My Strange Savior - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

If Kalion knew he could sacrifice himself to uphold justice, he’d leap without hesitation, so Gia held onto his waist tightly.

“Stop it… We don’t need a gun.”

No, in reality, having a sniper rifle was the only way to stand a chance. 

It would be great if they could just take down Morrison without worrying about the Dragon, but Morrison wasn’t a fool. If he could put the tamed Dragon in front, there was no way he would step out first.

Besides, it seemed that the monsters of this mountain could move as they pleased, in some way.

Morrison’s evaluation of himself was accurate. His physical abilities were not particularly superior compared to other enhanced humans, so he wasn’t the type to engage in a confrontation.

Gia didn’t regret not choosing the gun. She didn’t want Kalion to blame himself. 

So, unintentionally, she spoke a lie.

“It’s true.”

Still, there were mana-infused bullets created by the Dragon. Maybe they could do something with those? 

Would Kalion freak out if he found out? He might look at her as if she were pathetic for such an ill-conceived idea, but that was only possible if they stayed alive.

“Huff, huff.”

Even taking deep breaths, she couldn’t seem to calm down. Maybe because she was completely drained of strength. 

Gia, leaning her forehead against Kalion’s broad back, finally exhaled as she sat down, barely able to breathe. Tears seemed to burst forth as well.

She bit her teeth together tightly to keep from crying. But her trembling seemed uncontrollable as her tears flowed freely.

How shocked and scared she had been. Feeling the warmth, Gia finally let her true emotions out.

“D-damn…”

She was still hugging Kalion’s waist tightly, trying to sense his body temperature while pressing her forehead against him.

How much time had passed? Kalion, whose paralysis had somewhat receded, spoke gently with a familiar voice.

“Are you okay?”

Gia nodded, her forehead pressed against his back as if she finally understood what that meant.

“Yeah.”

She tried to respond calmly, but her voice trembled noticeably. After taking a deep breath as if to calm her overwhelmed emotions, Gia managed to reply with a forced assurance.

“I’m okay.”

‘Because you’re alive.’

So, it was okay.

Threads slipped through her fingers as she clung to Kalion’s waist.

The red bracelet woven with the threads was barely holding together. Moreover, Kalion’s wrist bore marks from her grip, showing how tightly she had held him.

Looking at the disheveled bracelet and the bruised wrist, it seemed like the held-back tears were about to burst forth again. 

Why was she crying so much? Strangely, since coming here, she had become unusually emotional.

“Hmp.”

When Gia tried to hold back her tears and put extra effort into not crying, her eyes turned red, and her throat heated up as if she had swallowed a hot potato.

“Gia…”

To comfort Gia, who seemed on the verge of tears, Kalion raised his trembling hand. He cautiously took Gia’s hand, which clung to his waist as if it were a lifeline. 

Only then did the strength leave Gia’s hand.

“The bracelet…”

“Yes.”

Kalion alternated his gaze between the bruise on his wrist and the deteriorating, strange-looking bracelet that was barely holding together.

“I’ll buy you another one… exactly… sturdy, so it won’t break.”

In a soft murmur, Gia’s voice made Kalion slowly turn his head. She had her round chin lowered as if she didn’t want to show her face, and her eyes fell on her circular bangs.

“Is that true?”

“Yeah. I’ll get you a better one. Something… incredibly sturdy, so it won’t ever break.”

As Gia described the bracelet, Kalion’s mind conjured up an image of a bracelet made of iron, the kind used to shackle prisoners.

‘Hmm…’

But which one is it, and what about the other?

“Absolutely.”

It seemed like it didn’t matter what it would be.

“Please get me one.”

“Yes.”

Kalion gently stroked Gia’s head, now crying, and opened his arms wide. Gia, who had clung tightly to Kalion, gradually found solace.

“Has the numbness subsided a bit? Are there any other injuries?”

In a mumbling voice, Kalion nodded in response to Gia’s question.

“Yes, aside from temporarily paralyzing the nerves, Jose’s venom didn’t cause any other issues.”

“I see…”

Gia, now seemingly embarrassed, lowered her head in Kalion’s embrace. Ignoring the questioning gaze, she stubbornly looked at the ground.

“Why are you acting like this? Is there something uncomfortable?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Then…”

At his questioning, Gia sniffled.

“No, stop!”

“What?”

At Gia’s sharp exclamation, Kalion’s slender shoulders twitched.

“It’s embarrassing to have you pretend you don’t know!”

Why was the child so blunt? There was no particular reason to be proud of being mawkish, so Gia threw a little tantrum. Especially for Gia, who had lived without fully revealing her deep emotions, it was an even more awkward situation.

“Ah… I see. Alright, I understand.”

Upon Gia’s words, Kalion turned his face away and his expression grew serious. 

Gia hadn’t meant to be shunned to this extent. Gia let out a sigh and wiped her reddened eyes with her sleeve.

