314. Retribution (3)
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The air feels heavy.
Elnoir is certain of that.
It would be appropriate to describe the confrontation between the boy, the man, and the girl as such.
The man is desperately looking around. It would be more stable to seek help rather than confront a monstrous human who has broken through all the way here with a simple message.
Of course, it is true in reality as well. The boy had to eliminate a significant number of enemies to reach this far the fastest, but there are still quite a few remaining.
Dowd is the one being chased by time.
And Elnoir knows this.
This man was a man who had the upper hand in this situation more than anyone else.
“-“
Turning away one’s gaze is a very classical trick, but depending on the user, it can also be a very effective means that anyone can easily fall for.
The boy’s gaze quickly turns away. In this situation, the man’s gaze naturally turns in that direction due to the strange action of suddenly looking at a different place.
The next moment, the small firearm Dawood was holding was fired like lightning.
Directly at the shoulder. Directly at the leg.
The injuries were enough to make it difficult for him to stand properly, although it was evident that he avoided any fatal injuries.
Dawood rushes towards the girl, who is screaming and falling out of the man’s hands, and catches her.
“-Hoo.”
The boy exhales a sigh of relief as he checks the girl’s body.
She doesn’t seem to have any serious injuries. It feels like it was worth taking blows from all sides.
Elnoir, who was observing the scene, chuckled.
“Really.”
Elnoir recognizes this well.
Collusion. Deception. Tricks.
The weapon that this man enjoys using the most when overcoming crises is probably the weapon that has been equipped since even before it became so powerful.
In this way, the protagonist saves the heroine and the story concludes with a happy ending.
That’s how the scene should flow.
However, mistakes always arise in the most relaxed moments.
“-You damn bastard-!”
The man who was shot and fell down shouts this curse, and takes out a ‘different’ weapon hidden in his pocket.
To the boy, who thought he must have been completely subdued because he fell to the ground and dropped his weapon, this is undoubtedly a surprise attack.
His pupils tremble.
The man has been ‘subdued,’ but he is not yet ‘dead.’ It’s not surprising for him to do something outrageous.
Elnoir remembers the image of this man who carried out perfection in everything, and it is an unimaginable mistake.
‘-No.’
When you think about it, it’s natural.
Humans cannot be perfect from the beginning. Even if you learn many things, the boy cannot do everything perfectly from the start.
However, he was just in an environment where the consequences of such mistakes were cruel.
The man aims the gun at the boy. The sound of gunpowder exploding can be heard.
However, what springs forth next is not the boy’s blood.
“-?”
Before the boy’s eyes, an incomprehensible image appears.
Gunshots.
Blood.
A girl’s pristine white dress stained scarlet.
“-“
Before he can comprehend, his body reacts first.
Once again, the small firearm fired from Dawood’s hand pierces completely through the man’s head this time. Before he can fully register any sensation, the collapsing girl’s body falls into his arms.
“Why did you-“
Certainly, the question of why she did such a thing would come to mind, but before that thought can fully form, the girl interrupts with labored breaths.
“Oh, this?”
Despite her face contorted in pain like she has never felt before, the girl still manages to utter those words with a smiling face.
“You see, I had to do this to gain courage.”
“What in the world-“
“I have one confession to make. No, perhaps two?”
Even in her strange condition, uttering peculiar words one after another, the boy hurriedly checks her physical state.
“-“
His face pales in an instant.
It’s a fatal blow, even at a glance. Recovery seems nearly impossible.
This situation is all due to his mistake.
“Don’t blame yourself.”
Before such thoughts can take hold, the girl flicks the boy’s forehead with her finger.
“I’m the one who got hit, not you. Do you understand?”
“-Don’t say that.”
From Noble mtl dot com
It was almost like an excuse, but with nothing else to say, the boy stammers out those words.
“-It’s probably not going to stop anyway. You can stop this strange hemostasis.”
“I told you not to say it.”
She applies pressure to the wound.
The bleeding doesn’t stop. As the amount of blood spewing out increases, the girl’s face rapidly pales.
The boy’s mind is consumed by a piercing pain that seems to tear him apart.
And, above it all,
the girl’s calm voice fell.
“I don’t have much time left to live anyway.”
“-What?”
“It wouldn’t be strange no matter when I die.”
The boy, who had forgotten the current situation, blankly stared at the girl’s face. The girl spoke again, smiling softly.
