I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

3 – Cabin in the Woods (2)

＊

“…Thank you.”

I said that as soon as I woke up and realized that I had recovered enough to speak.

“You woke up.”

The answer came from right next to me.

Did you stay by my side until I woke up?

“Don’t try to get up. limbs, muscles and organs throughout the body. Even the internal organs were not intact.”

As she said, my whole body was literally shattered.

It would be a good level to say that being alive itself is a miracle.

She got up slowly, walked over to a small table in the middle of the room, picked up something from the table, and came back to my side.

I turned my stiff neck slightly and looked at her.

A robe covering the whole body, a cloth wrapped around the face, and a mask covering it.

Dressed as if she was determined not to show even a single inch of her skin, she held a small glass and a teaspoon in her hand.

“I brewed herbs. I’ll spoon-feed you, so don’t get up.”

“…thank you.”

“Open your mouth.”

She slowly spooned the liquid into a glass and poured it into my mouth.

As the clear, reddish-brown liquid entered her mouth, a bitter taste spread that made her tongue shrink.

It was a pain to swallow, but I continued to swallow the liquid without complaining.

I wasn’t shameless enough to complain to the person who saved me, who was virtually dead, that the medicine was too bitter.

She poured the medicine into my mouth and spoke slowly.

“I’m glad you’ve recovered. I honestly wasn’t sure it could happen.”

“… thank you…”

“How many times do you say that? Stop being grateful.”

“U-chiman…”

“stop.”

At her determined attitude, I took the medicine from her spoon without saying a word.

A few minutes later, she carefully set the glass and teaspoon on the bedside table.

“It’s a very bitter herb, didn’t you feel the taste?”

“I wrote ignorantly.”

“Then you are patient. good job.”

She said that in a calm voice and turned her head towards me.

It was hard to be sure that the eyes hidden behind the mask and cloth were looking at me.

Feeling uncomfortable because the bitter taste left in my mouth did not go away, I suddenly felt the corner of my eyes burning red.

“Ugh,”

“Why?”

“Ahhh….”

“…”

The scorching heat that begins to rise from the back of the eyeball.

Soon, I felt a slight pressure.

The full pressure soon began to escape through the eyes as if deflating steam before exploding.

“Ugh, uh… uh,”

“…”

Tears streamed down her face from the corners of her eyes.

Even if I tried to stop, it wouldn’t stop.

Her arms hadn’t been raised yet, so she couldn’t wipe them off or hide her ugly crying face.

“… uh, black,”

“…”

“…I live… I live… I, I live, I have.”

“… okay.”

“Thank you… Thank you…”

“…”

She shook her head slowly.

“do not say that.”

“…Ha, but.”

“please. Please don’t thank me.”

“Why… why?”

She looked down at me sniffing and was silent for a while.

It seemed to be waiting for me to stop crying.

As predicted, after a few minutes, when my tears gradually stopped, she slowly opened her mouth.

“Because I have hard news to tell you.”

＊

It was in the middle of the night when I couldn’t see a handful of light when my footsteps, desperately asking for help, reached her.

She nursed me into a corpse all night.

It was natural.

At that time, even if I died right away, it wouldn’t be strange.

Of course, she would have had to take care of me, but since people need light to see, she said that it wasn’t until the next morning that she stepped on the trail I had walked on.

And I found the scene of the wagon accident.

She did the best she could.

In this time when the world is chaotic like now, who would treat the stranger with care and follow the traces as soon as the day dawned and inspect the scene of the accident?

Her response was common sense and made sense.

Not only that, but he was also extremely dedicated.

“…That’s a lie.”

“I’m really… sorry.”

That made it even more frustrating.

Who should I blame?

“…La, Layla…”

“Don’t try to get up, still hurt,”

“No, beggar, lie, no… no… no.”

“… lie down.”

She found Layla.

My sister, who must have died in the cold rainy forest night, bleeding profusely and feeling the unbearable cold.

“No, ah, ah, the last… one. I’m the only one left… My only family…”

“…”

In the end, she found the fragments of a small girl who had been left with the teeth and claw marks of ruthless wolves scattered all over her body.

“My, I said I would protect you… I told you to trust me… I…”

Hot tears flowed from the two red-hot eyes.

Aww, Layla.

On the day I fled without being able to recover the bodies of my parents who were killed unjustly, I looked back at the distant mansion and swore to protect my little sister.

You’d rather take me, take me and save her.

It felt stuffy, as if a large lump of mud had clogged my throat.

Unlike the endless tears, not even a sound of crying came out of his open mouth.

The vision slowly twisted.

Ceiling to floor, floor to ceiling.

The world seemed to twist clockwise.

