Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Anis Dances - Betty Plays the Violin
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"Hah."
When I opened my eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted me.
The wallpaper, stained with the passage of time, had turned a dingy yellow from what was once white.
The stained ceiling here and there easily told me how old this place was and how long it had been neglected.
After staring at the ceiling for a moment, I sat up and scratched my head.
I'd had a weird dream.
In a lounge bar with a small stage attached, elegant music played, and Betty and I were chatting happily there.
I was awkwardly pulled onto the stage by the hand. Betty let go of my hand with a cheeky grin and picked up a violin.
But Betty didn't know how to play the violin. She fumbled around, not even knowing the basics of how to hold it, constantly screeching.
Why pick it up if she couldn't play? It was so Betty-like, it was kinda funny.
The frustrated owner, unable to stand it, slammed his palm on the table—thwack.
Under the owner's continual frowns, Betty set down the violin, and in the end, the owner played background music instead.
The melody of the violin flowed from the speakers, enveloping the stage.
Betty urged me to dance, but I didn't know much about dancing and didn't like it, so I just went back to my seat.
Betty gave up too and came down from the stage to sit with me. We laughed and talked, drinking.
In the dream, I could drink as much as I wanted without getting drunk. It was nice.
...But what was the point? We didn't dance, and she didn't play the violin.
What a crap dream.
I scratched the back of my head and yawned. Tiny tears formed at the corners of my eyes, and my memory of the dream quickly faded away.
As I ran my hand through my hair, I looked down at my fingertips. They were clean, without a single scratch.
There should have been a lot of wounds from the wooden splinters. Was that part of the dream too?
The moment I thought that, my unevenly broken nails caught my eye. Guess it wasn't a dream after all.
Looking closer at my fingertips, I saw faint new skin growing over the torn wounds. Traces of healing magic.
Not far from the bed was a kitchen. I went to the sink, turned on the faucet, and splashed water on my face like a cat, washing away the tear stains. The cold water cleared my foggy mind.
How did I fall asleep?
The last thing I remembered was Betty looking at me with a worried face. I threw myself into her arms sobbing, buried my face in her chest, and then my vision went dark.
It was romantic, but the follow-through was lacking.
Muttering that, I began looking around the room.
A rundown one-room about 130 square feet. The only furnishings were a bed just big enough for one person to lie on and a small low table.
Next to the front door was a tiny bathroom barely big enough for one person. Three steps along from the bathroom door, and the remaining space was mostly taken up by the kitchen.
"........."
I looked at the small window on the wall by the bed. Cold wind slipped through the security bars meant to keep out burglars, brushing my cheek.
It was night. Inside and outside the room were quietly steeped in silence, no boundary needed.
Leaving that serene quiet behind, I opened the front door and stepped out.
Betty had taken the exhausted, sobbing Anis to Camilla for treatment, then moved her to the least rundown house among the slums' dwellings.
And then she thought.
Grrrrowl...
"I'm hungry..."
Isn't there anything to eat?
Is Anis okay?
When will she wake up?
She'll probably be hungry too when she wakes up, right?
Hunger sparked random thoughts. Betty was convinced that if she was hungry, Anis would be too when she opened her eyes.
I need to prepare delicious food before Anis wakes up! And eat together.
Betty left Anis behind and headed out into the night streets. The barrier enveloping X District shimmered in the sky.
Betty looked up, admiring the rippling scenery. Kahartel seemed displeased at being trapped by the barrier, but Betty liked how it sparkled under the starlight.
All the residents had evacuated outside X District long ago, and the magic beasts had moved to the barrier's edges. On the desolate streets devoid of people, only Betty's footprints remained.
The occasional hollow autumn wind tried to scare her as she walked alone at night, but Betty didn't care.
After all, most of her short 17 years had been spent alone.
She was used to being alone, used to loneliness, so the lonely night wind held no terror for her.
No, yesterday she might have been scared. Because Anis wasn't there yesterday.
But today, Anis was by her side. There was no guarantee she'd stay forever, but for now, her nearness was what mattered.
So right now, what was important to Betty was finding food that Anis would enjoy.
She'd surely be hungry after waking up from all that crying.
"Ah, what?! They've cleaned everything out!"
Arriving at the shops, Betty's eyes widened in shock. The stores had been stripped bare of food and daily goods by the human locust swarms under the guise of evacuation.
