Chapter 261 : I Told You Not to Trust Anyone

After being quietly beaten up by the thugs and having my money meticulously taken.

I greeted Tina and Yuri, who had come for the fourth time.

[This time, try to hold back.]

As the Heavenly Demon said, this time, instead of beating him to death, I silently watched the traitor.

"What. Why are you looking at me like that?"

The guy frowned.

His tone was as if to say, why are you taking out your anger on me after being beaten up by the thugs?

'That shameless bastard.'

I got angry again, but fortunately, thanks to having beaten him to death several times, I was able to calm my murderous intent this time.

Since I had to do it anyway.

Let's go at once.

Since I didn't want to repeat this damn day several times.

"Hooo..."

I let out a long breath and completely erased my murderous intent toward him.

Then, I dusted myself off and stood up, saying.

"Let's go. Let's get something to eat."

Yuri grumbled.

"What's a guy who's lost all his money doing, acting like a leader? Do you even have anything to eat?"

...Should I kill him just one more time?

Fortunately, Tina poured water on my burning murderous intent.

"It's okay. Eat mine. I got some bread."

I decided to endure it for Tina's sake.

Yuri said to Tina, as if chiding her.

"That's not much."

"I'm not hungry. Ashuban, you eat."

Yuri clicked his tongue and said in a dissatisfied tone.

"You're too nice. How are you going to survive in this harsh world?"

Despite his reprimand, Tina just smiled brightly.

"I know, right."

Tina was, once again, Tina.

An endlessly positive person.

A child who was spotlessly clear, and who tried to see only the good in people even while living in this dirty back alley.

A person who didn't belong in this dirty back alley more than anyone else.

Frustratingly pure and kind.

If it were her, she would have asked if they needed anything else even if the thugs had come to take her money.

I looked at Tina and muttered.

"You should have been born into a noble family."

It was something I used to say like a habit.

Then Tina, as usual, would just smile without a word.

* * *

I organized my thoughts while eating the hard pieces of bread with them.

I thought I had forgotten everything, but now that I was in that situation, memories started to come back little by little.

Perhaps, today was that day.

The reason I came to hate rainy days.

The day Tina left this world.

Misfortune comes without any warning.

This was also the case.

If there had been any sign, I wouldn't have known.

It came without any warning, so I had no time to do anything.

That event happens tonight.

After finishing a meal that wasn't even a meal, I would be busy running around to make up for what I had lost to the thugs today.

And in the meantime, Yuri would coax Tina and take her to them.

Tina would follow Yuri without any suspicion and meet her end.

"..."

I glared at the traitor as if I were going to kill him.

It was an unbearably infuriating thing.

Did I beat that traitor to death at that time? Or did I let him live?

My memory was not clear.

The only thing that was certain was that after everything was over, I never saw him again.

Yuri looked at me.

"What have you been looking at since a while ago?"

"Tsk."

"...?"

That innocent-looking face.

If I had my way, I would have beaten him to death right away and then left Schirnberg with Tina.

But this was not reality, but a nightmare created by the Snowman.

Even if I did that, it would just repeat from the beginning.

I didn't want to be with that traitor for a single moment.

I roughly chewed the bread and then got up from my seat.

"Hmm? Ashuban, where are you going?"

I looked at Tina, who was looking up at me with innocent, sky-blue eyes, for a moment.

I silently took in her appearance.

"..."

"...?"

Tina tilted her head with a puzzled face.

"I'm going."

"Where?"

"Since I lost it, I have to work hard to earn it back."

Yuri nodded.

"A wise statement."

"Shut up."

"Hey, why only me..."

I ignored the aggrieved traitor and then looked at Tina.

"Tina. I'll be back."

"Okay. Be careful."

Seeing Tina, who was seeing me off without any suspicion, my throat tightened.

I tried my best to swallow the something that was welling up, and then I said the same words I had said back then.

"...Don't follow strangers."

I regret it, and I regret it.

What if I had said something different at that time?

I should have been more careful of the people close to me.

What if I had told her not to trust that traitor?

Grind.

I clenched my teeth so hard that I could taste something metallic in my mouth.

I tried my best to look at Tina and finished my words.

"Okay?"

Whether she knew my heart or not.

Tina just smiled brightly.

"Okay. Be careful on your way back!"

...You're the one who should be careful, you fool.

"Ashuban."

Yuri stopped me with his words as I was turning around.

Then, with a rather serious expression, he warned me.

"You shouldn't trust anyone. You know that, right?"

"..."

It was something he used to say like a habit.

That in this dirty back alley, in this harsh world, there was no one you could trust.

By the time I realized that he was including himself in that, it was too late.

"Shut up, you son of a bitch."

"Hey..."

I felt like I would beat Yuri to death again if I stayed any longer, so I quickly left.

I walked the streets aimlessly and organized my jumbled memories.

Tina was a girl who stood out because of her rare white hair and blue eyes.

So, noble families or suspicious groups had coveted her.

Yuri and I had stopped her from being kidnapped several times.

So after that, either I or Yuri would take turns and try not to be separated from Tina...

I never thought that one of the two would betray her.

In any case, to wake up from this damn nightmare, the original event had to proceed.