In the meantime, confusion came over me, unable to tell whether my body was standing, lying, or sitting.

I left Leila behind.

abandoned and survived alone.

I had to find her somehow.

Even with his dying body, he had to cover her and share even the feeble fading body heat.

I had to fill the belly of the wild beast with my worthless flesh and entrails.

Why didn’t it?

‘…I lived… I lived… I, I live, I have.’

The words I had just spoken out of my mouth flashed through my mind.

I felt so appalled at my hypocrisy.

You coward, were you so afraid of dying that you couldn’t even think of your sister when you opened your eyes?

Did her sister disappear from her mind when her own life was at stake?

I didn’t even think of her until she told me.

A coward, an ugly bastard, a disgusting scumbag.

How will I see my parents’ faces when I die?

How will I see my sister who bravely fought against the demon king and died with honor, and my sister who died because of me?

no, nothing to see

‘Cause I’m going to hell

i’m going to hell

must go to hell

“I made a grave, so when I can walk…”

Her voice slowly pierced my mind, which was clinging to the wheel of self-reproach.

Like a broken wind-up doll, I slowly turned my head and looked at her with empty eyes.

Even though her face was covered so that not a single inch of skin could be seen, just by looking at her trembling body and bowed head, I could tell that she regretted telling me of Lila’s death.

She said in a trembling, slow voice.

“…I should have said it after you were a little better… I thought it was a group, but I didn’t know it was a family… This forest wasn’t a place for a family to come together… No, I’m sorry. .”

“…”

She shook her head, trying to make an excuse, and then calmly apologized.

I just blankly stared at her face hidden by the mask.

What the hell is she guilty of?

Rather, I owed her so much grace that I never knew how to repay her.

She did everything she could.

I had no right to resent her, nor was I in a position to do so.

But for some reason, the words that were okay never came out of my mouth.

It felt as if cold, thin fingers had squeezed my throat.

Not a single word of resentment, regret, or sadness came out.

At first, I didn’t even know what I could say now.

Even if I tried to squeeze the words out to get something, it lingered in my mouth and melted away quickly.

“…”

“…”

She endured this uncomfortable silence as if paying for her crime.

I stood still, not knowing what to say to her.

It’s okay, it’s not your fault. Should I have told you that?

But I wasn’t okay at all, I couldn’t get a word out of my mouth because I felt like it was all my fault.

Me and her looked at each other for a while in silence like that.

＊

I woke up again

I’m not sure when I fell asleep, but I could barely remember falling asleep and waking up several times.

While I was opening my eyes, I poured out all my remaining energy mixed with tears, then picked it up, collapsed, and fell asleep repeatedly.

When I opened my eyes, she was sitting quietly next to me, looking at me.

“… you woke up.”

“…”

“What an inconvenience… no, um…”

She was about to say something to me, but stopped and pondered.

I was so grateful and sorry for the way he tried not to stimulate my impoverished mind as much as possible.

Is it because of her sincerity?

Her lips, which had hardly been separated as if they had been glued on, slowly parted.

“… thank you.”

“…”

That was all.

It was the words of thanks I said when I just woke up, but now the meaning has changed a bit.

It’s okay, it’s not your fault.

Those words didn’t make any sense.

Because it’s a natural fact.

Of course it’s not her fault.

Although I couldn’t save my sister and I survived, it’s not her fault.

So what I had to say must have been this.

“…Thank you for saving me.”

She nodded slowly, raised a small bowl on the nightstand, and spoke in a low voice.

“I cooked thin porridge. can you swallow it?”

Her bowl contained porridge full of finely chopped vegetables.

I hadn’t noticed until now, but after looking at the appetizing porridge, I realized that I was very hungry.

It was not unreasonable that he hadn’t realized it, since the pain that made him laugh at the level of heartburn brought on by an empty stomach was embedded all over his body.

I slowly tried to raise my upper body.

“… oops,”

“No, not yet, lie down. I will probably be able to barely walk by tomorrow.”

“… tomorrow…?”

I asked blankly.

the night of the accident.

Even in my fading consciousness, my twisted legs, broken arms, and my disfigured body remained in my memory.

But can you walk tomorrow?

I forcibly moved my stiff shoulders and slowly lifted my arms.

“…oh my god.”

Apparently, the arm, which had been bent in a direction that the joint did not allow, was fixed to its original state.

Of course, there were still torn scars here and there, but even those were on the verge of healing.

I asked in a trembling voice, unable to take my eyes off my arm.

“How long have I been lying here…”

“Probably… about ten days.”

ten days.

It’s not just about being hungry, it’s a period where it’s more strange not to starve to death.

But even so, could my limbs, which were completely ruined in ten days, be healed like this?

As if understanding my question, she gently grabbed my arm and lowered it.

