Chapter 29
Last night, a long story about Arno’s past had piled up in Alice’s mind.
If we gather a few of those stories, he lost his hearing in his right ear due to his parents’ abuse when he was young, and his partner of three years ran off with all his assets.
Additionally, he lost his hearing in his left ear due to an accident, and because of his nature of not trusting people, he couldn’t maintain affection with anyone for more than a year. He encountered various forms of misfortune as well.
Alice spoke with a tired voice, devoid of sarcasm.
“That’s entertaining. Can you make up more?”
“Oh, when did you figure out I was lying?”
“I realized it when you said your first hut burned down, even though you claimed you’d never had a home.”
“I spaced out the timing of my stories, but I guess you remember everything. Don’t worry, I’ve forgotten all the stories you told.”
“Thanks a lot. Sure, please forget that I’m actually a prince from the kingdom, dressed as a woman and wandering the world.”
“You’re not good at jokes.”
Chuckling, Arno stood up. At dawn, the milky sunlight slowly seeped into the field.
“I’ll go in and rest for a few hours. We can discuss what to do with the remaining body later.”
“How about burying the rest of it?”
“How am I supposed to ask for a shovel? Do you think I can dig with my bare hands?”
The naïve remark seemed to wake him up completely. Clicking his tongue, Arno walked outside. He muttered something like, “Better check the stove while I’m at it…”
Was a corpse something so simple to dispose of? Alice turned away from the man who didn’t quite fit in with her kind.
The bed, untouched by anyone for a day, beckoned her.
Every day was a struggle. She hoped tomorrow would be better, but that ‘tomorrow’ never seemed to come.
‘Arno must be tired too. If he goes to sleep, he won’t wake up for a while.’
The immediate freedom of a few hours lay before her. Alice gave up thinking and threw herself onto the bed. The gradually intensifying sunlight was blocked by the sheet.
She thought she had just blinked, but…
“Alice, hey, miss!”
…How many hours had passed?
Arno was banging on the door. Alice let out a sigh mixed with irritation as she got up and was startled by the view outside the window. It was still closer to dawn than morning.
“Arno…? What’s going on?”
Groggy and heavy, she stumbled against the wall as she made her way to the entrance.
Arno’s trembling voice immediately dispelled her drowsiness.
“The body is gone…”
“Wait, what?”
“Don’t ask the obvious. Of course, I’ve searched everywhere in the lodging! Do you think I wouldn’t know where I left the corpse? I only threw away the arm yesterday!”
“Maybe you went back and forth multiple times and forgot?”
“No!”
Arno stretched out his hands, which were covered in dirt and faintly smelled of blood.
“I definitely wrapped the rest and left it in the storage room, but… the lock on the holding area is broken, and there are large footprints and handprints. They belong to a huge man…”
“…”.
Large handprints.
Only one person came to her mind.
Fiore.
Seeming to share the same thought, Arno gritted his teeth and said,
“Fiore. That bastard must’ve figured something out while carrying me back.”
Thinking that’s a normal deduction, but…
That’s the most logical explanation, she thought. But Alice’s intuition disagreed.
That’s not it. At least, not while he was “carrying you back.”
“Damn it. Damn it! If people in the village find out someone was murdered… who knows what those lunatics will do to us!”
…Well.
“Should we prepare something for Madam Adelaide? Ugh, I’m not confident about that either. Maybe we can find a way to threaten Fiore…”
“It won’t be necessary.”
“What?”
“There’s no rule against killing people.”
Arno’s mouth fell open. It was a surprisingly naive comment from someone who knew how to kill.
“Isn’t that such a basic rule that it doesn’t need to be said?”
“Yes, it’s a basic principle… in human society.”
“…I agree that these people aren’t normal, but don’t you think that’s a dangerous way of thinking?”
“That’s my business.”
Fiore had said nothing to Alice on the day his errand boy died, despite the smell of blood.
‘I don’t care about things that were destined to die anyway.’
“Arno, the villagers here won’t care what happens between outsiders as long as the rules are followed. I’m sure of it.”
“…”.
“I’ll go ask Fiore if he touched the body.”
“That’s crazy! You want us to tell him we killed someone?”
Arno reached out and put his hand on Alice’s shoulder. Pushed against the wall, she didn’t deny it.
