Chapter 28
Perhaps it was because I’d left the bright, lively place behind. I tried hard to shake off the mood that was starting to turn gloomy, forcing myself to call out cheerfully. I straightened my shoulders with determination.
“Still, I just have to get through today!”
If I could endure just this one day, starting tomorrow I’d be able to see Axel again. Since I hadn’t seen him in so long, I planned to stick to his side tenaciously.
No matter what, I won’t leave his side!
It was right as I was making that firm resolve. Maybe because it was getting late in the evening, a chilly wind began to blow. Whoosh—a strong gust whipped by, suddenly pulling my robe back and letting my pink hair cascade down.
“……Ah!”
Even though my hair got tangled and messed up in the wind, instead of feeling annoyed, it actually felt refreshing.
‘It’s so cool……’
Was it because I’d been wearing the robe for such a long time? Just taking it off brought an incredible sense of liberation.
With the fresh, cool breeze, I found myself closing my eyes without thinking, comfortably embracing the wind—that’s when it hit me.
‘Ah, right. He told me not to take off the robe……!’
Surely no one recognized me in that moment? Pink hair wasn’t exactly a common color.
Realizing this too late, I hurriedly tried to pull the robe back on, but then a scene caught my eye, and I slowly stopped what I was doing.
……Huh, but where did everyone go?
I could see that there were noticeably fewer people than when I’d first arrived at the fountain. The crowd had dwindled to nearly half.
And the ones who remained didn’t seem to have any interest in me at all. They all looked busy going about their own business.
Maybe I was overthinking it. Feeling a bit embarrassed, like I had celebrity syndrome or something, I scratched my cheek—when suddenly, a boy dashed right past me.
“Mom, hurry up! It’s about to start!”
“Ed! You can’t just run off like that. What if you fall or lose me?”
“But Mom, the fireworks are starting soon! What if all the good spots are taken?”
Fireworks?
Ah, now that I think about it, the pamphlet mentioned that fireworks would start in the evening. So that’s happening now.
That’s when I finally understood why the people had disappeared so suddenly.
So they all went to see the fireworks, which explains why the area around the fountain cleared out.
Fireworks……
I checked the time on the clock tower and fell into thought for a moment.
It was 9:30 now. If I watched the fireworks and then headed home, it’d probably be around 11……
Mary’s face came to mind, the way she’d earnestly urged me to come home early.
Hmm, what should I do? I did want to see the fireworks.
It was while I was pondering deeply about what to do that I suddenly sensed someone nearby.
“Wow. Pretty lady, are you here alone? If you’re by yourself, how about joining us over there for some fun?”
“Yeah, come play with us, lady. It’ll be awesome. There are tons of good-looking guys like us over there.”
……What? Lady?
Frowning at the strange address, I looked up, and there were two men grinning sleazily, looking down at me with sloppy postures.
‘Eek……! What the heck are they!’
Facing them, I was genuinely horrified.
My standards had already been raised sky-high by Axel and Kishian, so I couldn’t accept these guys.
On top of that, their lines were absolutely the worst, but since I couldn’t show it, I forced a smile with trembling lips and replied.
“Ah, no thanks. I’m fine. I have companions with me. Sorry, but I’ll have to decline.”
“Aw, come on. We’ve been watching you the whole time. You don’t have anyone with you, lady. If you lie one more time, we’ll have to scold you.”
He said it while lifting one corner of his mouth in a mischievous grin, and I seriously wanted to poke my own eyes out.
‘……What did I just see?’
What kind of confidence let them say they were good-looking out loud? It was impressive, in a way.
And they’d been watching me the whole time? That made it even more creepy.
Thinking it was better to just leave, I stood up from the fountain and prepared to get away from them.
“Ahaha……. I’m not really interested, so you two have fun. I’ll just……”
One of them, the one with more balding hair, blocked my path.
“Hey, where are you going? Come on, lady, let’s hang out.”
Who the heck is your lady? I swallowed the urge to shout it. They say patience three times saves you from murder. I’d already refused twice, so this was the third.
With no patience left to smile at them, I hardened my face and said coldly.
“I’ve said no several times already. Right now.”
They flinched for a second at my serious expression, but soon burst into frivolous laughter, haha.
“Wow, lady, that was kinda scary just now? You can make faces like that?”
“I thought you were just pretty, but you’ve got some unexpected charm.”
Of course. As expected, talking to them was pointless from the start.
Their consistently idiotic behavior made me feel like staying any longer would contaminate me with their stupidity.
Giving up on saying anything more, I tried to walk past them as they blabbered on—when suddenly, my wrist was grabbed.
“Lady. You’re cute, but playing too hard to get isn’t great, you know? Girls don’t realize this, but guys don’t like girls who play hard to get like that.”
“Yeah. So let’s drop it and come with us? We’ll make it fun for you.”
They’d finally ignited the fuse on my already fraying patience.
‘……What the hell are these jerks babbling about?’
The man’s hand was unpleasantly sweaty and sticky, or something. And the grip on my wrist was trying to creep upward.
I heard the snap as the thread of reason I’d been clinging to broke. I roughly shook off his hand with all my strength. My lips parted before I could stop them.
“You’re pissing me off, clinging like that. Can’t you hear me saying no? Are your ears blocked? Why can’t you understand?”
Unlike my polite demeanor before, my attitude had flipped 180 degrees, and they looked dumbfounded. They had these stupid expressions, like they couldn’t believe what they’d heard.
But I didn’t stop there—I poured out all the words I’d been holding back. Once the dam broke, the words wouldn’t stop.
“I hate you guys. I said I hate it! I hate the way you approach me, I hate the way you look at me, I hate breathing the same air as you, I hate everything about it. Got it? Even if someone handed you to me on a silver platter, I’d throw it all away. If someone refuses once or twice, you should get the hint that they’re not interested and leave. Why do you keep sticking around and making people angry? I don’t get it. What, do you think ‘chop a tree ten times and it’ll fall’? No. That only works if the ax is sharp. Try chopping all day with a crumbling stone ax. See if the tree falls.”
“U-us, crumbling stone axes……?”
The guy blinked like a goldfish, muttering in a dazed, incredulous tone.
“And stop with that ‘lady’ crap. Have you no shame? You look ten years older than me, and you’re calling me lady while trying to hit on me. I can’t find a single good-looking thing about you, so who exactly is supposed to be handsome? Instead of wasting time like this, go look in a mirror and get some self-awareness. Stop bothering other people!”
I exhaled heavily after rapid-firing all the words I’d bottled up inside. It felt as refreshing as chugging cold water on a summer day. My stuffy chest felt wide open.
That’s when it happened. Noisy sounds started coming from around us.
