Ah. Damn this stamina.
Ren thought he had managed to stay properly conscious, but someone was carrying him on their back.
He could feel his arms and legs hanging limp, swaying weakly.
‘Where the hell are they taking me?’
Ren held his breath and tried to look around. But even when he opened his eyes, he could not see anything.
‘Ah.’
The delayed sensation washed over him.
His eyes had been covered. They must have tied it loosely, because his lashes brushed against the cloth with a faint rustle.
“This way.”
“Hm. If I’d known his face was this good, I would’ve had him first before handing him over.”
“Don’t even think about it! Heh heh heh.”
Something soft touched his back. It felt as though his body sank downward.
“Should we untie his eyes too?”
“Leave that for Master to do.”
“Tsk. That’s a shame.”
“Where did Mine even pick up a beauty like this? Lucky bastard.”
“This kid’s the unlucky one. He got caught by scum like that. Tsk, tsk.”
“True enough. That one’s real scum.”
“This poor bastard’s done for.”
“Heh heh heh. That’s his problem! Everybody’s got their lot in life. Their lot.”
“What if they make a fuss later? Come to think of it, wasn’t this one being held by the kids with the red handkerchiefs?”
“We deny it.”
“Heh heh. Right.”
“Ah. We should tie him up again.”
They pulled out the rope they had untied so they could carry Ren more easily.
“Leave his arms alone.”
“Why?”
Thick fingers touched his ankles.
Ren held back the urge to kick with everything he had. Kicking them now would feel good for a second, but that would be all. They would probably bind his arms tightly too.
‘Hold it in! Hold it in!’
Thank goodness his eyes were covered! Otherwise, he would have glared without meaning to.
“His wrists are all ruined. He’s pretty, so let’s let it slide. Heh heh.”
“True. Even if we don’t tie him up, it’s not like he can run.”
After snickering among themselves and apparently reaching an agreement, the men bound only Ren’s legs tightly. He felt the thick rope wrapping around them again and again.
Just when their hands seemed to leave him, the sound of their footsteps also grew distant.
A moment later, he heard a door close.
Thud!
‘Did they all leave? They’re not coming back in, are they?’
Ren calmly counted in his head.
One, two, three, four, five... eighteen, nineteen, twenty.
Even after twenty seconds, he heard no sign of anyone, so Ren began to wriggle. With his unbound hands, he untied the knot of the cloth covering his eyes. Since it had been loose from the start, it was not hard to undo.
“Ugh.”
Ren frowned at the light from a magic lamp.
The place he was in was a clean, spacious room. It was subtly luxurious too.
After looking around the room for a moment, Ren decided to untie the rope around his ankles first.
“Whew. Why won’t it work...!”
Ren muttered irritably and tried to hold back his anger. He squeezed his eyes shut and steadied his breathing.
In his heart, he wanted to smash every object in this room to pieces, but...
“Haaa.”
After letting out a deep breath, he calmly opened his eyes.
He tried again to untie the rope, but all he managed to do was damage his fingernails.
There had to be something he could use.
Ren staggered around the room. Because his legs were tied so tightly, he could not walk far before falling over and hitting furniture. Ren bit down hard to hold back the groan that burst out from the stinging pain, then slammed the floor with his hand. But thanks to the thick carpet spread across it, only a faint tremor answered.
“Whew. Getting mad only hurts me. Only me.”
Muttering as if soothing himself, Ren lifted his head.
His eyes landed on an expensive-looking bronze clock.
Where had Cedric gone? He was safe, right?
First, get out of here.
After he got out... he would look for him.
If he stayed still, he felt as if terrible imaginings would surge in and swallow him whole.
Ren fell several times while bracing himself on the floor to stand, but finally managed to find his balance. Bent over so he would not fall, he moved and barely got the bronze clock into his hands. Fortunately, it was low enough that he could reach it without standing on tiptoe.
“Uuugh...!”
The clock was heavier than he had expected.
Thud—!
