The leader put more force into his left arm. My carotid artery was compressed, and I was on the verge of losing consciousness. Somehow, I managed to resist by using both hands to pull myself up on the leader's left arm.
"M… Miss Al, don’t, drop the weapon…"
"Ahn?!"
"Ga…!"
The leader applied even more force to his left arm. I managed to jam my fingers between his arm and my neck and barely created a gap. His exceptionally raw, stale breath was pouring down from above, draining my strength and threatening to take away my consciousness.
"…"
She silently let go of her savage sword. The blood-soaked weapon fell to the ground, scattering air in all directions as it did so. I'm sorry, Miss Al... Even in this state, you are still kind, aren't you...
"Fuhihihihihihihi...!"
As the leader let out a depraved laugh and took a step back, Miss Al reacted slightly without changing her expression. The leader spoke triumphantly:
"Whoa there, don't move?! If you move even a bit, this guy's neck will snap, yeah?"
"Gu…!"
The leader put more force into his left arm, which he had momentarily loosened. She didn't move her face or body at all. The leader, saying "Don't move, don't move", took one step back, then another. He must be planning to escape from here using me as a hostage. And there was one more thing I understood. Either way, I wouldn't be saved. If Miss Al were to make a move to attack him, my neck would be snapped in an instant. However, even if she remained motionless, allowing him to escape from here, he would surely kill me afterwards. He might be planning to use me as a source of nutrients to heal his wounds.
But something happened when Miss Al and I had gotten quite far apart from each other.
"……."
(⁉...Did she say something?)
Because of the distance, and the fact that it had gotten considerably darker, it was unclear. However, after having been silent and expressionless the whole time, she seemed to have moved her lips slightly. “Mi, ni, on”?
*THUMP*
Suddenly, the grip on my neck from the left arm that had been restraining me loosened, and I fell to the ground from my soles, landing on my hands and knees. A moment later, something dropped in front of me, and I felt a cool air around my neck. While savoring the precious air, I turned my eyes to that fallen thing.
"Eh, an arm⁉"
It was undoubtedly the boss's left arm that had been coiled around my neck just a moment ago. Why⁉ I quickly ran my gaze over it.
"Wh…⁉"
I couldn't find the words. At the root of the boss's arm rolling on the ground, a swarm of something I had never seen before were writhing in large numbers. Spherical bodies about the size of an adult's clenched fist. Thick tails like a reptile. Wings like a bat. A huge single eye and a similarly large mouth! Without a doubt, they were shrieking and voraciously devouring the boss's arm.
"Guahh! What the hell are these⁉"
A loud voice came from directly behind me and I turned around instinctively. Sure enough, spherical creatures were swarming in large numbers around the boss's left shoulder. Did the arm fall to the ground because they ate around the root of the boss's left arm? The boss, who had lost both arms, was no longer interested in me. He was desperately running away, unable to fend them off. Whether there was no room to deploy his worm-like tentacles and the extendable sharp spikes, or whether they had already eaten where he could deploy them, I didn't know.
*THUMP!*
Suddenly, the boss fell. He had already lost both arms and was off-balance, but then the spherical creatures swarmed and bit around his right knee.
"Guah…!"
"Uh…!"
From the area where Miss Al was, I heard low and thin screams. When I turned my gaze there, spherical creatures were also devouring those she had cut down. The thin screams must have come from those who were still barely alive. Hanging on to their consciousness, they no longer had any capabilities to run away or fend off.
"…"
I was unable to comprehend what was happening before me, and before I could think that was "scary" or "disgusting", I could only watch them devouring the bandits.
*GLARE*
"Eek!"
I accidentally made eye contact with one of the spherical creatures eating the boss's arm. That brought me back to my senses. Why didn't I think until now that they might be planning to eat me too? Having been beaten up so much, my movements were extremely slow, and I should be nothing more than food for them.
"Aahhhhhhh!"
While letting out a pathetic scream that surprised even me, I somehow moved my four limbs and got as far away from there as possible. But curiously, it didn't show any further interest in me, instead returning to feast on the arm in front of it. The others didn't attack me either.
