Chapter 25
Arno has been a person who commits crimes as easily as breathing. It’s not hard to imagine him getting involved with illegal psychoactive drugs. However, at least the Arno that Alice has seen is a jerk but not a fool who would recklessly endanger himself for pleasure.
“Arno, Arno!”
She shouted in his ear. She pinched her chest until it bled. Her eyes, clouded by pain, quickly became hazy. The slowing breaths tightened Alice’s anxiety.
‘If I leave him like this, he might really die.’
There was no time to think further. They needed to get to the clinic.
Alice tried to lift him by putting his arm over her shoulder.
‘Huff…!’
Even with all her strength, she could only manage to raise his upper body slightly. His legs remained motionless like tree roots.
He was a man who easily weighed over 80 kg. Moving him alone was impossible.
‘Should I call the professor?’ Her rational mind quickly concluded. But that would take too long.
‘If not that, then…’
He was an emergency patient, unconscious. There were no immediate antidotes available. It was impossible to even confirm what drugs he had taken or how.
The most efficient answer was clear.
“Someone, please help!”
Alice laid Arno down and ran while shouting.
“There’s a person collapsed here! Can someone help carry him to the clinic?”
If someone were to ask, “What was Arno doing on the way back?” she had no excuse. Perhaps the one who administered the psychoactive drugs was nearby.
But hesitating with assumptions would only lead to her colleague’s corpse.
In this village, one coroner was enough.
“Please help! Someone has collapsed!”
The distance to the clinic was far enough that it could hardly be called ‘next door’ to prevent infection. There wasn’t even anyone walking around.
Still, Alice was confident that the residents could hear her voice as she stepped on dry grass and kicked stones to make noise.
Someone must hear it.
Someone must be listening.
‘You people… are not exactly human!’
The evidence was weak. There were few observational cases.
Yet at this moment, this hypothesis filled her mind: the residents of Reki exhibited traits of various animals.
“Whether you hear my words, feel the vibrations of my footsteps, or smell anything, please respond!”
The suspicion began with Cherry.
Being drawn to light at night, powder resembling moth droppings, preference for sweetness, and habitation near trees and fallen leaves…
Thinking of her as ‘moth-like’ had clearly been a mix of joke and metaphor, but as she encountered other residents, that thought increasingly leaned towards hypothesis.
Dr. Esha’s beak-like mouth and the hard clashing sounds from within might indicate bird-like traits. The second house stacked like a nest and its beautiful decorations despite being male—perhaps because it was male—also suggested something similar.
Charlotte—whether the spider webs covering her house were her creation is uncertain—but relying more on hearing and touch rather than poor eyesight is characteristic of spiders. Some species preferred dark and narrow spaces too.
Madam Adelaide’s strangely low center of gravity might have been a primate trait. And her arm strength—enough to shock even Arno—fit the profile.
‘The rule of taking care of one’s own food and not smoking is probably meant to protect the diverse species that make up this community.’
The timid boy Gon might be like a young herbivore.
On the other hand, Fiore, who was particularly sensitive to the smell of blood…
“Is anyone there?”
Suddenly pulled from her whirlpool of thoughts, Alice shouted once more.
Still, the only visible creature around was Arno, breathing slowly.
‘This is strange…’
After shouting for so long, there should have been no way no one could hear her.
Taking another breath and about to scream again, Alice decided to change her approach.
She decided to stay quiet for a moment.
As she held her breath and walked back to Arno, the sharpening of her other senses filled her with unease.
Hadn’t she just heard the sound of footsteps on dirt?
Now, wasn’t the shadow of the tree above swaying as if someone were climbing it?
…Wasn’t that faint giggling?
“Ugh…”
When she returned to her spot, Arno groaned softly. That was better than having no reaction at all. Alice lifted his arm back over her shoulder again.
Damn it. The weight of his arm alone took her breath away.
“Arno, stay with me!”
“Ahh… heh…”
“Please! No one is coming to help us!”
In desperation, Alice felt it—the rough road, wild trees growing haphazardly, and the building of the clinic crumbling in between; residents were hiding and watching them now.
She was certain about this feeling of being ‘a spectacle.’
From above or behind—or perhaps even from below—they were watching them. Some might be laughing while others worried but wouldn’t approach them.