Approaching the lake with her face reflected in it, there was no pretending anymore. The tip of her nose had turned up like an old man who drank too much, and the area around her eyes was swollen as if she had been crying non-stop.

“Geez…”

Sometime during the conversation, the moon had risen high above the lake, casting a bright reflection. Gia’s face began to regain its familiar appearance once she washed it with the cold water.

Splash, splash.

She roughly washed away the tears and blood that had streamed down her face. The bleeding between her ruptured eardrums had stopped, and, as always, all her injuries had fully healed.

“You should… clean up a bit too…”

Since Kalion was just as much of a mess, Gia called out to him, and Kalion, who had been stubbornly staring at the cliff, finally got up.

Their conditions were somewhat different, although it was hard to call them both a mess. Gia glanced sideways at Kalion washing his face while pursing her lips.

‘Why did I… do that for real?’

It was clear that facing Morrison without a gun would be difficult. 

But even if it were someone other than Kalion in the same situation, would Gia have made the same choice? The answer wasn’t easy to come by.

Was this what emotions towards a colleague truly felt like? While there were colleagues in that place as well, nobody had shown this level of concern, making these emotions feel remarkably unfamiliar.

In the same situation, wouldn’t she have just let go without regret and chosen the gun if it weren’t as dear to her? Gia bit her lip, pondering.

‘Why are you so special?’

Observing Kalion wiping away the bloodstains, she got lost in her thoughts. 

‘What makes you so different?’

Could it be because he’s one of the few truly normal people left in a world that had fallen into ruin? 

She had been similar. Rather than taking things seriously, she often took a more playful approach, and her relationships with others lacked sincerity.

Sitting hunched over with her chin resting on her knees, she watched Kalion clean himself with great care. In a world where today could be the day or tomorrow could be the day, seriousness felt too heavy. 

Living wasn’t easy, but life was too fragile.

Days where she couldn’t guarantee that the comrades she fought with today would be with her tomorrow. If luck was poor, they could end up as corpses or zombie food, and if fortune didn’t favor them, they could become zombies themselves. 

Even as an enhanced human, she wasn’t immune to death. If she suffered a mortal wound or was judged as irreparable, life ended there.

It was not uncommon to put a bullet in the head of a teammate you had just fought alongside. Such circumstances, in a world where the future was unpredictable, could span days, months, a year, five years… with no certainty of improvement. 

The number of zombie entities continued to grow, and the world was progressively falling into chaos.

In a life where there was no hope or anything to hold onto, how many people could keep their sanity? Everyone had a screw or two loose in one way or another.

There were those insane individuals who collected zombie ears or fingers, and several others addicted to drugs, alcohol, and sex. Many were going crazy one way or another just to maintain a life of debauchery while not knowing when they’d die.

In that respect, Gia wasn’t much different. Memories from a few days ago sometimes resurfaced suddenly, like a daydream. Most of the time, it involved concealing her true feelings rather than expressing them.

There were offhand jokes and mixed comments that came out like second nature. Gia knew that it might seem playful, but it was her best defense and choice. Without doing so, she wouldn’t have been able to endure the harsh reality.

Even though she might appear endlessly carefree, it was inevitable. Concealing emotions and pretending to be uninterested, casting aside the hope of tomorrow, was the only way to endure there.

To survive in that place, Gia had no choice but to change. 

What if Kalion had been there? Would he have changed like the others? Gia shook her head at the thought that it didn’t suit him.

It was a place where there was no hope for improvement, but Kalion dreamt of a better tomorrow for the people. The future Gia envisioned made her eyes sparkle.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Gia blinked, not realizing she had been staring at Kalion so intently.

“Me?”

Gia rose from her spot, shaking her head to get rid of the excess water. Her wet hair dripped with droplets, and her face, still uncleaned, brightened.

Looking at the dripping-wet Kalion, Gia extended her lips.

“You know… What can you do with someone as worn out as me?”

“It’s not that…”

“Ah, never mind!”

Kalion’s hand that had grabbed Gia’s wrist, as if he would leave his seat any moment, felt as cold as the lake’s water.

“Please, look. You can look.”

“What?”

“You can look as much as you want.”

Gia mulled over Kalion’s words as he knelt and looked up at her, still holding her wrist.

“What… What are you saying?”

The words made Gia’s face turn a shade of red, as she found it rather embarrassing. 

Did she need to be encouraged to look so actively? Gia cooled her flushed cheeks with her palm.

“What, what… I mean, what do you mean by look?”

With Gia’s voice getting smaller, Kalion’s ears perked up. Afraid Gia might just turn away, Kalion involuntarily spat out words and then abruptly sealed his lips in confusion.

“Uhm, I…”

Gia, who had cleared her throat for no apparent reason, shook her wrist noisily. She had turned back to the forest and was moving towards it, then she called for Kalion, who was standing there like before.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“What?”

“Aren’t you coming… Everyone will be worried.”

Gia thought that Kalion, who was admired and respected by the Knights, should be carefully brought back into them.