Vol 1 Chapter 24 – Running at Full Speed【Vol 1 — A Happy Childhood】

“—Elena!!”

Strange.

I can’t catch up to Elena.

The small figure running ahead is Elena. She definitely surpasses me in magic, but physically I’m clearly superior.

Yet no matter how hard I run, I show no sign of getting closer to her.

Strange.

Is she using magic to enhance her physical abilities?

That’s entirely possible.

Then all I can do is run with everything I’ve got.

Fortunately, the distance between Elena and me doesn’t seem to have changed since earlier.

I probably won’t lose sight of her.

○

“Ah, monster. Are you crying?”

Mockery.

These three boys probably do not harbor much genuine malice.

Slightly older than Elena, who is currently nine, their age-appropriate badness ultimately amounts to innocent cruelty.

“…”

Unable to endure the condescending gazes from above, Elena, who had been on her hands and knees on the ground, staggered to her feet.

Her knee throbbed with pain. When she looked down, blood was flowing from the wound.

When Elena looked up at the boys, they wore spiteful expressions.

“…”

“Long time no see.”

One of the boys spoke to Elena.

She silently listened.

“…”

“Hey, say something.”

Elena looked down slightly and bit her lip.

Why did things turn out like this?

She did not understand.

What had she done wrong? She did not understand.

As her brother had suggested, Elena had played with the village children her age from an early age.

At some point, though, she started getting ridiculed for having a different color in each eye, and before long she started being called a “monster.”

The leaders of all this were the three boys standing before her now.

The only words filling Elena’s heart were that she did not understand.

Perhaps because she had spent much of her childhood with her brother Will and living with Sophia, Elena was a clever, intelligent child for her age.

That was precisely why she understood nothing. Why was she treated this way? She did not understand.

This was also one of the factors that led to Elena being ostracized from the group of village children.

To put it in one word—”bullying.”

That word does not exist in this world, but the reality was exactly the same.

“Hey, are you listening?”

“Hey, monster—”

“Monster.”

What they spat out in mockery kept spinning round and round inside Elena’s chest.

“…What.”

“Ah, looks like she can actually hear us.”

“Wow, the monster can actually hear us.”

The boys’ laughter spread across the riverbank.

They pointed at Elena, exchanged a few words among themselves, and burst into even louder laughter.

Thump. For a moment, her heartbeat kicked up in an unpleasant way.

Elena did not know what she should do.

Normally, she could endure mockery like this and just leave.

Because she had her brother.

Because he was always kind to her and affirmed her.

Because she felt that as long as she had her brother by her side, that was enough.

No matter what contempt or ridicule she received, she could silently leave without showing anger or anxiety and keep her core unbroken.

Even if you deny me, it is okay because I have my brother.

—but now,

Elena, who had been rejected by her brother, did not know what to do.

Anxiety.

That was the emotion that first filled Elena’s chest.

Next, tears overflowed from Elena’s eyes.

Both were happening for the first time.

Seeing Elena like that, the boys reacted strongly.

Not out of concern for Elena.

On the contrary, their mockery increased and accelerated.

—Ah, the monster’s crying.

—So even monsters can cry.

—Even though her eyes are not normal, she’s crying.

Mockery.

—Ah, the monster’s looking at us.

—It’s looking at us with creepy eyes.

—Does it have some complaint?

—If you do, say it.

—Hahaha, if you can, try fighting back.

Tormented by thoughtless malice, Elena’s heart began to crumble.

A heart that had lost the support of her brother fell apart all too easily.

Elena vaguely gazed at the three boys in front of her and considered using magic to hurt them.

Until now, because her brother Will had said, “Elena, you have amazing talent for magic, but you must not use it for bad things,” she had never thought of using magic to get back at them.

But he is not here.

“…”

Elena slowly raised her right hand toward them, then immediately lowered it.

Elena did not know why she had not used magic.

Only,

“…Onii… chan.”

Those words naturally spilled from Elena’s mouth.

“She said ‘onii-chan.'”

“Ah, that wimp who only plays with girls.”

“Hey, stop it. That woman might come.”

“Hah? What are you scared of? That wimp is not here, you know. Don’t worry about that.”

“Besides, that wimp cannot do anything without that woman.”

“Hahahaha, as expected of a weakling. The monster’s brother is a weakling.”

“—Stop.”

Amid the loud laughter of the boys, a single cold word cut through.

Elena turned her tear-filled, differently colored eyes toward the boys and quietly opened her mouth.

“…Stop making fun of my onii-chan.”

“Hey, hey, the monster’s saying something.”

“Hahahaha. The monster’s angry because ‘onii-chan’ is being made fun of.”

“The monster loves ‘onii-chan.'”

The mockery grated on her ears.

“Stop, stop…”

“What’s wrong with making fun of a weakling like that?”

“That wimp always plays with girls and keeps grinning. It’s really creepy.”

“Right, so gross.”

Every time they spoke of Will, the boys pushed their mockery further, enjoying themselves as they watched Elena resist weakly.

At the same time, the volume of their abuse toward Will kept rising.

“Please stop… please stop talking about onii-chan… please stop.”

Tears overflowed endlessly from Elena’s eyes.

She did not know what to do.

All she could do was plead with them to stop speaking ill of her brother. Each time she did, her chest burned as if pierced.

“Your ‘onii-chan’ probably thinks you’re creepy too.”

Suddenly, one of the boys threw out those words on a whim.

Elena’s expression froze instantly.

Seeing that reaction, the boys smiled as if they had found a new toy.

“The monster loves ‘onii-chan,’ but ‘onii-chan’ thinks you’re creepy.”

“—”

“With different eye colors and not being normal, hated by everyone, ‘onii-chan’ probably hates you too.”

“—”

“Ahahaha. Being hated even by ‘onii-chan,’ as expected of a monster.”

“—”

It’s no good. It’s over.

Before she knew it, the tears flowing from Elena’s eyes had completely stopped.

Her body felt strangely light, and a black hole had opened wide in the center of her chest.

It’s over. It’s over.

That’s right, by her brother————.

While Elena simply gazed blankly ahead, the three boys kept laughing loudly.

Loud mockery continued to rise on this riverbank where relatively strong winds blew.

Drowned out by their voices, the rough breathing he exhaled did not reach their ears.

“…Hah, hah… ugh…”

Forcing his ragged, intermittent breaths through his lungs, he steadied his body.

Even then, what clearly reached his ears was the mockery directed at his younger sister.

By that point, he had pieced together the information he had gathered and understood the general situation.

This is the first time I’ve run this much, even counting my previous life.

As he tried to regulate his rough breathing, he slowly recovered enough composure to think.

Gradually his body began to respond again, so he forced his trembling knees to move and stepped in front of his sister.

Her eyes were wide open, her expression frozen in disbelief—Elena.

Placing his hand on the head of Elena, who was so much smaller than him, Will said,

“…Sorry I’m late.”