#151
Did they not think at all that I would choose them? If that’s why they didn’t say anything to me, it was a bit sad.
‘Were they afraid that if they spoke to persuade me, everything would fall apart?’
When I thought about this topic before, I was so focused on the idea that ‘they handled my affairs unilaterally again’ that I couldn’t consider anything else.
But now, thinking about the overwhelming despair they must have felt, my heart ached.
‘I…’
If I were in their position, could I have avoided clinging to their ankles and begging?
Of course, I just wanted them to be honest and try to persuade me, but maybe they lied because they had no way of knowing my intentions? Did they want to convince me but, finding no way to do so, ultimately decided to hide everything as a second-best option?
Honestly, when I think about what they did to block just one person’s eyes and ears, it’s almost frightening, but now that I’ve distanced myself and calmly tried to understand their feelings, I wonder if it would have been better to hear directly from them.
After all, unless they told me, unless they hid it, I couldn’t go back. My heart was already leaning towards them, those fools.
‘I guess they had no choice since I didn’t speak clearly…’
I sighed softly. I also had reasons I couldn’t speak, but thinking about it, I guess it wasn’t much different for the two of them…
[So why did you call me?]
While I was thinking about the two of them for a moment, Liam seemed to find my silence strange. He abruptly asked me to state my business.
Whether due to the translator’s error, it switched between informal and formal speech, and sometimes produced strange expressions. It was quite a mess. I almost snickered imagining the big, gruff Liam saying “Why did you call me?” in his actual voice.
I had called him to sound him out, but I really went off on a tangent. But it was Liam’s answer that provoked me, so somehow I ended up thinking about those two.
[Hey, don’t you feel like I’m coming between you and Ray? I’m curious if you think I’m an interferer.]
Liam thought for a moment before answering my question.
[As long as Ray wants it, I won’t harm you.]
What? He must have imagined hurting me a lot in his imagination!
Why is he answering that he won’t harm me when I asked if he thinks I’m an interferer?
‘Is it a translation error?’
Glancing at Liam’s calm face, I quietly shifted my bottom back a little. As the soft sofa back touched me more, I felt slightly more secure.
[Then when can I go out freely as promised? I haven’t seen the good points of America yet.]
[It’s impossible now. Naturalize quickly.]
[Look, you said you’d let me make a voluntary decision.]
[You just need to make a decision for everything.]
Whether due to the translator’s tone or not, it felt even more like an iron wall. Anyway, looking at the meaning, it seemed there was no possibility that Liam would take my side.
If they found out I was planning to escape, it seemed the results might be different from what I expected. I guess life really is about self-reliance.
Thinking that Liam wouldn’t work out, I rapidly lost interest.
[I understand your intention. I called because I was curious about your opinion, not Ray’s. I’ll think about it seriously on my own.]
At my words, Liam nodded and stood up. He really seems to have no interest in anyone but Ray. He left the room so quickly, I thought I heard a whoosh.
‘In this case, I have to escape on my own. Is there a good way…’
I needed a good plan. At least it was clear that there was no one here I could trust, so I needed a definite solution.
***
My plan, though somewhat rough, was set to begin at walk time. I decided to attempt an escape quickly, feeling that if things continued like this, I’d be trapped here unable to do anything.
“Guide Lee Jaeha, it’s walk time. I’ve come to get you.”
“Ah, just a moment.”
I stood up, holding the laptop. As always, Nikki was standing in front of the door with a sleepy face. She briefly scanned the room with a disinterested look, waited for me to come out, and then led the way. Usually friendly, when sleepy, her words drastically decreased and she seemed annoyed by everything.
Following behind her as we went outside, I suddenly shouted “Ah!” in front of the entrance.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was planning to draw outside but I left my art supplies.”
“You’re going to draw in the middle of the night?”
“I don’t have a camera, so I need to either imagine or draw while looking directly. You saw earlier, right? I left one side completely undrawn.”
Using the fact that Nikki had glanced at my ‘experimental’ landscape earlier, I spoke, and she nodded.
