Volume 1 - CH 35

Shirotaka facing her – Falk – distorted his face as soon as he opened his mouth.

“… Miss Alme, what the hell happened…?”

She was asked that, but with her stunned and rigid body and mind, she couldn’t give a good answer.

“… Ah, uh… eh…hmm.”

Only unintelligible words escaped from her mouth, nothing that could be linked together in coerance.

Alme would rather hear about him than about herself. She thought so, but the words do not come out. The surprise and shock were so great that she exceeded the processing limit of her brain.

In place of the stuttering Alme, Jayla, who seemed to have changed her mind quickly, began to speak in her usual tone.

“No, seriously, it’s amazing that you know each other. Well, that’s another story, isn’t it? Mr. Shirotaka, do you know that Alme-chan runs a stall at the festival? She was in a fight earlier with a robber who was after the proceeds of the sales. That’s how she got injured.”

“Robbery……?”

Falk’s face contorted further, giving him a grim look.

Alme has never seen this face before. With his current appearance, he looks scary, as if he is a terrifying male god. He has the look of a white falcon – a bird of prey.

After a brief explanation, Jayla said, as if remembering.

“Ah, that’s right, you were suppose to write the reception papers! I’ll get it for you, so wait.”

“Oh… that’s right…! I’m sorry, thank you very much…!”

Jayla tapped her on the shoulder, and the touch released some of the stiffness in her body. Alme responded as if she had been relieved, and she smiled and nodded and walked to the counter.

Alme took a slow, deep breath when she regained her composure. Even though she was shaken, she finally found some decent words and spoke to Falk.

“I was very surprised to see that…really Mr. Falk, is it you…?”

“…… Yes. I apologize for my silence. I have been using the magic of disguise. I’ll get back to you on this …… later.”

Falk took a deep breath. When he corrected his posture to regain his composure, he stared at Alme with the same stern expression of a priest addressing a patient.

“–And what about robbery? It’s also related to medical treatment, so please talk about the circumstances. If there’s anything difficult to talk about, I’ll replace you with a priestess, so please don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Umm… I wasn’t particularly harmed in that way… I was attacked when I was about to enter the house after returning from the festival… My bag containing the sales proceeds was about to be stolen, so I was clinging to the bag and was dragged by the thief. And here we are…”

She said it with a bitter look on her face, showing her knees and elbows, which are particularly badly injured, and her fingernails, which are stained bright red.

He stared at the wound with his sharp golden eyes and his body froze.

Alme can sense anger in Falk’s expression. Maybe …… no, definitely, he is extremely angry.

“… If sand gets into the wound, the prognosis is bad, so I’ll wash it lightly first. For the time being, I’ll only treat the visible part of the skin, so if you have an injury under your clothes, please go to a separate room and receive treatment from a priestess, please.”

Saying this, Falk instructed a nurse who was standing behind him.

The nurse in her forties or so brings a tub, a cloth, and a water magic stone in a brisk, familiar manner, and begins to wash the wounds on Alme’s limbs.

Alme was prepared for the pain of touching her wounds and stiffened her body, but the pain she thought didn’t come.

Falk turned his palm to Alme and used his magic.

“I will ease the pain. Please understand that if we remove the pain completely, we may miss an injured area, so a little pain will remain.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Apart from scrapes and bruises and fingernails, do you have any pain or discomfort anywhere?”

“Umm…my hands are numb…I hit my elbow and it still tingles…”

“Can you move your fingers?”

While asking this question, Falk stretched out his arm to take Alme’s hand.

――However, Alme reflexively withdrew her hand.

Alme had even walked the streets hand in hand with the familiar Falk. But with Falk in front of her, she unconsciously made a cautious move.

It was an unfamiliar appearance, and the air was tense, so…her body must have instinctively rejected him.

Falk’s eyes widened slightly, and then his expression seemed to deepen into a hearty grimace.

He looks straight at Alme with a stern tone of voice that matches his expression and said.

“Miss Alme, I believe that such an action of vigilance is a good reaction necessary to protect oneself, but why couldn’t you run away from the robber? You should have just given them the money and run away…why take the risk of hanging on to it?”

“My body suddenly moved on its own… Because today was the best sales day…Maybe I thought I didn’t want to be stolen…”

“Foolish… Miss Alme’s life is more important than that. Don’t get carried away just because you can use magic.”

“…”

When she was told that sales money was such a thing, she gritted her teeth unintentionally.

It is money earned by working hard from morning till night today. It may be a small amount of money for a high-ranking priest, but it’s a lot of money for Alme.

For Alme, who is in a predicament where she might lose her house due to debts, it is an important money that can be relied on.

She didn’t want others to call her that.