"I'm hungry..."
Growl—Betty's stomach rumbled. Clutching her empty belly, she wandered the empty shops.
Not a scrap in sight. Not even food crumbs.
Most had been taken by residents, and what little remained had been devoured by magic beasts.
How long she wandered, she didn't know, but finally, Betty found something.
"Ah. Bread."
Two loaves shoved to the bottom of a gun shop counter, long forgotten by the owner. Betty snatched them up quickly.
The bread wasn't in good shape. They'd waited so long for someone to eat them that they'd hardened and gone cold, forgotten.
One seemed somewhat okay. Hardened from age, but edible at least.
The other was in bad shape. Besides being rock-hard, mold had sprouted on it.
"Uh, um..."
After a brief hesitation, Betty took the better one.
I can't give Anis moldy bread.
She stuffed the decent bread into her pocket and stared at the moldy one.
Staring intently...
...I'll eat this one.
She picked up the moldy bread too.
...It's fine. I've eaten moldy food plenty before.
Betty's life was like mold. Always in the dark, damp corners of the slums, and even when boldly venturing to the center, it hadn't changed much.
So she had a deep connection with moldy food. It had been a while, but it wasn't unfamiliar, so Betty unhesitatingly crammed the bread into her pocket.
With her pockets bulging from the two palm-sized loaves, Betty left the shops.
Outside, the cold wind still blew.
It wasn't a feast, but she'd hoped for something decent for a meal with Anis after so long.
Disappointed by the meager haul deep down, Betty trudged back.
"...Hmm."
After pondering briefly, Betty pulled the moldy bread from her pocket and stared at it.
......Better eat this here.
She brushed off the surface with her palm and took a bite. The familiar bitter, astringent mold taste spread in her mouth.
Betty chewed on indifferently. About halfway through, cream oozed from inside.
Oh, it was a cream bun.
Unlike the moldy outer bread, the cream inside was sweet.
This won't fill her up... What if Anis hates bread?
Thinking that, Betty turned back the way she'd come.
Opening the front door and stepping out, cool night air greeted me.
Observing the dark night scenery closely, I realized this was the housing area of X District, where the former W District slum dwellers had once lived.
Or rather than housing, it was more like a shantytown. The buildings crammed into narrow alleys were too shabby to call houses.
At least the one I'd come from looked the best. Maybe Betty, who carried me here while I slept, had chosen carefully.
Turning to look down the alley, I saw a hazy figure approaching from afar. Maybe Betty? I murmured her name softly.
"Betty?"
"Ah, Anis! You're awake?"
The hazy figure came closer, sharpening into focus—Betty. She trotted over with a bright smile.
"Hungry? Eat this!"
Betty pulled a palm-sized bun from her pocket and handed it to me. It was cold. And hard. So old it felt like it was made of stone flour instead of wheat.
...Is this even edible?
"...Sorry. People took almost everything decent, and that was all that was left."
Betty said glumly as I turned the bun over, inspecting it.
"B-but it's a cream bun! The outside's hard, but the inside's sweet!"
Betty flapped her arms excitedly. It was pretty cute. Feeling I couldn't ignore her effort, I stopped hesitating and took a bite.
Crunch.
Hard and crumbly. Like chewing a sponge soaked in cement.
The bun crumbled in my mouth. The thick, cheap cream bun texture filled it, but I swallowed anyway.
80% stodgy bread, barely 20% cream—a cheap knockoff cream bun.
So little cheap cream it was hard to tell if it was cream or bean bun.
About halfway through the cheap dough lump, cream finally oozed out onto my tongue.
"How is it? Sweet, right?"
Betty asked with a beaming smile.
"......Yeah. Tasty."
As Betty said, the oozing cream was sweet.
"Aren't you eating any, Betty? Half's left—want some?"
"No! I'm fine! Not that hungry."
I tilted my head slightly at Betty's firm refusal.
Once I finished the rest, Betty spoke up.
"Anis."
"Yeah?"
"You'll stay with me forever, right?"
"........."
I couldn't answer right away. My mouth opened slightly to speak, then closed again.
A brief silence fell, and our eyes met. Her golden eyes shone calmly, reflecting my face.
I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly, then finally broke the silence.
"......Yeah. I'll stay."
"Really?"
Betty smiled radiantly.
"......Yeah."
I couldn't just smile blankly.