She wanted to refute the statement from the start.
‘’We’ didn’t kill him. You’re the one who drove him to death.’
“You can bet on it. No one here will care.”
“That doesn’t even make sense! Even if we claim self-defense, cutting up the body afterward can’t be justified!”
“That too.”
“…”.
“If you’re worried, I can—”
“No.”
Arno shook his head.
“I won’t send you alone. What if you use this chance to leave us behind and escape on your own?”
“I never thought of that, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
“You can make crazy statements but not jokes? Snap out of it! We’re not going to turn ourselves in voluntarily!”
“Then what? Should we just hole up here until someone comes to drag us out? Without knowing what the villagers are saying behind our backs?”
“Hah…”
Beyond Arno’s large hand, which was wiping his dry sweat, his eyes glared at Alice. Alice didn’t back down.
However, neither of them had the habit of wasting time.
“…Let’s go to your lodging first, Arno. We can clean up where the body was and talk there.”
“That sounds somewhat reasonable.”
Arno and Alice left the clinic. It was only when the lodging came into view that Arno mentioned, “I should have brought that hammer last time…”
A few days ago, a man had been dissected there, and the place was damaged.
Even trying to remain calm, Alice’s heart skipped a beat at every little thing. She swallowed hard and asked,
“Arno, did you leave the door open?”
Even if the lock was broken, the wooden door could still be closed, but it was wide open. Arno gulped and replied,
“I don’t know. I ran out as soon as I saw the state of the storage room.”
“…”.
Both of their footsteps stopped momentarily. Arno took a deep breath, picked up a nearby rock, and stepped ahead of Alice.
Beyond the entrance, there was no sign of movement.
Arno took a large breath and stepped into the hallway. Alice followed cautiously.
The room used as a bedroom was tidy.
He gestured towards the storage room without needing to explain further.
A strange noise was coming from the storage room.
Clatter, clatter…
It sounded like someone was playing with coarse sand and pebbles.
The small sound sent shivers down Alice’s spine. The uncertainty of what was happening made her want to flee, but there was no chance to retreat.
Arno gripped Alice’s wrist tightly and stood before the storage room with a rock in his other hand—
“…”.
He froze, speechless.
Alice, too, was speechless at the sight inside the storage room.
On the rotting wooden floorboards, a group of people huddled together, barely covered by scraps of cloth. They were squatting, shoveling dirt into their mouths.
Their small mouths were stuffed with dirt, and blood mixed with saliva dripped from the edges of their lips.
“Ugh…”
Arno couldn’t stop the groan that escaped him.
The people briefly glanced at Alice and Arno but quickly turned back to the dirt.
Their dry, hairy fingers swept through the reddish soil, occasionally picking up pieces of flesh that had fallen off.
The smell Arno had tried to hide wafted strongly. He couldn’t hold back his nausea and turned to vomit against the wall.
Alice didn’t look away from them but retreated into her thoughts. Yes, if there are primates and birds, there must be ‘these’ creatures too—those who come to taste death first…
“This is insane.”
A lively voice suddenly interrupted from behind. Both Alice and the vomiting Arno turned around. There stood Madam Adelaide, frowning and holding a large mop.
“Move aside, please.”
She didn’t wait long. She quickly pushed Arno aside by grabbing the back of his neck and began using the mop on those huddled figures.
“Get out! Where did you come from, making a mess like this?”
“…”
Without a word, the squatters scrambled to their feet and ran out of the shelter, their retreat hurried and unsteady.
Looking at the scattered dirt, Adelaide sighed.
“What a mess.”
“Madame Adelaide…”
“Let’s clean this up first. Arno, are you going to keep throwing up, or are you done?”
Arno wiped his mouth with a pale face, his eyes wavering.
“Madame Adelaide… you…”
“Why are you so sensitive? This seems like your mess to clean up.”
“This is—”
“I’m not interested.”
She lightly dismissed the question, much like refusing a cup of tea, and her cheerful brown eyes turned to Alice.
“Alice, don’t give me that ‘I’m different’ look.”
“What…?”
“Come on!”
Adelaide clapped her large hands together.
“Everyone, let’s have a cup of tea and talk, shall we?”
“…”.
“Of course, after we clean up this place.”