It was a dream that felt even more cruel because I had to try my best to retrace my memory and follow it.

As my past self had done. Believing without a doubt that today would be just another day.

I went around the streets, diligently pickpocketing.

To get through the day.

After doing it a few times, I quickly got the hang of it, and later, I was almost unconsciously rummaging through the pockets of passersby.

Since I had to keep pickpocketing like this until sunset, it was going to be a rather boring time...

Thwack.

"Oof."

As I was passing through the passersby, I bumped into something and fell.

In that fleeting moment, my hand went into the pocket of the person I had bumped into, almost as a reflex.

I looked up at what I had bumped into while I was on the ground.

There was a giant with a large greatsword on his back.

A fierce impression that I was afraid to see in my dreams. A messy beard.

As soon as I saw him, I could sense that I had gotten into trouble...

But he was also someone I knew.

'...Captain?'

The founder of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps, the young Guston of the Greatsword, was looking down at me blankly.

Soon, he rummaged through his pocket, and then looked at me with slightly widened eyes.

"What's wrong?"

His companion asked.

Next to him was a woman with impressive, fiery red hair.

It was the Red Witch, Scarlet Bellucci.

Unlike the captain, who had become much younger, she looked exactly the same as when I had seen her a while ago.

"...Ah."

Only then did I realize.

Was this the first time I had met them?

I had forgotten because I had been in such a state of shock.

Guston, who had been staring at me blankly, opened his mouth.

"For a kid, you have quick hands."

"Uh."

It was obvious what the kid me would have done after seeing that yasha-like gaze.

I ran away in a hurry.

Guston and Scarlet, for some reason, just watched me silently...

* * *

"...Is this enough?"

At sunset.

It started to rain.

After spending the whole day on the streets, diligently pickpocketing, I headed to our shabby home, getting wet in the rain.

Of course, no one was there.

Here, I would feel that something was wrong and would search for them, getting wet in the rain, until the moon rose, and then I would meet Yuri.

I did just that.

I wandered around in the rain, and then, come to think of it, I couldn't remember where I had found him, so later, instead of just pretending to look, I actually went around asking people and continued my investigation.

"This bastard. Where the hell did he go?"

A crisis.

A situation where if I didn't find him in time, the event would be different from the past, and I would have to repeat the day.

"Damn it."

I don't have time for this.

I ran my hand through my soaking wet hair in annoyance.

[Calm your mind and think carefully.]

The Heavenly Demon calmed me with a calm tone, but it wasn't very helpful.

Just then.

"Ashuban."

When I raised my head, a woman with fiery red hair was looking at me.

The Red Witch raised her hand and pointed to the west.

"Go to the west gate."

And then, she immediately passed me and disappeared among the passersby.

I stared at her blankly.

'What in the world...?'

I can assure you, this situation was not in my memory.

Whether it was the Red Witch or whatever. No one had ever told me his location.

And besides, we wouldn't even exchange names until much later, so how did she know my name?

[Are you just going to stand there?]

The Heavenly Demon's low voice woke me up.

[Didn't you say you didn't have time?]

"That's right."

I hurried toward the west gate.

And so, around the time darkness fell and the moon rose.

I finally succeeded in finding him near the west gate of Schirnberg.

He was standing there, getting wet in the rain.

It seemed like he was waiting for someone, and it also seemed like he was just standing there to get wet in the rain.

It was around this time that I would realize that things were going very strangely.

Splash, splash.

At the sound of approaching footsteps, the guy raised his head.

"Hey."

"..."

The guy, seeing me in the rain, gave a weak smile.

It was the smile of a traitor.

I immediately grabbed him by the collar.

"Where's Tina."

"Keuk..."

Thwack!

Yuri, who had been hit in the face, rolled on the ground.

I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up again, and then asked.

"I'm asking you. Where's Tina."

The guy, with blood dripping from his lips, which seemed to have burst, smiled as if he had given up on everything.

It was a laugh that seemed both empty and as if he had lost his mind.

Swoosh—

The rain grew stronger.

Yuri's empty eyes stared at me.

"I told you not to trust anyone. It's your fault for trusting me."

"You son of a bitch."

Thwack!

I grabbed the guy who had fallen and continued to hit him.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The guy didn't even think of raising his arms to defend himself and just quietly took the beating.

"Tina! Where is she!"

"Keuk, keuk..."

I grabbed the collar of the guy who was chuckling as if he had gone mad and shouted as if I were wailing.

"Tell me!!"

The guy shook his head from side to side.

"It's already too late."

Thwack!

I pulled him by the collar until our noses were almost touching and then said in a whisper.

"Tell me."

Swoosh—

It was raining.

The lightless eyes turned to me.

"...Outside the west gate. Delinger's Forest. The old, abandoned house."

Thwack!

I let go of him as if I were throwing him and then immediately ran to the wall.

I found a dog hole that was just big enough for children to pass through and squeezed my body through it.

My arms and legs were scratched and scraped, but I didn't care.

After coming out of the dog hole, I just ran.

The ground was slippery, and I fell several times, but I immediately got up.

A rainy night.

I ran wildly through the darkness.