“The streetlights are bright, so I thought I’d draw under them. I’ll go get my art supplies, could you please take the laptop to the bench in that garden over there? Please!”
Nikki looked clearly annoyed. But since I had asked directly, and maybe because it would be awkward to refuse, she nodded and started moving towards where I had indicated.
‘As expected.’
There were quite a few benches scattered in the right-side garden I mentioned. The fact that Nikki moved without me specifying which bench meant that she had checked my location via the laptop several times and had figured out the pattern.
Confirming roughly how things worked by her not asking for clarification, I became convinced that escaping quickly would be best.
‘Let’s secure the map first.’
I ran back to the room quickly, then used scissors to tear the canvas. I planned to escape using the time Nikki was taking to place the laptop. I was taking the map now so that Nikki, who came to get me, wouldn’t sense anything strange and would take the laptop with her.
As I tore the canvas roughly, as if clearing away the time I had been trapped here, I felt a strange sense of satisfaction. I carefully folded the map that only I could understand, put it in my pocket, and gathered my art supplies. This was in case Nikki hadn’t listened to me and was standing at the entrance.
‘Thank goodness!’
Perhaps she didn’t feel the need to monitor me that closely, as Nikki had already disappeared without a trace.
I quickly ran in the opposite direction with the art supplies, hid them in the bushes I had scouted earlier, and then changed direction again. The slight breathlessness I felt at the thought that this was just the beginning didn’t bother me. It was obvious that escaping from an S-rank Esper’s territory wouldn’t be an easy task.
‘I need to escape quickly before Liam finds out.’
I’m well aware of how well Espers can hear. The further I could get from Liam’s sensory range, the higher my chances of escape would be.
At least it was dawn now, and unless something special happened, Liam wouldn’t think I would try to escape. The plan was to run as far as possible while Nikki waited for me, then returned feeling something was strange.
Running like crazy made me breathless and in pain. But there was no time to stop. After putting some distance between us, I would need to reduce my speed appropriately to prevent my breathing from sounding too rough. Just like Hyun Dowoon and Shin Haejun, Liam would certainly be able to hear my pounding heartbeat.
As I ran for a while, then alternated with brisk walking to control my breathing, I suddenly saw something new in the distance that wasn’t a tree.
‘Have I finally reached near the wall?’
This was my first time coming this far. Someone always came to get me after I walked a certain distance.
Once I cross the wall, I can consider the escape more than half successful! Suddenly feeling better, I ran towards it.
There really was a wall there. A very high wall.
‘…What’s this? How do I climb it?’
I stared at the wall in bewilderment. It seemed like I would have to climb a nearby tree to get over it.
‘But… what’s this sound?’
I kept hearing a pattering sound from beyond the wall. It sounded like something hard and plastic was hitting the ground or wall.
I thought I’d have to climb to the top of the wall to figure out what the sound was, but I was very worried as I had never climbed a tree before.
Worrying and staring helplessly up at the tree, I finally decided to try climbing and jumped up. However, before I could even grab the long-stretched branch, I slipped down.
“Eek…!”
If I could just get over this…!
Gritting my teeth, I tried to somehow place my feet in any slightly indented parts, but I kept slipping down.
The alternative I finally found was to look for a more gnarled tree to reduce slipping.
‘Come to think of it, all the areas close to the mansion had well-managed, straight trees, but it seems they don’t manage this area as well.’
I’m not sure if they intentionally left the trees unkempt, but it felt like the area was less maintained.
As I somehow grasped the tree that looked grayish in the dawn light and struggled to climb up with grunts, my hands, thighs, legs, and entire body felt like they were about to fall off from pain.
‘If I had known it would be like this, maybe I should have looked for the mansion entrance…’
But of course, there would obviously be CCTV at the mansion entrance. Escaping all the way there only to get caught would be too disappointing.
‘It would be nice if I could open an inventory at times like this.’
Just as I thought that. I misstepped. I had managed to climb quite high, but as I suddenly started to slip, a scream automatically escaped my lips.
“Aaaagh!”
I crashed to the ground, landing on my buttocks and back. Although it was covered in bushes, terrible pain struck me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
