Chapter 90

 

Leroy had definitely heard it. The desperate voice of the girl crying out to be saved while he was facing off with the kidnappers.

 

Even as he was being scolded for his needless meddling, the child’s voice quivered with fear.

 

She was scared of being trapped here, and all the more concerned for him, thinking that if she hadn’t tried to help, he would have been safe.

 

It wasn’t wrong, but Leroy also thought that it wasn’t something for her to feel guilty about.

 

There was no need for the victims to squabble amongst themselves when there was a clear perpetrator, the kidnapper.

 

Leroy continued to speak calmly, ensuring that his response did not sound like he was blaming her.

 

“Thanks to you, quite a few people saw us being taken. Someone is likely to come rescue us from outside soon.”

 

“Rescue... us?”

 

“Yes, there’s no need to be so frightened. Everything will be fine.”

 

At Leroy’s reassurance, the girl wore a skeptical expression.

 

She didn’t offer any objections to his opinion, but she didn’t seem to agree either. She just silently bowed her head without reply.

 

Seeing this, Leroy was momentarily lost in thought.

 

Conserving their energy wasn’t a bad idea, but considering her condition, he couldn’t just leave her be.

 

Just look at that expression of despair. It was as if she had already lost all will to live.

 

In the silence, the mind tended to wander, so he felt the need to consciously start a conversation to keep her from trembling in anxiety.

 

Leroy swallowed a sigh and asked, “What’s your name?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“It’s okay to say if you don’t want to tell me.”

 

“I really don’t know. My parents didn’t give me one. So I don’t have one.”

 

Leroy paused for a moment at her indifferent response.

 

He had already sensed, subconsciously, that the girl hadn’t had an ordinary upbringing.

 

The emaciated girl, with bones almost protruding through her skin, exuded an impression of a starving wild animal, both in appearance and demeanor.

 

She lacked basic common knowledge, yet, on the other hand, she knew astoundingly well how to use her body.

 

To anyone looking, she didn’t appear to have been raised in a normal environment.

 

But to not even have a name to the extent of nonexistence. Even a vagrant living as a companion to the streets would have some sort of name to communicate with the world.

 

Leroy asked, a bit dazedly,

 

“...Then, what have people been calling you up until now?”

 

After a moment of thought, the child began to count on her fingers and said,

 

“Hey, you, oi.”

 

Leroy bit his lip. It was to suppress a sigh that almost escaped him without realizing it.

 

This was a world of misery Leroy had never encountered before.

 

Therefore, he couldn’t bring himself to ask why she hadn’t chosen a name for herself or if there wasn’t a guardian to tell her it was wrong to not have one.

 

He faintly understood that what seemed natural to him might not be so for the girl, and the very act of realizing this fact could potentially be a wound to her.

 

Instead, he decided to continue the conversation as if there was nothing odd about it at all, putting aside the one-sided introductions as if even his own name didn’t exist.

 

“How old are you?”

 

“...Don’t know.”

 

“Then you probably don’t know your birthday either.”

 

“What’s good about knowing that?”

 

“...No, on second thought, it doesn’t seem like there’s anything particularly good about it. If you don’t know, you can decide for yourself when you want to be an adult.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Even as he responded, Leroy thought to himself that he was spouting nonsense.

 

He glanced at the girl to gauge her reaction, wondering if what he said was right. Fortunately or unfortunately, he could feel the tension gradually leaving her expression.

 

From that point on, there was no need for him to steer the conversation further.

 

It seemed the girl had other curiosities as well, pausing mid-nod to suddenly ask,

 

“Will she be okay?”

 

“Who?”

 

“The girl you were looking for. Brown hair, yellow dress.”

 

“Ah.”

 

She must be talking about Viviana. Leroy sighed reflexively.

 

Chances were, Viviana had safely returned home without a care for anyone else. It was always like that. When his childhood friend caused trouble, it was he who ended up taking the brunt of the blame.

 

Of course, it was his choice to go looking for Viviana alone, so he couldn’t put all the blame on her.

