Chapter 36 – The Red-Haired Saint of the Slums – 1
It rains from the sky When he wanted to cry, the sky, which didn’t even drop a little moisture, poured out raindrops and beat his whole body to forcefully squeeze out tears when he didn’t want to cry.
“Luca…”
Blood was flowing from her face. Originally, blood flowed naturally in her body. People who face me bleed outside their bodies all the time. Shed blood before tears, and show the heart first, not the heart.
“Sera.”
Again, her name came out of my mouth. In the end, silence fell between us as we stood in the sight of rain pouring down from the sky and blood pouring down from people. I opened her mouth as I looked at her eyes, which were blurring from getting wet.
“Vanessa.”
But the first words were not for Sarah. I continued talking quietly without turning her head.
“Take the kids and run away.”
“Why?”
“The saintess ran away this way. That too, with the head of the priest of the church. It’s definitely not a good thing. I’m sorry for bothering you, but I think it’d be better to evacuate to another place with the children.”
“I think a little differently.”
But Vanessa answered, aiming at Sarah without wavering.
“Anyway, the only place we can take them is the brothel. Whether we’re killed or eaten, we have to survive here.”
“But…”
“And, the Church will not be able to immediately dispatch a large-scale military force. The disappearance of the saintess is a major event that will cause the Church’s authority to fall to the abyss, so we can’t talk about it openly. Besides, you wouldn’t expect a saintess to come to Harlem like this.”
“What if. What if there are guys who followed me?”
She kept asking me what was on her mind, and she looked at me with her only eye and answered.
“Then, we should deal with it.”
“I’ll go check it out.”
“No. I’ll take care of the kids.”
After she answered firmly, she lowered her crossbow and held on to her crutches.
“I thought it would be easier to deal with the church’s gossipers than that crazy saintess.”
“It would be difficult if there were more than one.”
“The ones who have never killed a person are all there anyway.”
It sounded like her reckless words, but her hard-fired eyes contained boredom rather than confidence. I finally had to nod my head at her.
“Okay.”
Without saying goodbye, Vanessa quickly passed Sarah and disappeared in the direction she came from. I see that Vanessa is gone and now I turn her head towards Sarah.
Shoot it
Once it started raining, I didn’t know how to stop. The sky, which had been stripped of all its color by the dark clouds, was achromatic, just like how I felt. I felt the touch of the raindrops clinging to my cheeks, then turned my gaze back to the front.
“Sorry…Luka.”
Upon meeting my gaze, Sera, a little shy, clasped her hands together and opened her mouth. Her voice contained the trembling of an excited girl.
“I couldn’t wait.”
“I don’t think you ever told me where I was.”
“Would you believe me if I said I had arrived when I came to my senses?”
“No at all.”
“But it’s true. You know. I can’t lie.”
One step, she came towards me. I didn’t back down and quietly opened my mouth.
“Are you still under Barbie’s magic?”
“Well. What do you think?”
“Last time I saw it, I was really into it.”
“It was. But it’s different now.”
Once again the distance between the two of us narrowed. The outline of her blurry face was revealed, and the figure of Sera hiding in the rain began to be seen.
The time Sera had spent the past day left visible traces on her skin. Wounds obsessively scratched by something that is not sharp and handprints of strangers left all over the body. With a quick glance, it was easy to tell who and what had been on her body last night.
However, I still don’t know what kind of mind she had to come here.
“Luka.”
Sarah called me. She lifted her head in the pouring rain and saw her clean, unscathed face.
“Why did you come to rescue me?”
“I am…”
“No. Actually…The reason doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you came for me.”
Sara hurriedly cut my tongue and took one more step forward. Water droplets cascaded from her hair and trickled down the hem of her pants. I’m sure I’m wet in the rain too. Strangely, the drops of water that fell from Sera’s body were heavier and colder.
“Isn’t that right, Luca? You came to save me, right?”
I didn’t answer. Then Sarah asked, her voice trembling slightly, overshadowing the confidence she had just shown.
