Chapter 105 – Chapter 3: Tia – 2
I was so happy to see Ritz’s face.
How old is it? It seems as if she has been traveling again for two months.
The moment I see this handsome face, I feel like all my hard work has been rewarded.
You came to get me out of here.
She woke up early and was resentful of herself.
I want to see Ritz quickly with clear eyes.
I want to get up from her seat and hug Ritsu.
I’ll hug you as hard as I can and chatter.
I worked hard to organize her warehouse as Ritz told me to do.
… Her heart swelled with such anticipation.
But why?
Ritz’s eyes… You look very angry…
Do I hate myself that much?
Ritsu’s voice shook her ears.
“Everyone saw it. “I heard you stayed in this warehouse all day and just slept.”
You just slept?
“Oh, no!”
I worked really hard.
Yesterday too. Today. I organized the warehouse.
So much so that I can’t eat anything until dinner… I worked hard.
“I dozed off, but only for a moment… I made sure to organize it…”
“So you’re saying everyone lied?”
“That’s not it-.”
“Stop making excuses and listen to me.”
Ritsu’s fingers grasped her shoulder tightly.
It feels like she’s suffocating.
It’s scary.
She didn’t want to imagine what Ritsu would say when he got so angry.
“Tia. This is your last chance. Do you know that people say bad things about you? I entrusted you with this task, assuring you that you would never do so. But it hasn’t even been a day yet, so what are you going to do if you’re just sleeping here?”
Her angry eyes and voice were like Uncle Marvin yelling.
I don’t think it’s Ritz…
Is Uncle Marvin yelling at her Ritz?
Am I seeing a vision of Ritz in her dream?
“Ritz…”
“I am doing this for you. What are you doing!”
An invisible knife was inserted into her chest.
Blood spurted out.
It hurts.
It hurts so much that I can’t breathe.
I felt like I was going to die at this rate, so I shook off Ritsu’s hand without realizing it.
“… I am-?! Me too… For you… To save you… I did everything I could… !”
“… “What?”
It shouldn’t be like this.
It felt like the thread in her head was broken, and before she knew it, she was screaming out of her mind.
“Because it’s me! Because I was wrong! Ritz, you just have to live… ! I don’t care what happens to me… !”
“What do you mean now?”
Ritz looked at me with an expression of incomprehension.
“Are you okay…”
It’s okay if you don’t understand.
“It’s okay if people curse at me. I am… Are you okay? So for me… Ritz, all I need is you…”
Tears flowed down my cheeks.
“Strange. Nothing’s wrong… I didn’t mind when people pointed fingers, cursed at me behind my back, and ignored me… Ritz… Because Ritsu yelled at me…”
She scratched her chest with her fingernails.
She scratched hard to pull out something that was firmly lodged in her heart.
There was nothing she could grasp.
I feel like I’m going crazy.
“I feel like my heart is breaking… So painful… It hurts so much that I can’t speak…”
“Tia.”
Ritz was embarrassed.
“This is Brisden. Since I live here, I have to meet people face to face. “If your reputation gets worse, it will be more difficult to live with you.”
His tone was softer than before, but he still looked like he couldn’t understand.
Reputation.
Ritz will be tied to that word for the rest of his life.
Because it is Brisden itself.
To become the face of the village. I will work harder to be an example.
“That’s why I wanted to leave… Right now.”
I thought it was over now.
She thought she couldn’t say it now.
So.
She confessed with all her heart.
“Me… Smiling at everyone… Although I was a little shaky, I lived bravely. But it all became meaningless. The looks in the eyes of the uncles and aunts who used to be so happy and grateful are now… It feels so scary. That feeling of not being able to raise your head, this feeling of wanting to hide forever… Does Ritz know?”
“…”
Ritz had an unfamiliar face.
“You do not have to know. It’s all my fault. Because I made Ritz like that… At that time, if she had listened to Ritsu’s words and returned to the village… The village chief, grandmother, Ritz, Ruev and Marie. We’ve all been laughing together so far… ?”
“No. Out of it. That…”
“I regretted it over and over again. If I could go back to the past, I would even sacrifice my arm to go back. I want to go back to that time and kill myself for bragging about protecting Ritz even though I couldn’t, and encouraging me to go deeper… !!”
If she had a knife in her hand.
I really wanted to cut off this bruised arm.
I wanted to do anything if I could be forgiven for that.
I saw her right hand holding her left arm.
I got goosebumps as soon as I saw the tense tendons that looked like they were going to crush her bones.
It’s scary.
Ritz too.
Me too.
It’s stuffy.
Suddenly, I had a strange feeling that this warehouse was going to collapse and crush me.
“Tia…”
I immediately left the warehouse.
I tried to catch my breath quickly to untangle her chest, but all I could hear was a faint, deflated sound.
Even if you want to run, your weak steps are slow.
“Tia!”
Ritz followed from behind.
“Don’t think so much. Let’s think positively. Huh? Let’s think about what to do from now on. “You can’t help what happened in the past.”
“… “I’m more miserable because I can’t help it.”
Hwiooooo-.
The winter wind blows.
Red hair flutters along with the wind.
What should I do?
I don’t know.
Now I don’t even feel like I’m on the edge of a cliff.
At that time, I thought there might be a way.
Actually, that wasn’t the case.
I was standing on a remote peak with cliffs on all sides, with no way to return.
