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

8 – red eyes (2)

*

Me and Mr. Millwood sat facing each other at the table, where the remnants of dinner had not yet been cleaned.

Mr. Millwood chewed his lips and didn’t say anything, and I was also silent, watching her.

To be honest, I did not understand the current situation and atmosphere at all.

What have I done?

Finally, he made a grave marker for his sister’s grave, and finished the farewell dinner by emptying the glass that Mr. Millwood had given him.

In the morning, which was soon to come, I was going to leave this cabin and go through the woods.

He had already taken the road out of the woods from Mr. Millwood.

Looking back, it didn’t seem like I had done anything wrong in the past day.

If that’s the case, the cold atmosphere right now is probably because of what happened just a moment ago.

After getting drunk and thanking Mr. Millwood over and over again, I fell asleep and was awakened by the sound of the door opening.

Looking out the window, I saw Mr. Millwood heading somewhere, so I secretly followed him.

Maybe she’s going hunting because she wants to feed me something special to commemorate her last farewell.

I think I thought that I don’t have to suffer for nothing.

Of course, on the other hand, there were also doubts and fears about her that had not yet been resolved.

But I never expected that she had just gone to the river to take a bath.

And I never expected that she would be so beautiful.

But, is she really upset that she was seen naked?

I couldn’t tell.

And there was only one way to find out.

“I-over there…”

“…”

“Ah… yup,”

I closed the mouth I had barely opened to ask a question.

It was because her eyes were glaring at me with resentful eyes that shed a gloomy light between her flowing bangs.

She no longer covered her face with a cloth.

Mr. Millwood pretended not to hear me and was just tearing his hair out.

“…sorry. I don’t know if you’re taking a bath…”

“shut up.”

She resolutely cut off even my apology and raised her head and glared at me fiercely.

It seems that I was wrong in thinking that maybe the face that had been covered so hard was so coolly exposed, that maybe it was because of trauma.

Funny enough, it’s only now that I realize that I wasn’t outraged by the fact that she was simply naked.

From the chill she radiated, I instinctively realized that there was a more terrible reason and secret behind Mr. Millwood’s obsession not to show her face.

After being silent for a while, she slowly opened her mouth.

“You must not leave this forest any more.”

“yes?”

“I can’t go out.”

said Mr. Millwood in a firm tone.

After looking into my eyes just a moment ago, her voice seemed to have completely rested during the short time when she suddenly screamed and howled, and a cracking voice flowed from her mouth.

can’t you go out?

how much?

“Uh, when…”

“forever,”

“…yes?”

To my dumbfounded question, she responded with a flurry.

“I don’t get it? You can’t go out forever, you can’t meet anyone, you can’t go anywhere, you can’t see anyone.”

“…”

“like me.”

She looked at me with her big eyes.

Her bright red eyes suddenly widened for some reason.

No, it was getting bigger.

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It felt like huge eyes were coming toward me.

And the eyes embedded in my face reflected in those pupils were also shining the same red.

“uh? My eyes…?”

“Those red eyes are proof that you are cursed.”

Mr. Millwood put aside the despairing expression he had been putting on a moment ago and spoke relatively calmly.

It seemed that he was ready to tell me the truth.

“…curse?”

“That’s why I covered my face so desperately.”

Having said that, she smiled.

It was a miserable laugh mixed with self-reproach, as if he had given up on something rather than hearing a funny story or because he was in a good mood.

A voice mixed with self-deprecating remorse as much as that laugh came out of her mouth.

“I was living miserably day by day in this empty forest to keep that curse from spreading…”

“… Ah… maybe, I, I…”

“Because of you.”

Goosebumps sprouted all over his body all at once.

Suddenly, the texture of the clothes I was wearing felt very rough.

It felt like thorns had sprouted all over my body.

I could vividly see the cold sweat running down through the gaping goose bumps.

A tremendous chill hit my body, and the scene of the carriage accident flashed through my mind.

Chill, carriage accident.

They were a sense of death left in my head.

I’m feeling the fear of death right now.

“I wasn’t saving him, I wasn’t helping him.”

“…sin, sorry… sum,”

I crouched down at the cool sensation as if her sharp words cut through my heart.

