Chapter 15: Do You Think Someone Like You Can

After Flamm left Eterna’s room, she headed for her bedroom.

Noticing her footsteps, Ink showed her face from behind the door to her room.
She was wearing a pink sleepwear she bought for Milkit, which only brings out her girlish charm .
Her eyes that are sewn shut is painful to look at as always, though perhaps because either she’s used to it or that she had seen the girl smile a lot in spite of it, Flamm doesn’t hold as much negative feelings as she did in the past.

“Good night, Flamm.”

It seems like she only came out to say that.

“Good night, Ink.” Flamm replied as she pets the girl’s head.

She had done this to Milkit ever so often that it had became a habit.
It seems like Ink enjoyed it; the girl’s lips loosens as she did.
At least she didn’t think it feels bad.
Afterwards, Flamm lightly waved at the girl who groped around for the doorknob to close the door to her room, and finally, she entered her own bedroom.

Milkit was already in her room, seriously looking at her notebook with a pen on her hand.
Instead of her usual maid uniform, she was clad in light green sleepwear.
Flamm was the only one who is able to see her wear such garments, so it is quite a rare sight to behold.
Milkit did not realize that Flamm had entered the room.
Even as the latter silently approached the girl, she was still concentrating too deeply to notice her.
It appears that she’s currently practicing reading and writing.
Usually she would be full of smiles in front of Flamm, so there were not that many chances for Flamm to see this serious expression of hers.
Her eyes are beautiful as ever…she thought.
With such a rude thought, she couldn’t suppress her urge of wanting to touch the girl, and thus—she reached out to her and slipped her finger between her bandages to touch her cheek.

“HYAN!?”

The clueless Milkit jumped with an adorable yelp.
Flamm smiled at her response.

“Fufu, how are you doing?”
“M-Master…please let me know if you’re in…”
“You didn’t notice me even when I get this close, so you deserve to get pranked at least once.”
“But still…”

Milkit stared at Flamm in discontent.
Compared to the past, she had been able to show a wider range of expressions.
Thanks to having sufficient nourishment, she also had grown a healthy amount of roundness to her figure.
Flamm had helped the girl develop mentally and physically, and seeing the result in front of her, she felt truly happy.
That was also the case for reading and writing.
Even if she’s only gradually learning, the girl’s future is being built in front of her. Thus, Flamm was as happy as she could be.
It is definitely a taste of happiness she couldn’t possibly attain before she lived on the countryside before she departed on the journey.
She wants to protect her.
She strongly desired to protect her.

“…master?”

Flamm didn’t notice that she had been too deeply absorbed in her own thought, but Milkit’s voice pulled her back to reality.

“Aah, sorry, sorry, I was thinking about something. Anyways, shall we do that?” Flamm asked as she sat down on the bed. “Come over”, she beckoned for Milkit to sit next to her.
The girl complied immediately and sat down so closely that their shoulders brushed against each other’s.
It is something they do every day, so the two of them, acted like they were used to it. Flamm reached out and circled her hands behind Milkit’s neck to untie the knot of her bandages.
The strip that covered the girl’s face was removed, unveiling a soft and delicate fair skin that was slightly tinged in red.

At night, when it was just the two of them, they would regularly conduct a ritual of undoing the girl’s bandages.
At first, the two of them would feel so bashful that it would take a long time for them to finish, but now, they could do it quickly just like that.
Perhaps because she was regularly covered in bandages, the sunlight had not affected her fair skin, unlike the adventurer Flamm who chapped her skin on a daily basis.
Flamm was not only jealous; she was also conflicted whether it is okay for such a fine beauty to belong only to her.
However—both her and Milkit wished for that monopoly, and that gratified Flamm.
She was aware of her own unfairness.
She talked a whole deal about broadening Milkit’s opportunities for her future, yet she’s doing the exact opposite.
Even so, she could find the merits of laughing it off as she thought “who cares”.

They were used to the thing they were doing, but it doesn’t mean that they will be weary of it.
Every day, every night, Flamm would heave a sigh in captivation.

“Is it…is it that fun to look at my face?” whispered Milkit, looking down in embarrassment as Flamm stared at her closely.

“Yeah, it’s the most fun I have in the whole day.” Flamm replied immediately, to which Milkit further lowered her head in embarrassment.

