Chapter 24
Alice had walked far from Charlotte’s house. Yet, the sticky feeling of being watched clung to her and wouldn’t go away.
It might just be her imagination, but after rubbing off the spider webs stuck to her skirt with a stone, she felt a bit more at ease and could think about Charlotte.
[No signs of corneal clouding. Eye movement is normal, but she relies on her hearing. Seems to have learned to maintain eye contact with her conversation partner. Despite the filth in her house, no respiratory issues observed.]
Her notes gradually piled up. Alice repeated to herself that this was like a shield for her as she left Charlotte’s territory.
She returned along the same path she had come. In the bushes near Gon’s house, Alice spotted the round brown head she had seen earlier.
“Gon! Is that you over there?”
The boy flinched. His eyes were filled with fear as he looked at her. To prove her harmlessness, Alice thought—
‘…What should I do?’
She had always struggled not to be ignored in life. She didn’t know how to prove her harmlessness. Moreover, dealing with a child was even rarer than dealing with a mad old man.
Fortunately, the boy looked around and relaxed his shoulders a bit.
“The other men aren’t with you, right?”
“No, it’s just me.”
At her words, the boy stood up but stumbled heavily. Alice quickly ran over and put her arm around his waist so he could lean on her.
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“I fell while running earlier.”
The boy limped noticeably on his left ankle as he finally got out of the bushes. At least it didn’t seem like an open fracture, which was a relief.
“Gon, your house is nearby, right? Let’s go inside and take a look at your injury together.”
“……”
“Am I scary? If so, I can call Madam Adelaide.”
“……No.”
Gon shook his head.
“Just take me home.”
Fortunately, Gon was very light for his height. After laying him down on a wooden bed, Alice examined his ankle and glanced around the house’s environment.
Compared to Cherry or Charlotte’s homes, this place was excellent—at least if judged by whether one could stay overnight. The floor was covered in dirt and dry grass; perhaps it could be compared to a clean stable.
“Gon, I’m going to touch your leg little by little now. If it hurts, tell me right away.”
“W-will it hurt a lot?”
“We’ll find out now.”
Gon gasped in surprise. Alice quickly changed her tone.
“I’ll press very gently. If it hurts at all, let me know, and I’ll stop immediately.”
“Yes…”
His left ankle was slightly swollen. Alice carefully pressed on the red flesh as she moved upward.
“Does it hurt here?”
“A little…”
“How does this side feel? Compared to usual?”
“Uh, it feels creaky—ah!”
“Alright, I’ve stopped. Now I’m going to touch above that spot.”
“Be gentle! Be gentle!”
Fortunately, the condition wasn’t serious.
‘It’s a mild sprain.’
She was glad to have her medical tools with her. After applying medicine to the scraped wound, Alice tightly wrapped a bandage around his ankle for support.
Gon, who had been flinching in fear, slowly began to calm down as he heard Alice’s steady breathing and asked a question.
“How did you fall? Were you trying to run away from me?”
“…I wasn’t running away from you.”
“I see.”
Alice didn’t ask further questions; she was curious but didn’t want to create an image of interrogation that wouldn’t help him.
Perhaps he didn’t want to keep it to himself, as Gon slowly started to talk.
“What do those men do?”
“Nathan is a doctor; Arno is his assistant.”
“The doctor isn’t doing anything.”
“That’s right! They’re both just playing around while I’m working hard!”
“Haha!”
Gon burst into laughter. But when Alice removed her hands from the bandage knot, that laughter continued in a lower voice.
“I saw that broad-shouldered man passing by… He smelled like blood.”
“Mr. Arno…?”
“He was carrying heavy luggage and heading toward the sea; I felt scared… so I tried to hide and fell.”
“……”
Alice could guess what Arno had been doing. He was probably going to dispose of the errand boy’s body—or parts of it.
Gon watched her closely for her reaction.
“Do you know what’s going on?”
“I don’t want to know; I’m scared of that person too.”
To cover up the truth with a lie, Alice pointed at Gon’s cheek wound; his eyes widened at the fresh injury.
“Did he hit you?”
“He didn’t hit me, but I got hurt because of him. Don’t tell anyone about this.”
“I won’t! …But don’t tell him that I said anything, either.”
“Of course. Now, Gon, you can’t just stay lying down, can you?”
“No way! I need to eat and go to the bathroom too!”
“Do you… have family?”
It was a difficult question to ask a child; she expected an answer of ‘no’ for sure.
Just moments ago Gon had been answering clearly but now he shut his mouth tight. Yet his lips trembled as if words or emotions were about to spill out.
Taking deep breaths in and out several times while staring at the ceiling without anything interesting on it, Gon finally spoke very slowly.
“I had my dad and my little brother.”
“……”
“My dad… but my brother ran away.”
Alice didn’t ask about those unspoken words; just looking at Gon’s trembling hands made it clear that something terrible had happened.
