Chapter 9 – A Rainy Day (2)

I contemplated it for a moment.

The person I think of whenever it rains.

“Do you have one?”

Faced with this question, I couldn’t answer, so I returned the question instead. But as soon as I did, I thought of a face.

The person who was always on my mind whenever it rains—

The boy I saved, but eventually threw away.

Was it because I dreamed of running away from the mansion?

I remembered the first time I met the boy.

 

* * * 

“I told you. It’s a secret passage, Rina.”

It was the day when Dale brought me to the secret passage, playing a trick on me.

As we exited the passage, I saw a forest.

It smelled like fresh foliage.

It was the forest where I used to practice horseback riding.

I never thought we’d go out this way because I never searched the forest.

As I walked forward, I suddenly looked behind me.

Dale followed me with a cold gaze.

Just thinking about him tricking me like that made it feel like my blood was boiling.

“Let’s separate here.”

“What?”

Dale asked back foolishly as though he hadn’t heard anything. I answered him.

“I said it once already. Did you forget? I said I didn’t want to stay with you.”

“Didn’t I accept the deal because you said you’d be by my side?”

I didn’t say that directly. The consent was only implicit.

“I changed my mind.”

“……”

Dale stopped walking, standing still. I pretended to be calm, but I was feeling guilty.

I knew this wasn’t a good thing to do. I tucked my hair behind my ear and turned sideways.

I was ready to be slapped on the cheek.

“Just get a good hit and be done with it.”

“What are you…”

“We don’t have much time.”

I closed my eyes, but there was nothing that hit me.

Dale looked at me with a crumpled face, then sighed.

It could be a trick of the light, but he seemed to be either annoyed or sympathetic.

It was upsetting. I would rather he be annoyed. It felt dirty to be sympathized with.

“Tell me where to go next. I already gave you a chance to relieve your anger, so you’re not allowed to say anything else.”

“It’s hard to explain in words.”

“Then draw a map.”

“I’m afraid I didn’t bring a pen and paper.”

I opened my bag and searched inside.

You never know when you’d need anything. I also packed pens and pieces of papers.

When I took out a quill and a piece of paper, he burst out into laughter.

“Just draw here.”

“…Sure, since we have these.”

It looked like he wanted to say something else, but he stopped himself.

As he scribbled on the paper, black smoke rose behind him.

From where we were standing, I couldn’t see the burning mansion.

I wanted to see it burn to ashes with my own eyes. Too bad.

“There. I don’t know if you’ll understand it.”

Who would misunderstand a simple map.

I walked while looking at the paper that had a rough map and explanation on it. It might be a bit difficult because his handwriting was a mess.

“You’ve done what you needed to do. Nice job. Get going now.”

Although it was difficult, I thought he’d get it so I passed by him and walked away.

“Go ahead.”

I pointed behind him, but Dale didn’t budge.

When I waved my hand, his expression crumpled even more.

Even so, I never intended to do what Dale wanted.

In the first place, I just needed to use him and throw him away.

“’Go ahead’?”

“Yes. That’s how it should be.”

“Father will come back even before you can leave the forest.”

“I’ll just hide.”

“You don’t even know the terrain. And at night, wild animals come out.”

We didn’t have time to get horses at the stable, but it’ll be alright.

I looked at my gun.

“I’ll just kill them all.”

“…I already said I’d help you. Follow me.”

Dale began to walk past me with his expression still distorted.

I thought about how to shake him off, but I followed him silently towards the two horses that were tied some distance away.

“You’re more prepared than I thought.”

When did he prepare these horses?

Thanks to this, we didn’t have to walk.

I climbed on one horse and glanced at Dale.

Dale also needed to get out of the forest.

There’s nothing different with separating now or later when we’re out of the forest.

There’s no need to follow that difficult to read map. I folded it and put it in my pocket.

We led the horses forward without exchanging another word. The sound of their steps was quiet. A little further ahead of me, I could only see the back of Dale’s head.

And when I looked behind me, I could no longer see the mansion.

 

* * * 

As it got a little darker, I was already fatigued from riding on horseback.

After leaving the Blan forest, we entered another forest.

When I thought about when we’d arrive at a village, Dale suddenly halted his horse.

I pulled the reins immediately as well.

Neiiigh. The surprised horse whinnied and lifted its front legs.

I patted it’s neck to calm it down and shot a glare at Dale.

“Why did you stop so suddenly?”

I almost got into an accident.

“Let’s get off.”

“What?”