He tried to say something, but his trembling lips couldn’t move properly.

I was barely trying to deliver the words of apology in a stuttering tone.

“… no.”

But she cut me off and stopped my apology.

At the same time, the painful weight of air that weighed down my entire body dissipated in an instant.

His stiff neck twitched slightly.

As I looked at Mr. Millwood cautiously with a frightened gaze, her expression was stained with sadness, resignation, and despair.

“It’s not your fault. everything…”

She paused for a moment, feeling choked up.

After a moment of silence, she opened her tightly bitten lips and drew in a sad sound.

She trembled all over and spoke.

“It’s my fault…”

“Mr. Millwood…”

“It’s my fault. I couldn’t get you out quickly… knowing that I wouldn’t, that’s… because of loneliness…”

“Wheat, wheat woo…”

“no,”

she cut me off

It had already been cut off several times, but it was somehow different from before.

If the interruption in the past had been the feeling of cutting off a long story, this time, as if he didn’t want to hear it, he cut off my words more harshly and violently.

“My name is ‘Sylvia’.”

“…yes?”

She stumbled like a person who had lost her inner support, then leaned her body completely against the backrest, looked up at the sky, and muttered in a bewildered voice like someone who had let go.

“Millwood is the name of this ruin you and I are now living in…”

“…”

“Millwood… was such a beautiful town that you could hear the chirping of the forest and the rattling of the watermill.”

Water fills the corners of her eyes.

Red eyes reflected in the light twinkled.

Millwood, no, Mr. Sylvia, slowly closed her eyes as if recalling the whole view of Millwood village.

As her eyes closed, a single tear rolled down from her eyes.

“Because of my curse, everyone in this village died, and this village was in ruins… Without me…”

As she exhaled slowly, a sad trembling sound came out, as if she would burst into tears at any moment.

She was barely holding back her tears and calming herself down.

I could only quietly look at her.

I still hadn’t figured out what all of this was going on, and I didn’t want to provoke her hastily.

She revealed her real name, Sylvia, and seemed to have a lot to say even though her mouth was not easily separated.

Wait… Sylvia?

The name was not unfamiliar to me.

Even that face of hers was not unfamiliar.

Light blonde hair, fair skin. And a beautiful face and body.

I’m sure I’ve seen it somewhere.

“… illustrations.”

I hadn’t met her in person.

I remember seeing her face painted somewhere.

Certainly… When the Count, who helped our family, came with a newspaper that was published in the capital.

An illustration drawn in the newspaper depicted her.

Why did the Count bring the newspaper?

‘Look at this, Ash. The warrior with your sister is this man.’

‘Are you a woman? He said he was a warrior, so I thought he must be a man.’

‘A woman dressed up who fights with a much more confident spirit than most men. I’ve only met him in person once, but at that time, I felt that he had a look like a warrior.’

‘Rather than that, isn’t there anything about your sister written in the article?’

I muttered as I looked at her in front of me.

obviously that person

“…Hero… Sylvia…”

＊

Sylvia.

The center and main axis of the party of warriors, established by all countries in cooperation to protect the fragile kingdoms established by humans.

A legendary hero who finally achieved his goal after a journey to defeat the king of monsters who violated people’s daily lives in an evil way.

Although, in the process, he lost all his colleagues and sacrificed his noble life, the light of mankind that finally subdued the demon king.

She was in front of me now.

“Heroes, lights, all bullsh*t…”

“…”

“You can tell just by looking at you, the world is still no, it’s more messed up, right?”

As she said, the world was a mess.

Even the expression messed up would be a very careful and careful expression.

Despite the death of the demon king, the threat of the monsters did not disappear, and rather, humanity, who had lost many heroes of the time, including the hero, was in greater danger.

The death of my parents in the first place was also the work of forces trying to seize power through such confusion.

Because the chaotic situation sucked up all the intelligence to find out the hoax in advance, and the money and military power to stop the conspiracy.

“Were you still alive…? Said the hero died…”

“They thought I was dead because I didn’t return to the kingdom.”

There were many things I wanted to ask her.

She must be the one who saw the end of my sister.

But before that, there was something I had to ask.