“I couldn’t escape… and then, later, later… I ended up here…”
“Did you meet these people and end up living with them?”
“Yes…”
“I’m glad you met good people. Since Gon is still young, it would have been better if he could live with someone.”
“No!”
Gon lifted his head as if trying to appear composed.
“I’m old enough to live alone, you know? I don’t need to live with anyone!”
“I see. That’s impressive.”
“What’s impressive about it? Everyone in Reki lives like that.”
“Well… when my family passed away, I always had to rely on others for help.”
“Really?”
“When my father passed away, I was only 18, but I acted foolishly. It wasn’t until later… after my mother and younger brother left that I started to mature a bit, and it was still hard.”
“……”
“So Gon is impressive. Did you have breakfast?”
“Ah, yes!”
“That’s great for such an early hour. I often skipped meals because I felt like I was wasting sleeping time.”
“What? It’s not like I’m a baby anymore. If I can eat alone, I should eat well.”
Gon puffed out his chest. Seeing him do that made Alice smile involuntarily.
“That’s wonderful. How old are you now?”
“Um… I’m eleven!”
The boy wiggled his fingers to count and answered. Hearing that answer, Alice almost lost her smile for a moment.
Eleven years old?
‘Didn’t the people from the outside village say that Reki was established about ten years ago?’
A one-year-old couldn’t possibly remember parting from his father and brother.
‘If the first settlers arrived ten years ago, then this boy must have come after that…’
“Gon, do you remember who you came into this village with?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m curious about who you’re closest to. Um, could it be the reliable Fiore?”
“No! That guy isn’t reliable at all!”
Seeing Gon’s disgusted expression made Alice chuckle inwardly. Hey, Fiore, your reputation is terrible.
But that smile soon faded away.
“Anyway, we all came together. We became close after that.”
“…All together?”
“Yes. A long time ago.”
“When you say a long time ago, you mean ten years ago, right?”
“……”
Seeing Alice’s expression change in an instant, Gon seemed to realize he had misspoken. He awkwardly shifted the topic to his ankle.
“Ouch, it hurts.”
It was a transparent lie, but ignoring his claim of pain would ruin the rapport between doctor and patient. Alice played along with his deception.
“Gon, can you take some medicine?”
“Do I have to take medicine?”
“If you run around carelessly and make your injury worse, you’ll end up having to take some really awful-tasting medicine. So promise me you’ll stay calm for a few days.”
“……”
After a moment of contemplation, Gon asked with sparkling eyes,
“How bad can it taste? Worse than Madam Adelaide’s meals?”
Damn it. Looks like she triggered the boy’s unnecessary pride. Alice chuckled, and soon she was laughing along with Gon.
After finishing up Gon’s treatment, Alice left the house feeling much lighter.
‘Maybe I should head back and organize what I got today, then have lunch.’
The residents she had met since morning were three: Cherry, Charlotte, and Gon.
While they couldn’t be said to resemble each other closely as “ordinary people,” they could be grouped into a specific category somehow.
‘I don’t want to acknowledge this…’
But that wasn’t the only problem.
Ten years ago—when Reki began operating as a village based on testimonies from the outside village—
‘A large trading ship sank off the coast about ten years ago. After that, people looking to make a fortune gathered and formed the village… but that hypothesis doesn’t make sense.’
Treasure hunters wouldn’t bring such young children along; if there was nothing to salvage, they would have left within months anyway.
What kind of group came here and why? Was there a chance Gon’s memories were mistaken?
Alice wandered through the forest path deep in thought. Returning quickly to the clinic would only add to her worries with Nathan’s nagging; she should think outside while the weather was nice before going back…
However, her contemplation was interrupted by someone’s footsteps.
Creaking sounds… Someone heavy was dragging their feet as they walked.
Not far off, Arno was slowly walking, his simple travel bag hanging limply on his shoulder.
He seemed to be returning after dropping “it” off at the beach.
‘He looks tired.’
Honestly, she didn’t want to care about him; even if she tried talking to him after he finished whatever rough task he had done, he probably wouldn’t welcome it anyway.
Just as Alice rationalized herself into ignoring him…
Arno’s knees slowly buckled beneath him.
‘Huh?’
As he got closer to the ground without even attempting to brace himself or resist at all, he fell face-first onto the ground with a loud thud.
This wasn’t just an ordinary mistake; it was an unusual collision.
A long trail of something, whether spit or blood, flowed from under his face.
She couldn’t leave him like this anymore.
“Arno!”
Alice rushed over and turned his body onto its side; if his head had hit hard enough, it could be serious.
“Arno, can you hear me? Hello?”
“Ugh… Hehe…”
He managed a laugh but couldn’t muster enough strength in his mouth corners to smile properly; his pupils were pinched like needle tips while his breathing was painfully slow. Alice covered his eyes with her hand and peered into them.
Damn it; his pupils weren’t dilating much at all.
‘Is this… a reaction to psychoactive drugs?’
