The volume of Alice’s voice surprised even herself. But when her master’s life was on the line, she couldn’t just stay silent. Leon felt a little warm inside at her furious defense, but he had to stop her.
…She’s probably going to demand to come with me, isn’t she?
On this job, and the next. Unable to bear her master rushing into danger alone.
I can’t let her. I have to nip this in the bud.
Leon made up his mind.
Alice turned to him and yelled, “You can’t do this, Master! Just refuse the job!”
“Sigh. Haven’t you been listening to me, young lady? He’s the only one who can do it. That’s the only reason he’s still alive. If he refuses, he’s putting his own neck on the chopping block.”
That was an unassailable truth. However…
“…I might not be able to refuse, but I can ask you to alter the request.”
Leon’s remark took both Alice and Emilia by surprise. The former cocked her head quizzically, while the latter seemed to catch on to his intent.
“Emilia. Could you negotiate me some easier tasks, just while I’m training the girl? And could you get them to drop this request, just this once?”
Alice couldn’t tell what Leon hoped to achieve by doing this. Noticing her puzzled look, the ghoul explained.
“I can’t help being sent into danger. But if you continue your training…”
“…Oh! I can protect you!”
“That’s right. You have potential, in mind and body both. The potential to protect the things that really matter to you. I can help you draw that potential out.”
“Yes, Master! Please do!”
Her young, pretty face lit up with emotion, and she accepted the proposed compromise. She must have been over the moon at finally seeming to earn her master’s trust. It was the same look of determination that the ghoul once had, when he said to his mentor and fellow apprentice…
I will—
“I shall protect you!” the girl declared.
Before he even knew what he was doing, Leon patted her on the head. Not out of love for his loyal disciple but out of pity. Pity for her and for how he himself used to be.
Emilia turned to him and said, “You do you, pal.” Then, turning to Alice, she added. “Looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other, young lady.”
She didn’t exactly sound overjoyed at the prospect; even Alice could tell that.
But Alice returned home with Leon without ever figuring out how the two felt about each other.
That night, after Alice had eaten and bathed, she retired to her room. What she really wanted to do was train all through the night. She wanted to become able to protect her master as soon as possible. But Leon had convinced her otherwise.
“Sleep is a part of your training,” he’d said. “Go straight to bed and don’t leave it until tomorrow morning.”
With those words ringing in her head, Alice leaned over and blew out her bedside candle. The fatigue from her training and satisfaction from her meal quickly drew her into slumber. The girl surrendered herself to it…and entered the world of dream.
“When life is hard, you need to smile the hardest.”
Mother used to say that all the time.
“Smile when you’re angry. Smile when you’re sad. Smile when it hurts. Smile whenever you really don’t want to. That’s what you were born to do, Alice.”
The other villagers treated her like she was mad. But to me, she was very precious. So long as she was there, I could face each new day with hope.
But one day, her eyes turned blue, and that ruined everything.
“Smile, Alice. Because soon I won’t be able to…”
She was bedridden and couldn’t even stand.
“Alice. You will be happy. That’s what you were born to do.
“So, smile.
“Smile, even when you can’t. Smile so that you smile.
“You have to smile. Go on. Smile.
“Smile.
“Smilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmilesmile.”
I loved her. From the bottom of my heart.
That’s why I had to make it end while she was still human.
Then…
“Aliccce…”
Mother.
“Smile, smile, smile…”
Mother…
“Smile! Noooow!”
Mothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermother.
Mothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermothermother…
“…aah!”
She sat up in bed.
“Haah…haah…haah…”
Her heart pumped like mad. Cold, clammy sweat clung to her skin. She hugged her trembling shoulders and took deep breaths.
“…I’ll go see him.”
She stepped out of bed and left the room. Surely one look at Master would make her feel better.
“I’m going against his instructions, but I’m sure he won’t mind…right?”
A faint smile passed her lips as she arrived outside his room. She gently opened the door so as not to wake him, and there she saw…
“…Huh?”
The room was cold and completely empty.
In a pure-white oblivion—the domain of fiends—a single gunshot rang out.
“It’s not like I thought this would be easy, but I must admit…I underestimated you.”
The path to the Village of the Kin-Eaters was hidden in a field. Not a dangerous place by most rights, but with the Shroud in place, things became very different.
“Yoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoooooo!”
A mandrake leaped at Leon, and he fired his pistol, piercing the plant-man’s heart and turning its all-green body to rotten soup.
“…No scratches that time,” he muttered, tracing the fingers of his right hand across the wounds he had so far sustained: signs of his mistakes. Physically, he was in perfect condition, but mentally he was not. The reason for that was the girl named Alice Campbell.
“…I made the right decision,” he told himself. “I always intended to part ways with her. The sooner, the better. If I put it off for too long…there’s no telling what might happen.”
In order to protect Alice, Leon betrayed her.
After making it sound like she’d earned his trust, he’d shown with his actions that it was all a lie. And the note he left behind ought to deal the finishing blow.
“I can’t spend my time looking after a naive little girl. You, protect me? Absurd. The fact that you fell for my lie proves you’ll never be capable of that.”
After several further lines like this, the letter notified Alice of her dismissal.
“Now that girl has a future again. I made the right decision.”
Yet Leon felt nothing but regret. Why was that? It was because Leon wanted her to save him. To a ghoul like him, Alice Campbell was…
“No! My only saviors were Master and Rheina! The moment I killed them, I destroyed any hope of salvation!”
But every time he told himself that, another layer peeled away.
A lone wolf, a solitary savior, a corpse with no purpose but to complete his mission. These false pretenses were peeling away, and Leon was finding he could play his part no longer. The crushing loneliness. The pain of self-hatred. A man at his breaking point. That was the truth behind Leon Crossheart.
“Stop thinking about it. Just stop. It’s done now. She and I are—”
But before he could finish his thought, he heard a voice.
“No… It can’t be…”
He couldn’t believe his ears, but soon he heard the voice again. This time, there was no mistaking what it said.