Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Rice Cakes Lying Down and Cold Porridge: Possible?
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Ronel sat in the corner of the office, taking a sip of her coffee. On the desk sat some injulmi rice cakes she'd just bought from the market.
"Mm. Mm. Hm."
Ronel sat with her legs crossed, leisurely humming through her nose as she tapped her fingers on the desk. The rhythmic tapping echoed steadily.
"Ronel."
Han U-sol called out to her. Ronel, who had been staring blankly into space lost in thought, turned to look at him.
"The refugees' movements are strange."
"...Have they ever acted normal for even a day or two?"
Ronel responded indifferently to Han U-sol, who was starting seriously. Han U-sol looked slightly frustrated as he continued.
"...It's different from usual. Refugees from the gangs are gathering together, regardless of their factions."
"Is that so? Just leave them be."
"But..."
"That's an order. Leave them be."
Ronel said that as if she had no intention of hearing more, then spun her chair around with a swish.
She took another sip of coffee. She'd switched from cheap bean coffee to even cheaper instant mix, and now it tasted sweet.
Ronel thought to herself that she preferred sugar-laden mix coffee over bean coffee that had no sweetness at all, then opened her mouth.
"This coffee's delicious. Want a cup, senior?"
"...No, I'm good."
Han U-sol replied with a sigh in his voice. Ever since arriving in District K, Ronel had halted all work on the refugees, turning a blind eye to everything while leisurely lounging alone in the office. It frustrated him.
"How long do you plan to just let this slide? The gangs might incite the other refugees into a massive riot soon."
"Yep. Still, leave them be."
Ronel waved her hand dismissively as if it were a hassle, turning her back to him. Han U-sol glared at her back in dissatisfaction.
She picked up a piece of injulmi, took a big bite, then sipped her coffee, repeating the process.
No matter how you looked at it, she was the epitome of a pathetic leader shirking responsibility and just playing around.
Was Ronel always like this? She had a laid-back, half-hearted image about everything, but she wasn't the type to completely abandon her duties and responsibilities like this.
She might slack off, but she'd always fulfill her assigned obligations to the end. Han U-sol couldn't understand why she'd done a complete 180 the moment they arrived in District K.
Maybe the Association had given her separate orders. But the Association viewed the refugees as nuisances too. It seemed unlikely they'd order her to ignore them.
"It's not the Association's orders. I'm just doing this because I feel like it~"
"Haa..."
Han U-sol let out a big sigh at Ronel's unchanging attitude no matter what he said.
He needed to resolve the refugee issue as soon as possible and return to District X, but being stuck here doing nothing was starting to irritate him.
"Mad? You're mad~?"
"......No."
"You are~"
"........."
Han U-sol unconsciously clenched his fists. Seeing that, Ronel let out a flippant "Whoops" and grinned mischievously.
"Hehe, senior. Don't get so worked up. Remember what I said before we came here?"
"...What I said before we came?"
"I said it'd all work out fine."
Han U-sol racked his memory.
...Yeah. He vaguely recalled her saying that in the car on the way here.
But what did that have to do with the current situation? Far from working out, things were only getting worse, and Ronel was just letting it happen.
"You're honest to a fault but your head just doesn't turn. That's why you keep getting used and going through all that hardship."
"........."
She grinned again, needling him. Han U-sol barely suppressed the urge to snap back.
"Senior, refugees are just refugees at best. Compared to heroes, they're ordinary people with negligible individual power."
It was true. There was an insurmountable gap in strength between heroes and refugees.
"Isn't it great that they're gathering on their own? We just wait for them to assemble, then show up right when they're heading for the center and clean them up. Them coming together of their own accord isn't the situation worsening—it's them creating their own chance to be wiped out."
"Even so, numbers can't be ignored. At least hundreds might gather..."
The gap in power meant nothing against a numerical advantage.
Their forces amounted to about 30 heroes at best.
And most were apprentices with little real combat experience.
The refugees were different. Hundreds could gather. Blocking them with just 30 people was absurd.
"Psh, with you here, senior, what's there to worry about?"
Ronel shrugged. Despite the uncertainty of variables or emergencies, she spoke as if it were no big deal.
"........."
Han U-sol eyed her dubiously. At his gaze, Ronel lowered her shrugged shoulders.
"Kidding. When the refugees gather, we'll get some support from central."
"...Support?"
"Yeah. So don't worry too much. I told you, it'll all work out? It's easy. Like eating rice cakes lying down."
Ronel leaned her chair back fully, then shoved a whole piece of injulmi from the desk into her mouth.
She chewed on the injulmi.
"Cough...! Ack, keh...! Urk..."
She choked. Tears welled up in her eyes. After coughing painfully and thumping her chest for a while, Ronel gulped down coffee.
"Phew. Almost died..."
Finally catching her breath, Ronel looked at Han U-sol sheepishly.
"...Y'know, thinking about it, eating rice cakes lying down seems kinda hard? Your throat gets all blocked and stuffy."
......He didn't trust her one bit.
Alone in the office after Han U-sol left, Ronel started tapping the desk again.
Tap, tap, tap.
Rhythmic three taps.
Three days.
No, one day had passed, so now two days.
A short time.
So short that one blink and it'd sneak right up without a trace.
-Tick.
