As I said goodbye to the kids, my gaze instinctively drifted toward Alice.
She stood off to the side, her face lit with a warm, quiet smile.
I took a few steps toward her, the crunch of my boots barely audible over the rustling leaves and distant chatter of children.
"You're going to be at the academy for priesthood too, right?" I asked.
She nodded lightly, a faint chuckle escaping her lips. "Well, I still have a two-week break left. So technically, you're ahead of ."
"I see," I murmured, a breeze brushing past as I looked back at the orphanage for a mont. "I'll be visiting when I can. I want to stay grounded a d remind myself of where I ca from, no matter what."
"You don't need to humble us so much," she replied with a quiet laugh, her eyes kind. "We're fine, really. Just live your life the way you want."
Despite the bumps in our relationship—those awkward silences and unspoken tensions—we'd sohow managed to rebuild a bridge across that distance. Fragile though it was, it stood. A part of hoped that maybe, even if we never beca sothing more, we could still find aning in this bond. Even if we didn't beco one.
"I'll see you," I said, quietly but firmly, locking eyes with her for a brief mont.
"Yes. too," she said, just as softly, her voice carrying a tenderness that lingered in the air.
With that final exchange, I turned away and finally departed for the Academy City.
***
Alice's POV
Leon had finally left the village, heading off to the Academy City.
anwhile, I stayed here, trapped in the sa rhythms, staring out the familiar window from my room, watching the sky fade into dusk.
The quiet was louder than usual. I could already sense how lonely it might beco for the two little ones Leon had brought to the village. They had grown attached to him, that much was obvious. The way they looked at him with their eyes full of admiration and trust, it was no mystery. After all, he had saved them. He had been their light in the darkness.
Leon hadn't changed as much as I'd expected him to. Not really.
He was still the sa boy I used to play with beneath the trees, the sa one I taught basic spells and magical theory to when we were just children. That essence of him… it was still there.
As I sat there, eyes fixed on the wide horizon, sothing suddenly caught my attention.
A glint in the sky.
Sothing… falling.
It was distant, barely more than a dot against the fading blue. But it was definitely descending fast, tearing through the air.
What… is that?
And then... It hit.
A brilliant flash of light tore through the sky, followed by an ear-shattering explosion that split the world open. Fire blossod in the distance, rising into the air in a towering mushroom-shaped inferno that scorched the heavens.
The floor beneath my feet trembled. And then, an invisible wave hit.
It was delayed, but devastating.
A massive shockwave surged through the air, shattering every window in the orphanage. Glass rained down like sharp confetti as the force of the blast struck like a punch from a giant. I was flung backward, my body slamming against the hard, unyielding wall with a sickening thud.
"Ughhh!?"
All the breath in my lungs was knocked out of , leaving gasping and stunned. Pain surged through my chest and limbs, a harsh reminder that I was still alive... but barely.
What… just happened?
What was that?
I struggled to steady my breathing, my mind a blur of panic and confusion.
The children.
I had to find the children.
I pushed myself up, ignoring the sharp pain coursing through my back and ribs.
"Alice!"
Sister Lily's voice rang out from outside. She was already there—thankfully—with so of the children clinging to her. But wait... soone was missing.
Soone was still unaccounted for.
I ran back into the orphanage, heart pounding in my ears.
"Big sis… Alice…"
The voice was faint and trembling.
I spotted her. She was trapped beneath a fallen stone pillar. The explosion must have caused part of the ceiling to collapse. Dust filled the air, thick and choking.
"I'm here," I said, forcing a calmness I didn't feel.
I reached down and gripped the heavy edge of the column, feeling the coarse stone bite into my fingers as I strained with everything I had.
"G-Get out…!" I grunted, managing to lift it slightly, just enough for her to squeeze through.
But she didn't move.
"I-I can't… my legs are…"
I looked down... And saw that her legs were twisted awkwardly beneath the debris. They were bruised and bleeding.
I... couldn't hold this much longer.
"Ah…! Here, let's go!"
Sister Lily appeared just in ti, rushing forward and pulling the girl free with careful strength. As soon as she had her, she turned and bolted toward safety.