“Why don’t you answer me? It’s true. Otherwise…There’s no reason for you to come here.”
“…”
“Please say something, huh?”
Even if I told you the truth, would you accept it now?
No. I wondered if I even had the will to do so.
The longer the silence, the more Sarah trembled with anxiety. After all, no matter how strongly she believes in the truth that she cannot prove with her own convictions, it will waver someday.
“Luca…”
Sera eventually came up to me and snugly grabbed my clothes. Unpleasant warmth penetrated her hot fingers through the loose hem of her dress. She clung to me and only looked at her lips. I threw a very short word towards her like that.
“Why.”
“Huh?”
“Why do you think I came to rescue you?”
“Yeah…”
The answer that was trying to come out reflexively couldn’t come out as if it was clogged in the throat.
“Yeah we…”
“Are you friends?”
I repeated what she said a while ago. Then Sarah flinched as if she had been stabbed by her knife, and she held on to my clothes even tighter. It seemed that the delusions she had been repeating to herself last night were firmly clinging to the inside of her lips.
“Are we just friends?”
“Then what did you think?”
“We’re not just friends.”
“If not?”
“That…”
She couldn’t answer Instead, I held on tighter to my clothes.
It seemed that now I could understand what Sarah was thinking last night and how she had come this far. You probably think that I came here because I love you.
But she must have known all too well that that wasn’t the truth. Sarah was the one who watched my relationship with Ellie longer than anyone else. Even so, he would have gritted his teeth and turned away from the truth.
Suddenly, a sad laugh broke out. All the while, I thought Sarah was forced into her Barbie hypnosis. So she had the idea that now that Bobby is gone, maybe she can turn Sarah back to her original self.
But that wasn’t it. Sarah had reached the point where she could no longer live without her hypnosis on herself. She’s been living with lies all her life, and she’s been living in lies that they might get caught, so unless she has the magical power to deny reality, she can’t stand it. Like addicts who are addicted to alcohol and drugs trying to turn away from the gutter of life.
Okay.
Maybe she’s Sarah, she’s not Barbie, she’s hypnosis, she’s addicted to herself.
“Sera.”
“Huh?”
I ran my hand through her bangs to clear Sera of her hypnosis. As soon as the smooth touch of the ring touched her cold forehead, Sera involuntarily swallowed her breath.
“You know who I wasn’t just friends with.”
“…”
Sarah couldn’t answer. In the end, the truth was not hidden just because I covered my eyes.
As the hypnosis she had been trying to walk on herself collapsed, Sarah bit her lip and put her head on my chest. And, she spoke to her in a crawling voice.
“…Hey Luca. I want to ask you something.”
“What?”
“How much do you hate me?”
She couldn’t even ask how much she liked it. Her voice trembled as if it would break at any moment. But even so, the gaze on me did not retract. Even though the answer that came out of my mouth wouldn’t be pleasant at all, she clung to me.
I told Sera the truth she wanted so much.
“As much as I loved Ellie.”
And. As much as you loved Ellie in the past.
Sarah couldn’t answer. Looking at it, my memories flowed towards the irreversible past.
It was always like this in the old days. Sara, who approached me full of confidence with lies all over my body, and I, who wasn’t fooled by her hypocrisy. Eventually, when I spewed out her truth to her, she would collapse and cry alone.
Sera. To some, she was both a saint and a prostitute, a hero and a traitor, but to me, she was still a girl who lied. She’s just a stupid little kid who only knows how to lie on a subject she’s not very good at, so she’s stuck on that.
“…Then.”
Sera, who was holding her clothes tightly and lowering her head, met her eyes with me again. And she said, as if in a whisper, with a desperate heart.
“Can’t you love me that much again?”
Shoot it
The raindrops that flowed in vain continued to flow into my head. Sera standing in front of the raining sky and me. Looking at this scene, I couldn’t help but think of a girl holding my shoulder on the snow field and confessing her true feelings.
If she were Ellie, what would she do in this situation.
