CH ss - 6

[Alfine : Cruel Reality]

※ Alfine’s POV

Swaying in a horse-drawn carriage, I arrived in the northern large city, Algren.

The mountainous area in the north is a cold region where snow never melt, and Algren is also a city that is buried in snow for almost half part of the year.

However, many mineral resources are dormant around Algren, and it seems that the refining industry that mines and refines them is flourishing.

Exporting refined metals to various places created a lot of wealth and developed it into one of the largest cities in the Kingdom.

“The whole city is full of smoke, isn’t it.”

“It’s because the furnaces for refining many minerals are operating day and night. Now, this city is also known as “The City of Ash and Smoke”.”

While I muttered the state of the city that can be seen from the window, the Butler told me the nickname of the city of Algren.

“I see…”

I’m not particularly interested in the nickname of the city, but my chest tightened when I think that Finn, who seems to have left behind his adventurer badge, may be in this city.

I’ll find him, apologize for what I’ve done, and ask him to return to the royal capital with me.

I can’t expect the luxury that he will be by my side unconditionally as usual…

Luxury…No, thinking like that in itself is just my haughtiness I guess.

A stupid woman who couldn’t grow up to be an adult, who was spoiled because she is his childhood friend, who was taking advantage of his kindness, who didn’t notice the change in relationship after her inauguration as Sword Master and ignorantly continued to behave like a spoiled child.

That is me.

I finally realized that after he was gone for the past month.

I think that a normal person would have stopped liking such a woman even earlier.

Despite that, Finn endured the unreasonable treatments in the hope that I would change.

However, I did not seem to change at all, so he finally gave up and left.

A really stupid woman…

What falls from the palm of your hand can no longer be scooped back.[1]

At the very least, I have to confirm his safety and apologize for what I’ve done, and walked separately down our respective paths.

After all, I have no other way to stop him from disliking me anymore…

I couldn’t help but to sigh deeply while looking at the gray sky and the city.

When the carriage stopped, I saw our destination, Adventurer’s Guild of Algren.

Above the entrance was a large badge with the design of a large pickaxe and ore.

It seems to be the badge of this Adventurer’s Guild of Algren.

When I got off the carriage, a man and a woman who seemed to be the staff of the Adventurer’s Guild bowed and waited at the entrance.

“Alfine-sama, we’ve been waiting for you. As informed in advance, the man is locked in the underground isolation cell.”

“I understand. Can I meet him soon?”

“Yes, the preparations has been made.”

“The entrance is over there.”

The man said, and the female staff gently started guiding me to the entrance of the dungeon through the back door.

To avoid the adventurers who come and go, I was brought by the staff of the Algren’s Adventurer’s Guild, and went to the isolation cell in the basement.

The isolation cell is a guild facility that houses criminal adventurers until their sentence is decided. It seems that the Royal Capital Adventurer’s Guild has it too, but it is not open to public.

The isolation cell was musty and full of bad smell.

Under the guidance of the staff, I arrived at the cell of the imposter who disguised himself using Finn’s adventurer’s badge.

“Oi, get up. The investigation will start now.”

The man seemed to be lying on the floor and sleeping, and in response to the voice of the staff, he started to move.

“Noisy. I don’t have anything to say anymore. I’ve told you everything.”

A man of unknown age covered by stubbles replied slovenly.

I grabbed the man’s collar over the bar and pulled him.

“I’m not interested in who you are, but I’m really interested in the person you disguised as, so can you cooperate?”

I thought that I was able to ask as calmly as possible without raising my emotions.

However, the man had a pale face, perhaps because he was afraid of my vigor.

“Hii. Don’t kill me. It’s was a sudden impulse. It was just a sudden impulse that I became an impostor. That badge was something that was left behind by a man who collapsed and died in the slum.”

“A man, who died in the slum?”

“Ahh, it was young man with a rare black hair. It seemed like he was sick, and when I found him in the trash dump in the slum, he was already at death’s door.”

The man began to incessantly talk about how he got the badge.

A young man with black hair collapsed and died in the slum…

No way, Finn… there’s no way, right…it must be a different person.

Listening to the man’s words, an indescribable feeling of anxiety spreads in my chest.

“T-then what had became of that man!?”

Unintentionally, the strength that I used to grab the man’s neck got stronger, and his clothes teared off.