I dropped the pillar and staggered after them, my arms trembling from the strain, my lungs burning.
"Haa… haa…"
Each breath hurt, but I was alive.
Still... I didn't know what that explosion had been.
But I knew one thing... sothing terrible was happening.
I turned toward the injured girl, who lay on the ground, her small hands clutching her injured legs, whimpering in pain.
"Sister Lily… w-we have to heal her," I said, voice unsteady.
But Sister Lily didn't respond.
"Sister Lily?" I looked at her, confused.
She wasn't looking at .
She was staring out into the distance, toward where the explosion had originated.
I followed her gaze, and my breath caught in my throat.
Everything was gone.
Houses obliterated. Fires raging. Villagers screaming and fleeing toward us, many of them covered in blood, others carrying twisted, lifeless bodies.
The air was thick with smoke and the suffocating stench of burning flesh. It clung to the skin, stuck in the lungs, and burned the eyes.
Then... another sound.
Not an explosion. Sothing else.
The low, rumbling hum of machines.
I looked up.
Dark shapes filled the sky. Flying machines, tallic and gleaming ominously under the fading sun.
I didn't know what they were.
But I knew they were dangerous.
And I knew it was them.
They were the ones who dropped those bombs. The ones who brought death down from the heavens.
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!! It hurts!!!!!"
The sheer desperation in the injured girl's cry carved through my daze like a jagged blade. My head jerked toward her and saw the blood pouring down her legs, her small fra trembling violently with every breathless sob.
Then my eyes shifted.
Sister Lily.
She stood frozen, eyes wide, lips slightly parted, her entire body stiff like a statue. It was like her soul had montarily left her body.
"Sister!!!" I shouted, my voice ringing out, laced with urgency and panic. The sound shattered the fog that clung to her like a curse.
She blinked rapidly, the haze finally clearing from her eyes. Her gaze snapped toward —then imdiately dropped to the bleeding girl writhing on the ground.
Without another second wasted, Sister Lily moved.
She dropped to her knees beside the child, hands glowing as she activated healing magic. The warm light wrapped around the girl's legs, washing over the shredded, bloodied flesh like a gentle wave. Slowly, almost painfully so, the bleeding began to slow. Torn muscle began to thread itself back together. Skin closed up, raw and red but no longer open and oozing.
The screams subsided into quiet, shuddering whimpers.
I exhaled. A breath I didn't know I'd been holding.
But the mont of peace didn't last.
I raised my eyes... and froze.
The horizon...
It was a nightmare brought to life.
The landscape, once familiar and safe, had been reduced to a hellscape. Smoldering wreckage stretched as far as I could see. Entire rows of houses were nothing more than charred foundations and collapsed ruins. Flas licked at the edges of crumbling walls. Smoke coiled high into the gray sky like grasping fingers.
And the place… where Leon had stayed…
Gone.
Completely obliterated. As if it had never existed at all.
The only structure still standing was the orphanage... our orphanage. A battered but proud silhouette against the devastation.
It had held strong.
Reinforced walls. Upgrades we could never have afforded on our own. All thanks to those monthly donations that ca like clockwork, shrouded in mystery but never questioned.
And because of that kindness… this place was still intact.
But we couldn't stay here.
Not anymore.
We had to—
"Ah—!"
Pain exploded through my body like a flash of lightning. A tallic object slamd into my shoulder, its force knocking off my feet. I crashed onto the ground hard, the wind torn from my lungs. Blood welled around the wound, seeping into my clothes, warm and thick.
I gasped, my fingers scrambling to touch the injury, trembling.
Then... more.
More whistling through the air. Sharp, deadly things. Piercing through walls, ground, and flesh.
Gunfire.
The sound ca next... cracking through the silence like firecrackers in a graveyard.
I forced myself to look up, blinking away tears.
Behind us… shadows erged.
People.
Dozens of them. Marching forward with weapons raised. Cold tal gleaming in their hands.
Firearms.
Their fingers were already pulling triggers.
And we—
We were right in their sights.
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