94. Childhood
“Master Saran, what brings you to this place? You usually... um... don't come to places like this, right?”
“Just, I wanted to walk around here once.”
“Ah...?”
This was the counseling session with Saran after not spending proper time together.
The place Saran mentioned was... a small building.
Walking around the neighborhood, you could see a small, quite old-looking building.
More precisely... it looked quite old and shabby.
“What is this place? It feels like a normal housing complex around here.”
“Yeah, that's right.”
“Um... Did you live here before? That's the only one that comes to mind.”
In general, in D City the upper areas had expensive apartments and single houses, while the western side was the living area for ordinary people...
On the eastern side of the city, attached to the factory district, a very cheap housing complex had formed.
That was where we had arrived.
The housing complex in the eastern part of the city that I rarely visited.
For me, it was quite... awkward, and I couldn't help but feel curious.
Originally this side wasn't just a cheap housing complex but was attached to the factory area, so various unsavory people naturally gathered here.
Thanks to that, the crime rate was quite high.
“Um... That makes sense.”
“Ah...?”
“I spent a lot of time here when I was young.”
I see.
That's why you brought me here.
If it had been a completely unrelated place, there would have been no reason to bring me to this neighborhood... Honestly, I thought there wasn't.
At least because Saran and I had some connection, no matter how small, that's why you called me here.
I expected that today's conversation would turn a bit serious.
“Um... It looks like a pretty old house. At least around forty years old, right? Even considering the lack of maintenance, the traces of time are too obvious.”
“It's an old house.”
“A small four-story single house.”
“It was the house I lived in when I was little.”
It was quite an old house.
I didn't know the exact story, but I could definitely tell that this house was old.
Even though Saran was twenty-six, childhood was twenty years ago... definitely much earlier than that.
“First... Shall we go in?”
“Yes, let's do that.”
I didn't know well, but I followed Saran's words.
Instead of just looking from outside, she seemed to want to see something more detailed and talk in detail.
It was sudden, but... one of the reasons I met Saran was to treat her heart.
At first, it had been just to extend outings, but...
As I learned a bit more about what Saran did, I realized there were various problems.
...Rather, I learned that Saran's condition was as bad as Baek Eun-hwa's.
She endured cruel things alone, and I realized she was worn out from enduring them, so for Saran, I had no choice but to comfort her.
“Um...?”
So, going inside the house, since there was no elevator, we climbed the stairs... to the fourth floor, the highest.
Lately, climbing stairs up and down a lot had been tough, but...
Fortunately, reaching the fourth floor wasn't too bad.
After climbing up, Saran opened the door with a key....
“......Um.”
“...How is it?”
“Um......”
...Inside the house, entering the 401st unit, I couldn't help but be quite surprised.
I didn't know exactly why Saran suddenly brought me here.
Just to show childhood memories... it couldn't be called memories.
“...I don't know how to put this into words.”
“Really?”
“Yes, if I speak honestly... it feels like a bit of a crime scene......”
...A house filled with a lot of dust.
A musty smell mixed with a slightly dirty scent.
Moreover, on the floor there were lines of some unknown white tape, and then it created a really crime-scene-like feeling.
A scene that couldn't exist in a normal house.
That's why I was surprised.
She said it was the place she lived in when she was young, but what was the reason for this...
“Crime scene...?”
“I didn't mean it in a bad way...! It was just that it looked that way when I saw it honestly.”
“No. I know it looks like a crime scene. And it is a crime scene. It's okay.”
“......”
Saran's words made my mouth and breath catch.
The place Saran lived in when she was young.
But if it was really a crime scene... the thoughts naturally went to...
...Naturally, I had to be careful with Saran.
The fact that the dust was completely accumulated here, the strange smell, and the white tape below forming like a border of something.
“......”
Even though Saran didn't explain in more detail.
Naturally, the thoughts went to something eerie.
There was no choice.
“Um... I don't mean to burden you. Of course, it would be like that.”
“...Yes.”
“Just... I haven't told anyone else about this. I wanted to talk about this matter to someone... once.”
“......”
I didn't know the exact reason or the heart and worries that led Saran to bring me here.
As someone who suddenly arrived, I couldn't fully understand, but...
At least, I could tell it was never an easy decision.
“...Actually, the reason I became a hero started from here.”
“...I see.”
“...I seem to have started a pointless story again. I just brought you because I wanted to talk to someone. Thinking about it again, it doesn't seem right.”
“......”
Saran's expression didn't show much difference normally.
When smiling, it was quite subtle.
When angry, she didn't directly show anger.
But now, no matter who looked, she was gloomy, completely lowering her gaze and head, conveying such words to me, and I was a bit surprised.
Was the choice to bring me here made with so many more worries?
For Saran, was this place so meaningful?
...I don't know.
In this life, I am an orphan, that's true.
But that doesn't mean I'm not familiar with such scenes.
Perhaps because I couldn't easily talk about the scene where family was killed... I couldn't talk to her first.
“No.”
“Eh?”
“It's okay, please speak comfortably.”
I said this to the snake in front of me.
I thought I had to say it.
“I don't know what words will come out, but in the end, the decision was made by Saran, and Saran, who is speaking, must have thought more than me.”
“...Are you okay?”
“I'm not the one who isn't okay? In the end, I'm Saran's counselor, the one who helps Saran. If I can do something helpful for Saran, it's natural for me to choose that.”
“......”
“So, please speak. Comfortably.”
In a normal situation, I wouldn't have listened to her words so much.
But Saran's expression was too pitiful.
It seemed like I had to help her.
I made that choice.
“...Thank you.”
“You're welcome.”
To those words, Saran nodded slightly and thanked me.
But honestly, I thought the reaction I showed from the beginning was wrong.
I shouldn't have shown a bad reaction to her from the start.
I should have made it easy for her to speak comfortably.
It seems I haven't been thinking properly due to various things lately.
Anyway, after hearing my words, Saran slowly... started to enter the room other than the living room.
The room without tape.
“This was my room.”
“......”
“When I was that time, I was much younger, and my height and build were smaller. Even if I used a small room, there was no problem.”
There was a bed suitable for a child in that room.
Bookshelves and shelves were arranged.
On the bookshelf, quite old textbooks and albums, on the shelves... picture frames with photos of Saran's parents.
In addition, there were some toys and dolls in that child's room.
It was just such a room.
If it weren't for the outside situation and Saran's words, it would have been thought of as a normal old room.
“...So, there might have been things that were fortunate, and things that weren't.”
“What happened?”
By combining news titles, stories that might be urban legends heard while living with various events, I could guess what it would be.
A scenario that could be expected.
I could expect that story to develop.
With just the given information, I could do that.
There was a dangerous person, and in the situation where that person entered Saran's house, Saran was alone in the room... how did she survive?
Even if not an awakened, in a world where so many crimes happen in daily life.
Especially in places like this with very low security, such crimes were even easier.
“...It's just a normal thing. A normal thing happening in a place with low security like here. Too normal, and it's a thing that doesn't get properly resolved.”
“......”
That's why I could easily accept that Saran's words now were true.