Amidst the chittering and the rustling of tiny wings, and the moist sound of chewing, Miss Al slowly walked through. She was accompanied by the spherical creatures fluttering around her. It was clear they recognized Al as their "master." Were these spherical creatures called "minions"? She, leading the "minions," passed by me and walked to the side of the boss, looking down at him. The boss had almost returned to his original size, skin tone, and face, but his legs were eaten up to his knees. Lacking both arms, he tried to fend off the minions that were swarming him by shouting, flapping his remaining legs, and rolling his body, but it had virtually no effect.
"..."
Miss Al silently raised her right hand. The "minions" eating the boss moved away from him, and all those chirping and making noise around her fell silent. They all stopped doing anything except quietly fluttering. Amidst this, Miss Al directed her gaze to the boss's face. That was no longer the man who commanded a horde of ruffians, who smirked confidently and hurled obscenities at us. Instead, he now was a blood-soaked middle-aged man, naked and missing all four limbs.
"I... I give up. I surrender, miss!"
He said almost exactly what I expected. In response to her silent gaze, the boss continued begging for his life.
"Hey, miss, let's team up. With your power and mine... uh, combined, we can do anything. Let's get along with that foreigner over there too, okay, okay!"
As he washed away the blood on his face with his own sweat, he glanced at me while pleading with her. She didn't move a muscle, just silently looking down at the boss. However,
"We're the same, right? Both of us are demi-humans without a place in the world!!"
With a forced laugh, the boss's words caused her previously expressionless right cheek to twitch slightly. She slowly raised her right hand again to face level.
"Eh...?"
As the boss froze with a contorted face, Al held out her neatly aligned five fingers and swung them forward at a nearly right angle.
*Chitter, chitter, chitter, chitter, chitter…*
*Flap, flap, flap, flap, flap…*
"Aaaaaaaaah...!"
With loud chittering and the sound of flapping wings, the "minions" swarmed over the boss. It didn’t matter if they had been the ones that were just eating the boss moments ago, or the ones that were probably flying around her after eating the corpses of the underlings. They now fought each other to be the first to bite into the remaining parts of the boss. The boss's form was no longer visible. From a distance, it looked like a giant black creature itself.
From beyond the sound of chewing, the curses of the boss could be heard.
"Girl, no matter how much you try to disguise it, that's your true nature! You're the same as me! Coexistence with humans is impossible! That man too..."
Suddenly, the boss's words were cut off. Either the "minions" had eaten his throat or he had breathed his last.
After a while, the number of "minions" that were once so numerous began to decrease, albeit slowly. As those inside the large mass came out to the surface, they vanished like smoke almost simultaneously. I saw this happen over and over again. And by the time the last one disappeared, not only the boss but also the bodies of his henchmen had vanished without a trace.
The bandits were completely wiped out.
"Ah..."
The moment I felt relieved, all the strength drained from my body, and I was hit by intense dizziness. I too had been hurt so much. The pain and fatigue I had forgotten until now surged back all at once. I was extremely sleepy. My eyelids were itching to close. It was incredibly hard to keep my body upright.
"...."
"...."
Struggling not to lose consciousness, I looked up at her face. I wondered if I was seeing things because I'd been hit in the head too much, but I thought I saw something like a horn on the side of her head. The whites of her eyes were still black, and her pupils were still golden. But her mask-like face seemed to give me a gentle smile for just a moment. Was that another hallucination due to being hit too much? Anyway, I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer...
...It was cold. Or rather, the air was cold. My back and buttocks were cold too. In such circumstances, only the back of my head was warm. My head was placed on something warm, moderately elastic, and soft. Occasionally, my cheek and forehead were stroked by another warm, smooth object.
"Uh..."
My closed eyelids slowly parted. Even though my vision had become clear from being blurry, the upper half of my sight was pitch dark. Certainly, it seemed like a lot of time had passed since the sun had set, but nevertheless, the lower half of my sight was good. Why was it that I couldn't see anything in the upper half, which was entirely dark? Could it be that I had a visual impairment due to the bandits' assault...? That's what I was thinking.