How many times have they done this exchange already?
Milkit should have just stop doubting her master’s words and start to be confident in herself little by little.
However, Milkit could not even think of being confident of herself. She merely thought that “my master is weird, and it happens to be that my face is the weird type she likes”.

Flamm put her hands on the girl’s cheeks, and as she caressed her slave crest with her thumb, she said, “you’re extremely cute today as well, Milkit”, with a slightly playful tone.

If the obstacle of her self-doubt disappeared, the words that she conveyed to her would soak into her heart.
Her frozen heart had already been melted long ago, so it is finally time for Flamm to fill that empty, tender heart with her colors.

She wished for her words to reach deeper into her heart.
Nurture that emotion until it fills her heart.

The fear of loss that continued to swell to a certain point has recently faded day by day.
“it’s probably going to be alright” had came closer to “it will definitely be alright”
She had started to think that yes, this person will definitely not leave me.
Through their exchanges every night, the roots of Flamm’s feelings spread wider and deeper, strengthening her belief.

Even after their exchange, the two would continue with trifling conversations, smile at each other as their eyes met, or frolicking about playfully² with each other—It was a moment of happiness without any other meaning.
However, as they were doing that, Flamm suddenly rose from the bed and looked outside.
Milkit followed suit and looked at where Flamm was looking at, but she can only see the darkness of the night.
However, as if she could see something, Flamm stood up and walked closer.
She then slowly opened the window, reached out, and pulled something from the window frame.

“Is there something stuck there?”
“…it’s a knife. There’s a message stuck to it too.”

Perhaps someone threw it out from outside, aiming at the window.
She opened the paper that was stuck to it, and the words written crudely on it reads; “Don’t go outside.”

“What is this, a threat? It’s not the time for this.”

Sarah went missing.
Telling her to not get involved would be more unreasonable.
No matter what the paper said, Flamm would still go downtown to look for her the next day.

“Why would they go as far as putting the message on a knife though? The writing looks very messy too. Or rather…”
“It looks like whoever wrote this did it in a rush…right?”

As Milkit had pointed out, the words were a mess, and as if it wasn’t written on a flat surface, the strokes went everywhere.
Flamm tried to think of a person who would so desperately warn her, but she couldn’t think of anyone.

“Is it just Dain’s underlings playing a prank?”

Perhaps it’s a threat that says “we got you on our sights”
Though as long as Eterna is there, they would not be able to lay their hands on the house.

“Haa…let’s just hit the sack, shall we?” suggested Flamm after having lost her spirit.

To that, Milkit quickly nodded.

“I think we should. We should be ready for tomorrow, right?”

They turned off the light and went to their respective beds before saying their good nights to each other and closed their eyes.

 

However, a while after that—

Clatter…clatter…

Flamm heard the sound of clattering window frames far away.

Perhaps it was because she hasn’t fallen into deep sleep that she was able to notice it.
The sound was not enough to wake her up, but because she was in the process of falling asleep, she could notice that sound even more clearly.
However, as she fell deeper into her sleep, the sound grows distant, and before long, Flamm could not hear it any longer.
That was a memory without value…one that she would not recall when she opens her eyes in the morning.

 

 

The next morning, Flamm don her shirt and hotpants after she had her breakfast and washed her face. After she was done preparing, Milkit and Ink sent her out.
Her objective was clear; to search for Sarah.
To begin, she wanted to follow the path Sarah went through, thus she headed for the church in the West District.

She stood in front of the gate, looking up at the church’s main building.
Compared to the main building of the church in the Central District, its general look is a lot more modest; it was smaller and it looks more decrepit.
Straining her ears, Flamm heard the voices of some men from inside the building.
She circled around to the side of the building and peeked inside through one of the windows.
There was a sermon taking place; a priest that looks uneasy was preaching to a group of silent, strong-looking men.
Dain was sitting on the frontmost seat.
I see…this really is quite a disturbing sight, Flamm thought.
However, it’s not like Flamm could ignore them now that they had claimed to be a believer.
The priest, too, is certainly facing just as much hardships.

Flamm stepped away from the window before she risks getting caught.
She then exited the site and saw the orphanage next to the church.
From the outside, she could see children playing innocently.
Her eyes met with one of the little girls playing there, and the little girl smiled.
Flamm showed a smile and gave a reserved wave, to which the little girl replied by doing the same before turning away to head for where her friends are.
As she had expected, the number of children present there were not just as small as five.
She thought that perhaps there is a possibility that there really is an underground facility below this institute, but Flamm alone would not be able to break in there.

