Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Improving a Modern Man's Physique (7)
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Drip, drip.
The sound of water droplets falling echoed through the silent cave, mingling with her ragged breaths: huff, huff.
Erika wondered if she even existed anymore.
Caught between the boundary of dream and reality.
She was helpless against the fragmented memories that sporadically surged forth.
"Have you thought about what you want to do after graduation?"
Just before winter break began, her father asked this at the breakfast table.
It was one of those rare meals where they sat together at the table after what felt like an eternity.
In the hushed dining room, filled only with the clatter of servants bringing dishes and silverware, his sudden question felt utterly surreal.
"......"
Erika froze mid-bite, her spoon hovering in the air with oatmeal. She was too shocked and flustered to respond.
"Ahem!"
As she sat there in silence for a long while, her father cleared his throat, breaking the deathly quiet, and continued impassively.
"If you haven't given it any thought, come work under me and learn the ropes. You'll have to take over someday, after all."
"......"
A crack formed in Erika's expression.
She knew exactly how her father had built his company and amassed his fortune.
A massive pile of money stained with the suffering of countless people, earned by colluding with evil.
The mere fact that everything she ate and wore came from that money filled her with unbearable disgust. Ever since high school, she'd meticulously recorded every single expense in a notebook.
Working at a company like that would be tantamount to denying her entire life up to now.
She forced her lips open stiffly.
"I already have a path in mind."
She left her still-full bowl of oatmeal behind and stood up first.
That entire day, she packed whatever useful items she could from her room. It was something she'd been doing bit by bit for a while, careful not to let the maids notice. Preparing so she could leave the house at any moment.
Night fell, and a drizzling rain began. Erika walked slowly down the hallway, feeling like a ghost.
Her mother's room still had the light on. The listless woman did nothing all day, yet she never went to bed until late into the night.
Erika cautiously opened the door to her mother's bedroom.
It had been a full seven years since she'd last entered this room.
The last time she'd come, her mother had begged her to admit she was wrong, to reconcile quickly—but Erika had said nothing, just stubbornly kept her mouth shut.
Her mother had let out a deep sigh, and soon after, her words had dwindled.
"Mother... Mom."
Erika called out to her mother, who lay diagonally on the bed, staring blankly downward.
Her once-beautiful, long, wavy hair was now streaked with white and disheveled in every direction.
Her emaciated body and dull, lackluster skin. No trace of her former beauty remained on that lifeless face.
Her mother's eyes shifted slightly. Erika wet her lips nervously and forced out the words.
"I'm leaving this house soon. Come with me."
Her mother gazed at her with vacant eyes and reached out a hand. Erika clasped that twig-thin hand tightly.
"Let's escape this hellish house. I'll take good care of you."
But silence lingered for a moment, and then her mother slowly shook her head.
It was just as she'd expected.
Erika stayed still for a long time. Once her mother closed her eyes, she released the hand and left the bedroom.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The night in Lüdelheim was nothing like its days.
The magic-powered streetlamps had all gone out, leaving only the pale gray full moon to cast a faint glow.
I ran through the darkened streets.
The snow-covered ground was muddy. My feet nearly slipped several times.
My lungs felt like they were about to burst, forcing me to stop repeatedly. I tried regulating my breathing as I ran, but long distances were still beyond me.
"Hah, huff, ha......"
I leaned on my burning thighs, catching my breath.
With this frail body, I'd run for over an hour.
Stopping and starting repeatedly, I probably hadn't covered more than what an average adult man could run in thirty minutes.
Mrs. Schmidt's house was in a working-class neighborhood sandwiched between the affluent district and the slums.
And the cave where Erika was lay beyond the slums, across a stretch of abandoned land.
I sped past alleyways reeking of stench, littered with broken bottles and illegally dumped trash.
Running through these spiderweb-like paths for so long made me dizzy, on the verge of losing my sense of direction.
If not for the geographic info in Lucas's memories and the 13th District map I'd copied and memorized in the archives, I never could've pulled off this insane stunt.
"Almost there, Collin."
Breaking through the thinning houses, a wide-open hillside finally appeared.
In the distance, the river glittered under the moonlight. Erika was somewhere along those riverbanks.
'Exactly where, though?'
I slumped into the overgrown bushes and pulled out my notebook from my pocket.
A small sheet of paper with a detailed map drawn as precisely as possible. I held it to the moonlight, searching for the X marking the cave's location.
'500 meters west of the suspension bridge—no, about 500 setin or so......'
"Woof! Woof!"
A sudden burst of barking nearly made me fall on my butt.
"Col......!"
I turned to Collin, but the guy—who was now nearing medium dog size—was lying obediently by my side, belly to the ground.
'Then what?'
"Woof woof woof!"
The sound came again, not too close but not far either.
"Over there, maybe. Let's keep looking."
Near an open lot at the edge of the slums, lights flickered, and I heard the footsteps of several people running. Trained footsteps, at that.
"What the hell......"
A curse slipped through my gritted teeth.
Instinctively, I flattened myself in the bushes to hide. Collin wisely crouched low too.
It was a very wise decision. Soon, five or six men approached, rustling around as they searched the area.
"No matter that she's the daughter of some rich entrepreneur, does it make sense for her to barge into unrelated departments? And in the dead of night like this?"
"That's what I said. If she was really kidnapped, she'd have been smuggled out of Lüdelheim by now, obviously."
"Shh! Don't flap your gums. The mood right now is no joke."
They swung their lanterns, poking into everything. With my cheek pressed to the cold dirt, holding my breath, I racked my brain furiously.