“We should walk from here.”

“All of a sudden?”

“I didn’t think there’d be people here like this…”

As he stared at one place, he pursed his lips. I followed his gaze and saw a crowd of people a long distance away.

But the distance between us wasn’t that pleasant.

There was a group of men deep into the woods, and they were surrounding one boy. Next to them, there were people who had already collapsed, and the men were searching them before attacking them.

“It’s going to rain soon. We still have some ways to go.”

The dark clouds grew even darker.

I know. I have to go.

Whatever happened to them, it had nothing to do with me. And I didn’t want to get involved in such dangerous things.

“Rina.”

But somehow, I couldn’t just go.

Dale called my name, but I shook my head almost desperately.

“No. You should go ahead.”

I was about to get off the horse.

But I clutched the reins.

I exhaled, then kicked the side of the horse to make it run. Dale shouted and called after me, but the horse already took off.

I wonder if this was right.

However, the distance between me and the crowd was narrowing quickly. I couldn’t think about it anymore.

“What are you doing?!”

The men who couldn’t move out of the way on time shouted at me.

I stretched out my hand towards the boy who was running.

Cloth that touched my fingertips.

Fluttering black hair and golden irises.

Then, the pull of gravity as I lifted him up.

Strangely, these actions seemed to pass slowly.

But that was only an illusion.

I had to clench my teeth because it felt like my arm was about to fall off.

While trying to lift the boy up, I stumbled and was almost thrown off the horse, but I managed to fix my posture.

I wasn’t confident because I’d never done this before, lifting someone up while the horse was running.

If I could catch him, then I would. If not, then I wouldn’t. I just tried to do it, and somehow, it worked.

It was amazing, but I felt it vividly.

“Ugh…”

He’s heavy.

I couldn’t lift him up with only one hand.

But then the weak-looking boy struggled along with me and, even with his hands tied together, he climbed on the horse’s neck, stepped up and successfully climbed on.

“Hey! Stop them!”

The men’s shouts could be heard from behind.

The boy who skillfully climbed atop the horse as though he was trained to do turned to look at me.

It was already raining.

Water dripped over the boy’s clean face.

“I thought my arm was about to fall off…”

I mumbled blankly, still in a daze.

When I grabbed the boy, I only saw his gold eyes. It was the first time I was seeing him closely.

And his face…

“Why are you so pretty?”

He was so pretty that the words that didn’t fit this situation popped out of my lips.

Even so, I couldn’t continue staring at him.

Among the men chasing us, the leader searched his coat pockets. Then, he took out a gun.

And,

Bang—!

A loud shot rang out.

The bullet narrowly missed and hit a tree instead.

I was so startled that I hugged the boy tightly so that he wouldn’t fall.

The sound of dozens of horses following us could be heard.

 

* * * 

Bang, bang!

Whenever the gun went off, goosebumps rose over my skin.

I kept thinking that a bullet would find its way to the back of my head.

Each time, I realized that I could die immediately the moment my luck ran out, and so my body was entirely tense.

“Urk…!”

The bullet I thought I avoided pierced through my shoulder.

Even before realizing what happened, I groaned.

It felt like my shoulder was being burned, and because of this I almost lost my balance.

If it weren’t for my chin dropping down on top of the shoulders of the boy in front of me, I would have fallen to the ground.

Perhaps due to the sudden weight, or because he heard me groaning, the boy glanced back.

“Huh, when did you untie the ropes?”

“Is that important right now?”

His hands were more free than before.

The boy looked at me as I clenched my teeth and started tearing up from the pain.

“No. I’m fine. There’s a bag over there. Please take out the gun.”

My hands were needed on the reins to guide the horse.

When I pointed at my waist with my eyes, the boy managed to understand and lifted the hem of my cloak.

He searched through the bag full of things and found the gun.

“Give it here. Turn around and look ahead. Can you do it?”

“You’ll shoot?”

“Yes. It’s too dangerous for you.”

“Why do you think so?”

“You’ve never shot a gun before, have you? You’ll get hurt if you do it wrong. Give it to me.”

There’s no way that a boy who looked about ten years old knew how to shoot a gun.

Even if the culture here was very different from where I used to live, he was still just a child in my eyes.

But the boy ignored my words.

With his pointer finger on the trigger, he pressed on my injured shoulder hard.

“Ah…!”

Whether I groaned or not, the boy raised his upper body and suddenly pulled the trigger.

“You’re going to hurt yourself—!”

Bang!

—