Ethan said, looking back at me before heading up to the roof of the building. I stretched out two fingers toward Ethan, miming a gunshot. It was an attack signal.
Muttering to himself, Ethan waved at me and disappeared into the next building.
BANG!
A gunshot rang out from inside the building where Ethan had disappeared.
Luckily, there were only a few monsters in the neighborhood, and they seemed to be distracted, so they didn’t swarm this time.
I patted my chest and looked back toward the clock tower. There were quite a few monsters clustered around the clock tower. I’d never get near it unless Ethan distracted them.
I lifted my head a little higher and looked at the top of the clock tower again.
‘Knox should be up there’
I looked up and saw the hem of a robe brushing against the railing at the top of the clock tower.
‘Something must have moved.’
I waited for Ethan’s signal and looked up, this time to the roof of the next building. There he was, perched on the roof, crouched down.
I need to learn how to use a real gun! just swing an axe or whatever, that’s all!
I glanced down to see Ethan on the ground, his gun aimed at the entrance to the clock tower. I made eye contact with him. He stretched out two fingers, pointed forward, and mimed shooting.
At the signal to attack, I grabbed my axe and ran to the clock tower.
I had just opened the door to the clock tower then I chopped down two monsters with my axe.
BANG!
A gunshot echoed through the city. The creature that ran at my back had been shot by Ethan’s gun and fell to the ground. I glanced at Ethan and closed the door to the clock tower.
It was silent inside the clock tower. There seemed to be a staircase leading to the top, so I ran up the spiral staircase, two or three steps at a time.
Hoping that Knox Cornell Ludlowshire was at the end.
Sure enough, at the top of the stairs, which I ran up so fast I was out of breath, there he was. His legs were covered in blood.
Messy silver hair, tattered doctor’s scrubs. Knox looked up at me in surprise as he crouched down on his bloody leg.
“……Cherry Sinclair?”
I gasped, wiping the sweat from the tip of my chin.
“What are you doing here?”
To my surprise, Knox was puffing on a cigarette with languid eyes. You’d think he was on drugs or something.
He blew out a puff of smoke. Then he shrugged and replied in his characteristically laid-back, nonchalant tone.
“I’m resting. I didn’t expect Lady Sinclair to be here. Weren’t you supposed to be somewhere safe? How did you get here?”
As he asked me that, Knox leaned back against the railing of the clock tower and looked out.
When he says safe, does he mean Happy House?
“I don’t know how you got down here, but you’ve done evil to save yourself, and that’s good. I guess you’ll be spending the rest of your days with me? Too bad.”
Knox took another deep drag on his cigarette and blew out the smoke. He looked at me, his eyes filled with negative emotion.
He sounded like he was dying.
“What are you talking about?”
I asked, furrowing my brow, unable to understand his words. But I gave up waiting for an answer right away and urged him on.
“I don’t have time for a long talk right now, so get up and let’s go…….”
In a hurry to get down the clock tower, I reached out my hand to Knox. My gaze naturally landed on his right thigh.
I had seen it before, but the wound looked really bad. His right thigh was a mess. It was covered in blood and his pants were torn, and I couldn’t tell if it was a monster bite or something else.
“Bitten?”
Knox raised an eyebrow at my question, a cigarette in his mouth. He looked like he didn’t understand my question.
“Bitten?”
“I mean, were you bitten by those crazy monsters.”
I don’t have time for this, but it’s important to note. If Knox is bitten by a monster, I can’t save him, even if he’s one of the main characters.
Knox’s eyes widen in surprise at my bold statement. Then he bursts out laughing.
“I wonder if this is the Cherry Sinclair I know.”
“That’s not the point right now. Answer me quickly, we’re running out of time.”
“I wasn’t bitten, I just got stuck on the end of a broken railing on my way up here.”
“Okay then, can you get up?”
“No. I can’t use my legs. Even if I go down, I can’t get away from those monsters.”
“That’s okay, I can carry you. I just need to make sure you don’t get bitten, that’s all.”
“What? Now, wait……!”
