87 53 Stories: There's No Freedom Before You Run Away

One shot fired pierced Oz's body right in front of my eyes.

Make a noise with the dosari, and a small body lies on the ground.

"... dead or not"

The bullet was piercing Oz's flank. Not an immediate death wound, but severe bleeding. Oz won't be able to move anymore.

Gaze at the mise that was hidden in the distance.

Mize nodded silently and approached us holding BF28.

"... I don't know"

Oz groans at his feet.

"How did 28 end up like this...?

"... I don't know"

This is still a human being called the Ace of the Institution.

I even tried to kill my coworkers for repeated violations. There's no point in Oz wondering.

I just didn't feel bad.

That's all I can say in grandeur.

That's when I heard some trembling noise beside Bubub and Oz.

Remove a piece of 'communication paper' from Oz's coat.

There is an incoming call.

"How long are you going to keep going?

Chris was heard from the "newspaper" on his ear.

'As you know, you're the ones who got cornered. Lost your means of travel, you will be forced to flee more harshly than ever before.... One of you might be able to handle it. But what about Your Highness?'

It was an uncontested warning.

'Assuming you fled to the Republic... do you think that would get you a peaceful day? The Way of Wisdom is a powerful magic. A country that treats His Highness as just a human being does not exist anywhere in this world. I just escaped, and I'm sure the same thing will happen again -'

- I know.

Say it blocking Chris' words.

"I know all about that."

I cut off communication with Chris and dumped 'Communications Paper' at my feet.

Oz has already lost his mind. If you leave it like this, it will bleed to death in large quantities, but Chris is probably waiting nearby to find out from the timing of the earlier communication. You can leave the first aid to her.

"Mr. Too Eight..."

Mize stared at me with an uneasy face.

They destroyed the carriage and also lost all the food and medicine that was on the carrier.

Not only Mize, but I'm also close to my physical limit. I am physically and mentally exhausted in the fight against Oz.

Still, you can't stop your leg.

"... let's go"

Where are you going? I wasn't asked.

◆

From around the time I left the kingdom, I noticed lightly.

As impotent as this escape is.

A few days have passed since the battle with Oz ended.

I've been walking all the way through the wide wilderness that I can see all the way across the horizon. Without water, there is no food. The sunlight falling from overhead was hot and bitter, taking away his strength mercilessly.

"... Mize, are you okay"

"... Yes"

As he kept walking without drinking or eating, he gradually lost his mouth count.

With an unconstrained foothold, we head somewhere, scowling at nothing from time to time.

"... eat this"

Tailor the little lizard that was crawling on the ground and give the skewered one to Mize.

"I'll have..."

After burning a lizard in a bonfire, Mize begins her meal with only the least words.

After a brief look at Mize chewing the meat silently, I transferred the flame of the burning fire to a branch of a tree in my hand before leaving the scene.

And reach out to the carcasses of the animals that were hiding in the shadows of the rocks.

There is no meat left in the carcass. Corrosion is already underway and it is impossible to eat.

But the carcass was full of maggots.

Broil this, put it in your mouth.

I still have more strength left.

Food should be turned over as a priority to Mize - when you think so.

Soon the mise behind me took the maggots broiled from my palms and put them in my mouth.

"Mize......"

"I'm not the only one who can make it easier"

That said, Mize offers me half the remaining lizard meat.

I chewed off every lizard on the skin and thought about the future as I chewed.

- How long do I have to live like this?

I don't put it in words. I just whine in my head.

That's what I knew.

Where we fled, the kingdom will follow us forever.

Still, then.

I left the country with Mize because I didn't think I could stay like this.

I'm sure you didn't make the wrong choice then.

If I hadn't taken Mize out, Mize would have been assassinated by now. So I have no regrets about that choice.

- I had to run.

Even then, and still is.

Even if we didn't see hope, all we could do was keep running.

But that too...

"... the limit"

Me, Mize, it's the limit of my strength.

The stone pattern looks on the child's face. The sound of the wind sounds like a baby crying.

If they take consciousness of hallucinations and hallucinations, it's over. I don't have the strength to regain my lost sanity.

At that time. Mize, who was walking next door, suddenly fell.

"Mize......?

When I slowly try to check my flexion condition, Mize pinches my face with both hands.

"Mr. Tweet... let's go farther, let's run away"

"... oh"

"To a place where no one knows, free, serene... two of us, everywhere, together..."

I tied my lips to Mize laughing unreliably.

Now I'm sure.

- There is no freedom before you run away.

Even if we can escape our enemies, we cannot escape the anxiety of being attacked.

I gradually understood that.

"Running away is... no more"

Squirting while carrying Mize.

When I saved Elisia, I realized that everyday life was the place to go.

So this... is this really the place to go back to?

- No.

I broke up with a friend. Shot my people.

Are those days where we're supposed to go?

- Definitely not.

I don't want to think of it as a place to return to those days.

Neither I nor Mize want that every day.

"Somewhere, you have to face it"

I say as I carry the fallen mise into the shadows of the rocks and let her sleep softly.

"Freedom is… grand, must be won"

Keep a small leather bag with water and some lizard corpses beside the mise.

Mize watched me get up with her eyes about to cry.

"Where are you going...?

"... wait here for a while"

If I hadn't come back - the word swallowed.

Mize will die if I don't come back. I am not willing to relinquish that responsibility.

I think of a map nearby in my head.

It takes about ten more days to walk from here to the Republic. But the city of the Arkedia kingdom is at the end of its eyes and nose.

Walk in the wilderness with nothing for about an hour on a quick leg.

In the heat and agony, I discovered a pair of men wrapped in armor.

"You're a soldier in the Arkedia kingdom, aren't you?

"What, you?

One of the men looked at me with surprise when I was about to fall.

"Hmm? Wait. That look, somewhere..."

"Oh, man. He's in the middle of a nomination..."

The men gradually bewilder.

In front of those two, I raised my hands.

"Surrender. Take me... to the king."