‘…How long will they wait?’
Perhaps according to nature’s law—
Until both collapsed here exhausted and became fresh meat.
Alice again placed Arno’s arm on her shoulder and forced strength into her legs.
“Ugh…!”
The crushing pain from her thighs up to her knees brought no compensation. His heavy arm slipped from Alice’s shoulder as he fell limp against her body.
“Arno!”
As he fell, did he hit something? Blood began to flow slowly from beside his head.
Just like the errand boy who died recently. Alice sat beside Arno, trembling as she touched the ground. Fortunately, the bleeding wasn’t severe.
‘It’s just a scratch. It didn’t hit his brain. It’s okay, it’s okay…’
And around her lowered view, on her shoulders, more and more gazes accumulated. Sounds piled up. A weight that could be clearly felt even with human senses.
Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. Stop watching me. I’m not some spectacle for you to…
“Stop looking at me!”
“At what? Are you on a date?”
…All those gazes vanished behind a mocking voice in an instant.
Alice looked up at the new voice and gave up trying to look higher than the man’s knees. Even though he was speaking right in front of her, the voice descended from afar like a revelation from the heavens.
“Fiore. …What nonsense about a date are you talking about?”
“If he’s not your boyfriend, then why are you holding onto this guy? Didn’t he cause that bruise on your cheek? Or was it that doctor?”
“It was this guy.”
Alice struggled to lift the same right hand that had thrown her the forceps again. Fiore scoffed.
“You look like a cat that foolishly tried to catch a catfish but ended up just grabbing its whiskers.”
“I appreciate you viewing my stupidity as cute…?”
In an instant, the weight on her back disappeared. Fiore had shouldered Arno.
He pointed ahead and asked, “The clinic?”
“Yes, but, um?”
“Why are you confused? You were yelling for help at the top of your lungs a moment ago.”
“……”
“Changed your mind? Should I put him down?”
Fiore immediately grabbed Arno’s ankle. Alice gasped at his movements, which were like catching a rat in a trap.
“No, no! Please come with me!”
“Oh dear. I wanted to throw this guy at least once.”
“You said you’d put him down! …Ah, no. Please hurry!”
Alice hurried her steps toward the clinic. Fiore leisurely took strides beside her with a much wider gait.
For a moment of relief, the gazes around them had not yet disappeared. Alice cautiously asked,
“Fiore. Is it okay for you to help us? What about the other residents—”
“They just had no reason to help someone stuck alone in a muddy field; it’s not a taboo. And we didn’t give this guy any drugs, so don’t misunderstand unnecessarily.”
“Huh? Do you know what happened to Arno?”
“It’s the routine of foolish visitors. He probably went to the sea, especially near the cliffs.”
“Ah…”
That was correct.
Arno had gone to dispose of a corpse at sea. Throwing it into the surf would only have it returned by the waves; he must have thrown it below the cliffs instead.
Alice trembled as she asked, “There’s no rule against going to the cliffs, is there? So why call him foolish…?”
“There’s no rule against shooting yourself in the head, either, smart doctor.”
“……”
“If you’re curious about what’s at the cliffs, go take a look. Though I can’t guarantee someone will shout ‘help me’ on your behalf.”
Of course there wouldn’t be; my connections are worse than Arno’s.
She wanted to retort like that but couldn’t speak as her breath caught in her throat. Alice kept walking forward and didn’t see Fiore lightly pouting his lips because she hadn’t answered him.
As they continued down the path, one by one, the audience’s gazes faded away. Finally entering a familiar space—the clinic—Alice’s voice naturally grew louder.
“Fiore. Over there, please lay him on the table!”
“Understood, my lady.”
“Professor! Professor Nathan! Come down quickly!”
Alice shouted while checking Arno’s condition. He was still breathing. His response to pain had become stronger than before.
But it wasn’t a state she could think of optimistically alone. A calm perspective was desperately needed.
“Professor!”
“Stop it. I’ll call him down; you take care of the patient.”
“Oh… thank you!”
“It’s too pitiful to see someone who has no talent for shouting chirping away.”
Hah, he keeps adding comments until the end.
Still, it was true that she owed him one. Alice didn’t respond and took out medical tools.
In the meantime, Fiore headed up the stairs to the second floor.