I scooped him up without waiting to hear Knox’s response. His legs dragged a bit on the floor because he was so tall, but it didn’t matter.
“Hey, what’s this……! Hey, wait!”
“Shut up and take this.”
I shoved an axe and an empty bag into Knox’s hands, then helped him up and down the stairs.
“Cherry Sinclair!”
“XX! Shut up!”
Knox, who had been loud for a while, shut up at my cursing.
Yeah, I know. If I were a normal woman, I wouldn’t have heard him at all.
But I’m not a normal woman, and I’m strong enough to lift him like a piece of luggage.
Still, carrying a man down the stairs with no strength in his legs was definitely a challenge.
“……Who are you?”
Knox asked me as he meekly descended on my back, and of course I didn’t answer.
When we reached the first floor, I grabbed the doorknob of the clock tower and told Knox.
“If the monster jumps on me, swing the axe, because I don’t have any hands right now.”
“……what?”
“Don’t make me say it twice, if you don’t want to be abandoned. I’m in pretty bad shape right now.”
“Abandoned? That’s what you’re saying to me?”
“Fuck.”
“You have a short temper. Don’t swear at me, and don’t abandon me. I’m good at swinging.”
Hearing my cursing, Knox immediately shifted his stance and swung the axe like a natural, which is to say, on top of me.
He laughed out loud, and I could feel his body shuddering against my back.
“This is too vivid for a near-death dream. There’s no way Miss Cherry came all the way here to rescue me, and she had to carry me.”
As I grabbed the doorknob and took a deep breath on the first floor of the clock tower, I could hear Knox muttering behind my back.
I’m a little dumbfounded, so I let go of the doorknob and set him down on the stairs, where he sits down and looks up at me at an angle with a questioning look on his face.
“This isn’t a dream, I’m here to save you, Mr. Knox, what makes you think I won’t save you?”
“Because……. Isn’t that why you threw the stones? I saw you throwing stones from the mansion into the village. You used the village as bait so that only you could live.”
No. How could there be such a misunderstanding? I swallowed hard and sighed.
“The stone. I threw it to save you.”
“Now come the excuses…….”
“You were stranded in the square at the time, and I threw the stone the other way, clearing a path in the direction Mr. Knox was going.”
Knox’s pupils dilate. His mouth twitched like a carp.
“Then…….”
“So I come to your rescue, over and over again, and this is how you treat me, Mr. Knox. I saved you for nothing. I should have just thrown at you. What a pain in the ass.”
“Now, wait……!”
He called after me as I turned my back on Knox and grabbed the doorknob again.
“Oh, I think there was a misunderstanding, Ms. Cherry, I’m sorry.”
The apology was quick. So was Ethan’s; people here seem to be pretty quick to admit wrongdoing. Well, maybe he was just afraid they were going to abandon him.
“I’m not apologizing because I’m afraid Miss Cherry will leave me here, I’m not that uneducated.”
As if reading my mind, Knox immediately added.
“Thank you. For saving me.”
I rubbed my brow tiredly at Knox’s apology, then asked him.
“Can we leave now, then?”
He nodded meekly, so I put him on my back again. Then I slowly turned the doorknob.
It was thankfully quiet in front of the clock tower.
I could see the monsters swarming in the distance, but thankfully they didn’t seem interested in us.
I looked up to the roof of the building where Ethan should be, but there was no one there.
“Where is he? I was supposed to meet Sir Ethan by the clock tower.”
“Did Ethan come with you?”
“Why else would I be here alone?”
“Why are you so grumpy?”
“Because ……look at the situation now, don’t you think?”
“Wow, Ms. Cherry. I didn’t realize you were so scary.”
I scanned my surroundings, ignoring the low murmurs that followed Knox. Ethan was still nowhere to be seen.
He must be on his way to the clock tower, but I couldn’t see him anywhere near it, and instead of him, the virus monsters began to approach the clock tower.
“Hey, Ms. Cherry. This isn’t the time to do that. I think we should move.”
Knox, still on my back, grabbed his axe. I took off running, still carrying Knox.
