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

59 – Burning Machine (3)

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After leaving the Pope’s palace, Alice took her steps to her city.

Even though the Vatican of the Goddess Church was located nearby, the merchant street was full of the vitality of worldly philistines, no different from other cities.

However, this atmosphere was not all bad for Alice.

The shallow tactics of customers who spit out her detailed stories and try to beat down her prices, and ordinary people who try to make even a penny more with flashy speech, are cute compared to the things done by the villains she usually hunts. It was just a joke.

Rather, this level of noise was seen as evidence that people had no major worries.

Many nobles, wealthy people, corrupt priests, and villains denounce Alice as a ghost or a devil, but she was just an ordinary woman walking around the city listening to the noise of noisy people.

Alice left the main road lined with street vendors and entered a deeper alley.

Clean roads became increasingly broken and dirty.

By the time she stepped into the alley, which was so pitch-black that not a single light could be seen properly, her loud voice had already diminished like a faint echo coming from afar.

In the middle of an alleyway where the shabby and damp walls were tilted as if they were collapsing, there was a door small enough that she could only get through if she lowered her head slightly.

Alice walked closer, bent down and opened the door.

The orange light created by numerous candles poured into the dark alley through the gap in the door.

A secret tavern in this city that has no sign or lights, but is visited by everyone in the know.

This place was mainly visited by people who found it difficult to show off in front of others as it was a secret location.

Alice slowly entered.

As I closed the door and entered, a puff of air filled with muggy heat blew through me.

The air, which felt like her hair was slightly fluttering, contained a mixture of the smell of greasy meat and the spicy scent of cheap beer.

Unlike the quiet alley, the inside was filled with the sounds of violins whining loudly and the shouts of drunkards laughing and chatting.

Glasses of alcohol were flying everywhere, and waitresses with their breasts bared in a vulgar manner were cackling in the arms of the drinkers and secretly swiping coin purses, etc. From the arms of the men.

The men, who didn’t even know that, were gorging themselves on cold beer, waving their foamy beards.

Alice passed through this noisy mess and went inside.

A table deep inside.

There was a person waiting for him sitting in the place that seemed to be half-hidden by a huge wooden partition.

He looked at Alice and said with a grin.

“Are you a monster?”

“If you call me a monster one more time, I will kill you.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know when you would come.”

“Did you wait long?”

“That’s true, but when did we set a time to meet?”

The man smiled sheepishly and pointed to the seat across from him.

Alice said as she sat down in her seat as if she was used to it.

“Beer.”

The man nodded his head, caught a waiter passing nearby, and ordered two beers and recommended snacks.

I caught the waiter who was about to take the order and leave, put his hand between her cleavage and dropped five coins. The waiter nodded with an ironic smile and lightly kissed the man’s cheek.

Perhaps thanks to the large tip, the waitress brought us beer and snacks in just one minute.

When the waiter left, Alice opened her mouth.

“It makes me laugh every time I see it.”

“What?”

“That’s why you became so sly. The same goes for getting used to women. “In the past, I was shy and timid.”

“A man grows as he meets women.”

“Oh, please. “I don’t want to hear about my friend’s s*x life.”

Alice frowned and looked at the man.

As she said, the two were old friends.

The man chuckled and passed Alice’s scolding glass.

“Ahahahahaha, now, let’s have a drink before we talk in earnest, Alice.”

The man chuckled and raised his beer glass.

Alice also laughed, picked up her glass, clinked it against the man’s glass, brought it to her mouth, and drank it slowly.

The magic-cooled beer flowed down my throat in large chunks, cooling my esophagus.

Unfortunately, this cold drink did not cool the heat of the machine that was constantly turning in Alice’s chest, but it did seem to help her mood to some extent.

“After.”

“hahahaha, it’s a very refreshing drink.”

“You too will understand if you live with a mechanism in your chest that spews hellfire.”

“It is quite an engine of divine power, but then it receives divine punishment. You.”

“Heavenly punishment? hahahaha…”

“…”

Alice took another sip of beer.

After emptying her large glass of beer completely, she exhaled loudly and said,

“I’ll get off, if you have anything left to take from me.”

Hearing her sigh or a voice that was close to resignation, the man looked at her for a moment and put down her drink with a hollow smile.

Alice took a moment to catch her breath and then slowly called the man’s name.

“Eric.”

“Why?”

Eric.

The son of Mr. Hardy, who was the earl’s gardener.

A boy of the same age whom I have known since childhood.

Of course, there was an insurmountable difference in status between Alice, who was from a count and the daughter of her employer, and Eric, who was a commoner and the son of her employee, but now that a great misfortune had scratched her, it was nothing to worry about. It was.

Alice is a heresy interrogator belonging to the Goddess Church and the secret weapon of the Goddess Church.

And Eric was an informant belonging to a contract organization that would take on any job as long as he prepared the corresponding amount.

Alice often received Eric’s help in selecting evildoers to be executed and gathering evidence of their evil deeds.

Although his status was dishonorable, Alice trusted Eric because they had known each other for so long that they could be considered childhood friends.

Besides, he was the only one she could remember Maria and Ash with.