Even holding it with both hands, the weight was considerable. Unable to keep his balance, he ended up falling to the floor along with the clock. Ren held his breath and listened for sounds in the hallway. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he heard no sign of anyone.
Why wasn’t anyone guarding this place? There was no way they weren’t. Did they step away for a moment? Then they’d be back soon, and if he was going to run, this was the only chance he had.
With urgent hands, Ren fiddled with the bronze minute hand. It was quite sharp. It seemed like it might come loose if he turned it well, so when he tried rotating it, he felt a slight give beneath his fingertips. After twisting the minute hand several times, he finally managed to detach it.
Ren gripped the minute hand tightly.
Then he began sawing at the rope tied around his legs.
It was sharper than he had expected, but it did not cut as well as he had hoped. Instead, his clumsy hands only added more wounds to his ankles. But Ren did not give up. Switching hands back and forth, Ren stubbornly sawed at the rope. Little by little, the thick rope began to loosen.
“Ugh.”
And the wounds on his ankles multiplied too. Blood seeped from the skin scraped by the sharp minute hand.
It was only a stinging little wound, yet grief suddenly rose in his throat. His current situation was pathetic and absurd. If everyone heard he had been fooled by a few words and ended up like this, they would laugh.
They would ask if he had been so starved for affection that he had swallowed someone else’s words whole.
“Well, it’s true.”
Ren muttered self-mockingly and let out a small laugh. His hands stayed busy cutting the rope.
“So stupid.”
Everything was stupid.
What the hell was he even doing here?
Ren stared emotionlessly at the long wounds growing across his skin, then lifted his eyes toward the door.
I don’t know what I’m doing, but!
Snap. Snap, snap.
I’ll definitely escape and get revenge. If I die before I can, I’ll become a ghost and torment them for the rest of their lives.
Ren did not assume anyone would come save him.
Temar had left for the capital on his mission, and Jepeto had probably gone back to his own hometown.
He did not even know whether they would realize he had disappeared. The knights who came with Geloman had seen Ren leave the village and simply pretended not to notice.
Even if not, hadn’t they all secretly thought it?
That he should go back to his hometown on his own.
Too bad. I don’t really want to go back home.
After escaping and getting revenge, he would leave for another city with a sea.
Delfona was surely a beautiful city, but his first memory of it had been ruined because of Mine. First, he would go somewhere else and purify himself, then come back after a few years.
“Ugh!”
A sharp sting and the feeling of something snapping came at the same time.
While he had been thinking about all sorts of things and diligently moving his hands, the rope that had been slowly coming loose had finally snapped!
Blood streamed out, as if he had stabbed himself deeper than expected. Ren hesitated for a moment, then grabbed his shirt and pulled.
Nngh! Nnngh!
But even after wrestling with it for a long while, his shirt would not tear.
For heaven’s sake.
Ren stared stupidly at his terribly thin arms. No, his fists were useful enough! So why, why couldn’t he tear one lousy piece of cloth...?
Breathing hard, Ren tried again with all his anger poured into it, but of course.
His shirt only stretched a little.
Ren gave up cleanly.
The blood flowing bothered him a little, but that much could be ignored.
Ren grabbed the rope and flung it away. It struck the wall with a smack and fell limply.
At least that seemed to ease his anger a little.
‘Should I try going out?’
Ren calmly stood and turned the doorknob.
Click. Click, click.
Only the sound of the lock came back. Naturally, the door was locked.
He looked at the bronze clock lying on the floor.
If he waited quietly here, would a chance come?
Or would it be better to try escaping?
There might be men standing guard outside the door. Even if they were not right outside, they were probably somewhere in the hallway. He did not even know where he was, or what kind of building he was locked in. Moving carelessly might be the worst possible choice.
What should I do?
His worried eyes wavered as he looked at the bronze clock.
Ren chewed his lip, then laboriously lifted the bronze clock.
If he stayed still, nothing would happen. Ren decided to use the same method as before. If he was lucky, he would run away. If not... he would cause a commotion and take one bastard with him as company when he died! Or at least get to see the face of the person who had planned all this!
