Stigma Effect

Proofreader: kuroneko_chan

Fear was visible on her face that did not stop smiling no matter what she went through.

"Ah….”

A terrified voice came out. Baraha held a dagger that was too small to kill the monster in front of him and looked at Yuriel.

He came to see her die.

He has been watching Yuriel suffer for the past few days. Because she suffered so much, he thought that Yuriel would also want to die.

Even if Baraha kills the monster now and saves Yuriel, there would be nothing but suffering waiting for her.

If Baraha fights that monster with a small dagger, he would get a lot of wounds, and he would need a lot of money to treat the wounds. Getting food to eat while recovering, clean water and clothes to keep wounds from getting infected; all would need money.

Neither Baraha nor Yuriel had such money.

Yuriel, who he had been watching until now, has not been able to turn away from the wounded just to protect herself. If Baraha stepped in and got hurt, she was the kind of person who would somehow make money to pay for his treatment.

Baraha tightly closed his eyes when he looked at Yuriel's skinny body revealed through the hem of her tattered clothes.

'You'd better die here.'

The terrified voice, the sound of Yuriel running away from the monster, and the terrifying sound of stepping on the snow filled Baraha's ears.

The sound of footsteps in the snow made his spine shiver. If death had footsteps, he thought that it must sound like that.

Baraha bit his lip at the terrible sound, but didn't cover his ears. He came to watch the moment Yuriel died. If Yuriel dies, he would die right after her.

Baraha grabbed a dagger that didn't even stand properly as a knife and aimed it at his neck.

Yuriel's screams were getting louder and louder. Whether she knew there was no one around, or whether she thought there was no one to help her even if she asked for help, Yuriel's scream was not directed at anyone.

Please help me or save me. Baraha did not hear the pleas he often heard when he was held captive by a slave trader.

That made him even more heartbroken.

Yuriel will die like that without ever asking for help because Baraha turned a blind eye.

He opened his closed eyes and let out a swear word.

‘I can’t let you die like that.’

At least, he wanted to see that stupid, irritable kid yelling at the kids who had bullied her.

In the end, as predicted, while preparing to run to rescue Yuriel, Baraha saw a boy running in front of Yuriel ahead of himself.

He was a boy with black hair like Baraha.

And he was a boy in neat and noble attire, unlike Baraha. His complexion was not very good, as it did not go with his outfit. He had a pale face, as if he had eaten poison.

Baraha watched the agile boy from less than ten steps away.

The boy with a pale face held Yuriel, who had fallen in front of the monster, in his arms and rolled on the snow-covered ground. Blood poured from the boy's back, which had been cut by the monster's claws.

Still, it was a face without a single expression. Yuriel was looking at the boy's face as if possessed by something.

Baraha's heart pounded uncomfortably as he watched it.

The boy got up after Yuriel and took care of the monster. Like a skilled hunter, he slaughtered the monster in one breath, then slashed the monster's body with his sword and pulled something out of it.

The boy pulled out something black and round and put his sword right into it. Confirming that the monster was drooping, the boy turned his body.

Everything was as natural as flowing water. It was as if he had encountered such a monster many times before.

The boy turned to Yuriel and frowned, tightened his sword-holding hand and pulled himself forward, then tilted his head and stretched his hand.

He seemed to be judging whether the one in front of him was an enemy or not.

It was not something to do in front of a child who seemed to have no power. The person exhibiting such behavior was also a child, but he was holding a sword.

“In, injured.”

“… injured?”

“Yes, injured…. Ack!”

“If you are attacked by a monster, you have to do a test. I don't know what the reaction will be.”

"What? No, I wasn't injured.... Wa, wait a moment?”

Blood was still dripping from the boy's back who stabbed the sword. Yuriel, who first came to her senses, stuttered, and the boy looked at Yuriel with gleaming golden eyes.

His eyes that didn't seem to show any emotions turned towards Yuriel, and he threw his sword to the ground. Then he put Yuriel on his shoulder as if carrying her, and started walking through the forest, stepping on the snow.

Yuriel tried to push him away with a bewildered look on her face, but found a long ripped garment and a visible wound, and raised her hand in helplessness.

Her face flushed red from the strain on her body as she tried to keep herself from touching his wound as she slid over his shoulders.

Yuriel said in a suffocating voice.

“Th, thank you for saving me. Well, if you tell me your name, I'll be sure to repay you."