"Ah... Mister Kazuo! Thank goodness...!"
From above my head, with a familiar voice, Miss Al peered in. However, I couldn't see the lower half of her face because something was blocking the upper half of my vision. But as my consciousness became clearer, I realized that my head was resting on her soft thighs, and I had not incurred any visual impairment. The thing that was blocking the upper half of my vision was...!
"Ah, Miss Al... I'm sorry."
I tried to move away from the supreme pillow. But:
"Uh...⁉"
A sharp pain shot through my body all at once, taking away all the strength I needed to get up. And then:
"No, you can't, you shouldn't get up yet...!"
Saying so, she held down my shoulders with both hands. I couldn't get up, but it didn't hurt at all, she applied just the right amount of strength.
I tried my best to look at her face. The thing that blocked the upper half of my sight was also hiding the lower half of her face. Its owner was none other than Miss Al. Her eyes, as they looked at me, were ultimate rubies harboring a warm light, as always.
"Are you okay, Mister Kazuo⁉"
She asked in a gentle tone. When I answered that I was fine, she replied in a deflated tone:
"I'm sorry. I used your cloak and turban as substitutes for a towel and bandages and cut them up..."
Looking at myself, I noticed bandages of cloth wrapped around me here and there, and a mantle reduced to two-thirds of its size draped over my stomach. I suppose it was cut with the weapons the bandits had been using. For today, aside from the brute's savage sword, none of their weapons had tasted anyone's blood. Even that brute met his end before he could use his own sword.
A bonfire was burning nearby. I wonder if the soiled and blood-stained cloth had become fuel for it.
"Ah, it's fine, Miss Al. Thank you..." I expressed my gratitude, and although I couldn't see her mouth, she seemed to quietly smile.
Taking a deep breath, I spoke, "Still, you're really strong. I was surprised..."
But her response was completely unexpected.
"...Eh? Strong how?"
"W-What do you mean 'strong how'? Miss Al, earlier you...!"
Surprised, I raised my voice. She responded with a puzzled expression.
"...I'm sorry, but I don't remember anything. When I thought that the big man was going to kill you, my mind went blank... When I came to, there was no one here but you and me..."
I couldn't believe she was lying. After all, she had amnesia and didn't even know her own race.
"Ah, I see. Don't worry about it..."
As I took a breath, various things that happened today raced through my mind. And then, I thought: (how pathetic I am...!)
"Mister Kazuo, are you in pain⁉" She suddenly raised her voice in surprise, which startled me as well.
"Huh, why?"
"Because, Mister Kazuo... You're crying!"
"Ah...!" Realizing what she pointed out, I noticed that I was shedding tears. This self-realization made me spill out my words.
"No, um... I was just thinking how very pathetic I am...!"
"What do you mean?"
"Because, I put you in danger twice today! If I had researched that Atia thing properly in advance, this wouldn't have happened. When I think about that...!"
There were other reasons why I felt pathetic. It was her "strength". In the altercation with the bandits, I not only failed to protect her, but it was she who saved my life. If "that Miss Al" hadn't appeared, we would have been killed. I would have been just killed, but she would undoubtedly have been subjected to the utmost physical and emotional pain and humiliation before being killed. It was her who solved that situation. Her power didn't seem to be something she could control consciously, but she was indeed capable of saving herself.
"You know, I wanted to help you, to make sure you don't have any scary dreams during this journey. But that was an outrageous presumption! I'm really stupid, naive, weak... I'm truly pathetic...!"
I covered both of my eyes with my hands. The tears seeping out soaked my ears. But even as I looked my most pathetic, she spoke words of comfort:
"That's not true... Mister Kazuo, you protected me twice today. Even up to now, you've worked with me, ate meals together, told me a lot of fun stories... Besides, the reason why I am here now is because you picked me up in the desert... So please, don't say things to belittle yourself...!"