She returned the words, entrusting the feeling like a black haze that welled up slightly in her chest.

“I’m not being presumptuous and I couldn’t use my magic. It is a normal feeling for ordinary people to think that they don’t want to have a lot of money stolen right in front of them, isn’t it? Sure, it was a foolish thing to do, but I was able to protect my money as a result.”

“I’m glad you were saved by chance, but what if it’s irreversible? The money will eventually come back, but not your life. Especially if you can’t deal with it by magic. How can you choose money when you can’t even fight? You’re even injured like this. In times like this, you have to put aside greed and choose personal safety.”

Falk spoke in a harsh tone of voice as he stares at the water running red from her knees and elbows as the nurse washes her wounds.

Falk is absolutely right. If she lost her life, it’s over after all, so the correct answer is that she should choose life over money.

However, even if she knows that, depending on the circumstances, she may not be able to choose the right one…she is sure that rich people don’t understand this.

If she gives up the money, she gives up her house and her precious shop together – her life. He doesn’t know the impatience of those tiny common people.

It’s really frustrating to be preached at about what is right.

“…Money, huh? I’m sure Mr. Falk has never been in need of money, have you? I don’t want to be lectured by someone who doesn’t know anything about it.”

“You say that I don’t know anything. Even I know the importance of money. On top of that, I—”

“With all due respect, you don’t seem to know a thing about this.”

“… Miss Alme, what do you know about me? Judging people based on your assumptions and not listening to what they have to say is what fools do.”

He retorted in a low voice.

Feeling beaten by Falk’s words, she immediately looked away and lowered her head. She didn’t want to see his distorted face.

“…That’s right. Certainly… I don’t know anything about Mr. Falk. Your true appearance, your name, who you really are… I don’t know anything about it, now do I?”

Alme could feel Falk flinch, but the words that began to spill out of her mouth wouldn’t stop.

“Even though I don’t know anything, I was so excited that I made a good friend… Really, as you said, I’m an fool. ……Did you find it interesting to see me unknowingly going around until now?

Alme suddenly remembered what Julio said. Advice that “she’s just being played”. Now that she thought about it, he might have hit the mark unexpectedly.

She wondered what he was thinking when he saw a commoner girl who was so carefree in showing off her Shirotaka-chan ice cream and the story she had told him about the military march. She wondered if he thought it was funny and amused himself.

It is a common story that people of high status play tricks on the common people. It is a lowly game of the upper class, in which they flirt with large sums of money or whisper of love, and enjoy the reactions.

“A terrible person playing with the…common people as toys. A priest named Shirotaka.”

Alme left it to the unstoppable words and ended up muttering. When she said her last words, the haze in her chest finally calmed down.

Without looking at Falk, who kept his mouth shut, Alme quickly bowed her head.

“…I’m sorry. I must sincerely apologize. Please ignore this as the ramblings of a foolish commoner.”

She quickly apologized. She bowed her head deeply, hunched over…she couldn’t lift her head.

When the dark emotions dissipated, a terrible regret attacked her as if to replace it.

Exhausted from the day. The turmoil of the robbery. The shock of learning Falk’s true identity. Feelings of anger. frustration and sadness overwhelmed her. Sadness as if she had been betrayed, even though she thought they were friends – a combination of things that has made her unable to control her emotions.

How foolish and immature to be so outrageously rude and sarcastic at the end of it all.

It would have been better if she had simply answered Falk’s admonition, “From now on, I will take action to protect myself.”

If her grandmother had been there, she was sure she would have said the same things as Falk, made the same faces, and been angry.

“Of course you are more important than money!” she would have said and her normally gentle face would have been stern.

The regret that surged through her was replaced by tears, which slowly pooled in her eyes.

This is the third time today that she’s almost been in tears since the robbery. She’s been trying to hold it back, but this time, it’s might spill out uncontrollably.

As she bit her lip and endured it, Falk made a big move and stood up from his chair.

“Um, Miss Alme, I’m sorry–“

“Alme-chan, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Falk was about to open his mouth when Jayla returned.

Jayla had reception papers and a pen tucked into a leather binder.

“You can pay later. If it’s a big amount, they said it can be paid in installments. I have a lot of money on hand right now, so why don’t I just pay for it?”

“… Thank you very much, but it’s okay. I’ll come to pay it later.”

“Wow, Alme-chan is about to cry. Oh, okay, okay, fly away from the pain, fly away from the pain, fly away from the pain!”

Jayla crumpled down and stroked Alme’s head. It was as if she were gently petting a dog.

Falk’s magic softens the pain from her wounds, but she just let them assume that the tears in her eyes are due to her injuries.

