‘This poor little white-furred kitten couldn’t stop trembling.’
‘The memories of death replayed in her mind like a lantern show—the sharp pain of a cold blade stabbing into her abdomen, the suffocating sensation of a thin thread tightening around her neck. Each real touch of death almost drove her to collapse.’
“I can’t stay here… Staying here is a dead end too…” Nuo Aier forced herself to calm down.
Though her legs were still weak, her survival instincts compelled her to make a decision.
‘Anyway, I have to leave here first.’
She held onto the edge of the table and slowly stood up, walking out of the milk tea shop. Her eyes darted left and right at the entrance.
[Choice Moment!]
[A. Go left.]
[B. Go right.]
Going left led back to Wei Ran’s villa, but that path was definitely ambushed by that black-clothed person who could knock her down with a single punch.
Going right… was toward Emilia’s house.
Though she had just left without saying goodbye, which wasn’t great, and might even be laughed at…
Nuo Aier gritted her teeth, her small fists clenched tightly.
But no matter what, that was her only lifeline!
‘I’ll go ask for her help… as fast as I can.’
With that decision, Nuo Aier chose B.
Taking advantage of the gap just after Leinata was teleported away and before that female customer could act, she dashed out.
She didn’t dare look back, running desperately to the right with her short legs.
Nuo Aier prayed as she ran, hoping to make it to Emilia before death arrived.
However, as she ran, the surroundings began to turn eerie.
The once bustling commercial street had become dead silent without her noticing. Pedestrians along the road vanished into thin air one by one.
“No… no way…” Nuo Aier stopped in terror, looking around.
An empty street, locked shop doors, a deathly stillness.
“How could this be…”
She knelt on the ground in despair, her knees aching against the stone pavement, but she couldn’t care anymore.
‘Had that female customer already acted before I could reach Emilia’s house?’
“It’s over… This time it’s really over.”
Soon the familiar black-clothed person would come…
That bone-deep fear enveloped her again. Nuo Aier didn’t even have the strength to flee.
‘It’s completely dead-ended…’
‘No matter what I do, I can’t escape death. There’s no way out anymore…’
Nuo Aier sat on the ground in a duck-like position, large teardrops falling heavily onto the earth. She could only close her eyes helplessly, waiting for that familiar, cold sting to come again.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
Just as Nuo Aier thought she would have to load her save again, a voice tinged with a mix of tsundere and dissatisfaction suddenly sounded above her head.
Nuo Aier’s eyes shot open. Through her tear-blurred vision, she saw that iconic golden long hair.
Emilia stood with her arms crossed, pouting angrily as she looked down at her. “Finally found you. Hmph, you ran off without even saying goodbye? You made Anna and me search forever. You——”
She had expected this little girl, who had caused her to lose face, to snap back stubbornly like last time.
But unexpectedly…
“Wahhh…”
The moment Nuo Aier recognized her, it was as if she had seen a savior. She suddenly burst into loud wails.
Nuo Ai’er leaped up from the ground and crashed straight into Emilia’s embrace, burying her tear-streaked little face deep into Emilia’s soft, full chest, and tightly wrapping her arms around Emilia’s waist.
“Eh?! ”
Emilia was startled by the sudden tackle-hug. She froze in place, and her fair cheeks instantly flushed red.
Flustered, she raised her hands, feeling the damp warmth on her chest and the ear-piercing cries next to her ear.
“W-what are you doing! Let go of me this instant! You’re getting tears all over my clothes! If you don’t let go, I’ll hit you, you know!”
Though Emilia complained verbally, her body didn’t push Nuo Aier away.
“…Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
Seeing the trembling little thing in her arms crying so heartbreakingly, the anger in Emilia’s heart inexplicably faded by half, replaced by an indescribable softness.
She hesitated for a moment, but eventually couldn’t help reaching out and gently stroking Nuo Aier’s soft white hair. Her tone unconsciously softened, “There, there, don’t cry… It’s not like I was really going to hit you.”
“Uu…” Nuo Aier wailed, gripping Emilia’s clothes tightly and refusing to let go.
This was when Emilia finally noticed Nuo Aier’s abnormality.
This wasn’t just acting spoiled or scared; it was like she had crawled out of hell itself.
Emilia frowned, her expression turning serious. “What happened?”
Nuo Aier sobbed, loosening her grip slightly, and looked up with red, terrified eyes. “Someone… Someone’s trying to kill me…”
“Kill you?” Emilia’s gaze sharpened instantly.
At that moment, she also noticed the strangeness of the surroundings.
“Right, where did Anna go?” Emilia looked around. She had come with her maid Anna to find Nuo Aier.
She had been so angry that as she walked, she hadn’t even noticed Anna suddenly disappear.
And not just Anna—all the people on this street seemed to have vanished at the same time.
“This kind of technique…” Emilia squinted her blue eyes, tapping her chin lightly with her finger.
“Seems like the effect of some item… What was it?” Emilia pondered.
While the two were talking, in the dark alley not far away, that female customer was coldly watching the scene.
“Tsk, there’s another person?” The female customer frowned at the golden-haired girl. “What a pain… But no matter. Since she’s in the way, I’ll just kill her too.”
With that thought, the female customer flicked her finger.
“Go, take care of the blonde as well.”
At her command, the black-clothed puppet that had been lurking in the shadows reappeared.
Without hesitation, it rushed straight at the two, holding a sharp knife with a chilling murderous intent.
“Aaaah?!!!” Nuo Aier noticed the black-clothed person. Intense fear made her pupils contract sharply, and she screamed loudly.
However, Emilia didn’t move an inch.
Watching the black-clothed figure charge, she showed no panic at all. Instead, as if she suddenly remembered something amusing, the corner of her mouth curled into a confident smile.
“Oh, I remember now~”
Just as the black-clothed person’s blade was about to touch them, Emilia’s long leg shot up swiftly, graceful yet fierce, like a whip, and lashed out violently!
“BANG——!!”
With a loud crash, that terrifying black-clothed puppet, which had seemed so fearsome to Nuo Aier, was sent flying by Emilia’s kick.
The black-clothed body arced through the air, slammed heavily into a distant wall, then slid down like a pile of mud, lying still for a long time.
“Phew~”
Emilia withdrew her leg, turned to the dumbfounded Nuo Aier, and gave a triumphant smile. “I remember now! That item is the [Bystander Evasion Card]. Its effect is——” Emilia began to explain casually.
But Nuo Aier could no longer hear what she was saying.
The impact of that kick was too overwhelming…
Nuo Aier: ‘One-shot kill, huh…’
At that moment, the way Nuo Aier looked at the Young Miss seemed to have light in her eyes.