Thus, Flamm turned her heels, this time heading to check the knights’ guardroom.
She watched the location from afar.
Two knights that she didn’t know were stationed in that place.
However, they both looked very bothered as they uneasily surveyed their surroundings.
If they are the knights’ colleagues, they should know more about the transfer orders of Ed and Johnny.
Or perhaps they might have heard of rumors about their deaths, if it turned out that they are deceased.
It would not be strange for them to be anxious since they know they might be next.
The situation of the surrounding area, however, was nothing strange.
The West District was nothing more than a tranquil, clean place.

Flamm spread a map in her head and begins heading for the direction she thought Sarah went for.
She distanced herself from the church, entered narrow alleyways and followed them until she came out on the roads along the wall.
As she got closer to the wall, the faces of the people she passed by got worse. The numbers of vagrants she found sprawled on the streets grew and public hygiene gets worse and worse.
Flamm continued without any other leads, but she ended up at the street where she found the grotesque corpses.
The pungent smell pierced her nose.
Perhaps because it was the location where the incident happened, there were not many people around the site of discovery.
However, as she continued down the street, she found a row of houses made out of scrap woods and miscellaneous junks.
Sarah must have regretted her decision that led her to involve these civilians, so she must have escaped into another narrow alley.
Remembering the positions of the corpses, Flamm continued walking until she found the entrance to a narrow, dark alley.
Again, Flamm stepped forward into the alley Sarah might have ran through.
However, the alleyway turned to be a maze, which brought further trouble for Flamm to retrace Sarah’s steps.
She decided to do a thorough search, thus she begun walking through the path on the very right.

She repeated her process at every fork until she reached a dead end.
There was a huge stone wall in front of her, which means that there was no other way out.
It was an ordinary dead end…or so it should be.
However—

“…this is clearly a trace of combat.”

There were countless gashes on the wall, as if it was deeply cut by a very sharp blade.
…No, not only the wall, but the ground, too, was full of those gashes.
Flamm rubbed her finger on those gashes, trying to confirm something.

“…they all vary in depth and size, so it would be weird if all of these are made with the same weapon…then could it be that they used a spell?”

Sharp blades…perhaps it was a wind-based spell, or a water cutter-type spell.
No, there would still be a possibility for it to be an earth-based spell.
Whatever spell it was, judging by the damage it did, the person that cast that spell was no amateur.

“Sarah-chan didn’t cast this…then who could it possible be?”

No matter how much she tried to look into it afterwards, she could not come up with any more clues.
She even tried to look at the other routes she could possibly went through, and went to other areas to cover a wider search area to look for the Sarah’s traces until the sun eventually started to sink—yet in the end, she was still unable to find Sarah.
Flamm dropped her shoulders and dragged her legs back home.
As soon as she reached home, she opened the front door languidly, and with her spiritless voice, she said; “I’m home…”
As she did, Milkit lightly jogged up to her and welcomed her back with a smile.

“Welcome back, Master.”

Flamm got drawn in by her smile and she turned to smile herself.
Milkit truly is the one for her.
The feelings inside Flamm’s heart grow stronger day by day just by having her here.

“I was just about to go shopping. What would you like to do, Master?”

Milkit was holding the basket she usually brought along whenever she went shopping.
Perhaps she was waiting until Flamm returned home before she goes shopping.
The red ribbon on her chest coupled with the maid clothes she wears made her look like she’s the servant of a rich household, while as a matter of fact, she was the partner of Flamm the adventurer.
The outfit she wears now is not the one Flamm bought for her, though she recently changed her outfit every day, which provided comfort for Flamm.
However, her fatigue that built up today could not be healed with just that alone.

“…sorry, I’d like to rest at home.”

She wanted to go together, but her body disagrees.

“Understood. Please rest easy, master. I shall go together with Eterna-san.”
“I’ll be right back”

Eterna suddenly popped her head out from the living room and said that.
Flamm saw the two out and went for the living room. There, she sat in front of Ink who was playing with puzzles while wearing Flamm’s baggy hand-me-down shirt.