Ethan said, looking back at me before heading up to the roof of the building. I stretched out two fingers toward Ethan, miming a gunshot. It was an attack signal.
Muttering to himself, Ethan waved at me and disappeared into the next building.
BANG!
A gunshot rang out from inside the building where Ethan had disappeared.
Luckily, there were only a few monsters in the neighborhood, and they seemed to be distracted, so they didn’t swarm this time.
I patted my chest and looked back toward the clock tower. There were quite a few monsters clustered around the clock tower. I’d never get near it unless Ethan distracted them.
I lifted my head a little higher and looked at the top of the clock tower again.
‘Knox should be up there’
I looked up and saw the hem of a robe brushing against the railing at the top of the clock tower.
‘Something must have moved.’
I waited for Ethan’s signal and looked up, this time to the roof of the next building. There he was, perched on the roof, crouched down.
I need to learn how to use a real gun! just swing an axe or whatever, that’s all!
I glanced down to see Ethan on the ground, his gun aimed at the entrance to the clock tower. I made eye contact with him. He stretched out two fingers, pointed forward, and mimed shooting.
At the signal to attack, I grabbed my axe and ran to the clock tower.
I had just opened the door to the clock tower then I chopped down two monsters with my axe.
BANG!
A gunshot echoed through the city. The creature that ran at my back had been shot by Ethan’s gun and fell to the ground. I glanced at Ethan and closed the door to the clock tower.
It was silent inside the clock tower. There seemed to be a staircase leading to the top, so I ran up the spiral staircase, two or three steps at a time.
Hoping that Knox Cornell Ludlowshire was at the end.
Sure enough, at the top of the stairs, which I ran up so fast I was out of breath, there he was. His legs were covered in blood.
Messy silver hair, tattered doctor’s scrubs. Knox looked up at me in surprise as he crouched down on his bloody leg.
“……Cherry Sinclair?”
I gasped, wiping the sweat from the tip of my chin.
“What are you doing here?”
To my surprise, Knox was puffing on a cigarette with languid eyes. You’d think he was on drugs or something.
He blew out a puff of smoke. Then he shrugged and replied in his characteristically laid-back, nonchalant tone.
“I’m resting. I didn’t expect Lady Sinclair to be here. Weren’t you supposed to be somewhere safe? How did you get here?”
As he asked me that, Knox leaned back against the railing of the clock tower and looked out.
When he says safe, does he mean Happy House?
“I don’t know how you got down here, but you’ve done evil to save yourself, and that’s good. I guess you’ll be spending the rest of your days with me? Too bad.”
Knox took another deep drag on his cigarette and blew out the smoke. He looked at me, his eyes filled with negative emotion.
He sounded like he was dying.
“What are you talking about?”
I asked, furrowing my brow, unable to understand his words. But I gave up waiting for an answer right away and urged him on.
“I don’t have time for a long talk right now, so get up and let’s go…….”
In a hurry to get down the clock tower, I reached out my hand to Knox. My gaze naturally landed on his right thigh.
I had seen it before, but the wound looked really bad. His right thigh was a mess. It was covered in blood and his pants were torn, and I couldn’t tell if it was a monster bite or something else.
“Bitten?”
Knox raised an eyebrow at my question, a cigarette in his mouth. He looked like he didn’t understand my question.
“Bitten?”
“I mean, were you bitten by those crazy monsters.”
I don’t have time for this, but it’s important to note. If Knox is bitten by a monster, I can’t save him, even if he’s one of the main characters.
Knox’s eyes widen in surprise at my bold statement. Then he bursts out laughing.
“I wonder if this is the Cherry Sinclair I know.”
“That’s not the point right now. Answer me quickly, we’re running out of time.”
“I wasn’t bitten, I just got stuck on the end of a broken railing on my way up here.”
“Okay then, can you get up?”
“No. I can’t use my legs. Even if I go down, I can’t get away from those monsters.”
“That’s okay, I can carry you. I just need to make sure you don’t get bitten, that’s all.”
“What? Now, wait……!”
