Chapter 334 — Kidnapping
I had expected it, but Roe looked at me as though I were insane.
—What makes you think I would ever accept your proposal?
"For the same reason as you. There must be something you can't surrender either."
Roe said he had found the one thing I could not surrender by observing me, but I had watched him for much longer than he had watched me.
"If you leave like this, you'll ultimately be trapped inside the memories of the past you hate so much, repeating the same events. Just as you did, I'll push my body to the brink of death, and then you'll stop me to save it again. It'll become a matter of who gives up first. But unlike you, who's already sick of this, I'm only getting started."
I added one final remark to the boy staring at me like a lunatic.
"Wouldn't it be better to send Ratel away and live here with me instead of repeatedly killing each other?"
The look in Roe's eyes changed.
It was better than the way he had looked at me as though I were insane, but there was not the slightest trace of goodwill in it.
—Are you threatening me?
"You don't need to think so highly of me."
That question succeeded in making him let out an incredulous laugh.
I had not been joking, and he was still looking at me like a lunatic.
"Would merely calling it a threat be enough? I'm telling you that I intend to keep you under surveillance. It's practically the same as kidnapping a brat like you and forcing you to live with an adult you don't want."
What I was doing deserved descriptions far worse than wretched behavior, surveillance, and violence. I was certain I would regret this choice for the rest of my life.
My self-loathing would probably never end.
—You seem to be the one who doesn't understand what you're saying. You're asking me to die with you. Is that really your choice?
Roe questioned me fiercely again.
"I'm asking you to live with me."
—Can you call remaining stagnant and motionless while the real world continues to move living?
"We'll have to count it as a form of living. There probably isn't much difference between being alive and slowly dying anyway."
—Stop spouting sophistry.
Roe's gaze was cold as he glared at me.
I had never believed I could smooth everything over with words. Though I was willing to irritate him a little.
"I have more conditions."
Meeting his unblinking black eyes, I continued.
"We'll try living like that for a while—or, as you put it, dying together. Then, once enough time has passed and everything is over, once Ratel and everyone else have finished their fight, I'll give you my body. Those are my terms."
—Don't try anything clever. Once Ratel escapes safely from these memories, everything will be over. This is my final opportunity.
"If he returns, you might receive another opportunity."
Roe's eyes wavered momentarily.
"If you help me, I can leave him a final message before he escapes these memories. If I explain the situation, ask for his help, and tell him to return, he'll definitely come back."
—You're asking me to gamble?
"Well, the odds seem better than continuing a pathetic battle you've already lost."
I finished speaking, but Roe remained silent for a moment. After the brief silence, he released a sigh-laden lament.
—Why did you reach such a ridiculous conclusion?
Judging by the adjective he had attached to my proposal, he did not appear to be considering it very favorably.
Then again, even if I were in his position, I would not want to live indefinitely with an adult like me.
However, since I was taking away his freedom to choose, I intended to treat him kindly.
I was even willing to let him hit me occasionally if necessary.
Compared to that resolution, I could answer as many questions as he wanted.
Wasn't that what adults were supposed to do?
Honestly, I knew absolutely nothing about how a proper adult should behave, but it was probably something like that.
"I was wondering how high I would have to climb to escape the game you arranged. While thinking about it, I realized something."
Roe remained silent, almost as though he were waiting for my explanation.
"No matter how high you fly, you eventually have to descend to rest your wings."
—For a liar, you certainly spout whatever comes to mind.
Roe, who had been listening silently, mocked me under his breath. I shrugged.
"That's simply how I am. So I decided to jump directly onto the board and interfere with you from right beside you while you arrange the pieces."
—All you have is a clever mouth.
Roe had been wearing something resembling a sneer, but when his gaze returned to me, his expression turned cold again.
—That also sounds like you intend to rest briefly before flying away again.
"I won't abandon you and escape by myself."
—I don't need such a promise in the first place, but I also have no idea why you expect me to trust mere words.
He was clearly mocking me, but contrary to his intentions, he did not get on my nerves.
It was not a difficult accusation to answer either. Perhaps I was already becoming accustomed to him.
"Even if I betray you and escape alone, Ratel will kill me for abandoning you."
He was fully capable of doing that.
He would never forgive me for abandoning the final means of saving his brother.
Roe undoubtedly knew that as well.
After contemplating briefly, Roe released a long sigh. Then he looked at me with a thoroughly exhausted expression.
—Why did people meeting for the first time clasp hands?
"....To show that they aren't holding anything?"
Roe gave a small nod at the answer I offered while recalling the origin of handshakes.
—Yes. It represents trust. It shows that you don't intend to harm the other person.
He extended his hand toward me.
