Chapter 19
Nathan waved his hand as if to brush off the conversation.
“Who cares what anyone says? Just do it your way. It’s because you didn’t trust me that this happened.”
“Ha… I understand. By the way, can I use these tools?”
“Do as you please.”
Arno looked down at the bag and picked up a saw. As he slowly approached the table, it was obvious what he was about to do.
“Mr. Arno…”
“Miss, how many kilograms can you lift? Let’s say for a round trip to the sea.”
“Mr. Arno.”
“What is it now?”
Arno looked down at Alice with a face that anticipated annoyance. The facade he had when they first met was completely gone from his expression.
Alice gritted her teeth and said,
“You knew this person, didn’t you?”
“Yes, for about five years.”
“But… but…”
Throwing someone into a dangerous experiment, leading them to death, and not even being able to recover the body…
Don’t you feel any guilt?
She knew that saying this would make her seem naive. If the errand boy hadn’t died, Alice wouldn’t have believed in the ‘curse.’
Then Arno spoke.
“Miss, shall I make you feel at ease? This guy is a rapist and murderer. There are at least five victims.”
“…What does that have to do with the current situation?”
“Just believe that a scumbag has died. That should make you feel a bit better.”
“‘Believe’ you say? Are you saying that’s a lie you just made up?”
It’s absurd. Did he think Alice would immediately feel relieved by hearing that the dead man was a criminal?
“No matter what kind of person he was in life, it doesn’t change the meaning of what just happened—”
“It does change it. You don’t believe all lives are equal, do you?”
Arno turned his body towards the table with a scalpel in hand and said,
“Just like doctors buy corpses from cemeteries to dissect them for study and then treat only the wealthy with that knowledge.”
Alice wanted to retort but couldn’t find any refined words to say. It seemed her sense of smell was not the only thing paralyzed by the stench of blood and guts; her mind felt foggy as well.
Ignoring her further, Arno continued to work with his hands.
“Hmm… This scalpel won’t do at all. Is there anything else, doctor?”
“I think I’ve seen a small hatchet in the clinic.”
“Aha. Then I’ll go get it… No, I might get caught going out covered in blood.”
“Damn it.”
Realizing that he was the only one who could leave, Nathan moved toward the entrance and said,
“Alice, I’ll bring some clothes for you; tidy up here.”
“…”
“I need to be of some help at least.”
Without saying more, Nathan left.
On the table, there were unpleasant sounds coming from using the remaining tools.
Every time there was a pause in the sounds, Arno spoke up again.
“Miss, if you’re free, could you answer me? You can lift about two arms’ worth, right?”
“…Are you not thinking of burying even part of him?”
“If I could bury your mouth along with him, I’d consider it.”
“I should have just left you two to roll around and end up in the sea.”
Suddenly, something whizzed past Alice’s cheek and rolled on the floor; it was a pair of forceps.
Her cheek felt hot as if it had been burned. In contrast, Arno’s eyes were cold.
“I call you ‘Miss’ every time; do you really think you’re my superior? How much longer should I tolerate this?”
“You can call me a bitch if you’d like; considering your language skills, that word seems fitting.”
“Haha.”
Arno trudged over toward her.
A rough middle-aged man soaked in someone else’s blood would make most people avoid eye contact with him.
Alice felt similarly in some ways; just looking at him made her feel dirty inside. However, knowing that he likely felt the same way about her, Alice did not look away.
He reached out and grabbed a handful of Alice’s hair. It pulled just enough to make her head feel slightly sore.
“Miss, I’d love to just toss you out right now, but I think you’ll be more useful than that doctor, so I’m keeping you here.”
“I agree.”
“…”
Arno no longer smiled; instead, his hand gripping her hair moved suddenly without warning. Her vision tilted before she realized she was falling over.
Her face hit the floor with a thud.
“Ouch…!”
The taste of blood spread in her mouth. Did she burst her lip? Alice tried to probe inside her mouth with her tongue but stopped abruptly. Right in front of her lips, Arno’s boot was poised above her head.
“I was going to keep quiet, but… now you’ll learn. You’re nothing.”
“…”
“Good; silence has always been regarded as a virtue throughout history.”
Arno returned to the table while Alice struggled to rise from the creaking floor and nearly screamed out loud when she felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder. However, she held back any sound; it was clear he would enjoy it too much otherwise.
A moment later, Nathan returned.
“This hatchet seems smaller than I remembered; will this work?”
“It won’t be fine but we have to manage somehow; besides, I think you’re more skilled than me for this kind of thing.”
“No way! Don’t confuse doctors with surgeons; besides I’m in research… Alice, if you’re not going to help me here at all then just do this.”
Nathan tossed a sheet he brought from the clinic at Alice. She silently accepted it and began wiping down the floor.
It might be unfortunate that she had spilled abdominal contents and large amounts of blood on the street on their way here.
The cleaning finished quicker than expected.