“Welcome back, Flamm.”
“Mm…I’m back.”
“How was it? Did you find anything on Sarah?”
“Mostly nothing. I searched through every corner and I couldn’t find Sarah-chan anywhere. I didn’t think I would find her in a day, but this is really draining me.”
“I see…but I think you will definitely find her.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”

If she doesn’t think so, she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to do it.
Perhaps because of her fatigue, Flamm lay sprawled on the table.
Meanwhile, Ink stopped her hands and thinks, probably because she was worried, and it seems like she understood that the only thing she could do int he moment is to let her rest.
The girl rolled up her baggy sleeves and continued to play with her puzzles again; this time, being very careful not to create any noises.

 

 

Milkit and Eterna hurried home to where Flamm is waiting after they finished shopping.
Eterna held a bag full of ingredients, while Milkit repeatedly glanced at her, seemingly feeling bad for making her hold it.

“Umm…is it really okay for you to hold it?”
“I don’t mind. I have more strength than you anyways”, said Eterna, showing off the biceps on her left arm.
That arm was very thin, but despite her Strength status being comparably lower than her other stats, it still easily exceeds 400.
This much baggage is nothing for her.

“Either way, you bought a lot of Flamm’s favorite, didn’t you?”
“It’s because I think I have to cheer my master up.”
“What a wholesome mutual love.”
“That’s not it! It’s just…I just think that I want to return the favor, even for just a bit.”
“How admirable.”
“I’m master’s slave after all”, she said, puffing her chest while putting her hand on it.

Is it really something you would say so happily?

“Sounds like the two of you had a really wonderful encounter.”
“Yes, without a doubt.”

Their encounter was in a hellish place.
By chance, the two of them survived, and the two joined hands to ease each other’s wounds.
Milkit did not choose; she obediently went with the flow, just as she always did.
Because of that, in the end she did not truly understand what happened, but her life turned for the better.

“Ooh, this is a rare combination. What a trouble. Sooo troublesome. Why is a the great hero Eterna Lynnbow taking the side of that little girl?”

A man came out of the nearby alleyway, speaking so unnaturally with open arms as if he’s a stage actor.
He was tall but thin, and he had a light brown hair.
Perhaps because it’s his off day, he was only clad in a leather armor he put over his shoulder.
He had a 20 cm dagger on his waist, a bowgun on his back and a wooden buckler strapped to his arm.
Not that his equipment would matter.
The problem was who he is.

“Dain Phineas…!”

Milkit showed a rare aggression, glaring sharply at Dain.
She was her master’s enemy, and that was enough to affect her opinion of him.

“What about it?”

Despite saying that emotionlessly, she concentrated her mana on her palm.
She was being vigilant, for she didn’t know how far these people’s cowardice would go after all.

“Hold on, hold on, we just meet by chance today. I don’t mean to fight. I know the difference of our skills anyways.”
“Then why do you come to us?”
“I want to talk. It’s something beneficial for the both of us.”
“We refuse. Let’s go home, Eterna-san.”

Eterna nodded, and the two was about to pass through without batting their eyes toward Dain.
However, the man grinned, and as if acting once again, he said;

“Aah, how regrettable. Flamm was searching for Sarah Anvilen³ the whole day, didn’t she? Don’t you wanna know how she went missing?”
“Sarah-san…!”

Milkit unconsciously stopped on her track.

“…Milkit, don’t stop.”
“But…!”

Milkit, too, enjoyed the moment they spent together at home.
She, too, wants to find her.
She wants to talk again, play again, and eat together again.
Besides, Flamm had searched for her so extensively that she got very exhausted.
If she could get any information…
If she could be useful even just for a bit—

“I like an obedient slave, you know. You’ve gained some weight, and your face is healed already, right? I bet you’ll fetch a great price if you sell yourself.”
“Shut your mouth, you lowlife.”

Eterna glared at Dain.
That intensity of her glare was enough to paralyze the man.
But where could Dain possibly get information about both MIlkit and Sarah?
He would usually boast that there’s nothing he doesn’t know in the West District, and despite his information network deteriorating, it seems like it’s still functioning properly.

“Uhhehe, scawwy. I don’t need to fear anything now though. I didn’t think it would make me so relaxed knowing I’m being protected. I was the one doing the protecting until now, you know.”
“I don’t care about that. Tell me about Sarah-san.”
“Kuhe, hehe, don’t be in such a hurry. I’ll proooperly explain it to you.”

