and I also want to live together.”

“… Haha, when we spend time together, we fight all the time. Don’t you remember?”

“Maria, don’t joke around.”

“Look, you’re getting angry again.”

Sister Maria smiled brightly and slowly opened her closed eyes.

Then he looked straight ahead and met Sylvia’s eyes alternately.

“Both of you look at me. Stand up straight.”

“…?”

“I am not Maria.”

“what?”

Sister Maria continued speaking, patting my shoulder as I jumped in surprise.

“I am just a spirit with Maria’s memories.”

“No, my sister definitely…!”

“Ash. Of course I remember you, and I will never forget the memories I made with you, but… um…”

Sister Maria hesitated for a moment, then continued speaking with a sigh.

“I am not human. I can never be human again. I am a completely different being.”

“…What does it matter whether you are human or not? It is enough that you are my friend Maria. There is no need to have strange thoughts like you are not human.”

Sylvia refuted her sister Maria’s statement.

I also nodded in agreement with Sylvia’s words.

But Sister Maria shook her head with a sad smile.

“Ash, take out that necklace.”

“… uh?”

“The necklace, you know. The necklace that turned me into a spirit.”

I took Malice’s necklace out of my waist pocket.

A symbolic relic of Malice that was brought to us by Sister Alice.

An item that Alice worked hard to obtain in case someone died during this journey, after hearing a legend that it had the power to revive the dead.

This mysterious artifact could not bring back my dead sister Alice, but it did allow me to meet my sister Maria again.

When we recall that Sister Maria’s magic played a decisive role in defeating the Demon King, we are reminded once again that our journey was created from the very beginning through Sister Alice’s fingertips.

The necklace was still emitting a bright blue light.

“Isn’t this necklace strange?”

“… what?”

“Can’t you tell even if you look?”

“…?”

Sylvia said.

“Maria… I told you so many times, but don’t tease me like that and just tell me… And look, all these bad habits are yours, Maria.”

“Haha, okay. I’ll just say it.”

Sister Maria continued speaking with a sly smile.

“This necklace. It’s disposable. Once you use it, you can’t use it again because the soul is trapped inside. That means this necklace can only save one person… Well, I don’t know if you can say that something made of spirits can save someone…”

“… I don’t understand… Sister, what are you trying to say?”

“Ah, Ash… you idiot,”

Sister Maria said with a sigh.

“It means that Malice was not used.”

“…?”

“Think about it. He must have had someone he wanted to save. He must have had a relationship he didn’t want to break up with. He must have had a death he wanted to deny. But Malice didn’t use it. Why do you think that is?”

“…”

This time, it seemed like the question wasn’t meant to be a teasing one, so Sister Maria gave the answer right away.

“If I tried to use this, I would know that it was just a spirit with that person’s memories, and not that person.”

“…”

“Ash, I am not your Maria sister. In fact, I am saying this, but if Ash, you order me to go to Goldfield Estate with you, I have no choice but to obey.”

“It doesn’t matter, then…”

“But, can you acknowledge me as Sister Maria?”

“Of course I’ll go…!”

I shut my mouth for a moment.

Sister Maria, who faithfully follows my orders.

Then, how am I any different from Balder, who used Sister Maria like a puppet?

Sister Maria looked at me like that and gave me that playful expression.

Then he ruffled my hair and said:

“Thank you for still seeing me as your sister and your friend. But please keep me here even more. Because this is my choice.”

“… under,”

Sylvia sighed and opened her mouth.

“Okay, I got it.”

“Sylvia…”

“I knew Sylvia would understand.’

Sylvia said, pointing her finger at her sister Maria.

“She was always like this, Ash. You don’t know what kind of girl Maria was at the Academy, but she was always like this. She thought farther ahead than others, acted as soon as she had an idea, and was stubborn as hell…”

“You’re funny, you’re more stubborn, Sylvia.”

“Once you’ve decided, you’re going to do it.”

“Hehehe, that’s right. Since I’ve become a spirit, I should try it once.”

“… Ha, really.”

Sister Maria hugged me tightly.

“I’ll stay here and guard the place where Layla is lying.”

“…”

“So, Ash. Tell your parents… well. Okay?”

I answered weakly.

“… okay.”

＊

Sylvia, my sister Maria and I returned to the cabin.

I carefully wrapped Sister Alice in the cloth that Sister Maria had magically created, and Sylvia dug a hole.

Anyway, when I returned to Goldfield Estate, I was going to take her body with me, so I carefully laid Sister Alice in a hole that wasn’t too deep and covered it with dirt.

With this, all the schedules for the first day since the Demon King disappeared have come to an end.

Now, unbearable fatigue engulfed my whole body.

Sylvia didn’t show it either, but it must have been very difficult and hard for her.

While Sylvia and I were taking a quick shower by the lake, Sister Maria took Pia and disappeared somewhere.

It seemed like he wanted to create some time just for me and Sylvia.

Sylvia’s damp hair glistened.

I wrapped my arms around Sylvia, who was standing next to me, and grabbed her hand.

Sylvia also rested her head on my shoulder without saying a word.

At this rate, I feel like I’m going to fall asleep.

I just wanted to fall into a sweet sleep in her arms.

Surely Sylvia would do the same.

We kissed lightly and walked slowly into the cabin, holding hands.

Even the sound of the trees creaking with every step felt so welcome.

The moment I slowly opened the door and entered the cabin I longed for.

“Huh…!”

Sylvia grabbed me by the collar in an instant and pushed me over.

“Ugh!”

“… Phew.”

“Hey, Sylvia? What is this…”

“shut up.”

“…Sylvia?”

Sylvia’s eyes gleamed strangely in the dark cabin where the windows were not open.

Red eyes, filled with desire, jealousy, and lust that had been pushed to the limit, stared straight at me.

Sylvia grabbed my chin with her strong hand and slowly pecked my lips with her thumb.

“…This is mine.”

“You know… I’m Sylvia’s.”

“But… Alice and Pia…”

oh my god.

“Sylvia… Wait, wait, we just…”

“I told you to shut up.”

“Wait a minute… I’m really tired…”

“I can’t wait.”

Sylvia picked me up and threw me on the blanket.

A musty, musty dust rose up from the blanket that had been left in the cabin for a long time.

“I won’t wait anymore.”

A pair of red lights rushed toward me.

Those two bright red dots filled my vision.

At the same time, something wet and soft covered my lips.

Rough fingers dug into my clothes.

.