Liar (part 1)

Ch. XXVII - Liar (Elice)

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Some say that children are the worst liars of all.

But, I disapprove. I have experience with two idiotic brats I call my 'brothers'.

They can keep secrets from me for even a century, and I won't even be able to hear a single word of it.

So…

It surprises me…

How I can trust a child this easily.

But Luca, she is… not the same. This whole situation is simply different.

The secrets my brothers would keep were probably something like a secret path of the royal castle, or the fact that my mother stole my underwear for her to wear. Luca's case is very… very different.

The weight of her secret is so much heavier than the weight any children can bear.

Which is why she couldn't hold back anymore, and she finally decided to tell the truth.

"They threatened you…?"

Knights… all grown men, with the age probably doubling mine. And here they are, threatening a child whose age is half of mine. This is… a very clear crime.

I opened my eyes wide from anger, and I quickly turned to Rake.

"She is not lying."

I see… this is troublesome.

Rake has the ability to see through lies or something. That was how he was able to see that the guild master was putting up an act. And that was also how he was able to notice that Miss Rina is innocent, because he got special eyes.

Because the real snitch is in fact Luca, the nine year old girl.

But her reason is… somewhat understandable.

It's acceptable, at least for me.

But for Rake…

"Stop. She is just a kid."

I said coldly to Rake, because I can sense his pressure rising again.

"That 'Kid' could have endangered our identity and whereabouts. Our entire plan would've gone to mess thanks to her--"

"She was being threatened. It is only fair for her to do what she was told, because we will still be able to handle it."

"Then what if the ones coming aren't the same as those knights? What if the ones coming are the heroes of the kingdom? And even if it's those knights, it is still a betrayal, Elice."

"Rake. That's enough."

I thickened my tone, and Rake quickly shut up. He turned around silently and walked away, and he stood right outside the gate.

"It seems like… our existence here will only bring problems to you."

I said with sadness to them, and that made Miss Rina rather shocked.

"N-No! Absolutely not!! You helped us, you… you took care of the kids and helped me--"

"It won't matter if you're all going to die by those knights… Those who helped me might get hunted down, eventually."

"But still… It was never your fault…"

Wrong. It was my fault.

I brought those knights to the slums. I'm the one who caused Luca to be making those decisions. I'm the one who barged into their peaceful lives, ruining everything.

The very reason why Luca met those knights was because of me. Because I ran to this area specifically, that the knights somehow came across Luca and toyed with her.

My existence here… is troubling them.

"I'm sorry… I shouldn't… have told them anything…"

Luca said with tears all over her already wet face, and I quickly kneeled in front of her. My hands wrapped around her head, and I pushed her face to my chest.

"And I'm sorry for making you create those decisions. It must've been difficult for you to keep them a secret, especially for my sake."

"N-No!! You are in even bigger difficulty! Forget about those knights, I want to help you!"

Luca said courageously after wiping the tears from her face. If only she could see me grin right now…

"You are a lovely person, Luca."

I patted her in the head, and she lowered her gaze.

"Please grow up to be a lovely woman. That is all I'm asking from you."

She is still being silent, which means she is already accepting it. I stood up and turned my gaze to Miss Rina, and I nodded at her.

"This is where we part. The longer I stay here, the more dangerous it will be for you."

"En… I understand. Please, let us see you again in the future."

I nodded silently at her, because I couldn't speak anymore due to my neck burning up. Miss Rina is also already crying, and she wiped her tears as she waved her hand.

I exited the gate and arrived right next to Rake, who is still emitting quite the cold air from his body.

"Done saying goodbyes?"

"… You were about to harm a child."

"I'll harm anyone who is a threat to us. Never forget, Luca is also a human."

I turned my gaze at Rake, and I can't help but feel the air turning colder. He was being very-very serious with that sentence.

"… I don't want to leave."

I said with a saddened tone, but Rake did not care.

"Then you will be endangering both us and them. Remember, the next time we meet the knights, there won't be just those knights. We are being hunted by the entire kingdom, who knows what kind of people they will send next."

