国产午夜亚洲精品AⅤ

Chapter 127

“...”

Reinhart was missing.

That he was still missing on Friday could mean that the situation had already become irreparable.

Ellen walked aimlessly in the rain, holding an umbrella. The rain had eased up somewhat, yet the persistent precipitation showed no signs of stopping. All her classes had ended, and there was nothing specific left for her to do.

However, Ellen could hardly remember what classes she had attended that day.

The thought that Reinhart might be dead made it impossible for her to focus on anything.

Ellen roamed the campus aimlessly.

‘I’ve made a mistake, again,’ she thought to herself.

“...”

Everyone has memories they wish to erase.

A past they desire to change.

‘Don’t lie to me.’

‘Ellen...’

‘You don’t love me at all. So don’t say you do.’

‘Ellen, what are you talking about? I’m your brother... I love you a lot.’

Ellen was a woman of few words.

But it hadn’t always been like that.

‘Really? And yet, you left me alone with just a sword, and now you’re leaving for some place far away again? Where to this time? What are you going to do? When will you return, and after how many years? You don’t tell me anything! You say you love me with just words! If it’s like this, don’t ever come back!

‘What does it matter if you return out of the blue and stay for just a few days? And you say that I should become a better person than you? That I should work hard? What exactly am I supposed to work hard at?! What’s the use of being good with this damn sword?! What does it mean to be a better person?! I don’t think you’re a hero at all!’

‘Ellen... I’m sorry. I have things I need to do. Things I must do...’

‘Yeah! That’s more important to you, isn’t it?! More than me! More than your family! You won’t even tell me what it is! It’s always the same things that are more precious to you! Those things you can’t even talk about are more important than me! You don’t love us! I hate you, Ragan!’

But then, she was slapped across the cheek.

Not by her brother, but by her father.

‘Fa-Father!’

‘Don’t act like a child, Ellen.’

She burst into tears then.

‘Go, my son.’

‘... Ellen. I’m sorry.’

‘I hate you! I hate everything about you! I hate you the most, Ragan!’

Ellen Artorius hated her brother.

But, she hated herself even more.

That day...

It was just like this one. A day, in the past, drenched with rain...

She hated herself for leaving her brother with words of hate instead of love as he made the difficult decision to leave.

Although she didn’t completely believe him when he said he was going on a long journey to a faraway place, she still believed he would return.

She thought he would appear suddenly after a few years, as always.

However, after some time passed and she learned the truth that her brother hadn’t gone on some adventure as usual, but had gone to the Dark Land to defeat the Demon King, she became sure that he wouldn’t return.

Only then did she realize the weight of what she had said.

He had stood before them for the last time, ready to die, and she had cursed him in front of their family.

When she thought about what her brother must have felt, Ellen wished she could kill her past self.

The last thing her brother remembered about her would have been her crying and saying she hated and despised him. How deeply it must have hurt him. Just the thought of it tormented Ellen.

That was why, after that, Ellen became a woman of few words.

She had hurt someone so deeply with her words, and she feared making the same mistake again, and so her words slowly dwindled.

Short answers and short conversations... Ellen, like a snail, gradually retreated into herself.

And yet, even though this was why she had conserved her words...

“I hate people like you.”

She had said that to Reinhart, and made another mistake.

For reasons of her own, she hurt someone. She had imposed an unjust standard on Reinhart, one that he did not deserve or need to live up to, and had hurt him.

She realized her mistake after Reinhart had disappeared.

Of course, she had always considered the possibility that Reinhart might suddenly vanish, but she hadn’t thought it would happen so soon.

Moreover, Reinhart had suddenly disappeared almost right after she’d said that.

Reinhart was missing.

He might even be dead.

In Reinhart’s memory, the last thing he saw of her would be of her saying she hated him.

Had her unspoken words, her belief that he was also going to suddenly disappear, become a curse that had befallen him?

Or had her hurtful words made Reinhart hide himself away?

Ellen was so troubled that she even entertained such absurd speculations.

She had said those words because she thought she could do just fine without Reinhart. She did it because she felt she needed to push him away before he became too precious to her.

However, with his sudden disappearance, Ellen had no choice but to acknowledge it.

He wasn’t someone she could be fine without.

She thought he was, but she was wrong.

“...”

Ignoring him hadn’t been easy either, but she had wanted to distance herself in any way possible. Every time she saw Reinhart, she was reminded of her brother, and couldn’t bear it. The memory of her mistake and her brother’s last image tormented her.

In the end, she’d repeated the same mistake with Reinhart that she had made with her brother. And as if to punish her for such a mistake, Reinhart had disappeared no sooner than she had committed it.

She had been so cautious, yet she’d made another mistake.

She had indeed made the same mistake again.

Was she being punished for it?

Was this all a punishment for making a promise not to commit such a mistake and then breaking it?

Ellen, after walking for a while, noticed someone sitting on a bench. She was walking along a pedestrian path, and since it was raining, the only people around were the girl in front of her and herself.

The girl was crying, covering her face with both hands, allowing the rain to drench her entire body as she sat there without an umbrella.

The girl was sobbing inconsolably.

Ellen quietly approached the girl and covered her with the umbrella.

“U-Ugh...?”