“I-I don’t kill him. I didn’t kill him. He was whispering something incoherently before he died, but I couldn’t hear it, and since I’ll be troubled if I was blamed for leaving his dead body there, and since there’s a harbour nearby, I throw him into the sea. And then, with the badge he left behind, I impersonate as a platinum rank adventurer to make money without working!”

The man is screaming wildly as if he himself don’t want to be killed, and said that the black haired young man died due to illness.

No way, even if that healthy Finn was placed in a cold land, he shouldn’t…be so easy to die of illness.

Even if the dead man is a black haired young man, he must not be Finn…he must be a different person.

My heart became disordered because of the information from the man.

I want to think that the dead man is a different person who somehow got Finn’s badge, then collapsed and died in this place, rather than believe that Finn really died due to illness. Those feelings were in conflict in my heart.

“Thereupon, we also searched the sea for that thrown man based on the testimony of this man, and found a rotten dead body of a black haired young man.”

“…!?”

The man from the guild staff said to supplement the man’s testimony.

When he said that they found the corpse, my heart is tightened further.

If the corpse was really Finn…I wouldn’t be able to meet and apologize to him anymore, forever.

Please…please, let it be a different person.

Please. God, please…please.

I think his face was shaking when he said that they found the corpse, but I couldn’t afford to care about such a thing right now.

“The body is stored this way. Can you confirm if it’s the one who you’re looking for?”

The female guild staff asked me while peeking at my appearance.

If I go home now, I don’t have to confirm whether Finn is dead.

However, then the situation remains the same as before.

If you I run away from here, I will still be the same spoiled stupid woman as before.

I have parted with such me in this past month.

Despite feeling scared, I nodded silently to the female guild staff.

I was brought out of the cell by the female guild staff and to the opposite room where the body was stored.

“This is the body of the man who was pulled out of the sea. It soaked in the sea, so it is rotting…”

There was a body of a black haired young man, half rotted and swelled in an ice-cooled coffin.

I was familiar with the body of adventurer who was devoured by monster, but when I think that the body in front of me may be Finn, I couldn’t control the nauseating feeling welling up from my stomach.

“Uh, ugee…cough, cough.”

Vomit scattered on the floor, and after coughing, I wipe my dirtied mouth with my hand.

“Please use this. I will take care of the vomit on the floor, so don’t mind it.”

The worried female guild staff handed me a handkerchief.

“Thank you. I made you worried. I’ll check it now.”

I wiped my dirtied hands with the handkerchief that was given to me and once again stared at the rotten corpse of the young man.

The profile is about the same as that of Finn…moreover, it has the same long bang hairstyle and black hair…

Just by looking, he might be Finn…although black hair is rare, it’s not that there is no other.

Next is to check whether he has the small tattoo that the director of the orphanage put on the back of everyone’s neck as charm to avoid epidemic…

I was desperate to inspect the rotten body to find an excuse to deny that it was Finn’s body.

“I’m sorry, I want to see the back of his neck, so please help me turn him over.”

“I understand.”

With the help of the female guild staff, I carefully turn over the body, raise up his hair and look for a small tattoo on his nape.

“…!?”

When I raised it’s hair, I found a tattoo with the same design as mine on the nape of the body.

T-this is Finn’s tattoo…!?

This is Finn’s body after…all.

At that moment, the emotions I had held down overflowed, and I couldn’t stop the tears from overflowing from my eyes.

The reality that I didn’t want to occur the most is thrusted toward me.

I will never see him again and I can’t apologize for what I did.

Although it’s all my fault, to end up tragically like this…

Is this the punishment from God given to me who was arrogant and selfish…?

Then, it’s better if it was my own life that was taken…why, why is it Finn…

“FINN!! I DON’T WANT THIS! WHY ARE YOU DYING AS YOU PLEASE!! FINN!! IT’S A LIE, RIGHT!!! I DON’T WANT SUCH AN ENDIIIIIIIIIING!!!”

Clinging on to the corpse unreasonably, I cried without minding the surroundings, fainted and fell down on the floor dirty with my vomit.

[1] 手のひらから零れ落ちたものは、もうすくい直すことはできない。Another Idiom which I don’t know the meaning of. But I get the feeling of what it meant. Maybe it’s like, something that has been done can’t be undone.

Ahh, I can smell the conspiracy drifting in the air, I hope someone can save this poor girl. She’s repenting, okay. Don’t hate her too much.