'They've even mobilized police from other districts? Then those must be beat cops from the 13th. Has the case been handed over to headquarters? Or maybe the 8th District chief requested backup. Either way, something happened to make the police go all-in......
Rumors say the station chief who hated the bounty offer wouldn't change his tune under pressure from Erika's father. What the hell is going on?'
My head felt like it was overheating and about to explode.
"Woof!"
Suddenly, a police dog barked very close by, making me jolt.
"Huh, Rudy, something there?"
'Damn it, we're made!'
A flurry of thoughts raced through my mind.
Should I name-drop Captain Johann Werner again? Claim I was after the bounty? Or...
"Grrrrrr......"
Then Collin started growling low and menacingly. The kind of feral rumble that instinctively sent chills down your spine just hearing it.
I peeked with my forehead to the ground and saw the police dog tuck its tail and back away hesitantly. Collin bared his teeth in a furious expression I'd never seen before.
"Rudy?"
The beat cop approached, but the police dog retreated, then bolted with clattering paws.
"What? Hey, grab that dog!"
While they scrambled after the dog, I crawled on my belly toward the river.
"Collin, what the hell are you, really?"
Collin panted happily, back to his usual docile face, following along.
A good while passed, and the rustling died down. The beat cops had taken the dog and headed toward the suspension bridge.
My clothes and face were caked in mud, but the corner of my mouth twitched up.
'Anyway, looks like I can use him.'
I waited until even the tiny dots vanished, then stood and started running again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A river breeze blew in.
Not as brutal as a Korean frontline unit's winter, but still chilly enough that I quietly worried if Erika was okay in this weather.
The rumors said some company bought the land but went bust, leaving the riverbank as undeveloped wilds choked with dense reed thickets that blocked all sight.
"Erika!"
After slashing my hands bloody while madly parting the reeds, I finally found the cave entrance.
I hurried inside and lit a match.
Deepest in the cave, in the corner shielded from the cold drafts. On a large rock impervious to the rising chill, Erika lay collapsed.
"Erika, it's me."
I whispered as I untied her bonds and blindfold.
In the firelight, her pale face breathed shallowly, eyes closed—whether asleep or passed out, I couldn't tell.
'Doesn't look too bad. Good.'
Relieved, I scanned the cave floor and spotted an old dagger among the supplies Oscar had left.
"This'll do."
My hand trembled as I gripped the dagger.
But I'd made such a fuss about perfection, putting Erika through all this. Weakening now before my own sacrifice would be the lamest thing ever.
Hoo, hoo.
I took deep breaths, then slashed my arm down without hesitation.
"Hng!"
Blood bloomed over my thick coat, an immense pain crashing over me. Heat flooded my face; I nearly fainted.
"Fuck, that hurts like a bitch!"
I yanked the dagger from my arm and dragged it across my right shoulder. Where the coat blocked, it only stung lightly, but near the collarbone, it tore my shirt and blood seeped out.
Collin paced anxiously, whimpering.
"Hahk, huff! Don't worry, Collin. Now, up on that rock!"
Finally, I had Collin leap onto the boulder where Erika lay, then clamped the dagger in his jaws.
"Hold it tight and stay put."
I backed away far enough, then rammed my back against it hard, throwing my body like a ragdoll.
"Graaah!"
The dagger blade sank into my lower back with a gruesome shunk!.
"Nng, ngh!"
"Good boy, Collin."
My heart pounded wildly. Adrenaline surged through my body.
With superhuman endurance, I stroked Collin, pulled out the dagger, and crawled across the cave floor to the entrance.
Swish, swish—the trail of blood followed.
Outside, I forced myself upright and swung my arm with my last strength.
The dagger arced through the air and plunged into the unfrozen river far away with a plop!.
"Alright, Collin, now bark your lungs out. As loud as you can!"
Collin, who'd been pacing nervously by my side, obeyed with a deafening racket.
"Woof! Woof woof! Woof!"
I collapsed in front of the cave, squeezing out my voice.
"Catch... catch him! Ugh, catch him! He's getting awayyy!"
Hot blood poured out. The pain intensified. I hadn't made the wounds fatal, which somehow made them hurt even more—like I was dying.
So this scream was genuine.
"Hel...p! Somebodyyyy!"
"Woof! Woof woof!"
Lights flickered from the suspension bridge in the distance. I bit my lip to stay conscious as they drew nearer.
Time stretched like eons, but finally, the lights reached me.
"Hah! Are you alright, sir?!"
A young-faced beat cop bent over, looking down at me.
"Stay with us!"
He shook my shoulders. I barely opened my eyes and moved my lips.
"Great Leader... forever...! In the cave... the missing Miss Braithner......"
As my voice faded, the beat cops rushed into the cave with clattering feet.
"My God, it's her!"
"She's still alive!"
"We need to get her to a hospital first."
"B-but there's no hospital open in the 13th at this hour......"
"Then the university hospital. Or request they open one. Go ask for backup!"
"Yes, sir!"
One beat cop sprinted toward the slums.
"Hang in there. You'll get treatment soon."
My blurring vision made me nauseous.
"I-I'm... fine... Hurry to Miss Braith... cough! The bastard who kidnapped her and stabbed me......!"
"You saw the perp? Where'd he flee?!"
"That way... the reeds......"
I weakly raised a hand. Moving my arm sent blood gushing from near my collarbone.
"No good. Stop the bleeding first. The rest of you, search the reeds!"
"Yes!"
Someone tore open my clothes, ripped my shirt, and tied it around the wound. It hurt like hell, but I couldn't even groan.
I blacked out just like that.