But her kindness became the switch that let loose some dark thing inside my heart:
"...Don't flatter me."
"Eh?"
"I said 'Don't flatter me!'"
"Wha...?!"
My loud voice made her flinch. I had done the same thing a few moments ago and felt incredibly embarrassed afterwards, but I couldn't put those regrets to use this time. Words just kept spilling out.
"You know... I'm not the nice guy you think I am, at all! In fact, when I saw you collapsed unconscious in the desert, I thought 'what a hassle' and almost left you there! And when I took off your clothes to treat you, I seriously considered raping you right then and there! Because you're beautiful, Miss Al! And you have large breasts!"
Beyond those large breasts, I could tell she was holding her breath. Yet my confession didn't stop.
"Even after we started traveling together, do you know how many times I thought about joining you when you were bathing in an inn or a river, completely naked? Or how many times I considered taking advantage of you while you were asleep... Do you understand now? I don't care about your feelings, I only think about satisfying my own desires. I'm the same kind of creature as those guys from before!"
I said it. I'd let it out. The words, once spoken, couldn’t be unsaid. Miss Al, this is me. This is my true nature. You're disappointed, aren't you? You're disgusted, aren't you? You're repulsed, aren't you? You probably want to grab my head, pull your legs out from underneath it, and slam the back of my head into the ground as hard as you can. That's okay. That's only fair...!
But, no matter how much time passed, my head wasn't slammed into the ground. It continued to rest on the supremely comfortable pillow. And from beyond the supreme peaks that obstructed the top half of my view, I heard a quiet voice.
"Why... didn't you do it?"
Why didn't you leave me in the desert?
Why didn't you rape me?
Why did you let pass so many opportunities to do so?
There was no anger. No sadness. No scorn. Just a quiet voice asking.
"That's... because..."
"Because?"
I dragged up the darkest thing that nested in the deepest part of my heart.
"Because... I didn't want to become like 'them'...!"
Those who spread all sorts of rumors.
Those who mindlessly spread them without verifying their truth.
Those who knowingly spread lies even after learning the truth.
Those who pretended to be friends for years only to betray someone for their own selfish desires.
Those who used others' privacy as tools to ingratiate themselves with others.
Those who suck up to their elders and do as they please, and the elders who indulge them and berate the victims.
The seniors, mentors, and bosses who I couldn't respect and felt nothing but distrust and revulsion for.
My past was colored by conflict with such "people." I hardly ever felt "fulfilled."
But, I thought maybe if the environment changed...!
That's why I left my hometown, almost running away, and worked tirelessly in a place where no one knew me.
But that was also the beginning of my conflicts with a different sort of "them." I thought I had understood that such people could be found anywhere.
But it's too good, it makes you want to do bad things. You start to feel lenient with yourself, thinking 'I'm always drawing the short straw...!' And then their faces would come to mind. Hating them, screaming in my heart, 'I'm different from you!' was my only lifeline. It was what allowed me to remain myself, to pull back when I was about to do something wrong. It was what made me think 'I am human', not a beast.
“If I abandoned you, who seemed about to die... if I violated you who couldn't move, or who trusted me... I would become one of them. I would lose the right to hate them, I would stop being able to think I was a human, not a beast. That's all there was to it. Miss Al, you've just been indulging my ego all along!"
Forgetting the pain all over my body, I was spewing out what had been pent up in my heart to the kind-hearted woman in front of me. Huff, huff... my ragged breath wouldn't stop. I knew what I was doing. It was "anger displacement". I should be ashamed to behave like this as a human being. Moreover, the very reason I came to think that "anger displacement is shameful" was because of my encounters and conflicts with those elderly people who seem to think that "anger displacement is our legitimate right". Ah, I realized that I was a "beast" just like "them" a long time ago...!
She was quietly listening to my angry confession. And then, as if waiting for my breathing to calm down, she started to speak quietly.
