Don't Be Holy! - Chapter 5
Bang.
She placed the bowl on the table with effort, trying to maintain her composure, and crossed her arms.
“Don’t get hung up on the soup. It looks cheap.”
The important thing was to get this man out of here as quickly as possible. Eir cleared her throat with a ‘khm’ sound. But the man only stared blankly at her, so Eir eventually spoke first.
“Is there, um…… nothing you want to say?”
The man, realizing something, slightly bowed his head and said.
“Thank you for saving me.”
Eir almost slapped her chest in frustration, unable to help herself. What’s so important about that kind of greeting! It was clear that he wasn’t some well-mannered young master. What mattered was that he should quickly stand up and properly thank her for getting him back to his senses, not just giving some polite greeting.
Eir cleared her throat again and spoke in a low voice.
“If you’re back to your senses, I’d like you to leave now. I don’t know what’s going on, but it seems like you’re being chased…….”
If this was the great Rubel Shinote she knew, he should understand the danger he might bring upon himself at this point and leave first. But the man just continued to stare at her blankly.
Even now, his striking red hair and blue eyes naturally drew her gaze.
The man furrowed his brows, as if unsure where to start, and then began speaking in a quiet voice.
“Well…… when I woke up, I was tied up.”
“Kh-choo!”
Eir, flustered, coughed and stepped back. She had completely forgotten about that part because the man had so naturally started eating the soup.
Embarrassed, she stammered, quickly trying to explain,
“I—I saved you! I found you covered in blood on the forest path, and I didn’t have a way to bring you here alone, so I gave you a stimulant, and then I tied you up just in case you tried to thrash around, but I didn’t do anything weird, okay?”
“Then why is your mouth…….”
“Because your groaning was so loud I couldn’t sleep!”
Her voice grew louder, afraid her lie would be exposed. The man, recalling how she had been peacefully sleeping in the rocking chair while he was struggling, didn’t say anything.
Eir, realizing her outburst, awkwardly backed off and adopted a serious expression.
“Anyway, I’ve done everything I could. You’re untied now, and if that’s enough, I’ll…… leave now.”
“By the way, you said earlier that I seemed to be chased?”
The man suddenly interrupted her. Eir furrowed her brows, feeling like the conversation was going off track.
Why ask such a loaded question? Doesn’t he know better than anyone?
A sense of unease began to creep in, but the man, seemingly clueless, glanced around the room and innocently asked,
“Do you know anything about me?”
“Excuse me?”
Eir, caught off guard, answered in a tone that slipped out of her.
The man lowered his eyes as though deep in thought. Eir had never once associated him with the word ‘pitiful’, but at that moment, she couldn’t help but think of him that way.
He lowered his long lashes and confessed.
“Actually, I don’t remember anything.”
And as soon as Eir heard that, a thought flashed through her mind…….
‘He’s lying.’
Whether he had truly lost his memory or was pretending, it was crucial that she didn’t let him say those words. But in her panic, she had let him say it, giving him the opportunity to hint that he might want to stay here and slowly regain his memory.
Does he know me? He probably does. He wants to stay here and find his memories.
That’s what his words meant, didn’t they?
Eir quickly squeezed her eyes shut and turned her body, running to the back. She grabbed any piece of paper she could find and shouted.
“Oh my! What’s this! A debt notice!”
Upon checking, it was a note with instructions for her grandmother’s medicine. Eir stretched her fingers as far as possible to hold the paper, making sure her grandmother’s messy handwriting wasn’t visible, and shouted.
“300 pirs to be paid by the end of this month, or they’ll come to seize the house! How terrifying! Oh, but I don’t even have money for food, what should I do?”
She was acting desperately, trying to keep the man from thinking he could settle in. Lying had already caused her enough distress, and now, ignoring the person in danger, her heart ached, and her head spun.
The signs of divine punishment had begun.
But she couldn’t give up now. Her pitiful act had to continue until the man realized that this house wasn’t a safe place for him.
She could already see the expression on the man’s face turning sorrowful. If she pushed any further, he would realize this wasn’t a corner he could settle in.
“I don’t know how hard it’s been since my grandmother passed…… I didn’t even mean to, but I ended up borrowing money illegally……. But why is that door open?”
Eir’s face froze when she noticed that the door to the room at the end of the hallway was open. She had locked it tight, but now it was slightly open. Why was it open?
She quickly ran over, but the man’s disinterested voice came from behind her.
“Ah, I just opened it because I was really thirsty…….”
When she checked, the multiple locks she had carefully placed last night had been rendered useless, and the door had been forced open.
Eir was speechless, her mouth agape, as she entered the room.
The room was filled with large tree trunks that had burst through the floor, their branches spreading across the walls. Eir stared intently at the stones placed on the platform in the center. Fortunately, none of the stones had gone missing, and it seemed like nothing had changed since the last time she saw them…….
“Could it be……?”