“Today… it looks like we’ll be back just as night falls; I’ll throw him into the sea tomorrow.”
“Wasn’t there a rule against going to the sea?”
“As far as I remember there wasn’t a total ban on approaching it; probably…”
Both men looked at Alice expectantly.
Alice served as their memo pad for what they wanted.
“It’s advised not to approach the beach; if swimming is necessary do so without tools; ignore any sounds from cliffs; don’t enter the sea while injured.”
“I see; if there aren’t many residents approaching the sea then disposing of him there seems appropriate…”
Sounds of explosions, curses, friction noises—failed and disgraceful jokes—collisions…
All those sounds ceased around when their cleaning wrapped up.
Everyone looked like they had just escaped from someone’s belly moments ago.
One exception: the water remaining in Arno’s holding area was enough for one person.
“There’s water in your clinic too right? You two should just wipe down what’s visible and leave; cover anything else with your clothes.”
“Damn it! It reeks.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it; tomorrow I’ll have to shower again after throwing these away.”
“Ha… I understand.”
Before leaving the accommodation, Nathan twisted his mouth into an awkward smile.
“I’m happy now that there are people who trust me; after all trust is built on seeing blood.”
At his last sentence Arno forced out a laugh as if wanting to mock this very situation.
Alice couldn’t even manage a laugh herself; her cheeks burned with pain and embarrassment—all of it tormented her deeply.
—
On the way back to the clinic, there were no residents in sight. Nathan said they were lucky, but Alice was sure that even if they encountered someone, those residents would avoid them due to the terrible smell surrounding them.
“I’ll wash up first.”
As soon as he entered, he grabbed a water jug and headed to the bathroom on the first floor. Meanwhile, Alice threw off the clothes she had worn to cover the stains.
The feeling of liberation was short-lived. Soon, the smell she thought she had left behind at Arno’s returned to haunt her.
A man she had never properly faced came to mind.
‘The errand boy…’
Even if Arno hadn’t swung the mallet, he was destined to die. His insides were already significantly decomposed.
Still, was there no way to save him?
…And was Alice’s desire to open his chest truly for his sake?
‘Am I no different from Arno…?’
Is cutting a corpse vertically a wise choice meant to relieve injustice, while cutting it horizontally is a disgrace?
To escape her ongoing thoughts, Alice decided to focus on something more stimulating. She would eat the caramel she received from Cherry earlier.
First, she’d eat three by herself, and if there were any left, she could share them with Cherry or the neighborhood kids…
‘…Huh?’
Inside the box, something like a card caught her eye. As soon as Alice pulled it out, she almost dropped it in surprise.
It was one of the bribes Arno had shown to Fiore—a painted illustration card—inside the caramel box.
A plump woman with rosy skin smiled as she pulled up her stockings. Alice immediately flipped the card over.
‘Ha. Arno pretends to be knowledgeable about human relationships but can’t even deliver a bribe properly.’
While Alice was putting away the caramel box, the bathroom door opened. Nathan came out, shaking his hair dry with his hands.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes.”
“Now go wash up. I’ll have dinner and rest on my own, so don’t disturb me. I’m tired…”
Nathan walked across the hallway with wet feet and headed upstairs. Alice suppressed her urge to wipe away the water marks he left behind.
That’s enough. I’m not Nathan’s maid. I need to rest today.
However, once inside the bathroom, seeing Nathan’s clothes hanging in a corner and dripping with water made her realize that her day wouldn’t end easily.
‘Did he even do laundry?’
When she urgently pushed the water jug, it easily tilted over again.
“Haha…”
Frustration surged within her.
Should I just tip over this water jug? No, that would be too unproductive. Maybe I could dry myself with Nathan’s still-damp clothes instead?
That sounds like an enticing alternative.
But as she reached for Nathan’s clothes, her hand couldn’t even touch them, let alone wring them out—just like every other time before now.
‘…That’s enough.’
Alice wiped her face and hands with what little water remained and exited both the bathroom and the clinic.
She quickly grew accustomed to the stench. She could bathe tomorrow with water that Adelaide would bring. Instead, she wanted to wash away at least the smell that filled her nostrils with fresh air.
Well, honestly, part of her wanted to see Nathan suffer from her stench while he was trying to stay clean.
‘The weather is nice.’
The town couldn’t be called beautiful.
Yet unlike cities, there was something soothing about the land stretching all the way to its end and how it met the sea that swam up into the sky.
If a sunset were added to that view, what more could one want?
Within an hour, darkness would envelop the world. However, Alice did not stop walking toward the sunset.
‘Since it’s clear today, the moonlight should be nice too…’
She hoped that today’s memories could be washed away by the increasingly strong sea breeze…
Just then, a strong hand gripped Alice’s shoulder.
Startled, she quickly turned her head and looked up in surprise for who owned that hand; it was obvious just from their height who had grabbed her shoulder.
Eyes narrowed with sunset hues stared back at her.
“Hello, doctor.”
It was Fiore.