“These ruins… no, is this village and its curse the reason you haven’t returned?”

“…okay.”

“If you had come back, I could have done anything for you…”

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“…”

She laughed out loud in a miserable voice.

“It is impossible to do something like Haeju.”

“If you’re a skilled seaman…”

Silvia-san shook her head.

She took the small knife on the table and gripped it so tightly that her hand trembled.

It was the knife I used at dinner.

“…This is the curse of the dying end left by the demon king as he died.”

“The Demon King’s…?”

“…yes, that goddamn scaly skin… cursed me even as I was dying from a sting in my throat.”

Devil.

The evil snake king who suddenly appeared about 30 years ago and ruled over demons and mercilessly attacked mankind.

The scaly-skinned demons with vertically slit pupils drive all monsters crazy,

It is known to use powerful brainwashing magic that forces even demons who don’t want to fight to obey.

Unlike other demon kings in history that have existed so far, the goal of this demon king is just war.

It was just the end of mankind.

If such a being died and cursed him with his grudge, it would be difficult to do so, but if he had returned to the capital, the kingdom would not have left an important person worth a hero.

“It doesn’t have to be him who destroys humans, his severed head said and fell to the floor.”

The wooden handle of the knife she was holding began to crack with a crack.

“That damn lizard didn’t kindly tell me what the curse was.”

“…”

“Ha, if it was natural, it was natural, so I couldn’t prepare…”

“What… was it a curse?”

“…Yes, I will tell you. Unlike me, I can tell you in advance.”

Sylvia explained the curse she had, and now shared with me.

As I listened to her explanation, my expression gradually hardened.

This curse cannot be lifted.

I can’t leave this forest

I can’t meet anyone in my life.

Everything she said was true, and now it was mine.

＊

After defeating the Demon King, she did not return to the capital right away.

All of her colleagues died, and her injuries were so bad that she had to be treated first.

She walked for two days and arrived in the town of Millwood, disfigured and disfigured, just like I had been in a carriage accident.

This place where we are now, the village that is now in ruins.

The villagers let her in without question.

The warrior greeted the residents face-to-face and thanked them.

face to face, face to face

“The condition for the curse that I found out is to see my face.”

“…”

“The effect is… well, to put it simply, you lose your temper.”

“The opposite s*x…?”

“Berring, furious, whatever you call it. Anyone who sees my face goes crazy and attacks everyone in sight. Just like demons…”

“…”

“The problem is that other people who see the face of a person who has become so violent will also be cursed, and if they see a person who has become violent because of that curse, then again and again and again and again.”

“…oh my god”

“This curse doesn’t end until you die or everyone around you dies, leaving you alone. Even if you stay alone and return to normal, you will go crazy if you see someone again.”

She whispered with a light smile.

“I’m glad I didn’t go straight back to the capital…”

Certainly he was right.

If she put this curse on her and went straight back to the capital, the whole country would have already been filled with crazy people before she lifted the curse, no matter how good the healer was.

The knights who went out to subdue the rampaging people will go insane as well… And more and more people…

“…Like that, Millwood Village turned into a hell where crazy people who were no different from monsters teared each other apart in just 30 minutes.”

“So, those people…”

“…”

When making the tombstone, Mr. Sylvia gave a lot of advice.

In particular, he gave information on the style of writing or numbers to be engraved on the tombstone, and a short prayer that he recommended to be engraved.

How did the hero know how to make such a tombstone in detail?

“Ah, those tombs… no way.”

“…”

“…No…isn’t it?”

puck,

The handle of the knife in her hand was completely broken.

As if that wasn’t enough, even the part where her thumb pressed the blade slowly bent.

“I had to kill them all.”

“…Oh, my God.”

the graveyard.

I visited several times while making the tombstone.

I even read each one.

Among them was the grave of a newborn baby who was only one year old.

“ah…”

I didn’t bother to ask her.

Just by looking at her face in despair, I could already guess the answer.

“…”

“…for a moment,”

“…what,”

“But, why am I fine?”

According to her, by now I should have gone crazy and run at her.

But my appearance was the same as usual except for the reddened eyes.

“Maybe I’m not cursed…”

“Because I have to move the curse.”

