After Clara hit him in the head with that rock, the man's eyes rolled back. Then his whole body trembled and collapsed. Soon blood began to ooze from his head.
Clara was even more horrified than she had been when she saw this scene.
"I... I killed... a person..."
I felt exhausted, having used up every last ounce of my mana on top of the pain in my whole body, but I still held her hand tightly.
"You didn't kill him, he's still alive and we have to be quick... or there will be more to come."
Clara was in a shock-like state, she didn't seem to hear what I was saying.
I clicked my tongue. She was a normal girl in the beginning, and this had hit her even harder than me.
I straighten up quickly, shook her a little, and then Clara looked at me with trembling eyes.
"You didn't kill him, Clara, he's still alive and even if you did, no one would blame you because he was an assassin who made an attempt on your life. So get up, we need to get out of here!"
Honestly, I have no idea if the man is alive or not... If he is alive, he will probably have a lot of headaches for the rest of his life, but I don't care in the slightest.
I forced Clara to her feet and brought her head in front of me, cupping her cheeks in my hands, so that we were eye to eye and I looked resolutely into her eyes, which were shaking incessantly.
"Please, we have to run."
I shook her gently once more. Clara then looked away from me and murmured in a low voice.
"O- okay..."
She seemed to have recovered a little more.
A slight smile appeared on my face and I started running again, holding her hand with my uninjured hand.
With each step I took, I felt my leg, which was having a hard time due to the mana overload, literally crying. My pierced palm was hurting more and more with each passing second, but I kept running for my life, even though I was limping. Then I saw a shadow on the road ahead.
At first, I cursed my luck and tried to turn around and run in the other direction. But then I realized it wasn't what I thought.
Because there were two men in suits standing on the road in front of us, surrounded by about seven assassins on the ground.
When we locked eyes with the men, they both appeared in front of me at once. I didn't even realize when they had gotten there, but when I saw them up close, I realized who they were.
"About one hundred and eighty meters northeast."
At first, they looked at me blankly, but then they understood what I meant.
"Be quick."
That was all one of the men said, looking at the other. So the other man disappeared without waiting for a second.
The man who stayed next to us first looked at my body a little. Then he put his hand on my shoulder and smiled slightly.
"You did well, young man. I will take care of everything, now you can rest."
With that, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
More than for myself, I was happy that Clara had survived. And with that relief, I collapsed to the floor, leaving my knees, which were now struggling to resist gravity, free.
Clara leaned over me worriedly, then said something I couldn't understand. I just smiled at her.
Seconds after, a drop fell on my forehead. Soon the gray clouds in the sky began to pour rain.
I thought of the rain that fell the last time I finished the game.
An involuntary smile formed on my face, but it hurt so much now that it was hard for me to stay conscious, so I closed my eyes, surrendering my pain-stricken body to unconsciousness.
*******
"-teresting..."
I heard an incomplete sentence that I couldn't quite understand.
"-em to be of this worl-"
Is someone... having a conversation?
"-e is suitable."
No... not two, but at least three people are chatting.
But what are they talking about? Where am I? Who's talking? Why... can't I open my eyes? Do I… even have a body in the first place?
"-atching then."
Who are you? Give me back my body!
"-cepted."
With these last words, I suddenly felt pain all over my body.
My eyes opened wide, I sat up with great speed because of the pain.
The first thing I realized was that I was in a white room. But then the pain in my body became more pronounced.
My heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was going to burst, my whole body was covered in sweat and my vision was a bit blurry. Considering the state I was in before I fainted, there was no general problem, but my head was hurting like crazy...
And...
Uh? What…?
My eyes widened; I searched my memory to the end.
For some reason... I couldn't remember the conversations and voices I heard before I woke up.
Was I dreaming? No... Although, it could have been...
My head started throbbing, aching like crazy with my thoughts.
Seriously... what's going on?
"Ah!"
While my head was throbbing, I reflexively looked up at the sound coming from across the room. Then I found someone who looked like a nurse in front of me.
"Please wait!"
After the nurse said that, she ran out of the room, probably to call the doctor.
Ah! Really, my palm and foot are not crying out in pain as they should be... I guess they have already applied the treatment.
I raised my left hand and looked at my palm where my opponent's dagger had pierced it like it was nothing.
There was a large scratch in the center of my hand, back and front, but apart from that I was still intact.
When I squeezed the dagger so that the man couldn't dodge my kick, I had widened the wound considerably, and apparently, that was why it had left a scar that wouldn't go away easily even if it was healed...
"Mr. Tenebra."
As I examined my hand, I looked up again when I heard a voice coming from across the room and then found a blue-eyed doctor in a white coat, about forty years old, with graying brown hair.
"How are you feeling?"
"I don't have any pain or discomfort... just a little throbbing in my head."
The doctor approached me and put his hand on me. Then I felt a stream of mana entering my body, but I didn't object to it, because I knew that what the doctor was doing was to control my body.
The mana slowly spread throughout my body, then the doctor withdrew his hand and smiled slightly.
"Your body is in good condition and you don't seem to have any psychological problems. You will only have some scars on your palm and your right foot... If you want, I can start the discharge procedure and you will be discharged within an hour."
So I have scars on my leg too? Although my fibers may have burst considering I loaded it with more mana than it can carry...
At the time, I was able to resist the pain due to adrenaline and mana boosting, but that doesn't change how serious the condition of my foot was at the time. I better be careful when using mana...
"Let's do that."
When I nodded, the doctor smiled at me and wished me well. Then he left the room. And so, I was left here alone again and I leaned back on my comfortable bed.
To be honest, I don't really care what kind of injuries I got.
I'm trying to remember the conversations I had in the dream before I woke up, trying to identify the owners of the voices I heard, but no matter what I do, nothing comes to mind.
It's... annoying. Why is this happening?
"Brother?"
Ah... I hear a lot of people coming in and out of my room, but why do I never hear the damn door open? Am I too focused?
"Are you okay?"
I turned to my sister standing in the doorway, then smiled brightly.
"Of course, I have a lot to do before I die."
Clara grimaced.
"That's not funny! I... I really thought you were dead."
She came over and sat in the chair next to the bed. For a short while we didn't talk much, we just waited.
"What day is it?"
"Sunday, around half past three in the afternoon."
So I slept for a day... I didn't get hurt that badly except for the dagger in my palm and the backlash from consuming all my mana in one go, but I slept for a day...
"I see..."
So a silence fell over the place. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at Clara's face and I couldn't help smiling, because all I could read on her face was that she seemed to be worried about me.
Now I'm starting to wonder…
Would things have been different if I had had a sister like that in my previous life?
If I had someone who could spice up that boring and ordinary life... What would have changed in my previous life?
I couldn't help thinking this way, and then I sighed lightly.
That life is over! I shouldn't think about such things... I should just move on.
"Get out of that rent and get a decent house. Also, quit your part-time jobs and transfer to a different high school. Start all over again and this time socialize with your peers. Enjoy your youth, Clara."
"You're young too, you know? And I thought older brothers didn't want their sisters to make friends."
"As for the first question, yes, I'm young, but I'm already living my life. As for the second question, that applies to boyfriends."
Clara looked at me with raised eyebrows. I responded with a frown.
"What? Just so you know, I'm only generalizing, I have no intention of interfering in your love life and ruining the youth I want you to enjoy. Unless, of course, you find someone unnecessary and a pain in the ass."
"How thoughtful of you..."
She said it in a teasing way and I involuntarily smiled. We looked at each other for a brief moment, then started laughing for no reason.
It was a pleasant moment for both of us, who had not experienced many such moments in our lives.