After the nurse finished washing the wounds, the water-soaked limbs are wiped with a cloth.

Squatting down next to Alme, who was being treated, Jayla started penning the paperwork.

“I’ll write it down for you. Let’s see, your name is Alme Titty, and what is your address?”

“Yes, please…East district, number 305.”

“If you pay later, you’ll need a guarantor. What is your family’s name and address?”

“”Julio Beato…… and ……”

As she was being questioned, she was taken aback when she unconsciously said his name. Come to think of it, she couldn’t mention Julio’s name anymore.

Since they got engaged, she had written Julio’s name in every procedure. As a future member of the Beatos family, it was only natural for her to write down the name of her future husband.

However, the relationship was severed. Julio is just a stranger, not a family member. Of course she can’t write his name.

Far from just him, Alme is no longer able to write down anyone’s name.

She thought she finally understood now why her grandmother gave her a marriage proposal as a last gift.

Perhaps it was because when something went wrong, she would be in trouble in this kind of situation.

As a protection for Alme, her grandmother made a connection with Julio.

She corrected her statement with biting bitterness in her heart.　

“…I’m sorry, I don’t have a guarantor…I don’t have a family.”

“Eh, what about relatives?”

“None.”

“What the hell are you doing all alone?! You should have told me that earlier! If I had known, I would have dragged you into my house and forced you to participate in the party. Well then, I’ll pay for it today.”

“… Thank you very much for everything… I’m sorry.”

Seeing Jayla laughing with a carefree look on her face, the amount of tears in her eyes increased again.

As soon as Jayla finished filling out the reception forms, Falk spoke to Alme. His stern tone of voice had changed to a somewhat shaky one.

“Eh, well, then, let’s start the treatment. I’ll try to avoid glare as much as possible, but if you don’t like light, close your eyes.”

“Um… Mr. Shirotaka.”

As if to interrupt Falk’s words, she ended up saying.

“… I would like to request a priestess… I’m sorry.”

“Understood. It’s good to separate to the next row, so let’s switch places with the patient next to us. Then, please move.”

Falk quickly complied and passed the conversation to the priestess next to him. The flowing clinical response was instantaneous.

With the assistance of the nurse, Alme stood up from her seat and moved to the chair of the priestess next to her. As a result of the replacement, the young female patient next to her was to sit in front of Falk.

The young female patient looked incredulous and thanked Alme with an extremely happy look on her face. Apparently, she was a fan of Shirotaka.

Shifting in her seat, Alme sat down in front of the priestess next to her, an old woman with a kind face.

As she handed the reception papers to the old priestess, Jayla explained again.

“This girl was attacked by a robber and injured. I want her to get a full treatment.”

“Yeah, yeah. I could hear it, just a little bit, next door. That was a scary though. You did great.”

While saying so, the priestess gently shook Alme’s hand as if wrapping it with both hands.

The wrinkled touch and warmth reminded her of her grandmother. The depths of her chest tightened, and an irresistible pain welled up.

The tears she had been holding back fell down with a blink of an eye.

The feelings just spill over when dealing with an old priestess who reminded her of her grandmother.

“……I……I haven’t done my best at anything……I just did something stupid. Money… trying to protect… I’m a helpless fool. ……But, without this money……it’s useless……”

Her voice trembled as she began to speak. The tears that began to spill could no longer be stopped, they just kept pouring out one after the other.

Really, she’s doing nothing but useless things. She felt like she’s been doing foolish things all along, not just now.

That she struggled with the robber and clung to the money and was injured. That she had signed a contract that made her so impatient for money that she had no choice but to do so. That nothing would have happened if she had counteracted at the time of the broken engagement in the first place…

No, even before that… the kiss she refused when they met for an engagement. If she had consulted someone about that incident and dealt with it appropriately, everything would have gone well…

“I made all the wrong choices and now I’m crying helplessly …… Really, I’m nothing but a big idiot.”

She slumped deeply and hid her face, which was becoming wet and crumpled.

The priestess said in a calm tone of voice, keeping a firm grip on Alme’s hands.

“You’re not an idiot. It’s great that a young girl is making a living on her own. You should make the most of your failures next time and stay cool about it. You are doing your best, and that is very admirable. If I were your grandmother, I would think so too.”

Hearing the word Grandmother, she involuntarily lifted her head. The old priestess looks her straight in the eye and smiles softly.

“Your grandmother was in the temple hospice, wasn’t she? You came to visit her almost every day, so I remember you well. So that your grandmother in heaven can feel at ease, let’s heal your injuries first and then show your grandmother a healthy smile again.”

Her grandmother’s smile overlaps with the old priestess’s smile, and her throat trembled greatly.

She couldn’t control her tears and wept like a child.