Originally, her shift ends at 6 p.m. But today was different, Yuri closed the shop instead of Gilbert. It was dusk and completely dark. Yuri walked through the quiet street, feeling the distinctive joy of the night.
Thump… (heavy footsteps)
Then, at some point, I felt a sense of urgency, like someone was following me. I glanced sideways. I don’t think it’s a coincidence, but i’ll follow them just in case. It’s like the guy I just met…
What should I do.
Yuri agonized for a moment.
But soon, that idea seemed annoying and I decided not to do that. I was a little tired today because I left work late, so I didn’t want to deal with anyone.
She deliberately stepped into a strange alleyway. A moment later the same footsteps that followed her approached. Yuri shot out a thread as soon as the man entered the alley.
“Woah!”
Wrapping the thread around his neck like a snare, the man fainted. Yuri shoved his body into a garbage dump. It was a bonus to stop him from making any noise.
“I’ll deal with you tomorrow. I don’t feel like it right now.”
Ruby red eyes shone alone in the dark alley. After a while she slipped out of the dark-shaded alley and walked back down the street.
***
The moon is bright today. I looked up at the moon in the sky. Exactly five months and 24 days have passed since the heroine, Annmarie, moved into the house next door of mine. In the meantime, my daily routine hasn’t changed. From morning till evening, I work at the nearby cafe, then return home and take a break or handle requests. A routine that is always the same and monotonous. Anyone else would’ve said it was boring, but I was very satisfied. It would be even better, if people like that man who was following me earlier, didn’t exist.
“Hm?”
In front of my house, I saw a bunch of pretty yellow threads. I was confused, but when I approached it, I realized it was not a bundle of threads, but the head of a person.
At first I thought it was drunk dude.
“Hey, I don’t think you’re supposed to be here…”
But the moment I turned over the man’s body, feeling annoyed, I froze.
‘Am I going crazy?’
I almost let out a curse word I hadn’t used for a long time. Still, I calmed myself down and checked the address on the nameplate again.
[44 at Gray Ferrets-B04]
No matter how I look at it, it was my house.
But why is he in front of my house?
This face was definitely the one I saw in the lab.
Of course, as time passed, the boy who was beautiful at that time was transformed into a more manly young man, but there was no way she could confuse a person with this presence, with someone else. Hiding my bewilderment, I leaned down to examine his condition. The streets are narrow, and the smell of blood fills my nose. His whole body is covered in blood, but I doubt all of it is his. I really don’t want to, but I use my powers to check his body, releasing a translucent white thread from my fingertips which penetrates the man, scanning over his body. Although the injury is severe, I don’t think he’ll die immediately. I rise again after looking at his face. It appears so gentle, like an angel, that it’s almost impossible to believe he was the king of the dark world. Turning away, I look around quietly, and fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any rats in the area.
Ugh.
I lift the man’s foot and start pushing him next door. There was a strange alarm going off in my head.
Look, you’re the villainous servant, are you not?
Then you should go pass out next door, not my house.
“Uhh…”
Just then a low groan came from the man. I quickly came to my senses and stopped dragging the man’s feet. The head of the man who was lying sideways swayed. At the same time that his head was slightly turned to the front, his fearsome eyelids were lifted upward. A clear wall appeared in the dark to the point of being transparent. Their eyes met for a moment.
It was then.
Click. (door opening)
A benefit from one ́s service.
“Yuri?”
Suddenly the door next door was opened. I reflexively kicked the man under my feet and threw him into the flower bed. Fortunately, the man didn’t move right away. I felt devastated. I did it without realizing it, because I had no experience, I couldn’t tell if he was okay.
However, I could not afford to worry more about it because the person next door showed up. A beautiful woman popped out of the door about four steps from where I was standing.
If someone unties their long hair and sticks out of an open door in the middle of the night, it might look like a ghost.
A warm orange light leaked through the door. Even in the backlight, she exuded a deep beauty like the God of the Night. The moment their eyes met, Annmarie smiled brightly.
“I heard footsteps, and came out, I’m relieved to know it was Yuri.”
“Hello, Annmarie.”
The man was still behind my feet in the flowerbed. It happened so quickly that luckily Annmarie didn’t seem to sense this.
“Are you going home now?”
She asked in a friendly voice. She was always friendly to me because I was the only neighbor in the same age range as her. So now we have developed a relationship.
“Yes, I finished my shift for today.”
“It’s dangerous to be alone late at night. There’s no good security around here.”
“I know, but I got off work later than I thought, so I was rushing back.”
I wouldn’t have said anything to Annmarie before in the past, but I was more attached to Annmarie now than I was in the beginning.
“Be more careful Annmarie. It might not have been me out here right now.”
“But the footsteps sounded like Yuri’s.”
“Someone could have deliberately imitated my footsteps.”
“Is there anyone who would do that…?”
Annmarie gave me a strange look.
There was a small chance whether anyone would do such a thing on purpose or if such a thing could be possible. But either way it was possible.
“But I’ll be careful from now on. Thank you for your concern.”
Annmarie said with a smile.
But I was a little skeptical when she said that. According to the events in the novel, the heroine was never safe even if she stayed inside her house.
See like today.
The man right now, didn’t do anything dangerous, but he was going to roll to the front of the house and make it a disaster. Although somehow he came to my house instead of the heroine’s. When I clicked my tongue, Annmarie asked me another question.
“Did you eat yet?”
Wasn’t she only going to greet me. Perhaps this was the real reason she came out the door.
“I was having a late dinner with Hestia. Would you like to come in and eat with me?”
Hestia was Annmarie’s sister. She was 12 years old now, she was so cute that I sometimes gave her candy. For reference, I heard that Annmarie is now 20 years old.
Hm.
I sank low without realizing it. My conscience was a little sore from seeing the man who fainted in front of my house.
Don’t you know that I tried to push the villain into the main character?
If it goes according to the novel, I know what future awaits her in the future. In fact, I could feel how good of a person Annmarie is by being close to her for the past six months. Even now she invited me to dinner. In this world of seclusion, it was rare for people like Annmarie to exist. That’s why I’ve been secretly removing the bad guys stuck to Annmarie. Moreover, when I saw Annmarie and her sister Hestia, I kept thinking of Coco and felt weak. Perhaps it was because of my unconsciousness that I left Lakis in front of my house, and stuck him in a flower bed without treating him.
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