“So, it doesn’t really matter whether I die now and get it over with, or wait until it gets difficult… It’s all the same, really.”
“-“
“Well, now that it’s come to this, I guess I can say it. I don’t know if I had the courage to say it properly before I was faced with it, but now that it’s right in front of me, maybe I can find the courage.”
The girl said hesitantly.
“Hey.”
And with a wry smile, she grabbed the boy’s head.
She pressed her forehead against his own.
“Let’s date.”
The boy’s face twisted horribly.
It looked like he was crying, or maybe laughing.
“What are you saying in a situation like this—”
“It’s a lifelong wish.”
“I understand, I understand—”
“To date, right? From today, we’re a couple, right?”
“Yeah, okay, so stop talking—!”
“And now let’s break up.”
The girl giggled as she saw the boy’s face, forgetting the situation and showing a delighted expression.
“From here on, do it when you really meet someone you can truly love.”
“I, you know—”
The girl sighed as she pulled the boy closer.
“Before I die, I wanted to try it. Love, I mean.”
A weak whimper mixed into her voice.
“But I thought that me saying something like that would burden you. I thought it might leave a tragic first love experience for you—I had a lot of thoughts like that. So, I hesitated a lot. I even thought about dying silently. But in the end, I just couldn’t bear it.”
“-You.”
“I hope you continue to be happy. Without me, meet someone good, have a normal child, and start a family.”
The girl, who gave a human-like life to the beast, said so.
“Continue to live as a human even after this. Please.”
…
“Make the people around you happy.”
Just like that.
Normally.
-“
She asked him to cherish the things she had given him until the end.
The girl’s breath becomes irregular. The focus in her eyes gradually disappears.
And then.
A terrible silence follows.
…
Time passes.
Time passes.
The boy’s mouth opens.
-“
No sound came out.
It hurts.
It hurts.
Breath rushes in. It feels like it’s burning even in his lungs and throat. It’s like squeezing out the lungs while exhaling.
-“
The memories become faint.
Like noise interfering with the screen, all the scenes afterwards become chaotic. Doubtless, Dowd wasn’t in his right mind at the time.
However, even in that state,
The ‘experience’ that firmly imprinted on Dowd’s mind, Elenore could definitely feel it too.
‘-The cruelty learned from mistakes.’
Calculating each variable to the level of obsession.
Caring for the ‘well-being’ of others due to the pain of loss.
Once more, he was reluctant to open up his most fundamental ‘inner self’ to someone, fearing that he might experience that ‘pain’ again.
As long as no one delved deep into their own innermost selves, they could avoid experiencing such pain once more.
People aren’t created without reason.
This fragmentary memory embedded in his innermost psyche was responsible for most of Dowd Campbell’s current behavior patterns.
His ‘core’ was, in essence, derived from these experiences.
In other words,
‘Now.’
Dowd Campbell, in his current predicament, might be in for more trouble than he anticipated.
Eleanor said this, closing her eyes.
Yes, she had just seen what she needed. It was time to leave.
“But wait a moment,” Eleanor suddenly thought, her chin resting on her hand.
“That girl… don’t you remember seeing her somewhere?”
The girl entrenched in Dowd’s memories was undoubtedly a face she had seen somewhere as well.
“Clearly, around me…”
As Eleanor contemplated this notion.
Her thoughts were abruptly pulled outward.
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“-Huh?!”
As Eleanor jumped up from her seat, Professor Astrid let out a surprised exclamation.
Given the suddenness of the situation, her startled reaction was quite natural.
“What, what is it? Why are you like this?”
As those words were slowly uttered, Eleanor, who had risen from her seat without delay, continued speaking.
“I have one question, Professor.”
“What is it?”
“Is it possible for someone like Mobius Professor to peer into the ‘memories’ of others in this way?”
“Well, I’m not sure.”
It was an abrupt question, but Astrid continued to answer hesitantly.
Elnoir’s serious expression when asking such a question must be the reason.
“Well, it’s possible in a general sense. They might also be able to analyze the nature of ‘trauma’…?”
“Then, would you kindly tell us the location where the author and Dowd are currently meeting face-to-face?”
“Huh? What are you going to do there?”
Elnoir sighed in response to Astrid’s answer.
“I’m going to save my husband.”
As if asking a question that should be obvious.
A clear and unparalleled answer emerged.
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Kinda feels like the story of the overpowered hero is overly cautious minus the not remembering the past thing.