94 – Momentum(1)
What is power?
It was seven years ago that the girl named Lorne Elua began to ponder on that philosophical phrase.
It was because of the sudden incident and the change that came suddenly.
“Bell, look at that! The apricots are huge!”
“Oh, sure. Would you like to bring it to your sister?”
Still only 11 years old, Lorne went up the mountain behind her neighborhood that day, without fail, with Belle, her childhood friend and the boy in her heart.
Knowing that Belle liked apricots, when she saw the tree she had marked from afar, she rushed over and pointed at the branch.
A smile formed on Bell’s face when he confirmed that the light orange apricot was open.
Rone, who was watching this, smiled at her big smile as well.
The branches of the tree were bent just enough for the two of them to pick.
Height enough for an 11-year-old to reach just by jumping in place.
Of course, no matter how high she was, Lorne began to pick her apricots one by one, believing that if Belle was good at climbing trees, she would have climbed and picked them in no time.
“How many did other people pick?”
“Well, even grown-ups won’t come this far.”
The apricots on the branches were obviously large and appetizing.
However, the place was sparsely empty, as if someone had picked the bird, which Bell found strange.
Of course, this isn’t the main street for villagers to come and go, but it’s a place the two recently discovered.
Of course, it wouldn’t be strange if other people discovered this place in a short while, but I thought it was a big deal.
Especially for Lorne, if someone went there, it would seem that the secret place for the two of them would disappear, so she would feel a bit regretful.
“Well, the wild beasts can eat it. Anyway, let’s take it in moderation.”
“Yes.”
Leaving behind the disappointment, Lorne follows Bell’s words and immediately starts to take her apricots.
In order to take other fruits, I did not fill the basket completely, but put the apricots in the basket, leaving only a suitable space with my hands.
“Wow….”
“Give me. I will.”
Even though it’s only fruit, it’s got a lot of weight in it.
Eventually Lorne, who was holding her basket, reflexively crouched down, and Bell, who noticed it, took her basket and put it on his arm.
Even though they have the same 11-year-old body, there is a significant difference in their physical abilities.
In particular, Bell has been training in various ways lately, so this weight was nothing.
“hehehe, thanks Bell.”
“With something like this. Anyway, doesn’t it seem particularly quiet today?”
Bell shrugged her shoulders at Lone’s expression of gratitude and looked around her for a moment.
In fact, one of the reasons the two of them have come here often is that there are few dangerous wild animals like wild boars, and there are many small animals like rabbits and squirrels.
Since Rone likes to play with animals, there is nothing to do in the village anyway, so Bell brought her here to let her play.
However, today, for some reason, I hardly saw the guys who were walking around at this time of day.
To put it bluntly, there wasn’t even one.
It was only natural that I felt a sense of difference since I hadn’t run into them even on the way here.
“Yeah, I thought so too. There were quite a few rabbits the day before yesterday….”
“Did you move as a group?”
Lorne tilted her head as Bell threw her words, not guessing the reason.
“Do rabbits move too?”
“I don’t know. I just said something.”
I want you to take it so seriously.
Bell scratched his head shyly, wondering if he had seen the innocence of an 11-year-old as too watery.
At any rate, there was no sign of rabbits or squirrels appearing until later, so I thought it would be good to leave at this point for today.
Even if it is a place where there are few dangerous wild beasts, there is no guarantee that they will not appear.
“Rone, let’s leave it for today and go down. You can come again tomorrow.”
Grabbing Lorne’s hand as she was slowly moving her steps away from her, Bell said as if she wasn’t ready.
Although she may appear calm on the outside, Lorne Elua is a girl who secretly likes to go around.
It’s a pity that I couldn’t even see the rabbit I longed for so much, so it must be a situation where my adventurous spirit flares up even more.
You will be safe only if you put on the leash in advance.
“Ooh…. I’m sorry Can’t we just look around a bit more?”
“At most, what do you say you have to go look around the mountain behind the neighborhood?”
Unsurprisingly, towards Lorne, who gave out a regretful voice, Bell replied as if he was being ridiculous.
If it were other boys of the same age, she would have been seduced by the beauty of Lornet, who started to bear flower buds even at the age of 11, and fell for her.
However, nothing happened in front of him.
Bell stared indifferently at Lornay, who twisted her body around her, holding on to the sleeves of her clothes with her pitiful expression.
How many seconds did the suffocating confrontation continue?
“… Anyway, just grow up. So, are you going to look around for a while?”
“hehehe, yes!”
In the end, is there no father who wins over his daughter?
It may be a slightly different sensibility, but anyway, the goddess of victory raised Lornay’s hand.
