Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Memories #7 (1)
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In Tiria's memory, Elric had a round face with mischievous eyes sparkling over it. His brown hair was fluffy, and the clothes he wore were visibly soft, made from fine fabric.
He was that kind of boy, and he was also the first peer Tiria had ever met.
"Where are you from? I've never seen your face before?"
The question brimming with curiosity was a strange kindness Tiria had never experienced.
She had been annoyed by how he had just insulted her appearance without a care, but it was inevitable that she felt an instinctive fondness toward this boy her age whom she was meeting for the first time.
"...Over there."
Tiria pointed toward the Weibin family manor beyond the hill.
Elric then said,
"Oh, the rat hole!"
She couldn't help but flinch.
What came out of his mouth was vulgar slang she had been taught never to use.
"Rat h..."
"My dad said that's where the rats that eat away at the territory live."
His giggling face was innocently bright.
She knew what those words meant. And to hurl such insults at someone who said they came from that manor.
She later learned he was the type to toss out profanities without a second thought, but at the time, everything about him shocked Tiria.
"Hmm, whatever. Come with me for now."
"Huh...?"
"The medic got chewed out by my mom today and couldn't come. You're filling in as medic."
Clap!
Elric snatched Tiria's hand.
Tiria forgot she needed to go ask for help and let herself be dragged along.
Of course, it wasn't easy. Her calf from the beating the day before hurt so much she limped, and her swollen face stung even from the breeze.
Elric realized it late and pouted.
"What, your leg's hurt? You should've said something."
"This is..."
"Come here."
What he did next was bewildering.
"Up you go!"
Elric scooped Tiria up into his arms and lifted her effortlessly.
Elric was six then, and Tiria was eight.
Before puberty, it was natural for Tiria to be much bigger than Elric, yet he lifted her with such ease.
That was the moment.
"You're not the medic—you're the injured one!"
Elric grinned brightly.
The boy's face, smiling with the sun at his back, brimmed with confidence.
The wind was cool, and though his arms were so small, they overflowed with a sense of security.
It was the first time.
The first time someone had held her tight.
The moment she felt another person's warmth was a shock best described as awe, and so Tiria reacted in a way even she couldn't understand.
"Sniff..."
Tears welled up, and she started crying.
"What, you're ugly and a crybaby too?"
"Wah..."
"Don't cry, or they'll say hair grows thick around your butt."
"Hic... idiot..."
"Sigh, who said to apologize? Whatever."
Elric patted Tiria's back.
That day, Tiria realized something.
Crying wasn't something you had to apologize for.
"Wah..."
In the arms of the giggling boy, Tiria experienced comfort for the first time in her life.
That was why she still couldn't forget that moment.
*
"Here's today's medic!"
The place Elric led her to was a small clearing at the edge of the village.
Tiria was startled, realizing there were this many kids her age in Weibin.
Of course, they weren't like Elric.
Some were grubby, some wore what looked like rags by her standards, and some had unwashed hair.
She didn't mind that, but it was clear in that moment that Elric stood out as different from the group.
"Hey! Ugly!"
Elric called Tiria that.
In that instant, embarrassment welled up in her.
"...I'm not."
"You are ugly! Your face is all puffy and gross. Aldio said pretty people have super slim faces!"
It was vulgar to call someone ugly in front of others.
Yet Tiria couldn't deny it—by her own judgment, her face right now was truly ugly.
A red flush spread over her pale face.
Her eyes welled up again.
Elric sighed.
"Sigh, she's crying again."
"The boss made a girl cry!"
"As expected of the boss! The epitome of a bad boy!"
The kids cheered.
Elric shrugged, approached Tiria, and dabbed her tears with his handkerchief.
"Don't cry. You really want butt hair?"
"Hic..."
"Stop crying, okay? Here!"
Here!
Tiria blew her nose into the handkerchief.
Elric tossed it on the ground.
"Anyway, get along with these guys. When they get hurt, you treat them, got it?"
Crying and laughing, and so self-willed too.
Yet strangely, it didn't annoy her.
Remembering how he had carried her while smiling, Tiria shyly nodded.
*
That day was when Tiria learned about play.
Or more precisely, when she realized what real play was.
Until then, the "play" Tiria knew had been education disguised as fun.
Like combining words into poems or polishing teacups.
So this was all so new.
"Medic! Treat this injury!"
Elric sat before her, a small wooden sword fitting his size slung over his shoulder with a red cape draped on.
He had just been rolling on the ground fighting with the wooden sword and now came over.
Tiria, who had only been watching, stared at him blankly.
"Here! Treat this spot!"
Elric rolled up his sleeve.
Tiria couldn't help but gasp.
"It's dirty..."
"Idiot! Injuries are supposed to be dirty!"
Elric chuckled and shoved his mud-smeared arm at her.
Tiria recoiled in disgust.
Elric said,
"Here! Wipe it with this cloth."
Wiping with that filthy rag would only make it dirtier.
Even as she thought that, Tiria took the cloth and wiped his arm.
As expected, it didn't get clean.
The mud was just gone.
What if she got in trouble?
As worry surged,
"Good job, medic!"
Elric seemed satisfied with that, nodding and grinning.
Right after,
"Excellent!"
He stroked Tiria's hair.
Her eyes went wide like a rabbit's.
"When I get hurt, treat me like this! Got it?"
It was simple praise, yet it pierced deep into her heart.
Perhaps she had craved others' approval that much.
In her life so far, praise had only come after countless punishments.
'Play.'
So this is play.
Tiria realized.
Play had no punishments.
*
It was like falling into a dreamland for a day.
And like all dreams, the moment to wake eventually came.
"Boss! See you tomorrow!"
"Ugly medic, bye!"
It was sunset.
The sky was dyed red, and the air had grown cooler.
The kids, the source of the commotion in the clearing, scattered one by one, and silence began to settle.
"You going too?"
Elric asked.
But Tiria couldn't answer lightly.
Why would she? She had snuck out without telling her parents and skipped lessons all day.
That wasn't all.
She hadn't properly apologized after getting in so much trouble the day before, so today she might get hit even worse.
Suddenly, Tiria felt afraid.
-Why! Why don't you understand our feelings!
Her body trembled as she recalled the massive hand filling her vision.
Her mind went blank, and thin breaths leaked through clenched teeth.
"What, what's wrong with you?"
Elric frowned and looked her over.
Tiria shrank back.
"...Nothing."
"What's nothing? Come here."
Elric gripped her hand tight and leaned in, inspecting her face closely.
Tiria bowed her head.
At the end of it, Elric exclaimed, "Ah!"
"I get it!"
"..."
"You don't wanna go home!"
Snap! Tiria's head shot up.
It was astonishing.
She hadn't said a word, yet Elric had seen right through her heart. Tiria was utterly shocked.
Whether he knew her feelings or not, Elric grinned.
"Then let's play more!"
"Boss?"
"Runaway again today?"
"Huh? You guys wanna runaway too?"
The two remaining boys, Luton and Bart, shook their heads vigorously.
Elric pouted.
"What, you scaredy-cats. Let's go, ugly."
Tiria couldn't gather her wits.
Elric was that headstrong.
Amid it all, anxiety and relief welled up.
Runaway? Does that mean not going home?
Then she wouldn't get punished today?
As her fear receded, Tiria asked worriedly about Elric.
"It's okay...?"
"What, the runaway?"
Perhaps, looking back now.
"It's fine. Dad doesn't care about me anyway."
The emotion she felt in that moment was a sense of kinship.