“Raphlet.”

The green eyes that had originally shone brightened even more. Watching them disappear, Baraha unknowingly stepped forward.

The sound of snow being stepped on was heard, followed by the sound of Yuriel talking to the boy.

“Sir Raphlet, this is the direction to the castle! If the knights see you, they will chase you away, so you have to go somewhere other than this place… ! If you drop me off, I'll guide you. So that you can be treated for your wounds, money....”

They just met, and even though she only knew his name, she was talking to him in a voice full of familiarity.

Standing where only the corpse of the monster was left behind, Baraha watched them disappear from a distance.

For some reason, it was hard to erase the feeling that Baraha had lost what he had. He had only been following and watching Yuriel for a few days.

Baraha, who had stopped there for a while, followed the footprints left on the snow.

The prophecy was wrong. However, there was no case where the prophecy ever went wrong, so there is a possibility that now may not be the time of the prophecy.

He remembered seeing the prophecy to save Yuriel from a monster's attack, but Baraha seemed to have forgotten it.

‘Perhaps Yuriel, who was dragged away by that child, might be in danger of dying.’

Baraha started following the footsteps, and gradually went faster. He was quickly running down the downhill road.

Baraha was soon out of breath and fell twice while running downhill. The hat that came down obscured his view, and the second time he fell, he threw it away.

“Wait, where!”

“It’s a place you shouldn’t go into!”

As they entered the maintained streets, the footprints faded. Baraha, who was following the traces left on the thin snow, looked up at the spear blocking his body and raised his head.

The boy had headed to the castle in the Mogris Estate.

Baraha remembered his neat attire and his skillful movements as if he had been trained.

Raphlet. It was soon discovered that the name was the name of the successor of Grand Duke Mogris.

＊＊＊

“Lord Raphlet, it doesn’t hurt? Really? The doctor told me to be careful because the wounds haven't healed yet…..”

"It's okay."

“It’s really okay if I go alone. You can go and rest now. I will return with my things soon!”

“I want to go with you. Can’t I?"

“No! Don't say nonsense!"

“Then let’s go together.”

“Ah, yes.”

Yuriel, who had been taken by Raphlet and entered the castle, came out on the street a few days later. Baraha, who had been walking around the castle, saw them come out together and followed behind them.

She came out with a much better face than when she entered. Yuriel was wearing a thick robe and was holding Raphlet's hand.

How she had become very fond of him over the past few days, Yuriel looked at Raphlet's condition, as she grumbled with each step he took.

On the street, Yuriel, who always looked around and exchanged greetings with people she saw, was paying all her attention to Raphlet without noticing people who were looking at her and saying hello to her.

While they were walking, the children who always bullied Yuriel, found her and started throwing snowballs at her. Raphlet pulled Yuriel's hand towards him. The snowballs thrown naturally hit Raphlet's head.

Raphlet shook his hair indifferently.

Yuriel, trembling as she watched Raphlet shaking his head, released Raphlet's hand, looked at the children and picked up a large stone.

The knights who came out with Raphlet stopped Yuriel, who was screaming and throwing stones.

Yuriel did not hesitate at all, even as she watched the blood flow on the head of the children who had been stoned. The knights who tried to scold the children for their ferocious behavior were to the point of bewilderment.

“Yuriel. It’s okay, so calm down.”

“Lord Raphleett…. Your hair got wet from the snow.... You’re hurt and not feeling well, so what if you catch a cold?"

Yuriel cried and said to Raphlet as she was restrained in the knight's arms. Raphlet's expressionless face softened when he saw Yuriel grieving with tears falling down.

Raphlet took off his gloves and wiped the tears from Yuriel's cheeks, and said in a relaxed voice.

“Let’s hurry and go back and have a cup of hot tea together. It’ll be okay right?”

"Yes….”

“Now that she is calm, release her.”

"Yes."

As the knight loosened his hands, Yuriel quickly clinged to Raphlet's arm and sniffled. She glanced around with eyes full of vigilance, even though she was sniffling.

The look on her face was wary that someone might throw snow again.

Baraha watched everything. Yuriel, who didn't seem to have any negative emotions, was actually angry, worried, and even cried when Raphlet got struck with the snow.

The boy's face, which had no expression on it when he saved Yuriel, had softened.

An unknown displeasure crept across Baraha’s face.

Baraha couldn't shake the thought that he had lost his place.