—Then shall we shake hands as a sign of trust?
"That includes accepting my terms, doesn't it?"
When I, being no less suspicious than he was, asked for confirmation, Roe nodded with a thoroughly exasperated expression.
After staring down at his small hand, I slowly took it.
Then his lukewarm hand seized mine with a powerful grip and pulled me closer.
As my head naturally lowered, his quiet voice whispered beside it.
—You pass too. Honestly, I still don't know whether I should be doing this.
Roe was not kind enough to explain every detail of a test I had not even known I was taking.
"What?"
Ignoring my dumbfounded question, he pointed toward an indeterminate corner of the darkness.
It was an exceedingly casual gesture, similar to how he had controlled people within his memories.
Yet once again, the repercussions of his infinitely light movement were immense.
A small opening began to split the darkness.
At the same time, the hand Roe held began growing uncontrollably hot.
Heat was radiating from his body.
It resembled what happened when I used Manis.
While I stood there speechless, Roe frowned at the opening he had created by pushing away the darkness and then looked at me.
—I don't have much power left, so it isn't working very well. Still, it should be enough for you to leave.
I understood that it was a gate meant to let me escape the darkness, but unease arose within me when I realized he did not seem likely to leave with me.
The strength with which he held my hand was gradually weakening.
His form was also growing faint.
"Aren't we leaving together?"
—I never intended to do that. I don't have enough power either. I told you the third time would be the last.
Confessing his deception, Roe smiled.
—I've now kept my promise. It's your turn to keep yours.
"If you want me to keep my promise, you should obediently come with me."
—Not that promise.
Roe interrupted me.
—I won our bet. I just answered your question, so now you must answer mine honestly.
An unfamiliar playfulness entered his voice.
His smile also carried the mischievousness he showed when teasing his younger brother.
At that moment, I remembered the ridiculous little wager I had made with him.
We had agreed to answer one question from each other.
However, what accompanied his next question was not playfulness but concern.
—Does Ratel truly make friends in the future? Are they people who won't betray him this time and will remain by his side?
Only then did I realize how heavy Roe's steps must actually have been when he turned away and left Ratel behind in the laboratory.
I also realized that my clichéd words meant to stop him had unquestionably affected him.
"You're more sentimental than I expected."
—Just hurry and keep your promise. There isn't much time left. You should reassure me one last time.
He frowned at the murmur that had escaped me unconsciously and urged me to answer.
But I had no intention of letting him conclude everything on his own like this.
"Shut up. You can find out for yourself later."
—There's no need. What he needs now isn't me but you. If you remain here with me, it will be no different from killing the future.
"Don't make me laugh. No one knows that yet."
—I thought you had matured slightly. Do you intend to end everything as such a heartless and petty adult?
The hell with ending anything. He could not escape from here.
Before his hand could completely slip from mine, I tightened my grip while he stared at me in disbelief.
"If you want to know, ask him yourself. I have no intention of interfering in a family dispute."
—You were disgustingly pretending to be his guardian only moments ago.
Ignoring his spiteful remark, I held his hand firmly.
He was probably allowing me to hold him because he knew that whatever I tried would be useless.
As proof, Roe's hand gradually lost its shape within my grasp, while his body grew so faint that it seemed ready to dissolve into the darkness at any moment.
But I could not let this devious brat go like this.
Determined to hold on to him somehow, I gripped his hand even more tightly.
I forced myself to ignore the disgusting sensation of clutching at empty air and desperately searched for an answer.
He was an irritating brat, but I could not let him disappear like this.
There were still many things I wanted to hear and many matters I wanted to confront him about.
Even if he was merely a fragment of memory, he was no different from something alive.
A fragment of memory.
One of the words racing irritably through my mind suddenly stopped as though nailed in place.
At the same time, something surfaced in my thoughts.
It was Ratel's murmuring voice from just before I was dragged into these wretched memories.
Was it the relationship between Manis and the soul?
The most fundamental and elementary principle of alchemy.
I urgently questioned Roe, who was watching my struggle with an infuriatingly composed expression.
"You were created from Manis, weren't you?"
—What?
He blinked as though he did not understand my question.
In truth, his answer was not important.
Even if my assumption was wrong, that was no reason not to try.
"You're a memory. You're a memory derived from a trap someone created, and that trap is filled with another person's Manis from the past."
—What are you talking about?
"If you're something created from Manis, I'm asking whether I can forcibly take you with me."
—I...
There was no time to hear his answer.
The mouth that needed to provide it was fading along with the rest of his face.
I seized his not-yet-vanished hand with both of mine.
The sensation was so faint that it felt like trying to grasp powder.
That was precisely what I needed to do. I had to gather every last fragment of the dispersing Manis.