His expression turned way more vulgar than earlier, so much so that Milkit unconsciously scowled when she sees him. It was a truly shameless expression that carries no dignity.

“The day she went missing, she went for the church in the West District, and she asked the knights about a girl called Ink”, said Dain. He took a break after that to check on the two women’s faces.
The man was looking for a reaction from the two when he mentioned the name Ink.
However, the two women did not want to show him any sorts of responses.
Eterna thought logically while Milkit thought intuitively, but they both came to a conclusion that they could not give any hints that Ink is currently living in their house.
It is highly likely that Dain and his men are searching for Ink.
That was why they are trying to make Dain keep talking to get the information they want.
Thus, the two tried to keep up a poker face.
Not seeing the reaction he wanted, Dain clicked his tongue and continued talking.

“I don’t know the details of what she talked about, but the knights only knew about some rumors, and that seems to be the trigger.”
“Trigger?”

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Milkit unconsciously asked back.

“Yeah, for something like an excessive, automated self-defense. That thing was kind, and it was trying to protect its allies by doing something excessive. They only distinguish themselves and and us.”

The two was unable to comprehend Dain’s abstract description.
Dain then muttered “Seriously…” with a bold smile and started talking more descriptively.

“The distinction is not between the church or anything other than that, but it’s between the Spiral Children and everything else. We are siding with the children, so we can protect them.”
“Spiral Children? Could it possibly be the church’s human experiment?”
“Yeah, that. Aah, so you knew about it, huh. No, that’s not it, the conditions are met. Ah…what I mean is…that. You’re on a different team.”
“Team…”
“The Spiral Children are those whose hearts has been replaced by a…Core or something? It’s a general term for the monster made out of whatever that thing is. There are teams for these research, these includes some people who made great results, and they set up a certain facility under the capital—”

Dain is blabbering about crucial information for some reason.
Eterna tilted her head.
Why would this man go out of his way and provide them with such information?
What is the meaning behind his actions?
As Eterna was trying to make sense of the situation,

Plop,

She could hear something dropping.

“I’m smart, you see, so I thought of something. Even if I don’t ask, or investigate about you, as long as I give you some information, the conditions have been met.”

The man knocked the temple of his head with his index fingers repeated.y
Splat, splat, splat,
A large amount of something fell from the roofs.
…no, not just that.
They appeared from the ground, from the alleyways and from the windows of the houses and rolled their way closer toward the two.

“Hihi…hiHAHAHAHAHA! They’re all here, you know? You should run quickly…before you turn into those stinkin’ disgusting corpses!!”

As those words flew out of his mouth, Dain showed his most rotten smile of the day.
Stinking, disgusting corpses.
The two have heard about the grotesque corpses found in the West District from Flamm.
If what Dain said was true, then touching those things would be dangerous.

“Hii…iii….”
“Milkit, we’re running away! Hold on!”
“Y…ye…s…”

Eterna carried Milkit who was so scared that she could barely speak.
Milkit, on the other hand, tried desperately to move her paralyzed arms around Eterna’s neck.
After confirming that Milkit had held on to her securely, Eterna infused mana into her feet and kicked the ground with her toes.

“Water Needle!”

Water in the form of countless needles protrude from the cracks on the ground.
The needles accurately pierced through the approaching eyeballs, killing them in the process.

“Whoa!”

Dain jumped away and shot a hook from his buckler. The anchor hooks itself to a nearby building and pulled the man towards it.

“Seems like I overstayed my welcome. Hero sama, slave-chan, please do your best in running away. HYAHAHAHAHAHA!”

His laughter echoed as he distanced hiimself away with his grappling hook.
Eterna was about to cast a spell to pursue him, but—

“Eterna-san, they’re still multiplying!”
“Not a problem.”

She must fight and protect Milkit.
She has to forget abaout Dain for now and take care of the eyeballs attacking her in huge numbers.
She infused her feet with mana again, but this time, she kicked the ground with her heel and cast her spell.

“Aqua Shelter!”

The water that emerged from the ground surrounded the two to make a wall.
It was a defensive spell to defend themselves from outside attacks.
The wall was made of water, but it was so condensed that normal attacks wouldn’t be able to pass through.
The eyeballs are still growing in numbers.
It would be difficult for Eterna to cast large-scale spells since the two of them are in the middle of the city.
Thus, she planned to approach the point where the eyeballs are emerging from as much as possible and crush them all at once

However—

“They’re cutting us off…”

The eyeballs spotted their prey and made a beeline towards them.
Just like it did to the bodies of its victims, they tried to encroach themselves into the wall of water.