“It’s nothing great, but I can use some divine miracles. It must be because of that.”

“Are you… a priest of the Goddess Church?”

She shook her head.

“If that was the case, I would have fixed it right away. I can only do enough to increase your resilience. The rest is thanks to the herbs and your mental strength.”

“…”

She was a sensitive person.

When I kept my mouth shut, he seemed to have guessed my thoughts again.

“…Your sister was too late for me to do anything about it… I’m sorry.”

“…No, please don’t apologize. You did your best… I know…”

Her fingers, which gently held my arm, trembled.

Did she feel guilty after nursing a person she had never seen in her life for nearly 10 days?

I raised my other arm and slowly wrapped my hand around her hand that was holding mine.

“The person I am grateful for saved me, how should I call you?”

“… ah,”

When I asked for her name, she was a little startled and withdrew her hand.

She lifted the bowl of porridge again, scooped out a spoonful of it, put her other hand on the back of my head, lifted it slightly, and supported it.

Slowly the spoon came to my mouth.

I parted my lips completely surrendered.

Thanks to the well-balanced seasoning, the sweetness of the tender vegetables and soft rice was felt more vividly.

The taste permeated with warmth to the gaps between the rough grooves on the roof of the mouth and the protrusions on the tongue.

It seemed that it was absorbed and disappeared all over the mouth, not through the throat.

As the spoon slowly fell from my mouth, I looked at the spoon with regretful eyes.

A grain of rice that I hadn’t been able to pass through was stuck to the spoon and landed on my chin.

She reached out one finger and carefully pushed a grain of rice up to my lips.

Her fingers clung to my lower lip for a moment and then dropped.

For some reason it felt as if there was a smile on her face beneath the mask.

She said as she carefully scooped out the porridge again with a spoon.

“…Millwood.”

Millwood.

It sounded too hard to be called a woman’s name.

“Is it your last name?”

“…that’s how it is.”

“I hear it for the first time.”

“… okay.”

weird.

It was clear that she wanted to thoroughly conceal her identity, as she covered her entire body, especially her face, with a meticulous cloth.

In general, people who wanted to hide their identities would usually hide their surnames and say only their first names.

However, she concealed her name and said only a kind of family name or a surname derived from a place.

I stared at her.

“…why?”

“… Oh, no. sorry”

I hastily apologized.

Whatever her identity is, it has nothing to do with me.

Even if she is a fugitive who has committed a heinous crime and lives in the ruins of the forest, she cannot accuse the benefactor who saved her life.

If he didn’t trust her, eating the porridge she made now was also a dangerous act.

However, I took the spoon she had scooped up and ate it again.

It cools down just right, and a slightly lukewarm happiness spreads in your mouth.

Even if she tried to treat me appropriately and then sell me to a slave dealer, I didn’t care.

After all, I have nowhere to go, nowhere to live, and no family left.

In no time at all, the porridge bowl was completely emptied.

In the first place, since my body was in a state of health, the amount of porridge was very small from the beginning.

However, the sweetness of the grains that I felt after a long time was very sweet, so it was a satisfying enough meal.

She slowly removed her hand from the back of my head and stood up with the bowl.

“I-over there…”

“…”

“…It was delicious.”

She nodded and turned around.

“…thank god.”

Then he said, putting the bowl in a wooden barrel filled with water in the corner of the room.

“I just ate, so I can’t fall asleep right away.”

“…yes,”

“Is it difficult to stay awake? In that case, I will be your companion.”

“…thank you.”

Millwood asked softly as he sat down again on the chair next to my bed.

“What, is there anything you want to ask?”

A relatively bright voice.

For some reason, I could sense instinctively that she was struggling.

Maybe it was because I struggled to raise my spirits after losing my family.

oh my god.

Her consideration is so thoughtful that I don’t know what to do.

What you want to ask.

To be honest, there were many.

Where am I, why am I living alone in the ruins, why did you take care of me so much,

But the most curious thing has already been decided.

“excuse me…”

“huh.”

“Can you show your face?”

She stiffened for a moment.

It was frightening to see her visibly hardened figure, as if she had been subjected to some kind of petrification magic.

Have you ever made a mistake?

Apparently, there was a reason he never wanted to show his face.

Could it be a hideous scar, or a strangely swollen tumor like lepers?

I apologized right away.

“Sorry,”

“never. I can’t show you.”

Gner’s voice was so fierce and sharp that there was no kindness from before.

A cool chill envelopes the body once again.

Ah, this feeling.

It was a sensation that I had been feeling ever since the carriage accident, and now I am used to it.

It was the chill I felt the moment I was about to die.

“never.”

The veiled chill clearly emanated from her voice.

.