 

Not wanting to unsettle the girl, Leroy added a joke to his speculation.

 

“She’ll probably be fine. She’s the type who’d find her way out even if she fell into a desert.”

 

“Are you close?”

 

“She’s a sworn enemy.”

 

“A sworn enemy?”

 

“It means ‘fiancée’.”

 

The girl’s expression turned serious at Leroy’s response.

 

He had used ‘sworn enemy’ as a playful explanation, thinking she wouldn’t know the word ‘fiancée’, but it seemed to clash with what she did know.

 

Muttering something under her breath, barely audible, the girl suddenly got up.

 

Unlike him, bound hand and foot, her restraints seemed relatively loose.

 

She walked up to him with heavy steps and, sitting down in front of Leroy, she leaned in close and said,

 

“You shouldn’t do that.”

 

“...Do what?”

 

Caught off guard by her ominous warning, Leroy involuntarily shrank back.

 

Even sensing his discomfort, the girl maintained her intense gaze, insisting in a solemn voice,

 

“You shouldn’t marry an enemy.”

 

“…”

 

“If you don’t marry someone you love... you’ll become unhappy,” she added, as if imparting a profound life lesson.

 

Understandably, Leroy was terribly taken aback by her words.

 

Leroy was baffled as to why the girl, who didn’t even know her name or age, suddenly clung to the topic of marriage with such seriousness.

 

It seemed less like her own thought and more like she was parroting phrases she’d picked up from someone she knew. It was for reasons like this they say one shouldn’t even drink cold water in front of children.

 

Thanks to this, rectifying these odd notions had fallen into Leroy’s lap.

 

He asked, barely concealing his disbelief, “Who told you that?”

 

“Uncle.”

 

“…Whoever it is, they’re mistaken. Not many people marry for love in the first place.”

 

“Still, don’t do it.”

 

The conversation wasn’t going anywhere. Leroy felt increasingly foolish for trying to have a serious discussion on such a topic with the girl.

 

He sighed and turned away, but the girl stood her ground firmly before him.

 

She seemed determined to press him until he agreed. She urged him again, “Don’t do it.”

 

“That’s not for you or me to decide.”

 

“Don’t do it, I said.”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t…”

 

“Alright, alright.”

 

Leroy capitulated, unable to overcome her persistence.

 

Even when he cut the conversation abruptly, the girl did not seem upset. Rather, she seemed contented, having elicited the response she wanted, and promptly lost interest in him.

 

The girl moved away, sitting at a distance next to Leroy, which left him feeling a sense of hollow defeat.

 

He hadn’t become engaged to a troublemaker like Viviana by choice. He was simply born into a decision already made by the adults.

 

Why was it that he, Leroy, had to bear the brunt of this girl’s scolding here of all places?

 

As he was internally mulling over this thought, Leroy was about to speak again when the girl suddenly blurted out.

 

“It’s all because of that, why I ended up like this.”

 

“…Because of what?”

 

“Because I don’t have a mom or dad, because I live like this.”

 

Leroy was struck speechless by the girl’s candid response.

 

It seemed to be a bitter dig at her parents for irresponsibly abandoning her.

 

Leroy wanted to point out that it was a lack of responsibility, not a lack of love, but he realized such notions were too complex for the young girl.

 

What the girl, naive to the ways of the world, needed from him was comfort, not a sermon delivered with smug satisfaction.

 

“It’ll change once we get out of here.”

 

As he said this, Leroy brushed off the dust from the hem of the girl’s dress.

 

He had thought it was a stain from kneeling before him just moments ago, but it didn’t come off easily, perhaps an old mark.

 

Nevertheless, Leroy persisted in tidying up the girl’s clothes, as if driven by a sense of determination, thinking that before being dragged here, this child should have at least had the chance to wear a new dress.

 

With a contemplative tone, Leroy reiterated.

 

“Whatever ‘living like this’ means, it won’t be your future anymore.”

--- End Of The Chapter ----

 

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