“What should we do, Eterna-san?”
“There’s no end to them…we should run for now. Splash!”

The ground quaked again, and this time, the large amount of water threw Eterna to the sky as the top part of the shelter opened.

“Hia…?!” Milkit yelped, not being able to say anything.

She was holding onto Eterna, there were no worries that she would fall.
The two landed on a nearby roof, and she immediately cast another Splash to jump to the next roof.
The eyeballs, however, paid no heed to the place and kept pursuing them.
The moment they thought they had shook them off, they appeared out of nowhere and surrounded them again in no time.
The person that appeared on Milkit’s mind was none other than Flamm.
The girl would definitely grow more depressed as she kept waiting for the two to get home.
She prayed that her master not do anything reckless while the two’s escape had barely just begun.

 

 

After an hour…
After two hours…
Even after three hours…
The two have yet to return.

Ink’s stomach has been grumbling, but not once had she said the words “I’m hungry” in the room that was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.
Dinner time had long passed, so it is certain that Milkit and Eterna had been involved in some sort of trouble.
However, in this timing?
What if they were pursued by the eyeballs just like Sarah?
Flamm hung her head with her elbows on the table.

“Uu…uuuuuuhhhh…….!” groaned the girl, tearing on her hair.

What had she done?
She thought that she needed to look into the church.
She thought that she must do something about Dain.
However…that was all she has done. She hasn’t done anything to any of them.
Yet…What did she do wrong? Where did she go wrong? The girl herself does not know.
While she was clueless, she lost Sarah, Dain and his boys turned weird, and now something happened to Eterna and Milkit.
…yes, even to Milkit.

“Aaah…AAAAAHHH…! Should I have gone together with Milkit…!? But…but…!!!”

The situation would be hopeless even for Eterna, so there would be no chance for Flamm to solve the issue.
She was powerless. Powerless…Powerless!
No matter where she is, she would only continue to be useless.
Nothing…has changed.

“In the end…I’m still crawling in the abyss…”

She clawed at the slave crest on her cheek so strongly that she hurts herself.
She felt the pain, and the tips of her finger was bloodied, but thanks to her curse, the scar immediately disappeared.

“Even with this power…I still couldn’t protect her…!”
“Flamm…”

In the depths of her despair, Ink was clueless on how she should call out to her.
She wanted to console her, yet the words won’t come out.
Irritated, she clenched her fists under the table.

BAM!

All of a sudden, Flamm stood up so vigorously that she knocked her chair over.

“…I’ll go look for them. Ink, you absolutely must not leave the house.”
“Okay, I’ll wait.”

The sky was dark; looking for them by herself would be reckless.
Flamm went to another room and took out a lantern before departing.
Sending her out was Ink, who could only worry as the girl left the houes.

 

 

Despite the light she had on her hand, her field of vision was very limited.
Roaming about in the dark, Flamm repeatedly called out Milkit and Eterna’s name.

She walked through the route they usually go through to go shopping and even went through the branching alleyways to look for them.
Yet just like when she was looking for Sarah, she couldn’t find any clue.

The only ones she could find were puddles of water on the road.
It did not rain today, so it might be the trace of Eterna’s water-based spells.
However…where did they go beyond that, and who could be pursuing them even now?

She spent hours searching, yet she was still unable to find them.
Flamm was still fatigued from her search during the day, so she felt her body growing heavier by the second. Her legs felt numb, and her breathing turned erratic.
The night breeze lightly cooled her head, and around the time the clock strikes twelve, she returned to the place Ink was waiting.

 

 

The house is still illuminated by the lights.
It would normally be way past bedtime, but perhaps the little girl is still awake, waiting for her to come home.

“…I’m back,” she called out with feeble voice.

There were no replies, but she could hear footsteps from inside.
As she looked forward, she could see Ink’s figure, trying to climb up to the second floor.

“Ink?”

Flamm tried to call out to the girl, but the latter did not stop and disappeared to the second floor.

“What happened?”