I’m sure you’ve forgiven me Ellie and Sarah were always like that. If Sarah does something wrong first, Ellie forgives her. Sera regrets it belatedly and apologizes. Now that she thinks about it, she wonders if Ellie considered Sera like her sister. No matter how nasty and irritating they are, they are like the one and only family that eventually creeps into the depths of their hearts. She must have thought so.
Okay. Ellie must have forgiven Sarah.
…
But I wasn’t Ellie.
“Do you want to be loved like that?”
My word fell over her head like salvation. Then Sarah looked at my face, eyes shining like a puppy meeting its owner after a long absence.
“Yes. Luca.”
“Whatever you do?”
“Yes. No matter what happens.”
Sarah’s eyes contained madness beyond her will. I looked into those eyes and put her hand on her shoulder.
“Okay.”
A glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes. But I grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her away, then turned around behind her.
“Follow me then.”
I walked towards the shack without looking back. Even without looking at it anyway, it was clear what choice Sera would make.
Soon, the sound of small footsteps trudging through the sound of falling rain followed me. Just as I was chasing after Ellie, who had already left, Sera continued to follow me as I continued to walk farther away.
As I pushed through the door, raindrops fell on the damp floor. I didn’t want warm air to blow in, but even so, the house without a stove was as cold as ice. Instead came Rachel’s monotonous voice.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Luca. Vanessa-san…”
“I’ll be back soon.”
“…Okay.”
As she tried to approach me, she stopped her steps when she saw Sera following her. Seeing that I couldn’t hear the children’s voices around me, it was probably hidden in the basement. I put down my wet clothes in the corner and sat down on the chair. Sarah stood by the door, restless. Rachel watched her and moved slightly toward her cellar door.
“This must be the famous saintess. Nice to meet you. My name is Rachel Moonlight.”
She greeted her quite kindly, but Sera did not answer. She rather frowned and turned her head towards me.
“This woman… Who the hell is this woman, Luca?”
“Someone who will help you pay for your sins.”
“…That’s a very disturbing statement.”
Rachel sighed and tried to push the chair next to her toward Sarah. But I put her foot out, stopped her chair, and looked at Rachel.
“Let’s sit down and talk.”
“Well…Yes. That’s right.”
Feeling Sarah’s eyes, Rachel awkwardly sat down in her chair. And right away she tilted her head at me.
“I didn’t know you would bring the saintess here.”
“Then what did you think?”
“Just…What…”
She shrugged her shoulders and used her hand to pretend to strangle someone invisible. I shook my head slightly.
“I can’t do that. I have to meet Bobby.”
“Hmm…Are you planning to use the saintess to infiltrate?”
“Well. That’s one way, but I don’t think Bobby would just be stuck in the basement using her consciousness as an excuse when the saintess goes missing. I’ll have to ask Vanessa for the details.”
“Why don’t we just send it back right now? It’s too risky to leave it here.”
“You won’t want to go back.”
It was only then that I looked back at Sarah for a moment. But soon he turned away from her and turned her head again.
“And since you don’t know what kind of sudden action it might commit again. I’d rather keep it where my eyes can reach.”
“I want to refute it, but I can’t. So what are you going to do?”
“I’ll have to try using it in a different way.”
“Hey Luca…”
Then Sara came to my side. She couldn’t help but meet her eyes and she smiled faintly.
“So you need me, right? I’ll help you somehow. I’ll do anything to help you. This time I’ll do as you ask, and I won’t do anything strange…”
“What have you heard so far, Sarah?”
“Huh?”
The smile faded from the corners of Sarah’s mouth as I frowned. I spat out in her nonchalant tone toward her.
“I need a saint, not you.”
“That…That’s it. Because I’m a saint. The strange pun…”
“No. It’s completely different. I need a red-haired girl called a saint.”
“…Yes?”
This time Rachel tilted her head and raised her voice. Placed in the middle of the two red-haired girls, I looked at them alternately.
“To be more precise…”
Then, she put her finger on Sarah’s uvula, she said.
“I just need a red-haired girl with a saintly voice.”
