Chapter 188 - The Runaway Orphan (2)

Unfortunately, I was only able to heal the external injuries, and his bone was still out of place. But the boy welled up in tears while being confused why I would help the one that tried to kill me just a few minutes before. Even Shelly looked at me with worry and disapproval as she got out of the hover car to run towards me when I tried to heal the boy.

"Are you a goddess?" The boy whispered.

I shook my head. The boy stared at me as if he was worshipping me, forgetting the prior incident entirely. When he came to his senses, he abruptly got up to thank me.

"I will never forget this. I give you my word that I will repay you back," he wiped his tears.

Before I could tell him that I didn't deserve anything, he ran off to hide his face flushed into red while continuing his escape. I sighed as I just didn't want to be a bystander, watching others suffer while staring in my comfortable spot. I scolded myself why I didn't interrupt the fight before his arm got broken earlier instead of hiding behind Shelly.

But I was in shock of such an inhumane scene that was displayed right in front of my eyes, I ended up freezing in my spot. However, I knew it was never an excuse for not doing anything when I had the power to do something. I was glad I was able to do something for the boy, although it was by accident.

I couldn't blame him for wanting to escape from such a cruel place. Although my attempts were unsuccessful to escape from my own situation, I hoped his would succeed as I collapsed onto the floor, drained of energy. When I looked up, I found Luke opening the bottle with Alex already beside him.

When I tried to feel how much mana I had remaining, I knew I had left enough to use heal to recuperate from my own injury. But my eyes widened as Alex suddenly grabbed my wrist tightly to prevent me from escaping while Luke poured the translucent liquid over my neck. I screamed as an abrupt wave of intense pain hit my head and squirmed to escape from Alex's grip.

However, his iron grip made me stay in one spot as each wave of agony got increasingly more intense. I gritted my teeth as I tried to tolerate the crashing pain as my mind got fuzzier and my body limp. I felt like a rag doll as I was aware my body was being dragged inside the hover car. I tried to stay awake against my heavy eyelids lulling me to sleep, until my mind melted, and everything went black.

When I woke up inside the hover car, I sighed in relief that not much time had passed. We were still miles away from the school as we were above a luscious forest. It was disappointing how we were going back to school so soon. My attempts in going to the grocery store had miserably failed and I could feel everyone's eyes on me once I opened my eyes.

"Can we go to the restaurant?" I chose since it was better than directly going to school.

"We're on our way to school," Alex told me like there was no room for me to refute.

"I thought you were giving me the choice to either go to the restaurant or school," I turned to Luke.

"That choice had expired when you decided to choose none of them. Anyhow, we can't go to the restaurant in that state," Luke frowned at my bandaged neck.

"But this isn't even serious," I pulled on the bandage.

The bandage unraveled to reveal a faint pink scar on my neck that looked like it was days old rather than minutes. However, it would at least take a several days for it to completely disappear. Seeing how I felt perfectly fine, Luke's worries seemed unfounded.

"Just rest until we get back to school," Luke sighed, not bothering to do anything about the bandage.

"We're really not going anywhere?" I cried.

How could I do nothing when my hard-earned freedom was going down the drain? There was absolutely nothing I was gaining from this deal with Luke. It was clear both Alex and Luke were adamant on going back to school.

I looked toward Shelly for help, but unexpectedly she turned away to avoid my pleas. It was shocking that Shelly didn't take my side for the first time. Pangs of betrayal hit my heart as Shelly chose to stay silent like she was agreeing with them. No one inside this hover car was on my side.

"Why? Why can't I go?" I accused Luke.

"Why do I need your permission whenever I want to go anywhere?" I yelled.

"Rika- "

"It's not fair. I'm not a doll that is willing to be under your control!" I interrupted him.

"Do you think I want to watch everywhere you go?" Luke shouted.

"If you didn't get into these dangerous situations too frequently like an hour ago, I wouldn't have to!"

Alex nodded to agree with Luke as Shelly silently watched our fight. Knowing that whatever I said would be dismissed while everyone took his side, I decided not to argue back. But I wasn't going to stay inside this car, giving into Luke as usual. I had no reason to continue listening to him.

I opened the car door and said some final words before jumping out, "I had enough. I don't see any reason I have to stay here anymore."

"Wait, Rika!" Shelly yelled as I leaped outside of the door.