Raging Flames (2)
Raging Flames (2)
"What, you. Are you saying you'll go with her or something?"
"......."
I simply looked up at the old woman without a word. She just clicked her tongue and said,
"Well, since you're already out here, it works out. Here, at least carry the lamp."
She handed me the oil lamp she had been holding. Full of oil, the lamp was quite heavy. Gas lamps were lighter, but their burn time was never as long as an oil lamp's.
Everything in this orphanage was cheap. The clothes had been worn and handed down by previous orphans so many times that the collars were all stretched out, the hems frayed, and the grimy areas were riddled with holes. The undergarments were so overstretched that they almost never fit. I could barely keep them from sliding down by bunching the waist and pinning them in place with a safety pin.
When had the building last been repaired? The broken, hole-ridden windows were stuffed with whatever leftover rags were available, so the wind always seeped through. The floorboards creaked as if they might give way at any moment.
The daily porridge, only just enough to keep us from starving to death, was clearly thrown together from the cheapest ingredients.
The most expensive things in this orphanage were probably the orphans themselves.
"Honestly, so gloomy. Even with a face that pretty, if you keep acting like that, nobody's ever going to want to take you."
"......."
I should have just kept my mouth shut.
Could a five-year-old child beat an old woman?
No. Even a toothless crone who walked with a cane was still stronger than a five-year-old. She'd grabbed my arm once before, and the difference in strength had been shockingly vast.
If I talked back, I'd only get hit, and maybe I wouldn't even be allowed to walk beside Claire.
Even in this moment, I was still trying to find a way to get Claire out. Not that I was coming up with any great ideas, but I didn't want to just let her go.
Claire's initial image when she first appeared in the game had never been a positive one.
She was rude, riddled with complexes, a character who belittled and provoked the princess, one of the romance options.
But as her past was gradually revealed and she reconciled with the princess, her image slowly improved. Later, she fought on the side of the emperor who sought world domination, and ultimately, she even disregarded that emperor's orders and sacrificed herself for the princess.
I... liked Claire as a character.
No, if I'm being precise, I liked almost every main character in this game series.
Clearing one game in the series usually took anywhere from a short seventy hours to as long as a hundred and fifty. I'd replayed it multiple times for completion's sake, too.
Having spent so much time with the characters during that process, I'd developed a certain affection for nearly all of the main cast.
Seven whole years. For seven years, I'd waited every year for the new installment, pre-ordered it, and opened the shipping box with a fluttering heart.
I even bought the digital version once because I couldn't wait for the delivery.
These were characters from a game I loved that much. I wanted to help them escape their circumstances somehow. I knew the future, after all.
But... I didn't have the power to do it.
I knew the future, but I was only five.
In cases where people got transported into other fictional worlds, especially into games, they often ended up with a status window or a huge array of special abilities... but I had nothing like that. Or, even if I did, I wouldn't have known how to use it right away.
Why did it have to be here?
What was the reason that I, capable of nothing, had to land right next to a heroine?
"Now, greet them properly."
The old woman's voice came from behind me.
The door was open. Was it because it was summer? The sky was black. A middle-aged couple who looked well-off had come all the way here at this late hour.
"... Hello."
If I didn't greet them, I'd be dragged back inside and hit. I bent my waist and bowed politely for now.
Claire, standing beside me, awkwardly followed suit and bowed as well.
"Hoh."
A man with a neatly trimmed bushy mustache under his nose and a cylindrical silk hat on his head bent down to peer into my face.
The weather still seemed like early winter. A cold wind swept over my body.
But I shuddered not just because the wind felt cold against my skin.
The man had a monocle over his protruding cheekbone and eye socket, which made one of his eyes look grotesquely enlarged by the lens.
"Is it this one?"
"Ah, no. The one you came to see today is this one here..."
The old woman, who normally always spoke to the children in a voice dripping with irritation, put on a fawning tone for the man.
"... But of course, that one is also for sale."
"Hm."
The man snatched the oil lamp from my hand and held it right next to my face. The distinct smell of burning oil wafted out strongly, and I felt the heat of the flame on the wick beyond the thick glass. The lamp's flame burned so red it almost showed a bluish tint. It was oil inside, but it looked almost like a gas flame.
The man meticulously examined my face under that light, then slowly lowered the lamp, scanning me up and down as if appraising me.
He then took a few steps sideways and did the exact same thing to Claire.
"Unfortunately, I only brought enough money for one today. Still, this one here just barely fits the age range. The client will be pleased. Is the price the same?"
The man asked, having finished his inspection of even Claire's body.
Throughout all of this, the plump middle-aged woman kept a few steps away from the man, looking utterly disinterested in what was happening here.
"Ah, well, you see, this child is top-grade merchandise, so I've been keeping her hidden away specially. I was seasoning her to sell to a client who prefers them a little older..."
"Hm."
The man turned back toward me and reached out to grab my hair. Goosebumps rose on my back. I felt like I wouldn't be able to beat this man even if I had my original body.
Under his suit, which was made of fine fabric, bulging muscles were clearly visible. His fingers were so thick and rough that I wondered if he could crush my skull right then just by gripping my head and squeezing.
Not caring in the slightest that I had frozen stiff, the man held my hair up to the lamp as if checking its color.
"This one will suit the client's tastes better. Has she had any experience?"