I scooped him up without waiting to hear Knox’s response. His legs dragged a bit on the floor because he was so tall, but it didn’t matter.
“Hey, what’s this……! Hey, wait!”
“Shut up and take this.”
I shoved an axe and an empty bag into Knox’s hands, then helped him up and down the stairs.
“Cherry Sinclair!”
“XX! Shut up!”
Knox, who had been loud for a while, shut up at my cursing.
Yeah, I know. If I were a normal woman, I wouldn’t have heard him at all.
But I’m not a normal woman, and I’m strong enough to lift him like a piece of luggage.
Still, carrying a man down the stairs with no strength in his legs was definitely a challenge.
“……Who are you?”
Knox asked me as he meekly descended on my back, and of course I didn’t answer.
When we reached the first floor, I grabbed the doorknob of the clock tower and told Knox.
“If the monster jumps on me, swing the axe, because I don’t have any hands right now.”
“……what?”
“Don’t make me say it twice, if you don’t want to be abandoned. I’m in pretty bad shape right now.”
“Abandoned? That’s what you’re saying to me?”
“Fuck.”
“You have a short temper. Don’t swear at me, and don’t abandon me. I’m good at swinging.”
Hearing my cursing, Knox immediately shifted his stance and swung the axe like a natural, which is to say, on top of me.
He laughed out loud, and I could feel his body shuddering against my back.
“This is too vivid for a near-death dream. There’s no way Miss Cherry came all the way here to rescue me, and she had to carry me.”
As I grabbed the doorknob and took a deep breath on the first floor of the clock tower, I could hear Knox muttering behind my back.
I’m a little dumbfounded, so I let go of the doorknob and set him down on the stairs, where he sits down and looks up at me at an angle with a questioning look on his face.
“This isn’t a dream, I’m here to save you, Mr. Knox, what makes you think I won’t save you?”
“Because……. Isn’t that why you threw the stones? I saw you throwing stones from the mansion into the village. You used the village as bait so that only you could live.”
No. How could there be such a misunderstanding? I swallowed hard and sighed.
“The stone. I threw it to save you.”
“Now come the excuses…….”
“You were stranded in the square at the time, and I threw the stone the other way, clearing a path in the direction Mr. Knox was going.”
Knox’s pupils dilate. His mouth twitched like a carp.
“Then…….”
“So I come to your rescue, over and over again, and this is how you treat me, Mr. Knox. I saved you for nothing. I should have just thrown at you. What a pain in the ass.”
“Now, wait……!”
He called after me as I turned my back on Knox and grabbed the doorknob again.
“Oh, I think there was a misunderstanding, Ms. Cherry, I’m sorry.”
The apology was quick. So was Ethan’s; people here seem to be pretty quick to admit wrongdoing. Well, maybe he was just afraid they were going to abandon him.
“I’m not apologizing because I’m afraid Miss Cherry will leave me here, I’m not that uneducated.”
As if reading my mind, Knox immediately added.
“Thank you. For saving me.”
I rubbed my brow tiredly at Knox’s apology, then asked him.
“Can we leave now, then?”
He nodded meekly, so I put him on my back again. Then I slowly turned the doorknob.
It was thankfully quiet in front of the clock tower.
I could see the monsters swarming in the distance, but thankfully they didn’t seem interested in us.
I looked up to the roof of the building where Ethan should be, but there was no one there.
“Where is he? I was supposed to meet Sir Ethan by the clock tower.”
“Did Ethan come with you?”
“Why else would I be here alone?”
“Why are you so grumpy?”
“Because ……look at the situation now, don’t you think?”
“Wow, Ms. Cherry. I didn’t realize you were so scary.”
I scanned my surroundings, ignoring the low murmurs that followed Knox. Ethan was still nowhere to be seen.
He must be on his way to the clock tower, but I couldn’t see him anywhere near it, and instead of him, the virus monsters began to approach the clock tower.
“Hey, Ms. Cherry. This isn’t the time to do that. I think we should move.”
Knox, still on my back, grabbed his axe. I took off running, still carrying Knox.
