638 – 8. Will (12)
Of course, the owner of those footsteps is ‘Emma’.
My arm was enough to block that path.
“Emma!”
“It’s okay, Ian.”
Emma’s voice was very calm. Even though she was in front of such a terrible sight, she even felt relaxed in her lithe attitude.
“There are only two sick people. What more would you do? I even beg you so desperately.”
“But, Emma. The opponent is the Dark Church.”
“Again, look closely. That person is at the end of ‘contamination’.”
My gaze naturally turned to the place where Emma winked at the unexpected claim.
There was her man right before she died. Maybe that person is the ‘brother’.
“You know what? At the end of ‘contamination’, most of them die before they can be touched, so there are few specimens. If you collect it, it will help.”
It was as it was said.
If she gave priority to her mission, it would have been better to let Emma go. Even if you take a little risk, since I’m by your side, nothing big will happen.
However, there is one scene that suddenly flashed through my mind.
I hesitated for a moment and couldn’t lift my arm. I was afraid that I would see Emma lying in the hospital room again like before.
Of course, the hesitation was not long.
Emma pushed my arm with little force, and I pretended to be able to overcome it and put her arm away.
Her brother looked at this as if it were salvation.
“The pollution has gone too deep.”
“Oh, oh oh…… !”
Her white cloak fluttering from Emma’s back gave the words authority. Wasn’t he a valuable talent who was recognized by senior researchers of the School of Eternal Life?
The woman’s hand skillfully drained the ooze from the tumor, collected the blood, and eventually scanned the body of the sick person from a distance to check her body condition. How many minutes did she go by like that?
Emma pulled out a bottle of medicine from the product.
“Give this medicine to the patient. It will be much better then.”
“Ah, ah! Go, thanks… Thank you! May the heavenly glory be upon you!”
Her brother admired Emma and accepted her vial. The woman in front of her with a kind smile seemed like she was a saint.
A while ago, the ‘Saint’…….
While I was momentarily distracted by gloomy memories.
Tok, do it.
The weak sound of an arm falling resounded. No matter how fascinated I was, there was no way I would miss a crowd at this distance.
This is, yes.
It was the voice of a dying life.
The breath that was barely connected is getting quieter.
“Uh, ugh…… ?”
My younger brother looked puzzled and didn’t say anything. As if she had lost her ability to speak, I only looked back and forth between the vial in my hand and the corpse of my former brother.
Emma was always smiling kindly.
“The patient was already late. No matter what prescription, it’s just a meaningless life-sustaining treatment, and it would only lengthen the patient’s pain. So I made it easy. To die painlessly and not to be tossed into the hands of the wicked… Enough then.”
That’s it.
Without hesitation, Emma got her body up and came towards me, while her sister only let out a sound like ‘Uh-uh-uh’. I also couldn’t help but look at the woman in front of me with somewhat bewildered eyes.
“Let’s go.”
There wasn’t much emotion in those short words.
A tone that is neither sad nor happy. It was a more unfamiliar voice without any waves of emotion.
When anyone sees death, there is bound to be agitation.
Even the priest who watched thousands die. No matter how well I made the decision, the experience of losing a life due to my choice would never be pleasant.
Even so, there seems to be no change of heart.
Emma didn’t open her mouth for a while. After I caught up behind her, she took a few more steps before she only asked me.
“Are you surprised?”
“A little… I have no intention of criticizing you for that.”
Then a bitter smile appeared on the woman’s lips.
“Isn’t it surprising? If it were you, I thought you would say one word to me about why you didn’t ask for it.”
“I’m not particularly an idealist. I’m not brazen enough to ask you to save someone you can’t save… However, I am curious.”
“What?”
“Because if it were you in the past, you wouldn’t have done this.”
The lines on the corner of her old friend’s eyes widened even more. However, that sorrowful expression was short-lived, and Emma spoke in a voice that pretended to be pleasant.
“Because it wasn’t a request!”
Again, it was an answer I hadn’t even imagined.
My body stood still, and Emma stopped walking with me. The woman looking back at me had a mischievous smile on her face, but she also seemed lonely.
“Why? I’m a body that works for money… Of course, there’s no way you can do extra work without getting paid, right?”
I was at a loss for words.