The man dropped my hair as if discarding it and asked the old woman.
"Oh my, no. We only ever deal in fresh goods here. That's only natural, of course."
"I see. Then I'll handle the processing on my end."
The man straightened his back and handed the lamp back to the old woman.
Now I could see that he was holding a sturdy cane in his right hand. Naturally, his cane was nothing at all like the old woman's cane, which was just a roughly whittled branch.
It was black and gleaming, with a handle shaped like an eagle's head. Perhaps it was made of silver.
"Ah, yes, so what was the price again?"
The man looked down at the old woman, his head held stiffly high. At that, the old woman seemed to have forgotten entirely about the grand buildup she'd been giving about me just moments ago.
"Oh my, don't be silly. They're both orphans, so how could the price be any different? Just give me the price we discussed last time, sir."
"Is that so? Very well."
The man pulled a fairly weighty pouch from the inside pocket of his suit and tossed it at the old woman. She barely managed to catch it and looked inside, then grinned brightly. The wrinkles on her face crumpled up messily, and the inside of her nearly toothless mouth was exposed for all to see. With the lamp below her, the backlighting on those wrinkles made the atmosphere almost like a horror film.
"Thank you kindly, sir. Please continue to favor us with your patronage..."
The old woman bowed her already-bent back even deeper.
"Right. Keep that one well-secured until then."
The man pointed a finger at Claire as he spoke.
"Of course, sir. Without question..."
"Let's go."
Not even waiting for the old woman to finish, the man spoke to me.
"Sis?"
Claire, who hadn't understood how the situation was unfolding, only then looked at me and spoke.
"... Claire."
I hadn't known things would turn out this way, but...
At least for now... had I managed it?
I couldn't guarantee what would happen to Claire later, but at least I had stopped what had been about to happen right then. Had I?
"... Stay healthy."
Anyway, that was how I said goodbye.
"Sis, where are you going?"
Claire asked, sounding anxious, so I began to nod my head...
"Yes."
...but before I could, the man spoke.
It was a completely different voice from the hard tone he'd been using moments before. A chillingly warm voice.
The man turned back around, walked over to Claire, and bent down.
Then, as if playing the part of a kind adult, he placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke.
"Your 'big sis' is going to a nice place. A much warmer place where she'll never go hungry. So you wait here like a good girl. We'll come pick you up soon, too. Then you'll be able to live happily in the same place as your big sis."
"... ..."
But even at that young age, Claire didn't seem to believe him at all.
Her gaze flickered anxiously between the man and me.
"... ..."
The man gave Claire a single smile and stroked her hair.
Then he straightened up again and turned his body. This time, without another word, he walked straight toward the carriage waiting out on the street.
"... ..."
I waved my hand at Claire.
It wasn't a situation for smiling, but... I forced myself to smile for the moment.
Seeing my smile, Claire seemed to be put at ease, and she finally waved back.
I had nothing else I could do. I simply turned my body and headed toward the carriage.
*
Thud!
A huge sound rang out.
It happened right as I boarded the carriage, so I thought it was the sound of the door closing.
But then a belated rush of pain surged into my forehead, and only then did I realize that I'd been slammed face-first into the floor.
My vision flashed white and my ears rang. Honestly, the dizziness was worse than the pain. A man with a sturdy build had grabbed a five-year-old child by the head and smashed her into the floor. The fact that I was still coherent enough to grasp the situation was practically a miracle.
"Ah...?"
But that didn't mean my body was perfectly fine.
Blood was streaming from my face. Was my nose broken?
I felt something rolling around inside my mouth.
I tried to touch my face with my hand—
Smack!
I heard that sound, and my head snapped sharply to the right.
"H-hic..."
Only then did the pain truly register.
It hurt.
This was probably the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life. In this life, or the other one.
Tears came belatedly, blurring my vision, and the ringing in my head was so loud that I couldn't hear properly. Maybe my eardrum had burst from that slap just then.
"Sorry."
A flat, emotionless voice that didn't sound sorry at all filtered dimly through the tinnitus.
"This isn't personal for me either. It's just that the client prefers them a little... broken."
A thick hand grabbed my throat roughly.
"Don't worry. I won't kill you."
"Guhk..."
I wanted to say something, but my voice wouldn't come out properly.
Through the eye that hadn't swollen up yet, I could just barely see the man raising his hand.
No...
*
... And then, in the next instant, I realized that all the pain in my body had vanished in a flash.
I stayed curled up tight and waited, but the next blow never came.
No, more than that, the warm air I'd felt inside the carriage had suddenly disappeared.
Had I died?
I lifted my head, still tensed to the breaking point.
Standing in front of me was Claire, wearing a bewildered expression.
"Sis?"
Claire asked, looking at me where I cowered on the bed, arms raised protectively, terrified by some unseen thing.
"... Huh?"
I slowly lowered my arms and looked around.
This was the orphanage. Exactly as it had been before I left.
I raised a hand and touched my face.
Nothing was burst. Nothing was torn. There was no pain anywhere. I was perfectly fine. I ran my tongue over my teeth, but none were cracked or missing.
What... is this?
Before I could even properly process the situation,
"Claire!"
The old woman's voice rang out.
"The person who's going to take you has arrived! Come out here, happily!"
I had already heard these words once before.