“I’ll get to the point first.”

“Okay, let’s hear why the famous Virgin Mary called a lowly thief like me to this sacred town.”

Eric joked and leaned back in his chair.

“There is something I would like to request,”

“Don’t just secretly tell me that, but make a formal request to the organization.”

“I put it in. Although I was rejected.”

“Huh, our organization rejected it? Ha, these f*cking bastards at the request counter are really… since when did they start picking things up?”

“They said they would never do something crazy like search a forest of lying trees.”

The smile disappeared from Eric’s face.

“I see… Then the story is different. “Even if we are the ones risking our lives, that is not possible.”

“Ha, you do things like stealing and robbery, beating up people and killing rats and birds without them knowing, but you don’t receive requests to find people in the forest?”

“No matter how many times you look around, the more crazy people you find strange, the less likely you are to find people who really want to die.”

“If you listen to who I’m looking for, you too…”

“No, even if there were a princess or a pope in that forest, I wouldn’t go there. “Everyone here knows that the priests you sent there have already died en masse.”

“Ha, the rumor is so fast.”

“You know. “The information guys here are quick on their feet.”

Alice was not intimidated.

I was confident that Eric would change his mind if he knew who was there.

“Do you want to hear it? “Who is there?”

“No, don’t say anything”

“Ash and Lila.”

“Don’t say…What?”

“And probably Uncle Hardy too.”

Eric dropped his glass with a shocked expression.

Fortunately, the beer didn’t spill, but he still looked quite shocked.

“Is this reliable information?”

“Yes.”

“This is information that can be given for free, right?”

“You also told me that Balder’s staff is the culprit, so I’ll just say this is a gift from me.”

Eric exhaled slowly, his frozen expression relaxed, and he picked up his snack and ate it.

He closed his mouth for a moment and muttered, but slowly opened his mouth with a relaxed expression.

“…Ha, I can’t take the goddess too lightly. “How do you know?”

“Unlike your method, it is a more ignorant and traditional method. Inspection.”

“Ha, you followed every trace from the carriage departure point to the forest? There’s no way you could have done it yourself… hahahaha, it looks like you’ve really taken your place in the Goddess Church.”

Alice wiped her face and sighed.

“… But, thanks to you, some priests died.”

“Of course. If we had sent our kids too, they would have died. “You know it’s not a place you can go to lightly.”

“…They were priests who were carefully selected. “It wouldn’t have been enough to defeat simple monsters.”

“…I made a mistake. Do you know that that forest is called the Demon Scenery for no reason?”

Alice glared slightly at Eric.

Of course, I heard about the dangers of the forest, but I never thought that all five people would meet such an absurd death.

They were all priests with extensive combat experience.

Of course, she said that if her life was in danger, she could stop the operation and run away at any time, but in the end, Alice felt guilty about the fact that she had killed them, and when Eric pointed out that fact once more, she scolded her. .

He must know why he is doing this.

At that moment, her anger filled her and she fired back with an angry voice.

“Are you sure you heard correctly?”

“That’s right.”

“Ash, and Lila.”

“Yes.”

“These are Maria’s younger brothers. That Maria. The three of us stuck together like that. Did you forget? And you…”

“Stop it.”

Alice snorted at Eric’s restraint.

Perhaps it was because she fully anticipated Alice’s next words.

What should I hide?

Eric has liked Maria since he was a child less than ten years old.

On the day Maria left for the Academy for the first time, it was Eric who was begging her not to go with Ash.

Alice got into her carriage with Maria, and when she saw that, she laughed and got hit by Eric.

Now, it was a nostalgic memory.

As vague as that memory was, Alice growled in her voice full of contempt.

“Stop what?”

“Alice.”

“Where did you go when you heard the news that Mary died? Where the f*ck has Eric gone, who said he would protect his younger siblings, and is this cowardly idiot still left? Uh?”

“Hey,”

“Maria died in front of the devil to protect us, but do you f*cking value your life that much?”

“…I told you to stop.”

“We couldn’t find Maria’s body because it was in the Demon King’s Castle, and even Maria’s parents buried her empty coffin! But now you’re telling us to just bury Ash and Lila in her bodyless grave and forget about her? “You f*cking bastard!”

“That’s not what you said!”

“My mother at least found a body. Mary’s parents were captured by those damn pagans and torn to pieces so that not even her body could be found! Uh? “You promised me that you would avenge me in front of Mary’s bodyless tomb, you f*cking idiot!”

“Stop it!”

Puck!

Eric slapped Alice on the cheek.

With a dry sound as if a stone had been struck rather than human flesh, Alice’s head turned to the side as her chestnut-brown hair, which was almost red, fluttered helplessly.

＊

Alice was an object of fear among the nobles, the wealthy, and even within the royal family and the Goddess Church.

No one knew that she was an artificially created warrior, but everyone knew what she was doing.

But Eric was never afraid of Alice.

She knows everything about what is stuck in her heart, what kind of monster she has become, where her pig farm is, and she knows everything about what punishment Alice inflicts on the evildoers who provoke her anger. Even though there was.

Alice slowly turned her face and looked at Eric.