Startled by someone suddenly covering her with an umbrella, the girl lifted her head to reveal that she was Harriet de Saint-Ouen.

Normally, being caught crying would make her panic, but seemingly too distraught to care, Harriet lowered her head and began to sob again.

Ellen understood why Harriet was crying and why she was hiding here, unable to use an umbrella, letting the rain drench her as she cried.

Because Ellen herself wanted to do the same right then.

Seeing Harriet in that state, Ellen knew what she needed to do.

She didn’t want to remain inactive.

She no longer wanted to just sit around and cry, the way she’d done when her brother had left.

“... Let’s go.”

“Uh, huh? Wh-Where to?” said Harriet between sobs.

Ellen looked down at Harriet and said softly, “Let’s go find him.”

Harriet, her eyes swollen from crying, looked up at Ellen. After a moment, she wiped her eyes and nodded.

Ellen hadn’t specified who they were going to look for.

“... Okay.”

But they didn’t need to say it out loud; they were both thinking of the same person.

***

Harriet informed the dormitory staff that she would be spending the weekend at an external residence to rest, and Ellen provided a convenient excuse by saying she would be staying overnight at Harriet’s house.

It was Friday, and with all classes over, they were free to roam around outside for the weekend.

Harriet changed out of her soaking wet clothes, and Ellen also changed out of her uniform and into casual clothes before they both left the Class A dormitory.

Swish!

“What should we do?”

Both Harriet and Ellen wanted to find Reinhart, but had no idea how to proceed. They had impulsively grabbed an umbrella and headed out, but that was about it.

Harriet racked her brain to the best of her knowledge.

It was well known that Reinhart had been part of the group of beggars under a certain bridge.

“He might’ve gone to check on those beggars... those people under the bridge.”

They didn’t know what had happened after that, but it was prudent to assume that that would have been his original destination.

“Do you know where that bridge is?”

“Um... No, I don’t really know.”

There were over ten major bridges crossing the Irine River from north to south, and neither Ellen nor Harriet knew which of those bridges the beggars gathered under, since neither of them was from the capital.

Harriet came to the same realization that Ellen had come to previously. That she didn’t really know much about Reinhart. Although she teased him by calling him a street urchin, she had no idea where he actually lived during that period of his life, what he did, or how he had ended up at the Temple.

She hadn’t even been curious about those things.

Ellen tilted her head. “Was it Reinhart who actually said he was from the beggars under the bridge?”

“Oh... you’re right.”

Ellen might not have known the details, but as Harriet recalled how the information had spread, Harriet had an idea of whom they should seek out.

Kaier Vioden and Erhi de Raffaeli had tailed Reinhart, and, as a result, discovered that he wasn’t from some grand family, and saw him associating with the beggars beneath the bridge.

Harriet felt certain about whom they needed to approach.

“Either Vioden or Raffaeli. Either of them would know where that bridge is.”

***

The two of them found Kaier and Erhi in the Class A dormitory and were able to obtain a clue.

Neither of the two boys remembered it clearly, but they both believed it was likely the Bronze Gate Bridge, so that had to be the right location.

They asked why Ellen and Harriet needed this information, but Ellen and Harriet did not reveal what they were planning to do. They didn’t want the teachers finding out, lest they be advised against unnecessarily getting involved.

Just as they were about to leave the dormitory, they encountered a group of students coming out of the Class B dormitory.

“Stop!” Charlotte shouted.

Charlotte seemed noticeably upset.

“Ch-Charlotte...?”

“But we should do something about this as well...”

It was Ludwig and Delphine Izadra, seemingly on the end of a scolding by Charlotte.

“What do you think you can do by getting involved? You might end up putting yourselves in danger too!”

Charlotte, hands on her hips, was glaring at them as if she’d punish them if they tried to leave the dormitory.

“It’s not just you guys who are worried about Reinhart. The teachers and even the Temple authorities are already moving. Don’t make things worse by acting rashly. Stay put and rest in the dorm. Reinhart will be safe. Trust me,” she continued.

“Okay...”

“We will...”

Apparently, Charlotte had caught Delphine and Ludwig trying to go out and search for the missing Reinhart. It seemed their sense of camaraderie with Reinhart had significantly increased after the group mission to the deserted island, and they felt as though they couldn’t just sit still in this situation.

In the end, Ludwig and Delphine had no choice but to return to the Class B dormitory, their spirits dampened. They couldn’t hold against Charlotte’s fierce determination.

After confirming that the two had gone back inside, Charlotte turned her scrutinizing gaze towards Ellen and Harriet, who were preparing to leave.

Although they weren’t close, they naturally recognized each other.”

“... Where are you two going?” Charlotte asked.

“We’re going to look fo—”

Before Ellen could finish, Harriet quickly interrupted her, “W-We, we’re going out to eat dinner!”

“Oh, really? Be careful, it’s raining outside.”

“Ye-Yes! Thanks for your concern!”

Harriet, fearing that they might get caught up in trouble with Charlotte, grabbed Ellen’s hand and quickly left the dormitory. Charlotte still seemed somewhat skeptical.

They were fortunate to be from a different class; had they been from Class B, Charlotte might have dragged them back in just like she’d done with the others.

Harriet gave Ellen a sharp look for almost revealing the truth so carelessly, but Ellen only tilted her head, perplexed.