Chapter 62
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: The Savior and Her Keepers
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If it was something he hated so much, he could just not do it, but Ethan wasn't like that. He was too soft-hearted.
He'd deny it, insisting he wasn't righteous, but in Knox's eyes, he was a perfect fit for a police officer.
“How long was I asleep?”
Knox asked, leaning against the windowsill. Ethan answered, perching on the edge of the bed.
“A full day.”
“No wonder I feel so refreshed.”
Knox rubbed the back of his neck as he pushed himself up from the windowsill.
In Ethan's hand was a water bottle. He took the cup that was placed upside down over the top and poured some water.
“Miss Cherry asked me to. It's not like I'm doing this out of consideration for you.”
Ethan said, as if making an excuse, then stood up and offered the cup. Knox took it without a word.
“I'm only asking because I think I might have been dreaming…”
“It wasn't a dream. The outside is still crawling with monsters.”
Ethan's immediate reply left no room for doubt, and Knox let out an irritated sigh. He wished it had been a dream.
He calmly surveyed the room, then looked out the window again. As expected, Happy House was perfectly peaceful.
“This place feels like another world…”
“We've lit torches outside the walls. They seem to dislike fire. The area around the manor should be safe for a while.”
Torches outside the walls. When did they set those up?
Then Knox recalled Cherry calling a repairman to fix the walls right up until the world ended.
“This manor… It's as if it was prepared for the apocalypse.”
“I was just wondering about that myself.”
“Everything about her is suspicious, our Miss Cherry.”
“But it's a fact that both you and I have received a great deal of help from Miss Cherry.”
Knox had to agree with Ethan's last statement. To him, Cherry was his savior. She deserved to be treated as such. Besides, she had even taken them into her home.
“I'm planning to watch the situation a little longer, then head for the capital.”
Knox looked at Ethan with a puzzled expression before understanding dawned on him.
“Is it because of Lady Lancaster?”
Ethan nodded in affirmation.
Knox slowly ran a thin hand over his face. He then fell silent, his expression lost in thought.
Ethan didn't wait for Knox's response and tidied up the water bottle and cup.
The action was so natural that Knox was tempted to joke if he'd gotten a job as a butler at Cherry Sinclair's Happy House.
*If I had, he probably would've thrown the cup at my face.*
Knox shook his head and replied.
“I think I'll stay here for now. I owe her my life, so I have to repay the debt.”
Ethan, who was picking up the water bottle, looked at him. Knox continued, his gaze fixed on Cherry outside the window.
“It wouldn't be so bad to stay with Miss Cherry until she gets tired of this place.”
“Suit yourself.”
Ethan's expression said he didn't care what Knox did. Knox found that surprising. Weren't the two of them fairly close?
“But how do you plan to leave? The front of the manor, Brunel… it all looks difficult to get through.”
“They're just agitated and running wild right now. They'll probably calm down after some time. I plan to wait until then to make a move.”
That meant Ethan, too, had no choice but to stay at Happy House for a few more days. In truth, though, there was no telling exactly when the creatures would calm down.
Knox leaned his arm languidly on the windowsill and watched Cherry. She was now lying haphazardly on the garden ground next to the vegetable patch, staring up at the sky. He had no idea what could be going on inside that little head of hers.
Her clear profile, as she gazed blankly at the sky, looked incredibly empty. It looked like she was struggling, or holding something back. As if she might disappear at any moment.
Even though they were in the same space, it felt as if she alone existed in a different world.
“Is Miss Cherry all right?”
Knox asked, as if tossing the question out.
Knox knew she wasn't physically injured. He was asking about her mental state.
No matter what unusual strength she possessed, wasn't Cherry a young lady who had been delicately raised, with no experience of the real world?
A lady like that would normally be shocked by this situation and easily fall into despair. And that would be a normal reaction.
“She's just a bit peculiar, but she's fine.”
Ethan replied nonchalantly. His tone was almost like he was defending a pet dog. Knox glanced at him and narrowed his eyes.
“That's not what I mean. I'm talking about her mental state. She's still a young lady. No one can be in their right mind in a situation like this.”
Even Knox himself, having survived alone in Brunel since the monster outbreak, was a little broken. He didn't think he was perfectly fine himself.
Ethan, who would admit he'd never been entirely stable, was another matter entirely.
In any case, Ethan agreed with Knox.
“That's true. If it were Aurora, she would have been crying and making a scene by now…”
But the Cherry that Ethan had seen so far wouldn't break as easily as Knox feared.
“Hey, Ludpersher. You're a doctor. Go check if Miss Cherry is okay.”
Knox felt a little resistant to Ethan's words.
“Psychiatry isn't my specialty.”
“You said you were worried because she's a young lady, and now you're backing out this quickly? To be honest, I'm worried about her too. She could just be pretending to be fine.”
Knox didn't answer. Then Ethan added one more thing.
“Look after our landlady, Doctor. Make sure she doesn't break. She's your savior, after all.”
Savior. The word struck a chord, and Knox muttered it as if savoring it.
In this chaotic situation, it was Cherry who had saved Knox's life, and Cherry who had saved Ethan's.
After a moment of thought, Knox nodded with a weary face.
“I'll keep an eye on her.”
A satisfied look finally appeared on Ethan's lips. And the two men's gazes once again fell upon Cherry.
In truth, both men secretly believed that there was no way Cherry's mind could be perfectly fine.
* * *
I lay in the garden for a long time, only getting up when I saw the sun beginning to set.
Thump— Thump—
As I was lying there, I heard the sound of a few monsters banging on the stone gate. What is their problem?
Most of them didn't come near the manor thanks to the torches outside the walls, but a few kept lurking around the stone gate.
The gate is made of thick, solid stone, so it won't be broken through easily.
The creatures lack intelligence, so if prey isn't directly in their sight, their fits usually don't last long. But those few have been like this for a full day, ever since I rescued Knox.
Why are they acting like that? It's starting to make me anxious.
So far, taking refuge in Happy House has been the right move. But if this continues, it will feel less like we've ‘taken refuge’ and more like we're ‘trapped’.
Just then, Ethan approached me.
“What are you doing?”
“Just resting.”
Ethan looked down at me with a somewhat strange expression. He offered me his hand. I obediently took it and pulled myself up.
My ‘gardening look’ was a mess, covered in dirt. Since my hands were dirty, Ethan's quickly became dirty too.
He took a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his uniform, wiped my hands, and then wiped his own. It looked like the same one he'd lent me when I was throwing up in the garden. He must have washed it and started carrying it again. A man who carries a handkerchief is better than me.
“How's Knox?”
“I was just about to tell you. He's awake. I gave him water, just as you asked.”
“You gave him clean water, right?”
At my question, Ethan paused and stared at me. He looked rather shocked.
“Do you really see me as that much of a scumbag?”
“What? No, it's not that… uh… You really gave him perfectly fine water?”
My rambling seemed to shock him even more. I mean, I only asked because Ethan despises Knox so much he even throws axes at him…
“I see very clearly how you view me, Miss Cherry.”
I was at a loss for words and couldn't respond. I only asked because I know Ethan has quite a temper. Of course, I'm the one who asked him to look after Knox, knowing full well what he's like.
Then, with a very serious expression, Ethan spoke.
“I'm planning to leave for the capital.”