Eric frowned, clutching his hand as if the hand he had hit was throbbing.

Alice, on the other hand, was not sick at all.

However, I was just surprised.

Eric said with a sigh.

“Calm down. “Because there are many ears around.”

After hearing Eric’s words, Alice slowly took a breath and slowly lowered her head.

“… I’m sorry.”

“That’s enough. “You’ve been doing that often since you got that f*cking holy heart.”

It was just as he said.

After having this mechanical device attached to my body, for some reason I could not hold back my anger.

No, rather, the anger that made the blood in her whole body surge seemed to be the driving force that made this mechanical device move even more powerfully.

The machine used anger as fuel to provide Alice with strength and divine power, and soon the hot heat radiating from her heart made Alice’s emotions become even hotter.

Those heated emotions were once again sucked into the machine and I pedaled like crazy.

Angry Alice was like a runaway locomotive rushing towards the evildoers.

And Eric slapped Alice without hesitation.

In his eyes, Alice was not the heaviest sword or virgin of the Goddess Church, but the childish daughter of the Three Musketeers and Count Goldfield who had been with her since she was young.

For some reason, the anger in Alice’s heart calmed down a little.

“You…”

“I’m not going to apologize, you monster b*tch. Did they replace her face with a machine too? It felt like I was being hit with a piece of iron. “f*ck.”

Eric grinned and cursed.

Alice burst out laughing without even realizing it.

Eric must have noticed that she had calmed down, so he leaned against the back of her chair and continued massaging her hand.

His palms were bright red and swollen.

Allison sighed and opened her mouth.

“You’re calm. “Even though you said your father was there too.”

“Why? “Do you think there is no blood or tears?”

“No… I just… I thought at least you would understand my feelings.”

“…Alice.”

Eric raised his glass again, poured the remaining beer down his throat, and continued speaking.

“Yes, I am sad and suffering too. “I miss my father, Ash and Lila too… I really miss them.”

“So please help me.”

“But that doesn’t mean you can be irresponsible.”

“…Eric.”

“You have been away from the territory since you attended the academy, and I also left my hometown three years ago, so neither you nor I were at the Goldfield estate when that incident occurred, so I know very well what you are thinking.”

“…”

“I should have been there, I should have spent more time with my family. “Maria should have somehow protected the younger siblings she left behind.”

“… Yes. Therefore, even more,”

“I know, I know. I feel more guilty because I wasn’t there. That’s why you go around beating up nobles like a crazy b*tch and build that disgusting pig pen and cut off people’s limbs and put them in it. I also understand a hundred times a thousand times. “I feel like my heart will break just thinking about that, because I think about that every night too… But…”

“…”

“…Still, I can’t send someone to a place where they are sure to die like this. “If you want to go, go yourself.”

“I want to go too. But…”

Alice pursed her lips and stopped speaking.

She wanted her too.

If I could, I wanted to go to that forest right away and pick up even a single piece of Ash and Lila’s bodies.

But no matter how much she wanted to, there was a reason she couldn’t go to that forest.

“I can’t go… I can’t leave the place where people live.”

“Ah, it seems like being a virgin means being monitored by the religious order, right?”

“It’s not like that, but…”

Even though Eric was his childhood friend and shared important information with him, he could not yet reveal this fact.

Even Alice learned the truth only today.

An unprecedented disaster that may lead to the extinction of mankind is approaching.

The Pope said that one day a great crisis will come to this world.

That was why the Pope continued this terrible experiment even as he watched countless people dying.

It is said that the goddess herself gave a revelation, so that must be true.

The Pope would not have a hobby of turning people into weapons by coming up with such grandiose lies.

That’s why Alice couldn’t leave the city.

She could go to corrupt estates and kill nobles, but she could not go into remote forests where there were no people.

The moment even the slightest sign of destruction was observed somewhere in the world, the Vatican had to be contacted at any time.

“…f*ck.”

“… I guess there’s a reason I can’t tell you.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m not telling you everything.”

Eric gestured to the waiter and ordered two more beers.

Soon, the waiter carrying a large beer glass took the empty glass and looked at Eric with worried eyes.

I think I saw them arguing a little while ago.

Eric sent the messenger away with a smile as if nothing had happened.

When the waiter left, Eric handed Alice a new beer glass.

Alice raised her glass of beer without saying a word.

There was a small envelope attached to the bottom of the beer glass.

“What is this?”

“A gift to a depressed childhood friend.”

“Ha, you’ve really become a flirt. “You crazy guy.”

“Open it. “You’ll love it.”

Alice took a light sip from her glass of beer and opened the letter.

Inside was a single line of address.

“What is this?”

Eric took a gulp of beer and said, wiping the foam from his mouth with his arm.

“hehehe, can you find out what it is?”

“…It’s the address.”

“That’s right.”

“No way?”

“hehehe. “It was a bit of a struggle.”

Boom, boom, boom,

My head is heating up.

At the same time, Alice’s heart heated up with a loud noise.

Anger wells up.

At the same time, joy and a twisted smile also came to mind.

Eric also said, raising one corner of her mouth.

“Balder Staff. “I found that f*cking bastard.”

.