"...Everyone has things they don't like or find troublesome. Everyone... has people they can't forgive. Everyone... sometimes wants to do things they know are wrong. But Mister Kazuo, you saved me. You never did anything to humiliate me, you always cared for me. You protected me...! Mister Kazuo, you are a person who constantly fights with your own weaknesses and is kind to others. You're an honest person who tells even things that would never be known if you didn't say them, and that are disadvantageous to yourself. You are truly, truly a wonderful person, just as I thought...!"
She told me this with a straight gaze and a singing tone. My chest started to heat up. But for some reason, she suddenly started to unbutton her blouse.
"M-Miss Al⁉"
Ignoring my questioning, she took off her blood-soaked shirt. She paused for a moment, then took off her bra as well. With a blank look, unable to understand the situation, I felt her hands under my shoulders, lifting my upper body. My forehead touched her bare breasts and bounced them. She then moved to my left, still holding me up.
(She's beautiful...!)
Before I knew it, she was standing in front of me, revealing her naked upper body in the bluish light of the moon overhead and the orange light of the fire nearby. She was voluptuous, yet pure, and even though I'd seen her once before, I could only describe her as "beautiful" - a simple word that even a child would know. It wasn't about how she was beautiful, it was as if she embodied the word "beautiful" in a visible form... She was so beautiful that I couldn't take my eyes off her. I couldn't move...!
"..."
Seeing me in this state, she softly embraced me with a calm and tender smile. My face was nestled between the charming twin hills. I could feel the firmness, softness, smoothness, and warmth on my cheeks. The distinctive fragrance of a mature woman tickled my nostrils.
"Wha… what?"
As she continued to hold me securely, yet gently, around my neck and back, she began to speak again in her melodious voice.
"You've been through so much...
You must have felt frustrated when no one understood you...
It must have been painful when those you trusted betrayed you...
Even so, you upheld the dignity of being a human, and struggled on your own without relying on anyone else...!"
"Ahh…!"
I've always disliked the word "persevere." Generally, "persevere" in public discourse means "to work hard to improve oneself and break out of the current situation," and when someone tells you to "persevere," they're usually cheering you on. But in the environment I grew up in, "persevere" was a word thrown at me after I was forced into situations where there were no other choices, and were clearly not in my best interest or explicitly against my wishes.
However, this woman here acknowledged the path I've walked as "perseverance". She recognized the days when I was betrayed by those I trusted, accused of crimes I didn't commit, forced into situations I didn't want, and completely ignored despite my clear statements. She acknowledged my lonely days, the days when I struggled through the mud to grasp something. She acknowledged me. She accepted me. She said the words I needed to hear. Even though she probably went through much tougher days than I did...
"Uhh…"
My chest felt hotter than before. My entire face was twitching, my forehead wrinkling, and there was a pain at the back of my eyes and throat. This feeling, this urge, when was the last time I felt it? I couldn't hold it back anymore!
"U…U…Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah‼"
I was sobbing like a child. The tears wouldn't stop. But these tears were different from the ones I shed just moments ago.
"Now... now..."
She gently stroked the back of my head and rubbed my back. Despite the fact that my tears, sweat, snot, and saliva must have been soiling her bare breasts.
*Ba-dump… ba-dump… ba-dump…*
I could feel her heartbeat through her smooth skin. The steady rhythm gradually calmed my heightened emotions.
"…"
Like a sand dune gradually eroded by waves, I felt a sensation of slowly melting from the tip of my body. It wasn't scary at all. On the contrary, I wanted to melt. I wanted to become one with this soft, warm presence. I wanted to blend together…!
"Are you… going to sleep, Mister Kazuo?"
A voice seemed to come from far away, even though it should have been just above my head.
"..."
The soft, warm presence gently detached from my face. I felt a slight sense of regret, but then another soft, warm touch caressed my face. It was a hand through fabric. It gently touched me, stroking every corner of my face without forcibly rousing me.
"...ake up, Mist… zuo...!"
There was a familiar sensation, accompanied by wonderful words, that seemed to touch my lips. But before I could remember what it was, my consciousness had already sunk deep into the abyss of profound tranquility.
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