"Aren't you like the strongest human hero?"

"That title is only valid when I'm the only hero around. Don't take the other heroes lightly.

It's time we let go. We must stop trusting or helping the people that have stabbed our backs. Learn from your mistakes."

Rake said as he turned around. It seems like he is not going back to his funny personality any time soon.

I followed behind him in silence, and we began leaving the slums.

The sun is above our heads, and it should be time for a meal by now. We went to the plaza, and we grabbed something to eat. Just like before, we bought the food on the go and we ate on the rooftops of a building. We didn't meet any knights along the way, thanks to Rake's ability to sense our surroundings.

And while I was eating, my mind wanders off everywhere once more.

Luca… exactly what happened that day? When we first found you?

There is no way Luca didn't get harassed by those knights. When she was crying on the side of the road, she was genuinely crying because the knights annoyed her. If she was fake crying, then Rake would have noticed.

Luca was the one who told the knights about my whereabouts last night, this abandoned house in the middle of the woods. It wasn't the adventurers guild who tipped the knights, it was Luca.

And she did it… because the knights threatened her and the orphanage. She definitely wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't for that.

And since what they found was a sociopathic guy (Rake's acting), they felt that Luca was actually setting them up. So they came this morning to the orphanage, to have some talk with Luca about it.

But… they met me.

From her perspective, she was only protecting the orphanage people from the knights. And because she knew that me and Rake are pretty capable, she made the right call by pushing the problems away from her and the orphanage. She also knows the people of the orphanage more than she knows us. It was selfish, but it's the most logical one.

Luca is smart. She made that decision just the way I would want it. But what I don't get is why she didn't tell anyone about it.

Maybe she felt bad…? She felt that she had betrayed us, that was why she didn't dare to say anything.

I'm… troubled. I don't know what I'm supposed to do in this.

I know what Rake said is true, that we should stop helping the ones that have betrayed us. But, I can't help but notice that they are out of options. It's either us or them, and Luca needs to make the decision.

Once again… I just can't hate them. The people who did bad things to me.

Mom, what would you do if you were in my position…? To Luca?

After eating, we packed the trash and placed them together in a bag. The air between us was rather tense, so everything was done in silence.

But Rake couldn't take it anymore and finally spoke.

"How's the… meal?"

He asked shyly, which got me very concerned about why he asked such a question.

"Good."

"I see."

And to another moment of silence, we go.

I don't want to talk at all. Not because Rake was being annoying against Luca earlier, but simply because there's a lot on my mind. I'm too bewildered to even speak, because I'm so deep in my thoughts.

Rake must've noticed it, so he decided to try and get me to say something. But since I answered ever so coldly, he gave up.

"Say."

Feeling a bit of pity for him, I went ahead and called out to him.

"What were you doing earlier? You spent hours before returning."

I was talking about the time he went to the adventurers guild to give some sense to those people. Doing that shouldn't take even an hour, so it confuses me how it took him more than four hours.

"I was… dealing with something."

There it is again. He is being cryptic, not wanting to share what's on his mind.

"You can tell me. It's not like we don't have the time for it."

"It's best if you don't know about it."

"Was it really for my sake? Or was it just another one of your stupid acts?"

Rake turned his face to me and must've noticed my sour behavior towards him. I was talking of course about his previous act yesterday, when he kept on avoiding my question about why he is helping me.

He is avoiding me again, without himself realizing.

Rake let out a sigh, a pretty long one. Seems like he has given up on keeping secrets from me.

"A hero shows up on Lionade."

"A-A hero…? A human hero?"

"One of the Eleven Great Heroes of Ardjestyn. Just like me, he is also very strong."

"O-Oh… right."

I recalled a little bit about what the eleven heroes of Ardjestyn were. Basically, eleven strong, genius, and talented individuals of the kingdom were appointed by the kingdom as 'Special Elites' to deal with any of the kingdom's problems.

I heard a little bit about them when Velborn was still around, and I heard even more during my survival days in that small human town.

Rake is one of them, and he is the strongest one too. But unlike the other heroes, he is still very young.