Time would pass quickly.
Pretending to relax like this with coffee wouldn't last beyond tomorrow.
-Tap, tap.
She tapped the desk with her fingers again.
From the unconsciously echoing small rhythm, Ronel realized she was inwardly tense.
"........."
She took a sip of coffee and shook her head.
No need to feel anxious.
Everything would go fine.
"Things'll get busy starting tomorrow."
"Me?"
"No. Camilla and Betty."
"Ah."
I nodded as if understanding Han's words.
"Anis, just focus on managing your condition. Don't stay up late into the dawn and sleep in till evening like usual—go to bed on time and get up in the morning."
"Easy as cold porridge."
"Good, then."
Han nodded. I glanced at him cautiously before speaking.
"But y'know, saying this now, I actually hate cold porridge. Porridge is best when it's just slightly warm—not too hot, not too cold. Too hot burns your tongue, too cold has no flavor."
"Hm, that's a fair point. So you're saying getting up in the morning is a bit tough right now?"
"Well, you could say that...?"
"Can't be helped. You'll have to make an effort to eat even the tasteless cold stuff."
I'd phrased getting up early as tactfully as possible, but Han was unsympathetic.
"Why force Anis to eat cold porridge? Eating cold stuff'll give her a stomachache! Don't worry, Anis. I'll warm up the porridge for you."
"Betty...!"
Betty hugged me. She'd slightly misunderstood the context, but I was still touched that she wanted to warm porridge for me.
"And me and Camilla aren't that busy anymore."
"Huh? Really?"
"Betty's right. We don't have much left to do. The ones who'll be busy are Colton and the refugees."
...Who's Colton.
I tilted my head at Camilla's words.
"Looks like we can spend the whole day together today and tomorrow."
Betty beamed at me. I smiled back at her.
Colton or curtain call or whatever—who cares. What mattered was spending the day with Betty after so long.
"What should we do tomorrow?"
"Wanna check out the aquarium sometime."
"Should we? Let's go tomorrow then."
"Yeah."
"No."
Camilla cut in as Betty and I planned our fun. We both shot glares at her firm refusal.
"Why?"
"We've barely got time to hang out with Anis, why?"
"With something important coming up, I'm too worried about sending you two out—you might cause an accident. Just stay put for the remaining two days."
"........."
"........."
I had nothing to say to Camilla's firm words. She was right, and compared to her who'd been running around nonstop, I hadn't done a thing, so I had no right to argue.
"...Can't be helped."
I nodded. As I did, Betty quickly agreed too.
Two days.
A short time, but being with Betty made it satisfying enough.
"We'll head out."
"Come in."
Leaving Han, who bowed at a perfect 90 degrees, Betty and I returned home.
We sat huddled in the tiny one-room, chatting, then as night fell, lay side by side in bed and fell asleep.
Betty's steady breathing came from right in front of my nose as she slept soundly.
Gazing at her face, I soon buried my own in her embrace and closed my eyes. I had to sleep early and wake early.
The soft touch and pleasant scent calmed my mind. As I sank into that comfort toward deep sleep.
[Sis.]
Rena spoke to me.
[Not much time left. Like the white sis did, like the other magic beasts did, the day you'll kill a kid like me isn't far. The day you'll make me die isn't far.]
I opened my eyes and sucked in a breath at the muttering voice. It was the familiar voice that visited me every dawn, but its familiarity made me shudder even more.
The once-soft touch turned cold and heavy.
The nice scent soured into the fishy smell of blood and death.
I jolted up in surprise. Seeing Betty still sleeping soundly reassured me briefly, but then something at the edge of my vision made me flinch.
A little girl's leg. The child knelt by my head, muttering.
[The day you'll kill me again isn't far.]
The voice drew closer. The child leaned toward my ear, her long ash-gray hair falling to cover my view.
Squeeze...
Tension gripped my body. My vision was slowly encroached by the descending hair.
I burrowed deeper into Betty's embrace. Desperately trying to shake off and ignore the child looking down at me from my bedside, I dug in.
Deeper, even deeper.
Until Rena's voice faded.
[Sis will dance, and white sis will play violin.]
But Rena didn't leave. The voice tickling my ear remained vivid, the hair brushing my nose from my eyes was still gray, and the small, cold hand stroking my cheek persisted.
She still knelt by my head.
"Haa..., haa..."
My breathing quickened. My chest tightened, breath short. My heartbeat drowned in the voice. My vision was now fully shrouded in gray.
Squeeze...
I burrowed and clung tighter.
Please, just vanish quickly, I prayed.
How long did I burrow, cling, and listen to that voice?
"Ah, Anis. It hurts."
Betty's voice pulled me back.
When I came to,
I was nose-deep in Betty's chest, hugging her body far too tightly.
"...Huh!? B-Betty! You okay!?"
I frantically checked her body in shock, finding it covered in dark bruises.
"B-Betty. Sorry."
I apologized, voice breaking. The tears teetering at my eyes spilled down my cheeks the moment I realized I'd hurt her.
"It's fine. I'll ask Camilla to heal it tomorrow."
Betty said with a bright smile.
"Come on. I'll watch over you till you fall asleep."
She said that and held me in her arms.
Rena didn't appear again.
-Tick.
Two days.
Time passes quickly.