Still, Ren thought he would rather be able to run if possible.
And even better, find Cedric.
And if he had any strength left after that...
He wanted the other kids who had been taken with him to be able to go home too.
That was what he wanted.
“Ugh.”
Staggering over to the door with the bronze clock, Ren gripped it tightly and lifted it up. His arms trembled under the weight.
Then, aiming at the doorknob, Ren brought it down without the slightest hesitation.
Claaaaang!
Thud.
Ugh. Ren covered his ears, then slowly opened his eyes.
With an ear-splitting metallic noise, the doorknob and part of the wooden door broke off and fell away. Ren looked at the hole where the knob had been punched out with a stunned expression, then broke into a broad grin.
...It worked.
He had not expected it to work in one try, much less break immediately like this!
Ren looked down at his arms with a proud expression. See, even if he was a little short on strength, they were still useful!
“What was that! What’s that noise!”
Voices came from the far end of the hallway. Well, of course they had heard it in the corridor, after a noise that loud rang out like it was tearing his ears apart!
Ren quickly shoved the door open with his body and ran in the opposite direction from the voices.
Was there anywhere to hide?
At the frightening sound of pursuit, Ren poured strength into his legs and ran as hard as he could, but unlike his heart, his body was too slow. There was no way a body that had barely eaten and only been sick could run properly.
He staggered, bracing himself against the wall as he ran with all his might, but the furious men quickly caught up behind him. He grabbed every doorknob he could reach and tried turning them, but they were locked tight. He had no choice but to keep going.
This damn body!
Ren was grinding his teeth as he ran, and unfortunately, the moment he turned the corner, he slammed his head into a wall.
Thud.
Oof.
The impact knocked the scream right out of him.
As he reeled, a red wall caught him.
‘Ah, not a wall...’
“Ugh!”
“Are you all right!? What is this damned disgrace! Throwing you into a gutter wouldn’t be enough...! No! Why is this one out here!?”
“I’m sorry! We have no excuse. You see, this thing broke down the door...”
The men who had chased after him late bowed their heads to a balding man.
“Take him away at once! Sir, are you all right? I’m truly sorry. The truth is, that one is one of our workers...”
“One moment.”
When the men tried to drag Ren away, the man gently stopped their hands.
The man suddenly bent at the waist and looked into Ren’s face. Ren, clutching his forehead, which had turned bright red from the collision, tried to gather his strength and shout despite the dizziness, but—
The man let go of Ren’s arm.
Then he took one step forward and hid Ren behind his back.
“What... are you doing?”
“Just a moment.”
The man raised a hand and nodded as if to say it was all right. At the calming gesture, the middle manager who had been guiding him froze in confusion. The man thanked him with crescent eyes, then turned back to look at Ren.
“Boy, are you all right where you hit yourself?”
It was a beautiful, smooth voice, as if it had been spread with butter.
Ren was still dizzy from the aftershock of slamming his forehead into a wall—no, into a hard chest.
“Oh dear. You must be very dizzy.”
A leisurely hand took hold of Ren and helped him stand.
“Oh my! With your precious hands...! This child is a menial—!”
“So ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ this child must be the item the owner was boasting about.”
“Pardon? The owner boasted about him?”
‘Item...?’
A thug pretending to worry about a person.
He had to be exactly the same kind of human as Mine.
Ren forced strength into the two legs barely holding him up and snapped his head up to see that wonderful face.
The first thing that entered his eyes was amethyst, as though carefully cut and polished. No, eyes that looked like amethyst. The next things he noticed were pleasantly sun-browned skin, thin lips, and the deep smile held on those lips.
The moment their eyes met, the man froze.
“...Oh.”
Then came admiration.
His pupils seemed to slowly widen, and then his eyes curved fully into crescent moons. It was a bright smile, as if stars had been embedded all through it.
At that far-too-bright smile, Ren’s face crumpled like a sheet of paper.
As if anyone who came to a place like this could be decent!!