“…?”

“So if the only person around is me, the curse won’t activate. If you make me die, the curse won’t spread enough.”

clear answer.

That’s right, because if she died, the curse wouldn’t spread enough.

It was a detail that deeply felt the malice of the demon king who had already died.

“That… Then, after all, I am now…”

“Yes, if you meet someone else, you will lose your temper and attack. Until you die or everyone around you dies.”

“Such… nonsense…”

As she said, it was a terrible curse that could not be resolved.

A curse made to kill all humans, so she cut off all contact with humans and locked herself in the forest.

And I, too, fell under that curse.

This is why she hid her face so much.

I only asked him to show his face with a light heart, but now I can understand the appearance of all kinds of murderous things.

And, despite being so careful, I felt resentment to the point of being absurd for my own carelessness, which eventually raised this sadal.

You have to think.

Is there a way to solve it, is there any good way?

Of course, there was nothing I wanted to do outside the forest, nor was there any reason to live.

Rather, if I could live here where my sister’s grave is, I wanted to do so.

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Well, that’s how it turned out.

Because I have become a person who shouldn’t leave this place.

You can be by Lila’s side…

for a moment,

By Lila…?

“Sylvia.”

“… what?”

“You can just die.”

“…”

I looked straight up at her.

Yes, now that I lost all my family anyway, I didn’t even want to live.

Of course, I didn’t want to die either, but I didn’t have to live with the risk of spreading this curse in the world.

By my sister’s side, by Lila’s side, by my parents’ side

Maybe it would be better if I could go see my family again.

I was so ashamed of myself that I was happy that I had survived, so I was the one who blushed the whole time I was carving Layla’s tombstone.

It was a life she saved with difficulty, but it was not a waste.

And on her face full of piled up despair, there was no joy or aspiration for life.

It was clear that she, too, wanted to die.

After killing the people of Millwood village with my own hands, and realizing that I was the cause of all these terrible situations, I would have wanted to die ever since.

I thought so.

Silvia-san listened to me and smiled slowly.

“Ha ha ha ha ha…”

“…Sylvia… Mr….?”

“Ahahahahaha!”

“Syl… Via?”

As if pleading, I called the hero’s name.

Sylvia-san’s laughter grew louder and turned into maddening madness.

She squeezed the curved knife in her fist and lifted it with lightning speed.

The tip of the knife was pointed at her eyes.

“Whoops!”

I was startled and backed away.

“Heh… heh,”

“Miss Sylvia?”

The knife turned to black ash and flung into the air.

Even if I lack my skills, I am a wizard, so I could tell just by looking at the black ashes.

The demon king’s curse was protecting her.

Don’t die, spread the curse.

I could die, but she wouldn’t die.

I could run away from this curse, but not her.

“…what way…”

I forgot my first thought about asking about my sister and asked the hero.

Is there any way

“Then, just kill me.”

“no,”

Sylvia knocked over the chair and got up quickly, then slowly came towards me.

“… Mr. Sylvia?”

“Just thinking about it, Ash…”

“… yes?”

“…Aren’t you, perhaps, a reward bestowed upon me by the goddess?”

The red in her eyes seemed to glow strangely.

Even her blond hair seemed to fly ominously.

“I was also at my limit. ash.”

“… yes?”

“How much I wanted to get out of this forest, how much I wanted to talk to someone…”

“… Sylvia, kuck!”

Silvia-san grabbed both of my cheeks with one hand.

My cheeks tightened and my lips protruded uglyly.

She looked down at my face and smiled.

It wasn’t a miserable smile or a maddening resignation, but a big smile like a child full of anticipation.

“But I persevered. Note, note, endure. ‘Cause I’m a warrior No matter how corrupted you are, your desire to protect people has not disappeared.”

“…Sylvia-san?”

“But you came to me on your own, and even though I warned you enough, you broke my warning.”

She stared straight into my red, cursed eyes, the same color as hers.

I also looked into her red eyes that reflected my image.

Millwood, no, Mr. Sylvia threw the handle of the broken knife into my thigh and dropped it.

“Welcome to my f*cking life. ash”

She laughed and declared that she would not save me.

.