c1 (1/2)
A stocky h a dark alleyway
There were no signs of any other people along the brick-paved alley
An air that caused an instinctual fear of the night drifted, causing the man to unconsciously walk faster
“It’s gotten really late, huh …”
The man muttered He was a merchant
Hea profit off of them
Today, he had coreat business deal
He was back froh for a family of five to live in leisure for several years
“Still, for the carriage to break down …”
The s, but instead use his personally owned carriage
But just for today, the carriage’s axle broke, and thus he ended up having to walk the road back home
That said, it wasn’t so far that he needed to take a carrage to in the first place
And so, while spewing gru the way, he walked
“… mm?”
Then suddenly, the man’s feet stopped
He thought he heard the howling of a beast from somewhere
“A dog? Even though the moon’s not out …?”
There should not have been any howling
But the ain
Just a little bit faster than he did just before
Once he felt fear for one thing, others would start co one after another
The war at his feet fro the brick pavement
Feeling an indescribable tension like a wedge in his heart, the man hastened his pace little by little
— There were soht
Cohts were silent as death
Thievery, kidnapping, arson
And what’s becoroup of assassins
The dastardly gang that were said to aim for nobles and the rich had just killed his business partner the day before
Once that thought came to him, the man felt chills despite the summer air and finally broke into a run
His body that lacked exercise swayed, wanting to at least find somewhere with people around
Within moments he was out of breath, his heart painfully throbbed
He ran and ran through the street in the ht
It was just when he was just about to reach theout of a side alley
“Eek!?”
Thein a daze, shrieked from the pain of the collision and the anxiety that he had been holding in
The man fell, and the person he collided with stepped up to him
“— I’ht?”
It was a young man’s voice
A sound that gave him relief
And also, a voice that the man kneell
Aht of the stars revealed to the fallen ure of the person he collided with
Having iht, and wearing a set of likewise black suit
And under his right eye, a distinguishi+ng series of three moles
“A, aah … D, doctor shi+zuru …?”
The young town physician that had set up practice in the city’s eastern ward
He was skilled despite his youth, and ell- the admiration of many
The man had several times been in his care, and for that even in his half dead state called him Doctor out of respect
For unexpectedly h of relief
“… oh? If it isn’t ht in a place like this”
shi+zuru also recognized the entle smile
The smile he was shohen he was struck with fear froave him relief
Then Eamond came back to himself
To be afraid of the dark at his advanced age, it was so wretched
He laughed to cover it up
“H, hahaha … no, well, e broke down, you see …”
“That’s just bad luck then … you look like you’re in a hurry, did so happen?”
“Eh!? No, nothing … ah, right! The last time I went for a checkup you told ht, I’ …”
When he said that he realized what he said was coe
However, shi+zuru didn’t see, “I see”
“Ah, what about you doctor?”
“I’ doith fever The family lives near here”
shi+zuru showed the bag he was carrying and shrugged
“Though luckily it wasn’t soerous”
Such a diligent young ht Eamond in admiration
As a skilled physician, he should have been able to find eroups
Yet despite that, for some reason he became a town physician
Many had siely nobody knew the real reason
“Still, the night is dark today and the moon isn’t out, so it can’t be helped that it’s hard to walk I’”
“A, ah, no, no! It’s , so don’t be!”
Ea man, was flustered by thehis head