How to escape from this hellish fate.
Either fall off the cliff and die.
Or not…
“Ritz.”
How to receive salvation from Shinryong.
“Me too… I think I’m too self-indulgent and selfish, but… “Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course. Anything you ask. “Tell me.”
I turned around and looked at Ritz.
“Come with me. Alone, far away… Very far. To the land of flowers. Let’s go on a trip together.”
I don’t like it anymore.
I want to leave everything and leave.
Just… Without anyone. No worries.
I want to live with Ritz.
The words came up to my throat.
But the words melted away at the tip of my tongue.
I’ve always dreamed of it. Travel with Ritz.
Going everywhere together, seeing new things, seeing amazing scenery.
We can laugh happily.
Escaping from this prison-like Brisden and wandering around the vast world.
We will be together to find our own dreams.
But.
Ritz knows it can’t be like that.
Because you carry this village alone.
Because we are responsible for people’s lives.
That’s how I grew up, that’s how I learned, and that’s how I was meant to be.
Nevertheless, for this insignificant me.
Yes.
Can you just say this?
Please. Even if it’s just words.
Please…
I hoped and hoped that that sincerity would reach me.
Ritsu lowered her head.
“I’m sorry, Tia. That… “I can’t do that now.”
“…”
Tears slowly fell.
As expected.
Ritz is a great guy.
It’s too much for me… Man.
“… Huh. “I know.”
Laughed.
Since returning to Brisden, I think it’s the first time I’ve smiled so brightly.
Because I think it’s all over.
All I could do was laugh.
“I thought Ritz would answer that way…”
Sabak. Sabak.
I turned around.
I got the answer.
Now… It’s time to fall off the cliff.
Whiooooo-!
Today, the wind felt cold.
* * *
Hwaaaaah-!
Boom!
I knelt down.
I barely managed to stop him from falling in front of me with my hand.
But then there was the problem.
“… “Wow!”
My toe was tilted.
I felt so nauseous that I had to vomit to be able to breathe.
“Wow! “Wow!”
I came to my senses.
It felt like the pain in my heart that had just been torn apart was instantly forgotten.
It’s still sore and painful.
The moment I felt ‘reality’, I realized how this happened.
It escaped from Tia’s memories.
“… Pfft.”
I laid down on the floor and looked around her.
This is Posao’s bedroom.
Okay. I came all the way here to chase her memories.
And… This was also the place where Tia was molested by Posao.
“…”
He grabbed her breasts.
She’s about to get sick again.
I want to close my eyes because of the pain, but I can’t.
Because what I had just seen was so shocking.
I feel like I’m going crazy because those terrible memories are creeping back.
“That can’t be…”
I still couldn’t believe it.
Tiaga… How could Tia do something like that… ?
He went to Posao without me knowing all night long…
She showed him her breasts, touched his dick, and even sucked it with his mouth… ?
“Oh, no. It can’t be…”
My hands are shaking.
Lie. It’s false.
It has to be that way.
Tia would never do something like that.
Because you decided to get engaged to me.
She kissed her at the lake of promise and even made a solemn promise to Shinryong.
… But how can you be doing something like that with Posao?
I mean… It doesn’t make sense.
I immediately realized the pig’s dark intentions.
A woman who knows how to deal skillfully and flexibly.
The ‘Tia’ I know is that kind of guy.
She has to.
“Why…”
Tears flowed.
It feels like her chest has been pierced by a spear.
“Why-!!”
I hate this pain that doesn’t heal even if I scream.
At the same time, Tia’s heart seemed impossible for her to understand.
I’m starting to understand more and more… I hated it.
The guy was relying on Posao.
I’m tired of being harassed by the villagers, and the sins and debt I owe are too heavy.
I, the person who could trust and comfort him… For being so cold.
Tia, cornered, had no choice but to use this general store as a refuge.
How could she curse at Tia like that?
Why can we blame her for doing something stupid like crossing the line with Po Sao?
No.
Tia just did it like Tia.
She hasn’t changed at all.
With her kind and wise heart, she just did her duty.
Because she hurt me with just one mistake.
Because she ran with the sole purpose of saving me.
Because I could no longer bear the terrifying conspiracies that arose as a result.
But even so, the only person who protected Tia was Posao.
… She ended up being captured by that pervert.
Even me.
No, if only one person had understood and hugged Tia.
I wouldn’t have come this far… !
Crackling.
I clenched my fist.
“Yet… Not yet.”
I was sure.
It’s not too late.
We can save Tia now.
You can catch him trying to take her off the edge.
I got up from my seat.
I kicked down the bedroom door and staggered down the stairs.
“Kollock. Cough!”
Tia said she went to the village below her.
I will go first and find Tia.
I will go and hug Tia without saying a word.
My only friend.
My love.
Tia.
I can finally understand you all.
Your mistake, your mistake.
I can forgive and accept all of that.
“Wait… Now… I’m going…”
I took a step forward to go outside.
That moment.
Kkeikik-.
Suddenly, the entrance to the general store opened.
“… !”
Boom.
Boom.
A huge shadow emitting an irregular sound.
It was slowly coming up from the entrance.
“…”
I glared at him in silence.
Is this some kind of cruel trick of fate?
The thing that blocked my steps towards Tia was…
“Oh, you were here too.”
Posao.
“… Hehe.”
It was that pig.