From Bell’s point of view, she just wants to go home as quickly as possible, but she couldn’t help it because she remembered Lone humming her song with her eyes full of anticipation even before she came.
In the end, Lorne immediately gave her god to her fallen permission, and she took a confident step forward, promising to take the lead.
Normally, a girl of this age would be afraid of a place like a mountain where snakes or beasts are likely to haunt.
Watching the back of his childhood friend walking toward a new frontier without any hint of that, he smiled bitterly.
While she was skillfully moving her steps through the grass moderately.
Ronet widened his eyes as the chilly air approached from the corner of the road the two were heading towards.
“It’s cool. Right, Bell?”
“Sure. Are there any caves?”
Normally, when you go near a cave, there is a cool breeze like this, so Bell smiled at her and narrowed her eyes.
After all, a cave is a good place for wild animals to live, so it was to prepare for unexpected dangers so as not to lose tension.
“… Wait, Lorne. Stop it.”
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Two people moved their legs as if possessed along the cool air.
However, Bell, feeling something different, frowned at her and extended her arm to stop Lornet from moving forward.
That would be true, too, because the strange stench that tickled the nostrils was coming from somewhere along the cold air.
‘What does it smell like? Something is corrupt….’
Besides, it’s fishy.
From noble mtl dot com
Rather than the fishy smell of fish, it has a thick, sharp smell that pierces the nose.
It didn’t take long to realize what it smelled like.
The only problem was that the moment I realized that, it was already too late.
Jeopardy. That buck
“!”
The sound of footsteps walking on a mountain path full of crushed leaves.
The moment she realized that it was the majority, not the minority, Bell felt a chill run down her spine.
‘Come to think of it, recently….’
At this moment, a rumor he had recently heard in the town popped into Bell’s mind.
That’s the news that a band of bandits who had been in the midst of a commotion in the next village urgently hid themselves due to dispatched soldiers.
He didn’t pay attention to it, thinking it was a matter of an unrelated place, even if it was the next town, but he had to go over a few mountains to come out, but looking back now, it might have been too shallow.
The mountain that exists in such a village at the end of the land without even guards guarding the surroundings must have been an ideal hideout for the bandits who escaped.
“Rone, we have to get out of here.”
Hearing the many voices approaching with the sound of footsteps, Bell immediately pulled Lorne’s hand and tried to descend the mountain.
I kept my voice as low as possible, and since I hadn’t noticed my presence yet, I thought I’d be able to escape somehow by passing through the grass.
“Aww… !”
But maybe it was because I pulled her with a rough hand in her rush.
Unable to balance herself, Lorne collapsed on the spot and let out a short scream.
At that moment, Bell’s time stopped.
“Oops, how did the young friends come all the way here?”
“Didn’t your mother tell you that there are many dangerous things in the mountains?”
‘… f*ck.’
It took only a few seconds for the rugged men who couldn’t have heard that sound approaching.
At the appearance of men dressed in rags that looked like passers-by from another village who were just passing by, Bell unconsciously tried to swear, but held back.
No matter how early he started training, as a reincarnated person, his mind was that of an adult.
It’s too much to be with strong men with an immature body.
If even the number is outdated, it won’t be worth talking about.
“Hey, there…. My mom made me pick her apricots from the mountain….”
Realizing that she wasn’t good enough to deal with, Bell tried to pretend to be a normal child to get out of the situation.
With the thought that as long as Lone gets up, I can run away while they are not paying attention.
“Oh, yes? Mountains are dangerous for kids. Isn’t your mother the type to raise you strong?”
“Did the princess follow her boyfriend? There are a lot of fun things over there. Shall we go with the guys?”
However, I quickly realized through the attitude of the thieves that it was a wrong decision.
As the man approached Lorne, his eyes filled with intrigue, and the moment he licked his tongue like a snake looking at its prey, Bell decided that he could not hesitate any longer.
There is no guarantee that these two are all there is, and if there is any chance at all, this would be the last time.
So Bell carefully reached for the scythe he had brought to prune the branch he had tied to the back of his pants.
The man approaching the fallen Lorne has his back to him.
And the other looked briefly at the basket full of apricots.
You only have this moment to kill.
Chew!
As soon as the scythe tied to the island of Bajit was released, a flash of light emitted light, and the man’s body leaned forward as he approached Lone.
“This, you crazy bastard!”
However, it happened just as the other man turned her head away, so I witnessed the scene right away.
The scythe was stuck in her man’s body, so he attacked Bell, who was missing his weapon.
At this time, Lorne collapsed in his seat and watched blankly as a group of what appeared to be his colleagues crept up behind him.
What is the moment when you lose the most precious person in the world because of your foolishness?
It was too much of a shock for an 11-year-old child to handle.