I want to say something, but I don’t have any objections that come to mind.
Or maybe I just didn’t want to discuss this topic anymore. The brutally rough flow of the times changed everything, and it made me different too.
Still, it wasn’t pleasant.
To have to painfully realize that my old relationship has changed.
So I had no choice but to ask a question like a joke.
“How much does my life cost?”
“Huh?”
When Emma tilted her head as if asking what she was talking about, I said with a blank laugh.
“Because even if I was in danger of dying, you might not save me. To hear the request fee in advance. How much do you need to save my life in case of emergency?”
“Ahahahaha, well… ….”
Only then did Emma understand my meaning and slurred her words. She smiles awkwardly and scratches her cheek for a moment.
Soon the woman returned her mischievous smile.
“…… About 10,000 gold?”
It was a strangely specific amount. It was also a lot of money.
I was about to grumble that it was too expensive.
“aaa!”
From far away, I could feel the presence of someone running in a hurry. Even without putting it in sight, its true identity was clear.
It must be a ‘younger brother’ who just lost his former ‘older brother’.
The frenzied younger brother’s eyes were bloodshot with thread veins bursting out. In the hands of her man, who was dressed like a scorched scorch, even stones he had picked up from nearby were being held before he knew it.
Brightly revealing its purpose.
I naturally tried to block Emma’s way. She would have done it if Emma hadn’t grabbed her by the hem of my dress and hadn’t shaken her head in silence.
But Emma refused.
That was before I even asked why.
Perfect!
A stone flew in from afar and hit Emma on the forehead. Perhaps it was because her Emma’s body was also strengthened with magic, but she only had abrasions.
Her brother howled at some distance from us.
“This, you devil! You took my brother’s life! I, I will curse you all my life… Send you to hell! In return for taking my brother’s life!”
That was too much criticism. Hey, there’s no way I’ll stay sane when I’ve just lost my family.
I moved my hand around my waist, just in case there was any additional threat. It was meant as a warning to stay quiet.
Would my intentions have worked?
The man who had been huffing and venting her anger for a while turned her around and started to walk away. Good thing she didn’t have to be stained with pointless blood.
Only then did I look back. It was to ask if he was okay or how he was doing.
Just then.
“…… Ian, look closely.”
It was a subdued tone that was incomparable to any voice I had ever heard. I stopped breathing for an instant at the voice mixed with deep melancholy, pity, and ridicule.
“Look at my back. Those shoulders that relaxed as if they had become relieved before they knew it, even though they had been criticizing us as if they would kill us just a moment ago.”
Isn’t that an overestimation?
No matter how expert you are, you can’t read a person’s psychology with such a trivial sign. I was going to argue that and at least defend the man.
If only I hadn’t witnessed Emma’s expression.
Cold mocking.
It was contempt without a shadow of a doubt. But I just can’t figure out what that feeling is for.
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“Even if that is not the case, it is not a simple task to move a seriously ill patient in a situation where supplies are in short supply. In my heart, I must have wished I had died… That’s when we appeared. As a savior who will bear the sins of that person instead.”
I left behind the bright green eyes burning bright blue and looked at the back of my younger brother who was leaving far away.
The back of him still wiping away tears with his arm, still haughty and resentful.
But why?
The reason why his steps seemed so much lighter.
The woman continued to whisper.
“Ian, this is the bottom.”
As I confirm again.
“This is the reality.”
For a moment, I thought she was her saint.
A saintess of disgrace who will endure all stones and spittles.
Funny.
**
I opened my eyes, coughing up blood.
I always opened my eyes out of breath, but today’s mood was a bit different. Should I say that it imprints the fact that my lifespan is short to the point where it makes me feel bad?
I burst into laughter.
Nothing was resolved, but it was because I was feeling pathetic about thinking of trivial thoughts. My hands began to fumble and rummage around the bedside.
Water, water, water.
Then there was a thud, and I immediately drank the contents. Actually, the contents were written differently than I expected.
I was about to spit out the liquid in my mouth, but there was a hand that stopped me.
“Swallow it as it is. Hopefully the inside will be stable…….”
As I was still hazy, I had no choice but to follow the instructions.
I somehow managed to swallow all the potion, and my eyes sneakily turned to the side. Then, a human figure was reflected through the blurred vision.