She forced herself awake, so could it be that she’s so sleepy that she’s barely staying up?
However, if that’s the case, her gait was too steady.
Flamm decided to follow after her and climbed the stairs before knocking on the guest room the girl usually sleeps in.

…no reply.

Clatter, clatter…

However, she could hear the sound of the window being opened.
Ink is definitely in there.

“Hey, Ink, can I come in?”

Again, she didn’t respond.

“I’m coming in, okay?”

She felt bad for going in without permission, but Flamm still opened the door and entered the room.
The room wasn’t illuminated.
The first thing she saw in the dark was Ink’s small back.
The girl was leaning out of the window, staring down at the alley behind the house.

Flamm walked closer and said; “what’s wrong? Are you looking for Milki—”, but then she stopped dead on her tracks.

Squelch…squelch…

She heard a sound she felt far too familiar.
Her body stiffened, and the muscles on her face tensed.
Her blood curdled, and chills ran down her spine.

“I-Ink…?”

She summoned her courage and walked up to her.
The sound…got louder.
It sounds like a bunch of flesh wriggling as it spits out something.

Squelch…splash…splatter, splatter.

The difference between this sound and the sound that thing made is that this time, something spilled to the floor this time.
What in the world is happening?
What is Ink doing?
She didn’t want to know.
She didn’t want to see.
However, she could not turn away.

Flamm took another step.
The sound grows louder yet again.
The floorboards creaked, and she could feel its vibration transmitted to her sole.
She swallowed her saliva.
The sticky feeling passes through her esophagus and down to her stomach.
The sweat on her forehead flows down through her cheek and down to her jaw.
Her breathing was short, as if her lungs were convulsing.

Everything felt so…eerily vivid.
That vividness were combined with her hyperventilating to the point of dizziness.
She was palpitating so bad that she might as well wish she had lost her consciousness, but despite that, Flamm reached out to the girl.
Her finger touched the shirt she lent the girl.
As the cloth wrinkled to her touch and rubbed Ink’s skin, the little girl finally noticed Flamm…and turned her head.

“Squirt…squirt…splat…”

In front of her was…a vortex of flesh.
The complete exact same one that she saw on the Ogre and on the corpses she found in the research facility.
The flesh was throbbing as it violently spews blood.
However, that was not all.
It was also spewing out a huge amount of eyeballs.

“Aa…aaa……”

What did she do wrong, and here did she go wrong?
Flamm finally found the answer.
The blood spewing out dyed the shirt red, while the eyeballs dropped straight to the ground all with a splat.
That sight immediately overwrites Flamm’s memory of the time she spent together with Ink.

“U….a…aaahhh…aaAAAAHH…!”

Nausea loomed over her as she squeezed out a groan.
Her body was bathed in cold sweat, and tears flowed out endlessly from her eyes.
However, despite seeing her grim resolve, there were no changes to the thing that was Ink.
It stared at Flamm briefly, and as if it lost interest, she leaned out of the window once again and spewed out more eyeballs towards the ground.

“Aaa…kah…a-aaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

Flamm could not hold herself back and screamed.
She then dashed out of the room, and as if she wanted to pretend that what she saw didn’t happen, she slammed the door shut.
The sound of the door echoed as it separated the hallway and that room.
Flamm leaned her back on the door and fell to her knees…though she still could hear the sound from behind the door.
The sound of something wriggling, and the sound of something being spat out.
She closed her ears with her hands.
Her sweaty palm felt sticky and unpleasant…but it was better than having to hear that sound.

“Why…why…whyyyyy…!?” she desperately asked.

To who? Nobody knows.
Anyone is fine…she just need an answer.
At this point, she would even accept an answer from any sorts of villains.
Yet there are no longer anybody else.
Not Sarah, not Milkit, not Eterna……and not even Ink.
There are no one else in this house.
The only ones who are in the house are Flamm and someone who was Ink—A monster who she believed was a girl called Ink.

“U…uee…Ha…haa…Ugh…ulph……ha…haaa…”

Despite her desperate effort to close her ears, she could still faintly hear the sound.
She thought she was already in the in the bottom of the pit of despair.
However, the depth of that pit goes way deeper.
And there she was.
In the depth deeper than the bottom.
Her sweat, her tears, her saliva, even the contents of her stomach along with gastric acid came gushing out.
Then…she sat motionlessly with her hands over her ears, until the sound stopped.

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